Scandal Review: The Candidate (Season 5 Episode 11)

 

You can try to tell me there were more important things than Mellie and Olivia airing out their dirty laundry and becoming the most powerful dynamic duo in D.C. in this week’s episode of Scandal, but you’ll be wrong. The long held animosity between these two women that has fuelled 5 seasons of angst between America’s favorite trio is finally put to rest with a little moonshine and a lot of honesty. And I couldn’t be more delighted by the result.

Olivia and Mellie spend the entire episode working on Mellie’s “tell-all” book–trying to answer the question of why, after everything he’d done to her, Mellie stayed with Fitz for as long as she did.

Olivia: You don’t know why you stayed.

Mellie: Well, do you know why you left?

Mellie hanging out in OPA like she’s belonged there all along is honestly such a strange and wonderful image that I am going to hold onto for a long time. She and Olivia go nine rounds against each other trying to come up with a real answer to that question, one that is both real and something they can share with the American public that will inspire them to support her bid for the presidency. That truth doesn’t come out until Mellie shows up on Olivia’s doorstep with a bottle of moonshine and an extremely well crafted Shondalogue, seriously folks this is one for the history books.

Finally, Mellie pours her heart out to Olivia and what she’s got to say is beautifully honest. She tells Olivia that she never hated her–she hated herself, and suddenly Olivia came around and while it was humiliating that Fitz was cheating on her, Olivia gave Mellie freedom and she began to like herself again–she saved her. A whole bottle of moonshine later, Olivia does the same–she tells Mellie that she liked having her around, she made her feel safe. These two scenes are so beautifully done, they may be my favorite in the entire series. Kudos to Kerry Washington and Bellamy Young for absolutely knocking it out of the park emotionally.

Through this catharsis, Olivia realizes what they need to write in Mellie’s book. The truth is, neither of them need Fitz and with time and space they’ve come to realize that they can take the world by storm without him. He’d always been a prop for the two of them anyway–I mean, the two of them literally got him elected both times.

Excerpt from Mellie’s book: For the first time in my adult life I was no longer an accessory, and appendage to the most powerful man in the world. That’s when I discovered that I too was strong, that I too was powerful, he hadn’t taken everything from me, that I could stand on my own.

I am so excited about this shift in the relationship between Mellie and Olivia, it’s such a nice change and I believe it’s going to take the rest of Season 5 in a very positive direction.

Speaking of positive, the current competition for Mellie’s presidential race are Susan, human embodiment of a very intelligent cinnamon roll. And Cyrus is scoping out a democratic candidate from Pennsylvania, played by Ricardo Chavira, who has some very bright ideas. I wish these were the kinds of people we get to choose between for president, but alas Scandal isn’t real life.

Other thoughts:

• David manipulating Susan’s emotions to get her to run for President so Liz will keep having sex with him is gross. I hope she figures it out and destroys them both.
• Jake and Olivia is still happening, but it was also gross and creepy. Olivia insists it won’t happen again and I hope she sticks to her guns.
• Fitz is going on a date with a reporter who has the hots for him, Lillian Forrester played by Annabeth Gish. I can already tell she’s too good for him, so I hope she comes out on top of this.

 

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Scandal  airs Thursdays at 9/8c on ABC.

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