I think it was Cyrus. I think he saw that Hollis was going to destroy Fitz and so he hired Charlie to shoot him but not kill him in hopes that it would somehow endear him to the American people and detract from whatever Hollis plans to unleash. I think that's why you hear Cyrus in the promo say that the American people have to want Fitz dead in order for that to happen. It was staged. I think Mellie was in on it but I think she worried something might go wrong with the plan and tried to back out. I definitely don't think the intention was to kill Fitz and I honestly think he was shot in the arm or leg or torso. Definitely not dead. Shonda is not stupid. There would be no Scandal without Olitz. I think it's safe to say that we all hate Edivia.
mrenee
November 30th, 2012 8:51 PM
Miranda--Fitz' ego is constantly fed by all of those around him--remember Mellie and the Secret Service guys discussing to what extremes they were willing to go for him? Acceptable? Not sure, but certainly par for the course. I don't see him abusing his power regarding Olivia. Quite the contrary, there's not much he wouldn't do to please her. Cyrus is an abuser of power.
I remain amazed at the judgements about Olivia and Edison and confused that we don't call Fitz out at all. Could it be that women respond to his vulnerability much more than the pain that Olivia experiences?
Nikki
November 30th, 2012 5:36 PM
I thought the episode was fantastic! As soon as Cyrus allowed James at the birthday dinner, i knew it would spark something.
I hated that Fitz was having Olivia followed even if he did have it stopped. It is creepy and controlling. I love their chemistry but cannot stand if they end up together. Any man who abuses his office to keep tabs on his mistress has no honour. I think it is interesting that Edison is depicted as having so much integrity(what everyone says about him) but both Olivia and Fitz and much more murky characters.
Mellie didn't know or have anything to do with this. She resents Fitz after everything but she is shown as caring about him. I think it was just intuition. I really want to know more about the voter fraud. How and when did they plan it? Did they find out the machines had flaws and then decided to manipulate it for their own gain?
Miranda Wicker Rank: Staff Member
November 30th, 2012 5:06 PM
@mrenee--sorry if that came off shorter sounding than intended. I'm computer-less and posting from my phone.
Miranda Wicker Rank: Staff Member
November 30th, 2012 5:05 PM
@mrenee, I can't tell if you think his ego and abuse of power is a bad thing or acceptable given who he is.
Chelle
November 30th, 2012 4:32 PM
First of all I live in Ohio and the chances of that many Demacrat votes in Definace county to change anything is not very likely. But I like the idea of the voting fraud story line,I just the would of placed in say Franklin County (Columbus) Ohio would have been more realistic. Olivia is going to have her hands full fixing this.
fujitsioux
November 30th, 2012 3:05 PM
Billy Campbell shot Fitz, although I am not sure if he has sniper skills.
V
November 30th, 2012 2:00 PM
All I can say is I love scandal...
Overthinking
November 30th, 2012 1:03 PM
@ Reese you are right “Defiance” is the county in OH where voting was rigged but this just one storyline in the episode supporting the title of the episode. Other storylines include; David defied his boss and is still investigating Hollis by using James. James defied Cy by again investigating and will possibly write about what he found on Hollis. Quinn defied Olivia by looking into how she got to DC even though she was told that it would be in her best interest not to have all the answers. The billionaire defied his family to find ‘happiness’ with the 21 year old etc etc……………….
mrenee
November 30th, 2012 12:40 PM
Cont.. See his reaction to the new couple at the gala. We would certainly know how much "letting go" Fitz was prepared to do.
I think Mellie had some knowledge--maybe she heard something. She looked too startled when he told her that he and Olivia were through.
Can we give Olivia a break? Edison is ordinary and what's the word they use? Normal. The Fitz drama must be heartbreaking and no one cares what effect it has on her. Felt sorry for her when she was with Cyrus--although Cyrus will soon have to worry about his own heart. Will he have to get rid of James? I expect Olivia will go into her normal Fitz mode--save and protect him at all cost. Will Edison be smart enough to notice?
mrenee
November 30th, 2012 12:30 PM
Miranda, you're scaring me. Fitz obsessive? Of course he is and will always be. There is no really powerful man that does not have a healthy dose of ego. Is this a surprise? Mellie is pregnant and he gets crazy because Olivia was seen with another man--Hunting Season anyone? From Season 1 'til now, he has never actually apologized to Olivia for getting her involved in that Amanda Tanner drama. How that must have hurt her. It's apparent that his love for Olivia is strong, but let's face it, until he left her, he's only thought of himself.
As for the surveillance, why wouldn't he want to know what she's doing when he's not around---especially because he's never around? He's a man, who has total access. It's partially his way of protecting her and himself as well.
I would like to think that he had finally decided to let Olivia go and wanted the best for her and Edison. The photos cut him to the core, but he needed to make an effort to move on. I am only sorry that we did
I don't think the first lady had anything to do with shooting. If she knew about it, why would she put herself and baby in harms way?
Love this show, BUT, sometimes they all talk too fast, one after the other, can't make anything out. Very annoying.
Reese
November 30th, 2012 10:24 AM
I thought that the title "Defiance" had to do with the name of the town where the voting was rigged. Which the POTUS was talking about at his bday dinner which really made James start the investigation.
Delilah
November 30th, 2012 9:52 AM
@Miranda - It was heavily implied that it was CYRUS who first started the surveillance on Olivia during the ep Hunting Season. People automatically assumed it was Fitz but he seemd as surprised as the next guy when Cyrus handed over those photos. There's your abuse of power. There is a definite anti-Fitz tone in all your reviews, words like obsessive and stalker are tossed in far too easily in his direction for whatever reason. I don't notice the same tone when Olivia toys with people's lives and abuses *her* power with her employees. Why is that?
Reese
November 30th, 2012 9:39 AM
@Overthinking - I'm with you. I really don't think it was anyone from the round table. Those are all good possible suspects, especially the governor who lost to Fitz.
Overthinking
November 30th, 2012 9:32 AM
@Oyan - I am there with you on your list of suspects
One other thing I would like to throw out there, since the title of the episode was "Defiance" this might be another clue to suggest someone close to Fitz (the roundtable) had something to do with the shooting. Who knows.......Is it Thursday 10pm yet!?!
Overthinking
November 30th, 2012 9:26 AM
Who shot POTUS? is more like asking who stand to benefit the most if Fitz dies? I am not sure anyone from the roundtable had anything to do with the shooting since they went to so much trouble to get Fitz into the office so they can further their agendas. Wouldn't surprise me though if one of them was involved(Hollis or Mellie). The VP (Sally) is my main suspect. Are we sure that Billy the VP chief of staff from S1 was really killed by Charlie? He was hell bent on having Sally be the president. Other suspects would be; the governor who lost election to Fitz, someone we are yet to be introduced to or the guy who wanted to expose the spies. Going by his history, he seemed to have a grudge with the government.
Reese
November 30th, 2012 9:24 AM
I can't wait for next week! I don't know if Mellie had anything to do with the President being shot but I don't think so. I don't even know if its Hollis. What would Hollis have to gain by having the POTUS shot?? Edison, ugh, why couldnt' Shonda find a different person to play his role. He & Olivia have no chemistry!! He is ambitious though and both are using each other in my opinion. Quinn is trying to find out what happened to her and she probably will but okay then what is she going to do with that information? I dont see Quinn as a threat to anybody. Olivia was surprised that the POTUS made that choice but I feel that he just did it for her because he still loves her. He probably figured it would make her happy. I can't wait to see James next move, Cyrus is going to flip out to say the least.
Oyan
November 30th, 2012 9:17 AM
oops, forgot to add as a possible suspect in the 'shooting', the Governor, who President Fitzgerald 'won' the presidency from;or maybe even the governors, now imprisoned wife. The governor was 'pretty' mad about the whole thing.... yikes, 'winning'?
Oyan
November 30th, 2012 9:10 AM
I'm torn on this. 'Mellie' said SHE, would blow" President Fitgerald away; would she have risked hiring someone to do it? I think 'Billy', from season one might have had this done, f he is not 'gone' himself (ie. he and 'Charlie' ilast seen in the elevator). I think 'Mellie' loves 'Fitz', and needs to be the FLOTUS', killing him would take that away, unless she was figuring on running in his 'absence'. Finally, I feel the buildup to this was off, as there was no one incident where I could see who{m} might want President Fitzgerald gone, with the exception of 'Billy', the Vice President or 'Hollis'.
Umma
November 30th, 2012 8:57 AM
Saying Mellie knew did it would be too easy and nothing is ever that easy on Scandal, there's probably another explanation or if she did know not in the context that everything played out ( heck now am confusing myself). It'll be interesting to see everyone's reaction next week will this prompt Olivia to say the magic 3 words.
kayliej
November 30th, 2012 8:25 AM
Wow! that was a hell of a ending. i knew something bad was gonna happen when melly started asking him to lets please just go home, although im still not sure if she had anything to do with it. she genuinelly seemed worried in a i dont like this something doesnt kinda way instead of a worried in a here we go kinda way. i loved quinn this episode. shes close to figuring stuff out, and her asking huck all the hypotheticals was funny. you could see he didnt really want to answer her questions so it was kinda funny when he shot her down. all in all great episode
Miranda Wicker Rank: Staff Member
November 30th, 2012 8:13 AM
@T, so you think she definitely knew? I can't decide if I think she knew or if something in her gut just said they shouldn't get out of the car.
T
November 30th, 2012 8:00 AM
All I have to say is this:
Mellie knew about the assassination attempt. I love Scandal, but when did TV get so predictable...?
Shonda did that, though. SHE DIIIIIIIIIIIID THAT!
Miranda Wicker Rank: Staff Member
November 30th, 2012 6:57 AM
@Delilah--Fitz-bashing? Really? I have ONE sentence in there about him being obsessive. ONE. Even though he told the surveillance detail to stop and they didn't the fact that there was even one there to begin with crossed a line and was, in my estimation, an abuse of his office. We generally sneer at the government watching the every move of private citizens (there was an entire episode about it!) so why would we think it okay and NOT obsessive for the POTUS to watch his mistress?
And I never called her relationship with Edison romantic, nor did I say they have the hallmarks of happily ever after.
Harrison: We didn't want to bother you while you were… Abby: Shaking off the crazy.
November 30th, 2012 8:54 PM
I think it was Cyrus. I think he saw that Hollis was going to destroy Fitz and so he hired Charlie to shoot him but not kill him in hopes that it would somehow endear him to the American people and detract from whatever Hollis plans to unleash. I think that's why you hear Cyrus in the promo say that the American people have to want Fitz dead in order for that to happen. It was staged. I think Mellie was in on it but I think she worried something might go wrong with the plan and tried to back out. I definitely don't think the intention was to kill Fitz and I honestly think he was shot in the arm or leg or torso. Definitely not dead. Shonda is not stupid. There would be no Scandal without Olitz. I think it's safe to say that we all hate Edivia.
November 30th, 2012 8:51 PM
Miranda--Fitz' ego is constantly fed by all of those around him--remember Mellie and the Secret Service guys discussing to what extremes they were willing to go for him? Acceptable? Not sure, but certainly par for the course. I don't see him abusing his power regarding Olivia. Quite the contrary, there's not much he wouldn't do to please her. Cyrus is an abuser of power.
I remain amazed at the judgements about Olivia and Edison and confused that we don't call Fitz out at all. Could it be that women respond to his vulnerability much more than the pain that Olivia experiences?
November 30th, 2012 5:36 PM
I thought the episode was fantastic! As soon as Cyrus allowed James at the birthday dinner, i knew it would spark something.
I hated that Fitz was having Olivia followed even if he did have it stopped. It is creepy and controlling. I love their chemistry but cannot stand if they end up together. Any man who abuses his office to keep tabs on his mistress has no honour. I think it is interesting that Edison is depicted as having so much integrity(what everyone says about him) but both Olivia and Fitz and much more murky characters.
Mellie didn't know or have anything to do with this. She resents Fitz after everything but she is shown as caring about him. I think it was just intuition. I really want to know more about the voter fraud. How and when did they plan it? Did they find out the machines had flaws and then decided to manipulate it for their own gain?
Rank: Staff Member
November 30th, 2012 5:06 PM
@mrenee--sorry if that came off shorter sounding than intended. I'm computer-less and posting from my phone.
Rank: Staff Member
November 30th, 2012 5:05 PM
@mrenee, I can't tell if you think his ego and abuse of power is a bad thing or acceptable given who he is.
November 30th, 2012 4:32 PM
First of all I live in Ohio and the chances of that many Demacrat votes in Definace county to change anything is not very likely. But I like the idea of the voting fraud story line,I just the would of placed in say Franklin County (Columbus) Ohio would have been more realistic. Olivia is going to have her hands full fixing this.
November 30th, 2012 3:05 PM
Billy Campbell shot Fitz, although I am not sure if he has sniper skills.
November 30th, 2012 2:00 PM
All I can say is I love scandal...
November 30th, 2012 1:03 PM
@ Reese you are right “Defiance” is the county in OH where voting was rigged but this just one storyline in the episode supporting the title of the episode. Other storylines include; David defied his boss and is still investigating Hollis by using James. James defied Cy by again investigating and will possibly write about what he found on Hollis. Quinn defied Olivia by looking into how she got to DC even though she was told that it would be in her best interest not to have all the answers. The billionaire defied his family to find ‘happiness’ with the 21 year old etc etc……………….
November 30th, 2012 12:40 PM
Cont.. See his reaction to the new couple at the gala. We would certainly know how much "letting go" Fitz was prepared to do.
I think Mellie had some knowledge--maybe she heard something. She looked too startled when he told her that he and Olivia were through.
Can we give Olivia a break? Edison is ordinary and what's the word they use? Normal. The Fitz drama must be heartbreaking and no one cares what effect it has on her. Felt sorry for her when she was with Cyrus--although Cyrus will soon have to worry about his own heart. Will he have to get rid of James? I expect Olivia will go into her normal Fitz mode--save and protect him at all cost. Will Edison be smart enough to notice?
November 30th, 2012 12:30 PM
Miranda, you're scaring me. Fitz obsessive? Of course he is and will always be. There is no really powerful man that does not have a healthy dose of ego. Is this a surprise? Mellie is pregnant and he gets crazy because Olivia was seen with another man--Hunting Season anyone? From Season 1 'til now, he has never actually apologized to Olivia for getting her involved in that Amanda Tanner drama. How that must have hurt her. It's apparent that his love for Olivia is strong, but let's face it, until he left her, he's only thought of himself.
As for the surveillance, why wouldn't he want to know what she's doing when he's not around---especially because he's never around? He's a man, who has total access. It's partially his way of protecting her and himself as well.
I would like to think that he had finally decided to let Olivia go and wanted the best for her and Edison. The photos cut him to the core, but he needed to make an effort to move on. I am only sorry that we did
Rank: Extra
November 30th, 2012 11:26 AM
I don't think the first lady had anything to do with shooting. If she knew about it, why would she put herself and baby in harms way?
Love this show, BUT, sometimes they all talk too fast, one after the other, can't make anything out. Very annoying.
November 30th, 2012 10:24 AM
I thought that the title "Defiance" had to do with the name of the town where the voting was rigged. Which the POTUS was talking about at his bday dinner which really made James start the investigation.
November 30th, 2012 9:52 AM
@Miranda - It was heavily implied that it was CYRUS who first started the surveillance on Olivia during the ep Hunting Season. People automatically assumed it was Fitz but he seemd as surprised as the next guy when Cyrus handed over those photos. There's your abuse of power. There is a definite anti-Fitz tone in all your reviews, words like obsessive and stalker are tossed in far too easily in his direction for whatever reason. I don't notice the same tone when Olivia toys with people's lives and abuses *her* power with her employees. Why is that?
November 30th, 2012 9:39 AM
@Overthinking - I'm with you. I really don't think it was anyone from the round table. Those are all good possible suspects, especially the governor who lost to Fitz.
November 30th, 2012 9:32 AM
@Oyan - I am there with you on your list of suspects
One other thing I would like to throw out there, since the title of the episode was "Defiance" this might be another clue to suggest someone close to Fitz (the roundtable) had something to do with the shooting. Who knows.......Is it Thursday 10pm yet!?!
November 30th, 2012 9:26 AM
Who shot POTUS? is more like asking who stand to benefit the most if Fitz dies? I am not sure anyone from the roundtable had anything to do with the shooting since they went to so much trouble to get Fitz into the office so they can further their agendas. Wouldn't surprise me though if one of them was involved(Hollis or Mellie). The VP (Sally) is my main suspect. Are we sure that Billy the VP chief of staff from S1 was really killed by Charlie? He was hell bent on having Sally be the president. Other suspects would be; the governor who lost election to Fitz, someone we are yet to be introduced to or the guy who wanted to expose the spies. Going by his history, he seemed to have a grudge with the government.
November 30th, 2012 9:24 AM
I can't wait for next week! I don't know if Mellie had anything to do with the President being shot but I don't think so. I don't even know if its Hollis. What would Hollis have to gain by having the POTUS shot?? Edison, ugh, why couldnt' Shonda find a different person to play his role. He & Olivia have no chemistry!! He is ambitious though and both are using each other in my opinion. Quinn is trying to find out what happened to her and she probably will but okay then what is she going to do with that information? I dont see Quinn as a threat to anybody. Olivia was surprised that the POTUS made that choice but I feel that he just did it for her because he still loves her. He probably figured it would make her happy. I can't wait to see James next move, Cyrus is going to flip out to say the least.
November 30th, 2012 9:17 AM
oops, forgot to add as a possible suspect in the 'shooting', the Governor, who President Fitzgerald 'won' the presidency from;or maybe even the governors, now imprisoned wife. The governor was 'pretty' mad about the whole thing.... yikes, 'winning'?
November 30th, 2012 9:10 AM
I'm torn on this. 'Mellie' said SHE, would blow" President Fitgerald away; would she have risked hiring someone to do it? I think 'Billy', from season one might have had this done, f he is not 'gone' himself (ie. he and 'Charlie' ilast seen in the elevator). I think 'Mellie' loves 'Fitz', and needs to be the FLOTUS', killing him would take that away, unless she was figuring on running in his 'absence'. Finally, I feel the buildup to this was off, as there was no one incident where I could see who{m} might want President Fitzgerald gone, with the exception of 'Billy', the Vice President or 'Hollis'.
November 30th, 2012 8:57 AM
Saying Mellie knew did it would be too easy and nothing is ever that easy on Scandal, there's probably another explanation or if she did know not in the context that everything played out ( heck now am confusing myself). It'll be interesting to see everyone's reaction next week will this prompt Olivia to say the magic 3 words.
November 30th, 2012 8:25 AM
Wow! that was a hell of a ending. i knew something bad was gonna happen when melly started asking him to lets please just go home, although im still not sure if she had anything to do with it. she genuinelly seemed worried in a i dont like this something doesnt kinda way instead of a worried in a here we go kinda way. i loved quinn this episode. shes close to figuring stuff out, and her asking huck all the hypotheticals was funny. you could see he didnt really want to answer her questions so it was kinda funny when he shot her down. all in all great episode
Rank: Staff Member
November 30th, 2012 8:13 AM
@T, so you think she definitely knew? I can't decide if I think she knew or if something in her gut just said they shouldn't get out of the car.
November 30th, 2012 8:00 AM
All I have to say is this:
Mellie knew about the assassination attempt. I love Scandal, but when did TV get so predictable...?
Shonda did that, though. SHE DIIIIIIIIIIIID THAT!
Rank: Staff Member
November 30th, 2012 6:57 AM
@Delilah--Fitz-bashing? Really? I have ONE sentence in there about him being obsessive. ONE. Even though he told the surveillance detail to stop and they didn't the fact that there was even one there to begin with crossed a line and was, in my estimation, an abuse of his office. We generally sneer at the government watching the every move of private citizens (there was an entire episode about it!) so why would we think it okay and NOT obsessive for the POTUS to watch his mistress?
And I never called her relationship with Edison romantic, nor did I say they have the hallmarks of happily ever after.