SCANDAL: A Little Scandalous Recap of Season 1

By Liz | September 24, 2012

One of ABC’s new shows which debuted last spring was a little thing called Scandal. I don’t know why we didn’t talk about this show here at Nice Girls TV. It may simply have been that we were stretched way too thin and didn’t have the woman-power, a sitch that has since been remedied. In any case, Scandal took me by surprise. I recently marathoned the entire first season in one sitting and was won over immediately, though I’m not sure I can really explain why.

Kerry Washington certainly commands your attention as the lead character, Olivia Pope. Her team is so many-layered that there’s always something interesting going on, and casting for all of them is pretty fine. The stories also involve the cases that Olivia & Co. handle. These are not your everyday, run-of-the-mill, investigative stories. The people that come to Liv have problems that they want her to make “go away”. They are often scandals and sometimes they are cries for help.

There is also intrigue. Why not? The president of the United States (Tony Goldwyn) is one of the main characters! Scandal comes with the job.

So why, you may ask, do I have such difficulty explaining why I like this show? Well simply put, I don’t know how the writers want me to feel about these people. While I admire Olivia’s strength and steadfastness, I was very surprised that she allowed herself to be caught up in a scandal of her own. I don’t know if I’m supposed to be disappointed in her, feel sorry for her, or be ticked off for the let-down. Maybe I’m supposed to feel all of those things?

One of Liv’s team members is a new hire, Quinn Perkins (Katie Lowes). Quinn has been a huge question mark for me because she just seemed to be having such a hard time finding her groove in Liv’s world. I wasn’t sure that she fit at times, and at other times I felt like she really wasn’t being given a fair shake. The season finale revealed that Quinn has a ginormous secret that only Olivia Pope knows: the secret of her true identity. Who is she? And why did Olivia break the law to cover up Quinn’s involvement in the murder of boyfriend? Is she hiding from someone? Quinn seemed to be horrified when U.S. Attorney David Rosen (Josh Molina) discovered her identity.

The question of Quinn’s ID, Cyrus’s plans and more will be revealed when Scandal returns, Thursday night at 10/9c, on ABC. Meanwhile, Marianne Sierk runs through a quick season 1 recap, in her own special way. Take a look:

You can watch the episodes from last season that you absolutely must watch, on the official Scandal website.