Scandal Season 5 Episode 14 Review: I See You
Miranda Wicker
at
.
Updated at
.
In ripped from the headlines news, Scandal Season 5 Episode 14 just launched us straight into Crazytown with the introduction of a new candidate into this fictional Presidential race.
Hollis Doyle is back and representing the billionaire non-politician segment of our IRL current political sh*tshow.
GREAT.
Of COURSE Hollis Doyle would return because of COURSE this show needed a Donald Drumpf-esque candidate. I love you, Shonda, but art does not have to imitate life when it means playing out real world politics on our escapist television.
Nope. No. Somebody trot the skeletons in this man's closet out on the national stage. Bang the gong.
The race between Mellie and Susan for who would get the party's nomination was enough drama for one series, so now what? Will we see Susan and Mellie team up against Hollis as he inevitably mobilizes all the nasty racist homophobes existing in TV Land?
We watch this show for an escape! For the characters we actually care about! Not Hollis Doyle. Never him.
Speaking of characters we care about, I know Huck's quirks have worn the minds of many people thin, but I still love him. Every time his heart breaks over something to do with his family, my heart breaks a little too.
The guy has to watch his son grow up from a distance because he knows that's the only way to keep his family safe from both himself and those who would seek to do him harm. The fact that someone he once tortured might seek revenge wasn't a far-fetched one, but it was clear from the outset that Sean wouldn't be a bad guy.
He would be the exact kind of stable guy Javi and Kim needed and it was evident that Huck would reach that conclusion. Thankfully, he reached it before killing the guy.
The fact that Sean had all his toes was definitely a plus in his favor.
It was great to see Quinn have it out with Olivia, who definitely did abandon her team. Sure, she was kidnapped. (Seriously. Never want to mention the butcher job that was that kidnapping storyline again, okay? Cool.)
Olivia has made so many terrible choices and completely shirked the responsibilities of the office which bears her name and I'm not even a little mad that Quinn yelled at her. (Also not mad that Susan yelled at Fitz, by the way.)
Olivia's apology to Quinn did little in the way to reconcile all of her bad decisions with the fact that Quinn was right. Olivia forsook them all.
And how did Olivia not recall that whole "he bumped into me and I dropped my phone" story from Vanessa was EXACTLY THE SAME WAY she met Jake? How did it take her until Vanessa dropped her phone again right after Olivia told Jake she missed him (what is that about?) for Olivia to go "oh...hey...so this is familiar..."
She's usually way more on her game than that. The knowledge that Jake is sleeping around with someone else must REALLY be getting to Olivia.
The good news is that now we know for sure that Jake or Rowan or Jake and Rowan are up to something. Vanessa's a mark, just like Olivia was. Jake doesn't love her, unless he makes a habit of falling in love with all of his marks. Which, hey, maybe that's his thing and he's trying to form a harem.
Who knows at this point.
The most interesting/shocking/uh-oh moment of the night goes to Abby.
I didn't think she would go the Political Monster route and tank Cyrus' career, but given all the one-liners about him tonight I should've seen that coming.
I thought she would try to find another way to ruin him besides openly destroying him like she did, and now I'm wondering what's going to happen to Abby.
She's one of the few remaining characters we've seen grow in strength and position over the course of five seasons. Nearly everyone else has been torn to pieces while she's steadily climbed ahead.
I have a feeling this move is going to destroy her and I can't say I'm happy about it.
What do you think? Are you worried about what will happen to Abby now that she's Chief of Staff? WHAT is up with Jake? If you missed anything, you can watch Scandal online to catch up!
Miranda Wicker was a Staff Writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in 2017. Follow her on Twitter.
