Olivia Pope: What Went Wrong?

As we all know, Scandal is coming to an end after seven seasons. We must say goodbye to all this show has brought us: the drama, the suspense, the cliffhangers and pretty much ALL the crazy scandals!

However, as we are reaching the end of the series, there is something that has been bothering me and it’s about Olivia Pope.

I…I don’t like her anymore. I don’t know how it came to this. I know, I know. I suck.

But I can’t be the ONLY one feeling this way?

I used to admire Olivia Pope’s character. Yes, there were times where I hated how she acted around Fitz, but their whole love story is a mess in itself. Besides that, she was this fierce, strong, independent and good-hearted person that we, as an audience, grew to love. And we enjoyed watching her slay-all-day with her amazing outfits and sharp mind.

But as the seasons went on, specifically after the end of season five, something about her changed. She became really annoying and hungry for never-ending power.

If you’re caught up on the show right now, you know she is Command. Head of B6-13. Yeah, holding that position makes you a stone cold person. But truly, her personality shift began before that. Olivia didn’t know what she wanted and kept playing cat and mouse with Fitz.

Can you tell I’m not really Team Fitz?

Anyway, after the whole debacle of last season, everything she did felt entirely out of character to me. I couldn’t stand it anymore.

Now she’s Command and has taken her father’s position. She’s become far different and everyone else has noticed as well. She wants to portray herself as ruthless and selfish for her own gain, but you can tell it’s just not in her to genuinely be that way. She’s trying too hard to be the Big Bad. The bad guy you thought didn’t have it in them.

This season, especially, I’ve been disappointed in her character. Now that it’s the final season, I hope the writers won’t have me disliking Olivia until the end. I really hope not, because I surely want to go back to liking her again. The fact that she was involved in setting up a plane explosion and killing two people, greatly disturbed me. Olivia Pope is someone else now and I don’t recognize her at all.

I want the old Olivia Pope back! Yes, I know a lot has gone down over the course of the show. She’s endured a lot of crap, but it doesn’t feel right to change her into someone she shouldn’t have become in the first place. All this power is getting to her, which makes me sad. I miss the OPA days where she did everything for a cause and to help others. Now it seems she just wants to prove a point and she’s grown to perceive herself as unredeemable.

What do you think of Olivia Pope now? Do you too dislike the direction of her character? Or am I just overreacting?

Scandal airs Thursdays at 9/8c on ABC.