ABC’s ‘Scandal’ season 6, episode 2 review: Mellie and Marcus’ story; Olivia’s discovery
Last week, “Scandal” got us completely up to speed on the subject of the election results and with that, Thursday night’s installment gave us a different perspective as we looked behind the scenes of everything that happened to get us to the big night of the vote.
The biggest thing that we saw was the full extent of the feelings between Mellie and Marcus. For one of the first times ever (Andrew seemingly included), Mellie finally found happiness during her campaign with someone who understood her … and someone she was through-the-roof attracted to on a physical level. With that, doesn’t it seem appropriate that Olivia pushed them apart? In offering up the Press Secretary job to Marcus, this is precisely what happened. Olivia drew a clear line in the sand: Either Mellie could continue to have a relationship with Marcus that jeopardizes her Presidential ambitions, or she chooses to let it go. That was no easy decision.
As for elsewhere in the episode…
Olivia’s determination – She remained convinced throughout the episode that Cyrus was the man behind the assassination of Vargas, and as a result of that it hurt on a serious level to see someone else get pinned down for the murder thanks to Jake’s violent interrogation. (Isn’t it quite a tease to know that the supposed shooter wet himself without actually getting a chance to see it happen?)
Olivia’s biggest frustration through most of the episode was the lack of evidence into what actually happened. That did change at the end of the episode, where one revealing videotape made it clear that Cyrus and Vargas had an intense argument prior to Election Night, one that gave Cyrus all the motivation in the world in order to hire someone to pull the trigger.
Other odds and ends – Will Quinn actually get married to Charlie? We started to see a few concerns. Meanwhile, Olivia had to face being around the White House while Fitz grew close to someone else. This is a story that has been done on the show several times before, so we are not all together shocked by it over here. Nonetheless, Olivia still had to be feeling some heartache right now given that at one point, it was her that was dreaming of a post-election life with Fitz. Unfortunately for her now, she’s left waiting to see if there is going to be any relationship between the two at all.
Overall – We do enjoy the show better when it does have a good murder mystery at the center of it, and this is what “Scandal”brought to the table with this new episode. The Cyrus whodunnit caper is fun, and the Mellie romance was surprisingly powerful. The thing that it did struggle at times with was figuring out how to incorporate many of the supporting players into the mix. So far, Elizabeth North, Jake, and David Rosen are merely blips on the radar. Grade: B+.
Next week – To see some additional news regarding what is coming up on the show, head over to the link here. Also, be sure to leave us a comment in the box below and share your thoughts on tonight’s episode with us. (Photo: ABC.)