"We're gladiators. In suits."
Hello everyone!
So.
Last time I blogged was for the finale of the Game of Thrones sixth season, and then of course I had it all planned how I was going to do a blog post on Thursday about a Sarah J. Maas book ... but then life happened and got in the way.
I took some time for a short vacation that was pretty impromptu, I'll give you that, and I have no internet connection when I AM down at the seaside, which means I sort of de-tox.
Back in civilization, however, means back to blogging!
One of my best friends has spent the past, oh I don't even know how long trying to convince me that I absolutely HAVE TO start watching Scandal. I had heard of the show before (with the awards it was picking up, I would have to be blind and deaf not to) but I didn't think it was something I'd get into, nor did I like the characters at first glance. First glance being randomly through pictures and one time when I caught the tail end of an episode on television.
That all changed during vacation.
I only had time to grab the first items on hand to take along with me, and Scandal season one was among them, by pure chance because I was about to already head through the door when I thought to myself 'eh, what the heck, it's only seven episodes after all'.
Boy, did I rue the day when I didn't also grab the second season along with it!
Let's be up front and honest about this: Scandal is one of those TV shows that, once you start watching it, you can't stop.
No, seriously.
I thought I would watch one episode per night or something, stretch it out - and then binged the whole first season over a Sunday afternoon. That's how addictive this show is.
Let's talk about it some, shall we?
So in the first season, what we get to see are the main characters who all work for the Olivia Pope & Associates firm, and they are basically fixers in the American capital. When someone has a problem, they come to Olivia Pope, and she generally manages to fix it for them.
Unless they lied to her and their problem turns out to be not so much a problem.
But I digress.
Liv used to work at the White House and we learn, through character conversations and some flashbacks, that she pretty much helped put the current president (Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III, natch) into the Oval Office, but has since quit there and started her own firm. In this firm, she gathered a motley crew of characters who all needed fixing one way or another:
Stephen Finch, played by Henry Ian Cusick (a favourite of mine) seems to be a serial dater who an't settle down, even tough Olivia pushes him in the direction of his current girlfriend and says he needs to propose. Then we have Harrison Wright who made easy money working for a bad guy and was arrested for it, but Olivia also picked him up and added him to her collection.
Abby Whelan, a red head with a temperament, was stuck in an abusive marriage until one night when Olivia found her beaten in the cold, took a tool to the idiot husband's knee and shattered it, and got her out of said marriage. The new addition to the exclusive gladiators would be a Quinn Perkins who no one knows much about, not until season two anyway, but like with the rest, she probably needs fixing.
And then there's Huck. Like, Huck Finn, Huck, who's probably one of my favourites because he's an ex-CIA operative they won't acknowledge anymore and h has issues of his own, but he's a brilliant hacker if a little less brilliant with social skills. We love him anyway.
On top of all these mysterious connections we have the President, who used to be Liv's lover despite the fact that the man is married, with children (no I'm not talking about the TV show here) and his wife is one snake you have to watch out for. Never forget his chief of staff, Cyrus, either while we're at it. He's dangerous.
Throught the first season, as we get to know the work Olivia and her team do to ensure their clients are happy campers, we keep seeing snippets of something bigger and badder, probably, that went on in the background of both the election and is STILL going on behind the scenes in DC.
It's more a political thriller than a drama on occasion, but my friend was absolutely right - I fell in love with the show within the first five minutes of the pilot episode as Liv explained her process of picking a client.
I'm not entirely sure why the season was so short, but suffice to say I was THRILLED to learn the second one was regular in length of 22 episodes (which I'm currently devouring, I think I may be halfway through tonight). I had to wait, in indignation, to get back home before I could start it though, so there you have it.
I'm totally team Olitz, by the by. Even though I know it's wrong, but the chemistry these two have is OFF. THE. CHARTS.
Allow me to finish off with a quick run-through of all the episodes, and I will leave you to decide if you should watch this show or not (hint: you should).
One - we are introduced to Pope & Associates, Quinn, how they work through a murder case, and the White House situation.
Two - while dealing with the case of a notorious madam, we also learn more about the girl claiming she slept with the president and was discarded.
Three - tensions between Liv and the president run high as more secrets are unearthed about Amanda, not to mention a rape case the team is handling.
Four - the situation becomes more convoluted as Cyrus and Olivia face off, a South American dictator searches for his family, and Amanda Tanner is kidnapped.
Five - we learn more about Huck while everyone searches for Amanda, and the Vice President enters the bigger picture as a contender.
Six - A flashback episode to the primary race and Liv's relationship with the president.
Seven - Cyrus and Olivia have to team up, reluctantly, while Quinn finds herself in trouble.
xx
*images not mine
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