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It’s Time for ‘Scandal’ to Ride off into the Sunset

Posted on by James

'Scandal' - Olivia Pope

I hate to be the one to say it, but it’s time to look at the endgame for Scandal. There’s nothing that can save it. The only thing ABC can do now is to let it die with dignity before it becomes Supernatural. Viewers are fleeing. It’s not a Black Twitter phenomenon anymore.

Shonda Rhimes once said that she saw the ending of Scandal, that it’s not an eight season show. I hope she sticks to her guns and not let ABC pressure her into more seasons. She needs to end it on her terms.

One of the biggest problems of Scandal is B613. It far outlived its usefulness. B613 became so prominent in the show, the premise got lost. Multiple seasons would focus on bringing B613 down, while Olivia and company would go episodes without “fixing,” the premise that drew us in in the first place.

Another hit for Scandal is the fact that Shonda is too loyal to her actors. There are several characters that should’ve been gone. Fitz is at the top of the list. He should’ve died when he was shot. He doesn’t do much except berate the women in his life. And now that Olitz is gone, what is he doing besides spreading his presidential STD?

Papa Pope should also be gone. I love the character and Joe Morton‘s portrayal, but he never needed to be a permanent villain. If he was going to stick around, he should’ve stayed in a recurring role as resource for Olivia, not a enemy. He seems to be on Olivia’s side right now, but that could change at the drop of a hat.

I know many people are going to disagree, but Jake also needs to get the boot. He’s never been Olivia’s main love interest. He doesn’t do anything the other characters don’t do. And it’s sad to see him chase after Olivia, when she’s always had one foot in Fitz’s bedroom. Even with Fitz out the picture, Olivia won’t allow herself to be with him. And I don’t buy him as a villain. He doesn’t pull it off well.

Scandal should end with this election. I would like to see Mellie as president, but I don’t think her presidency can save the show. Scandal has gone beyond the point where they can just go back to case of the week. None of the storylines are captivating, and you can only rely on shock value for so long. The shark they jumped over is far in the rearview mirror.

My preference would be for them to take one last season to wrap everything up, to resolve this election. Let it go out with a bang instead of it just withering.

Do you see an end in sight? When do you think it will end? When should it end?

James

Film and TV nerd. Sci-fi lover. Writer.

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  • Art

    Fitz and Olivia are the reason most people watch Scandal. You are are idiot if you think Fitz is the problem. Fitz is more loved than Jake mainly because Fitz is played by the talented Tony Goldwyn and Jake is played by the boring and bland Scott Foley.
    Remove the Olivia and Fitz dynamic this show suffers. What are you talking about? most of fans hate Jake and he should have been killed off in Season 2. Fitz is more important than Olivia right now on her own show. I get so sick of the irrational Fitz hate. All Fitz has ever tried to do is love Olivia. Olivia is the problem. She is poorly written and nobody can root for her. She’s having creepy sex with Jake and she aborted Fitz baby without even telling him. That is cold. Scandal does need to end, but Jake, Rowan, and B613 needs to die first.

  • Phyllis Steen

    All Fitz does is berate the women in his life? Really? Because it’s usually him being berated, usually way out of proportion to whatever he has done, or when he hasn’t actually done anything but is being blamed for what someone else has done. How many times has he stood there silently while Olivia and Mellie say hateful things to him?

    Jake has murdered in cold blood, beaten people up, put his hands on women, threatened to kill people, and is now LIVING with Black Voldemort Pope, but he’s not a convincing villain? It’s probably Scott Foley’s acting that is unconvincing. To be honest, he’s not convincing in any role. Maybe Bernie from Weekend at Bernie’s.

    I want to see Anyone But Mellie as the next president of the Scandalverse. I know Mellie is supposed to represent Hillary Clinton but she’s more like a combination of Donald Trump and Sarah Palin. Rich, power-hungry, thinks she deserves the presidency just because she wants it, but would be horrible at the job. She outright said she just wants to run the world. I can’t see her even caring about immigration or police brutality, much less risking impeachment to defend the bills. This is the woman who went and got her son’s murderer out of prison because it will help her become president. Plus, she always has to be bailed out all the time.

    What made Scandal work was the concept of a brilliant fixer who solved scandals with the help of her gladiators while involved in her own big scandal with the POTUS. That’s all gone now. Olivia and Fitz are done for good, she rarely has cases and usually fails at them when she does, and she’s the opposite of brilliant. According to Shonda Rhimes, the show is about Olivia’s “journey”, which so far seems to consist of Olivia playing a supporting role to Jake, Mellie, and her father while being put down by all 3 on a regular basis. Shonda changed the show entirely (while pretending she didn’t) and erased all traces of Judy Smith.

  • Kaston

    The show is suffering because of the constant break ups between Olivia and Fitz. The secondary characters are not interesting enough to sustain the 8-9 million fans that Scandal once had. I’m sorry but the whole Mellie for President is what turns me off the most. They could have easily cut Bellamy Young’s role down to a few episodes for this season, especially after the divorce. It would have been more exciting for her to bump heads with Olivia and Fitz as a couple, with some major blowups that could have caused tension between Olivia and Fitz. Now Olivia is Mellie’s best black friend and the current ratings are hitting the Scandal writers in the face.

    You are right with regards to Shonda allowing certain characters to just linger on in Scandal universe, even though they no longer bring any real depth to Scandal. Kerry Washington is the star of the show, and it’s seems as if Shonda and some of the cast want to downplay that as if it’s not true. I feel as if some of the cast have become jealous and envious of the popularity of Olivia and Fitz’s story. Now Shonda is trying to change the script, but it’s too late. So yeah, it needs to end by next season, there’s no coming back from this hard fall.