ABC’s ‘Scandal’ season 2, episode 17 review: Hollis Doyle, a panoramic view

Hollis Doyle made a bold return to “Scandal” for Thursday night’s new episode, and he certainly chose an emotional way in which to come back. This was by far a shocking episode, and one that you probably spent most of it thinking that he was the most horrible human being to ever live.

Why? While Olivia Pope agreed to help him out following the news that his daughter was kidnapped, he was also hesitant to pay the ransom. Why? The reason is ultimately rather simple: he didn’t believe that his daughter was actually doing this, thanks largely to her history with addiction and her constant need for money. All of this changed, however, when it was revealed that she had lost her ear.

When you saw that this story was starting to wrap up around the 40-minute mark, there was probably one thought that entered your head: this can’t be it, right? You are correct! As it turns out, Hollis was right all along, and she literally cut off her own ear in order to make the story believable. Just when the man was starting to trust his daughter and genuinely show how much he cares for her, she does the most awful thing imaginable to him, something so bad that makes him look tolerable.

Interestingly, Hollis took a next step that we didn’t quite see coming: he offered his daughter $20 million to do whatever she wanted with, but in return she had to disappear and never come back. She took it, which of course made the man more than a little bit upset.

In going to some of the other storylines this week, Fitz was infuriated at the notion that Mellie booked up his schedule in order to keep him from spending time with his children, though it turned out that they didn’t want to come to begin him. Why? Ever since he realized that Olivia was using him, he quickly started to shut down … and Mellie then leveled him with the biggest slam of all, that he was really just a new reincarnation of his father. Sad? Definitely, especially following up what was a sad episode.

Oh, and there was that final shocker at the end about Osbourne, and we quickly learned after that that Jake is a very, very bad man.

What do you think about this episode, and what is your opinion on Hollis Doyle now? If you want to check out some more news when it comes to this episode, you can do so over at the link here.

Photo: ABC