Scandal Review: Head Games (Season 6 Episode 14)

The opening scene of Scandal Season 6 Episode 14, “Head Games,” sets it up for us with Marcus Walker at the podium as press secretary. He proclaims that they have dismantled all the drones from Scandal Season 6 Episode 13, “The Box,” and that “the threat is now gone.”

Which means that we can go back to some of the usual sudsy, trivial, storylines that do not even remotely mirror our current political landscape in any way–for all of thirty minutes.

“Head Games” is equal parts logistical paperwork and character therapy, because in the midst of all those drones and a secret shadow organization is a presidential transition that still has to be dealt with so the show can continue on to its final season.

Fitz is getting ready to leave, and Mellie is assuming office, which leads to some reshuffling of characters and their roles.

Olivia is going to be Mellie’s Chief of Staff, and with that responsibility comes handing over OPA, and so Olivia gives her team a test to choose a pardon petition that President Grant will sign in his last week of office.

Through this process, it feels like Quinn has finally grown up.

We originally came into Scandal through Quinn’s eyes as she gets the “gladiator in a suit” speech from Ian. We see her learn and grow with the team for a few seasons, until she ultimately recruits Marcus, giving him the same “gladiator in a suit” speech that got her to join the firm.

Now she’s proven her metal and she’s getting ready to take Liv’s office.

It’s not exactly a sad feeling to see Liv handing over the keys to Quinn, because when Quinn talks about her job, you can see her passion for the firm. It’s not a bloodthirsty passion, but you can tell that even if she doesn’t know she wants it, she wants it.

OPA is the only place where Quinn is happy. When Charlie brings up their honeymoon and wants to hit the “Caribbean ABCs” she says she can’t be away that long. Similarly, the idea of moving to Haiti and being an assassin or a “gladiator in a bathing suit” holds no appeal.

The work she does at OPA is where she’s happiest, and she excels at it, but let’s be clear, she won’t replace Olivia! She’s more like Olivia 2.0 with a slightly lethal streak.

And this means a bright and turbulent future for Quinn as a fixer. Everything she knows, she has learned from Liv, and Liv will be on the side of the White House, so getting Olivia’s job may make her life that much harder in the long run.

The other two characters that I wish we’d seen more of this season are David and Abby. Their plot on this episode starts off comical and unpacks some of the psychology surrounding Peus and The Mystery Woman.

David is like a dog with a bone, and he will not rest until he knows who The Mystery Woman, aka Samantha, aka Grace, aka “Ponytail Bitch” and what they want. When he asks Eli Pope for help, Eli gives him the box with her severed head in it.

It’s refreshing to hear David and Abby banter about Samantha’s head after two very tense episodes. It’s dark comedy, and it shouldn’t be funny, but Joshua Malina and Darby Stanchfield make it enjoyable to watch, despite the grotesque content.

Like this exchange before Abby opens the box. We know what’s coming, but David’s rambling is very endearing.

As the episode continues, I realize that they are the two closest to The Mystery Woman, and that leads to some heavy moments about if they’re bad people and if they could be evil. These are all questions someone asks of a betrayal, but it leads to something of a reconciliation and self-forgiveness between them.

Of course, when they find out that Samantha is really a woman named Gertrude, and that taking down Frankie Vargas, and putting Mellie in the White House, wasn’t just her operation, we get to see the bigger bad, behind the big bad.

Cue the return of Maya Pope!

We haven’t seen Maya in two seasons — not since Cyrus released her from prison in exchange from denying that B613 ever existed. Man that’s probably going to come back to bite Cyrus in the end.

Still, it looks like it’s going to be Pope vs. Pope in the finale, and that is sure to be interesting.

Stray Thoughts:

• The little moment in the opening montage when Quinn is trying on a wedding dress and she asks Huck’s opinion, and Huck says “I think you should have told me what a Maid of Honor does,” is priceless and such an adorable moment. Can a few more of these come up in the future?
• Eli Pope, you really thought that you could walk away and go deep-sea fishing? That’s fishful thinking.
• After eight years of…what exactly did President Grant do but sleep with Olivia and get betrayed by two Vice Presidents?…President grant has realized that there are problems in the world that need to be fixed? It may be time for a thorough rewatch to see exactly what President Grant has accomplished.
• There wasn’t enough Mellie in this episode, but I do appreciate how Olivia is actually listening to Mellie when it comes to her cabinet picks, or at least she appears to be. We’ll reserve judgement on the Mellvia partnership until the new season.

What did you think of this episode of Scandal? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

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Scandal airs Thursdays at 9/8c on ABC.

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