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 (I'm testing some boundaries here. The image is 1200 pixels wide. If this breaks tables for anybody, let me know and I'll be glad to thumbnail it.) You know, let’s just pass the recap of last season over to Danger Guerrero because no loving way am I going to be able to get the insanity of this show across like he does each week. "Danger Guerrero, Warming Glow, posted:I want to be very clear about what happened here. Look, let’s get the obvious thing out of the way here. At some point, this show is going to flame out. It’s IMPOSSIBLE for this thing to maintain at the speed in which it burns through plot. Now, I don’t think that point’s come yet — I don’t give a liquid poo poo what Pajiba says — but it’s going to happen. And it could eventually fall victim to the same settling that’s taken a hold of Grey’s Anatomy, turning the act of watching that show into something akin to visiting your kindly grandmother every week. But by the way this show operates, it’s just as if not more likely to start making stunning miscalculations in a desperate attempt to one-up itself, leading to a show that’s impossibly bad while remaining relentlessly entertaining, sort of in the vein of Glee or Prison Break. SCANDAL is written on a dare. When you write like that long enough, you eventually draw a dare that breaks your show. But in the meantime, it’s the most buzzed about show on TV for good reason: It’s awesomely loving ridiculous. A lot of that is due to some of the best goddamn scene-chewing on any television show period dot the end. Kerry Washington, Tony Goldwyn, Joshua Malina, Gulliermo Diaz, Jeff Perry, Bellamy Young, Scott Foley, and Smokin' Joe Morton rip through these scripts like a pack of starved wolves on a clumsy fat kid covered in cow’s blood. To be clear, this is not where you go for realistic dialogue. This is where you watch people pull monologues out of their asses and deliver them like they were the Most. IMPORTANT. Words. ON THE PLANET, and you — yes, YOUUUUUUUU in your thirty-five dollar TeeFury shirt and your disgusting, unwashed glasses — are an UNGRATEFUL WORM for not APPRECIATING them. This heightened dialogue turns out to be a perfect match for the hairpin plot turns: it creates the sense of an operatic universe where everyone talks and acts in extremes. So when it’s revealed that the now-President of the United States shot down a passenger jet on a top secret mission decades ago, and that jet happened to be carrying his mistress’s mother, except her mother was pulled off the plane at the last minute and it turns out she’s a crazy terrorist, you don’t think “Oh, gently caress this.” You just nod your head and wonder what The First Lady will have to say about this after she gets a few vodka tonics in her. So if you haven’t seen this show and you’re wondering what the gently caress, go to Netflix. All three seasons are up. The first season is more of a cautious test run where they’re still figuring out how to push themselves, so be patient. After the second season premiere it hits the gas and it doesn’t look back. * * * For those of us who are already on board this crazy train until it goes off the cliff and crashes into that hospital where the kids from Red Band Society are staying, let’s take a look at what’s coming up. First episode back is titled “Randy, Red, Superfreak and Julia.” It picks up two months after the election. Harrison is dead — it was confirmed shortly after last season’s finale that Columbus Short was out due to personal issues — Olivia is still gone, and the team is struggling. As far as the season in general: Rhimes will be leaning more on her ensemble in order to take some pressure off of new mother Kerry Washington. Abby in particular is going to have a lot to do this year: expect to learn more about her past and her history with Olivia Pope. As far as new characters are concerned: Portia Di Rossi, Sonya Walger (Penny from LOST), and Matthew Del Negro (Teen Wolf) will recur this season. Mary McCormack (In Plain Sight) and Josh Randall (Ed, Scrubs) will show up for an episode as a couple. In true Scandal fashion nobody knows anything about their characters. And that’s all that’s known right now! The show is back THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 at 9 PM ET on ABC. See y’all then! DivisionPost fucked around with this message at 15:44 on Nov 6, 2014 |
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Sep 12, 2014 05:08
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Also, a ton of stuff about white hats; who's wearing them, who was wearing them, who gets to wear them, etc.
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Sep 12, 2014 07:18
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This is one of those shows which seems like it's something I would enjoy, and I did try watching the first few episodes once, but I can't bring myself to watch it. I don't have the will or the energy. It's a shame because Kerry Washington is pretty cool.
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Sep 12, 2014 07:51
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I know that she's probably not a regular character any more, but if we're talking monologues then we can't forget Sally Langston's debate prep.  I can't wait for Olivia to no longer be obscured by chairs, plants, a big-rear end glass of wine, random White House pages, her hat, etc. GIVE ME BACK MY SHOW.
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Sep 16, 2014 01:44
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Pinwiz11 posted:I know that she's probably not a regular character any more, but if we're talking monologues then we can't forget Sally Langston's debate prep. Mother gently caress I was looking for that scene for-loving-ever, using the full "YUM YUM CRISPY PIGGY" string! Thank you!
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Sep 16, 2014 02:05
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I did the same, until I remembered that Vulture included it in one of their articles. There was no way I would have found it otherwise.
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Sep 16, 2014 02:26
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I am excited for Portia De Rossi to join the cast. Nice OP DP, I feel like I'm appropriately pumped for the premier now.
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Sep 16, 2014 02:48
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Harrison 
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Sep 18, 2014 05:08
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You guys you guys you guys YOU GUYS!!! It's almost back! 
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Sep 26, 2014 01:23
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OH MY GOD HERE WE GO!!!!!!!
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Sep 26, 2014 02:00
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ABBY'S THE PRESS SECRETARY AND HUCK IS AT THE GEEK SQUAD 
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Sep 26, 2014 02:12
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Poor 
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Sep 26, 2014 02:29
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Mellie's wearing Uggs
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Sep 26, 2014 02:31
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Pinwiz11 posted:Mellie's wearing Uggs That depression is deep. Jake looks so sunburned, it's distracting.
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Sep 26, 2014 02:36
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I like Randy.
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Sep 26, 2014 02:40
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Senator Vaughn looks so familiar but she's not on IMDB yet. Can't place her.
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Sep 26, 2014 02:47
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Soothing Vapors posted:Senator Vaughn looks so familiar but she's not on IMDB yet. Can't place her. She was the Vamp Authority person from True Blood. Sad now...
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Sep 26, 2014 02:50
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Pinwiz11 posted:She was the Vamp Authority person from True Blood. Nan Flanagan! Thank you, that was driving me crazy.
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Sep 26, 2014 03:28
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Something that they could impeach Fitz for that wouldn't destroy the country.
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Sep 27, 2014 01:56
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It seems like 1/2 the episode was a giant middle finger to Columbus Short. "Hey, you were a part of a major TV show, but kept beating your spouse so gently caress off, you're gone for good". Otherwise a great episode. The awkward semi-conversations between Fitz and Cyrus about Mellie's behavior were a bit funnier then I think the writers expected, plus seeing Randy being Randy was good.
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Sep 27, 2014 02:02
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I don't really keep up on interviews and whatnot so I might be wrong, but the season premiere felt like a soft-reboot to dial back the stakes and pace to season 1 levels. I might be overreacting to a single episode, but it felt like an entirely different show than seasons 2 and 3. I'm sure that a lot of critics/fans were concerned that if they kept ratcheting things up that they were going to go off the rails. In fact, I'm sure a lot of people felt like it went off the rails at times last year. Personally, the huge draw for me was how batshit fast and how batshit crazy this show was. I'd prefer to enjoy the ride until it goes hurtling off the cliff and explodes rather than try and slow things back down. Hopefully they just wanted to take the first episode to breathe, to bury Harrison, and to re-establish Olivia in DC before they ramp things back up. Loved Mellie, enjoyed Abby and Quinn... and that was about it. Even Cyrus and Rowan bored me, which is unbelievable. Zero interest in De Rossi's character so far, and the case that Olivia takes up felt like a bland mish-mash of previous scandals.
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Sep 27, 2014 03:12
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pentyne posted:It seems like 1/2 the episode was a giant middle finger to Columbus Short. I loved that about it. I felt like it was also a giant middle finger to every show runner who's gotten pissed at an actor and written him/her off the show in blunt fashion. This is how it's done. This is how you twist that knife and make proper use of it in the story. Columbus Short was hosting a watch party at some club in Atlanta. I'd love to hear eye witness reports of his response.
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Sep 27, 2014 22:30
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When I realized Huck was this guy I liked the show a lot more. I binged watch the show on Netflix on my sister's recommendation, and got through like 2.5 seasons before coming up for air and reading what the internet thought about it. I was incredibly glad to see that everyone else knew how over the top crazy and pretty dumb it is. B613 is the worst name ever.
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Sep 29, 2014 21:53
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Grieving Mellie is the best.
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Oct 3, 2014 02:14
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That fried chicken looks good.
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Oct 3, 2014 02:15
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i was tortured by the talibwaaahn
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Oct 3, 2014 02:19
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loving Jeff Perry, bringing the house down with his short monologue about James to Mellie. (I'm way behind.)
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Oct 3, 2014 02:32
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loving MaCarthur's Park. Awesome!
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Oct 3, 2014 03:08
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That whole episode was shockingly good for a dialed down back-to-basics affair. It's like the room realized that they were about to flame out, so they eased off the gas and went back to the Season 1 formula. But lest it feel like too much of a step back, they managed to give us an entertaining client of the week, and they're setting the overarching plot in motion with the reveal that Portia Di Rossi's head of the RNC is actively working to derail Fitz's administration through scandal. And because they did such a great job establishing these characters, it's not much of a chore to watch them develop and deal with their own poo poo, as opposed to having to juggle said poo poo while putting out fires created by the big bad. Having said that, I can see people being disappointed that they're not yet riding the crazy train they were promised. So, do you guys agree with me? Or are you waiting for Scandal to get to the fireworks factory?
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Oct 3, 2014 03:28
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DivisionPost posted:That whole episode was shockingly good for a dialed down back-to-basics affair. It's like the room realized that they were about to flame out, so they eased off the gas and went back to the Season 1 formula. I have not doubt that we'll see the fireworks factory soon, this episode was all about strapping the chess pieces to the rocket.
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Oct 3, 2014 03:36
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DivisionPost posted:That whole episode was shockingly good for a dialed down back-to-basics affair. It's like the room realized that they were about to flame out, so they eased off the gas and went back to the Season 1 formula. Also, Teen Wolf's dad being a sex worker improves both shows.
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Oct 4, 2014 05:24
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Wait, why is Quinn all of a sudden back on Olivia's side after being with her B613 boyfriend?
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Oct 9, 2014 15:25
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It sucks that times are so rough that former staffers of the Santos administration had to become RNC-employed male sex workers.
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Oct 9, 2014 21:35
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Schiavona posted:It sucks that times are so rough that former staffers of the Santos administration had to become RNC-employed male sex workers. He's augmenting his FBI agent salary so Scott and Melissa don't lose the house.
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Oct 10, 2014 01:39
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God drat that kitchen scene with Jake and Mr. Pope... 
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Oct 10, 2014 03:00
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Retail Slave posted:God drat that kitchen scene with Jake and Mr. Pope...  That made my night.
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Oct 10, 2014 04:14
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My favorite thing about this season so far has been how Mellie just strolls around the White House unkempt, openly ignoring established decorum. Her walking into the room crunching an apple and everyone scattering was hilarious.
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Oct 11, 2014 13:31
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Oh honey why did you do that? I'm so glad I grew up pre-smartphone...
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Oct 17, 2014 02:09
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Olivia has no resolve. And I hate that.
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Oct 17, 2014 02:37
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"It'll be game over. She'll be no better than a reality star, the lowest form of life" Olivia Pope has some strong opinions
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Oct 17, 2014 02:40
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