Scandal really has no sense of its own history. A lot of the show expects us to feel certain ways about characters that runs opposite of what's happened. I really think they expect us to think that Mellie should be president. I guess because of the multiple "I'm smarter than my husband but I'm stuck as First Lady"…

Yeah, Olivia as a badass who fought for people was a lot better than whatever the hell is going on now.

I find Paul to be a nice guy, but he's really not funny. June's mix of crazy and treating things so seriously is a joy to listen to.

This was a pretty awful episode.

Only player to have gone to every Tribal council, right?

If I remember, I think she just asked him if they were still good, but since he had an advantage in the Final Immunity Challenge he is kinda gave her a "Meh" answer, leading her to decide that she has no reason to stay loyal to someone who wouldn't commit. And then he completely blew the challenge.

Malcolm could have won his original season, but he got too cocky and wouldn't solidify his allegiance to Denise.

It's kind of like Dave last season. I don't understand the whole "This person controls the game, but I suddenly think this guy is too likable so I'm going to flip on him and keep the guy who is most visibly playing the game."

The season he finally won seemed to be filled with some of the dumbest people to play the game.

I feel like there's always that "We'll get rid of them eventually" player every season. I think Sandra is probably the most vulnerable at the beginning since older women who can't win challenges seem to be first to go. But if Sandra makes the merge, she's very dangerous. Sandra is very much the opposite of the new…

It is interesting to see how people who excelled on previous seasons struggle with a different cast.

I think the difference is knowing where he was in the power structure of Daxam. If you're just a cog in the system, it's one thing, but an oppressive slavery based society built around you and your family is something completely different.

I agree. I think he does a great job of taking what could be a standard stock character and turning him into something entertaining.

Since the alien = immigrant is at the forefront of the show, and with the phrase "Make Daxam great again" being used, I think Mon-El could work as a straight, privileged white guy learning to be more aware of social injustice. I get that he's been learning to be less selfish and care about others, but more explicitly…

To be fair, she used the rape to manipulate her husband to get what she wanted. I don't think that was part of her coping, it was her willing to suppress that trauma for the sake of a higher goal of hers. I don't think anyone is blaming her for being raped, but to intentionally handle it in an unhealthy way to…

Mellie is such a mess of a character. She was generally a campy political animal, but once the rape was revealed she was largely portrayed as the victim, despite using her rape as a bargaining chip to emotionally manipulate her husband into running for office. And despite doing all of this to become First Lady,…

I think Scandal wants us to retain as little as possible, because so many of the choices it makes seem ignorant of its own history.

Scandal, to me, at least benefited from having that short 1st season that did a great job at establishing the world and the characters. One of the reasons the show has gone off the rails is because it's lost sight of its characters and expecting us to ignore these complicated character histories.

I thought that strategy usually worked best when a seemingly weaker player uses a much more visible player as a buffer for any negative feelings from their strategy. It tends to be women, like Parvati and Russell, Natalie and Russell, and Amber and Rob who let the guy be the asshole while they establish stronger…

I think Sandra looks worse this season because (and I could be wrong) she started both of her seasons getting into alliances fairly early on and being incredibly loyal to her allies, only coming out of the background when she needed to. Here, she started much more forcefully and assertive, with the added swagger of…