I guess the counterpoint to both of our arguments would be Mellie had to settle for First Lady because she had to defer her dreams of being president—but again things like how she read Dolley Madison's biography when she was 10 and dreamed of being First Lady again undermine that point.

I maybe wouldn't go that far with the first part, but it appears that, apparently, the writers believe Mellie is incapable of having both trauma from her rape AND the drive for power and ambition that has made her want to be First Lady. They seem to think either that those are mutually exclusive or that the character…

But people would try to impeach Fitz no matter what—the writers could have chosen to have him do the interview and take responsibility for letting the country down, etc. Perhaps they thought that was too easy plot-wise? It just feels like the writers quest to maximize drama so often comes at Olivia's expense and…

I can sort of maybe see how Olivia used restraint and patience with Mellie as a tactic in the midst of negotiations. I can also perhaps see that the show thought Olivia's stoicism forms an important contrast with Mellie's (petulant) emotion. Actually, no, I still have trouble with all of it. But deciding to have Abby…

He's not; no one is. There's sacrifice and there's willful self-destruction. The show just chose the latter.

But Olivia’s monologue on shame last week was good writing—giving voice to her thoughts doesn’t make her weak and a character expressing that she feels shame isn't shaming her. That was the show finally giving us insight into what it feels like to be Olivia Pope. And that should matter not just for reasons of…

I'm not a "shipper," but you are right, throwing around that term is a good way to discredit an argument and therefore avoid directly engaging in it. Fictional characters are written to have agencies and desires—Olivia Pope is one of those fictional characters. You read her one way and say Olivia is "shameful," has no…

Everything is problematic about "no means yes" both in real life and in fictional shows that are depicting that. I disagree with the idea that the show has depicted Olivia and Fitz's sexual encounters as "no means yes" moments, even if a few of them have purposefully and carefully walked up to that line without…

Believing that her relationship forms a "shameful piece of [Olivia's] history" risks being complicit in her shaming, and I can't tell if you're doing that or saying the show is doing that. What shame does Olivia Pope need to have exactly? I mean she feels shame, but you agree that she should?

I find the way some commenters treat Olivia to be so problematic that it's sad, really. But what's worse is if the show invites that kind of shaming, de-centering, and misreading of their lead character. The kind of policing of Olivia Pope both by characters on the show (like Rowan, Mellie) and sometimes by audience…

The show "glamorizes abuse and sexual assault"
Again, you lose track of Olivia's agency, desires, and p.o.v. to see consensual sexual encounters depicted in a fictional text as abuse and sexual assault. It's simply a misreading of both the show and of Olivia Pope, that insists on seeing Olivia as much "weaker" and…

This kind of post drives me crazy because it thinks it's being feminist and yet focuses entirely on Fitz without once considering Olivia as a subject with desires (even desires that you don't have to like), complication (which apparently a woman shouldn't have because she should wear the white hat and be on a…

I'm with you; I feel as if the show perhaps becomes complicit in the shaming and robbing of agency of their main character when they write Olivia to stay silent with Abby, stay silent with Mellie (both in the closet and when Mellie slut shamed her in the oval), and then have her quietly give up the most private parts…

So, again, she can't have any ambition or interest in power, it has to be that she's the pale, fragile, virtuous maiden held hostage by her captor? I mean, Scandal may have pretty much sold it last night as solely a Stockholm Syndrome-ish narrative, I'm just wondering how that fully represents the multiple dimensions…

Re: comparing Olivia sacrificing her reputation to offering herself up for auction—interesting. I can't tell if the writers are purposefully making this (an again trauma-driven) character trait—i.e. that Olivia's damage from her parents has somehow conditioned her to choose to punish herself and not accept help or an…

"won't bring back what she [Mellie] really wants…her status as First Lady"

I could imagine the show eventually moving in that direction. Although, I'd like to see the writers try to carve out some complex, weird space for them between the poles of catfighting and sisterhood. Something about the number of times Mellie has called Olivia a whore gives me pause.

That’s an interesting theory. I’ve also seen it discussed in terms of the undercurrent of racial politics that possibly weaves its way into “bleaching” Mellie and shaming Olivia—and I wonder where the show is in its awareness of that. I‘m also curious to see how the show handles a conflict between Olivia and Mellie…

Mellie as Lady Macbeth is exactly why I still enjoy her character—I only get bothered when people try to sanitize everything she's done and essentially see her as Ophelia, which I think just misreads her. I also sometimes question why people weigh Mellie's pain differently: that is, sometimes it seems that people…

The diminished role of OPA is hardly a new development this season; that's been a problem since at least the beginning of season 4 due to 1) the way OPA disbanded when Olivia ran away to the island, Harrison was killed, and Abby left for the White House and 2) the way B613 overtook the entire logic of the show,…