Scandal Review: Something Borrowed (Season 7 Episode 7)

The constant power struggle between Olivia and her father comes to a head on Scandal Season 7 Episode 7, “Something Borrowed.”

Picking up from where Scandal Season 7 Episode 6 “Vampires and Bloodsuckers,” left off, this episode follows Olivia and QPA as they attempt to bring Quinn home. Kerry Washington gives a brilliant performance portraying Olivia, who is finally wrestling with the implications of being “Command.”

Let’s be clear, until now, we’ve seen Olivia make the hard call and have things turn out for the better. This episode everything changes, she condemns one of her friends and shows us what would happen if she had to make not only a hard call but a personal one.

She wrestles with the question of if she cares about Quinn, but the answer is, ultimately, no. Which is sad, when you consider that Quinn was the impetus for the entire series. It was her arrival at OPA that introduced us to Olivia Pope and Associates.

But throughout the seventh season, it’s become clear that Olivia is more interested in the power struggle between her father and herself. I don’t think this struggle could have come to a better conclusion than the final scene between Olivia and Eli.

And this struggle could have come to a better conclusion than the final scene between Olivia and Eli.

While both Popes play games, there is one key difference between Olivia and Eli. He’s willing to kill an innocent woman and get his hands dirty. Olivia isn’t.

Olivia’s time as Command has been a series of pressing buttons, pulling at strings, and walking with swagger and intimidation, but it all seems like she’s still under a veil of plausible deniability. Her decisions have been neat and tidy.

She likes having these tools at her disposal to get the agenda done, and she’s willing to make the hard call, but she’s not necessarily, willing to see the results.

Which brings me to the final moments of the episode and the real question: Is Quinn dead?

I do not believe that Quinn Perkins was killed in that house, in the scene. I think that Eli is playing a game with Olivia.

You have to remember that Eli is a man who locked up Olivia’s mother for years and who tricked Samantha from a shadow organization into believing he was on her side before taking a dinosaur bone to her throat. He’s cut from a pretty cunning cloth, and he doesn’t always clue people in.

We also have to remember, that Quinn was also displeased with Olivia’s actions and was begging her to put on the White Hat before she disappeared. In short, they’re probably the two people who are the most pissed off about the direction that Olivia is going, and also the people with the best skills to play this mind game.

So, if Quinn and Eli are working together, it wouldn’t surprise me.

The last line, when Eli asks if she wants to see the body is particularly telling. I think he knows that Olivia can’t face it. That deep down, Olivia cannot live with what she’s done, and that this has crossed a line that could break her.

No matter how Olivia answers the question she’s in between a rock and a hard place. If she says “no” she’s showing that she can’t face the consequences of her actions when they’re this close to home. If she says “yes” and Quinn is dead, she has to live with what she’s done.

The most interesting of all outcomes is if she says “yes” and Quinn isn’t dead. If that happens then the rift that’s already forming between Olivia and the rest of QPA is going to widen.

Stray Thoughts

• No, I’m not forgetting about the time that Olivia killed the Vice President with a chair, but that was in anger, her kills as Command are tidier, clearer, and with less blood on her clothes.
• George Newbern’s performance on this episode has increased my appreciation of Charlie. I don’t know why but I always saw him as an oddly dark, comic character. There’s nothing wrong with that, but seeing his sadness in this episode really made me feel something more towards him. Now I am really pulling for Charlie and Quinn.
• Huck’s fidget spinner line is kind of perfect.  Cool idea and great speech for Huck though.
• Olivia’s conversation with Maia was very illuminating and was a nice surprise this episode, but I think I have more questions than answers about that whole set up.

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 9/8 on ABC and will return with the final eleven episodes on January 18th.

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