After this week’s Scandal, I’ve found myself thinking of two things: Dante’s Inferno and Breaking Bad. As viewers, we are like Dante, observing the various levels of crimes and punishment. Breaking Bad – without getting into what happened – did anyone expect to have a lovely happily ever after ending? I seriously doubt it. Scandal is a story about screwed up people with questionable morals who are all trying to do a version of what they think is right. It epitomizes the idea that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. You might walk through the gates and not even realize it. That’s a truth which plays out throughout this episode – and this series.
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In terms of Dante’s Inferno I can’t think of a single character on Scandal who wouldn’t end up in there at some level, except for, ironically, maybe Huck (Guillermo Diaz) who regrets all that he’s been and feels powerless. In Dante’s Inferno, those who repent before dying are sent to purgatory to work off their sins. I think Huck would end up there, because I feel he has true regret and sorrow about the life he’s in. Hindsight being twenty-twenty I’m certain that if he knew what he does now, he would have just let B613 kill him as soon as they brought him in. I can’t say that about these others. Given the same circumstances, I see these making the same decisions: Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington), First Lady Mellie Grant(Bellemay Young) President Fitzgerald ‘Fitz’ Grant (Tony Goldwyn) Cyrus Beene (Jeff Perry) and Rowan/Eli Pope (Joe Morton).
Olivia Pope would be in the second circle of hell which holds, “carnal sinners who subordinate reason to desire” (Inf. 5.38-9). The punishment, to be constantly blown about in violent storms without ever being able to rest. Olivia’s passion for Fitz has certainly sent her flying into areas of violent emotional upheaval, and her judgement often clouded by her feelings for Fitz. Would she have been a part of election rigging if not for Fitz? Nope. I’m also not sure if she would have lied to Mary either. I’ll get back to that in a bit.
Mellie would be in the fifth circle, which deals with anger. The offenders end up in the river “Styx” – either they are forever literally ripping each other apart, or merge into the mud, “… a black sulkiness which can find no joy in God or man or the universe.” That quote is Mellie life. She’s living in misery, but at this point it’s misery that she’s created. Yes, Fitz has been cheating on her and is not in love with her anymore. That’s a fact that she knows. You would think she’d be finding a way to get out of that relationship and increase her political capital. Instead she is in a miserable shrew who’s thrown away more than one opportunity to have her own full agency.
Mellie’s character is becoming a flat character that only plays one note. What she needs is to get seriously laid. Preferably by some mega rich and powerful someone who can manipulate the country, because despite Mellie’s assertions that she’s a smart and powerful woman, I’ve come to believe she doesn’t really want a career in politics. She wants to be the woman behind the man. So Mellie needs a Hollis Doyle (Gregg Henry) type: filthy-rich, unethical as hell with no real moral conscience. At least then her political undermining would be about something other than, “I hate Fritz.” I mean, this scene is insane! Bellamy Young is great in it, but I’ve heard so many variations on this theme that, for me, it’s lost its punch.
I also love Tony Goldwyn, but the fact is, his character Fitz is an unrepentant murderer. That would put him in circle seven’s outer ring – a river of boiling blood and fire. I say unrepentant because while he feels bad about it – if he had to face that situation again, he’d do the same thing. He wasn’t about to lose his presidency.
Yet, Fitz is not truly a corrupt politician. Despite him being the president and his fear of losing that presidency, his murder of Vera was more personal than political. Overall, he does attempt to do right by the country. Granted, he has Cyrus doing things for him, but Fitz rarely knows what those things actually are – or how awful.
That’s why Cyrus would in the 8th circle at level 5 – reserved for corrupt politicians. Cyrus has no problem sacrificing the good of the country for the good of keeping Fitz and himself in a place of power. Still, the character who is the closest to Satan is think Eli/Rowan Pope. He belongs at the eight circle at level 9. Although the ninth circle is reserved for various levels of treachery – and he’s a traitor to everything America doesn’t this sound like a more appropriate place?
a sword-wielding demon hacks at the Sowers of Discord, dividing parts of their bodies as in life they divided others.As they make their rounds the wounds heal, only to have the demon tear apart their bodies again. [48] (emphasis is mine)
That sounds like exactly what Rowan Pope does. Not only dividing individuals from each other, but tearing the very essence of a person apart – like he’s done to Huck. Traitors have to sit in ice up to their necks for eternity, eyes and mouths frozen shut. Frankly, that sounds too peaceful. If Rowan has any lament over the things he’s done, that’s already the way he’s living now. It doesn’t account for the misery he’s caused in so many lives.
Now, what happened on Scandal this week that’s sent me down this dark path? It was a combination of events. There was a woman with a bomb trying to find out the truth about her son, a man with a secret about the president that he wanted to reveal, Jake sleeping Olivia’s bed and having not a clue about why he’s there, and Fitz choosing to allow one woman to live in total misery for what may or may not be true. (I no longer completely trust information from the White House). There’s also Huck finding out his soul still isn’t his own, and Quinn realizing she may be in over her head, and worrying about Huck. I’ve never thought of Scandal as a happy show, but it’s the first time it’s occurred to me that this entire group of people are really in living hell.
The Gates of Hell have the following inscription on it:
through me you enter into the city of woes
through me you enter into eternal pain,
through me you enter the population of loss.
. . .abandon all hope, you who enter here.
Mary Nesbitt (Cynthia Stevenson) was doomed from the moment she walked into that office with a bomb strapped to her chest – and Olivia Pope was doomed when she went in to help her.
I’m with Olivia on this one: no, I don’t understand. A simple talk to Mary when her son was killed could have avoided all of this.
Mary’s instincts were right about her son, but her desperation drives her to the depths of hell. Do you really think if Mary had been told the truth in the beginning she would have broken that trust and told a soul? With all the secret liaisons they pull off they couldn’t find a way to let the woman know the truth – but they could tell Olivia? This entire storyline was nauseating. What really killed me is Mary’s story seems so plausible that I can’t help but wonder if somewhere real-life fixer Judy Smith has had to face such a scenario? Fitz was so worried about what happened to Olivia – no remorse for Mary. As far as he’s concerned they were right to do it this way.
If it had been anyone but Fitz on that phone, I think Olivia would have found another way to handle things. She would have calmed Mary down, told her the truth and why no one could ever know. This woman loved her son beyond measure. There’s no way she would destroy the legacy that her son chose to do with his life. She would scream and wail for the cameras, or have a numbing acceptance of the truth as she walked out. “Don’t make me do this” is what Olivia tells Fitz – because only Fitz could in fact, make her lie on this one. If she went back on her work it’d be easy enough to say she was desperate and delusional. This level of national security is unnecessary.
I didn’t really talk about our gladiators in suits because they really are more on the peripheral of hell. What they’ve chosen is Olivia – so that they don’t have to choose things for themselves. Olivia may abhor B613, but the hierarchy at Pope and Associates is based it. Olivia is the benign version of command. She’s the one they don’t want to displease, not out of fear for their lives, but by some kind of charisma and loyalty forged because she “saved” them. Harrison Wright (Columbus Short) and Abby Whelan (Darby Stanchfield) may gripe some, Abby asking about personal days was funny, but they are all about protecting Olivia. Only Quinn Perkins (Katie Lowes) seems on the verge of rebelling and claiming some personal agency. If she really does it she’ll be sliding into hell fast. However, right now she’s still a gladiator and looking out for Olivia. It’s Quinn that noticed the issue with the check and reported it to her colleagues. Quinn’s concern for Huck may ultimately be her salvation – or push her over the edge. Knock on wood, as of yet, Quinn hasn’t actually killed anyone. Let’s hope B613 never get a hold of her! At least with Olivia she knows they really are trying to help individuals.
With Pope and associates Olivia’s mission has been to save her clients, people she feels are innocent or at least are worthy of being helped (like in the kidnapping of Hollis Doyle’s daughter). She wants the truth, most likely because of all the lies in her life, but on Scandal, the truth is often horrific. Like Olivia’s reaction when she thought Huck had killed her father was scary! Yet she knows the things her father has done, which is why when Huck breaks down crying that “He owns me, He owns, me” Olivia, holds him trying to comfort him. Last week, I said Olivia and Huck were like siblings… that ending makes that feeling even stronger, siblings with a horrific dad.
Her father cares nothing about the truth, just the manipulation of things to his will, and she knows it. Which brings us to Jake.
Had Huck killed her father, there would be a kind of justice – but it’s her father. It’s the ordeal with Mary, where she did what Fitz wanted, what her father would have wanted – followed by that scene with Huck where she angry and scared and frankly terrifying when asking Huck if he’d killed her dad. If anyone deserved to be killed it’s her father – and she knows it. Yet she was beyond furious when she thought Huck – whom she loves and knows what he’s been thought – had murdered her dad. That’s why see says “He owns me too.”
As for why is Jake there? She already knows, just not the specifics. For one, it’s because her dad got what he wanted. It’s like how he trains his recruits – reward and punishment. Lauren got burned in “Guess Who’s coming to dinner” and as promised, he gave her Jake. Another reason is that her father would rather her be with anyone but Fitz. Sure, anyone Olivia cares about can be used against her, but Dad would prefer it not be someone “with too much power.” (Remember that line in the premiere. Not to mention what he did when she was going to marry Edison.) As such, that makes Jake a perfect candidate to be sleeping with his daughter.
Olivia and Jake both know that this is not a fairy-tale. This episode was a sharp reminder of that to those watching. Scandal is many things – smart, intriguing, sexy, and political – but it’s not a show written for happily ever after endings. The best we can hope for is purgatory.
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