I am done with "Scandal." I am furious. I am spent.
Well, I'm probably not done done, but I'm definitely going to grumble about this week's episode for quite some time. It started off so well.
Olivia was being awesome, Susan Ross was refusing to be pushed around by Fitz (or anyone else from the Grant administration) and there were even a few laughs -- all wrapped up in an episode directed by the great Debbie Allen. And then, within the last few moments, all of that changed.
The culprit? Rowan. Pope. Every time Olivia is happy, he just has to pop up and destroy it. And while I love the way Joe Morton delivers Rowan's trademark monologues, I'm really over the way the character complicates Olivia's life and drags the storyline right back into the will-they-won't-they depths of the "Let's Bring Down B613" storyline.
But enough of my whining, let's get into the recap. Rowan is back and he's bullying Olivia, like he always does. He wants her to take him on as a client, shutting down the Gladiators' case against him. He tells her that he knows who she really is because "the apple does not fall far from the tree...poisoned, though it may be" and that he knows that she will protect the Republic, at all costs -- even if that means turning her back on her friends. Turning in B613 would shatter the Republic and it would put Fitz at risk.
When Rowan picks up on the fact that Olivia is comfortable with bringing Fitz down, he's half-amused, half-impressed. Her hatred of him is strong enough to warrant dragging down the man she loves? Or has she finally realized that Fitz is just a man?
It would have been impossible for the team to build a case against B613 without Rowan finding out, but honestly? The fact that Rowan can just roll up to Olivia's apartment with her new boyfriend in tow and NONE OF HER TRAINED ASSASSIN FRIENDS ARE THERE TO PROTECT HER, is a little silly. He gives her 48 hours to shut down the case. If she doesn't do it, he will stop it himself. And no one wants that.
Finally, Olivia kicks Rowan out of her apartment and goes to tend to Franklin who Rowan had drugged and zip-tied. He tells her that Franklin will wake in a few moments, with some mild amnesia. Thinking on her feet, Olivia goes over to Franklin and lays on top of him, giggling and pretending to be drunk. She tells him that she thinks the three bottles of wine they downed was a bit too much and asks him if he remembers the fun they'd had and the singing that he'd done. She's able to get him to bed, but there is no way that he's not going to bring up this little incident again, no matter how infatuated all of Olivia's men are with her.
The next day, Olivia tells the rest of the team about her father's visit and threat. Instead of backing down, David wants to fast track the case and with Jake's testimony, they can do so. Jake served under Rowan and inherited his missions as Command. He's the key to bringing down Daddy Pope.
Meanwhile, the White House is buzzing. Fitz and Co. are pushing to get the Brandon Bill passed. Named in honor of the young D.C. boy who was gunned down by a shady, racist police officer early this season, the proposed law is supposed to implement a ton of new policies to help reform policing in America.
The bill looks like it's going to pass and while Fitz is ecstatic, Cyrus is practically giddy at the thought of Republicans "landing the black vote" and black families naming their children after Fitz/putting his picture up on their dining room walls. Abby's disapproval ("That's. Gross.") and Cyrus' nonplussed "I know," is quietly one of the best comedic beats of this episode.
Now time for the Case of the Week. This time, OPA's assignment not only ties into the rest of the show thematically, but brings back another major character from the show's wrenching police violence episode, "The Lawn Chair." Marcus Walker, the local activist who both antagonized and challenged Olivia during the police standoff with Brandon Parker's father, is running for mayor. So far, it looks like he might beat the incumbent, Mayor Verano.
There's only one problem: Marcus just called Olivia, Huck and Quinn to the Mayor's house because the mayor's wife, Natalie, is dead and there is, literally, blood on Marcus' hands.
Turns out, Marcus and Natalie had been sleeping together for quite some time. They were in bed, when they heard a noise from downstairs.
Thinking it was the mayor, his wife had Marcus hide in the closet. The door was cracked and he could see everything that happened reflected in a mirror nearby. A masked man came into the room and broke her neck moments later. More men entered, furious that the killer had snapped her neck because, apparently, that went against their instructions. To shut them up, he stabbed her repeatedly with a hunting knife.
Huck spots multiple sets of bloody footprints and points out that Marcus isn't hurt at all, so they agree to take his case. Since the police aren't exactly fans of Marcus, at the moment, Huck and Quinn clean up the crime scene, making it look like a missing persons case, rather than a murder. (Side note: Quinn sweetly thanking Huck for allowing her to choose the manner in which they got rid of the body was one of the episode's funnier moments. Their relationship is interesting, to say the least. Just glad they aren't sleeping together anymore.)
Things are going as smoothly for Fitz, either. He needs one more vote to get the Brandon Bill passed and a senator he was counting on has gone into labor. They decide to bring in Vice President Susan Ross, but although she's read drafts of the bill, she has not read the final version and she won't vote until she has read all 1,200 pages of it.
Have I ever mentioned how much I love Susan's steadfast, by-the-book stubbornness? She refuses to compromise her beliefs or reputation, no matter how much political clout she could gain by making more friends in Washington. The waves of frustration coming off of Cyrus would have been enough to make a lesser lawmaker cave, but not Susan.
At the Mayor's house, Quinn and Huck are busy cleaning up the body, giving Olivia and Marcus a little time for a heart-to-heart. He is the perfect foil for Olivia. He points out Olivia's blackness and womanness and what those aspects of her identity mean in ways that no other character (besides, maybe, Rowan) ever does.
Marcus is kind of shocked that cleaning up murder scenes is a part of Olivia's job, but he also wonders what she thinks of him, now that she knows he was sleeping with a white woman. Does that make him a hypocrite for questioning her loyalties to her race because of her relationship with Fitz? Olivia reminds him that part of her job is to get rid of bodies. Nothing really surprises her anymore.
Susan is still combing through the bill, highlighter in hand, and has tons of questions about racial bias training and the bill's funding.
Cyrus tries to rush her to make her go ahead and vote, but she refuses. Finally, desperate, he bring in David Rosen, asking him to make the VP feel listened to, but tells him not to give her anything, comparing her to a begging pigeon at a national monument, who will only want more if you give her a crumb.
Olivia is in the middle of a needless, emotional talk with Jake when she gets a call about Marcus. The police brought him in, presumably, for questioning. Olivia storms in, demanding to know if Marcus is under arrest. He isn't, but Marcus tells her that they brought him in because they say that he sent her threatening emails. Olivia makes him shut up (because dude, I know you're nervous, but you need privacy to consult with your lawyer) and then confronts the police chief for bringing in her client without reading him his Miranda Rights.
If they tell anyone about Marcus being brought in for questioning, she promises to expose them for failing to perform proper procedures, especially when they are currently being investigated by the Department of Justice. It is now my favorite Olivia Pope moment in the history of "Scandal." Seriously. I plan to rewatch that moment whenever I'm feeling down.
Someone hacked Natalie's email, sending her over 20 threatening notes the night before she was killed. The IP address goes back to Mayor Verano's office, which means he could try to frame Marcus for the murder in order to prevent him from winning the mayoral race. Marcus thinks hard about the murder and remembers that the men called the killer "Mickey," and so, the search begins.
At the White House, Susan is still peppering David with questions because, frankly, she doesn't see how the Brandon Bill is enforceable. There are no repercussions for department that fail to follow the new laws, which she highlights with a perfect metaphor about asking her daughter to clean her room, but failing to come up with an adequate punishment if she refuses. (UGH. Susan Ross, I love you so much.) Despite himself, David ends up agreeing with her. He sheepishly tells Cyrus, Fitz and Mellie that he "fed the pigeon." Not good news for Mellie because she plans to announce her Senate run as soon as the bill is passed.
Later, David interviews Jake for the B613 case and finally brings up Operation Remington. Olivia and Jake both freeze. After some prodding from David, Jake tells him that Remington was a mission to bring down a civilian airliner with over 300 people on board...and that Fitz was the pilot who shot it down. Welp. Should have thought of that before he ran for president, to be honest.
At home, Olivia tries to drown her sorrows in a glass of wine and calls Franklin over for additional comfort. He's upset because he knows that he doesn't sing or lose time. Despite the fact that he's overwhelmingly attracted to her (What beautiful man in "Scandal's" D.C. isn't?) he's going to have to call it quits. She explains to him that she likes being "Alex" with him because, for once, her live is uncomplicated. Of course, it works and a graphic-for-ABC sex scene ensues.
The next day, Olivia has a breakthrough while watching Verano's press conference. One of his men has an injured hand, a sign of the struggle with Natalie. What's more, his ears are huge. They've been assuming that Mickey is the killer's name but actually, it's Verano's driver's nickname, inspired by the fact that he's sporting ears as large as those of everyone's favorite cartoon mouse.
They give Marcus two choices: he can turn Verano in, or they can blackmail Verano, making him drop out of the race. Thinking of his career, Marcus originally agrees to Plan B, but all of that changes when the Mayor tells him that that b-word "got what was coming to her." At the press conference, Marcus drops the bomb about Natalie's murder and their affair. "I'm sorry. I'm a sinner, but he is a murderer." Wow.
Even after a heart-to-heart with Mellie, Susan refuses to vote on the bill without reading it. Finally, Fitz comes and tries to bully her into voting. He talks tough and makes pretty statements about justice for Brandon Parker, but Susan stands her ground. She reminds him that she is not there to advance her own agenda, run for POTUS or be his flunky. She is there to make change and he tells him that his bill is just a stack of compromises that is "wasting America's time."
By the time Cyrus walks in, Fitz is at the whiteboard, planning changes for the bill. They are going to pull the bill to make it better and, to placate the press, they have Mellie announce her Senate run. Brilliant.
Inspired by Marcus' decision to do what is right, Olivia makes a choice about her father. She refuses to help him and frankly, Rowan is impressed. "We may be on different sides, but at least you've become a worthy opponent," he said. Of course, that doesn't mean their war will end without bloodshed.
The last few moments of the episode are what sent me into my earlier rage. Jake is summoned to OPA with a fake text from "Olivia." Suddenly, he's jumped by a masked man. There's a decently choreographed fight scene, and in the middle, Jake strips off the assassin's mask. It's Franklin. Sigh. Franklin gets the upperhand, stabbing Jake repeatedly and snarking about being disappointed in Jake's skills.
So now, we have to wait until next week to find out whether Shondaland has killed another character played by Scott Foley. Plus, we have to sit with the knowledge that, once again, Rowan Pope has hired another pretty face to seduce and manipulate his daughter. The fact that Olivia is not a complete mess is a testament to her strength. I am furious. I am spent.