Scandal Season 6 Episode 2 Review: Hardball
Paul Dailly
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Cyrus Beene is in a lot of trouble.
That much was revealed on Scandal Season 6 Episode 2, and I can't wait to see what comes next. Murdering the President of the United States is definitely something Cyrus would do.
That dude really wants power, and he's willing to go to any lengths in order to get it. Huck finding the incriminating video was up there as one of the best moments of the hour.
Cyrus offering Mellie a role as Vice President just seemed too far out of the left field to ever come to fruition. On one hand, he wants her close so that he can keep tabs on her.
On the other, he could probably use her as part of his team, but there would be constant rivalry between them. I can't be the only one who laughed out loud when Fitz forced them to talk to each other.
Mellie has got to be one of the most honest characters on all of TV. She could not just sit there and listen to Cyrus talking smack, so she chatted about how he would kill her.
It was delightful. Any way you look at it, Mellie deserves to be President over Cyrus... even if it does turn out that he had nothing do with Vargas' murder.
Cyrus is just so god damn scary that it would not surprise me if he stays in power.
Did anyone else love it when Olivia showed off the footage to Fitz? Fitz was desperately trying to wrap up the whole assassination plot to allow America to move on, but there's no moving on when Olivia Pope is around.
She fights for what she believes in and gets results. Abby already foreshadowed Olivia finding a way to get one step ahead. It was surprising that Fitz didn't figure that out, either.
Abby bringing Jake in was pretty pathetic. Somehow, it seems like Nelson has been stitched up and Jake only took that about ten steps further.
Jake is the go-to person if you want something completed in a way that's entirely unethical. Abby did, however, want to follow orders, so that's why she turned to him.
The flashbacks were a nice touch. Getting to see just how serious Mellie and Marcus once were was quite the shock. At first glance, it seemed like Olivia was heartless, but in reality, she knew just how difficult it would have been for Mellie to be in the White House.
As such, I understand where Olivia was coming from. She had previously warned Mellie that it would not be a good look to be in a relationship with Marcus.
The fallout from Mellie learning the truth about the job was spectacular. There was a very real possibility that she would have cut her ties with Olivia.
The scene with Mellie realizing she wanted to be President over her relationship was great. She was clearly only there to get back on track with Marcus, but standing in the White House made her make up her mind.
Having Olivia and Mellie at odds is not the Scandal I want to be watching on a weekly basis. Both characters are just great in any scene they have together.
The jury is out on Angela, but I'm sure she's going to get wind of Olivia's ulterior motives and use it to her advantage as she continues to get closer to Fitz.
You could tell Olivia was not really okay with the pairing, but she needed to find something to talk about while Quinn was infiltrating the FBI to get the evidence.
It did seem pretty laughable that Quinn used identification that looked nothing like her. If the real FBI is as easy to gain access to, then they seriously need to think about updating their security.
Oh, and we can't forget Quinn trying to steal the evidence from the crime scene. Like I said, security needs to be updated.
"Hardball" was a fun episode of this ABC hit. It was a cut above the season premiere and gave me hope that the Scandal we know and love is back.
Other tidbits from the episode:
- Quinn and Huck shocked that Marcus was crying was everything.
- Quinn pretending to have ordered the evidence way earlier was hilarious. The way the dude ran away when he thought the director of the FBI was about to come out and fire him was so silly, but so fun to watch.
- Jake's decreased prominence is doing wonders for the show. However, I don't think he had anything to do with Vargas' murder.
- Why was Vargas upset with Cyrus in the video?
- It seemed odd that Quinn was questioning her relationship with Charlie when she seemed ecstatic just last week.
Remember you can watch Scandal online right here on TV Fanatic. Get caught up now!
Over to you, Scandal fanatics! What did you think of the twists? Sound off below!
Note: Scandal Season 6 Episode 3 airs February 9 on ABC.
Paul Dailly was an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic.Follow him on X.
