Buy Scandal: Beltway Unbuckled
So, here’s another one with a weaker than usual case of the week. It involves a young woman who sleeps with politicians, journalists, political aides, whoever, and then documents her sexual adventures on a blog called Beltway Unbuckled (do you get it? DO YOU GET IT?! *wink* *wink* *WINK*). None of this story really lands and it’s pretty predictable. Things in the big story arc don’t exactly start falling into place, but characters start coming to the forefront in interesting way. Gregg Allman is deliciously slimy as energy tycoon Hollis Doyle and Debra Mooney is good as Supreme Court Justice Verna Thornton; they’ve both had small parts to this point, but as this episode unfolds, we start to get a sense of some of the secrets these characters are keeping and they’re both perfectly played. Though as the season went on, I started wishing the show could have gotten Angela Lansbury for Justice Thornton. What a kick that would have been. There’s a cool bit that sees Olivia working together with one of her enemies on a common goal. And the climax sets up the next few episodes brilliantly as we finally get a sense of the conspiracy that’s going to be at the heart of this season and, let’s just say, the members of this conspiracy aren’t necessarily the people you’re expecting. Really good episode. Recommended. 3 ½ stars.
tl;dr – brilliant character work and some great twists and turns in the season long story arc really elevate this episode above a fairly weak and predictable case of the week. 3 ½ stars.