Get Low

Gladiators!

My 9-5 is kicking my ass, so I fell asleep on my favorite broken people. This is a situation that needs to be addressed. Stay with me while I get my blogging rhythm back.

Jake has healed from the sleeping, bandaged mess he was last week, and seems to making himself at home in Liv’s beautiful apartment. But it’s time for him to go, says Liv. She wonders if he’ll be safe from Command, he wonders if Fitz knows her father is command, and she’s all…nah, my Dad is okay. Crazy assassin maybe, but mostly fine. Again, only on Scandal can a crazy assassin be “mostly fine”. Jake, understandably pissed off that he’s been in a box and tortured for God only knows how long, wants to band together to take down her father and she’s all… ”Nah Cuz, that dude is too powerful even for my fixing”. We see a lot of uncharacteristic fear in Liv’s eyes this episode, saying that her father is way too powerful, noting that he got Huck to fall of the wagon. Jake leaves, and Liv gets a call from Hamilton (who, so far, has been powerfully UNDERUTILIZED this season. C’mon Shonda! We are waiting for that backstory!), who says the bills will be paid because they landed a new client. It’s kind of refreshing that ShondaGirl hasn’t forgotten that the firm was basically involved in a huge scandal this year and their client based had dried up.

Quinn continues to lean on my nerves (I’m being generous here. She’s plucking every single one of my nerves). She follows HUCK (and seriously? Trail the assassin?) to a heartbreaking AA meeting where he admits that he’s had a drink (killed) again, and he loved it. Huck calls Quinn out for following her, saying friends don’t follow friends. Then later, in a painfully accurate exchange, he tells Quinn she’s not worried, she’s curious, and for her own sake, he wants her to stop being curious. One of the reasons Huck is such a wonderfully complex character is that he’s one of the few in the Scandal-verse who truly gets how broken he is. He doesn’t want anyone to be like him. Jake foolishly tries to sneak up on HUCK THE ASSASSIN. Huck lets him live thru this exchange, which, not surprisingly, happens at gunpoint. Turns out, Jake wants Huck’s help to bring down command, and is met with his second “is you crazy” expression of the episode.

The Scandal of the Week has been ripped from the headlines. A senator has been texting his junk and is on trial for the recipient’s murder (okay, so only the beginning has been ripped from the headlines. Shout out to my main freak Anthony Weiner!). Abby gets off an early line of the night – “a perving sexting pervy perv” – he’s sending the texts, but this girl turns up dead, and that’s a problem. OPA has some morality issues accepting this case, but the lights gotta stay on, and even gladiators have mortgages. The senator (played by none other than Professor Laskey from Saved by the Bell, the College Years. Don’t judge me.) insists while he has this bad habit of putting his phone in his pants, he’s not really a killer. His wife (played by Melora Harding who was Albert Ingall’s love interest on Little House on the Prairie. Okay, judge me now.) will be his alibi – she was home with him the entire night. He assures the Gladiators that he’s put this all behind him. Even his wife says they’ve been through marriage counseling and he’s all better and he deserves a second chance after this one mistake. And those were lovely “famous last words”.

I must say, part of why I enjoyed this episode so much is that we spend a lot of time with this trial, and in the courtroom, which means…DAVID ROSEN. Apparently, he and Abby have been spending time together and are slowly working their way back to each other. And after a lot of back and forth, by the end of the episode, they appear to be back together. And. Aw….Anyway, the courtroom scenes do a fantastic job of showing just how pervalicious the good Senator is, and it appears this guy is headed to jail. The jurors are giving him the “you are all guilty” stink-eye. To help the Senator, the gladiators need to “slut shame the dead girl”. And ouch. This case just gets dirtier and dirtier (and funnier and funnier to me). They do too good of a job painting her as…ahem…someone who enjoys the company of wealthy men. But then! ANOTHER woman comes forward to prove, in fact, that he’s not quite over his sexting. In fact, he has been doing it during the trial (personal shout out AGAIN to Anthony Weiner! And a life lesson to everyone – please, let your freak flag fly, but discretion really is the better part of valor. Camera phones will be the downfall of our society. You read it here.) But in the end, his disgusted wife still provides the alibi – she admits that she can’t stand him and his dirty ways, and that he’s ruined her marriage, but since he’s on trial for being a murderer, and not a pig, and he was home with her, they have to acquit. This works and he’s acquitted…but but BUT!! Turns out, she was lying. She wasn’t home – she was out MURDERING the girl. Yes – turns out Senator McSextingPants was her alibi. And wow. I can’t help but think this wouldn’t have happened if she’d stayed with Albert Ingalls.

Meanwhile, my girl Mellie ALSO has a very uncharacteristic blunder – talking trash about the constituents who are supporting Josephine Marcus - and since I hear Lisa Kudrow has joined Scandal in a multi-episode arc, we will be referring to her as Phoebe. Mellie says something really hurtful about trailer trash and a push up bra. It was completely snobby and hysterical, and lands her in hot water with the public, and especially Cyrus. He reminds her of the rules of politics – apparently the first rule is “the mic is always on”. Despite her apology, Mellie helps Phoebe become a real contender in politics. Cyrus calls it “minting her ass”, and sends his adorable new assistant off to help find some dirt. Cyrus is letting Mellie have it pretty good when Fitz comes to her aid, and shows her compassion that knocks her so off kilter it pisses her off. And I get that. Don’t be treating me like gum on your shoe and then surprise me by being kind. That would piss me off too. And I’m kinda looking forward to more of this story.

Presidential Fitz is clearly my favorite Fitz, as when GSSG is giving him the details of Pete Foster’s less than stellar life and the plans for this final resting place [a pine box], he “pulls a few strings” to get him buried at Arlington National Cemetery. And. I cannot continue here with anything snarky because Arlington National Cemetery is what it is, and this entire scene was incredibly moving.

When Cyrus gets wind that the President is being all independent and making his own decisions by burying Pete Foster at ANC, this does not sit well with him and he goes to see Eli. I can safely say now that I am loving Joe Morton in this role – he tears up every scene he’s in. He’s a great villain, with no discernible Achilles’ Heel. Cy and Eli’s conversation are being (somewhat poorly) monitored by Jake (who clearly, doesn’t work for NSA), and he takes his concerns to Liv. And again, he’s shot down. Why this guy just doesn’t leave the country – disavowed assassin, tossed aside by his lady love bug, given the look of death by Huck – really REALLY bad week – is beyond me. [side note, he goes to Olivia when she’s watching the horrible press on herself…and again, nice touch of realism of how your career can just go to sh!t in the blink of an eye]. Jake gives us a little insight into Remington – as best I can tell – it involves a flight that has not been recorded anywhere in the US Military. Maybe it’s the flight that was scheduled to take PFC William Santiago away from Gitmo. Sorry. Not focused. Liv tells Jake to take his files and his conspiracies and leave.

But he’s not giving up that easily. The next time he shows up at her apartment, he has Huck in tow, who has either recorded this conversation as well, or gotten the recording from Jake. Pete Foster, I *think* has been killed because he had an original flight plan, and the flight number tattooed on his body. This is FAR too confusing for me right now. But I know something is indeed rotten in the state of Denmark.

Jake and Huck implore Olivia to see what they are seeing, and she’s caught between her loyalty to these two, her fear of B6-13 and what they can do to these two men, and what I think is her love for her Daddy. She’s understandably confused. My heart goes out to Olivia, who has been thru a lot lately, and she just can't seem to land on terra firms. She admits to Jake that she’s scared, and he promises her he’s not going anywhere. They lean in, and it’s a slow, hot kiss and Jake fans all over the world swoon. But then her phone rings, and she answers.

"Mr. President”.

"Why so formal?”

"What can I do for you?”

"Do for me? Does everything in this town have to be transactional, even with us?”

And my heart that has Fitz tattooed on it starts beating wildly. These two have more chemistry on the PHONE than most, because my answer would not have been one that would have been airable even on a 10:00 show! Jake stops short on marking his territory by peeing on Olivia, but instead offers a “more wine, Olivia”, so that a) Fitz knows that he’s still in the picture, and b) Olivia knows he’s not afraid of Fitz knowing. Fitz’ beautifully tortured face crumbles, and understanding he has no right to keep her from her life, hangs up. He goes back to the secret bunker with crazy flattering fluorescent lighting, gets all “Presidential Hot” as he’s flanked by Tom and Hal and goes into an office...ELI’S office. And says, "this is a reunion. One that is long overdue."

Annnnd…credits.

I have so many questions! Does Fitz know this is his boo’s father? What will Cy do when he finds Fitz being independent again? And why was Fitz holding Mellie’s hand? More importantly, with OPA being in financial ruin, will Olivia resort to Boone’s Farm? Tell me your thoughts!

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Papa, Can You Hear Me?

Hello Gladiators!!

Okay...so, this week, apparently we are getting some of Olivia's backstory. Banged Olivia (this refers to her hair when they do flashbacks, and not any sort of mattress mambo) says hey to Huck in the subway on her way to her weekly dinner with Dad. Looks like Joe Morton is going to be a regular. I'm a fan of Joe Morton. My feelings on Eli Pope? I'll get back to you.

Apparently, Liv has made a deal with Dad - I'll break bread with you weekly in exchange for paying off law school for me. And he bought this. Apparently, Liv is still a little hurt she got shipped off to boarding school after her mom died. And while I get that, let me just say this type of emotional bribery wouldn't have gotten me 5 dollars from my folks, let alone school loans repaid. Dad, after another dinner of silence and curt nodding, throws the bullish!t card and says...I ain't gonna keep feeding you and paying off your loans for nothing. This seems to work, as Olivia starts talking to him. Turns out, she's living with Edison Davis, who she calls after dinner and admits her father is actually trying. She gets mugged in the subway and Huck goes all assassin and beats the almighty shit out of those guys. It's clear he didn't learn to fight at school, or even in a bar. He's a professional, something that is not lost on Liv.

Present day, Olivia is running in the park when Tom, GSSG (Good Secret Service Guy) slips her a cell phone kinda the same way we were taught to hand off the baton in the relay race in fifth grade. Of course, it's Fitz, who says they can't come clean with their affair. Olivia agrees, saying it'll look like he will pull down his pants for anyone. [and about that? Fitz is lucky. He still hasn't been re-elected, and he's already got 2 sex scandals. Who's advising this guy?] He goes on to tell her the mundane details of his day. Only when you're the president, 'mundane' means he shot hoops with the Dali Lama (who has a great jump shot). Anyway, she's the one who he wants to share these details with, and he says in another world he's a mayor guy from Vermont, and they have four kids...and Olivia makes jam. I'm just telling you what she said. Somehow I don't see her making jam. Anyhoo, it's all sweet, and it's a conversation had by two people in love, where the mundane details strung together create great moments together. Olivia tells her she's representing Jeanine Locke, and says she won't hold back. He tells her he doesn't expect her to, as they both know she's innocent. And these two want the truth to come out. And again...Fitz? Keep your eye on reelection, Hotness.

Cut to the White House, where Cy is looking all over for Jeanine Locke in that frenzied way that makes everyone think Cy is about to have another heart attack. Mellie is freaking out that she's gone, and Eli, whitley's ex and Liv's Dad, is wondering why Cy hasn't run with this gift wrapped fix if Jeanine Locke. Cy tells him he gets it and to basically get off the phone so he can do his job [Eli tries to threaten him. Cy: "you know sometimes people just say good bye'. And. Ha.] He then finds Jeanine, outside the White House with Eli's daughter, Olivia Pope. Olivia is basically all...these anonymous sources say they president has slept with everyone from me to this innocent girl...and what, just what? She's giving them hell. Fitz looks admiringly at the tv and says to Cy...what did you expect from Olivia?

Flashback - Olivia sees Huck on her way to dinner and wonders how he learned to do he commando sh!t that served her so well last week. After a lousy lie, he tells her the truth, that he's an ex-assassin from B6-13, and when they threw him out, they kept his life. She asks if there's anything he needs and he wonders if they could eat at a hamburger joint. Sunday night's dinner is at Olivia's dad's house and they begin to genuinely bond over a home cooked meal and good wine. Eli asks why she's friends with the homeless guy and asks that she not tell her about muggings in email anymore. Olivia makes a crucial (but she doesn't know) error by telling her dad Huck's story, and he makes her seem like it's crazy. And - Eli is a great assassin because basically his cover is blown, and he barely lifts an eyebrow.

Back at the White House, Cy tells Fitz to 'grow some presidential sized balls' and admit to the affair that didn't happen. Mellie is all...Mellie, but with lower hair and she continues to rock the jewel tones that are the rage this season. Fitz is all...BTFU - I'm the president. I call the shots. Which. Hookay. He really doesn't, bless his heart, but he lambasts Mel and Cy for throwing Jeanine under the bus. He tells them they will deny this affair and then apologize, and leaves the room with an ominous 'try me'. Proving how little they listen, they go on with their plan to keep Jeannine the lover du jour, and Mellie offers up all the times she wasn't in the White House and they can match those dates to find when Jeannine and the president did the humpty hump. Jeanine, back at OPA, cries she was never alone with the president. She (Jeanine) tells Huck he can access the IMs on the White House server to prove she's right. Liv and Huck are walking into the OPA conference room to find the other gladiators schmoozing with none other than Eli Pope. They are surprised that he lives in DC and they've never met. He extends his hand warmly and introduces himself to Huck, who seems to have never met him, even though, as we learned in the heartbreaking episode '752' last season, Huck just met his assassin-boss.

Back in the day, Banged Olivia notices Huck is gone from union station and asks her dad if she ever followed up and he's all...nah! girl I told you, that was some crazy sh!t dude told you. He goes on to say the guy was arrested and was schizophrenic. Olivia keeps pushing and finally the mask starts to drop when he tells her, in no uncertain terms, to drop it.

In one of the coolest scenes in the history of TV, Olivia and her dad have this serious as hell conversation in her glass office with smiles on their faces, but it's anything but friendly. Daddy-O is all...you need to let the public believe it was Jeanine and she's all...nah. Daddy goes Colonel Jessup again, and reminds her that Jake Ballard's well being is basically in her hands. We find out Olivia has been checking the morgue whenever a dark haired John Doe shows up there. And. Ew. She asks Huck about B6-13, and he tells her that they break you, and when that doesn't work, the make you wish you were dead. She calls GSSG, her new conduit to Fitz (which works for me. I like Tom). She asks him to get Jake out of harm's way and Fitz is all...'save the guy who I got to watch you get down with...dafuq?" And...LOL! Boys can be petty.

Banged Olivia is not satisfied with Dad's story, or she's genuinely concerned about Huck, so she goes to see a DA referred by her professor friend and it's David Rosen!! Turns out, Huck wasn't arrested at all, David says his prints aren't in the system and someone lied to her. Olivia recalls Huck telling her B6-13 was fronted by a store called Acme, near Wonderland, welcome to wonderland, and she gets in her Volvo and drives to Acme, which is at the corner of wonderland and something or other and she realizes the pen her dad gave her is from the Acme Limited and BAM! Olivia now knows her Dad is badass. But for real. He's bad. She goes to Sunday dinner and calls him out, afraid to hear the answer. Caught dead to rights, and confronted by his tearful daughter, Eli tells her 'you don't want to know me that way, but if you push you will and that will break my heart'. And damn. Don't we all only want to show the best parts of ourselves to our kids. But you know, they are watching everything you do and even what you don't show because student loans are one thing, but your dad being an assassin is another and she rolls out.

Now - we get a glimpse of baby Huck, AKA Quinn, who has hacked into Liv's email and wonders what happened between Liv and her dad that dinners stopped so abruptly. And damn, it's going to take me the better part of the season to forgive Quinn for what goes down after this. Huck tells her to be less like him, and oh. How I wish she'd listened.

Fitz wants info on B6-13 and goes to Cy, where we learn that B6-13 does not answer to the executive branch and it's set up that way for the president's own good, so basically, I can't tell you jack. Fitz tries to go all presidential right now, and Cy is like...don't play the Commander in Chief card because they don't give a sh!t and really, leave them be because they can bring shade on the president the likes of which he's never seen. Fitz isn't sure he believes him, but it sounds scary enough. On the other side of town, Olivia is all in fixer mode with Jeanine, who has a breakdown that her life and career are ruined because 'one single person whispered my name'. Jeanine says she knows the president had an affair - everyone knew - but they didn't know who it was. Liv, feeling lower than whale poop promises to get her thru this, because she knows this is, somewhat, her fault. Olivia promised to get her thru this, but doesn't count on an end run from Mellie, who offers Jeannine a kabillion dollars to skip town and just be the mistress.

Banged Olivia returns to her dad for Sunday dinner with Edison Davis as her fiancé. Edison has been appointed to some committee that makes sure the government behaves [do we still have one of them? And if so, what the hell are they doing right now?] Edison goes off to open the fine wine and Liv begs her dad to give Huck back.

Present day, Olivia realizes someone at the White House got to Jeanine and she's about to admit everything, and Liv, realizing that it's either Jeanine or Jake, shows some uncharacteristic panic. She calls the president and he's all...I know he's alive, but B6-13 is like the petulant child over which I have no control, so sorry. She's like...what? You're the president...make it happen, and he hangs up, so she calls her pops, who's all...you can save him, but it's up to you. She offers back Sunday dinners for Jake. She even tries to tell Jeanine that she can't lie about this, and she (Jeanine) plays dumb, but then admits she sold her soul for $2M, and Liv gives one of her speeches that gives you some insight into how high her (Liv's) therapy bills must be.

But wait! Jeanine is preempted by the president. The president tells Cy he's playing let's make a deal...he's going into his press conference and he will either say Cy orchestrated the cover up and that he had an affair with Olivia, the truth he wants to tell anyway, knowing full well this will get them both kicked out of the White House. Behind curtain #2, he says he will cop to the affair, and Cy will get B6-13 to release Jake Ballard. Cy sputters about how he doesn't have control and Fitz is all...it's one or the other, your choice. He ends his speech with 'how presidential are my balls now, Cy?' And. Check. Mate. And I love him.

Banged Olivia gets Huck back in Union Station. And she also gets a call from her Dad saying she needs to let Edison down gently, especially since he's in the hospital after an 'accident'. And ooh. Dark and twisty and I only caught this the second time I watched. Incidentally, this is about where we've met Huck in the past. Because soon after this, we get Huck at the White House and Olivia inviting him to live with her.

Present day - Fitz admits to the affair and the VEEP calls him on lying and he tells her he had Jeanine '6 ways to Sunday all over this White House, and after some soul searching on all of our parts, I believe my constituents will forgive me.' And damn. I feel really conflicted that this man is giving Justin Timberlake a run for my affections.

...and here's why I am not speaking to Quinn, she kept digging and she points out that Liv and her dad had to be discussing Huck in the emails right before they stopped, and Huck flashes back to the only lie (I think) Liv ever told Huck - that she didn't make a deal for Huck. In the garage, Huck confronts Liv about it and when she denies it, he takes her into a choke hold, and loses it a bit, until she admits that her father is command. He walks off and Liv's and my heart break, a little.
Her father calls her that night, and she tells him to go to hell. He says open the door. She opens the door to a severely dehydrated and hurt Jake. Dad says dinner on Sunday is on.

So who saved Jake? Liv, or Cy? Hard to tell...but I'm not speaking to Quinn. And can Jake be trusted? This season is on fire already.

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As We Lay

Hello Gladiators!!
Was I the only one who drank in the recap episode like it was the best. Margarita. Ever? It was like my long lost friends came back to town...and they did NOT disappoint.
Okay, so in the finale last season, Fitz chose Olivia and they shook all sorts of sheets. I believe he referred to some superpower...and it was indeed. But. All hell is breaking loose in GladiatorLand. Mellie has outed the president's affair, and she is coming off the RAILS that the president has just tossed her to the wind. Fitz has dared her to fight it, telling her exactly how it's going to go down and their relationship will slake a real debate on race. And really, Fitz. Your wife is cray. Stopping poking that bear. Anyway, she's threatening to lose her mind, Defiance (you know, that tiny town that threw the presidency) is getting known by just too many people (side note: my boss always says the only secrets that are kept are the ones you tell God. And. Word.) Anyhoo, the latest person to find out is the governor who lost the primary to Fitz. And of course, wanting to come clean just doesn't happen in Washington, he wants to be on the ticket. However, if Defiance comes out, we have no president in peril, so it turns out David Rosen really wasn't working with Billy Chambers - he dupes him into getting the card back and uses it to get his job back with the US Attorney's Office. And because I love David, it's not despicable.
Cyrus, trying to keep all do these crazy assed people in order, has a heart attack. Olivia is, uncharacteristically, still clinging to the hope that she and Fitz will finally be together, even after Cyrus telling Fitz about her getting busy with Jake, as well as Fitz going Carl Bruener on Justice Thorton. I told you, he SAID it was a superpower. But - Olivia takes one more opportunity to save Fitz...to tell him everyone has a clean slate and he needs to go, get reelected, and be the president she knows he can be. She kisses him goodbye and this is the end of Fitz and Liv. Santa Claus and the Easter bunny see her out because yeah...that's how real it was.
By the end, it is all too neat. Cue the happy montage of everyone getting their life together and getting back to normal. Olivia leaves her fab apartment to go jogging and is immediately met with reporters asking if it's true about her and the president. She's whisked into a limousine where Park Bench Guy, aka Rowan, aka Byron the jilted senator from A Different World, is waiting. She looks at him, incredulous, and says "Dad". End scene.
Okay. That was 3 paragraphs worth of one of the best finales last season. Hulu, Netflix, on demand. Go watch it if you didn't.
The premiere opened up right where last season left off. She's in the limousine giving her dad the stink eye, and he remarks that she hasn't said a word in 22 minutes and why couldn't she have been like that as a child. And ha. Rowan delivers Olivia to a plane hanger where he spells out the plan for getting her out of this, but not before delivering a speech that is laced with the special type of vitriol parents save for their adult children who have royally. Shat. The. Bed. In his mind, falling for the president was not only dangerous, it was stupid and beneath her, calling her aspirations of being FIRST LADY mediocre. And. Damn. I always thought that was a cool job to have but everyone on this show scoffs at it. Eh well...still get to go to lots of great parties. Anyway. Rowan's tirade was hurtful, stinging, and brilliant. Remember how I said last season Shonda 'busta' Rimes, never leans on the racism angle, but gets it right all the time? I don't know any one of my minority friends who hasn't gotten the twice-as-better-half-as-much speech. Granted, mine was about scholarships and jobs and not sleeping with the leader of the free world, but you get my point. For them to NOT touch on race, especially given Fitz is a conservative in super political buttoned up Washington, would be too disingenuous. Anyhoo...my friend Parrish says that Rowan getting dumped by Whitley Gilbert all those years ago seems to have turned him into a douche. And. Word.
Meanwhile, back at the White House, Cy is all about the damage control. He wants the VP to take the meetings and, in a really funny exchange, she says no. She tells him she's doing the Lord's work, and he tells her The Lord doesn't vote. And. Ha. She goes in to tell him to, essentially, stop picking on her, that she never says anything about his Godless homosexuality and the brown baby they bought into the fold. And ha ha. [those two have the best exchanges. He never explains to her just how effed up her thinking is, and she's convinced she's got The Lord on her side. Who doesn't vote.] Eventually the president and the Vice President bond over scotch because...that sh!t burns going down and you'll agree to anything to stop drinking it.
Meanwhile, Olivia gets on the plane with her tail between her legs, and calls to say good bye to Cyrus. Cy begs Olivia to get off the plane (rightly) telling her that if she disappears the president will think he ordered her killed. She tells him he's a monster and he says...but I'm your monster. And...aw. So Olivia remembers that she is OLIVIA POPE and gets off the plane, demanding the driver take her to her office. Obviously, because Pope and Associates is run by Olivia pope, she is met by throngs of press and is escorted to the office by Huck. The gladiators are all gathered around doing their usual...aw hell [side note! Damn Abby! You look good, girl] when Olivia walks in and says lets get to work, and they are all 'dafuq. Have you WATCHED the news'? Well, Olivia hasn't, but all of her clients have, because they are all...'girl. Wow. Sorry about your luck. Let me hand you over to Uncle Click.' [seriously. You know you played that game.] Olivia is learning, sadly, that you're only as good in DC as your last scandal. Olivia has stayed, I reckon, pretty scandal free, but damn she's landed in the mother of scandals.
Frustrated, Olivia calls Daddy-O, asking where Jake is. (Jake, at the end of season 2, was tossed in a hole for disobeying an order.) Rowan makes it clear that orders are just that in his business and not to be disobeyed. Actually, he goes all Colonel Jessup and tells Olivia that without him, the nation would be a big mess. Rowan repeats the White House will throw her to the wolves, explaining what Olivia already knows. This isn't about the president. It's about the power and they both know the president has none. He tells her she's out of options and she tells him...ah...no.
And she's really not because she has a secret code with a secret password, and suddenly, there's a dozen limos leaving her garage in all different directions. And I gotta tell you. Olivia has done some cool sh!t on this show, but that was cool. I very much want a code like that.
Of course a code and limos can only be delivering her to the President. In a bunker, somewhere where he gives her hell for pulling the trigger on the secret code, and that using it was for an emergency. And hello? If this isn't an emergency, what is? Because clearly, them playing loosely goosey has gotten them in trouble because there's now video of Fitz leaving Olivia's apartment. (Those damned secret service men. I don't expect the bad one (Hal) to help, but Tom? Tom should have seen that camera.) Anyhoo, clearly Olivia needs to fix this, and who should show up, but Mellie. And underneath that Steel Magnolias hair, Mellie is just gorgeous. She refers to Olivia as a whore one too many times, and Olivia is like...hold up. And here's the thing. Mellie knows she's not a whore. And because she knows, she's not okay with them handling this scandal by telling the truth, because then she knows the public will know this just wasn't an affair - she carefully details all of her humiliation - knowing he went to her inauguration night, calling out Olivia's name when he was shot (by Justice Verna's assassin), things that make it quite clear that she knows this is more than an affair, and when Fitz tells her she knows he's in love with her, my heart broke a little, just as Mellie's face crumbles. Olivia, realizing, she owes Mellie this pound of flesh, asks what story she feels comfortable telling. They decide on some of the truth [it is DC afterall] and Mellie stomps off. And they are alone...and he wants to know how she's doing. She's clearly not fine and he takes his jacket off and holds her for about 5 seconds. And the way she melts into him, without a word, is exactly why Mellie called her a whore about 50 times. And why Olivia didn't care. And damn...Tony Goldwyn. I love you.
But there is still the tiny matter of Olivia's career circling the drain, and who exactly told on Olivia. We find it's leaked in the WaPo Style section...and that it's by a columnist who hangs with the secret service guys, so of course I think it's Hal. But it's not! It's Tom! The one I thought understood what secret meant. But he knows what secret means. He does this on behalf of the PRESIDENT. Dafuq?
Mellie has figured this out, because she's a bored First Lady with a lot of time on her hands, and for real...? Quit dissing that job! And she calls Fitz romantic and idiotic. But he goes all Carl Bruner on her and tells her he did it to set Olivia free from Mellie. They have declared war on each other...and that seems like a jolly set up to the season.
But but but!! Just as they are about to come clean, just as Cyrus is using his kill folder on Olivia Pope (which isn't a literal kill folder, but kill your reputation), the gladiators, who confirm they are gladiators, and not bitches, leak to the press snippets of the Vice Presidents chief of staff saying how doable Fitz is [and girl. Holla.] The press runs with it and concedes the public owes Olivia Pope an apology. So everyone is happy. Everyone except Fitz and Olivia. Olivia takes her on as a client because she knows they are using her. She also knows that there but for the grace of God goes her, and Olivia wears a white hat, don't you know.
Turns out, Rowan has legitimate concerns about his daughter. He has Cy kidnapped from his home and a sleeping James and is delivered to B6-13, where he shows Cy a file from Fitz' days with Jake in theatre, and Cyrus says "oh my God". And for an admitted monster like Cyrus to be taken aback, you know we are on the roller coaster for season 3!
Welcome back Gladiators!!
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