Recap: The Best and The Worst Moments of Scandal Season 4, Episode 2: The State of The Union

So, the second episode in Scandal's fourth season aired last night and I found myself struggling to care about it. I'm going to tell you why but first, a quick recap of what went down during the episode.

President Fitz is writing his third State of the Union address and is focusing on gun control. With the administration in need of a PR boost, Cyrus blackmails Olivia into helping the White House to wrangle the support of a pair of well known gun control advocates who happen to be husband and wife.

Olivia wrangles Mr and Mrs Gun Control
Meanwhile Jake is investigating Harrison's death and has moved out of Liv's appartment, determined to not be a "kept man." He's more than happy to be a booty call, though. He continues to be the Drake to Olivia's Rihanna.

Back at the White House, the press corps has found out that Mellie has lost all her damns to give and they're speculating about the state of the first-couple's happy union. Cyrus is still wearing hair plugs and picks up a potential replacement 'bae at a bar, who is probably going to blackmail him. Also David did something with the B6-13 files which no one paid attention to. #foreverlosing #evenwhenhethinkshewon

The Best Moments i.e. what I liked about the episode:

Abby: Shonda has said that Season 4 was going to be Abby's season and so far she's been true to her word. Abby looks like she's got a whole new glam squad: colourist, stylist makeup artist and everything. She's also stepping up in her role as Press Secretary to the White House. Abby was #therealmvp of the episode, convincing Mellie to put on her First Lady drag and some clean underwear and go to the State of Union Address. Too bad the President still calls her Gabby.

Well hello there, Ms Press Secretary
The Lack of "Olitz"
: Fitz and Olivia had some alone time in this episode and it was... different. It's obvious that they're making an effort to keep their relationship professional. It's Season 4 so they're finally trying their best to be grownups about their feelings; they deserve some credit to that. Olitz is still a political dream team though. make a great team. Livvie completely reworked a huge portion of his speech and Fitz nailed it.

Fitz: Kudos to Fitz for knocking his improv State of the Union address out the park. He had me almost crying legit tears when he linked the death of his son to lives lost because of gun violence. It just goes to show that when Fitz is in his element, or rather when Liv is in his corner, he actually acts like a President.

What I Didn't Like:

Olivia and Jake: I'm sorry they are never going to work for me especially since Jake killed James, and made Cyrus a widower. I'm waiting for Olivia's reaction to this. Does she already know?! I can't remember. I'm gonna say no, but you can never tell with Olivia.

Fitz and Mellie: The unhappiest couple on television. Their whole aura is misery and it's depressing to watch them. Why do people root for these two? They should have divorced in Season 2.

No Olitz: I know, I'm contradicting myself. I just said this was something I liked. But you have to admit that the passion between Olivia and Fitz was what drove the action forward in previous seasons. Now it seems like everything is just limping along.

Is it too early to say that Scandal is boring? Because it sure does feel like the pace is off.

I honestly think the show needs a change of format. The characters feel stale. I dare you to go back and watch Season 1 and 2 and tell me I'm lying.

How about we change Liv's surroundings? Why not have her go out to LA and fix some clients in the entertainment industry. Hollywood is full of scandals. Think about it: baby mama drama, leaked nudes/sex-tapes, drug overdoses, celebrity divorces. That's enough material for 1.5 episodes of Scandal already! Let Olivia get some highlights in her hair and just handle things in California. She could even bring Huck and (sigh!) maybe even Quinn with her. Can you imagine Huck, the poster-child for social awkwardness, navigating the LA scene. Hilarity would ensue and the show would get a jolt of much needed energy.

If she worked in LA, we'd see this side of Olivia more often!
#beachisbetter
Don't get me wrong Scandal is still a decent show but things are feeling stagnant, like we're all hamsters on a wheel going nowhere fast. I think TV shows could have gotten away with poor story evolution in the old days when viewers didn't have services like Netflix, allowing them to go back and binge watch entire seasons. Plot inconsistencies and a lack of character development are difficult to hide when your viewers can easily and frequently track a character's entire story arc from Season 1. Without great story development and characters, audiences lose interest and there's too much good tv out there for Scandal to be slacking.

This all doesn't mean that I'm not going to stop watching. I still look to Olivia's fashion choices when I'm putting together my dream wardrobe on Pinterest. But, unfortunately, nothing else is really holding my attention.