I recently had three of my wisdom teeth removed. Ouch! Literally. I’ve had to stay home and Scandal was recommended as a way to pass the time. I tried the first episode. I hated it. I tried it again and….
Here is my guide to watching Scandal.
1. Olivia Pope and Fitzgerald Grant: The Star-Crossed Side-Show.
There hasn’t been a black female lead in a prime time drama in 40 years. Welcome the flawed Olivia Pope to our world. Forgive her for not loving or being emotionally confused according to color lines. The show will end when she decides to stop being the other woman to herself and her choices.
Everything from Gitmo to Watergate to secret spy programs to election rigging (Diebold), it’s all in Scandal.
3. International Incidents
At one point there is a blockade by a Sudanese President. The Scandal Government sends in a SEAL team to kidnap the president without the consent for the U.N. hmm… good stuff. A thinking man’s gold mine.
4. Pope-Grant 2016
Inevitably, we’ll go back to the Pope-Grant love fiasco. When this happens, get nachos, fast-forward, or turn to a game. It will be over soon.
5. Huck for the Win (Spoiler Alert)
Huck, played by Guillermo Diaz is the best character. He’s a former military super-killer. His back-story involves PTSD, attending AA because he is abstaining from killing people, and gets even more interesting. Huck deserves his own show.
6. The Powers that Be
The show is marketed as melodrama. There is a far more serious side that is often overshadowed by the sentimentality. When you get past the sentimentality, I think the writers are on to something.
7. Take what you like, leave what you don’t.
I read Pride and Prejudice a few times in my educational career. I got through it by focusing on what I found interesting, criticizing what I found preposterous, and debating the debaters. This made it fun. Do the same.
