Scandal…I'm Hooked!!!

I am a late comer to the series Scandal on ABC.  If I’m honest, I saw a few episodes last season and a few this season, but the last two episodes have me hooked!  It’s just a show, and it is fiction, but it really makes you think about life and how unpredictable it can be.  Have you ever wondered about the road not taken?  Or have you ever gone down a road and find yourself in such unfamiliar territory that you can’t find solid ground?  Why is it that we find ourselves secretly (or not so secretly) cheering for Fitz and Olivia…aren’t they cheating?

Two weeks ago, the story explored how Olivia and Fitz began both their professional and intimate relationship.  The writer and actors did such an amazing job at portraying how neither of them (Fitz or Olivia) were looking for this affair, but that they were powerless to the immediate connection that took place deep within them.  Even down to how their hands touched for the first time…you could feel the energy between them.  As a writer, I yearn to be able to evoke that type of emotion from my characters and my readers.  As a reader, it makes you wonder if a spiritual, mind, body, and soul connection like that is possible with another human being.  A connection that takes you away from everything in your soul that you believe to be “right” and “wrong”.  A connection that even when you try to shut it off haunts you in your thoughts and heart.  Isn’t that connection and wonder what keeps us all hooked week after week?  Olivia Pope is challenged with not only the connection she has with the President of the USA, but with “fixing” political situations to protect the “pretty picture” that is the USA. 

Last week’s episode dove deep into how all this “fixing” has taken a toll on Olivia’s psyche.  It has revealed some of the “wrong” things she has done for the better good, and how the rationale for doing those things are not sitting right with her.   On the other hand, Fitz is feeling like he’s been given another chance at life, and he wants to live it without the films of “supposed to’s” and “obligation”.  He’s being a bit reckless, because as the President of the United States, there are certain liberties you give up for the better good of the “picture”.  Fitz’s near death experience has brought him to a turning point; for him the better good is a life fulfilled, rather than a life that doesn’t live up to what the picture portrays to the general public…Hmmm, how will he deal with this burning desire to be true to himself…to his heart…to Olivia???    

So what will this week bring?  Will Olivia accept the marriage proposal and settle on a normal traditional life with Edison, or will she gamble on a life with her soul mate; the married president of the United States?  Will Olivia’s skeletons of her past continue to haunt her?  Will the truths that are revealed destroy everyone’s lives?  And…who shot the president in the first place? 

Of course this story is sensationalized, but it does replicate life in the fact that life as you know it can change in an instant.  Obligations and commitments are sometimes more powerful than the pull of uncontrollable connections.  Death can be seconds away; either your own life or a loved one can be taken, and then everything changes.  Your personal happiness is sometimes secondary to the greater good of your family (or in Scandal-the USA).  Your moral gauge can be challenged by incidents beyond your control, and outside of the “life manual”, and you have to decide how to live in peace…

Scandal is well written and has incredible actors portraying these very complex characters and situations…stay tuned…I sure will…

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