Scandal Episode 413: No More Blood

Scandal Episode 413: No More Blood delivers Olivia from her nightmarish plight, Ole Randy Andy gets what was coming to him and like Lattimore, Daddy Pope announces that his give a dayumn gave out a long time ago. The title comes from a promise Huck makes to Quinn in an attempt to dial back the crazy that was unleashed in the last episode when he butchered a whole room of folks.

Although she is physically unscathed, Olivia is traumatized by this experience and several of her major relationships may never recover. She needs to know that Cyrus Beene is not her friend with his low down treacherous self. That awful wig is the physical manifestation of his ugly soul. He needs to be dealt with — soon.

The episode opens with Olivia and her captors in the desert meeting with the Iranians who purchased her. The lead person for the other side is an Iranian female who Olivia speaks to in Farsi convincing her that Gus and the boys are planning a doublecross. The Iranian lady believes Olivia and calls off the deal and both parties retreat. Go on then Ms. Pope with those advanced language skills. I guess Rowan really did send her to the finest schools.

Quinn is at the OPA offices drinking brown liquor when Jake walks in and tells her that Olivia is okay because the deal fell through. She had me worried because that firewater makes folks do strange things and we already know that she has tendencies.

Mellie meets with Andrew and spells out the terms of an agreement that he is to sign to make sure that Olivia is returned safely and he keeps his mouth shut. She tries to snatch his wig by telling him that he is just the runner-up but will never be the winner when he tells her that she wasn’t saying all that when he had her on her knees in the White House. Poor Mellie has no luck at all when it comes to choosing men. She might need to try E-Harmony.

Mellie realizes that ole Randy Andy is not going to play nicely so she goes to Mrs. Ellen and tells her that she better reel him in since she took one for the team in sleeping with that pig to get Huck to back off her family.

Jake straightens Huck out explaining that he received the same horrendous treatment from B613 only he did not allow his dark side to take over. “It feels good, that’s the problem. Warm blood on your hands feels good… They warped me too. They added a beast inside me too, and he’s a really good guy. He’s so much fun – you’d like him. But I do not let him out ever. Not when I fight. Not when I kill. Not when I hurt. Because he is not allowed out to play.”

And here we thought Huck was the only bloodthirsty loon in the bunch.

Mrs. Ellen approaches Huck offering to pay him to get rid of Andrew only Huck promised Quinn that he was done killing people because she was freaked out by him going off the deep end in trying to get Olivia back.

The CIA and other high level honchos met Fitz in the situation room to explain how disastrous it would be if Olivia falls into the wrong hands and suggested that they might need to “neutralize the asset.” Although the CIA head says that the Navy Seals only has a 30% chance of successfully extracting her, Fitz tells them to proceed.

Cyrus is angry about Fitz risking so much to save Olivia and hatches a secret plan with the CIA to kill her knowing that so long as she is out there floating around, whoever has her will be able to control the President.

The auction is back on and Huck bids as Marie Wallace.  It looks like they are going to win right up until the last minute when a group of Russians tie the bid at the last minute with a $2-billion offer.

Abby leaks Cyrus’ plans to Huck and the others which propels him to snatch Andrew up because we all know that Olivia is his Ms. Jenkins – he will kill you over her. Huck keeps his promise to Quinn and does not kill Andrew, but he injects him with something that induces a stroke and lands him in the hospital. Mellie later visits him and tells him that he brought it on himself. Ouch. She was like Mr. Big in that R. Kelly Keep it on the Downlow video where he yells “Look at me,  look at me!  I did this to you.”

Jake goes to Mamma Pope and tells her that Olivia will either be sold to rapists or murked by the government. She tells him where to find Eli who is chilling at his fishing hole with several episodes of righteous indignation stored up.

Daddy Pope tells Jake that he has no daughter. “People are endlessly disappointing because you hope they won’t be. I knew that she would need me. I knew that you’d come here begging for help. This was all predictable, all disappointing this is why I am fishing. Because I am never disappointed out here because I don’t expect anything because anything is possible. I can be hopeful out here even in failure. because I know If I just go out there around that tree it might be different. Something might be different. Something I do might make a difference.”

I know he is still salty about Olivia trying to kill him, but I never expected him to be this cold about it.

 

Gus decides to hand Olivia over to the Russians and they are off to the desert again to meet the purchasers. Olivia is walked out with a black hood over her head. When the hood is removed, she sees that the guy who purchased her is none other than Stephen, one of the original gladiators who left in the first season because he wanted to get married and have a normal life.

Stephen Returns to save Olivia

Olivia realizes she is safe, grabs a gun, shoots Gus and then proceeds to kick the crap out of him in some bad Burberry boots. I was like girl, don’t break a heel on that lowlife when you have more bullets. Stephen had to pull her off that fool because she was about to kick a hole in him.

Olivia returns home and finally get some decent locks courtesy of Huck who hugs her really tight and tells her that he was afraid that someone had hacked her into pieces and burned her body. Um, why did she not have him stay for a while just to be safe?

Fitz showed up looking all pitiful as soon as her crew left asking if she was hurt. She assures him that she was not raped but says that there are some things that are worse. She was mad at him for going to war and told him that he was throwing away everything that she sacrificed to get him where he is. She is livid and kicks him out. Here we go again.

• I don’t much care for Fitz, but he did not deserve to be treated like that. I get that she is disappointed in his behavior, but he has proven over and over that he loves her and will do just about anything to be with her. How are you going to be mad at the man for trying to save you?
• How many times is that low down dirty Cyrus going to try to kill folks before calling it off at the last minute? He did the same thing with James and has no loyalty to anyone or anything. I pray that Fitz, Daddy Pope and the Notorious MOM find out about this betrayal because he needs to pay.
• Daddy Pope is understandably angry, but he has to reconcile with his only child. If for no other reason than fear of her crazy mother who is not going to be happy when she hears about him refusing to help.
• Can Stephen please come back for good? Harrison is gone, so there is an opening. Plus, he’s handsome and has a hot accent. And Liv really needs a new love interest.

 

Scandal Episode 411: “Where’s the Black Lady?”

Scandal Episode 411: “Where’s the Black Lady” shows Olivia saving herself from a hellish fate as Fitz, Jake and Huck work to find where she was taken. This episode is much better than the previous week’s offering which was so tedious that I did not even bother to recap it. This title comes from scenes with veteran actress Marla Gibbs who is a friend of the elderly lady who was killed in the last episode. I am still salty with them for killing Big Mamma in cold blood last week because that wasn’t even necessary.

The murdered lady’s name is Lois, and her friend is concerned that she has not been able to contact her, and she knows that Lois gave a spare house key to the nice Black lady who lives across the hall because she helps people for a living — Olivia. This is a pivotal moment because up until then Huck and Quinn were not able to figure out where Olivia might have been taken.

The episode opens with Fitz in the Oval office getting an unwelcome visit from the Secret Service. Apparently ole Randy Andy has co-opted multiple levels of government to get them to watch the President to make sure that he does not search for Olivia. Andrew’s henchman warns Fitz that Olivia will be beheaded if he fails to cooperate by declaring war on West Angola.

Ole Randy Andy is awfully bold in this episode, and I really wanted him to be dropped in the hole with Mamma Pope.

A visibly shaken Fitz is in the bedroom with Mellie who has suddenly decided to come clean about swerving with Andrew again. She starts running her mouth about all their dirty secrets including the stolen election, and Fitz tells her to stop talking since he is being followed and recorded. Mellie always has bad timing.

Fitz demands proof that Olivia is still alive before taking any action, so her captor films her holding up a newspaper and reading a statement. Ole girl requests a glass of water and uses that glass to show her captor’s reflection on camera. I knew she wasn’t just thirsty!

Huck pays Mrs. Ellen a visit at her house after she tucks her daughter in and warns her that he will cut the girl up and make her watch him do it if she does not tell him where to find Olivia.

She seems legitimately shook, but hell, who did she think they were dealing with here? This chick is the child of assassins and rolls with psychopaths. Huck could kill Lizzie and her daughter and have that house so clean that no one would know that she ever lived there.

Lizzie Bear pays Andrew a visit and asks him what he has done and tells him about her late night visitor. Ole Randy Andy basically tells her to man up and get her mind right because he is trying to get into the Oval Office.

Huck pays Lizzie another visit because she did not deliver the info about Olivia. He is sitting next to her daughter’s bed in the dark and muses about snapping the kid’s neck which turns out to be a bluff because he exacts his vengeance solely on Lizzie and left her back looking like she’d received 2,000 lashes. She may as well have stood up and yelled “Give us free!” after he got done with her.

After telling Mellie about the kidnapping, Fitz decides to declare war on Angola but Olivia is not freed because Andrew plans to use her to manipulate the President for the remaining three years of his term. Ian, her captor, says that they will keep her alive until the three years are up and then they will kill her.

Three years? Do they not know whose child she is? Mama Pope will burrow her way from that hole and chew iron bars to get to Olivia. And although he is angry with her, there is no way Eli is going to allow these people to just snatch his daughter up and treat her like some scullery wench without making them pay for it. Liam Neeson has nothing on the deadly Popes when it comes to bringing back kidnapped offspring.

After Lois’ friend tells Quinn about Olivia having a key to the neighbor’s apartment, they go over there to investigate and find the ring that she left behind as a clue. Huck tells them that Olivia wears that ring for Fitz and never takes it off, so he is sure that she had been in that apartment. They also check the WiFi and are able to figure out the last person to have accessed it,  but they are not able to narrow down the location.

Mellie visits Andrew and tells him to give Olivia back to Fitz, but he goes off on some rant talking about how he’s doing all this devilment for them. Mellie takes one for the team and sleeps with him to steal his phones which she turns over to Lizzie who gives them to OPA so that Huck will leave her alone.

Andrew used one of the phones to contact Ian repeatedly, so the crew was able to locate where Olivia is being held and David Rosen uses the DEA to call in a drug raid on the location, but Olivia is already gone by the time they get there.

Realizing that she needs to save herself, Olivia brokers a deal with Ian to have him sell her to the highest bidder. She figures that it will be easier to take her chances on the open market rather than wait around to be killed.

Olivia reprises the hype man role that she played for Cyrus when he was about to quit in disgrace and asks Ian if he wants to remain a highly paid babysitter or try to gain some real power for himself. “Do you want to be a babysitter or do you want to be a boss?” she asks.

I can appreciate them trying to show Olivia saving herself, but I am not here for Black folks being auctioned off in 2015 – and during Black History month at that. Seriously? Is that the best that they could come up with for this storyline? I am side-eying this whole situation right now. Picture me glaring with my arms folded like that lady in the background of that infamous photo of Angelina Jolie and Amy Pascal.

What woman would come up with that plan? She had to know that her crew was coming for her, and even if they never found her dying in a cell has to be a better fate than being trafficked. I do not like this at all. I have given these writers a lot of leeway, but this is pushing it.

Olivia convinces Ian to get her cleaned up to fetch a better price, and she calls Fitz from a private jet to tell him about the plan. His excitement at hearing her voice on the phone is short-lived when Ian takes the phone and says that he is going to sell her to the highest bidder.

• While this episode was more interesting than last week’s, the ending really ruined it for me. I find nothing clever or cute about this situation and there really was no need to go that route.
• Are they going to have her sold off to some wealthy sheikh and added to a harem?
• What is Mellie getting out of all this? Fitz does not love her, and neither does Andrew.
• On the plus side, Mamma Pope is in the previews for the next episode, and you know that she is not going to allow any modern-day slavery to happen on her watch.

Scandal Episode 409: Where the Sun Don’t Shine

 

Olivia’s Face-Off & Cyrus’ Epic Downfall

The Scandal Winter finale played out like a Shakespearean tragedy with Olivia’s face-off with her dad and Cyrus’ public humiliation once the press learns about his affair with a male prostitute. My patience with Ms. Pope is at the breaking point because she is being too hard on the only man who has always had her back. I’m about sick of her and this White hat nonsense that has allowed her to put herself and her crew on a pedestal pretending that their motives are pure while everyone else is supposedly wrong. Olivia tries to kill her dad and convinces Cyrus to marry his gigolo and ole Randy Andy kidnaps Olivia to get back at Fitz and force him into attacking Angola.

The episode opens with Olivia pouting over Daddy Pope getting away while Fitz and Jake hash out what went wrong. They have snipers searching for him when they discover the Notorious MOM in the hole. She thanks Olivia for saving her and seems to think that her own daughter will be on her side but she is sadly mistaken and Olivia tells Fitz and them to charge her mother with murder and a host of other serious crimes. So much for the mother daughter reunion.

A Lobbyist Called Slickback

Mrs. Ellen comes to OPA and gets on Olivia for not telling her that Cyrus bugged her phone. She observes that Olivia is either bad at her job or just not willing to help and even has nerve to use that tired old quote about there being a special place in hell for women who do not support other women. Um Mrs. Ellen, you need not quote Madeline Albright while you are out here being a Lobbyist called Slickback and playing a wife against her husband. Call me petty, but I really want Cyrus and Mellie to jump her. Mother Albright was not blazing trails in fanciful brooches and sensible shoes for other women to be out here using her words to cover their dirt.

Lizzie leaks Cyrus’ photos with the gigolo to the press making him a laughingstock while the Grant Administration is struggling with its response to the crisis in Angola. The President does not want to be drug unnecessarily into a war, but the failure to retaliate is making them look weak.  Olivia suggests that Cyrus marry Michael to try to smooth things over but he refuses saying that it wold be cruel and unfair to James for him to marry “this person.” Oh so it was okay to put a hit on the man twice and pimp him out to Daniel Douglas, but marrying a professional mic-checker  is a bridge too far for Mr. Beene. It’s good to have standards.

Tying Up Loose Ends

Jake narrowly avoids being killed and learns that Rowan is planning to kill all former B613 agents to tie up loose ends. He even goes so far as to create playing cards with the agents’ photos known as Kill cards. Jake finds his card on the gunman that he takes out and warns Huck and Quinn. Quinn goes to warn Charlie and winds up sleeping with him and later discovers that he’s been sent to kill her. They get into a Mortal Kombat style brawl that ends with them sitting on the floor bloodied and bruised in a kind of truce. He even agrees to help Huck make amends with his family.

Jake gives Olivia a gun and tells her that she needs to defend herself because Rowan is cleaning house but he of course tries one last time to get her to run off with him into the sun. “The sun went down a long time ago, and it’s not coming back, ” she tells him while holding the gun.

These Daughters Aint Loyal

Huck tracks Rowan’s car to a B613 safehouse in Roanoke but he is actually at Olivia’s apartment opening a bottle of wine and chilling like he pays the bills up in that joint trying to reminisce about Songs in the Key of Life. Olivia tells him to leave, but he pulls out a gun and tells her to sit. She does and then proceeds to get real disrespectful after he says that she is not going to be happy until he’s dead.

“You can never leave me alone because you have no place to go. The only life you have is the sad twisted one that you built here the one where you lurk in the shadows, pull puppet springs and pretend that the world could not exist without your protection. You’re a sick lonely man who only knows how to lie and  call it love.”

Um Ms. Pope, this is no way to talk to your dad, and I am sure that you know better. Daddy Pope interrupts her little speech asking  “Could you be more ungrateful?! There would be no Olivia Pope if not for me. So what your stomach turns every time you look at me? Well let me be the one to Let me break it to you Olivia, you are looking in the mirror.”

Olivia jumps up and grabs the gun in the middle of his rant, and he warns her to watch herself but this little heffa pulls the trigger! The gun was not loaded, but Daddy Pope screams and says “Are you kidding me? You just shot your own father? Never, never in a million years did I think that you would be willing to pull the trigger.” He took the gun from her and then leaves after telling her that she will miss him when he’s gone.

I have tolerated a lot of bad behavior from Ms. Pope – the adultery, the borderline alcoholism and trading on sexual favors to get what she wants, but this betrayal of her own dad is about the last straw for me. He is not innocent, but he is family, and she has shown way more dedication to friends than she ever has to own father. That is not cool. Not by a longshot, and she is sure to reap what she sowed. If she can forgive Jake for choking her and Fitz for being a serial azzhole, then surely she can muster some small portion of compassion for her own dad.

Olivia goes back to visit her mother and demands answers about where he might have gone. Mamma Pope looks at her calmly and tells her to get over herself. “Girl, you need to let it go.” She tells Olivia that she is just like her father who kept her in the hole and visited her every day.

Are you a Bitch Baby?

Cyrus gives Fitz his letter of resignation and is packing up his house when Olivia shows up with a pep talk. “When did you decide to let them ruin you?” she demands before telling him to quit acting like a “Bitch Baby” and go be the Cyrus Beene that she has always known – the political monster who really runs the country.

Mrs. Ellen confronts Mellie about Fitz deciding not to go to war and makes the mistake of saying that she thought they were on the same page. Mellie informs her that she knows about her and Andrew and warns her that she will be out for revenge in the next election cycle.

After being set straight by her mother, Olivia goes home and attempts to be normal with Jake. I say attempts because she looked and sounded real crazy dancing around talking about how she is choosing herself and is happy to dance alone. Yeah, sure. So she and Jake are about to get busy when he leaves her alone in the living room while he goes to the bedroom for a blanket. By the time he returns to the living room, she’s gone leaving behind an overturned glass of wine on the couch. That is how you know she didn’t leave willingly because ole girl does not waste the grapes.

The Vice President, ole Randy Andy, met with Fitz griping about his failure to attack Angola after their government supposedly bombed his car. He told Fitz that while it was messed up that he would not act on his behalf, he had something that he would go anything to get back, and the implication is that the something is Olivia. And so it ended.

• I am feeling some kind of way about Olivia attempting to shoot her dad. He read her disloyal azz the riot act, and now she is probably going to need his help to get out of this current bind.
• Baby Ella deserves a better stepdad than the gigolo, and I am sure that James is turning over in his grave at the thought of this nonsense. What can Michael teach this child other than how to make it clap for dollars?
• Are they going to bring back Trill OG Bitsy to mentor Mellie in the second half of the season? Mells is getting some of her spark back, but I think she needs a few more lessons from her shade mentor.
• Will Daddy Pope come back to save his ungrateful  pitiful child? I’m pretty sure that he will, and I hope that she learns to appreciate him and his methods.

Scandal Episode 408: The Last Supper

Olivia has completely torn her drawers with Daddy Pope in Episode 408: The Last Supper, and he washed his hands of her after she tried to manipulate him in order to take him down. Formerly Smelly Mellie gets her groove back again with Vice President Andy who is having a secret affair with Mrs. Ellen, and Cyrus’ paid boo thang may not be totally in it for the money after all. Also, Huck is spending more time with his son which is not necessarily a good thing. This episode made me a lot more sympathetic to Daddy Pope because he is Olivia’s father and she seems to have no loyalty to him whatsoever. Yes he’s lied and killed, but he always had her best interests at heart – can she say that about either of her boyfriends?

Scandal Episode 408 opens with the love triangle in a bunker, and Jake is letting the President know that they are no longer friends which should have been obvious after he was beaten while cuffed and left to rot in prison. Olivia is caught between their bickering and Jake attempts to stake his claim calling her his girlfriend and talking about their plans to walk off into the sun while Fitz just sits there looking like the third wheel. He later corners Olivia in the hall and begs for a kiss for old times sake. It did not take much to convince Olivia, and that ole petty Fitz did it mainly to make his competition jealous. She needs to get a crucifix and back up when he starts closing in on her because ole girl has no backbone at all where this man is concerned. She was probably still thinking about that raunchy call from the last episode.

Cyrus gets busted hacking The Republican National Chairwoman’s phone and tells Olivia that he knew that Michael was a hoe, but he was a distraction from his real life. He even had nerve to say that Baby Ella cries when she sees him because she thinks he’s a stranger – yeah because he was spending all his free time, and her college fund, on a gigolo. Miss baby said don’t try to get all parental now that your feelings are hurt. #TheseDadsAintLoyal.

Speaking of Cyrus’ boo for hire, he may have some actual feelings for the old man because he only leaked minor info to the woman who hired him when he had access to plenty of damning information if he really wanted to be dirty.

Realizing that he is in big trouble, Cyrus begs Olivia for help and despite her having recently accepted Elizabeth as a client, she agrees to help him. Olivia has Huck check on the evidence their new client has on Cyrus and he discovers many videos of him and Michael getting busy, and I really could have lived without seeing any of it. And it might be my imagination, but Cyrus’ wig looked much better in this episode. It was less greying cockatoo and more Hair Club for Men. He was so upset over Michael that I really did think he was going to be on the next episode of Snapped. 

Vice President Andrew surfaced for the first time in weeks and nearly dies after a car bomb goes off in his vehicle. Mellie runs to him in his office and they rekindle their affair. He later calls her out for ignoring him up until she was ready to resume swerving, but she explained that he chose the vice presidency over her and says that after little Gerry died it was just easier to pretend that he did not exist. She begs him for another chance.

Little does Mellie know that ole randy Andy has another woman — Elizabeth, the one who has been asking for Mellie’s help bringing Fitz back in line with the Republican party’s message. Poor Mellie – even her sidepiece is cheating on her. This may well drive her back to fried chicken and hooch. Mrs. Ellen AKA a Lobbyist Called Slickback is making a lot of dangerous enemies to be a newbie because Cyrus and Mells are likely to join forces and slap that pomade out of her hair.

Daddy Pope calls Olivia after the explosion to make sure that she is alright. She seemed surprised that he called, but he told her that they may fight, but they will always be family and unlike those “boys” he will always be there for her. “I am still your father, and I will be here for you long after these boys have revealed themselves to be who they really are. To pick up the pieces, to put you back together and to remind you of who you really are.” After all that she has nerve to tell him that she has to go and hangs up. He warned her just last week about being disrespectful, but she still is still acting like she was raised on time outs and temper tantrums.

Huck’s son has been spending time at OPA, and when Olivia walks in on them he sends him home to his mother. Olivia asks if Huck’s ex-wife knew about their visits, and he basically tells her to mind her business and asked if she had any work-related questions for him. He should have listened to Olivia because he lets Javi tag along during a stakeout where the boy witnesses a murder, and he runs off in shock. Gee, who could have known that having a child at a stake out was a bad thing.

While the boys are squabbling over the best way to bring Daddy Pope in, Olivia calls him and tearfully tells him that he was right about the men in her life and their true motives. He seems to buy the act and agrees to meet her for dinner where Olivia and her crew are planning to arrest him but they have underestimated this man yet again.  Not only does he kill the snipers and get rid of the evidence, Rowan informs Olivia that she is now on her own.

Before dismissing Olivia, Daddy Pope gives her yet another epic read about the path she has chosen warning her that she may have been blinded by her desires, but she will never be one of them – the people she has chosen over him.

You would have thought she’d learned her lesson during that episode where her mother called her the help and Fitz yelled that he was talking to his wife, but she is still clinging to the idea of wearing the white hat. And while I knew those clowns were no match for Rowan, I never expected him to cut off his own daughter.

• Daddy Pope may be the Devil’s prized pupil, but I do not like how Olivia is determined to bring him down herself. Let someone else do it. Not that they have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting to this man. She is going to fool around and he’s going to let Mama Pope out of the hole again, and no one wants that.
• How is Olivia going to be more loyal to that old weasel Cyrus than to her own dad? After all his dirty dealing, she is still willing to do favors for him yet she is willing to hang her own father out to dry.
• What is Mrs. Ellen up to with Andrew and that dirty cop who was tailing Olivia? I am not buying that this is a simple affair because Andrew is still salty about lots of things including having to give up Mellie to remain on the Grant Presidential ticket.
• Is there a future for Michael and Cyrus? I cannot believe that they are going with that old cliche about the hooker with a heart of gold. And I really did think that Cyrus was going to kill him when he showed up at his house unexpectedly and he told him to bend over.

Scandal Episode 407: Baby Made a Mess

Scandal Episode 407: Baby Made a Mess kicked off a showdown between Olivia and her dad that promises to be explosive because Daddy Pope has warned her several times about crossing him, but she is determined to expose him as the mastermind behind the murder of the President’s son. Olivia arranges a meeting with Tom where he initially sticks to his story about Jake giving him the order to kill little Gerry, but he later admits that Olivia’s dad gave the order. Huck finally gets to see his son who tracks him down based on the IP address in the game that they have been playing online, and Olivia finds out that someone has been stalking her.

Abby’s Abusive Ex is Back

A Republican Senator from Virginia is caught on tape being gross with a hooker and is forced to resign in disgrace, and Fitz backs Abby’s abusive ex-husband Charles as his replacement.  Oh and Leo Bergen is back as Charles’ campaign manager, but there is still no sign of Mustang Sally or Hollis.

Abby holds it together when she meets her ex in the Oval office, but she later pukes all over herself and calls Olivia to bring her some fresh clothes. Seeing Abby cowering under the desk in her office, Olivia asks her what she wants, and Abby says that she can tolerate the situation for the greater good because the party needs Charles’ votes in the Senate.

Olivia can’t get with that and instead takes over the campaign of Susan Ross, a widowed professor who is also running for the vacated Senate seat. Ross’ campaign is pretty lame and despite a makeover, she still cannot get it together so Olivia uses Ross’ adorable 10-year old daughter Casey in the ads, and she is a natural. Cyrus lets Leo and Charles know that the ad is effective and that they better get it together if they hope to win and avoid embarrassing the President on election day.

Abby Gets Her Gun

Charles approaches Abby in a dark parking garage and advises her to call off Olivia, but Red pulls a gun on him and threatens to shoot him in the face. Part of me really wanted her to do it because he was being an azz. Leo still has the hots for Abby and keeps sniffing around to see if he has a chance. She eventually tells him the truth about his client, and he leaks stories to the media about Charles setting up the disgraced former senator which causes the wife-beater to  withdraw his candidacy.

Olivia had been calling David Rosen to try to get into the Super Max prison where Jake is being held, but he has been avoiding her calls. When she finally gets David on the phone, he tells her that he is not going to get her into the prison to see Jake because Super Max “is not jailhousemingle.com.” He may be a habitual loser, but David loves a good zinger.

Olivia Visits Tom

Olivia was trying to get into the prison to see Tom, not Jake and when she does see him he sits there staring at her before telling her how she beautiful she is before wondering aloud what was so special about her to have his President’s nose wide open. Tom told all Fitz’ business from how he went to her apartment in the middle of night after she left and was wailing like a wounded pig once he realized that she was gone, to his desperate failed suicide attempt. Ole Tom must have forgotten the bro code because he spilled all the beans. For a second there, I thought he was trying to push up on her himself.

Tom sticks to his story about Jake giving him the order to kill the President’s son despite Olivia warning him that her father does not like loose ends and will kill him before it’s all over. Tom must have attended the Eli Pope Academy of Wig Snatching because he gave her several earfuls and informs her that she does not have a father because Command does not have a family – he has soldiers.  She tells him to watch his back and walks off.

Fitz Channels R. Kelly

Fitz calls Olivia with an update on Jake after she shut down his earlier attempts at chit-chat because she wanted to know how her other man was being treated. So her lovesick Presidential boo thang calls back with a detailed update about Jake in hopes of arranging a late night visit. Olivia asks Fitz how he is doing and tells him that she knows about his suicide attempt. Rather than breaking down, Fitz skips over that unfortunate bit of news and tells her to come over and prove that she is serious about the possibility of them being together again. Ole dude went from being a sad little boy to R. Kelly in about 60 seconds flat. I think he must have been listening to 12 Play before calling her because he gave her quite a detailed explanation of what was in store for her if she took him up on his offer.

.

Now I generally try to keep my hoochie tendencies under wraps, so I am not trying to backslide in 2014 thank you very much. Shonda and them are going fool around and have a bunch of women out here making reckless decisions and bad choices.

As if it was not bad enough that Fitz is making mash calls, Cyrus is still laying up with his gigolo like he doesn’t have a toddler at home wondering her daddies went. Abby warned Cyrus about Michael’s intentions, so he tested him with a small detail about a US carrier being sent to intervene in Angola. Fitz ordered them to send out the USS Truman, but Cyrus told Michael that it was the Roosevelt and waited to see if that news would be leaked to Elizabeth AKA Mrs. Ellen the RNC chairman. Just when he thought that he’d found true love, Cyrus hears Mellie talk about the USS Roosevelt going to intervene, and Cyrus realizes that Michael really is playing him. He didn’t confront him about it — he just looked very sad as Michael says “I know all your weaknesses now Cy.”

Daddy Pope Gives a Final Warning

Olivia comes home to find her dad in her apartment, and he lets her know that he does not appreciate her going to see Tom and meddling in his business. She tries to put him out, and he tells her that she better watch how she speaks to him and launches into yet another epic read about how everything that he does has been to protect her and the Republic. “When I strike, it is precise, and it is for a reason. You do not interfere, you do not get in the way. You never, ever choose one of them over me again. I won’t have it. Is that clear?”

Olivia proves that she really is her father’s daughter by paying a prison guard to stab Tom making him think that Rowan was trying to kill him. Tom is shook and tells her what really happened. Olivia recorded Tom’s hospital confession and plays it for Fitz, and they go get Jake out of prison.

The winter finale is  next week, and Scandal’s writers are sure to leave us reeling in shock. The preview for next week shows Fitz saying “No hard feelings” to Jake who he has beaten bloody and thrown  into jail under false pretenses. Jake seems to agree, but how can he really be expected to just overlook what his former friend did to him?

• Do Olivia, Fitz and Jake really think they can take down Daddy Pope? She is only still alive because she’s his daughter, and he already warned her that she will not win against him.
• Is Marie Wallace going to be released from the hole? Because she is about the only person with a chance of going up against Command and living to talk about it. I say release the Kraken!
• Are David and Abby really done now that she is drinking bourbon and playing kissy face with Leo Bergen? I feel bad for David and hoped they would get back together.
• Get your chin straps for your wigs and prayer shawls ready for next week because it is sure to be a doozy.

Scandal Episode 406: An Innocent Man

Everyone was getting played during Scandal Episode 406: An Innocent Man.  Michael plays Cyrus, Daddy Pope plays Fitz, and a crazy gunman plays Olivia by getting her to secure him the notoriety he feels he was denied. Huck and Quinn finally learn what was in the locker connected to the key left behind by those murdered teenage girls from a couple of weeks ago, and Olivia admits what we knew all along – there is a chance that she & Fitz might get back together again. Fitz has gone from singing negro spirituals like “I won’t Complain” to “Whip Appeal” because whatever Olivia wants is alright with him.

Tonight’s episode opens with Olivia swimming laps in a pool while having flashbacks about her trysts with both of her men. It was very steamy stuff but suddenly Daddy Pope is standing at the edge of the pool telling her to wake up. She wakes with a gasp startling Abby who spent the night out of concern. Abby tells her to call The President to ask what happened to Jake, but he is not taking her calls.

Mellie Gets Schooled

Fitz is on the balcony nursing his hands which were badly bruised from the whooping he gave Jake when a fresh and clean Mellie shows up and tells him that she is busy preparing a state funeral for former President Edward Cooper who died of a stroke. The man’s widow, the formidable Bitsy Cooper, lets her know that her services are not required.  “My husband’s only religion was believing he had to screw anything with a pulse. But since us b*tches have to get through this dog and pony show, I’m going to need you to sit down, shut up and follow my lead.” This lady was all sweet and folksy in public, but she got real grimy when it was just the two of them.  I’m going to call her Trill OG Bitsy. Bitsy was the real brains in the Cooper White House, and being around her inspires Mellie to try to carve out a greater role for herself in the Grant Administration. 

Olivia has a new client, the man who is suspected of attempting to assassinate former President Cooper in 1986. Leonard Francis Carnahan claimed that he was being framed because he did not shoot The President although he was on the scene with a gun. The bullet from the assassination attempt is still lodged in the President’s brain, so they need to have an autopsy done to remove the bullet in order to run ballistic tests on it which Carnahan said would prove that the bullet did not come from his gun only the test winds up proving definitively that he is guilty which is what he wanted all along. He felt that he was denied his due glory since the President did not die after he shot him.

Cyrus’s nose is wide open

Cyrus is running late for work as usual due to all the time that he’s been spending with his paid boo thing. Now he is trying to wife his gigolo by offering him an apartment, secure phone and a bank account and even tells him to go buy himself something pretty. That Cyrus is such a gentleman. Cyrus takes a call before walking out of the room inexplicably leaving his phone in the room with Michael who reads his messages and uses the information he finds about some possible military base closings to negotiate a better deal from Elizabeth, the RNC chair who hired him to get to Cyrus.

Still shaken by Olivia’s bad dream, Abby asks the President if he knows what happened to Jake. Fitz tried to play the Commander-in-Chief card, but Abby shut that down real fast “I am not asking the Commander-in-Chief, I am asking the married man who used to sleep with my friend what exactly he has done with the man she is currently sleeping with.” She tells him that if he loves Olivia he should at least tell her what is going on because not knowing is giving her nightmares.

Fitz makes a Housecall

Elizabeth goes on tv to bring up the planned military base closings leading Cyrus to question how Mrs. Ellen found out about that. Cyrus tells Abby that she better locate the source of that leak not realizing that it was going to lead straight to him and his illicit activities. She calls Olivia in panic, but her friend has to end the conversation when Fitz shows up with his security detail. It amazes me how this tv President is able to just freely visit his girlfriend when he feels like it. One of his Secret Service agents even had the nerve to say “The Eagle is in the nest.” Sir, that is not his nest – his nest is over on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Olivia demands to see Jake, but he refuses to allow it and shows her the photos of Tom and Jake together and the photo of Tom stealing the vial of meningitis from Fort Deitrick.

Later, Fitz has Daddy Pope over for a drink, and they share a bottle 20-year old scotch as Rowan asks that Jake be handed over to him. “I taught him, he strayed, let me discipline my dog.” He also advises Fitz to let Olivia see Jake because not seeing him is allowing her to make him a martyr in her mind. Now that he and Daddy Pope are old friends, Fitz  takes his advice and allows Oliva to see Jake who is a bloody mess. He tells her about an offshore account and asks her to make sure that the money goes to his mother. He doesn’t even bother trying to tell her the truth and seems resigned to his fate: “We both that in the end you are not going to choose me, and that’s okay.” So he does know his role after all. Now that’s progress.

Not realizing that ole lovestruck  Fitz is about to flip the script on him, Daddy Pope meets up with Jake to gloat and tell him how he will die. “I played this President like a fiddle to get you back in my possession. I was his daddy, his buddy, his priest, valet, his wet nurse, his concubine, his best friend. I danced for him. I made him feel pretty. I held him in the palm of my hand until even he believed I was the better man.” Touche sir. You are good – but your daughter is even better.

After her visit with Jake, Olivia goes back to the White House and warns Fitz that if he hands Jake over to her father it will ruin any chances of them ever being together again. Fitz had just made this whole speech about how it was Jake’s fault that they could never be together again, but he pounces on this shred of a chance and demands to know if she’s saying that there is hope for them, and she grudgingly admits it. Just like that, he changes his mind about giving Jake to her father. Instead of a gruesome death and an unmarked grave, Jake will be sentenced to life in a maximum security prison.

Tired of being chewed out by Cyrus the whole episode, Abby shuts him down by telling him that she knows about the phone and the apartment he got for the gigolo and warns him check himself before he wrecks himself leaving Mr. Beene to stand there and contemplate the mess that is his personal life.

Finally, Just as he did in her nightmare at the beginning of the show, Daddy Pope interrupts Olivia at the pool. He asks her if she betrayed him and she says that all she did was save her two men before swimming off feeling all smug. She  may have saved Jake, but she better worry about saving herself because when Quinn found the mysterious locker they were seeking for the whole show, she finds that it is full of photos of Olivia — someone has been stalking her. But why would someone be willing to kill to keep those photos hidden?

• Who has been stalking Olivia and why? Given her line of work, there is no telling who is gunning for her. She might need to make up with Daddy Pope for protection.
• What will Cyrus do to his gigolo now that he realizes that he was being used? He and Mrs. Ellen best leave D.C. on the next thing smoking if they want to live.
• When are Olivia and Fitz going to resume fogging up windows? Now that she left the door cracked, you know he is going to be relentless – just misusing the taxpayers’ money taking his motorcade to his sidechick’s house at all hours.
• Is Huck ever going to be able to see his son in person? He seems content to at least be able to play videogames with the kid online, but he won’t be satisfied with that for long.
• Is Tom chilling in the hole with Mama Pope? I don’t think he’s dead yet, and I am curious to see what happens with his character.

 

 

Scandal Episode 402: The State of the Union

The State of the Union

One week into the new season of Scandal and clearly the State of the Union is not great. Mellie is crazed with grief, Abby is power tripping, Huck is still crazy, Quinn is not worth discussing and Olivia is still torn between two men. This week’s episode was slow, and Mellie and Cyrus were the ones who saved it from being a complete bore.

The episode opens with Jake and Olivia jogging in a park when he informs her that he got a hotel room so that they can have booty calls. He claims that he has things to do can’t be sitting around waiting until she’s ready to drop the drawers and says that she can just call him up when she’s ready. Olivia says that she doesn’t do booty calls and I think we can all agree to just let that slide for the sake of moving the plot along – we know better.

Calling in a Favor

Olivia spots Cyrus on a park bench where he pretends to care that she did not call him to say she was back in town. He had the nerve to tell her that she looks like crap meanwhile he looks like he has an old ferret pelt on his head. Check your mirror sir. Olivia knows his game and asks him if they are even still friends. Cyrus asks for a favor and  threatens to blackmail her when she tells him that she does not work for the White House anymore. He must have forgotten about his own numerous skeletons and the fact that her father will eliminate him on a whim.

 

He needs her to babysit a feuding couple, the Elliots, who are supposed to be the President’s guests at the State of the Union. Theirs is a celebrated love story, but the truth is that they hate each other, and Cyrus is counting on Olivia getting them to play nice just long enough to show up for the speech.

 

Mourning Mellie Makes the Tabloids

Photos of mourning Mellie siting on her son’s grave eating chips are published leading to wide speculation about her mental state. The President will be talking about gun control, and they do not need any distractions because the topic is controversial and his party is opposed to it. Abby did a poor job of defusing the drama during a press conference, yet when Olivia offers her some advice she goes off and tells her former employer that she does not know anything. This broad is really getting brand new this season.

The photos of Mellie sitting on the grave are all over, so Fitz and Cyrus explain that all this chatter is very bad for The White House during a crucial time, and they ask her to make herself presentable and come to the State of the Union address, but Mellie is like nope, I’m not going to be able to do it. Mellie was chilling on the balcony with a fresh platter of southern fried chicken and couldn’t manufacture a portion of a damn if you paid her. Fitz walks off leaving Cyrus to try to reason with the First Lady, but she is not having it. She even tells Cyrus that his grief not the same as hers because she lost her child.

Cyrus may be a shady weasel, but I am tired of the Grants trying to diminish his grief, and so is he. He lets Mellie know that he resents her acting like his loss is less than hers. “A broken heart is a broken heart. It’s cruelty to take measure,” he notes between bites of chicken.

Mrs. Ellen Plays Hardball

Lizzie, the RNC chair, digs up those fake photos of the woman who David supposedly beat back when Harrison made up the whole thing to keep Abby away from him. Although the pictures are fake, Lizzie tells Cyrus that if they do not withdraw David’s nomination for Attorney General those photos will be leaked to the press. David assumes that Olivia is behind it and says that she has no loyalty to anyone and says that is why Abby doesn’t work for her anymore. David bribes a Senator to endorse him so that he can still get the job, but this means that Lizzie is going to have to find another way to get some leverage to use against the White House.

Cyrus is having a drink at a bar when a handsome stranger starts flirting, but he was as nervous as a schoolgirl on her first date. That man had him all flustered and at a loss for words. Okay Miss Cyrus, you have to jump back in the pool at some point.

Sassy Abby gets Mellie together with a rant about how she needs to get on her job and show up to the President’s speech because she is not the only mother to have lost a child. After having initially waved Abby off, Mellie puts on a fierce red dress and shows up for the speech where the President praises her for her strength. She was strong in public breaks down once it’s over and falls out in the floor.

Cyrus Picks Up a Gigolo

Cyrus goes back to the bar to pick up the man who was sizing him up and later realizes that the man is a male prostitute. He tries to resist him but the gigolo wears him down.

Cyrus after finally getting broke off

I knew that man was too fine to be checking for Cyrus’ old butt without some ulterior motive, and we learn that the RNC chair set the whole thing up! Mrs. Ellen, you just got here and really need not start showing out this soon. We have rules and a hierarchy around this camp, and Cyrus is the one who sets folks up. You, madam, are out of order.

Jake really does have some business to attend to and is looking over the coroner’s files on Harrison Wright. He was reviewing the photos when Olivia shows up at his hotel room wearing only a trench coat and boots, and that was the end of that.

I was worried that they were going to send Olivia right back into Fitz’ arms – especially after he asked to be alone with her. I guess as long as Jake is around she can hold off for a few more weeks but those two will be eventually be together again. The fate of the other characters is not so clear.

• Is Harrison coming back to the show? I miss his character, and I have to believe that Columbus Short learned his lesson and would be a model employee from here on out. He would probably organize the office potluck and everything.
• Just where are they going with Mellie’s grief? It’s an interesting angle, and it is making her a sympathetic character, but it’s going to get old after a couple of episodes. And where the heck is baby Teddy?
• When is Olivia going to check Abby once and for all? She’s getting too comfortable spouting off every week, and Red needs not to be so quick to read the woman who saved her.

• How is Cyrus going to react to getting played? Mrs. Ellen and that sex worker better get some new identities and passports because Cyrus is going to sic Charlie on them once he figures out what really happened.