thoughts on Scandal, 3/6/14

1)  I love how Olivia's dad basically shows up once an episode to be all badass.

2)  Jake (and I'm not going to get this quote exactly right): "If I'm going to be your fake boyfriend, I want to come home at the end of the day and drink a real beer and eat real food.  Wine is not beer, and popcorn is definitely not food."  Hee.  I mean, popcorn IS food, but it's not a meal.

3)  Have we ever been given a good reason why Fitz hates Mellie so much?  I know that they're basically in an arranged political marriage.  I know she's a bitch.  I know he resents that he's basically stuck with her.  But he talks to her with such CONTEMPT in his voice.  He's the one who cheats on her constantly, and he's basically a hot mess.  I may just be forgetting something, or it may just be that I'm starting to really like Mellie now, but he just usually seems more hostile towards her than the situation warrants.

4)  "When I was given the chance to cheat, I kept my knees together and I said no.  We.  Are not.  The same."  Go, Mellie.

5) And tonight's first "Oh my god.  Oh my god" moment came when Mellie rushed forward and kissed Fitz's running mate in the room with the portraits of all the First Ladies.  When did she become my favorite?

6) Fitz: "Do you have feelings for Jake?"

Olivia: "That's none of your business."

Fitz: "I know."

Me: "Well, it kind of is."  I mean, Fitz is married, and all, and he's not in a position to tell her what to do or anything, but...they kind of still have a thing, and he's certainly not hiding how he feels about her or how he feels about Mellie.  He's a douche bag, is what I'm saying, but he's generally pretty honest and forthright about his feelings.

8) Jake using his security clearance to spy on Olivia talking to Fitz about him in the Oval Office?! EW! Already creepy.  Has the potential to get super creepy.  Scott Foley is well-cast in this role, though.  I never quite buy it when Foley plays a straight-up nice guy...but a "nice guy" who is kind of shady?  Absolutely, I'll buy that.

It's no secret that this show is my favorite these days, but the thing that still makes me uncomfortable about it is that sometimes it goes a little *too* dark for what it actually is, which is a well-written, well-acted soap opera.  It should be a straight-up "naughty fun" show, but then they have to throw in stuff like Mellie getting raped by her father-in-law years ago and all of the torture business they sometimes do with Quinn and Huck.  Things like that are not only unpleasant to watch, they're not in keeping with the tone of the show.

Regardless, it was a great episode.  Very concerned that 1) I'm going to miss next week and 2) abc.com doesn't put new episodes online for eight days.  I might have to temporarily get Hulu Plus, or something.