Scandal Recap Episode 317: Flesh and Blood

Scandal Left me Dazed & Confused

This episode left me dazed, confused and upset, but at least I was not bored. We learned more about Marie’s plans for the bomb and gained some new insight into her relationship with Eli and why he hates her so much. Mellie is circling the drain emotionally and is thisclose to finding out the paternity of her eldest son, and my boy Cyrus is back to being his evil self which is a relief because grieving Cyrus is not nearly as much fun as malicious Cyrus. And despite having choked the dog mess out of Ms. Pope last week, Jake is still sprung and won’t accept that she will never love him the way that he loves her. There are some awful and tortured relationships on this show, and I guess that it what makes it such compelling television because it is hard to look away from this much dysfunction.

The show opens at the OPA offices with Jake and Olivia arguing.  He is accusing her of treason when Fitz and Cyrus roll up with a security detail. Fitz told her that she should have checked with him before shutting down B613’s network, but she said she had to make a call and that the FBI or Homeland Security should be able to help them track down her mother. Cyrus says that they cannot get any federal agencies involved because that would make Mama Pope’s shenanigans part of the public record along with Fitz’ role in helping her escape. While they are going back and forth over whether B613 will be revived that ole petty Jake calls her out for giving up the drawers to get to his phone, and Fitz gave him the side eye of death.

Papa Don’t Take No Mess

Jake explains that Marie has the President’s complete itinerary, a bomb and crew on the move. They focus on Dominic Bell, the man who brought Marie the bomb. Seeing his picture, Fitz and Cyrus share a pained look and say that there is only one person who can help with this situation, and that person turns out to be Daddy Pope who makes a grand entrance to James Brown’s Superbad. Fitz tells him that this does not mean that he is being reinstated as Command – he is only there to serve his country. Eli replies that he is not helping Fitz or even his country. He wants revenge on Dominic for ruining his life.

The dueling Commands are giving their respective pitches on how best to track down Dominic, who is actually Marie’s handler, when Quinn and Charlie join the party. Charlie asks if they missed anything, and Jake replies that they only missed a history lesson in the ancient craft of spycraft from one of the Smithsonian’s finest archivists. Now that is some Cyrus level shade. Daddy Pope says that either Jake goes or he’s leaving. Olivia of course picks her dad and Jake storms off and tells her not to call him when things fall apart. Olivia follows Jake out and tells him that this a good thing because he is free. Jake warns her not to trust Daddy Pope, the master manipulator. “He will reel you in with a trail of warmth and kindness. And once you are comfortable, once you feel safe, he will take everything from you… He will take everything that matters to you. He will break your bones and step over your body on his way out!” Yeah, so I am thinking that I would pick my dad over some stalkerish nutjob who just had his hands around my throat.

Drunk Mellie

Drunk Mellie was a trending topic on Twitter last night and for good reason – she is hilarious! Either her Dad sent Mellie a new shipment of hooch, or she brewed up her own batch of white lightning because my girl stayed drunk for the entire episode. Olivia tells Fitz that he needs to stay at the White House because someone out there wants him dead. “You think it’s just out there?” slurs Mellie. Fitz was trying to argue with Cyrus about not hiding out in the White House, but Mells notes that if Olivia tells him to stay put he will. With just 6 days before the election, they are canceling all remaining campaign events which is working out in Sally’s favor. Furthermore, an important ally on immigration dies, Senator Hightower, and Fitz sees giving the man’s eulogy as an opportunity to speak to the public, but Olivia insists that it is not safe, so Sally starts preparing to deliver the eulogy.

Mellie is still upset about losing Andrew and wants to get her revenge on Fitz by requesting a paternity test on little Gerry from the White House doctor. Leo Bergen, Sally’s henchman, goes to the Gerry’s school to collect a DNA sample that he got in a very skeevy way involving a teenage girl and a condom. But by the time he called Eli with the update, he was already working with Olivia and told her what they were up to so that she could thwart the plan which she does by paying off someone at the lab.

Olivia confronts Mellie about ordering the test and asks her if either or both of her children were fathered by Andrew. Mellie is angry and tries to wave her off, but then Liv tells her that had to have known that this would be leaked and homegirl just unleashed all her anger about having sacrificed her happiness for Fitz’ ambitions for the last 15 years. She says that she wanted Fitz to burn and to suffer and says that it’s Fitz’ turn to bear the cross because she does not want to be nailed to Big Gerry any longer, but she never comes right out and explains what she means by that. Mellie then begs Olivia to keep the test from getting out and to not tell Fitz about it.

Mama Pope’s Other Man

Huck found Dominic and dumps him on the floor of Olivia’s office – right after Charlie and Quinn had announced that he was gone. Daddy Pope asked Dominic about the bomb and he starts talking all slick saying that he must be Eli because he is exactly how Marie described him. Then he tells Olivia that he has not seen her since she was a little girl and asks if she remembers him. Daddy Pope is not trying to walk down memory lane with this fool, so he tells Huck to do whatever it takes to make him talk but Olivia instructs Huck not to hurt him. Olivia has been pestering him all day about why he hates this man so much and Eli tells her that Dominic Bell is the only man that her mother ever loved — I thought he was going to say that Dominic was Olivia’s real father!

Huck got nowhere by playing nice, so Eli gets a gun and calls Marie from Dominic’s cell phone and warns her that he will kill him unless she reveals her location all the while trying to keep her on the phone long enough for Huck to trace the call.  Daddy Pope is literally playing Russian Roulette with this guy as he holds a gun to his head, and the gun only has one bullet in the chamber. He takes a shot each time Marie refuses to help and she ultimately hangs up the phone before the trace is completed and Eli kills him to get revenge for how they both played him which made Olivia so mad that she had to be physically restrained. The following day she lets him know that she did not appreciate him turning her office into a Black ops site. Daddy Pope apologized, but I don’t think he meant it. He finally explained that  Dominic was Marie’s partner and had her marry Eli just to get access to his information. This has been eating at him for years, and he enjoyed killing the man who ruined his life.

Olivia is so upset thinking about her cold, murderous parents that she calls Jake to vent but he only wants to talk about their last roll in the hay and says he knows that she was not just using him because he could feel it. I am really starting to worry about this guy. Here you are supposed to be some slick assassin with killer instincts yet you cannot stay away from someone who is constantly playing you. And if that was not bad enough, she had nerve to say that yes she felt something while they were doing the deed, but she loves her married boyfriend and felt like she was betraying him. Right. In the words of Dr. Phil “How is that working out for you?”

She tells Jake about how Marie let her man be killed when she could have easily saved him and Jake tells her that she is not like her mother which she of course already knew.

 

 

Fitz is getting restless at the White House watching reports of how Sally is beating him in Ohio, so he decides to go to the rally in Defiance despite Marie still being on the loose with a bomb. They fire up the helicopter and are just about to board when Olivia calls Cyrus and tells them that they are going to get Fitz killed. Daddy Pope overhears this and tells Olivia that her mother loves her and would never kill the President if it means killing Olivia too, so she joins the campaign in Ohio and the whole thing feels like a morbid death watch.

Meanwhile Jake, who has been working with David to track down Marie using some fancy facial recognition software, discovers that Mama Pope killed Senator Hightower so that Fitz would attend his funeral at this church which is the real location of the bomb – not the rally in Ohio! Jake calls Cyrus with this information and advises him to warn the others and clear the church, but he just hangs up and asks Ethan if Sally had already left for the funeral. Not only does he not tell anyone that the bomb is at the church, he also lies to Fitz about the service being delayed and has him read the eulogy to him.

Huck, Charlie and Quinn have to dispose of Dominic’s body but Charlie and Huck are too busy squabbling to get anything done, so Quinn drives off alone to handle it. When she returns to the parking lot, Huck is there waiting for her and they finally consummate their unholy union while Mama Pope struts by on her way to meet up with Eli in the office. I mean ole girl was stepping like she was on a runway with not a care in the world and those two nasty clowns didn’t even notice. I doubt that they could have stopped her but heck, pay attention.  

Ruthless though Marie may be, she does love her daughter, and when Daddy Pope sent Olivia to that rally in Ohio so that Fitz would not be killed, that was the final straw. She opens the door and orders Eli to bring her baby back home.  He calls Olivia and tells her that Marie is there at the office, and in the next scene he is laying on the floor bloodied and possibly dying. I guess between that knife incident from the restaurant and using Olivia as a human shield, the Notorious MOM had enough of the nonsense.

The show closed with scenes from the church highlighting Sally, Andrew and Leo who had just arrived.

And Mellie has the real results of a second paternity test that Olivia discreetly ordered for her.

• If they kill off Daddy Pope, the most verbose and irritated dad in television history, then I am going to very upset. Who else is going to lecture that naive child of his about the ways of the world? Who else will be able do deal with the Notorious MOM who has turned out to be way more lethal than I ever imagined.
• Is Cyrus really going to risk the lives of a church full of people just to be rid of Sally? I know he is a monster, but this is bad even for him.
• Does Gerry’s paternity test reveal what we have been thinking all along? And if so, will Mellie finally tell Fitz that his father raped her?
• Where was Charlie when Huckleberry Quinn was defiling that parking garage? That sneaky stalker was probably watching from a remote location, and if so, there is going to be another funeral real soon.
• When is Jake going to accept that Olivia will never choose him over Fitz? She used him just last week, and had nerve to tell him that she still loves the Boy president. Man, pick up your toys and move on already. And quit being so whipped.

With this much drama packed into this lead-up to the finale, I just know that we are in for a real roller coaster ride next week.

And let us all take a moment of silence for Daddy Pope who turned out to have every right to be so angry at everyone all this time. Stay strong Eli – you have many more indignant monologues to deliver.

 

 

 

 

Scandal Episode 316: The Fluffer

Scandal Was Doing Too Much This week

From the risqué title to the dramatic final closing scenes, this week’s episode came close to doing way too much. For those of you who do not know what a fluffer is, Google it, because this is a PG blog and I am not going there. And as if that title was not pushing it far enough, the President’s fake mistress returns with a tell all book describing the Presidential package. Olivia handles Andrew who kicks Mells to the curb, Abby & Leo take down Governor Reston, Mamma Pope and Eli almost get to scrapping in public, and Jake goes ballistic after getting played by Olivia yet again.

After the Grant family interview last week, Olivia is stepping back from the White House and sends Abby over to run the campaign meeting.  Abby was so proud of  herself wearing one of Olivia’s old coats armed with lots of polls and data, but none of them is having it. Realizing that Olivia is not attending the meeting, Fitz walks out followed by Mellie and Andrew without so much as a “good day madam.”  The king of shade is back in rare form and insists on calling her “Gabby” which sticks, and he compliments her on the coat before leaving.

Olivia is meeting with her father to lock down the source of B613 funds and asks him to promise not to hurt Fitz, but the only thing that he is going to promise her is another epic read since she can’t seem to get it together. Daddy Pope is not completely evil, so he promises that he won’t hurt a hair on the boy President’s head -it’s the rest of him that they need to be worried about. It turns out that B613 has a secret account that they used to siphon money from all the other federal agencies. Huck is angry when he learns that the she got the info from her dad and refuses to help her hack into the account, but she tells him that he works for her and they all do things that they do not want to do.  This will come back to bite her later when they need to get to Jake’s phone.

The Return of the Fake Mistress and Shady Cyrus

Jeanine Locke, the former staffer who they paid off to pretend to be Fitz’ mistress, is back with a book about her fictional time as the Presidential mistress. She made up a whole story about the affair and alludes to his bedroom prowess and his “baguette.” Just tacky. They suspect that Sally is behind it and Cyrus decides to leak the the story of Sally’s teenage daughter getting a secret abortion which backfires because it makes her more sympathetic to female voters. Olivia tears into him for causing this problem and he replies “You can’t just lie down on the job and send some amateur in here because your boyfriend was mean to you.” Oh Cyrus, how I’ve missed your shady takedowns.

Fitz throws a tantrum over Liv sending Abby to the White House and wants to remove Andrew from the ticket because he is not trying to run with Mellie’s boo thang. She tells him that it would be a bad move to dump him now and asks him what else he needed in a very cold way since she is still feeling like the help. Fitz picks up on her tone and repeats her question and she launches into a tirade asking him about what services she would be required to provide for him today “Am I here to stroke your ego, am I your cheerleader? Am I here to wipe your tears…maybe I am here to make you feel hot and manly and ready so that you are not jealous of your wife’s boyfriend? Am I your fluffer today Fitz?” He replies that he is not the bad guy and tells her that she wants it to be easy but it is not. He also tells her that she was being disgusting, but I think he was into it.

Jake sends Charlie and Quinn to take over the surveillance of Mamma Pope who was getting her swerve on with some criminal type dude who is going to bring her flowers. So that is what the kids are calling it these days.  Harrison approaches Claire, one of Marie’s operatives, trying to figure out where she is and what she is planning, but Claire is like nope I’m trying to learn from the master thug.  Charlie starts questioning Quinn again about her loyalty and asks her if she can be faithful to him and B613. Ole needy &  jealous self.

Jake Channels Lennny Williams

A drunk and lonely Jake shows up at Olivia’s door in the middle of the night demanding that she let him in. They might as well have been playing Lenny Williams’ “Cause I Love You” in the background because ole dude was pouring out his heart talking about how he asked her save him and she said no. Sigh. This man is turning into a stalker, and she later capitalizes on the fact that he still loves her by going over to his place and giving up the goodies to gain access to his cell phone. Huck has something that can turn the phone into a transmitter giving them access to all of B613’s network  infrastructure, but the device must be attached to Command’s phone for 30 seconds. I guess a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do, but I was so worried that Jake was going to catch her with his phone!

Fitz is still trying to replace Andrew on  the ticket but Liv tells him that it’s impossible, so she decides to have a chat with Andy to tell him that he can either be vice president or keep creeping with Mellie.  Olivia warns him that if he chooses Mellie, she will ruin him and Mellie will leave him because Mellie likes to stomp with the big dawgs. “Screw Mellie or be VP. It’s your choice.” Andrew says that he loves her. Olivia was not impressed and tells him that he has 24 hours to decide but it’s been her experience that men like him will choose power over love every time.

Abby & Leo Take Down Gov. Reston

Abby and Leo are dispatched to leak Governor Reston’s file to who his wife who is in prison for falsely claiming that she was being raped when her husband walked in on her and her sidepiece. She did not realize that the Gov. knew what was up and used that as an excuse to kill the man and get away with it while  Mrs. Reston rots in prison. His wife asks if he knew that the man was her lover, and he told her that she better keep quiet before he has her committed to a mental hospital. He didn’t know that he was being filmed or that the video would soon be posted online by Abby. He just got Poped.

Olivia is at a restaurant with her father when mama Pope strolls in and helps herself to a glass of wine. Oh she is not there for a family reunion, she has come with a warning for Liv to find a new line of work because what she is doing is liable to get her murked. Daddy Pope was so mad that he reached for a knife and Marie dares him to try it, and he doesn’t.  I think Daddy Pope met his match. Harrison calls during this awkward dinner to say that the Claire is dead. Speaking of Harrison, how are they going to NOT address him getting stabbed in the neck with a needle last week? We didn’t forget! Olivia tells him to get back to the office and calls her mother a monster which she probably took as a compliment.

Mellie Goes all Ike Turner on Fitz

Mellie does really well at the Warrior Women campaign event and is so excited that she finds Andrew at the White House and asks him if he wanted to “talk.” Boom Chicka Wa Wa. He was all like, nope, I’m good, and she realizes that Fitz shut it down because earlier Andrew was professing his love and begging her to love him back. She walks into Fitz’ office during a meeting and slaps the dog crap out of him and yells “You take everything from me!” Homegirl leaned into that slap and unleashed the fury of three years of public humiliation. Cyrus tries to clear the room, but Mellie tells them stay and icily warns Fitz “You just keep being the President.” They are going to drive ole Mells back to the hooch just when she thought she had her groove back. He better sleep with one eye open in Teddy’s room.

Huck manages to break the code to gain access to B613’s network and blows it up, and they make the mistake of being too proud of themselves toasting and making speeches. Just as they are feeling really pleased with themselves, Jake bursts in with a gun, slams our girl against the wall and chokes her.  It turns out that Marie’s suitor delivered a bomb -the Mona Lisa of Boom according to Charlie. Quinn wanted to move in right away but Jake tells her to wait, and then they lose all communications because the network was shut down before Jake gave them permission to move. Quinn decides to go anyway, but Marie is gone by the time they get to the hotel. “At least know we know whose side you’re on,” Charlie whines. It did not take Jake long to figure out what happened to B613’s network, and he told Olivia that she just killed the President.

For all the action crammed into this episode, I was actually bored for the first half.  I am sick of Fitz’ tantrums and whiny speeches – he never wants to accept blame for anything. I am also tired of Olivia crying about Vermont and Jam — it’s never going to happen. Get over it. I really do not like the way they have her playing Jake and whoring herself out just to get what she needs. Surely there had to be another way to get access to his phone.

I think Daddy Pope and Marie may be in cahoots because they both have the same objective -to  get rid of Fitz. There is bad blood there but you know Marie is gangsta enough to overlook her personal feelings to get what she wants. And then she’ll kill him or die trying.

Charlie is going to kill Quinn. He keeps on questioning her about her loyalty to Olivia, and I have a feeling that he knows about her and Huck slobbing each other down, and he is not going to just stand by and let that happen without retaliation.

I cannot believe Jake put his paws on Olivia! Granted, she was trifling, but I am about tired of seeing her getting choked out. First Huck hemmed her up and now this dude. Her new theme song needs to be “Protect Ya Neck,” by the Wu Tang Clan.

I am trying to hang on in there with Shonda and them, but it’s getting more difficult each week. There is no one to like on this show anymore, no one to root for because they are all flawed, damaged and borderline pychotic. I live for Mama Pope and the chaos that she brings, but even that will get old after a while. OPA needs to get back to fixing stuff and soon.

Scandal Episode 315-Mama Said Knock You Out

 

 

Scandal – No Funeral for James?!

I just knew that we would see some of James’ funeral this week. Although it would not have been nearly as good as what the fans were planning online, I was hoping to see  a tearful eulogy, a moving solo or someone throwing themselves across the casket. We did finally get to see Baby Ella for the first time in like a year, so that is some consolation. Oh, and Cyrus figured out what really happened, but he can’t do anything about it.

The episode opened with Liv running around looking frazzled trying to get a tv reporter to delay an interview. The Grant children, Gerry and Karen, are back from school to present the picture of one big happy family– only they are not so happy. Fitz’  brother/son is secretly running a hostile Twitter Account “Fuhrer Fitz” that he is using to smear his dad and he is planning to sabotage the interview while wearing a Reston t-shirt. Karen is dripping with disdain for her father until she catches Mellie in the act with “Uncle Andrew” and then she directs her venom towards Mommie Dearest going so far as to tell her shut up. It’s like early Thanksgiving in that joint. They need to call Iyanla to fix all their lives.

Olivia thinks that they can stop B613 if they can identify and cut off their funding. Yeah, like there is a line item somewhere for secret assassins. Huck warns them that they are on a suicide mission. “You don’t take down B613. You run, you hide or you die, and B613 survives. It always survives.”  Huck again tells Olivia that they need to rescue Quinn, but Olivia is not having it since Huckleberry Quinn pulled a gun on her the last time she tried to save her.

Rolling With Dmitri

Quinn and Charlie are driving at night with Charlie grilling her about what happened between her and Huck in her apartment. He has lots of questions and seems almost jealous. He offers to kill Huck for her, but she says she is done with him and the rest of Olivia Pope and Associates.  She tells him that they have work do do and once the car stops she pops the trunk and the camera closes in on a bound man she calls Dmitri – that would be the same Dmitri who met with Marie Wallace, AKA the Notorious MOM, last week.  Dmitiri is part of some Ukrainian crime ring, and the government was following him. He is apparently the advance man for Ivan who stood up Marie at the meeting last week – you know the meeting where she shot someone without batting an eyelash.

Olivia is asking for more time to prep the kids before the interview but Fitz wants to play kissy face while Mellie and Andrew are carrying on all over the White House like a couple of horny teenagers.  Hey Andy, Don Draper called, and he wants his hand up the skirt move back! Later  that day, Olivia is strutting down the hall when she spots Mellie coming out of an office grinning like a fool only to be followed out by Andrew just seconds later. She warns him to stay away from Mellie because they cannot stand another sex scandal, and he doesn’t even bother denying it. Instead he smirks about glass houses before walking away.

Rowan calls Olivia and warns her to back off B613 because they have eyes and ears everywhere. He had to call in some favors to spare her this time but she is pushing it. She is not hearing it, so he hangs up.

Marie calls Ivan and warns him to show up or else. He is spooked because he has not heard from Dmitri who we last saw in the trunk of Charlie’s car. Adnan suggests that they call the whole thing off since they are having problems with their crew, but Marie lets her know that there is no way out unless she says so, and I have a feeling that her way out involves an unmarked grave.

Mellie Gets Busted With Andrew

Fitz confronts Gerry about his Twitter account and the Reston t-shirt he bought online. Gerry says  he didn’t say anything that wasn’t true and starts yelling about his brother/dad going through his things. Karen leaves in a huff running smack dab into a partially clothed Mellie and Andrew who were fogging up the windows in another room. Mellie tries to smooth things over by telling Karen that it wasn’t what it looked like, but Karen saw her on her knees and starts yelling at her to shut up and says that she is leaving.

Fitz meets with Jake and demands that he gives up Dmitiri. Jake said that even if he had him, which is not admitting to, he would not hand him over because he is not the President’s bytch. Fitz tries to pull rank but Jake clowns the hell out of him by telling him that he looks pretty and talks tough but does nothing. I think  one of the requirements for being Command is the ability to master indignant monologues.

Cyrus’ Confession

Cyrus bursts into Fitz’ office  and attacks Jake with a vase because he knows that he killed James. I thought Cyrus was about to have another heart attack the way he was breathing all hard and with his eyes bugging out of his head. Jake handled Cyrus without  breaking a sweat and had nerve to say that he was sorry for his loss- just wrong. Cyrus later confides to Fitz that James would have brought down Sally and their entire administration had he lived and says that he brought it on himself. I hope James comes back to haunt all of these heathens! How are you going to shoot someone, stick around to usher him to the other side and then have nerve to give your condolences to the man’s husband? The same husband who put a hit on the victim, twice, and then had audacity to say it was his own fault. Hell to the no!

Mama Pope Breaks it Down

Marie calls Olivia and asked her to return Adnan who is over at OPA trying to get immunity because she is pretending to be afraid but she is really playing Harrison. Olivia calls her mama a traitor and a terrorist, but Marie tells her that she might be a traitor, but she would rather be that than the help cleaning up behind “those people.” Mamma ends the call with a thinly veiled threat telling her that if that is all Olivia wants out of life, she will stay out of her business so long as she stays out of hers.

Mellie is hitting the scotch after that scene with Karen and Olivia suggests that she switch to coffee since she still has to do that interview. Mellie says that they need to cancel the interview but Olivia says that she can’t do that which prompts Mells to imperiously ask what they were paying her to do – right after Mama Pope called her the help too?! Ole Mellie got some bass in her voice after finally getting her pipes cleaned.

Jake sends Quinn to meet with Huck to find out what he wants, and Huck says that he wants Jake to free her from B613. She asked him why he was suddenly trying to save her when just last week he wanted to kill her. She licks his face – ick – and they start making out before she pushes him away. Charlie is not going to like this. Quinn returns home to find that Charlie moved in, without asking, and has cooked dinner to celebrate.

Harrison gets freaky with Adnan in the office again and afterwards she stabs him with a syringe of who-knows-what which paralyzes him. Ah Harrison, you finally get more than 10 seconds on screen and it turns out like this.

Jake Comes for Daddy Pope Who is Never Scared

Jake visits Rowan at his day job and tells him to stay out of his business because he heard that he had been calling around asking questions. Jake asks him if he needs to revisit the terms of Daddy Pope’s retirement which launches Rowan into another epic read. I thought he was going to hit him with that same “you are a boy” speech that he gave Fitz, but he instead tells Jake that he is alone and not his equal. Jake thanked him for reminding him that when -not if- he decides to kill him he needs to do it alone. Daddy Pope responds with a nod and a look that invites him to leap if he’s feeling froggy. Man, it would have been perfect had they played BoneCrusher’s “Never Scared” during that scene.

 

Karen told Fitz about Mellie’s extracurricular activities. The boy President runs off to find to find Andrew and punches him right in the face. Mellie tries to help Fitz with his busted hand but he waves her off and starts asking how long she’d been creeping with Andrew. He says that she turned him away after Gerry was born claiming that having a baby changed her and she was no longer interested in sex. He started yelling at her for ruining their marriage because he would not have cheated if she was not frigid for all those years. This reminds me of when Cyrus brought Olivia in for the first campaign and Fitz got mad because she said he looked like he doesn’t have sex with his wife – she was right!

Fitz Puts Olivia in Her Place

Olivia is listening outside the whole time while Fitz is going after Mellie for how she ruined their marriage.  He gave her plenty of chances to tell him that his drunken father raped her, but she would only say that she had given up more than he would ever know. This made him angrier, and Fitz started yelling at her: “All you have done is deny me love and scheme to have power. You tell me one thing that you have done, one thing that you have sacrificed… What have you lost?!” Olivia walked in as he was berating Mellie who stands there looking like a deer in the headlights.  Liv tries to intervene, only to have Fitz scream that he is talking to his wife further reinforcing the reality of her being the Help. Our girl is having a bad day.

Having had enough of the Grants’ abuse, Olivia leaves.  On the way out of the White House she sees Cyrus who tells her that unlike him, she can play through the pain while he is going home to cry over his dead husband. “Tell me we’re not the help,” she pleads. “I’d be lying if I did. You know what we do,” Cyrus replies without his normal shade.

Olivia returns to tell Fitz to fix his family because it is not her place and they still have to do that interview. “I am at work. This is my job! If this interview is a disaster then I will have failed at my job, and I cannot afford to fail at my job because this is all I have left!” I hope this means that she is finally done with him because that man does not mean her any good.

Fitz walks up to Mellie who is steeling herself for another cursing out, but Fitz extends his hand. She takes it, and they go talk to their children, and they all show up for the interview just in the nick of time. Cyrus is watching from home with Ella who is not a baby anymore, and it looks like he is crying.

. 

David and Abby return to the office with Adnan’s immunity deal only to find Harrison on the floor bleeding from the mouth. Meanwhile, Adnan is showing  Marie and Ivan a flash drive containing information that she stole from Olivia’s PC after drugging Harrison. It is full of confidential campaign info including itineraries, exit routes and personnel. But wait – Jake has them under surveillance yet decides not to stop them because he wants to see what they are planning.

Rowan calls Olivia and tells her that she is looking in the wrong place for B613 funding because they get money from everyone. She asks why he is helping her, and he says that it’s because they are family, and family sticks together. The camera zooms in on the Grants seated for their interview once again demonstrating that they are family and she is not. Fade to black…..

Eh, after last week, I did not feel this episode was all that good:

• I am tired of Olivia being bullied and disrespected by everyone. She is averaging something like one death threat per show and can’t even get any comfort from her own mother. And Fitz’ sorry arse had nerve to pull the ole “that’s my wife” card when she was only trying to help? He wasn’t worried about his wife when he was pushing up on her in his office.
• Also, I am sick of Mellie protecting Fitz’ sorry daddy. Why won’t she just tell him the truth so he can stop acting like she is some frigid monster?
• I do not know what they are planning to do with Huck and Quinn, but I am not here for it! Quinn needs to go, and I do not care how they do it, but she needs to disappear pronto.
• Jake best think twice before coming for Daddy Pope. I don’t know if he had a bowl of Wheaties before that confrontation, but Rowan was in charge for too long to be intimidated by someone selected by the Boy president. And if they do kill him off it’s not going to be alright.
• It rained all night long, and I have DirectTV so I missed half the show due to signal loss and had to watch it online this morning.  I was not amused.

 

Scandal Recap Ep 314-Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Jake Ballard is Bad and Bold

I’ll say this for Shonda and her writers, they did not try to drag out the whole “Who Got Shot” plot because this week’s episode opened up with Jake mowing down those reporters AND James. Sigh. I called it last week, but that doesn’t make me feel any better about it.  Jake turned out to be a stone cold killer. Not only did he kill those reporters, but he dug their graves himself — in broad daylight. And when Olivia called him out for his thuggery, he basically told her to shut up or she might be next. “Bad things happen to good people all the time.” Think about that for a minute. Just last week he was all wanting to run off into the sunlight and give up this life of sin, and now he is warning her that snitches get stitches. I tell you a spurned man is nothing nice.

This episode could have easily been titled “The Evolution of Cyrus Rutherford Beene” because we finally see the self-proclaimed monster show some real human emotion. Usually when Cyrus gets verklempt it’s fake because he is trying to manipulate someone, but this time his pain is all too real. He spent much of the episode trying to hold in his grief, but in the end he has a public breakdown and goes into the ugly cry. It was so bad that he could have used some members from the church Nurses Guilds to come fan him and pat him on the back. He really did love James after all. I also do not think he is buying the cover story about how his boo thing was killed. After the way Jake read him last week, he must be suspicious. I just want to know if his guilt over the whole mess is going to lead him to confess.

So now for the play by play…..

The show opens with Jake walking up to the group and firing on the two reporters. He didn’t did ask any questions, he just shot folks. James tries to run off and is shot too. David is begging for his life while Jake says that he has always liked him and asked him if he could be trusted to keep quiet about what really happened.

Cyrus Reminisces

Back at the White House, Olivia is tending to Cyrus who has just learned that James was killed, and we see James and Cyrus’ relationship play out in flashbacks.  They met at a bar when James approached him asking for a quote from the campaign for a story. Cyrus is recently divorced, from a woman, and has an ugly beard. Then we see them on the campaign bus before the general election when James is asking how Fitz can oppose same-sex marriage when he has a gay campaign manager. Cyrus denies being gay, but James says “And yet you shaved your beard?” lol I think he is talking about the ex wife as well as that unfortunate facial hair.

Mellie displays her usual bad timing by telling Fitz that he has to play up to the gun lobby in order to get re-elected. Meanwhile, Mustang Sally pretends to do the noble thing by suspending her campaign during this time of bereavement while secretly planning to meet with the gun lobby to get their endorsement.  They do an end-run around her by grounding her plane and sending Mellie and Andrew to negotiate while Fitz remains at the White House. They win a tentative agreement for the endorsement which will require Fitz to make a speech supporting the Second Amendment, yet when Andrew calls Fitz to tell him about how well Mellie did during the meeting, he did not even want to speak to her. We all knew where this was headed, but Fitz basically pushed her into this man’s arms. Mellie finally gets some, and I am glad for her.  In the words of that great American poet R. Kelly, I don’t see nothing wrong with a little bump and grind – especially when your cheating husband has been flaunting his sidepiece for the last 3 years.

The Notorious MOM

Adnan Salif gives Mamma Pope a Gucci bag full of cash which she accepts and tells her that she needs to find a terrorist.  Adnan replies that she thought that the Mamma Grizzly was a terrorist, but she replies, “I don’t make bombs, I make money.” I wonder if Marie Wallace is related to Christopher Wallace with lines like that. Salif is looking scared since she did not want to involve anyone else, but Marie informs her that they will need a patsy because it’s not going to be her. And I really do not think she wants to have to repeat herself. Adnan later approaches Harrison asking about Liv having contacts at the Justice Department who might be able to broker a deal, but she gets spooked and runs off.

Quinn and Charlie approach a mechanic named Lance McCullom who is going to take the fall for killing James, but David is having second thoughts about charging an innocent man with this crime. Jake pays him a visit and asks him what’s taking so long and reminding him about their deal. Man, this new Jake is gangster. 

Popes in the Park

Daddy Pope shows up to read Olivia on their regular park bench. That man always looks so irritated with her, and I am worried that he is going to have a stroke during one of his monologues. Ole girl is shook and tells him that she needs her dad and asks him to be nice for once. Yeah, so she should know better but anyways, Olivia  asks what is the point of democracy if everyone is evil and the deck is stacked. Rowan explains that he is not so evil as she thinks because he remembers all 183 people whose deaths he was responsible for even if he did not kill them himself. He informs her that not only is he the hell and the high water, but he is also the hand of God. “Everyone is worth saving. In the face of darkness, you drag everyone into the light. That is the point of you. At least I like to think that is the point of you.” Sigh, I need Daddy Pope to adopt me and explain the ways of the world over Sunday dinners. That heffa doesn’t appreciate his wisdom like I would.

Quinn comes home to find Huck waiting in her apartment – he figured out that she broke into the safe and leaked the info about the Daniel Douglas murder. She asks if he came for more teeth or a finger, but he says that he came to put her down– like a rabid dog. Then in a really disturbing turn, he starts kissing her after she spits in his face.  She does not return that nasty kiss and told him “If you’re not going to kill me get the hell out!!” And he leaves. Huck better stop underestimating this crazy broad because I have a feeling that she is about to flip out for real. You cannot keep threatening to kill someone and then reneging at the last minute. He may have taught her too well.

All the Gladiators run to Olivia at the office with their various problems – Jake threatening David, Adnan trying to break free from Marie and Quinn needing some  act right. She just sat there looking weary, but she later meets with David and tells him to make the arrest so that he can live to take down B613. “Lose this battle so we can win the war.” I admire her intentions, but it’s going to take more than those two to take on Jake the Snake and his lair of murderous paper pushers. It’s not looking good for our side right now.

The Ugly Cry

Cyrus goes to the press room to announce the arrest because the press secretary filling in for James is clueless. We see one final flashback of him and James at the inaugural ball dancing while “You’re the Best thing that Ever Happened to Me” plays in the background. Then he goes into the ugly cry that just broke my entire heart. Fitz escorts him from the podium while Olivia wraps up the press conference. Aw Cyrus — woo, woo, woo. Hey, what do you say to a grieving  monster?

.

And if that was not bad enough, we see a bloodied and dying James laying on the ground whimpering and gasping as Jake kneels beside him to apologize for not killing him cleanly like the others.  He had to make it look like a real car jacking and vows to stay with him until he dies. Gee, that was nice of him. Oh and he also promised that baby Ella was safe. 

This episode was so emotional!! And I have so many unanswered questions:

• Is Cyrus going to seek revenge for James’ death?
• What are Marie and Adnan up to? And who is doing her hair because that do is laid like the finest wall-to-wall carpet!
• Why is Quinn still alive?
• Who is going to bring the potato salad to James’ repast?

Okay, that is it for now. I am going to listen to Jennifer Hudson’s “Jesus Promised Me a Home Over There” while reflecting on the life of James Novak. Gone too soon.

Scandal – No Sun on the Horizon

Who Shot Ya?

Last night’s episode was the best in a long time, and I don’t think I breathed for the last 3 minutes. The ending was a major cliffhanger that makes us look at Jake in a whole new way. I was not buying him as the new Command – Rowan is a tough act to follow- but Jake showed that he is not playing games anymore.

Sally Langston is officially crazy. She has gone all Lady Macbeth after having killed Daniel Douglas and is now talking about confessing to get back in the Lord’s good graces. Problem is, if she talks, a lot of folks are going to jail and Cyrus and them are not having it.

Olivia Learns the Truth

Meanwhile back at the ranch, the gladiators are telling Liv that Sally killed her husband and Cyrus and Mellie covered it up. She does not believe it, not because she thinks it’s impossible, but because she thinks Cyrus would have called her first. Once she confronts him and realizes that it’s true, homegirl cracks up. Then she tells him that he is on his own because she wants to walk in the light and feel the sun on her face.

Liv returns to her fallback guy Jake claiming that she wants to pretend to be normal and does not want to talk about what is really going on. Jake asks her to run away with him and then they get it on. Problem is, he took the roll in the hay for more than it was, and starts catches feelings all over again. Big mistake Jake. Sigh, when will he learn? Cue that old Babyface hit “Whip Appeal.”

Cyrus decides that the best way out of this mess is to kill  Sally, but his go-to assassin, Charlie, has been grounded, so Cyrus meets with Jake to try to convince him that Sally needs to die for the greater good.  Unmoved by Cyrus’ speech about saving the Republic, Jake declares that he is not his errand boy and proceeds to put him in his place with this gem, “You are small, and while I’d love to explain to you how the world really works, I don’t have the time, and you wouldn’t understand it.” Um, so who is this new Jake standing up there reading the King of Shade like an elementary school primer? No one talks to Cyrus like that. 

Jake comes to see Olivia and tries to get her to talk about her problems, but she refuses to tell him anything. He tells her she can trust him to keep her secrets and asks her to stand in the sun with him. Notice a trend here? She sighs, and he finally realizes that she is still hung up on Fitz so he leaves– after picking up his face. Realizing that he is not going to get help from his fake girlfriend, Jake sends Quinn to Olivia’s office to find out what she is hiding.  Just like the over-eager puppy that she has always been,  Quinn happily breaks into the safe and steals all the info about the murder and cover-up. Man, I see another impromptu dental session with Huck in her future real soon….

The Debate Gets Heated

During the debate, Sally tries to shade Fitz for his moral failings, and he basically tells her that she can walk over, but she’ll be limping back noting that her husband is now dead. Olivia called him before the debate, so he knew that Sally was planning to confess during the debate and he was daring her to go through with it. Not realizing that there was a sniper in the wings waiting to take her out if she talked, Sally announces that she has a confession to make, but after she pauses for too long, Fitz throws her a lifeline and accuses her of stalling. She recovers and goes back into attack mode hitting him on his “endless personal failings.”

James, You’re In Danger Girl

Leo stops by Cyrus’s office to gloat after the debate, and his offhand comment about a buzzing sound leads Cyrus to find the bug that James planted in that digital frame on his desk. The jig  is up. Cyrus rolls up on James and calls him Publius and then proceeds to apologize for everything and says that he loves him. “You shouldn’t have to pay for my mistakes James. Just know that I am so very sorry, and I love you. ” Now if that doesn’t sound like the kiss of death, then Olivia is going to give up wine and adultery. RIP James. 
I thought for sure that Cyrus Rutherford Beene was going to finally snap and kill his husband, but nope, he was just real tearful and apologetic. For now anyways. We all know that Cyrus is a master manipulator, so he may well have been setting the stage for something else, but James buys it and decides that he does not want to go through with his plans to expose the murder. James and David meet up with two reporters and then realize, too late, that the meeting was a set up. The two reporters are shot dead and then the camera zooms in on the shooter…… Jake!  He raises a gun and pulls the trigger and the scene fades to black without showing us who else was shot.

Now I had a feeling that someone was going to die during this episode, but I did not think Jake would be the killer! Knowing how Shonda and her crew love the unexpected plot twist, it may turn out to be something completely different.

Whatever the case, I am predicting that Sally is either going to commit suicide or wind up in the psych ward.

And another thing, I am so tired hearing about Fitz, Vermont and jam. It’s never going to happen, and I am ready for the return of the old boss gladiator because this new Olivia is a whiny conflicted mess. No wonder Daddy Pope stays reading her every chance he gets.