Scandal: The Lawn Chair

March 6, 2015 8:05 AM - Season 4, Episode 14

Scandal's take on Ferguson and #BlackLivesMatter.
posted by lunasol (3 comments total)

I had such mixed feelings about this episode. On the one hand, it's good to see shows like this taking on issues like institutionalized racism, and emotionally, this was a super-powerful episode. On the other hand, if you watched this show with no knowledge of real-world events, you would be left with the impression that the problem of police violence against black people is ONLY police problem. Everyone else, including GOP leaders (in Shonda Rhimes' fantasy GOP) was horrified, while the police were cartoon racists. Also, the ending with the police officer's confession was SO ham-handed.
posted by lunasol at 8:13 AM on March 6, 2015 [1 favorite]

Completely agree with the mixed feelings and found this article pretty interesting:

Scandal's police brutality episode was TV wish fulfillment writ large

All of this sounds like wish fulfillment, because it is. Scandal has always been a show about wish fulfillment, one where the good guys consider themselves “gladiators” on a never-ending quest for justice – but with The Lawn Chair, this is magnified by the current state of affairs of police brutality with regards to black men (or, sadly, boys).
...
For those who consider television a form of escapism, it’s a bit of a head-on collision with the harsh truths of the world. Scandal re-imagines these realities in a world where the characters we’re supposed to root for are idealized versions of real people. Olivia Pope, who is hired by the police to make sure this shooting doesn’t become a catastrophe, turns her back on that hiring in service of finding the truth. The attorney general breaks the rules to help her do so. At no point are the police violent toward the peaceful protestors, because there is a rational voice preventing them from doing that.


And, though I thought some parts of the ending were 'a little much' (which, ya know, is pretty Scandal-y), that point where Olivia joins the protesters on the other side of the line and starts chanting was VERY VERY satisfying on a purely emotional level.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 2:51 PM on March 6, 2015 [4 favorites]

The NotFerguson plot was so perplexing that I can't even get into it.

I did love Fitz tanking the Cyrus's pick for VP so Mellie wouldn't be overshadowed. Go Team Mellie!
posted by donajo at 6:46 AM on March 12, 2015