Scandal Season 7 Episode 10
I’m glad Scandal has finally settled my inner debate. Quinn isn’t dead. Long live Quinn! Rowan has morphed into Robin’s fairy grandfather, I suspect, trying to right the wrongs he committed as Olivia’s father. Or more truthfully, it comes from a place of vengeance and wanting to settle a score with Olivia’s having taken his dinosaur bones as a temporary hostage. Scandal isn’t a show that covers weighty topics or tips it white hat toward social or political commentary. Olivia and Jake assassinate a fictional world leader, and the worse, so far, she gets is a firm talking to at an intervention in Vermont with concerned friends. As with other television shows, or specific episodes of shows that don’t live up to my expectations, I knew Olivia would escape unscathed from rural Vermont. Did I want her to be locked in a dungeon and tortured? No. Everyone at the intervention wore kid gloves, and it felt hypocritical given the assembled team members who are guilty of similar and more terrifying acts of destruction, maiming, and murder. President Bashir’s assassination wasn’t a huge crescendo on the show, so I don’t see why in the world of Scandal it was such a big deal. The justification for the murder felt contrary to what the show sometimes thinks or wants to stand for, female empowerment. Do girls run the world until such time as another power hungry girl disapproves of another’s natural emotional and sexual needs? I’ve said in previous reviews of President Mellie that she’s meant to be The Celibate President, which is ridiculous. Elizabeth I, according to the history books, was The Virgin Queen. Maybe someone in the Scandal writers’ room was inspired by her sacrifice and wanted to update it for modern times. It hasn’t gone well. Perhaps my male brain doesn’t fully comprehend the mixed messages. Looking ahead to next week’s episode, Olivia appears to be on the outside looking in after everyone around her has had their fill of her. Will she escape yet another intended punishment for this season’s power thirst? We’ll have to wait and see how everyone reacts to Quinn’s resurrection and quest for vengeance.
