Scandal Review: Buckle Up (Season 5 Episode 19)
It’s gladiator vs. gladiator on this episode of Scandal, “Buckle Up,” as we finally get to see the fallout of Olivia and Abby’s life changing fight from a few weeks ago.
The former besties go head to head as they try to get Mellie and Susan a primary win in Florida, and none of these political powerhouses are pulling their punches.
Sally Langston gets it right when she says that this battle is just as hard to watch as it is to turn away from, her brief “Liberty Report” giving it’s usual dual sided insight into the landscape of the episode. There was a time when Abby would have gone over a cliff for Olivia, but now it appears the two ladies are racing to push one another over the edge.
Watching the two of them interface with the press for their candidates makes it abundantly clear just how similar the two women are.
Abby learned so much about wielding power from Olivia during their time as friends, co-workers, and gladiators, but she’s clearly come into her own over the last two seasons. Abby Whelan can absolutely play with the big dogs, but at the end of the day, she still has a tender heart.
That heart causes conflict within herself as her desire for power and her love for Olivia clash. The two women handle the stress of the campaign and the emotions their fight brings forth in different ways: Olivia buries her feelings and pretends they don’t exist, while Abby uses them to drive her forward.
Abby: I run you, you run the country. She knows that! She would have done the same thing!
After killing Andrew, Olivia is doing her best to keep everything together, but living in the shadow of her father is causing her to begin tearing at the seams. Nothing stops her from bringing her A game to the campaign trail, but everyone can tell she isn’t okay after what happened.
Which is actually a good sign — I’d be more concerned if she had killed Andrew and faced off with her father and come out of it as fine as she’s pretending to be.
Quinn tries to motivate her into doing more, Mellie makes sure that she eats, sleeps, and get exercise to clear her head and keep her functioning, and Huck knows first hand the trauma that comes with taking a life and is ready to catch her when she falls.
Olivia: I am better than this, I am better than him.
Living under the emotional and physical terrorism of Eli Pope has never been easy, but Olivia continues to rise above it. She and Abby also manage to rise above their issues with each other. After both teams lose Florida to Hollis Doyle, they realize that something needs to be done about the right wing whack job.
The enemy of my enemy is my old best friend? Perhaps this is the first step towards truly healing the thing that broke between them when Olivia left DC back at the end of Season 3.
Other thoughts:
— Cyrus gets Alex kicked off the campaign, but it looks like it cost him his marriage and maybe even his daughter when he comes home to find she and Michael gone.
— David has started earning back Susan’s trust as he holds tight to his responsibility as Attorney General, but then he turns around and gives in anyway. Even though he did it for her I feel like Susan would have respected both his honesty and morality more than any backroom deal. If he really wants to win her heart I think he has to be completely honest with her. Don’t keep toying with a woman that tells you you hurt her more than anyone ever has.
— I love love love the conversation between Fitz and Mellie about Olivia’s well-being on the tarmac. They both care so deeply for her it’s good to see them discussing how to take care of her, rather than who’s bed she’s in.
— Am I the only one seeing the connection between Marcus and Mellie? After their trip to LA together, he seems to have really gotten through to her. He can calm her down with just a word and a look, and the two of them bounce ideas off each other with grace and respect. I don’t know where this relationship is going, but I definitely want more of it.
What did you think of this episode of Scandal? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Scandal airs Thursday at 9/8c on ABC.
Samantha Coley
Samantha (she/her) is a social media specialist by day and a sci-fi junkie by night. As a freelance writer and podcaster, she also enjoys live-tweeting, blogging, good music, and better television. Her current favorite television shows include Star Trek (yes, all of them), Riverdale, and Stranger Things and there will always be a place in her heart for Battlestar Galactica, Leverage, and The West Wing.