“Scandal” finale and a look back at the height of Rhimes

I can’t say that I have been a huge fan of Shonda Rhimes now, but when her shows first started airing for “TGIT” (of course in reference to “TGIF” (Thank God It’s Friday) back in the 90s) I was hooked. I did enjoy “Grey’s Anatomy”, “Scandal” and “How to Get Away With Murder”. I thought they were all clever, quick witted and had something that was missing. I was a huge Rhimes fan and namely the fact that all of these gave women good roles was encouraging.

“Grey’s Anatomy” though still on the air, this was the first show that I quickly jumped ship from. I watched maybe two or three seasons, but after that, I was done. The off screen drama with the cast members plus the on screen nothing but sex, it was overdone for me. I know that Rhimes has a tendency to quickly dispose of “problem children” as we can call them. I felt like what happened with this show was hastily done and it did not paint the show in a good light, sort of like later on what happened with “Scandal”, but I will get to that. This show, although still airing, for me quickly wore out its welcome. This show set up what I felt like is the overall feel of Rhimes shows.

“Scandal” was next and this one had me for longer. The series finale aired this past Thursday and can’t really say that I was a fan. I loved, LOVED the first maybe three seasons. This show had it all, or so I thought if I didn’t think too hard about it. It had a strong female lead. It was fast paced, quick wit, hard hitting, and yes the signature sex (she seems to always have to throw that in). It was fun and felt real. This show quickly burned out though as well.

Next, came “How to Get Away With Murder” and again started strong, but quickly faded. Just like with “Scandal” strong female lead, hard hitting, pulls no punches and clever. You were on your toes, guessing, trying to uncover the secrets before they were revealed. It was a fun show to watch. Season Two starts with a murder mystery, as expected, but this first half of the season is NOTHING but filler. When I say nothing but filler, it seems even the writers forgot in the season finale of season two with that episode focusing on Annalise and only in the last few moments do they seem to remember oh yeah we had that whole half a season thing, okay let’s see how quickly we can wrap that up. It was frustrating and very much a waste of the viewer’s time, in my opinion. I feel season three has done better and it might bounce back, but we will see honestly it could go either way.

Rhimes had some flat out failures and after the struggles she had with the shows that I loved off the bat, I didn’t even tune in. It seems that she can start out strong, but has a hard problem with staying power, just my observation. Her final ABC show, she will be moving on to her new Netflix contract, “For the People”, I will be doing a separate post on. This show has heart, drive, the same quick wit and unlike the other shows a seeming moral compose. I can see that this show seems to be struggling, but with it staying more “in the light” to steal a little from how “Scandal” might describe it, I can see why audiences just might not get this show. I think this is her best show to date.

(Spoiler warning discussion of series finale)

“Scandal” this past week went out with very little fan fair. After the third season, the whole kidnapping storyline, I felt like all the show did was try to recreate what it did well. It failed during this horrible storyline and made characters do things that were not only not within their realm, but not even relatable for the audience. Every political show and all shows on TV couldn’t avoid the Trump vs. Hilary story line and so this show followed right along. I felt this was the strongest season before the complete fall, so I was okay with it. Turning Olivia Carolyn Pope (Kerry Washington) bad, I was intrigued. Once she took over command, I was like we are getting somewhere. It was risk, edge and what the show was missing, but even they couldn’t commit to that. The series ended with a whimper, not a bang. They undid all they could and ended just as you would expect. By the end, there were no “Gladiators” the good guy really DID NOT win.

There were no good guys, even Cyrus (Jeff Perry) got to walk away tail between his legs, but walk away he did. He was ultimately complete evil and he was just told resign and walk away. Jake Ballard (Scott Foley) got it the worst, taking the fall for it all because in the end, he tried to turn away. It was overall a disappointment. Despite them trying to salvage the Olivia Pope character, they started too late for the end. Rhimes made her appear strong, but really she was always weak and run by men. She tore down a woman, but cheating with her husband (not the example of a strong woman). She used her power to help a man, and other bad men. When she could do good, she choose to keep doing what other men had done and she let power completely corrupt her. Yes, she fell and yes she came back, but what was there to come back to? She was not a good person and though we can put a bow on it, looking at what the character was, is that the real end we should want?

I know that I said happy reviewer right? I guess this has been a bother to me for a while. I will be happy when I talk about “For the People” because I think that is a real change and does have strong characters and examples, personally not a surprise that it is falling flat with Rhimes fans. This show is not the typical and it is a breath of fresh air. I will be sad when more than likely it gets cancelled after this season, but I will enjoy it while I can. The Rhimes dynasty is over at ABC, it has been good and yes, “Grey’s” is still on, but it will end too. All good things end, but really how good where they really to begin with.