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Critic Reviews
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On "Grey's Anatomy," particularly in the first two years, Rhimes proved herself skilled at crafting gripping love stories. She's outdone herself here.
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The formula doesn't always work (insert memories of your least favorite "Grey's" story arc here), but when it does, Rhimes is as successful at tugging for the heartstrings as anyone in the business.
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Scandal is about as realistic as Mamie Eisenhower Witch Hunter but it has so much headlong energy, you may not care. [9 Apr 2012, p.40]
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It's still a fun, fast ride, with lots of twists and turns, murder and menace, and after only a few episodes we know enough back story about most of the main characters to care what happens to them.
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Rhimes hustles the audience into episodes in the middle of things. Pope and her colleagues speak at a clip suggesting years of study at the West Wing School of Elocution and Composition. In the rush, I scarcely had time to scoff at the over-the-top content of the pilot.
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Scandal isn't a deep show, but it's bright enough.
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Even if Scandal isn't quite as instantly addictive as "Grey's Anatomy" was back in the day, this is a well-paced, generally well-acted show with some promising elements (though there is also an occasional tendency to offer contrived redemptions that don't make a ton of sense).
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It's entertaining to watch, though, distracting in a highly caffeinated way, and Washington and Cusick are especially fun together, but at no point do the characters seem like people or the venue anything but a fast-paced, occasionally clever television show.
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It's energetic and inventive enough that I suggest you check it out. Maybe twice. Shonda Rhimes has certainly earned at least a second look.
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This may not be Peabody material, but if you like a show that's not afraid to go bananas, this might just be your type of low-hanging fruit.
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It is stylish, hammy, sexy, dirty, devilish, laughably bad TV, the guiltiest pleasure since the network unveiled "Revenge."
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While there are bouts of facile speechifying, some of the twists are predictable, and the plot gears are greased a little too easily in the pilot--the various OPA employees know, and have dirt on, everyone from cops and mobsters to politicians and reporters--it's a satisfying, fast-paced, well-acted hour with flashes of humor.
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While there are moments that are downright laughable, Scandal has flair and even sophistication.
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Clear away the soap bubbles, and you'll find ... more soap bubbles. But you won't be bored.
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This female-skewing drama gets points for its actors' performances and its originality.
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At just seven hours, you can think of Scandal as the modern equivalent of those old Sidney Sheldon miniseries and enjoy it at that level. Assuming you can get through the first hour. And past the main character.
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A tantalizingly juicy soap opera.
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The cast around Washington is also quite solid, and the show looks and is refreshingly different from a typical procedural. But it also feels a little too slick and superficial, and those gaps in logic may be a problem for some viewers.
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It's the new Revenge, but so much goofier and more shameless that it makes Revenge look comparatively measured.
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If Olivia can keep her edge, if Rhimes can keep the stories as strong as the soap, and if we start feeling we don't know exactly what to expect, "Scandal" could become a habit worth forming.
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The show's formula looks to be this: the silly plots swirl, the brokers scheme, and the minions toil, but in each episode, Liv finds a moment to chat with one of these wise, powerful, and inevitably troubled women. In these moments, Scandal is slightly less tabloidy and soapy, and slightly more beguiling.
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While the characters are slight and the dialog is silly, there's a story there somewhere.
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The show's set in Washington, where the crises that need managing are unending, so there's bound to be material, some of it all too familiar.
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Over the top? Yeah. Closer to the truth of the matter? That, too.
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At once cynical and softhearted, Scandal is a nighttime soap less believable than Private Practice. Good acting, though.
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If only what's new about Scandal was supported by something better than blah writing, ludicrous situations and cardboard characters.
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The banging-the-president plot may outdo "Grey's" and "Private Practice's" in sheer headline-grabbing, gonzo boldness, but it's still ill-advised. The chief executive needs to button up, and even Shonda Rhimes can't make a TV show escapist and over the top enough to obviate that--though, it sure should be interesting to watch her try.
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To enjoy the show, though, you really have to suspend disbelief at many points, just as you do with "Grey's." There are moments when the frenetic drive for cleverness prompts some rather silly decisions about plot points.
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As usual, Rhimes' workplace characters talk very fast, but the manic visual style can't obscure a series flawed on most every level.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 148 out of 205
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Mixed: 15 out of 205
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Negative: 42 out of 205
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Dec 28, 2012
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Jun 12, 2012
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Apr 6, 2012