Scandal Episode 407: Baby Made a Mess

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

Abby’s Abusive Ex is Back

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

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

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

Abby Gets Her Gun

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

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

Olivia Visits Tom

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

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

Fitz Channels R. Kelly

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

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

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

Daddy Pope Gives a Final Warning

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

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

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

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

Scandal Finale Recap – The Price of Free and Fair Elections

The Scandal Finale Was Explosive!

I suppose it would be trite to say that Scandal ended this season with a bang, so I won’t, but it did. There was an explosion, a heart-breaking murder and a shocking resignation to wrap up the season. All those intercessory prayers must have worked, because Daddy Pope demonstrates that he really is the Hell and the High Water while Mama Pope, like the Wu Tang Clan, is nothing to eff with. And just as I suspected, those two have been in cahoots the whole time! I have been team Eli since we learned that he was Olivia’s father– remember that original scathing read?  But even I had no idea of the depths of his gangster. This man planned and schemed and set himself up for the perfect opportunity to get everything that he wanted. Man, he was playing fools like a Stradivarius with not a bit of remorse. Oh, and Huck found his family. Or rather Charlie, the jilted stalker boyfriend, finds his family and gives the the info to Quinn who passes it to Huck. Huck might get his family back y’all — no more Huckleberry Quinn. Hooray!!!

The episode picks up with Cyrus having second thoughts about not telling the President about the bomb at the church, and he is just about to tell Fitz when Jake bursts in and says that they need to evacuate the church immediately. They managed to get most of people out before the bomb explodes, no thanks to that ole shady Mr. Beene. Cyrus just keeps on making new enemies including David Rosen who goes to Jake and asks why Cyrus is not being prosecuted for letting the church blow up. He wants to take down Cyrus, B613 and the whole administration, but Jake tells him that he is not about that life anymore and he is going to sit on his couch and chill. David is no match for Cyrus let alone B613 AKA Murder Inc.

Sally escaped the blast and is on her way to the car when Leo tells her that this is her chance to close the gap between her and Fitz by demonstrating hands-on leadership during this emergency. He rips her suit and smears some soot on her face for effect and pushes her back into the fracas where she ministers to the wounded while demanding that the reporters not take pictures. “Be Jesus, you go in there and you be Jesus,” he tells her. Yeah, more like Judas.

Olivia was in a waiting room at the hospital when she sees the news about the bombing, and she rushes back to the White House to oversee their response. Fitz’ speech about the bombing is eclipsed by Sally’s heroism. Despite Olivia’s threats and best efforts, all the major broadcasts eventually cut from Fitz to show Sally tending to the wounded at the bomb site. The whole crew realizes that they have just lost the election. Drunk Mellie is not happy and demands a refund of whatever they paid Olivia since they paid her to win. Never mind that she is the one that begged Olivia to come back in the first place.

 

Daddy Pope Gets Paternal

Olivia returns to the hospital, and Daddy Pope is being strangely paternal when he speaks to her. The knife used to stab him just missed his heart by inches, and he is going to be okay but he is being uncharacteristically affectionate. Liv is sad about Fitz possibly losing the election, and Eli says that he loves her and he wishes he could do something to help. Say word? Not only is this coming from a man who hates the boy President with all of his being, but I do not think that we have ever heard him say that he loves his daughter. He spends most of his time being either angry with her or disappointed at her behavior. Even when she was begging him to be her dad for once he was still being salty about it. Daddy Pope is no Heathcliff Huxtable, so I was worried that he still might die since he was being all sentimental and stuff. Olivia even notes that this is not normal behavior because she later tells Fitz that she thinks he was in pain.

Mamma Pope Uses Harry Potter’s Cloak

Olivia dips out for a while but when she returns her mother is there at Eli’s bedside asking her if she was talking to her boyfriend. This woman must have Harry Potter’s old invisibility cloak the way she just pops up undetected all the time. She tells Olivia that she was trying to help her and that she committed all of those dastardly deeds for her. She also added that if she wanted to kill Eli he would be dead which we all know is true. Then she tells Olivia that “he” has hurt her and used her and will throw her away when he is done. I initially thought she meant Eli,  but she actually meant Fitz. Olivia threatens to call security and then tells her that she is not going to let her get away, but Marie asked who was going to stop her– Caps, Caps, Caps? Who you finna try? I was scared for her when Marie brushed by on her way out of the room.

Fitz is in his office with Olivia preparing his concession speech and starts talking about moving to Vermont and starting over with her when she tells him about Big Gerry raping Mellie. She just blurt it out after the boy President was going on and on about how horrible Mellie is and how he has no allegiance to her. Fitz did not believe it at first, but he goes to Mellie who tells him that she fought Big Gerry and that she had a paternity test done on little Gerry to prove that he is Fitz’ son. Olivia knows that this eliminates any chance for them and she says that she wouldn’t even want him if he could leave his wife now that he knows what she’s been through all these years. I don’t think it was Olivia’s place to share that information, but he did need to know. That  relationship is beyond repair though.

Charlie finds out about Huck and Quinn, who we see bent over the conference table at OPA, and instead of going ballistic and killing them both, he just calmly hands Quinn an envelope and leaves her apartment. Man I was not expecting Charlie to just walk away after getting played like that, so he must be up to something. Sure enough, the envelope contains information about Huck’s family. Is he planning to kill them? Or does he know that seeing them will send Huck over the edge? He only says that he knows that this information will prevent those two from ever having a future and that he is a sore loser. Quinn takes Huck to his family’s house and he freaks out because he says they are better off without him and leaves. But he comes back later on and knocks on the door. His wife opens the door and seems shocked to see  him.

Tragedy Strikes the First Family

Having accepted that he will lose to Sally, Fitz takes the stage at his final campaign rally to make his last big speech with Mellie and the kids in tow. They are all on stage when little Gerry starts coughing up blood and then collapses! They rush him to the hospital but he dies of a weapons grade strain of bacterial meningitis that is kept at a military base. A vial was recently stolen, and that is what was used to kill the First Son. Not little Gerry – he was so young and innocent! Who could be so evil as to kill the President’s son just to get to him?

Just as Fitz is absorbing this news at the hospital, Daddy Pope comes over rolling his IV pole and offers to help him avenge his son’s death which Fitz assumed was engineered by the Notorious MOM. Eli crawled out of his bed of affliction for the opportunity to get revenge on Marie who has bested him at every turn – or so we think. “I may not be your friend Mr. President, but I am a father, and I know what I would do if someone hurt my child,” Eli intones. Fitz said that he was going to kill Marie – yeah right- but Eli offers to serve her head up on a platter. He probably saved  his life too because Marie was not going to be as easy to kill as Verna. This man smothered one old lady and now he thinks he’s Sonny Corleone.

As Olivia predicted, the sympathy for the President’s loss sways the election and he wins. She calls her dad and asks him if his offer of a new life still stands because she has had enough of it all. Abby is upset and says that they went over a cliff for her and now she is trusting her father after all the lies and murders. “Go, run to daddy!” Sassy Abby better watch how she talks about Daddy Pope now that he is back in charge of B613. Jake’s ole desperate azz shows up at Liv’s apartment and asks her to take him with her. Even after she says that she loves someone else, he says that she can leave that behind along with everything else. Whip Appeal has got to be that guy’s theme song because whatever Olivia wants is alright with him. Ole thirsty azz.

Eli uses Harrison to get details about Marie’s plans so that he can track her down. He shows him a picture of Adnan lying dead on the ground and says that Marie will kill him just like she did Adnan because Harrison is in over his head.  Harrison says that he knows where she is planning to pick up her money, and armed men show up just as she was leaving the bank. Eli calls the President to say that Marie has been killed and disposed of, but that happened too easily, and I did not believe it. I wanna see the receipts!

Harrison Figures it out — too late

After learning about Liv’s departure, Harrison confronts Daddy Pope about everything that happened. He knows that Marie is all about the money, so her killing the President’s son makes no sense. But Eli is back in charge of the newly re-constituted B613 and Olivia is out of the picture – he got everything that he wanted. Harrison figured out that the Head Goon in Charge is the real killer not Mama Pope!! Eli is unfazed and simply says “My daughter wanted him to be President, and he is. Daddy took care of it. I promised her that I would not hurt a hair on his head, I gave him four more years, but there is a price for free and fair elections. He took my child, so I took his.” Whew that man is cold-blooded. And then he brings in Tom after Harrison started looking like he wanted to get physical. We see also see a flashback of Tom infecting little Gerry with the bacteria that he applied to a ring. Tom also killed Adnan and took that picture that Eli used to trick Harrison. Tom is not just B613, but he is apparently Eli’s right hand man. He killed Little Gerry and he delivered the toxicology report to the boy’s daddy. Tom is going straight to Hell in a gasoline suit for all this devilment.

Olivia and Jake board the plane that will take them to their new life when her phone rings. It’s the White House, rather it’s Mellie calling for Fitz who is having a breakdown and was asking for Olivia. Olivia ignores the call and they continue to their happily ever after… for now.

Daddy Pope is back at B613 HQ with Charlie and his minions when he walks over to the hole and lo and behold, its occupant is none other than Marie Wallace. She gives him an evil smirk and he motions for one of his goons to replace the cover after giving her a brief, but telling, nod. I knew she wasn’t dead, but will she remain in prison for another 20 years? I hope they at least left her some hair products and a good flat iron.

See You in September

Whew, so much drama. So much death!! So many questions to obsess about until the season premiere.

• What is the deal with Eli and Marie? Is she like some kind of wild monster that he unleashes as needed to maintain law and order? I know she told Olivia that she did it all for her and that she would not understand until she has children of her own, but goodness. Is this the last of Mama Pope?
• When will Olivia return? Because you know she has to come back or there is no show.
• What is next for Daddy Pope? Now that he has his old job back and his army, I expect that he will be seeking revenge on folks.
• Poor Sally and Leo. Killing Daniel Douglas has been weighing on her, and now that she lost the election and Andrew is the new VP, what does this mean for her?
• Will Huck’s family accept him? And can he ever have a normal life? Well, maybe not normal, but something better than what he has now.
• Is Mellie going to Betty Ford during the break? I get a kick out of drunk Mellie, but I am starting to worry.
• Will Harrison be killed or inducted into B613? In light of ole dude’s messy personal life, he may just get offed. Y’all know Shonda doesn’t play around with troublemaking employees. Just ask Isaiah Washington…

So ends Season three which was disappointing overall, but I am hopeful that season 4 will mark a return to the show that won me over from the first episode. Enough of the Vermont Jam, enough of the whipped weak men and please enough sex scenes in and around the office. Put the scandals back in Scandal and let Olivia and the crew fix them.  And please keep the deadly Popes just a little while longer. Daddy Pope is the father I never wanted while Marie is the best female tv villain since Alexis Carrington Colby Dexter Rowan. And please send Ella a new mommy.

 

 

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.