I must admit that I got on the Scandal train pretty late. When I heard that they were on a three-week hiatus I used the time to catch up on creator Shonda Rhimes hit show, and here is why Thursday is now my new favourite:

1. Olitz.

“The course of true love, never did run smooth.” I love these two people together and I love them apart. Together, there is that smoldering chemistry that is oh so forbidden and apart…they’re going through their daily lives but you just know that they’re thinking about each other. I am a sucker for romance and this is my kinda romance. Passionate. Fiery. Devastating. Explosive. They go hard for each other, only he’s married. He has three kids…and he’s the POTUS. Soooo this is also a story full of jealousy, anger, frustration, sadness and fear. I never thought I’d root for “the other woman” but Olivia and Fitz…DAMN I’ll root for that love and the clip below depicts everything I love about the two of them together.

2. Olivia’s style.

She has wine clothes people! WINE CLOTHES!!! I want her style. I want her entire wardrobe. Her suits are impeccable, her accessories are delicate and feminine. Strong lines with soft touches and high heels for the office. Her home attire is soft and silky almost as if she sheds the “powerful fixer persona” as soon as she walks through her front door. I. Want. Her. Style!!! Here’s what Kerry Washington had to say about Olivia Pope’s wardrobe below:

3. Gladiators in suits.

Two words: Columbus Short. I love me some Harrison. But it isn’t just Harrison. It’s the team: Huck, Abby, Quinn and well Harrison who make up Pope & Associates that takes the show to the next level. Each character has a story. They all have a shady past. They are capable of anything. And yet they are all so human and none of them including Olivia are meant to be role models. Their team is more like a family. You have Huck big brother/mentoring Quinn, which I’m loving cuz Quinn was a little too whiny for far too long. Abby is smart, snarky and immature but will follow Olivia over a cliff and my eye candy Harrison is Olivia’s lieutenant. I love how Olivia seems to genuinely care about each one of them. On the real tho, they can literally clean up any mess and that has to cost. There was a scene in Season 1 where they were paid by cheque and I squinted to see the value on it. I often wonder how much they’re being paid…cuz damn Olivia can dress!

4. Cyrus.

White House Chief of Staff. Olivia’s mentor, friend and nemesis at times. Husband, who put a hit out on his own husband to save his old ass from going to jail but called it off at the very last second. Father, who adopted a baby to keep said husband home ‘barefoot and proverbially (obviously) pregnant’. Wannabe president. Political Animal. I love Cyrus Beene.

5. Mellie.

FLOTUS. She hates babies but has 3 of her own. An incredibly smart Southern Belle, who can give a blow job while wearing pearls. She craves power and wants to be President.

Mellie: [to Cyrus] You’re supposed to hate the woman. Isn’t that the standard trope? The seductress, the slut, the tramp who led your man astray. And I do. I loathe Olivia Pope. But it’s a boring sort of hate. Uninteresting, cliché’. It’s hard to even get my back into it. But…Fitz? I found him. I cleaned him up after that monster who raised him damaged his spirit. I am the one who told him he was someone. I am the one who cheered him on and listened to him ramble about his hopes and his dreams. I am the one who focused him. I did all the work. I did all the work and now she gets to reap the benefits? No. No, I made him. He exists because I say he exists.

6. Tom.

Secret Service Agent assigned to Fitz. Sucker for a good love story perhaps? Working on a tell-all book or just a POTUS PIMP? Tom is the one who gave Fitz the photos of Olivia and Edison…after he had given the order to cease surveillance on her. Check out the clip below to see why Tom is in my good books. HA!

7. It’s just damn good TV.

Secrets. Politics. Round table deals. Suspense. Murder. Lies. The stress. The heartache it causes me. I love it all. This is escape TV at its best. My mother had Knots Landing. I have Scandal. Do I care that Fitz is a murderer? Nope! Verna was on her way out anyway. Do I endorse adultery in real life? NO! Do I like Huck getting his ‘Dexter’ on and teaching Quinn how to as well…hell yeah! This is what entertainment is all about and I will willingly nay…excitedly take a ride into Shonda’s world every Thursday.

Join me?