Scandal: A Genesis Jones Perspective

Hi everyone,

I know it has been a long time. I apologize for not being around, but work and life had me on lockdown. Now I am back with another review this week. Well, actually it is more of an analysis. 

Now I know from the title of this post, most of you will figure out what it is about. That’s right….Shonda Rhimes’ Scandal! Aright now before I get down to the nitty gritty of the show, I would like to express my apologizes if I offend anyone who are Team Olitz or Team Olake fans. These are just my opinions and that is just that.

Okay so here we go. Yesterday, a couple of my co-workers and I had a debate about this week’s episode. Now, one co-worker and myself are Olitz fans and the other is an Olake fan. So typically our conversations are very deep when it comes to the show. After we took our conversation on the road and eventually went our separate ways…I started to think in depth about these three characters. So here is my pros and cons about the three of them in no particular order:

Olivia Pope:

Kerry Washington as Olivia Pope. She wears the white hat.

I love Olivia to death. I love how she was in the first season. The no nonsense Olivia who could always go with her gut instincts. Nowadays, I think Olivia to some degree lost a bit of who she was. I mean let’s face it, the woman found out that her mother is alive after all of these years and that her father was holding her captive. Then finding out that the woman is a terrorist and that the plane she was on…her lover, Fitz was the one that brought down that plane by the orders of Olivia’s own father, Rowan. Okay, that is a lot for anyone to deal with. I get the writers were/are trying to show a more sensitive, vulnerable Olivia. I respect that. But what the hell?! This woman has spent a lot of time around that wine bottle these days, I am surprised no one showed up at her apartment waving intervention in her face!

Another thing that left me particularly miffed about the ending of the third season…was the fact that she left with Jake. No, I wasn’t expecting her to stay with Fitz, but I understood what she meant when she told him to stay with Mellie and that she wouldn’t want him if he left Mellie after finding out that his father, Big Jerry had raped Mellie years ago. That was the very reason why Mellie had become frigid towards Fitz, which ultimately made him turn to another woman. Olivia’s behind should have went by herself. To me, it showed that Jake was the consolation prize. It made me look at her and think that she really couldn’t exist without either one of them. Which also made me believe that if she couldn’t have Fitz then she was willing to settle for Jake. I think that if Liv had left on her own and said, “Screw them. I don’t need them” I think it would have been better.

Sometimes it feels like she is too co-dependent on them, even though there are times they say and do things to hurt her. On the other hand, it finally took this recent episode to show me that she may have genuine love for Jake. Yes, she cares about him. And yes, she did get all up in Papa Pope’s face about setting Jake up for killing Little Jerry. Liv does love Jake, but I don’t think it is to the same degree of love that she has for Fitz. I like that she is back at work doing what she does. But this is not the same Liv that we met over two years ago.

Jake Ballard:

Scott Foley as Jake Ballard. The Sun guy of State Farm dude.

Okay, I do and don’t like Jake. So Olakers read past this if you want to. But I’m sorry. This man has spied on Olivia and even taughted Fitz about Olivia saying his name in bed. It is no wonder I think that the ass kicking he received was in part because of the fact that he is sleeping with the woman Fitz loves. The man has killed people! He killed James, but I suppose the fact that he stayed with James until he died was to show some decency in Jake. Please. Regardless of his reasoning behind killing James, he still did. And when he found out that Liv slept with him to get information on B613, it was Jake who marched his behind into that office and grabbed Olivia by the throat while holding the associates at gunpoint. Smooth Jake, real smooth indeed.

In addition, another problem I have with Jake is his inability to shut the hell up! At dinner when he told Rowan that he knew that he had killed Harrison and Little Jerry, it was no wonder that Rowan didn’t slice his throat right then and there. Jake sucks at being discreet with what he knows. Why would you tell the man that you know what he did? Now, that left Jake wide open for Rowan to get rid of him. He played right into that man’s hands and he knew it. That was dumb. If you have info like that on Papa Pope you don’t run and tell him that you got info on him. Didn’t Jake get the memo?! That’s why Harrison is dead!!!!!! He opened his mouth when he figured out that Rowan was behind the whole assassination and framed Liv’s mom for it. Jake sit down and take notes. Stop snitching on yourself!

However, Jake loves Olivia. He is completely aware that she is in love with Fitz and in more or less terms have accepted it (although, I don’t know what man is willing to be with someone who is in love with someone else, let alone continue sleeping with them). He has played the Olivia and Fitz game and now he wants to be with her. He is available, handsome and he keeps Olivia on her toes. Especially, when he declared that he wanted only a booty call from her because she got herself caught up in the White House again. He knew he wouldn’t have her completely if she was pulled back into Fitz’s world. He doesn’t play by her rules, he plays by his own which can make Jake a winner.

Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III:

Tony Goldwyn as Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III. #Vermontgate

 Okay, Olitzers it’s your turn. What can I say about Fitz??? Hmm. It’s hard to be partial to him, but I got to give him the same treatment as Jake. Alright. Fitz is screwed up. There is no denying that. Fitz’s major problem is Olivia Pope. I am sorry folks. I love these two together, but even I think that it will never happen. First and foremost, he is a married man. Plain and simple. He knew he was married when he first started messing around with Liv. Now, I know I didn’t put this in the Olivia section, but it can be said here. Rather than fix his marriage, he chose to have an affair. Even if he didn’t want to stay married to Mellie, he could have simply divorced her. Forget about how the public views him. If he wasn’t happy, he should have left. By having the affair with Liv, makes him look like an unfaithful scumbag who verbally treated his wife like crap. I wasn’t okay with how he treated Mellie for a long time. But it wasn’t until I saw the Help episode, it dawned on me. That this marriage was in trouble because she pulled away from him, which gave Fitz the chance to fall in love with someone else. It wasn’t that he didn’t try, he didn’t know how and wasn’t aware of what had happened to Mellie, until Olivia told him. However, he still destroyed his vows to his wife when he started sleeping with Liv. That’s why he will always be looked down on.

Another issue I have with Fitz is ability to be selfish. Fitz shouldn’t be mad at the fact that Olivia moved on. Okay, so I know she moved on with Jake. His FRIEND from the service! But I also know that and this ties into the fact that he is married, Fitz can’t expect Liv to wait for him just because he wants her to. I mean, come on. Wait four years for this man, who you have to see discreetly? Schedule hookups and quickies in a broom closet or a late night visit to her house and sex her for hours (okay realistically speaking that last part doesn’t sound half bad, I’m just saying). You two can’t never show affection in public because he is married and happens to be president of the United States! Seriously, what kind of life is that?! And Fitz had no right to get mad at Andrew for sexing Mellie either. Fitz wasn’t exactly doing his husbandly duties with his wife, so why even get salty because she had an affair? You had an affair on her and some cases practically flaunted Liv in her face. So, no Fitz have a damned seat. ****Correction***** Fitz was upset that she slept with Andrew after she refused to sleep with Fitz. (Sorry, everyone)

And let me not get started on his daddy issues. It’s been years since his father’s death and Fitz is still that vulnerable little boy to this day. He feels insecure about his job as POTUS in part of his father, Big Jerry. Having to live up to his dad’s expectations influences Fitz’s decisions. For example, both had affairs on their wives. They are both verbally abusive to their loved ones. Not to mention that Fitz was becoming an alcoholic. He feels that he is always justified in his actions, despite being wrong for a good chunk of them. He is very stubborn, it is like torture trying to see someone explain the truth to him and he thinks they are lying to him, ie. See Olivia and Jake. He is doubtful of being a good father because of his son’s death. He is doubtful of himself as a man, because Olivia left him for Jake. Fitz is a ball of issues. And like Jake has his hands dirty. Let us not forget that he smothered Verna to death in her hospital bed (okay she did try to assassinate him though). Fitz can also learn to shut his mouth too. Don’t tell the woman you are seeing’s father about how good she is in bed. Sorry Fitz. You are just as bad as Jake when it comes to saying things you shouldn’t be saying. Maybe Papa Pope should bust up your ribs the same way you beat up Jake. Fitz’s temper can be quite scary at times. Which makes me cringe when he gets mad with Liv or Mellie (I hope that he doesn’t hit them one day).

On the other hand, Fitz loves Liv. I don’t think it’s just an affair with him. He has stated several times to her that he wants to divorce Mellie and be with her and have children with her. I mean that man went so far as to buy Liv a house in Vermont (damn I’m sweating just thinking about Vermontgate) so they could raise their family together and make jam (lol). Their love intense. When these two get together, you can practically feel the love they have for one another. He loves hard. This man was going to give him his presidency for her. He even went so far and outed their affair to the public. Fitz, I think can be with Liv if he would get rid of all the personal hangups he has. Stop living in the past and focus on his future. He may have to face the possibility that he may not have a future with Liv. But one can only hope that is to the contrary.

I would like thank you all for reading. Feel free to subscribe. Thanks!  Remember Scandal is on Thursday at 9pm on ABC.