SCANDAL Recap: A Criminal A Whore An Idiot and A Liar

I’m so glad its Scandal Thursday. So. Very. Glad.

Olivia comes home to find Edison in her living room. He wants to have a talk about who her last serious boyfriend was. He thinks it was Fitz. For a big time fixer who can convince an entire nation that the President is fine after being shot she sure doesn’t handle this very well. She dodges and repeats what he is asking. Olivia finally gets it together and counts down from five with five very good points and when she gets to one and shows him the door, permanently. As soon as he leaves she calls Cyrus.

FLASHBACK: Two years ago 30 days before the election.
Fitz is at a debate and it isn’t going in his favor. After the debate the members of the Secret Five are standing around with Fitz and another campaign person talking about how the debate didn’t help them. They are in jeopardy of losing this race.
Later on the plane Hollis, Mellie, Olivia and Cyrus have what appears to be the first real meeting of what will become the Secret Five. Hollis says he has a computer genius who can help them rig the election. Cyrus and Olivia are appalled but as you and I know she eventually gets over it.
Mellie’s counter suggestion to election rigging is to bring in Fitz’s Father; they are 10 points down after all. At the hotel some time later Fitz says absolutely not, they will not call his Dad. He doesn’t say it so much as he yells it at Mellie so Olivia steps in to try to talk some reason into Fitz. As soon as Mellie goes in her room Fitz grabs Olivia hand pulls her down the hall and they have their own version of naked negotiations.
Olivia reminds Fitz his Dad is a National Treasure. Self-made man, two term Governor, four term Senator. Fitz isn’t interested in talking about his father though. Olivia not surprisingly gets her way.

PRESENT DAY: A doctor is explaining to Fitz his condition. The bullet did some damage so there may be side effects anything from speech issues to personality changes. If there are no complications it will be three weeks before he can go back to work. I don’t think he has three weeks with the way Sally Langston is running around and Cyrus comes in a moment later to say just that.

Sally is in the Oval Office briefing the cabinet that the letter of reinstatement was premature, the President is in no way fit to run the country and she even went as far as to prepare a letter for them to sign stating that they are left no choice but to challenge Grant’s ability to work.
In what I can only assume is the surprise of Sally’s life Fitz opens the door and walks in with a, “Sorry I’m late.”

Mellie and Cyrus see Sally in the hallway leaving the Oval Office and she is so annoyed she doesn’t even respond to Cyrus’s over the top, “How are you?” In the Oval Office Fitz is sitting down, he may be back but he is not okay yet. Mellie wants him to go back to bed but he insists he has work to do. Until Sally gives him a letter accepting his reinstatement he has to be on his game.
Fitz: Have I thanked you for that by the way? For forging my signature and forcing me out of the hospital before my stiches had healed to save you from jail and to keep my job.

FLASHBACK: 27 days before the election
Fitz is practicing for the next debate when his Dad shows up. (Played by Barry Bostwick by the way) Fitz does not look happy while everyone else hangs on his Dad’s every word. They go back to the mock debate but his Dad can’t sit still or be quite, he keeps interrupting. He finally makes Fitz get up and sits in his place to show Fitz how it’s done. A number of antidotes and a dinner later Fitz is still very unhappy his Dad is around but Mellie is ignoring the tension and asks Fitz’s Dad to come to Florida with them. Fitz keeps drinking and his Dad calls Olivia honey more times than I can count. Fitz eventually has enough of his Dad’s advice. He wants to know why his Dad didn’t run for President, but it’s a rhetorical question because he answers it a moment later. Apparently men who get caught sleeping with prostitutes don’t run for President. Everything gets very uncomfortable and the dinner party breaks up for the night.
Fitz gets into the elevator with Olivia and he drunkenly tries to grope her. Olivia tells him no and he might not have stopped grabbing at her if the elevator hadn’t opened to find Mellie standing there. Instead of getting mad Mellie apologizes for Fitz. She blames it on the alcohol and his Dad being in town. She doesn’t want Olivia to quit over what might have happened tonight. Olivia doesn’t want her to apologize, because it is making her uncomfortable. They hug and put it behind them.

PRESENT DAY: Fitz is in a military meeting going over what he wants done in East Sudan. He is mid-sentence when he can’t remember what word he should use. There is a very awkward pause while everyone, including Sally stares at him. Fitz is barely holding it together – something Sally is quite aware of.

FLASHBACK: 26 days before the election
It’s a day after the most awkward family dinner ever and Fitz’s Dad is still there, still talking down to and lecturing Fitz while Cyrus and Olivia look on. Cyrus says they should just call Hollis and rig the election instead of all of this. Olivia is still appalled by the idea. After the family feud Fitz is like a broken man. He isn’t looking anyone in the eyes and he just says Yes Sir and No Sir to his Dad. His Dad’s idea is to run a dirtier campaign. They are going to start digging up dirt on the opponent. This brings Olivia and Abbey to a diner where Harrison and Huck meet them. Olivia wants them to dig up everything they can on Reston. We get to see the gladiators do their thing for the very first time. It’s an impressive team Olivia put together.
Later on the campaign plane Hollis, Verna, Olivia and Cyrus are talking about election rigging. Hollis is trying to sway Olivia and Cyrus to his way of thinking when Mellie walks over. Hollis tells Mellie to pull up a chair and it appears the Secret Five are really formed now.

PRESENT DAY: Sally and her cohort Hollis are doing some scheming. Sally wants to expose Fitz to the Congress and the American People as not being fit for duty but Hollis says they should just let him hang himself with his own lasso. The South must have more sayings than any other part of the country, hell the world, because Hollis manages to throw one in every time he opens his mouth.

FLASHBACK: 22 days to the election
Fitz is still 7 points down and he is starting to lose it. At their debate rehearsal he is yelling at the sound guy so Olivia steps in and tells everyone to call it a night. Fitz goes to leave and Olivia pretty much says she didn’t dismiss him yet. He makes a snide remark, she makes a hurtful rejoinder. He raises his voice and she brings up the elevator incident. He apologizes and then she provokes him into saying he doesn’t even know why he wants to be President. She tells him he needs to let the American people know who he is and why he wants to be President or he isn’t going to win.

PRESENT DAY: Cyrus is telling Olivia he is worried about Fitz. He should be in the hospital but he has been working all day. Cyrus wants Olivia to shut this down so Olivia let’s herself into the Oval Office to find Fitz behind the desk. She calls Fitz stubborn and says he can’t go on live TV to do a press conference or answer questions. He says he has to, he’s stubborn. Olivia takes his handkerchief and dabs at his forehead and face. It’s sweet in a let me take care of you my darling sort of way.
Olivia: You almost died. Don’t do it again.
Fitz: Okay
Olivia takes a moment to kiss him and then goes back to talking about work. She wants to know why all of this pushing himself is so important to him. It’s a lot like the conversation from the flashback except this time he knows exactly why he is doing what he is doing.

FLASHBACK: 14 days before the election
Olivia is going over what she (and her team) found on Reston with Fitz’s Dad. They found a prescription drug problem and instead of listening to Olivia who wants to leak it to the press Fitz’s Dad says they are going to bring it up at the next debate.

PRESENT DAY/FLASHBACK:
Olivia is prepping Fitz in both “times”. She says he is ready and with a smile he heads out to do the press conference in the present and the debate in the flashback.
In the present the President is taking questions about the military action in East Sudan as well as questions about his health.
In the past Fitz takes charge of the debate, but he does it his own way without bringing up the prescription drug issues Reston has.
It’s a great melding of past and present and the editing/writing is great because it all plays out really well.
In the past after the debate Fitz’s Dad confronts him about not bringing up Reston’s drug issues. His Dad calls himself a winner and says it is something Fitz will never be before storming off.

PRESENT: Sally finds Fitz still in the Oval Office after the press conference. She has a letter stating Fitz should be reinstated and she gives him a little speech about how she is glad he is back and how hard being President is. It makes me roll my eyes but whatever.

FLASHBACK: 7 days before the election
Hollis is still talking election rigging and Olivia is still against it which is a problem because they decided they have to be unanimous. Verna says Olivia just needs to figure out what she wants. Hollis says Verna will get to be Supreme Court Justice, Cyrus will be Chief of Staff, Mellie will be First Lady and Hollis will be the guy they all owe favors to.
Olivia still doesn’t want to even consider it. She gets up and finds Fitz at the back of the plane. He is looking at his phone and says his Dad had a heart attack and died just moments ago.

The next shot is Fitz in a suit and tie the day of his Dad’s funeral. He is in the backyard chopping wood. Olivia walks up to talk to him about his Dad. Fitz assures her he isn’t sad, he is relieved. He says he wants to win the election. He asks Olivia if she thinks he will make a good President and she says he will make a great President. She makes him put down the axe, takes his hand and holds him while he cries.
How is it the scenes where they don’t say anything are always the most poignant?
I’m pretty sure we also just witnessed the moment when Olivia committed to being in the Secret Five – whether she realizes it or not. She wanted the love of her life to have what he wanted most – being President.

PRESENT DAY: Olivia gets home to find Edison in her apartment again. He apologizes for all the accusations from earlier. He says he is in love with her and then proposes. Yeah, proposes after that morning calling her a cheating lying whore.

Over at the White House Mellie is settling Fitz into bed and she is rambling about how grateful she is that their life can go back to the way it was while Fitz silently takes his meds.
She ask him what he wants, if he could have anything what would it be. His response – I want a divorce.
Now it’s her turn to sit silently although hers is more a stunned silence.

FLASHBACK: 4 days before the election
Olivia and staffers are explaining to Fitz why they need to win Defiance, OH and later in the hallway Cyrus is explaining to Olivia what they do, they take care of Fitz. They do it because Fitz can’t do it himself.
Cyrus: People like Fitz they go down in history. People like us create the history.
Olivia is still not on board with the election rigging but Cyrus lays out the rest of his point and leaves Olivia in the hallway to think these things over. She throws her phone down and cries.
One day before the election Olivia is on the plane with the Secret Five and she says yes, she is in. Hollis wastes no time picking up his phone and making the call. Olivia cries while everyone sits their staring at each other.

Scandal airs Thursday 10/9c on ABC