Scandal review – 3×17: ‘Flesh And Blood’

Scandal goes full-fledged soap opera with DNA tests, multiple love triangles, and a good old fashioned game of Russian Roulette.

Let’s bitch it out…

B613 is down for the count and OPA becomes the haven for wayward characters looking to stop Maya (Khandi Alexander) from killing Fitz (Tony Goldwyn). Anyone who’s anyone is hanging out at OPA this week. That includes both Commands, until Papa Pope (Joe Morton) forces an ultimatum and Liv (Kerry Washington) kicks Jake (Scott Foley) out. Not the route I would have gone, but whatever, we all know I’m biased…

Now that B613 is dismantled, the team needs another way to find out how Maya intends to use the bomb she acquired, so the focus turns to kidnapping her longtime lover / handler / bomb maker, Dominick.

In the B613 Operative Show Down, Huck (Guillermo Diaz) beats Charlie (George Newburn) and Quinn (Katie Lowes) and finds Dominick first, dropping his hog-tied ass to OPA.  After interrogating him and getting nothing, the team calls Maya to threaten her they’re playing Russian roulette with Dominick’s head. Instead of saving Dominick, she says goodbye to the “love of her life” and essentially sentences him to death. Cruel. Liv then acts shocked that Eli shoots Dominick in the head (which is shocking in itself. I mean, come on, Jake warned you…)

Meanwhile, Leo Bergen (Paul Adelstein) hears a rumor that Mellie (Bellamy Young) asked the White House doctor for a DNA test from Teddy. By this time Mellie has picked up the baton from Fitz and became a full-time day drinker (congratulations!). When Liv confronts Mellie about doing something so reckless (as asking for a paternity test) right before the election, it dawns on her that Mellie is anything but reckless:

“I want his head in the fire and I wanna see him burn.  I want to hand him the one piece of news that will destroy him and I want to watch his face when it happens…I’m tired of carrying the cross, let him pick it up.”

However, when Mellie sobers up enough to realize that would destroy her entire life, she has Liv take care of the test that shows that Teddy is Fitz’s child. Liv gets the real results for Mellie. Unfortunately, we have to wait until next week to see what they are.

I’ve held off on talking about this as long as possible, mostly because I’m still recovering from clawing my eyes out.  But the time has come: while Huckleberry Quinn shippers might be rejoicing about their frantic, angry, coupling in the parking lot (which bears all of the hallmarks of The Good Wife’s misstep between Kalinda and her ex-husband), the rest of us are hoping for some sort of memory erasing device to remove that image burned into our brains.  I’m not sure if it’s the clear lack of sexual chemistry between the two actors, or the plot itself, but this just CANNOT HAPPEN anymore. It’s getting gross. This is a great example of why you don’t listen to fans when they start shipping a couple. Honestly, what do we know? We’re not experts!

Meanwhile, Liv orders Fitz to stay inside the White House for his safety even though it’s six days before the election. Shockingly his numbers start to slip as he misses major campaign events in key states. Very poetically, Fitz realizes he can’t lose Ohio and goes back to where it all began: Defiance. Liv follows when she realizes that the only person Maya won’t kill is her, so she attaches herself to Fitz. This gives Mellie one of the best lines of the night when she’s sandwiched between them on stage: “If we’re gonna die, can we do it now so I don’t have to listen to you two?”

However, after evacuating the Defiance event to avoid the bomb, we find out that Maya has changed her plans. Jake and David (Joshua Malina) have been searching a new software facial recognition database of DC security cameras (David missed orientation training on the new system while he was taking down B613, but don’t worry, he’ll figure it out.) By tracking Maya in DC, Jake discovers that the intended target is actually Senator Hightower’s funeral (poor Hightower, Maya killed him too in order to get all the high profile politicians in one spot). Good Guy Jake calls Cyrus (Jeff Perry) to warn him to evacuate the area, choosing the Republic over eliminating the threat in his love triangle. Cyrus, however, is not that noble. Cyrus keeps Fitz out, but once he realizes that Sally is already there, he does nothing else. Whoa.

Back at OPA, Maya walks right past Huck and Quinn having sex (ugh) and Eli ends up on the floor covered in blood.

Other Observations:

• Drunk Mellie = even more amazing than regular Mellie.
• It is a nice touch that the 4 year anniversary of Big Jerry’s death is used to frame both Mellie’s actions and Fitz’s insecurities about winning the election legitimately.
• The price of admission into Harvard these days?  A bag full of the president’s son’s sperm. Ugh, ambitious teenage girls are the worst.
• Liv is SUCH a tease! Choose Fitz and Eli over Jake, then call him when you’re feeling down and admit to feeling something for him?!  Come on man…
• Maya’s character still bothers me. I would have preferred a zealot to a mercenary, because at least then we could try to identify or at least care about what motivates her. But this? I feel nothing.

Best Lines:

• Abby (Darby Stanchfield): “Could it be more awkward in here?”
• Jake: “All these years of thinking B613 was untouchable, and all it takes to kill us is one quick tug on a zipper”. On a serious note, he’s really the worst Command ever if that’s all it takes to bring down the agency
• Abby (to David): “He’s not going to kill you.” David: “What are you talking about? He would totally kill me”

What did you think of ‘Flesh and Blood?’  Do you think Scandal will actually kill of Eli?  Are you ready for this whole Maya storyline to be over?  As Fitz would say, “Muchiciiiiimas gracias” for reading!

Scandal airs its season finale next Thursday at 10pm EST on ABC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdaToVoV5Cs