also known as… Fitz’s Scandalous behavior. (Note: Spoiler alerts may be coming.)
Scandal viewers ask me if I’m Team Fitz or Team Jake. In the past, I had to give it much thought. After all, Jake had murdered my favorite character, James, in cold blood. Now that time has passed, I suppose I’ll have to forgive him. He thought he was saving the entire free world and all. Therefore, I guess I’ll have to cut him some slack.
No way am I Team Fitz. The contest is over, and he lost a long time ago. I believe it was the day when he gave his famous line, “I want you to watch me earn it,” to Olivia. He was playing her to get her back in the sack. (Rhyme intentional.) He wasn’t trying to earn the public’s rejection of him as President in order to “earn” her by choosing her first. As it turned out, he wasn’t even sure he wanted to be the president since he hadn’t even filled out the forms to run again.
Also, Fitz is Scandal’s only character that hasn’t been given a meaty speech. The monologues the actors deliver are my favorite part of the show. Joe Morton’s Rowan Pope is standout strong. Kerry Washington’s Olivia and Jeff Perry’s Cyrus aren’t far behind. Fitzgerald Grant, I maintain, never gets the speeches. During one episode when he had Rowan Pope strip to his underwear, I thought that, finally, he was going to deliver a scathing speech. One got delivered alright but from Rowan (yes, in his underwear), to Fitz. Again, I insist, Fitz has no spine.
Instead, he has become increasingly weak. For instance, the man is a hypocrite. He asked Olivia to “handle” Andrew so that he didn’t have sex with his wife, yet has continued to stalk Olivia in the bedroom department. In addition, he is a manipulator. He told Olivia that he was a “failure” as a husband. Instead of fixing that, he tried to manipulate Olivia into having sex with him by playing on her guilt. He asked, “Am I also a failure as a man?” Was he hoping for pity sex?
He has become her virtual stalker this season. He called her nightly on the phone, and knowing she was worried about Jake, tried to pressure her into having sex with him. At the end of the scene when he asked her to join him at Camp David, she actually told him not to follow her. Was the sappy look on actor Tony Goldwyn’s face supposed to make me respect the character? It didn’t.
Next, we heard from Tom that Fitz was downright suicidal and making whimpering noises like a wounded animal. Was Olivia supposed to feel sorry for him yet again? Were we?
In contrast, Scott Foley’s Jake is a strong man. When recently incarcerated for a crime he didn’t commit, he gave Olivia permission “not to choose” him. A strong man puts the needs of those he loves before his own. Also, a strong person finds humor in tough situations. Calling Olivia his “girlfriend” in front of the President when he was angry at him, was definitely funny.
For all the reasons above, I am definitely Team Jake through and through. Any interest I ever had in Fitz has definitely fizzled. What do you think readers? Are you Team Jake or Team Fitz? Why? I look forward to reading your views.
