Scandal Season Finale Review: That’s My Girl (Season 5 Episode 21)
Scandal delivers a highly enjoyable Season 5 finale with “That’s My Girl,” but the hype promising shock and unpredictability fails to come through. The finale is intense and interesting and filled with power moves and impassioned Shondalogues, but it all seems like exactly what you’d expect to happen.
If you ask me the most shocking thing in the episode is that no one died! Well that and Fitz having rather pleasantly surprising character development.
Now that Mellie and Frankie have won their party nominations it’s time for them to pick a running mate. Frankly, it’s obvious that none of the men OPA choose at the head of the episode will be Mellie’s VP. They’re all unknowns and they’re forgettable.
Jake is begging for Olivia to save his life, to save him from her father. I understand that Olivia is both more brave and more intelligent than Jake, but something feels off about the way he demands she save him, as if she owes him a rescue. Olivia finally stands up to Rowan and simply walks inside and takes Jake back, betting on her father’s love for the man he considers his son.
And she wins.
Jake doesn’t seem very grateful for the rescue once he’s free. He wants to live in a boring house, in an ordinary neighborhood, with average kids. And he wants Olivia to come live that life with him, but that is not something she’s ever wanted, it’s not something she’ll ever want.
This is something the men in Olivia’s life have never been able to wrap their heads around and it’s why none of them are still attached to her. Olivia doesn’t want an ordinary life, she wants to run the world.
Olivia: He said one of us is getting back to the White House. He’s right, me.
The other shock of this episode is the way that Fitz handles the information about Olivia’s abortion once he finds it. His first instinct is to be angry and upset, which is the Fitz Grant we all expect. But he takes me by surprise when he has a very layered, mature conversation with Olivia about Jake being Mellie’s running mate.
They don’t actually discuss the abortion, but there are several moments of meaning filled eye-contact and genuine apologies from Fitz. The way he gives her his approval regarding Jake is riddled with double meaning, leading us to believe he finally respects Olivia.
Fitz: I support your choice Liv, not that you needed it.
Fitz also comes through for Mellie after makes him see that this is her time to shine. Mellie has gone toe to toe with Fitz many times in the past, and I never get tired of watching it. It’s satisfying to see him finally concede and support her the way he should.
Mellie: Is there a scenario where you don’t talk about how great you are?. . .Unlike you Fitz, I want this. Unlike you, I earned it, and unlike you, I won’t squander it.
Olivia has become the woman her father always wanted her to be, but I believe she’s become a better version of what he wanted. She still has her morals, she knows where to draw lines and which ones not to cross. But there is no doubt that Olivia Pope is a political powerhouse and a force to be reckoned with.
Rowan: That’s my girl
Other thoughts and Questions for Season 6:
- Cyrus’ big power play is making himself Vargas’ pick for Vice President. In order to do that he has to dump his murder-loving boyfriend and get back together with his actual-decent-human being of a husband. Will this break up come back to haunt him in Season 6?
- Will Olivia be able to keep Jake in line as Mellie’s VP or will he be more trouble than he’s worth?
- What’s Abby going to do in Season 6?
- I really, really love Elizabeth North. The world needs this level of smart ass in it constantly. Perhaps she and Abby will team up to do something really spectacular and feminist.
- What’s next for Susan Ross?
- Will Papa Pope use his knowledge about both parties to still somehow rig this election? Or will Scandal have it’s first truly democratic race for office?
What did you think of Scandal‘s Season 5 finale? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Scandal will return this fall for Season 6 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.