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 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 401: Randy, Red, Julia and Superfreak

Olivia chilling on the Beach

Scandal is back!

Season 4 of Scandal opened up with Jake and Olivia relaxing on a beach with him being very attentive. Apparently he had been  listening to some 90’s R&B because he was all like “All I Got Is 15 Minutes,” and suddenly Marc Nelson is relevant again. Ole Jake is still sprung and is really feeling himself in this episode.

We knew this idyllic scene could not last. They ordered a shipment of wine that was delivered by boat, and the captain handed her an envelope containing an article about the death of Harrison Wright. So, it’s really a wrap for Columbus short and they didn’t even take long to settle it. Olivia, now known as Julia Baker, is surprised to get the mail since no one knows her location and the sender did not include a return address.

Olivia returns to DC to bury her friend and finds the OPA office empty and full of old mail and periodicals about the second Grant Administration. Quinn is waiting for her and gloats about how she tracked Olivia to the Island based on her fondness for rare wine. She updates Olivia on what happened with her two other former employees neither of whom is glad to see their old boss.

Huck is now a computer repair guy named Randy and wants no parts of Olivia unless she is back for good. White House Press Secretary Abby is still angry with Olivia for leaving and blames her for Harrison’s death which causes Olivia to tell her to back all the way up and check herself before she wrecks herself.

Back at the White House, Mellie is a disheveled mess walking around unwashed in a robe with Uggs while eating cereal from the box. At first I thought she was just drunk, but she is still mourning the death of her son and everyone is being very patient with her because of it. She doesn’t even bother to get dressed before going to visit Little Gerry’s grave where she lays down on the grass. Poor Mellie.

Mourning Mellie is fresh out of damns

 

Portia Di Rossi made an appearance wearing Hillary Clinton’s old hair and a fierce power suit. Werk Mrs. Ellen! She’s playing the new RNC chairman who is in town to get Fitz to play nice with the party because he has been alienating everyone by working with the Democrats. He is also thinking about nominating David Rosen for Attorney General which is a non-starter for the Republicans.

Portia De Rossi channeling Hillary Clinton

 

Daddy Pope is Back

Olivia meets Daddy Pope for dinner at their regular restaurant. He knew she was in town and ordered her a glass of wine in anticipation of her joining him and gets on her case for coming back. He even had the nerve to say that he was sorry for her loss when she told him that her friend had died. Deadly dad denied having anything to do with it, which we all know is a lie and claimed to have killed Mama Pope at the President’s request. The last time we saw the Notorious MOM she was chilling in the hole, so I am not falling for the okey doke. Nice try Pops.

He’s not really sorry

 

Jake comes back from a burger run to find Olivia moping on the couch about planning Harrison’s funeral.They are interrupted by a young Senate staffer whose female boss may have killed a colleague after a sexual assault at the male senator’s house. The victim says that she met up with her colleague late that night to discuss an Equal Pay bill, but he grabbed her and when she tried to get him off of her, she shoved him,  he fell down and is likely dead.

 

Jake Stakes his Claim

Jake and Olivia are in the sack and she is talking about her new case to the point where he has to tell her to hush up and enjoy the moment. Olivia is not trying to be silenced and starts ranting about how unfair the situation is to the victim because the rapist is getting all the sympathy. She then calls the lawyer representing the Senator and tells him to hold off on making a statement.

Jake knows where this is headed and says that as long as they are in DC she will be tempted by Fitz despite all the knocking of boots that’s been done by the two them – only he was way more graphic about it:  “I’m the one you like to ride. That i’m the one that makes you moan that I’m the one that reaches you in places that he can’t begin to touch.” Sir, it’s only 9:00 pm and this aint HBO. I never really much liked him before, but he is winning me over with this newfound machismo. After he said all that, he got up and strutted off like a peacock.

.

Olivia figured out that the Senator is lying about being attacked and learns that the real victim was her young staffer.  The female senator knew that the guy was a perv and she used her employee as bait to try to have some leverage over him! The staffer overheard the boss admitting what she’d done and accused the legislator of dangling her in front of the old man like a piece of meat.

Harrison’s funeral is a small gathering only attended by OPA staff and Jake because he had no family and was raised in a group home. Toward the end, we see Daddy Pope watching from his car as Jake consoles a weeping Olivia while Aretha Franklin sangs – not sings -“Bridge Over Troubled Water.” I don’t know what Mr. Pope is up to, but something tells me that he was not there out of purely paternal concern for his daughter.

Harrison’s burial with no ushers on duty

Mourning Mellie Lays Down the Law

Mellie is outside looking over the rail of the balcony when Fitz tells her to come in because it’s getting cold. She says that she is not going to jump because she’s not him, and we find out that Fitz attempted suicide after his son’s death. He says he had a bad night and warned her not to mention it again. He also tells her that Olivia is back in town. Mellie says that he must tell her when he sees Olivia to give her time to prepare for sloppy seconds once he comes back home all hot and bothered. Oh and she also mentioned that she stopped waxing, “and it’s 1976 down there.” Yikes. I did not need to know that.

The show concludes with Fitz passing Olivia in the hallway after she finished a press conference with the young senate staffer who had been attacked. She’s decided to represent the girl which means that she is staying in town and is back to wearing the figurative white hat. As she and Fitz pass, neither speaks or acknowledges the other outside of a very subtle hand gesture. Olivia does offer up a faint smirk because she knows as well as the rest of us that those two are never finished and are likely to be locked in a broom closet by the next episode.

Olivia Passing Fitz

 

The season premiere was good and lays the groundwork for a great fourth season, and I have just a few final thoughts.

• How are they going to have a funeral for Harrison but not James? As much work as some of us put into planning James’ imaginary funeral, surely someone could have given us a heads up or at least used some of our ideas.
• Where were the ushers during that graveside service? Olivia and them were about to hop down there on top of the casket and there was no one around to hold them back. That was just irresponsible.
• We never saw the body, so there is a chance that Harrison is not really dead. I’m not saying, I’m just saying. And I’m not the only one speculating.

  Real #Gladiators make sure they see a body. #Truth @ScandalABC #Blockhouse

  — Columbus Short (@ColumbusShort1) September 26, 2014

• What is the deal with Cyrus’ hair? I know that he is still in bereavement, but that hair is downright disrespectful. He’s never going to find another man looking like a greying cockatoo, and Ella will eventually need a new mommy.
• I loved the Julia Baker pseudonym  which has to be a reference to the legendary Julia Sugarbaker who is probably one of Mellie’s matriarchs. I wrote about this last week.
• Is Jake ever going to get tired of being Olivia’s fallback guy? Everyone knows that she thinks the President is her soulmate and will go back to him every time. I just hope that Jake doesn’t turn on her when he finally accepts the truth.

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 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.

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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?

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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.