Scandal Review: Adventures in Babysitting (Season 7 Episode 5)

Walking away from Scandal Season 7 Episode 5, “Adventures in Babysitting,” I can’t help but have Bowling For Soup’s “High School Never Ends” stuck in my head.

While issues that have weight and consequence are debated, the overall tone is a lot of bickering as Olivia pushes back on everyone who tells her “No.” Add to that, Mellie is essentially the “principal,” and I fear this episode may be too overshadowed by the allusions for anything constructive to be gained.

Picking up right where Scandal Season 7 Episode 4 “Lost Girls” left off, Olivia has it out with her dad having stolen the bones of his dinosaur, and has set him on Fitz to get him to go back to Vermont.

The way Olivia is behaving as of late feels like she’s a petulant five-year-old with the power of super secret spies. While I applaud a character that stands up for what she wants, the way she’s playing games just feels really childish.

Watching Olivia get angry at the fact that no one can make Fitz leave her alone is absolutely frustrating, especially when she’s employing such infantile means of getting her message across.

I can see that she’s trying to appear strong, but I don’t think that clearing out her father’s office is really going to score her any points.

Plus, Olivia’s also forgotten that she has secrets that other people know about. I can’t be happier that the real cause of Luna Vargas’ death and the reformation of B613 has been exposed to Mellie, and I’m very happy when Mellie put Olivia in her place and said that whatever Olivia does reflects on her.

I touched upon this a bit on Scandal Season 7 Episode 4 “Lost Girls” because it feels so out of character that Olivia would make it sound like it was all her decision, when she knows that history will blame Mellie for any of her administration’s poor decisions.

That being said, on “Lost Girls,” Mellie also asks to be able to make her own decision regarding the actions they’ll take in Bashran. This episode opens with her announcing her support and intending to go to war.

I keep going back to Fitz during Olivia’s kidnapping in Season 3, and how he almost declared war in order to get her back, but I am really sick of having to draw this comparison between Mellie and Fitz as presidents.

I’m happy to see Mellie being human, having feelings, and still commanding the office well, I just keep waiting for someone to unearth her feelings about President Rashad so that they can start thinking she’s unfit.

Not only is this a poor way to create conflict in Mellie’s presidency, but it is starting to feel like the writers are reaching back to some old tricks.

Going to war over someone you have feelings for was a boneheaded move when Fitz did it, and it’s a boneheaded move now. So, while Mellie seems intent on “getting her war” with Bashran, everyone else around her has to see sense.

Even Fenton is making more sense with an algorithm he uses to make decisions! His conversation with Cyrus about the war being a “bad product” is about the most reasoned argument I have ever heard about not going to war.

While avoiding a vote in Congress and finding a practical use for B613 are the real takeaways here, the last minute of the episode delivers a shock when the plane that is about to take off for Bashran blows up with President Rashad inside.

Stray Thoughts:

• So Quinn and Charlie still aren’t married yet? I thought they were going to rush to the courthouse right after Scandal Season 7 Episode 2 “Pressing the Flesh.”
• President Rashad’s niece presented an interesting story, but I wonder how her death will factor into the coming episodes as they piece together what happened.
• Pryce saying that he doesn’t like Olivia Pope has to be the most honest reaction this entire episode. I am not liking this version of Olivia Pope either.

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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