Scandal: Gladiators Don’t Run Review

This review contains spoilers for Scandal.

Liv’s next nickname as of the last couple of weeks: Helen of Troy. She has been kidnapped, a war has been started because of her, and now she has been bid off as a way to control the most powerful man in the world for billions of dollars. 

That was not how it was supposed to go. 

Olivia sat pretty at the start of the episode, conspiring with creepy captor Ian as they set up the auction for her life. As the rather young and greedy hackers type away at their computers to figure out the online auction, one of Ian’s sidekicks, Gus, decides to shoot and kill Ian and take the money for himself.

I guess he didn’t like Liv sipping champagne and calling the shots. Plus, she did kill his best friend, one of the other sidekicks, a couple episodes ago. 

Liv’s freshly washed face was then painted red with Ian’s blood and while the auction started to feel shaky at this moment… its outcome seemed uncertain until the final scenes of the episode.

While the President’s team put themselves in the bidding war, the gladiators are still unsure who is to be trusted over there. So, who are we gonna call?

Mama Pope!

A little sass from Mama Pope, sure why not. But, there’s no way it’s an easy call. Since the bidding is happening in the “dark net,” a highly exclusive part of the internet (is that even possible?) they need a terrorist’s alias to get inside. That’s where Mama Pope comes in. Of course, some blood needs to be shed in any coarse dealing with this woman.

Now, is anyone else tired of seeing Huck go all creepy, murderous, serial killer tendencies, brainwashed hacker Huck? Well, he did it again when Mama Pope organizes a meeting with a terrorist that would help get them into the “dark net.” But first, Huck needed to kill some people who were with him. Huck takes the lead here, leaving Jake in the car. When he feels that Huck has taken him too long, he goes upstairs to find that Huck has taken his time brutally slaying his victims and getting jazzed by the idea of severing off their heads next. 

Yeah, Jake. I’m really sure Huck was grateful when you told him to go wash up while he handled the, heads… Can we just have first season Huck back, please? Remember when he smiled a couple of times? Maybe in that first episode? Yeah, those were the good ‘ol days. 

Soon after the gladiators hacked in and started to bid, the bidding closed. However, it was the president who “bought” Olivia. It was Iran.

Who I could really live without right now… 

Vice President Andrew Nichols: After faking an assassination attempt, kidnapping Olivia, and threatening Mellie… he has to get let off the hook. Mellie informs Fitz that she someday wants to run for President, but she can’t do that if Andrew exposes their affair in retaliation to Cyrus wanting Elizabeth to testify against him. 

Wait, did Mellie just say… run for President? Please Shonda Rhimes, I will agree to that spin off 100 percent. 

David Rosen: Poor David, so butt hurt about Abby and their relationship that he has to be a cold hearted asshole when Abby comes to him, panicking about Olivia. Here Abby is, near hysterical that only now she has found out from the president what happened to Olivia and David didn’t even tell her. David gets all, “it’s none of your business because I’m all official and you’re not even close” on Abby. Abby fires back at him, but then they settle their anger over a drink.  

No David, that would not be such an easy fix for me. You were just being an ass, as Abby put it. 

Crazy Huck: If I have to hear Huck breathing heavily and see him wide eyed, staring off into some crazy void as he rattles off the ways to dismember a person and seem somewhat turned on by the notion…well, let’s just say, good luck having any sort of relationship with your son in the future with that mindset. 

Hacker Dudes: Olivia makes a rather enticing offer to save their lives and make them rich and powerful, but no. This generation comes with the need for instant gratification and they want money…now! 

I’m sorry, but a succesful and intelligent woman just offered you fame, fortune, and job security for the rest of your life. Running with kidnappers or running with the president? 

Not really a tough choice for some apparent genius hackers. 

All I ask of you Shonda Rhimes…

Bring back reformed, Huck! Sure, we like to dive into these character’s past and see how flawed they are and how they come out of it. But, Huck seems eternally set in his world of bloodlust. Don’t do this to this complex character, because now I just want to call him crazy eyes. With Jake worried about him and now Quinn too, I’m afraid he won’t come back from what he did in last night’s episode.

All in all, the episode still didn’t settle anything about when Olivia will get rescued or who her new captors will be after being sold to Iran. From the preview though, it seems that whoever it is meeting Olivia in the desert is either someone familiar to her, or someone familiar to us. 

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