VO: Ladies and gents, let’s see if the predictions made at the end of Season 3. I figure neither of us got anything right. But we’ll see…..I’m just expecting all hell to break loose. I think we got some of it, but some it may pan out as time goes on, given that we were dropped into a new season and a lot of secrets are sitting around, begging to be uncovered.
Anywaaaaays……
I KNEW SHE’S BED ON A BEACH. I TOTALLY KNEW THAT. I feel like this entire summer has been missing an app: “Where in the world is Olivia Pope?” a la Carmen Sandiego.
KC: I totally got that vibe too from all of the ads. And frankly, I found it a tad bit corny. Like they even had a map and stuff. I expected to have a spinoff episode featuring the dulcet tones of Rockapella.
VO: Dude, that would have been brilliant in a way. Self-referential, humorous and silly. Maybe viewers could’ve helped Quinn track down Olivia and Jake. And the whole thing is sponsored by Crate and Barrel and all those other Scandal tie-ins.
Anyways, back to the beach, she looks well rested and happy and Jake looks well rested and happy and I don’t want them to go back to DC. Ever. Just stay on the beach, have fun, get laid.
KC: They do seem happy together. Happy in that “we can’t really be happy if we are honest about each others real lives” kind of way, but that’s kinda sexy.
VO: I honestly don’t mind because they seriously needed this vacation. DO NOT OPEN THAT LETTER. DO NOT. IT’S NOT WORTH IT. LIGHT IT ON FIRE, DRINK THE WINE AND HAVE FUN.
And I like Olivia’s curly hair. It’s like she’s relaxed and carefree.
KC: I really like it too, but I have noticed that Liv only has curly hair when she is upset with Fitz or not being honest with herself, so flat-iron Liv means she’s in a good place. Which is … interesting.
It was mentioned to me that Liv’s hair is also curly when she is having especially good sex. So there is that.
VO:Well shiiiit we called it with Harrison. Not surprising though. Truth on what you said about Liv and her hair showing honesty. Despite enjoying the time on the beach, she probably was itching to get back to work, as witnessed by the “MY TIME TO TALK!” thing with Jake. You know she was probably wandering around that island trying to fix the relationships between hermit crabs while Jake was napping or something. But really, she didn’t have to come back, she just needed Harrison’s death as the excuse.
Did you expect a “Welcome Back” party Liv?
VO: The office is covered in dust cloths. Makes you wonder what happened. Did Abby go out on her own? I kind of hope so.
KC: Abby really is Olivia Jr. Following her mentor’s footsteps with every career move.
VO: Poor Huck. I get what he’s doing. And I get why they’re all pissed at her. And Abby as press secretary makes sense to me, given that she’s taking what she learned from Olivia and using it to her own needs. I’m wondering why the fuck Grant is all messed up with his cabinet though. But he’s not the broken husk of a man you predicted.
KC: I was really hoping to see Fitz in a hole. He did try to kill himself, so there’s hope. They still keep trying to get us to root for this dude for some reason and I just don’t get it.
It’s weird because Huck (or the actor playing him) really started to bug me sometime last season. I feel like he has become almost like a caricature, you know? I feel sympathy for him and his family but his weird staring and halting language. Did he hit his head or something? WTF?
VO: I think we’re going to be discovering more as the season goes on. I wonder if he tried to be normal, but couldn’t do it and they broke up, given the damage he had from B613. It’s like I am still wondering (and am suspicious) why Quinn went on the hunt for Olivia and is trying to play the good daughter. Did they ever say she split from B613 officially? Not that you ever really get out of there completely free.
I love Abby and Quinn’s weird ass sibling rivalry thing going on. And the glee on Quinn’s face when Abby saw Olivia. And I get why Abby and everyone with OPA is angry with Olivia. She abandoned you. Abby’s speech is probably the ripping into Olivia deserved. I respect Abby for that.
How the fuck did Abby abandon them? Olivia is the one who made the decision to go across the world without a goodbye, or a word. That’s fucking bullshit. Afterwards it was abby’s responsiblity to hold shit together? DID NO ONE TELL ABBY THAT? That’s fucking bullshit right there.
KC: Also, Abby is totally right and Olivia is totally wrong. She DID abandon her team. She is (was) the boss. She was the person who the buck stopped with and she let them all down after positioning herself as their caretaker/savior. She did that and fucked up. Abby is no angel but she was looking out for herself.
VO: I liked the hand holding between Abby and Olivia. I really think that if there was anyone who was a friend to Olivia, it’s Abby. If she’d just let Abby in. I also think that Abby took the abandonment harder than maybe Olivia anticipated.
KC: I really liked that too! I feel like in this fucked up universe, Liv and Abby are BFF’s. And one thing that Shonda always does right is female friends. I think she knew that Olivia needed a girlfriend/sister of some sort. And Abby has really grown on me in the past couple of seasons.
Hurricane Olivia hits the White House
VO: MELLIE IN UGGS AND A ROBE AND LOOKING INSANE. I LOVE IT. I did not predict that Mellie would fall apart and Fitz was going to be strong and crazy. After watching the Roosevelts and learning that FDR had three mistresses while married (TWO AT THE SAME TIME), I couldn’t help but wonder if Eleanor had a similar talk with FDR that Fitz and Mellie had.
“Yeah, you can bang your cousin and the secretary, but for pete’s sake, tell me about it. Also I’m going on a month long road trip with my best gal pal so you’re gonna have to feed Fala.”
KC: Me neither but you know what? She’s been through so much and honestly Fitz still expects Olivia, Cyrus, someone to come and solve his problems at the end of the day. Mellie probably feels that she had no one, so… why not fall apart. Fuck it!
VO: I think that the Mellie’s grieving was worse for me to watch than seeing Fitz go into an emotional black hole to be honest, because I’ll get some sick glee over Fitz falling apart, because he’s useless. Mellie’s always been utterly alone in the White House and she’s trying to do this “I don’t give a fuck” face when we all know she’s still hurting over the death of her son (who yeah, was a bit of a sociopath, but he’s still her kid).
I wonder where Mellie got her robes? It looks like their raided the Golden Girls robes.
Who am I kidding? I want her peacock robe. And the line “It’s like 1976 down there,” had me howling.
I still believe Bellamy Young was robbed. She’s done some amazing Southern Gothic work with her acting.
KC: Totally. I teared up when I saw her lay on the gravesite. I am not even a mom and I can only imagine the grief. Which is crazy because I didn’t like Little Jerry and thought he was a weird creepy kid. Mellie is on some SERIOUS Mrs. Roper shit and though my heart breaks for her, I am HERE for it. I still root for her to be happy, but it may be too late. She’s full on southern gothic tragedy.
VO: I’m a mom and I can’t even fathom her grief. I know I’ve been that scared regarding my kid’s safety, but the grief? I that’s the worst thing in the world I think. It’s an upset of what is supposed to happen in nature. You’re not supposed to outlive your child. And while neither Fitz nor Mellie seemed like the world’s best parents, I got the impression that Mellie was more engaged than Fitz. She knew how they were doing and what they were up to. She tried at least. Fitz seemed more like a sperm donor who wanted kids, but didn’t want to be a parent.
Is Harrison really dead? Listen carefully to Papa Pope
VO: HI DADDY POPE! I love how her dad is all “WHY ARE YOU BACK?” Because really, I’d be like him also. Daddy Pope is also a lying liar who lies. I wonder how much of this is also Olivia wanting to believe her father was capable of some goodness. Sometimes I’m not sure who’s playing who with this show.
KC: We all wanted Daddy Pope to be good-ish. I still do. (It’s a residual Alias thing I guess.) He’s a liar and a murderer, but he will always put his daughter first. Kinda.
VO: I’m still not sure Harrison is dead. I know Columbus Short has his issues, but if he gets better, I could see a retcon of him being shoved in a B613 hole There’s something about the way dad say “No, I didn’t kill him,” that makes me wonder if he’s telling the truth in that twisted genie fashion.
KC: I don’t think so either, I dunno if Columbus will get his shit together, but with enough time Harrison could be recast and I doubt that fans would put up much of a fuss. The best part of that funeral scene was Papa Pope being all:
(H/T @gangstarrgirl)
So, so subtle.
Why are you back Liv? Why?
VO: I’m still doing this chant of “WHY ARE YOU BACK? WHY?” Also Olivia Pope is like Jessica Fletcher. Whenever she comes into down, shit hits the fan.
KC: Jessica Fletcher did not get every dude in town trying to bang her though.
VO: If we got the Murder She Wrote reboot with Octavia Spencer, maybe they would. grins
And of course Olivia’s going to stay, because once she came into town, she knew that she caused all that damage and couldn’t leave. Which is annoyingly self centered at times.
KC: At times? More like all the time. Her and Fitz deserve each other’s basic asses.
VO: Poor Jake. And did Jake just imply his dick is bigger?
KC: And that he knows where to hit it! I like his confidence. I think he’s probably right too.
Come to the dark side, we have cookies
VO: Holy shit. Abby and Rosen have troubles and the colorist makes me laugh. I’m not surprised that they broke up given the whole B613 thing.
KC: As for Abby and Rosen, they were never gonna last. I like Abby but she is NOT a White Hat and she and Rosen would never see eye to eye on such things.
VO: Rosen as Attorney General? I could see this being interesting if he does tear things down on the inside.
KC: I see this as the beginning of the end for Rosen as white knight, sadly.
VO: You’re probably right. Should we start up a prayer circle to see if he survives the season?