SCANDAL Recap: Bad Things Happen to Good People

Before I get into this I have a slight complaint. This is the second or third episode of Scandal where there has been no client to handle. I totally understand that there just isn’t enough time with this main overriding story arc, but I miss the Gladiators doing their thing together. There hasn’t been enough Pope & Associates togetherness for me.

Okay on to the recap:

Let’s start with the shooting. Jake shot the reporter, the NSA lady and James. JAMES! He lets Rosen live though. In exchange for agreeing to keep quiet, and running the investigation into the “carjacking gone wrong” that killed James, Rosen can live.

Olivia immediately calls Jake when she hears about James. He gives his condolences for James passing. She asks him to look into it; however he’s a little busy burying the bodies of the reporter and NSA chick. Isn’t he the head of B613 now? Doesn’t he have minions to do this kind of work? I find it hard to fault the writer that thought Scott Foley should be slightly sweaty in jeans and a t-shirt doing manual labor though.

When Olivia finds out what Jake has done she goes to B613 and questions him. She gets all mouthy wanting to know who put him up to it. He yells back that he is Command, where does she think the order came from. Honestly she did this to Jake. She could have run away with him or not friend zoned him but she didn’t. She had Fitz remove her Father from power and who did she think he was going to appoint? She did this. Jakes parting comment is bad things happen to good people.

Rosen spends most of the episode dragging his feet when it comes to charging the guy B613 has framed. When I say framed I mean Poor Quinn wearing heals so high she couldn’t possibly run after anyone let alone walk for more than a few feet without sitting to rest and Charlie “talk” to a guy named Lance. They are there to convince Lance into taking the fall for the carjacking/shooting. Anonymous tip, found the gun at his place, etc…

Olivia tells Rosen Jake was doing his job and if Rosen doesn’t do his job Jake will make him pay, with his life. She then tells Rosen with her help they can take B613 down. Live to fight another day.

Over at the White House they find out that Sally has plans to meet with the NRA to get their endorsement. Mellie and Andrew get to Texas ahead of Sally and work out a deal with the NRA. If Fitz makes a speech pro-2nd amendment they will consider backing him again this go around. However Cyrus says he wants Fitz to take the opposite stand. Since Fitz was shot not that long ago and now his Press Secretary has been shot and killed Cyrus thinks he can stand up for gun control and win those voters.

Oh and I should mention that while in Texas Andrew and Mellie do some drinking, some bantering and then some ripping off of the clothes. I like Mellie and Andrew together and honestly who wouldn’t be charmed by Jon Tenney. No one, that’s who.

In yet another story Adnan and Olivia’s Mom are discussing their next move. Adnan has hired Olivia’s Mother under the assumption that she is a terrorist. She feigns shock and informs Adnan she is more of a facilitator. She’ll find the perfect terrorist for Adnan’s needs. How sweet.

Later Olivia’s Mom and Adnan are meeting with potential terrorists. It does not go as Adnan planned. I’m not sure what she was thinking would happen when she hired Olivia’s Mom but it probably wasn’t standing by while Olivia’s Mom shoots bad guys that annoy her. In fact Adnan goes to Harrison and tells him she may need an exit plan. She gets spooked though before she can explain and takes off.

Meanwhile Huck is reviewing the security tape from Olivia’s safe. He sees Poor Quinn on the tape copying the Daniel Douglas file. That evening Poor Quinn gets home to find Huck at her place. “You come for some more teeth?” she quips. She thinks she is such a badass. He counters with, “I came to put you down.” Know why? Cause he actually is a monster. She pulls a gun, because sure she can’t get the drop on Huck. He of course gets the upper hand and says he made her, he trained her better than to be caught on camera. Huck figures she got caught on purpose. He says somewhere inside she is still a Gladiator. What happens next is just almost too much for me. You know what? It is too much for me. Poor Quinn spits on Huck and his response is to kiss her. She kisses him back because why not and yeah, they almost do it right there against the wall before coming to their senses. She kicks him out and he goes without another word.

Now the really sad part. I’m not ashamed to say I shed a few tears over this. At the beginning of the episode Cyrus is in shock after hearing about James’s death. Complete shock. When he can finally function again he throws himself into his work. He refuses to take any time off, he doesn’t want to be alone with his thoughts.

While he is going about his job we see flashbacks of their love story. We see their first meeting. Witty banter ensues. Later, on the campaign trail, and Cyrus has cleaned up (shaved – something James mentioned he should do) and James has also cleaned up (dressed like an adult – something Cyrus mentioned he should do) James says he wants to date Cyrus, “Even though you are a Republican you have a very hot mouth.” We then get to see their first kiss. Next we are five days into the Grant presidency when we see Cyrus telling Fitz that he is seeing someone and he’s in love. Fitz says that is all that matters. Finally we go back to the first Grant Administration State Dinner. Cyrus is watching Fitz and Mellie and everyone else dancing. He finds James in the hallway with the rest of the press and pulls him into the ballroom and right out onto the dance floor. They dance and it’s about the sweetest thing ever. Fitz looks on with a smile while others stare, but overall it is a success.

At the White House Olivia tells Cyrus they made an arrest in James’s death. She tells him the carjacking lie and he buys it. Cyrus then insists on doing the White House press briefing himself to tell everyone James’s killer has been arrested. He finally breaks down in tears in front of a completely silent press room. It is heartbreaking. Fitz is there and he pulls Cyrus into a hug holding him up while taking him offstage. Olivia steps in and finishes the briefing.

Jake is watching the briefing and we flash back to when he killed James. James didn’t die immediately and Jake apologizes to him. He says it has to look like an amateur did it and for that he is sorry. Jake sits with James so that he will not die alone and he promises him his daughter is safe, nothing will ever happen to her. It is terribly heartbreaking watching James die. So much so that by the end I’m pretty much sobbing.

Jake earlier says that he is different from the previous Command because the previous Command would have farmed this work out to some poor broken recruit whereas Jake took care of it himself. He is going to live with this burden, this overwhelming responsibility singlehandedly. He has a point but it doesn’t make it any less sad.

What did you think of this episode?

Scandal airs Monday 10/9c on ABC