Scandal Review: The Miseducation of Susan Ross (Season 5 Episode 16)
Scandal’s fictional election year continues to parallel our own as the race for presidency brings out the best, and worst in the candidates and their campaign managers. With the first Republican debate underway everyone is ready to start tearing each other apart. And if that doesn’t sound achingly familiar enough to reality, just go listen to Hollis Doyle talk about his electric cyber wall for a minute and it might start ringing a few bells.
Olivia proves that she isn’t afraid to get down and dirty to help Mellie win the Republican nomination. She gets in the trenches with Alex, Francisco’s scheming brother, trading information on Edison for more dirt on Susan. Olivia is like a dog with a bone this week–she’s always been unstoppable, especially when she goes after what she wants, but the campaign trail brings out a side of her that sounds suspiciously like her father.
Olivia: Mellie, I will get you the Oval, come hell or high water.
Her devotion to Mellie and her campaign is a beautiful double edged sword, she genuinely believes in her and wants her to be President. In turn we see Mellie being vulnerable with Olivia. Mellie, being the prideful and sometimes abrasive person she is, doesn’t often express her more tender emotions with others. To see her being open, and scared even, with Olivia shows how far their relationship has come since they left Fitz.
Olivia takes that devotion just a little too far when she forgets about the people who get caught in the collateral when she tries to expose Susan’s past with a criminal who’s the actual father of her child. This side of her is incredible to watch and also kind of frightening. We love Olivia, we want to see her get everything she goes after, but seeing her do it like her father would is unsettling.
We also get to see Mellie and Marcus interact. I really enjoy their scenes and hope we get to see more of them in the future. At first Marcus can’t stand the idea of being around her, he finds her arrogant and obnoxious. But when he sees that a lot of that pretension is the manifestation of Mellie’s fear of being disliked by everyone, he begins to see a different side of her. He helps her bring that side out and she’s thankful for his help. I think there’s a lot of good potential here, and I love seeing more of these two, either together or apart.
Fitz is also proving to be a better person while he isn’t with Mellie or Olivia. For the last two episodes he’s actually been a decent friend and confidant to Susan. He even reveals to her how he never really won the Presidency, he didn’t earn it. He talks Olivia back down from the edge and manages to get the two of them on the same page. He encourages her to do it differently this time around. They all became such ugly people during his campaign and subsequent years in office, as the power got to their heads. But they don’t have to be those people anymore.
Fitz: We have a chance to do things differently now, not only for them but for us.
Season 5 has taken Olivia, Mellie, and Fitz in a direction where because they aren’t romantically entangled anymore, they can all be healthier more likable versions of themselves. I hope it continues in this same fashion.
Other thoughts:
- Cyrus plays the long con back at the Vargas campaign, letting Alex get himself too deep in the mud-slinging and the scheming so that it backfires. Cyrus plays to Francisco’s good nature to rise above Alex, even though we all know he’s just as bad or worse even. It’s really quite a genius move on his part.
- Susan wins the debate and yet the entire news cycle is about her relationship with David. Typical. Excellent commentary on sexism’s role in the way women are portrayed in media.
- Rowan is basically using Edison as a puppet. Is anyone surprised? I like Edison, but boy is it entertaining to see Joe Morton yell at someone in righteous fury again.
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.