About the impeachment plotline: I like that they will be pursuing the "going to war for Olivia" arc at once because it was so terrible, and yet, if it's possible to bracket the ridiculous plotting that the VP was blackmailing the president, the secret service staged a coup, and Olivia was kidnapped and put up for…

I believe they do often enough that there's an expectation to touch upon themes. The previous Scandal recapper/reviewer was good at that, for instance. I think with an episode that was directly engaging with shame, race, gender, and the construction of media narratives, it's a little surprising to see a recap that…

Honestly, it's silly to quibble over whether or not it is a recap or a review. Both recaps and reviews attend to and analyze the themes and underlying dynamics of the "text" they are discussing.

I think a recapper/reviewer can like or dislike whatever characters he or she wants, and yet also has the "obligation" to cover the themes of an episode (i.e. find a balance between surface and depth). When Slate and Huffington Post break out the brief think pieces on a given episode of Scandal (which they did about…

I imagine she might have a tough time relinquishing her role as fixer to fully be Leo's client—but it'll be interesting to watch her try, or see if she tries to take over.

"Sometimes you need help and that's not being passive"

The media was already parked outside of Olivia's apartment, so the breadcrumbs were already there. Going public was an attempt to change the narrative in the media and to respond to the racism of the Republican leadership. The point about how it affects internet trolling is interesting, though, because the sad truth…

The thing is, it wasn't precisely this episode that placed her in the role of "damsel in distress," it was last week's episode in which the writers made (in my opinion, a terrible) decision to have their lead character agree to have her reputation thrown under the bus. Once Olivia is in that unfair position, she…

You're totally right: there's both the House vs. Senate discrepancy plus the fact that both the (male) Republican leadership in the Senate and the Senate Women's Caucus want to look for something to impeach Fitz for, but they each have different motivations for doing so.

"If he had really fucked over the Senate Republicans before he pulled that stunt"
Fitz defied them by countering their racism in two ways, first, by refusing to give up the Brandon Bill and therefore opening himself up to impeachment and second, by going public with Olivia to refute the way she was labeled an…

Leo is fun to watch and his role as the cynical, sleazy, amoral fixer provides a useful contrast to how Olivia operates as fixer.

But wasn't it that Cyrus just loved his job more than James? I mean I think giving Cyrus multi-faceted motivations for revenge against Fitz is interesting though. Also: I still miss James. Remember way back when how there were a few characters on Scandal who were nice and hadn't murdered anyone?

Oh good point about Equal Pay. This was a smart episode. Now I wonder if the writers can manage to string together two relatively coherent episodes. It's been awhile.

Well, this recap did not discuss race, but since the episode offered so many complex knots around race, gender, and privilege it feels wrong not to mention a few:

I agree with your reading that the show was depicting Cyrus's feelings as more complex and possibly opaque to him than what was directly spoken: between last week's episode in which it was pretty clear he was talking about himself instead of Mellie when he was talking about feeling lost, and this week's hesitation…

Season 3 really damaged the show.

I guess I'm just trying to point out the difference between a character having flaws and weaknesses versus being weak, if that makes sense. I'm also just always wary of when Rowan and Mellie shame Olivia and there is literally no push back—no writing to back up Olivia's point of view—and we risk identifying with their…

"they get off on the drama"<< I think that perfectly encapsulates the relationship and why it can be unhealthy (although, in my opinion, still works as fiction).

I apologize in advance for jumping in on this thread that I just saw but: it can still be possible for Olivia and Fitz to be in a problematic and even toxic relationship and yet also be the case that the relationship neither includes rape nor physical or verbal abuse.

It’s just that a lot of fictional characters on tv make problematic romantic choices or have affairs; however, when Olivia Pope does it, instead of being considered flawed, she’s viewed as weak, unwatchable, and deserving of shaming. The show sometimes appears to endorse this view by devoting a lot of space to other…