Scandal “A Criminal, A Whore, an Idiot and a Liar” 

I don’t think it’s possible for Scandal to get any better than it is right now, although I have a feeling creator Shonda Rhimes will prove me wrong over and over again.

“A Criminal, A Whore, an Idiot and a Liar” was filled with plenty of backstory — it filled the blanks as to the mindset of Fitz’s power posse — the ones that came to the decision to rig the election for their candidate. Olivia was the last one to agree to commit election fraud. And, of course, Hollis is the one that led the way. Although, I noticed Mellie didn’t put up a fight.

It was great how in the flashbacks, Olivia enlisted Abby, Harrison and Huck to help get dirt on Fitz’s opposition. When will Huck shave? That’s going to be big news when we finally see that happen.

Edison provided a couple WTF moments. At the beginning of the episode, he accused Olivia of having an affair with the president and of perpetrating a crime to protect said boyfriend. So what if he was on track? I loved the scene because it provided this awesome Olivia Pope rant:

“Five — that’s sexist and insulting. You’d never suggest Scooter Libby was screwing Dick Cheney. Four — the lengths you are going to try to twist this into a conspiracy are cause for concern. You should speak to someone about that. Three — the president is awake and talking and the suggestion that he isn’t is partisan political crap that I thought you had enough integrity to rise above. Two — In the past three minutes, you’ve called me a criminal, a whore, an idiot and a liar so this is pretty much the last time we’ll be speaking, so one — who I am or am not screwing…what I am or am not doing…is no longer any of your damn business.”

A lot of words went into that rant but I swear that it only took Kerry Washington under seven seconds to say it. Damn, she can talk fast. Loved how Olivia had to tell Edison — once again — don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out. Because apparently, he didn’t get that the “Goodbye, Edison” from the hospital in the last episode signaled their swan song.

Turned out Edison is even thicker than I thought. He was back at the end of “A Criminal…” He admitted he was wrong about his accusations. And then basically asked Olivia to marry him. WTF? Don’t get that at all. Unfortunately, his timing may work out because Fitz laid one seriously twisted twist on the First Lady.

Yes, Mellie was being all comfort-y with Fitz after his triumph at the press conference. The First Lady was basking in the afterglow of that success thinking nothing could stop them now. She was wrong. After she talked about how high Fitz’s approval rating was and that he could have anything he wanted, how did her husband respond? “I want a divorce.” Almost dying does tend to change one’s perspective, right? Life is short. No need to live a lie. Except that he’s the POTUS. I wonder how things will progress from here?

There are so many TV characters with messed up daddy issues and Fitz is no different. I loved guest star Barry Bostwick, who played Fitz’s philandering father, Jerry Grant. Bostwick did such a good job at being such a jerk of a dad. It was all about his glory and how he could impose his old school election-running ways on his son.

This is a guy who had no problem resorting to dirty campaigning. He had no faith in his child. He didn’t think his son could run a clean campaign and win. It was interesting to see how his father’s presence affected Fitz. He drank more, became belligerent and even crossed the line with Olivia in an elevator.

I think my Moment of Goodness had to be after Fitz’s dad died of a heart attack. And he was chopping wood after the funeral. Fitz told Olivia a little bit about his turbulent past with his dad. And confessed he was relieved that his father was dead. Now he was free.

The best part, however, was when Olivia stood up on that tree stump, which meant for the first time ever, she towered over the president. She held out her hand and pulled him in for a hug and let him grieve. It’s becoming more clear every week that Tony Goldwyn is a fantastic actor. He is one with his character and it’s simply joyous to see him rock President Fitzgerald Grant.

How good are Fitz and Olivia together? It couldn’t have been more evident in this episode in all the facets of this episode. We got to see them in flashback form again. I love when that happens because those two are knee deep in an affair and it’s fun to see how electric they were pre-series. Not that that electricity has ever dissipated. Or will ever disappear.

OK, there’s no new episode January 24. Boo. The next new Scandal airs Thursday, January 31 at 10/9c on ABC. Yay!