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meangameofpoliticalchess:

Olivia x Harrison (Part 2 of 2)

Harrison: You know what I think about when I look at Olivia? 

A bookkeeping degree. 

That’s what you do right? When you’re spending eight years in federal prison. That’s what I was facing for insider trading.

Eight years of my life (Pshew!) wasted if she hadn’t saved me.

So, the way I see it Liv’s a good person. And if a good person has to do something bad for the right reasons?

I’m. Down. With. That.

So, I don’t want to know the how’s. I don’t want to know the why’s.

I just come to work every day thankful as all hell, I didn’t have to earn a bookkeeping degree.

miltonsong: geejayeff: miltonsong: geejayeff: xionin: geejayeff: I am starting to feel like maybe Olivia’s relationship with her gladiators is not particularly healthy. We were certainly encouraged to believe that Olivia selflessly helped out some people in a bad situation. That they genuinely needed the help and are grateful for it, I do not dispute. But I’m starting to question Olivia’s motives. For one, they are overly dependent on her because she has weened them to unquestioning obedience. They don’t challenge her. She never has to explain her reasoning or make a convincing argument. She doesn’t have to cooperate with the people around her or even her clients, she simply assumes control and demands compliance. Yes, it’s sexy as hell to watch a show with a woman in charge and is aided and defended by a loyal crew, but I’m not seeing Olivia treat them as equals, colleagues or people she has to earn the respect of. I’m also not see much effort on her part to encourage them to lead independent lives. Instead she demands more and more of them. Abby, for instance, sacrificed her love life and chance at a redeeming relationship with a nice guy. The importance of that to someone coming out of an abusive relationship where you doubt your self worth can not be overstated. Yet Abby stayed true to the Gladiator code, made the sacrifice play without even knowing why. And if she complains about it, she can look forward to a lecture about how she’s expected to put her personal needs on hold for whatever mission Olivia sets. I both admired Abby for her ride-or-die attitude and am also dismayed that this sacrifice was just accepted without surprise, reflection or remorse. Really, gladiators, really?  Olivia seems to use her relationship with the gladiators as a mirror in which she can see herself as good person, a fixer, a savior. I question whether she actually wants them to lead normal lives with normal relationships. How can any of them have spouses or significant others? The hours, the commitments, the secrets and finally the level of sacrifice expected pretty much precludes having any significant relationship outside the cult office. I have seen others comment on the similarities of OPA to B613, but I would say the difference is in the extreme reliance and personal bond Olivia forms with the gladiators. Rowan controls them with the stick, but Olivia with the carrot. So when she decides her “gladiators need her” and leaves Fitz to take up the white hat, I don’t feel it’s a positive, noble or healthy move. OPA is a cocoon where she has surrounded herself with people she has hobbled and warped to her purposes. While they are indeed an effective crisis management team, her emotional demands on them have become a crutch for her and a leash on them. No wonder she finds it so difficult to maintain a relationship with Fitz. He is offering partnership and she is more comfortable with dependents. the bolded blew me away, but i’m just giving you a standing ovation, overall. *applause* so glad i’m not the only one that sees Olivia and OPA this way. Whew! glad I’m not alone! I feel like I’m treading on sacred ground here. Olivia and OPA working as an effective unit is so central to the show and definitely a part I enjoy, but something ain’t right here. This is probably why Stephen left because when he had to choose between being a gladiator and having a life he chose Georgia (which flared up Olivia’s abandonment issues something fierce).  He couldn’t be both because to be both meant he was prostituting himself out for information with his body.  He couldn’t be faithful to Georgia and still be a gladiator. This was all laid out rather well in 752 when she talked to Huck.  She said that Harrison, Abby, and Quinn had to be taken care of and looked after.   The only one she didn’t take in this regard  was Huck.   He is the only one in the office she considers an equal.  He saved her from being alone.    Wow..great point about Stephen. You are all the way in or all the way out…no middle ground. Yes Huck is different…but also seems to need her the most. I could imagine Olivia cutting the gladiators loose and the other three finding their way, but Huck falling back down “the hole”, so to speak.  Huck is her pitbull and companion but we have found that Huck had a easier time of letting go of Olivia than Olivia has has of letting go of him.  He’s almost booked it right out of OPA twice and out of Olivia’s life without much adjustment.  Olivia?  Freaked the fuck out both times he tried to leave.  Like she could not handle him going away and that was the closest she was in tears about someone who wasn’t Fitz.  She panicked thinking he had left her.  She bugged right out.  She needs Huck more than he needs her in some ways.  Huck would probably be relatively okay without Liv from what we’ve been shown about him.  Liv? Not so much. This is a good perspective on Gladiator or Co-Dependent life at OPA. With OPA it’s either you pick a Gladiator life or a normal life. You cannot have both. It just doesn’t work. Something pulls you in some direction that forces you to choose what side you’re going to be with. Well said that was a thorough point on Abby post her marriage. She hasn’t been the same since like Harrison said. That relationship changed her. Look at what being a gladiator has done to Quinn though. She turned into a full-on Baby Huck. Harrison time and time again is loyal to Olivia and with no questions asked. He’s her gladiator. And yes to her bugging out when Huck trying to leave TWICE. Look at Stephen. From the start he was wrestling with being with his girlfriend and being a Gladiator. The two factors kept pushing him between both. Spot-on Gladiator analysis. 

miltonsong:

geejayeff:

miltonsong:

geejayeff:

xionin:

geejayeff:

I am starting to feel like maybe Olivia’s relationship with her gladiators is not particularly healthy.

We were certainly encouraged to believe that Olivia selflessly helped out some people in a bad situation. That they genuinely needed the help and are grateful for it, I do not dispute. But I’m starting to question Olivia’s motives.

For one, they are overly dependent on her because she has weened them to unquestioning obedience. They don’t challenge her. She never has to explain her reasoning or make a convincing argument. She doesn’t have to cooperate with the people around her or even her clients, she simply assumes control and demands compliance.

Yes, it’s sexy as hell to watch a show with a woman in charge and is aided and defended by a loyal crew, but I’m not seeing Olivia treat them as equals, colleagues or people she has to earn the respect of. I’m also not see much effort on her part to encourage them to lead independent lives. Instead she demands more and more of them.

Abby, for instance, sacrificed her love life and chance at a redeeming relationship with a nice guy. The importance of that to someone coming out of an abusive relationship where you doubt your self worth can not be overstated. Yet Abby stayed true to the Gladiator code, made the sacrifice play without even knowing why. And if she complains about it, she can look forward to a lecture about how she’s expected to put her personal needs on hold for whatever mission Olivia sets. I both admired Abby for her ride-or-die attitude and am also dismayed that this sacrifice was just accepted without surprise, reflection or remorse. Really, gladiators, really? 

Olivia seems to use her relationship with the gladiators as a mirror in which she can see herself as good person, a fixer, a savior. I question whether she actually wants them to lead normal lives with normal relationships. How can any of them have spouses or significant others? The hours, the commitments, the secrets and finally the level of sacrifice expected pretty much precludes having any significant relationship outside the cult office.

I have seen others comment on the similarities of OPA to B613, but I would say the difference is in the extreme reliance and personal bond Olivia forms with the gladiators. Rowan controls them with the stick, but Olivia with the carrot.

So when she decides her “gladiators need her” and leaves Fitz to take up the white hat, I don’t feel it’s a positive, noble or healthy move. OPA is a cocoon where she has surrounded herself with people she has hobbled and warped to her purposes. While they are indeed an effective crisis management team, her emotional demands on them have become a crutch for her and a leash on them.

No wonder she finds it so difficult to maintain a relationship with Fitz. He is offering partnership and she is more comfortable with dependents.

the bolded blew me away, but i’m just giving you a standing ovation, overall. *applause* so glad i’m not the only one that sees Olivia and OPA this way.

Whew! glad I’m not alone! I feel like I’m treading on sacred ground here. Olivia and OPA working as an effective unit is so central to the show and definitely a part I enjoy, but something ain’t right here.

This is probably why Stephen left because when he had to choose between being a gladiator and having a life he chose Georgia (which flared up Olivia’s abandonment issues something fierce).  He couldn’t be both because to be both meant he was prostituting himself out for information with his body.  He couldn’t be faithful to Georgia and still be a gladiator.

This was all laid out rather well in 752 when she talked to Huck.  She said that Harrison, Abby, and Quinn had to be taken care of and looked after.   The only one she didn’t take in this regard  was Huck.   He is the only one in the office she considers an equal.  He saved her from being alone.   

Wow..great point about Stephen. You are all the way in or all the way out…no middle ground.

Yes Huck is different…but also seems to need her the most. I could imagine Olivia cutting the gladiators loose and the other three finding their way, but Huck falling back down “the hole”, so to speak. 

Huck is her pitbull and companion but we have found that Huck had a easier time of letting go of Olivia than Olivia has has of letting go of him.  He’s almost booked it right out of OPA twice and out of Olivia’s life without much adjustment.  Olivia?  Freaked the fuck out both times he tried to leave.  Like she could not handle him going away and that was the closest she was in tears about someone who wasn’t Fitz.  She panicked thinking he had left her.  She bugged right out.  She needs Huck more than he needs her in some ways.  Huck would probably be relatively okay without Liv from what we’ve been shown about him.  Liv?

Not so much.

This is a good perspective on Gladiator or Co-Dependent life at OPA. With OPA it’s either you pick a Gladiator life or a normal life. You cannot have both. It just doesn’t work. Something pulls you in some direction that forces you to choose what side you’re going to be with. Well said that was a thorough point on Abby post her marriage. She hasn’t been the same since like Harrison said. That relationship changed her. Look at what being a gladiator has done to Quinn though. She turned into a full-on Baby Huck. Harrison time and time again is loyal to Olivia and with no questions asked. He’s her gladiator. And yes to her bugging out when Huck trying to leave TWICE. Look at Stephen. From the start he was wrestling with being with his girlfriend and being a Gladiator. The two factors kept pushing him between both.

Spot-on Gladiator analysis. 

Scandal Whipped: Fitz and Olivia are children while Cyrus and Mellie are grownups»

scandal-whipped:

I’m still bothered about those bullshit statements. When did making difficult choices against the status quo  make someone a child? In actuality Cyrus and Mellie are both cowards willing to ride on Fitz coattails for their own benefit.

They both pretend to better than Fitz but never stepped out of the box to be great on their own. Cyrus lamented that he wasn’t Presidential material because he was not handsome enough and he also loved sleeping with men, which is a total bullshit. Cyrus took the easy way out because he wanted to keep fucking and wasn’t ambitious enough to fight for what he wanted. Not all presidents are good looking so if he wanted to be president he could have run for president. 

Mellie is also a coward, for someone who graduated at the top of her class you would think that she would blazed the trail for women and run for office herself but she didn’t. She saw the easy path to the WH and took it instead of forging her own path.

In my opinion making the hard choices especially when you know consequences could be dire makes you an adult.

This is a spot-on, mic drop analysis. All I gotta add onto this is just one question. Why is it that when a “grown-up” mess requires a massive clean-up, all eyes are on Olivia Pope to fix it/handle it? Think back to when Fitz was in a coma. Think back to Amanda Tanner. Think back to when Fitz woke up from his coma.(I could go on and on here but you get the point.) This is why at times I’m full on team OFC and at times I’m not. OFC gets things done/fixed/handled but Olivia’s for Fitz the man and Cyrus is for Fitz the POTUS. Spot-on analysis. 

The Top 6 Ways Shonda Rhimes can make SCANDAL enjoyable for Men»

Full disclosure: I haven’t seen a single episode of Scandal. No, that’s actually not true. I struggled for a few days to get through the pilot episode once the show became popular late last year. After all of the fast talking and flash-editing, I pressed STOP during the opening credits of episode two and decided that life was too short to waste on this prime-time soap opera clearly meant for women. 

Having said that, my social media timeline STILL gets flooded on Thursday nights with Scandal related comments. So what’s a masculine man like me to do? I’d like to join the party, but the show is unwatchable. Seriously.

With the second season finale of the show airing last week, what better time to make a plea to creator and show runner Shonda Rhimes to mold season three into a more palatable series for us men feeling out-of-the-loop? Here are my 6 ideas to dramatically improve Scandal. Ms Rhimes, these are all free of charge. 
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Olivia may want to brush up on that skill for folks always wanting in on her apartment….