This week, Olivia Pope devotes her energy to proving the innocence of a man who stands accused of attempting to assassinate President Cooper, who is the Scandal universe’s analogue to Ronald Reagan. The notion of innocence is an elusive one in Olivia Pope’s Washington, and so it’s fitting that the case of the week here is paralleled so effectively by Jake’s continued detention. The innocence of various characters is called into serious question frequently throughout the series, but this episode takes a special interest in the idea, examining the way we define it, and the way we can will ourselves to believe it against all evidence to the contrary.
“You don’t know him the way you know me,” Fitz says of Jake to Olivia. He sees himself as her protector, sees Olivia as an innocent little girl, and himself as the chivalrous man who loves her. And sure, Fitz may know things that Olivia doesn’t. But Fitz is a murderer, and a liar. He’s possessive, manipulative, emotionally abusive. He loves her, but he is as bad for Olivia as Jake is, and they both, on some deeper level, know it. As much as I begin to tire of this love triangle, Tony Goldwyn and Kerry Washington are selling the hell out of Olivia and Fitz’s romance this season. Their conversation here is heated, passionate, with Fitz’s repeated, escalating shouts of “Are you saying there’s hope?” punctuating their argument, and then Olivia’s quiet confirmation and sudden departure abruptly corking the emotional outburst for another time. It’s impossible not to be captivated by performances like these.
But even when I find this romance is magnetic, and it really is here, it’s also now directly tied to the show’s other central conflict, Rowan’s manipulation of the president, of his daughter, of basically anyone and everyone around him. Pitting Olivia against her father promises to be a strong source of conflict, but that that conflict is equally about with whom Olivia is sleeping as it is about the misdeeds of Rowan Pope makes for some complicated gender politics. The episode opens with a nightmare Olivia has, seeing her father’s face intermingled with those of Fitz and Jake while she’s doing laps in the pool. I’m not sure to what degree the nightmare is meant to be funny, but it feels very off to me, especially as a way to set the stage for the episode. Luckily, everything that comes after redeems this awkward start, but the scene is stupid. I just want Olivia to stop worrying about boys for once.
Even her conversation with Jake, though it does spur her to action against Rowan, eventually boils down to “Olivia will pick Fitz over Jake,” when that should be the least important deciding factor she considers. Jake killed Cyrus’s husband, works for an organization that represents everything Olivia claims to detest and to work against. That’s more than enough justification for her to reject Jake, but she lets her love for him override her knowledge of this. Further the show treats this as zero-sum, either-or, Jake or Fitz, neither is not an option. This mentality pervades the show; Abby reunites with Olivia, and steps up for her in a major way with Fitz, but it’s still about boy trouble, and this show can and should be above that.
I suspect the writers are to an extent aware of these troublesome politics, however, since while all this is going on, Mellie Grant is getting her groove back in magnificent fashion. Former First Lady Bitsy Cooper is a reminder of what Mellie is capable, as well of a warning of what she might become. She lives in her husband’s shadow, with none of the credit for the major works of governance she achieved in the White House. Above all else that “An Innocent Man” achieves, I really love its examination of the role of First Lady, and how women are expected to perform in politics and government. It’s especially effective in contrast with Fitz, who at the beginning of this episode more resembles the Mellie of the past few weeks. She got him elected to office; he thinks with his dick ninety percent of the time. But it will be President Grant that goes down in history, the great man of great works. Bitsy herself is a delight, a Betty White-esque cantankerous old lady, just shy of a caricature of what Mellie might be like in her golden years, but on the right side of that comedic line.
In the end, Olivia’s client turns out to be guilty of President Cooper’s murder, despite her best efforts; so it goes with the men in her life, as well. Innocence eludes us all. Even Huck’s bonding with his son is done in secret, and would have ruinous consequence if discovered. Vermont is a myth. They’re familiar themes, but they’re handled well here, and advanced where they are in interesting fashion. All told “An Innocent Man” is a great episode of Scandal, and a promising sign of things to come. The dissolution of OPA had left the show somewhat formless, but now, with Abby back in Olivia’s corner, and with Olivia now poised to take Rowan head on, the various disparate threads are starting to come together. “Rebuilding seasons,” as they’re called, can be tedious, especially if there’s no clear sense of the structure you’re meant to be rebuilding. Scandal’s writers are definitely still figuring it out, but they’re closer than ever to doing that if this week is any indication.
Stray Observations:
- My memory’s not so great on how much of Scandal’s alternate history we’ve gotten before, but the death of President Cooper sheds a lot of light on the Cold War era in this world. The West Wing fans worked out a very detailed alternate history; I wonder if something similar exists for this show?
- Abby gets in a sick Cyrus burn, having discovered the source of the White House leak, but her “back door” comment immediately made me think of Slate’s recent article on bottom shaming, and, well, Bryan Lowder has a point.
- Joe Morton has another great, great monologue, this one about how “true power hides in plain sight.” Rowan himself is ultimately a dead end character, considering his association with B-613, but it’ll still suck to see him go.
Michael Wampler is a graduate of The College of New Jersey, where he completed both B.A. and M.A. degrees in English literature. He currently lives and works in Princeton, NJ while he shops around his debut novel and slowly picks away at his second. Favorite shows include Weeds, Lost, Hannibal and Mad Men (among many more). When not watching or writing about television, he enjoys reading, going for runs, and building his record collection.