5th March, 2017
happy once day.
25th September, 2015
At last, we had the premiere of all of the TGIT shows, and Scandal being one of the most talked about returns. At the end of Season 4 we saw Olivia and Fitz finally getting their ‘happy ending,’ or so it seemed.
Season 5 opened with the always welcome Kate Burton, reprising her role as the hell-raiser of DC, Sally Langston. On her talk show she, once again, puts down everything that the Grant administration stands for. In the overlay of her speech, we see Olivia and Fitz doing, well, things, in the White House after their prolonged romantic reunion. It seems that things are working out for them as they get ready together for the State Dinner with a royal family as their special guests.
As the dinner is underway, Olivia is hiding her presidential relationship from her BFF Abby. Why? Honestly, I have no clue. It’s not like Abby is new to the ‘Olitz’ relationship and antics. It wouldn’t have been news to her. Mellie is not even remotely invited to the dinner, and they all have a merry night with their gowns and their drinks.
In true Scandal fashion, it’s not long into the episode that the drama kicks in. Olivia gets a call from the royal family because the princess had an ‘accident’ where her limo overturned in a tunnel, and the paparazzi is swarming the scene for pics. Sound familiar? It was a little too Princess Di for me, and I thought this whole story line should have been done with a little more class and taste. All in all, Olivia is there to fix the situation. Her team, however, no only consists of Quinn since Huck is ‘emotionally hurt’ by what he’s done, and what Quinn did to him. This whole story line was rather quick and a typical solve-the-case-in-one-ep kinda OPA case we used to love to see in Season 2.
We also see throughout the episode how the dynamic has changed between Mellie and Fitz. Last season we saw Fitz try to be the good husband and do what Mellie had done for him throughout their whole marriage, and stand by his side. Since Fitz found out about Mellie’s involvement with Rowan and the dead jurors, he has completely turned on her. He kicked her out of the White House, uninvited her to the State Dinner, and refused to go to her swearing in as U.S. Senator. Oh, he also delivered her with divorce papers. It wasn’t until Olivia convinced him to go to Mellie’s swearing in that we really saw how much Fitz just doesn’t care anymore. This scene was a little character destroying for me. Olivia had no problem sleeping in the bed that Mellie and Fitz shared right after he kicked her out of the White House, but still wants him to play the good husband? Definitely some lack of respect there for OP in that moment.
Olivia also freaked out a little when Fitz mentioned the word ‘divorce.’ It seems as if it might have struck a chord with her and made it a reality of their relationship. They’ve been hiding it for so long, and now, it may actually become an openly public relationship. In the end, Olivia tells Fitz that she wants to take it slow, and ease into the public aspect of who they are together, but it’s not long until those dreams are suddenly crushed.
We see that Sally Langston had an inside scoop (assuming it’s Cyrus, Abby, Lizzie or even Mellie) that Olivia Pope and President Fitzgerald Grant are a new couple. That Mellie leaving was not her choice and she was forced out. It opens a whole new light on the secrets of the Grant administration, and Olivia’s name is out there once again. It was a little end of season 2 for me, but we will see where it goes.
It’s always interesting to me that Olivia either breaks down or seems to have a problem being in the public light when it comes to their relationship. At this point, Fitz has nothing to lose. He can’t be reelected and his presidency term is almost done. Why Olivia has a problem with her name being leaked at this point I’m sure is something they’ll explore as the season progresses. Olivia’s got some major baggage, I’m just hoping the girl can catch a break to really work out her issues.
Scandal Season 5 should be more of an exploration of the Olivia/Fitz relationship, as that’s how they seem to set it up. We’ve only briefly seen the toll last season’s events have taken on the others, and hopefully we see more in depth of the ramifications everyone’s actions have on themselves. It’s hard to say if anyone will truly have a “happy ending” this season, but this is Scandal, so definitely expect the drama to only be starting. This premiere was a little below par for me, in the event of leaving me wanting more. The cliffhanger they left at the end of the ep has already been done in the series, and I’m starting to see some major plots being redone. Hopefully we will get some originality in this season with any of the major playing characters.
23rd September, 2015
As the highly anticipated premiere of Season 5 of ‘Once Upon A Time’ approaches, fans have many questions about the future of their favorites characters and relationships. As a weekly watcher of OUAT, I have many different feelings about the advanced preview of the premiere. Now, let me just disclaimer that I don’t have a specific couple that I ‘ship’ and I love many of the complex characters on the show. I’m going to break it down for you by character based on appearance in the premiere.
Emma is definitely the main focus on the premiere. It’s not much of a change from the rest of the series, but this Emma is obviously different. We do see both versions of the new Emma. We see her in rags, and coming to realization that she is now the dark one, but fighting off every ounce of it inside her. She’s faced with several different opportunities to let the darkness consume her, and she is able to fight it off, for now. There is a reunion with Emma and the people of Storybrooke, and it’s different than any other they’ve had. Emma is in a very difficult situation when they find her, and she needs to be talked back to the light inside her. Per usual, her parents try to do what they think is best, and control her. Make the decision for her. Hook and Regina both having had darkness in them before, know that Emma’s decision has to be her own. She has to make her own decisions to not succumb to the darkness. We also get a glimpse of the new Dark Swan (pictured above) and some kind of understanding of why she’s going all coyote ugly on the diner counter at Granny’s.
Favorite Scene: Emma gives Regina her dagger and says ‘I saved you, now you save me.’ This is my favorite scene because she understands that Regina is the only one who can move past her emotions and do what needs to be done to control Emma, if it comes to that.
Favorite Quote: “There’s no savior in the town anymore”
Regina is one of the main characters you probably see the most in the premiere. She plays a big part in finding Emma, and bringing her back to Storybrooke. She doesn’t necessarily agree with some of the others in the ways of finding Emma, but she ultimately is the one who leads them to her (with the unwanted help of someone else). We see full on snarky Regina, but has she lost the darkness that is inside her? Will she truly become the new savior? The last 2 minutes of this episode are a huge set up for the trajectory of the show and how they will all be dealing with the Dark Swan.
Favorite Scene: Regina and Emma square off and it’s almost a flip of their characters.
Favorite Quote: “You seem to like having a hook, maybe you’d like another?”
He plays a big part in finding Emma as well. He has very unconventional ways of going about this, and not all of them Regina necessarily agrees with. Regina and Hook face off several times throughout the episode, but both show how much they are trying to get Emma back. Hook does something very rash to find Emma, and it backfires. He does get a lot more screen time with Henry, which is rare. Them working together was very interesting to see, and it kind of showed that Henry agreed more with Hook than Regina. His reunion with Emma was very pure and he understood that Emma had to make her own decisions. He was the one who talked her down from doing something that could have let the darkness consume her. She knows how much he cares for her, and it’s definitely shown how much they care for each other.
Favorite Scene: I love seeing him banter and argue with Regina. I don’t know why, but there are always some great lines and comebacks.
Favorite Quote: “You’ve got the fire love, but not the blackness, not anymore”
Rumple appears pretty often in the premiere, but not in the way that one might think. He is presented to us in a very unexpected way. Storybrooke Rumple has yet to wake, and Belle wanted to be with him in case his state changes. Blue Fairy gives Belle the rose, and it’s your typical “Beauty and the Beast” significance. The rose petals represent Rumple’s life, and Belle has it everywhere that she goes throughout the episode.
Favorite Scene: Anything with Emma (pictured above) because he kinda plays that little devil that sits on her shoulder to bring her to full on dark one.
Favorite Quote: “Of course I did, I’m a dark one”
Zelena definitely plays a significant part in the premiere. It’s not in any way that shows any mercy on her character, and she is more wicked than ever. She uses Robin against Regina in many ways, but in doing so, we get another glimpse of how much Robin cares for Regina. She mostly appears and has scenes with Regina, Hook, Robin and briefly others.
We get the introduction to Merida, and where she exists. She does have scenes with mostly 1 of the main characters, but she also is in a scene with more of them. How she’s related to the rest of the season, or even if she is, isn’t clearly stated. Her presence is more of an introduction.
Most of the people in Storybrooke almost fall to the background in the events of finding Emma. With Regina and Hook being the two leading forces to find her, they are all just following along. Snow had to keep the peace between Regina and Hook a few times, but other than that, there isn’t much screen time for some of our other Storybrooke faves.
Camelot is set up to be the bigger arc of this season. It has a lot to do with where Dark Swan came from, but that relation may be hard to remember for some. Camelot has a huge connection with one of the main characters, that we can tell so far.
Make sure to watch the last 2 minutes or so of the episode. It sets up everything that we will see coming to the future of this season. Also, pay close attention to that sword in the stone. Ultimately, the premiere was mostly about finding Emma, and how everyone had to (kind of) work together to get to her. There’s no individual moments for most of the characters, except for the main few. This premiere was definitely more of a set up of what’s to come, and present the connections to what Camelot is, and how it’s going to play a huge part in this season.
