Scandal Review: Can You Handle This?

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Is it just me or is Scandal the hottest show anywhere right now? It doesn't matter what time of day it is, someone somewhere seems to be watching Scandal reruns, talking about Scandal reruns, Tweeting about Scandal or buying the latest Scandal fashions at their local Saks store. 

All Scandal, all the time. And now that it's returned - and what a return that was - we have a brand new season to obsess over. Best Thursday night ever!

David and Harrison

"It's Handled" had absolutely everyone, even Daddy Dearest, trying to control the situation after Olivia was outed as being the President's mistress. Her father tried to put her on a plane with a new identity. Cyrus prepared to burn her. The team scrambled behind the scenes to figure out something - anything - that would save her.

David advised her to get out in front of the story and save herself in whatever little way she might be able. She pulled the fire alarm and arranged a super top secret meeting with Fitz and Mellie where they agreed to go with the truth. Or at least she thought they decided to go with the truth. 

Mellie, ever working her own agenda, opted to burn a White House press corps staffer instead. Because that's what Mellie does. 

But the truth - Olivia Pope's name being out there - set Olivia free anyway. Which is what Fitz planned when he dropped her name to the press. Oh, yes, that's right. Fitz leaked Olivia's name.

It. Was. Brilliant!

It will probably never work quite like he thinks it will work, but wow. He leaked her name so that Mellie couldn't. The look on Mellie's face when she realized she'd been bested was priceless. There's nothing quite like watching Fitz and Mellie go tit-for-tat in an all-out war. Nothing at all. 

That weak groveling we thought he did on Scandal Season 2? That was part of his master plan to make Mellie think he was apologetic and remorseful for his affair. And it worked! 

Or did it? With Mellie we can never be too sure, you know? She's wily, and like she said, she has a lot of time on her hands to sit around and think. She's smart and bored and Fitz better watch out. 

Everything about this episode was masterfully done. 

Every word of this show is quotable and if I could, I'd just transcribe the entire thing for the Scandal quotes page. Cyrus' verbal smackdowns of Sally Langston will never, ever, ever get old. Quinn's one-liner about killing another intern to shift the focus off of Olivia was excellent. First, it was funny, however inappropriately so, and second, it shows just how far down the Huck-carved rabbit hole Quinn's gone. She's going to be an interesting team member this season.

Joe Morton as Rowan Pope is amazing. (Also, sort of evil and scary.) It's incredibly interesting to learn more about Olivia's life because she (and Harrison) are two characters about whom we know the least. Now we know that Olivia's mom died when she was 12 and she was sent to school all over the world with the rumor of a sweet, old dad at home. But really she was sent to school all over the world because her real dad was busy commanding an army of highly trained assassins who protected the country. It's not like he could come and speak on career day. 

So now the question is, does Cyrus know that this man is Olivia's father? In the kill-folder session, he seemed not to know much about her background, which makes sense because she's tight-lipped about her life. But Cyrus knows Rowan Pope personally and is now being looped into something big regarding Fitz and Jake Ballard.

(Poor Jake! We hope you get out of the box soon!)

Ah, Scandal! I'm glad to have you back.

What did you think of "It's Handled?" On a scale of 1 to 10, how excited are you that Scandal is back? What's inside the folder?

It's Handled Review

Editor Rating: 5.0 / 5.0
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User Rating:

Rating: 3.7 / 5.0 (308 Votes)

Miranda Wicker was a Staff Writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in 2017. Follow her on Twitter.

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Scandal Season 3 Episode 1 Quotes

Olivia: You shouldn't be here?
David: Why? Because I'm the US Attorney for the District of Columbia and may be asked to investigate the President's affair with you? I left that hat at the door.

[to Olivia] I am a monster, but honey, I am your monster.

Cyrus