Scandal Season 2 Review “The Other Woman”

Wow, Scandal. The plot thickens. Are you seriously going to leave me with a ‘what just happened’ face at the end of every episode? I’m not sure I’m going to be able to handle it.

Here are a few observations about “The Other Woman”:

The plot was kind of predictable in some respects, but there were a few curveballs thrown in too. The predictable part was the primary case this week. A well-respected Bishop died while having sex with his mistress of fifteen years. Olivia and Co. are called in by the Bishop’s wife, initially, to find him because she believes he’s gone missing. When they all find the truth of what happened to the Bishop, they spend the rest of the episode making sure the Bishop ‘s legacy is protected and his image remains untarnished. One thing “The Other Woman” accomplished was giving voice to the perspectives of both the wife and of the mistress. Not necessarily as it relates to the Bishop’s situation; but certainly how it relates to the Olivia/Fitz/Mellie triangle. The conversations between the two wives and the two mistresses were extremely well done. Just as an aside, why is it that the mistress always acts like she’s been slighted when she doesn’t receive all the rights and privileges of the wife? Why does the mistress feel like she’s entitled to anything the wife has? The mistress made the decision to pursue a married man. It’s not like she didn’t know he was married.

I’m still trying to figure out what the deal is with Quinn. Of course, the end of this episode kind of answered the question of what happened at the trial last week. But it still doesn’t explain why a Supreme Court justice would risk so much to get Quinn out from under a multiple murder charge. Especially a murder case with such media attention. What does Quinn know? And more importantly, does she even know that she knows it? I actually felt bad for her. She’s simply gone from one prison to another. People still believe that she killed all those people, so even though she’s free she’s not really free. It broke my heart a little when she realized that even her own father believed that she had sent that bomb. I don’t think she’s an idiot though. And if Olivia doesn’t let her in on what’s going on, she’s going to just try to work it out on her own.

The relationship between Fitz and Olivia is so sadly sweet. They were on the phone gossiping and laughing like teenagers one minute and yelling out of frustration and pain in the next. In a different set of circumstances, they would be a cute couple. Fitz calls Olivia just because he needs to hear her voice and she answers because she needs to hear his too. Even when they argue it’s not as hostile and cold as his normal conversations with his wife. Speaking of Mellie.

This episode (thankfully) softened some of Mellie’s edges for me. I think intellectually I understood that she was hurt by the Fitz/Olivia relationship. And I understood her animosity toward Fitz because of it. But in this episode she gave a glimpse of her mindset. She feels betrayed, but she also feels like in the end she has a right and responsibility to her husband’s legacy. When she was comforting the Bishop’s widow, it was more like she was comforting herself than anything else. And her conversation with Fitz in the car showed a much more emotional Mellie. She tried to talk about a time when she remembers them both being happy. But that sad part about that is that maybe they both weren’t happy. Maybe she just thought they were. That conversation helped me understand the Fitz/Mellie relationship better. They were never really in love so much as they approached their relationship like a business partnership. Perhaps they thought friendship and mutual respect would be enough to sustain a marriage, but obviously it is not. Mellie perhaps grew to love Fitz to a certain extent, but I don’t know that he ever grew to love her. It’s really a sad, sad situation.

All in all, very good episode. Now the big question: are Fitz and Olivia going to be outed? What did you think of this week’s Scandal?