Scandal Episode 405: The Key

Scandal Episode 405: The Key

Scandal Episode 405: The Key shows Olivia trying to find out what happened to Jake as she works to exonerate her friend Katherine who is likely being framed by a shady character who works for her husband. Huck has been stalking his family and is subjected to an intervention that ends badly, and David is having a crisis of conscience over having used the B613 files to advance his interests at the expense of others including the judge who committed suicide after being blackmailed.

Quinn and Olivia are on a stake out when they see the murder of a teenage girl, Faith, who is the friend of the young girl who was killed a couple of episodes ago. She is meeting with the man who was last seen tussling with the victim, Caitlyn, over a folder in an elevator. The man’s name is Kubiak, and he is a shady former DC police chief who has something to hide that he is willing to kill to keep under wraps. He’s looking for a key that Faith likely got from Caitlyn before she died. Quinn figures out that the key that they’re searching for is actually in the dead girl’s body, so she breaks in the morgue to retrieve it. Oh, so we’re just slicing up bodies now Quinn? She needs to spend less time with Huck.

I must have missed the memo because Olivia is suddenly calling Jake her boyfriend and becomes alarmed when he stops returning her calls. Daddy Pope stops by for a nightcap and feigns ignorance of Jake’s whereabouts knowing full well that he signed his death warrant. He claims that Jake reminds him of himself when he was younger and implies that Jake might just be out pursuing other interests. I changed my mind about wanting Daddy Pope to adopt me because that man is ruthless and lies too easily. I wouldn’t be able to rest worrying about what he was planning, so never mind. “What if I’m supposed to be saving him right now instead of drinking wine with you?” she asks. He replied: “Olivia, what could have possibly happened to a man like Jake?” That is not much of an answer, but what can you expect from the grand wizard of deception.

Back at the Oval Office, Fitz demands to know why Jake hasn’t confessed, and Cyrus reminds him that he is B613 and trained to withstand normal interrogation and hints that it may be time to move on to less Constitutional techniques to get him to talk. He also advises The President that the people who work for him need to get some rest which they cannot do so long as he remains in the office. Cyrus offers to walk Fitz over to the residence, but he does not want to run into Smelly Mellie. Cyrus assures him that his lovely wife is probably either drunk or in a food coma from too much fried chicken, but he still refuses to leave the office.

Huck’s Intervention

Huck has been stalking his family and his ex-wife Kim warns him to stop before she calls the police on him again. Huck says that he needs to see his son and promises to stop once he sees the boy. Kim agrees and tells him to come back later that night, but when he returns there is a psychiatrist waiting to see him instead of his son. Huck started choking the doctor while telling Kim that he had told her the truth about what happened to him. I have a bad feeling about this because we know that he does not handle disappointment well. Kim is liable to come up missing.

Olivia tells Huck to find Jake, and he tracks him to his last known location — the White House. Olivia calls The President to ask him if he knew what happened to Jake, and he cannot believe that she is calling him to ask about her boyfriend.  Fitz hangs up on her, so she calls Cyrus who refuses to take her call, and then she calls Abby who informs her that she does not take orders from her anymore. Red, you really need to get over this ugly jealously that you’ve been displaying all season. It’s petty.

Cyrus pays Olivia a courtesy call to let her know that Jake is being held at the Pentagon for killing Gerry and Harrison and James. Olivia says that her father is behind it all, but Cyrus said he watched Rowan get the confession from Tom and that the next time she sees him he will be dancing on Jake’s grave. Okay, but Cyrus you were the one who asked Jake to kill James in the first place! That wig must be on too tight because it is apparently causing memory loss.

 

Olivia confronts her dad with the information she got from Cyrus, and he tells her a bunch of lies about training Jake to watch her and break up her relationship with Fitz and claims that Jake went rogue.

“You wanted to win the election. Jake knew that. He asked you to save him, to be with you repeatedly. He was obsessed with you. He gave you exactly what you wanted. And then he blamed the death of Gerry Grant on your mother creating a barrier that was insurmountable. So that you could never be with the President again. How could you when your mother was responsible for killing his son? What love could survive that? Jake made it so that you had no choice but to leave, to go away forever.”

This man must have ice water in his veins to be this evil without a shred of remorse.

Fitz Interrogates Jake

Fitz goes to the Pentagon to interrogate Jake and reveals that he knows that Jake was on the island with Olivia. Jake urges him to set his ego aside and be logical and had nerve to say that Olivia loves both of them because they wear the proverbial white hat – probably not the smartest thing to say to an angry, jealous man who has the power to end your life. Fooling with Jake, Fitz missed his daily visit to Gerry’s grave causing Mellie to assume that he was with Olivia. After a heated exchange, he yells that he was not with Olivia but was instead working to get a confession from the man who killed their son. He did not want her to find out what really happened, but Mellie says that she is relieved because that means that his death was not random and that he was like a soldier dying for them. Now I was with her up until she went off the deep end and started talking about him dying for their sins to give them another 4 years in the White House. Madam, your son is not the Blood of the Lamb, and I think it’s time for you to put down the scotch.

Disgusted by ole Smelly Mellie’s crazy rant, Fitz tells her to take her booze and her snacks and get the hell out of his office. He also warns her not to mention his son again. His words must have worked because she finally removes the dirty robe and Uggs and takes a shower.

David is Ruined

David had been drunk dialing Abby trying to score some quality time. He was on some ole Freddy Jackson Rock me Tonight stuff, but Red was not having it. So he showed up at her office and tells her all about what happened with Judge Sparks and said that he killed him trying to be Olivia Pope because he was tired of losing.

Filled with righteous indignation, Abby goes to Olivia’s house and tells her that she is poison because she ruined David. Instead checking this annoying broad once and for all, Olivia starts crying and tells Abby what Daddy Pope said about Jake killing Gerry and Harrison. Abby comforts her, and it looks like they may be finally making up after feuding all season.

Fitz goes back to the Pentagon and tells the men guarding Jake to stand him up. “Did you kill my son?” He growls before punching the hell out of Jake who is still denying any involvement in the murder. They go on like this for a few minutes while Jake taunts Fitz and tells him about all the things that he did to Olivia during the two months that they were on the island because we all know that’s what The President is really mad about right now.  Fitz literally beat the blood out of that man, but he was still laughing and gloating over having done the deed – repeatedly – with the President’s former boo thing. Jake, it’s been nice knowing you, but I think this is the end for you. Tell James that we said hi.

• Is Fitz going to kill Jake himself? I knew that he would punish the man for being with Olivia, but I never expected him to get his hands dirty.
• Who is going to bring down Daddy Pope? As much as I have enjoyed his character, he is doing too much this season. All this lying and manipulating has got to catch up with him soon, and there is a long list of people who want revenge for him ruining their lives.
• Is Tom already dead, or is he just in the hole being tormented? If Tom is still alive, he just may be the one that finally reveals the truth about Rowan.
• Where was Cyrus’ gigolo this week? Did he finally use up all of James’ insurance money and have to wait until his next paycheck to get broke off again?
• Is Smelly Mellie finally getting herself together? There have been a couple of false starts, so I don’t want to get my hopes up only to see her back on the couch funky and drunk.
• When is Shonda going to hook up one of these COGIC milliners with a contract to provide white hats to the show? It’s a recurring theme, and that lid that they got for Olivia last time was pitiful. I’m envisioning something like this:
  

  I could totally see Olivia rocking this

 

And they could totally get a black cap to cover Cyrus’ dreadful toupee.

Scandal Episode 404: Like Father, Like Daughter

Scandal Episode 404: Like Father, Like Daughter shows the chickens coming home to roost for Daddy Pope and Jake, and the last 5 minutes nearly gave me a heart attack with a twist that I saw coming but was not ready to witness. This could be the beginning of the end for Jake so we may as well start planning his funeral now. I’ve got $10 on the casket spray. Oh and it’s also not looking good for that ole two-faced Tom.

The library must have been open late because everyone was getting read tonight!  Cyrus got Abby, Olivia got some evil blackmailers and Fitz hit Smelly Mellie with the read of life that left her needing a shovel to pick up her face. That man said he had been sitting around singing “I Won’t Complain” for long enough!

Karen Grant Wilding Out

The Grant family continues to deal with the emotional fallout following the murder of Gerry, and this time First daughter Karen is the one in trouble. She ditches her security detail to go a rave 500 miles away from her school and calls Olivia for help when she is too wasted to find her way out. Olivia and Quinn go rescue her while Huck kills the cell phone service to the building so that no one would be able to upload any pictures or video to the Internet, but they soon realize that they have bigger problems because Karen made a sex tape with two young men and does not know their identities! The girl was so high that she could not even walk out on her own, so Olivia and Quinn had to prop her up.

Cyrus is basking in the afterglow with Michael telling him about how sprung he is and being downright affectionate. I guess $2,500 must buy quality action for his nose to be so wide open. His post-coital bliss is interrupted when Olivia calls to tell him to get the President on the phone because his daughter is auditioning to be America’s Next Teen Porn Star. Those crazy kids did something known as the Eiffel Tower, and while I refuse to Google it myself, I hear that it’s really a thing — who knew?

Back at the White House, Fitz goes from being worried about Karen to nearly snatching her up after she gets sassy with him about her exploits. Upon hearing that she took drugs, her concerned dad asked if she was raped, but Karen tells him that he is lame and wonders why he assumes that the boys took advantage of her. Olivia saves her by sending her off for a barrage of STD tests. You’re welcome bratty First daughter.

Fitz asks Olivia to find the boys and kill that tape before it gets out which means that she and her team have to be back in the White House with Abby and Mellie neither of whom are real happy with OPA right now. Also, they are trying to keep this from Mellie who is back to being sad and unwashed on the couch. Abby spots Huck and Quinn in the hall and starts harassing them about being there until Cyrus tells her to mind her business. She accused Cyrus of making her feel small by constantly siding with Olivia but he told her that it was not him but her own jealousy that was doing that and advises her to get her life. “You are not Olivia, you will never be Olivia, and hating Olivia for your own shortcomings will not change that fact.”  Get Red together Mr. Beene!

Daddy Pope meets Tom on a park bench and asks why Jake Ballard is still alive. Rowan warns him that he best handle it or be next on the hit list. Poor Tom. See what happens when you dance with the Devil in the pale moonlight? Right after Rowan leaves, Jake shows up and tells Tom that even if he does kill him he will be the next to die since Command cannot afford to leave any loose ends that could tie him to the President’s son’s death.

Olivia meets Fitz in the White House to let him know that they have identified one of the boys in the tape when he starts asking her where she went when she left town. He assumed that she was alone, and she does not correct him claiming that she needed some time alone. He says that he is sorry about her mother and she tells him not to be sorry because her mother did a terrible thing and ruined them. Girl, you don’t even know the half of it.

David Rosen is basking in his positive press coverage when Jake shows up demanding that he release the B613 files if Command kills him, but David says no. Jake asks for the files back and David says nope again because those files would bring down the government. Jake grabs him and nearly snaps his neck like a chicken bone before David gives him the key to the files.

Smelly Mellie Gets Read

Mellie sees Olivia in the hall, grabs her and demands to know what she is doing in “her house”. Olivia fixed her with a withering gaze and tells her to go ask her husband. She almost went all Marie Wallace on the First Lady because you know Mamma Pope did not raise a punk. My girl backed her up with one look.

Mellie assumes that Olivia is there for a rendevouz and goes off on Fitz for bringing her there. He told her that Karen called Olivia because she got in trouble and that Mellie should be glad that she was on it. Mellie makes the mistake of saying that she is the mother, this her family and she is the one who holds everything together and Olivia needs to go. She says she will fix it, and he needs to stay out of the way. If she wants to fix something, she might want to start with a bath and then move on to that bird’s nest on top of her head.

Fitz has had enough and unleashed all the saltiness that he’s been storing up since their son died:

“I have dealt with drunk Mellie and smelly Mellie, and screw everything to hell Mellie and crybaby Mellie and eat everything that is not nailed down Mellie and I have not complained, but I will not put up with whatever righteous history-rewriting Mellie you have going on right here right now. You are not the mother – not since Gerry died. You have mothered no one. You hold nothing together. You pick up no pieces. You are sitting around in booties and a dirty robe eating chips and getting drunk at 11:00 a.m.”

She had nerve to reply that Karen really takes after him by making a sex tape. Is that is the best she could come up with after that magnificent wig snatchage? And she must have forgotten that Karen busted her on her knees with Andrew not long ago. You can climb down off your high horse madam because your dirty drawers are showing,

Fitz Makes a Move

Karen was able to identify one of the boys by a tattoo, and Quinn tracks him down at his fast food job and makes him talk. He tells her about the other guy, a rich kid from Bethesda whose parents, the Morgans, want to be paid $2.5 million for the videotape. Liv takes the deal to Fitz who is angry, but Olivia advised him to pay them off to spare Karen the embarrassment of having that tape released. He goes from outraged dad to lovesick puppy in less than two minutes. He closes in on Olivia and asks her if she missed him. “Don’t ever leave me like that again. I almost didn’t survive. I almost died without you. Didn’t you miss me?” He moves in for a kiss and she blurts out that she did not go away alone which totally ruined the mood. He backed up and tells her to just say that she went with Jake. She does, and he had nerve to be upset about it. He tells her pay the Morgans and storms off. So the married man is upset that his mistress has a sidepeiece of her own. Cute.

Olivia meets with the Morgans again but this time they are asking for another $500,000 for expenses, and she goes off on them. She takes their pictures and promises to ruin them by leaking their pictures to the tabloids to assassinate their character by claiming that their son set up Karen to blackmail the President. Then she makes them sign papers and they scram with nothing other than a verbal smackdown.

Smelly Mellie goes to Karen and tells her that she understands her pain and that she is going to get one free pass because she is still grieving for her brother. But she warns her that she can’t have any more screw-ups because she is the daughter of a famous man.

The Jig is up for Tom

Fitz ordered an investigation of the Secret Service to find out what happened with Karen’s security detail, and the Inspector General finds a discrepancy in Tom’s schedule. The records indicate that he was in Maryland at a military base when he was supposed to be at the White House in November — the jig is up. Tom calls Jake in a panic, and he tells him to just tell the truth because he has evidence that will clear him. Ah Jake, have you learned nothing after all that time in the hole?

Jake shows up to the White House with his files but Fitz walks out and tells him he will be right back. He then heads over to watch Tom being questioned. Tom says he was acting on orders and was about to spill the beans when in walks Daddy Pope. Tom asks for a lawyer and then asks to speak to the President, but Rowan does not budge. He presents Tom with the evidence showing him at the facility where the bacterial strain of meningitis that killed Gerry was taken and demands to know who gave him the order.

Daddy Pope plays the hell out of Tom telling him that when he leaves the room no one is going to be on his side and that he needs his help. Tom lies and says that Jake gave him the orders. Rowan leans in and gives Tom a meaningful look just before he is cuffed and lead away. Meanwhile Jake, who was already at the White House, was lead off by a group of men.

• When will these characters learn that Daddy Pope always wins? That man is a wizard of deception and Jake sealed his fate last week during that dinner when he laid all his cards on the table. Hey, it was fun while it lasted.
• Did Fitz knowingly set Jake up for running off with his boo thing? Or does he really believe that he gave Tom the command to kill his son? While Fitz is petty enough to ice the guy just for being with Olivia, we all know that Daddy Pope is very persuasive. Fitz just might believe him.
• Will Smelly Mellie get it together for her children’s sake? Not only is Karen wilding out, but according to Fitz baby Teddy thinks that the nanny is his mother because Smelly spends no time with him.
• What’s next for David Rosen? Those B613 files were his ace in the hole, and he really did rely on them the last couple of times he was backed up against the wall. Will be go back to being a loser? Or will he find another way to step up?
• Although I do not want to see Fitz and Olivia together, those two do have undeniable chemistry. He is mad now because he found out that she was with Jake, but he’ll get over it just like he did before. But she may not forgive him for killing Jake.

Claire Underwood

House of Cards is Thrilling

House of Cards is my new guilty pleasure and the main reason why I have been getting very little sleep for the last week. I am late to the party since I just signed up for Netflix again. I had Netflix back in the day when it was $19.99 per month and handled through the mail with DVDs. You could only have three out at a time, and you had to return one DVD before they would send out the next item on your list. They kept on offering me free trials to come back and I finally agreed to try it again. Scandal is done for the season and Mad Men has only one episode left, so the time was right for me to indulge in some marathon tv viewing. Plus darn near everyone that I know has been raving about this show.

This show has everything that I love: political intrigue, shade, indignant monologues and a fierce wardrobe. While Francis Underwood is notoriously evil, his wife Claire is every bit as ruthless and underhanded; she is just less obvious about it. If you provoke her, my girl will issue a verbal shanking that will make you sit quietly in a dark room and rethink your life. What is it with these female tv characters named Claire anyway? Huxtable or Underwood will eviscerate you with a smile while impeccably dressed, and you will deal with it. Claire Huxtable is the holder of prime time tv’s most epic side eye, but this new Claire is a lot meaner.

If You Thought Season One Was Bad….

There is one scene from the first episode in Season 2 between Claire and a pregnant woman who was trying to play hardball that ended very badly for that poor misguided soul. Mrs. Underwood looked ole girl in the eye and declared “I am willing to let your child wither and die inside of you if that is what’s required. Am I really the sort of enemy you want to make?” That woman has ice water in her veins, and she is not here to play games with lightweights as demonstrated by her fabulous wardrobe. Claire’s wardrobe is very elegant and minimalist, and she is not one for a lot of colors, frills or patterns. Costume designer Tom Broecker says that she wears clothing as armor, and these are definitely the clothes of a woman who is to be taken seriously. She has worn Armani, L’Wren Scott, Prada and Zac Posen along with more accessible labels like Banana Republic, Calvin Klein & Ralph Lauren. No matter whose clothes she is wearing, Claire always looks like money.

Another thing that I like about Claire is that she is playing a mature woman who is not trying to be younger than she is. She is embracing her age without falling into the trap of looking too matronly.

 

Dress by Zac Posen, bag by YSL

Claire Underwood is Complex

Claire is a great character because she is complex. At the beginning of the series, we see her running a non-profit that provides clean water in Africa which makes you think that she is a philanthropist and a compassionate person. But don’t be fooled by that one part of her life. Although Claire does occasionally try to serve as Frank’s moral compass, she is not above getting dirty when necessary. She is willing to turn a blind eye to her husband’s behavior so long as it furthers their goals — even if it means him hooking up with a girl young enough to be their daughter. Claire has also had an affair of her own. This woman is not exactly a role model, but she is fascinating to watch and not just because of her clothes.