May 11th

Today I got up super early to get to work only to discover that I actually wasn't scheduled till an hour later, bummer. On the plus side they were short people and asked me to clock in early, so more money for me. I also got my new schedule and I'll start in Guest Services on May 22, which isn't too far away!
Today is review day so I suppose I should decide on something to review. The hot new show that has my attention right now is Scandal. This show airs Thursdays at 10/9 central on ABC. It follows Olivia Pope, a former media relations consultant to the President, who now runs her own firm. She "wears the white hat" as the firm's members are fond of saying, which means she's a good person. She takes on clients only when she believes they are honest and generally good. Each episode of the show focuses on a case that the group is working as well as another piece of the current long term mystery.

SPOILERS ARE COMING

The show has now aired 6 episodes, 5 of which I've watched. Through them we've learned that Olivia and the President had an affair when she was working for his campaign. It comes forward that he perhaps had another affair with a young intern named Amanda. Of course by episode 5 Amanda has been killed by a black ops (or ex black ops) agent and it seems like perhaps her claims weren't what they first seemed. Olivia goes from trusting the President to declaring war on him, while his right hand Cyrus Beene, seems to know a lot more than he lets on. The President's wife also seems to know more than anyone believes, and I personally am suspicious that she is behind Amanda's death. Of course that's just speculation on my part.

Yet, far more than the intriguing plot line, it's the stories of the characters that I'm fascinated by. We know Olivia used to work for the President, and that she quit shortly after their affair ended. We know that Olivia saved one of her firm members Abby, from an abusive spouse, and we have a brief glimpse at the lives of her other firm members Stephen and Harrison. I'm excited to see what will happen when it's finally time for their stories to come to light.

The most intriguing characters by far though are Huck and Quinn. Quinn is the new girl, she entered the firm we when entered the series, and thus the audience has an intimate bond with her. She is a bit awkward, talks too much when she's nervous, and cries an awful lot. She seems genuine and endearing, but then in a recent episode revealed that Quinn didn't exist just a few short years ago. That's makes her infinitely interesting to me. Someone who didn't exist a few years ago usually lead a hard life, or witnessed a crime, or is a criminal escaping from something. None of those things add up to a woman who babbles and cries. That makes me wonder if perhaps she isn't at all what she seems. I can't wait to find out.

Huck is equally fascinating, even if we know more about him, starting with his name not being Huck (obviously). We discovered that he is actually ex black ops, he's the one who found the guy and tortured the information about Amanda's death out of him. We also learn that he hates the torture, but the government forced him to do it until "something fell away" and he found that he was good at what he did, and enjoyed it. He was in a dark dark place and it was Olivia that pulled him back. That is a story I'm really excited to hear eventually. What makes Huck my favorite isn't his past though, it's his personality. He's incredibly empathetic, almost to the point of a super power, and always knows exactly what everyone needs. He's always there with a shoulder to lean on, a kind word, or good advice. I love him because he's so kind and yet so hard, and I find that dichotomy intriguing.

 Overall Scandal is a show I would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys complex characters and a show that both provides an overarching story and single episode stories that wrap up nicely. Now all that's left for me to do is hope that ABC sees the value in this show and doesn't cancel just when it's getting good.