Scandal

:

Season 1
  • Network: ABC
  • Series Premiere Date: Apr 5, 2012
Season #: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
User Score
7.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 196 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 141 out of 196
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 196
  3. Negative: 41 out of 196

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User Reviews

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  1. jeremyp
    Apr 7, 2012
    4
    I lasted 15 minutes! Shonda you're a classmate but I can't stand your material. You present people as adolescent chatter boxes who glibly represent some shallow world I've never experienced nor want to. Souffles of faux angst and hollow people.
  2. rmjbones
    Oct 26, 2012
    4
    The show started out with promise, but it has been reduced to a show where everyone shouts condescending speeches at each other. There are a few just whiny and awful characters that need to go. The main characters are good if they could have better writing. I hope the show gets back to a more realistic dialogue.
  3. rmdashrf
    Dec 11, 2012
    5
    Full disclosure: I watched two episodes.

    This promises to be a lousy show. This is for people who didn't watch "Lie to Me" and many other 6/10 and 7/10 shows that this one apes badly. I'm certain that Darby Stanchfield (Abby) can make more than two facial expressions, so I think she should have been asked to make them on this show. There's plenty of acting talent on the screen.    Full disclosure: I watched two episodes.

    This promises to be a lousy show. This is for people who didn't watch "Lie to Me" and many other 6/10 and 7/10 shows that this one apes badly.

    I'm certain that Darby Stanchfield (Abby) can make more than two facial expressions, so I think she should have been asked to make them on this show.

    There's plenty of acting talent on the screen. This show doesn't give them the characters, lines, and direction they need to make it work.    … Expand
  4. directguy
    Apr 6, 2012
    6
    The pilot for me was a mix of good and bad. The good was there were some bright patches of snappy dialogue and interesting little character traits, such as the lead being someone who likes to fix things, including her co-workers. As for the bad, for starters, none of the characters really appealed to me in the pilot. I'd even say I actively disliked a few of them, including the lead,The pilot for me was a mix of good and bad. The good was there were some bright patches of snappy dialogue and interesting little character traits, such as the lead being someone who likes to fix things, including her co-workers. As for the bad, for starters, none of the characters really appealed to me in the pilot. I'd even say I actively disliked a few of them, including the lead, and not in a good way like Alex from the Grey's Anatomy pilot or House. I remember how much I loved the pilot for Grey's Anatomy, in no small part because I liked every character, even the ones who were dicks. But here, whether it's the writing or the casting (probably both), I found myself turned off. Also, the pilot fell back on the very well-worn cliche of having their big, unsolvable problem solved by one of the characters realizing there was a street security camera that may have filmed what they needed. In the last several years, how many procedurals have fallen back on the security camera solving the case solution? A lot. When they can't even muster up an original solution in the pilot, it doesn't fill me with great confidence for the series moving forward.

    The structure was a touch off too. It starts off with a new employee being hired, insecure and uncertain of herself. The large opening focus on her makes you think the show will be told largely through her perspective. But then she's pretty much ignored for the rest of the show, a passive bystander, and it all becomes about the lead character who runs the company and gets things done. I get why the new character was introduced, to allow us to see the main character through the eyes of a newbie, someone who isn't part of the culture yet and would question the lead character's motives and practices. But the fact that they opened with the newbie so prominently made the rest of the episode feel a bit fractured.

    Ultimately, I was really hoping for something of the quality of Grey's Anatomy, but this isn't it. Not for me, anyway. Maybe I'll watch another episode in a few weeks just see if it's gotten any better.    … Expand
  5. martinex
    Apr 12, 2012
    5
    I'll say one thing for Shonda Rhimes, her style is immediately recognizable. Unfortunately lines comparing surgeons to gods (Grey's Anatomy) create an immediate animosity towards the characters she tries so hard to elevate.

Awards & Rankings

72
#72 Best TV Season of 2012
14
#14 Most Discussed TV Season of 2012
3
#3 Most Shared TV Season of 2012

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
64

Generally favorable reviews - based on 29 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 29
  3. Negative: 1 out of 29
  1. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: Matt Zoller Seitz
    Apr 9, 2012
    60
    It's the new Revenge, but so much goofier and more shameless that it makes Revenge look comparatively measured.
    Read full review
  2. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Nancy DeWolf Smith
    Apr 6, 2012
    70
    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.
    Read full review
  3. Slate
    Reviewed by: Troy Patterson
    Apr 5, 2012
    70
    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.
    Read full review
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