This is an article I wrote for my school newspaper, reviewing Scandal in an attempt to help it gain some viewers, and because my teacher wouldn't let me write a hard-hitting expose on how stereotypical our school plays are. This is the long version, before my editor made me cut about 100 words.
As soon as I heard that writer and director Shonda Rhimes– whose credits include hits "Grey's Anatomy" and "Private Practice" – was making a new show, I immediately fell in love.
"Scandal" is a fast-paced political thriller that is loosely based on former George Bush administration press aide Judy Smith, whose real life crisis management firm has represented the likes of Monica Lewinski, Michael Vick, and the family of Chandra Levy. Smith now acts as the co-executive producer of the show, and consults with Rhimes and the writers when trying to create a genuine crisis management atmosphere.
The series stars the graceful and talented Kerry Washington as crisis manager and former White House Communications Director Olivia Pope. Washington's character at first appears cold and distant, spewing threats to anyone who dares stand in the way of her clients, but a softer side is soon revealed as the audience delves deeper and deeper into her personal life, giving way to a plot that is much more complex than what is seen on the surface.
While Olivia fixes the crises of sleazy Congressmen, troubled foreign leaders, and a wayward White House aide, the true Scandal lies within her secret love affair with President Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III. The relationship is scandalous in every sense of the word, and while viewers tuned in to see an exciting political thrill ride, they stayed for the way Fitz beggedLiv for "just one minute." Romance of the year, anyone?
Because season one ended after only seven episodes, and with a monster of a cliffhanger, I was left anticipating whatRhimes could possibly have in store for her medley of characters. Upon hearing that the show had been renewed for a second season of 13 episodes, I became a madman, watching and re-watching season one until I was speaking to everyone in hurried lawyer lingo so much that my mother banned me from watching it in her presence.
Season two began Thursday, September 28 at 10 p.m. and I was waiting eagerly, inches from my 19" television for the preceding show to end. I had waited months for this moment, and it couldn't come fast enough. When the show began, it wasted no time jumping right into answering the question we all wanted to know, the stress-inducing cliffhanger from the last seconds of season one, which to me was too good to be true. And, of course, the show wasted no time creating more secrets and putting that dreaded weight right back onto my shoulders.
With the surprisingly large number of trashy reality shows and corny, half-hour sitcoms about average American families, I let out a loud sigh of relief when I first heard the premise of "Scandal". Finally, a show that made me think, that left me wanting more. A show whose characters I absolutely could not relate to, but who I so desperately wanted to be. It's the show I'd been waiting for.