Scandal: Discussion Thread

[Wales2004]

I think it speaks volumes about him. And I believe they have a child so he could have at least thought about that fact and kept his thoughts private.

.

Idris Elba is being considered to play James Bond---heads will certainly explode if that comes to fruition.

Morris Chestnut's good. He does this distracting thing with his mouth but maybe that's only when he's playing a "playa." I haven't seen him in awhile though.

Michael Ealy's face looks much fuller now or maybe I just never noticed it before. That "Common Law" show was ultra generic even for USA. Everything was so colorful and pretty and the "drama" was perky. There was no suspense or intensity and that's not a winning formula for a police comedy/drama. You've got to have enough of a dose of both not be sorely lacking across the board. Pretty people can only take you so far.

For me the bigger problem is not the actor--it's the pace of the storytelling regarding their past. Sure there may be that episode that reveals all in one swoop, but why make viewers wait? In two appearances, more should have been revealed about their relationship. He's a fine choice if it turns out that Olivia was looking for a partner and not a soulmate. Maybe they were comfortably compatible.

Forget that whole who is Quinn--who is Olivia? Where's her family? Why doesn't she have a friend or two? All of this doesn't need to be some sort of mystery and the audience shouldn't be so detached from the lead character.

[marceline]

Hopefully all of those questions will be answered over the next five seasons.

[Ann_SS]

But they were oh soo pretty. Micheal Ealy and the other guy had to be the best looking male co-stars on tv in forever. It was pure eye candy with no substance, but I watched faithfully just to drool.

I completely approve of Idris being James Bond. He is a good actor, charming, and good looking.

[Wales2004]

Yup. Michael Ealy and Warren Kole played dettectives who'd make you want to commit a crime just to meet them.

I completely forgot about this until I posted it a little while ago in the Music thread. Maybe you'd like KW's hair in this:

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/S6s41gpCfg8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I'm a big fan of Maxwell's music.

[Ann_SS]

I actually don't like the bangs on Kerry. I have seen her have much more flattering hairdos without the bangs or the dated feathered do. Look at her IMDB pictures: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0913488/ Gorgeous! There is no reason for Shonda to have that stunning woman looking a Back to the Future 70s reject. Olivia's hair and clothes need serious improvement.

I had never seen that video before. I cannot believe that she filmed that explicit sex scene and then, says that she does not like love scenes. What she has done on Scandal is nothing compared to that video.

[Money]

I'm wondering if Olivia's lack of color has to do with race. Since she's either in pastel or black it makes her look more neutral and sophisticated as opposed to brighter colors which doesn't make any sense. Interestingly enough, their was a black soap actress who couldn't wear her hair curly because the producers refused. I thought of that with the discussion on Olivia's hair and wardrobe.

But like you said, it's brief. Whereas Fitz's agony is usually shown several scenes at a time and even in his dialog with Cyrus and Mellie. When there are scenes where Fitz is yelling at Mellie and she retorts don't take out your frustration on me because you miss her - that's gold. In the context of their relationship Fitz is literally willing to do anything for them to be together, including abandon the presidency. Absolutely nothing tops that dedication. He is literally calling her every night, making wagers with the secret service to show up at her apartment and has the secret service clearing restaurants to see her. None of that matters if Olivia isn't willing to budge.. And Fitz rightfully needs to move on. The longing is one sided and if you're a fan who's suppose to be invested in their love story that won't interest you, especially when the scandals of the week have already become mundane. I don't care about Quinn or David and the the rest of the team isn't given enough screen time for characterization so I need to see more investment from Olivia that she actually loves this man and they're aching simultaneously to be together.

Question for you, would you be interested in a story where it was Olivia shown to be making all of these grand overtures towards Fitz and he was only shown in short bursts to be thinking of her overshadowed by the burdens of the presidency and machinations in the White House? And to be equally fair, if you're not, would you be willing to wait (if cancellation allows it).

If the roles were reversed I guarantee that Olivia would think it was the ultimate betrayal that he went behind her back and forced her to do something she was very unwilling to do. It would have been a deal breaker and Fitz would be grovelling for her forgiveness.

We shouldn't need another character to decipher her feelings. That's the problem with this love story. I said the affair was open because prior to him showing up at at her apartment, he literally spoke in code to the secret service to make it happen. I was under the assumption that they didn't know. I guess I was wrong since he had no qualms with the make out session against the tree. And I guess he was caught up in the moment because he was reaching for her blouse before she pulled away.... with the secret service a few feet from them... in the open.

[Ann_SS]

So many thoughts.

For some reason, Shonda has decided that this is Olivia's style. I find her wardrobe bland, but I could deal with it if her hair was not so awful. It does crack me up when I see them praising their costume designer. No one on that show dresses well enough to sell that they are Washington insiders. Even Mellie looks like she stepped out of a 1950s catalogue. The actress who plays Quinn has clearly put on a couple pounds (no, she is not fat), but her clothes are tight and nothing has been done to fix that.

I don't see their relationship exactly as you do so I do not have a simple answer to that question. I have always felt that Fitz is the one who has less power in their relationship. He is always in a state of desperate pleading for Olivia's love and attention. However, I don't think that the longing is as one sided as you do. It is clear to me that Olivia desperately loves Fitz, but sacrificed their future together for the sake of the country and in any case, she does not want to be just his mistress which is why she left the White House in the first place. She wants to fight over washing the dishes, have the Christmases, all the things that she recounted to the Reverend's mistress tearfully so she is determined to end their relationship. If this was real life, I would totally cheer Olivia on, but in terms of the romantic drama and the crazy chemistry that she and Fitz share, I am totally hoping that she fails and they are back together sooner than later.

Ultimately, if this show does get the nine back episodes for this season (which I have my doubts about), I cannot see this situation continuing as is. On Grey's, it took Derek and Meredith four seasons to get together, but they were in the same hospital interacting daily causing tension. Olivia and Fitz are in two different locations. He is in the White House, how many ways can they accidentally encounter each other before it gets ridiculous?

Well, Fitz did lie and manipulate Olivia into saving him from his dalliance with Amanda Tanner. He grovelled and Olivia forgave him pretty quickly, I thought. The dynamic of their relationship is such that I think that they can forgive each other anything so I am not as tough on either of them when they do crazy ass things to each other even when they are wrong. I think it is their way of holding on to the each other. For example, I think that real reason that Olivia went to the White House was that she was hoping to see Fitz, not to ask to lift the diplomat's immunity.

Sorry, but of course, the Secret Service had to know. The agents see and hear everything around the President. Yes, Fitz negotiated with them to leave the White House quietly, but I never took that to mean that they did not know about his relationship. I figured that they knew because in the third episode of the first season, after Olivia and Fitz danced and he told her to meet him in their spot. When they showed Fitz, he was standing out in the open in a garden area. If he and Olivia were meeting there regularly, the agents would have have seen them making out all the time add that to the fact, that they were sleeping when she was working in the White House. When Fitz and Olivia were in the woods, she kissed him back even though she knew the agents were there and I thought it was rather telling that neither agent looked the least surprised when they started to make out.

[gladiator in flip flops]

Jada Pinkett Smith hair on "Hawthrone". That's the hair for Olivia. I am not talking about when she wore it wild. There were episodes where she had it done up nice. Long and straight with a bounce at the bottom. I too don't like Olivia in bangs.

As far as ex-lover for Olivia from the many you all have suggested Gary Dourdan would have been good. Oh yes.

Malik Yoba would have fit so well into the D.C. scene. He is appealing yet not distracting.

I would love to see Olivia in purple (my favorite) but they won't go there. I don't mind the clothing really. Just all that white.

~Milo

[London]

SCANDAL GOT A FULL SEASON!

http://www.deadline.com/2012/10/abc-comedy-the-neighbors-gets-full-season-order/

[Ann_SS]

Great news! I was skeptical that it would happen so I am pleased to be wrong.

[London]

This will make their DVD price more enjoyable... I remember LMAO at them when they were all 30-40 bucks before for a 7-episode season.

[Ann_SS]

It will be interesting where Shonda takes the show to the end of the season. I still see problems ahead, but I am enjoying the ride much more than last season so I will keep watching live.

[gladiator in flip flops]

22 episodes.

OMG!

I hear it all over.

I just hope they don't continue to complicate things more. That's what I am afraid of.

By the end, I'll be wanting them to shoot the horse and put it out of it's misery. HA!

I like season one. It was short but sweet. And it left me wanting more.

I have a bad feeling about what's ahead but I will continue to watch. And rack my brain.

~Milo

[gladiator in flip flops]

True this!!!

They got time now to slower down the pace if they are going to have more episodes. They can have enough time to tell us more about Olivia and skip around with the scandal of the week.

By the way, I was still wondering how Artie Hornbacher knew about the late night calls to Olivia from the White House. That's the only thing, I care to know. I hated the whole domestic espionage thing. But I was just wondering how he know about the phone calls. This was enough to get Olivia's attention. But how did he know. Had he downloaded some of the drive beforehand?

~Milo

[Wales2004]

I think I posted about this earlier. Somebody was in that car so it seems that he had a co-conspirator.

They got a full season pick up:

http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/10/29/scandal-full-season-pickup/