SCANDAL ABC, 10 ET/PT
What are we to make of Scandal? The plots are ridiculously purple: Tonight, a governor takes the law into his own hands when his wife is raped. The fast-paced dialogue and clipped banter is almost a parody of the style Shonda Rhimes uses on her still-much-better series, Grey’s Anatomy. The lead character is unbelievably gifted and adored, a portrayal that, to be fair, makes more sense if you’re on the “pro” side of the Kerry Washington “pro/con” divide. Yet there’s no denying that the series has an energy and a dramatic thrust capable of sweeping you past those objections. It’s not a good show by any stretch, but on many nights, it can be a fun one. You can take that as an endorsement, albeit a limited one.