Villainess Review: Luna Vargas (Scandal)

So after years of voicing my belief that this show is basically forced on viewers, I gave in during the late spring of 2018 and finally decided to binge watch Scandal. I have my reasons. Well, a main reason, which came during the sixth and penultimate season. I went through this show pretty quickly; I started in early May and reached Season Six by the end of the month and entering June, and what a season it was!

So Season Five's storyline was the presidential race between former First Lady Mellie Grant and Francisco "Frankie" Vargas, with the latter winning at season's end. Season Six began with Frankie's victory speech, with his wife and First Lady Luna Vargas present, but all of a sudden, it ended in tragedy, as Frankie was shot to death--three shots, to be exact. We see Luna in flashbacks to the assassination, which was revealed to be committed by Eli Pope (Olivia Pope's father), with Theodore Peus and Samantha Ruland as co-conspirators. Cyrus Beene was accused of the assassination as part of a cover-up, and episode 6.11, "Trojan Horse," finally sees Luna back on screen for the first time since the opener, as she voiced her believe that Cyrus was 100% innocent.

Luna endorsed Cyrus as the next President, but that ended up going to Mellie, who was an unwitting pawn in Peus and Samantha's plan to control her and the White House. Knowing this, Mellie counteracted against their scheme and named Luna as her Vice President, but the epic image of two women holding the highest positions on the land was interrupted by the revelation that there was an assassination attempt against Mellie. The season finale, "Transfer of Power," saw Olivia prepare plans for Mellie's safety during the inauguration, with Luna stating that her children wouldn't be there. The attempt was made by Maya Lewis (Olivia's mother), though she was stopped by Eli, allowing the inauguration to commence.

However, Olivia thought back to Luna's statement about her children not being at the inauguration--they were also not present on the night of Frankie's assassination. She mentioned this to Luna and asked what her next plan was, which led to Luna admitting to being the true evil mastermind behind her husband's murder, and also considering herself the actual "Plan B." Luna added that her approval rating was higher than Mellie's due to being Frankie's widow, and that she was important to the success of Mellie's presidency.

After learning that Luna was Maya's true target, Olivia and Jake Ballard confronted Luna, with the confrontation seeing Luna's motive uncovered. Luna wasn't satisfied with simply being First Lady, so she set the proverbial wheels in motion to plot her husband's assassination, as there was more power in being a Presidential widow. Here's what stays with me. The villainess actually had the temerity to compare herself to Jackie O, perhaps the most famous First Lady in the 20th century, and added that Jackie O was so beloved after her husband's assassination. Wow. Anyway, Luna added that Frankie would be "compromised" as President, and that she wanted to pass an agenda in her husband's name, while also making a claim that she only enlisted her peons to make sure Frankie lost.

Needless to say, Olivia wasn't buying it (who with any semblance of common sense would?), and that led to the following ultimatum: Luna was going to die, but how her death would play out would be up to her. Option A: Luna was given poisoned pills to take, which would result in a quiet death, and memories of her being positive. Option B: Luna refuses the pills and is shot by Jake, her body is found somewhere, and her past as an evil villainess would be publicized. Luna didn't take Plan B this time, and the seventh and final season opener, "Watch Me," labelled Luna's death as being caused by a heart attack.

Have any of you ever seen Homer Simpson's reaction to doughnuts? Imagine that, then multiply that by 100. That was my reaction to learning about Luna Vargas. Without question or debate, Luna Vargas was Scandal's best villainess, and she was played brilliantly by Tessie Santiago during several episodes of the series' sixth and penultimate season. Luna's debut saw her as a devoted wife and later a grieving widow, but her return in the latter half of the season saw her as a dedicated woman who was (assumingly) bent on assisting Mellie. Santiago acted out all of those roles very well, but her best moment (without question) was Luna's heel turn in "Transfer of Power."

The confrontation with Olivia saw Luna transform into a ruthless and power-hungry villainess bent on gaining as much control as possible, and to say that I absolutely loved Luna's heel turn and her villainous dialogue and expressions would be an understatement the size of Lambeau Field! The depths of her villainy, alone, make Luna Vargas one of my all-time favorite small screen villainesses, though Santiago's performance definitely helped as well. Santiago portrayed Luna's heel persona immensely well, she truly captured Luna's evil ambition and her ruthless nature to perfection.

If you like this story and review, feel free to click the heart below, and if you really love this story and review, feel free to leave a tip (if you want)!

Click here for Luna Vargas' profile on Villainous Beauties Wiki!