Scandal - S4E16 - It’s Good to Be Kink

Tweet

Previously on Scandal, ‘The Testimony of Diego Muñoz’

The Dustbuster

Leo’s sexual proclivities are going to be put on blast in a book by a girl who has slept with several high-powered men in D.C. Even though she used codenames (Leo’s is The Dustbuster - I don’t even wanna know.), people will be able to figure out who the men are, and Abby is livid.

Abby asks Olivia to shut it down, so Olivia visits the author, Sue Thomas (guest star Lena Dunham), at her home. Sue is immediately starstruck and it’s likely the reason she has little to no reaction when Olivia threatens to make her life a living hell if she goes through with publishing her memoir.

The next day, Sue shows up at OPA and she’s decidedly less intimidated. She’s let down. Olivia is shaming her with threats of her reputation being tarnished when all she did was have a lot of great, consensual sex. When did Olivia become afraid? She demands $3 million from whoever hired Olivia to stop her. Then, and only then, will she not publish the book.

Fitz is pushing to have body cams on all police officers, which Abby warns won’t pass because Republicans. Fitz insists. Meanwhile, Mellie is making plans to run for Senator of Virginia - Susan Ross’ vacant seat - as the first step in her plans to become president. She wants Leo Bergen to run her campaign, but Abby says Leo is too busy.

Land O’ Kink

OPA looks into Sue Thomas: she’s smart, social media savvy, and also currently unemployed. They need to figure out who the men are so they can get them all to chip in on her blackmail demand. To figure that out, they need the book. Huck can’t find any digital copies on Sue’s computer so they figure it must’ve been typed on a typewriter. Using the Land O’ Kink dating site, they set Charlie up on a date with Sue so Huck can break into her place and scan the book. Huck barely makes it out of there with the book before Charlie fucks up the date by being a bit TOO kinky for Sue’s tastes. Note to Charlie: Women don’t like being told you’re going to find the soft spots between the bones of her feet and nail them to the floor with a nail gun. 

Jake is reporting on Olivia’s comings and goings to Fitz. She spends most of her time at home, walking around with a gun and drinking wine. Fitz wants Jake to stay on her, but Jake won’t do it for free.

The Doctor

OPA team + Abby all settle in to read copies of Sue’s book and they figure out 16 of the 17 men featured in it. All powerful political figures. Abby finally realizes the last codename, The Doctor, is actually David Rosen.

 

Cyrus goes to Lizzie and demands she gets Fitz the votes he needs to pass the body cam law. She’s his bitch now and must do what he says.

OPA gathers all 17 men into the conference room and tells them they all need to be in for $175,000. There’s lots of fussing, but Leo is in immediately. You know who’s not in? David. He’s the Attorney General and warns everyone in the room not to pay. David got on his white hat.

Huck is furious and is about to knock that damn hat off David’s head. He was promised immunity and if that book comes out, David has no power to do anything because he’ll be fired.

Leo tries flipping it and tells Abby she’s more disgusting than he is since she has had sex with two men in Sue’s kinky book. She’s too busy writing her resignation to explain to him how ridiculous that is. She does pause to explain to him how sexist our society is in that they (the press/society) will absolutely write about her when this book comes out because they already write about her, her appearance, and who she dates, even though none of it has anything to do with how she does her job. When they write about Leo, they don’t automatically include her. But when they write about Abby, they always mention him as if she is nothing without mentioning which man she’s attached to.

Based on something Sue said earlier, OPA decides they need to look into her life. Meanwhile, Abby warns Cyrus she may have to resign because of the salacious book. He seems completely unbothered and too busy to care.

Regaining Control

Olivia goes out to a bar, looking sexy as hell, and attempts to pick up a random for some sex. When she goes to the ladies room, she imagines she’s back being held captive and runs out.

OPA discovers Sue was sexually harassed, fired, and then blackballed by her boss so she couldn’t find work. Olivia convinces her to go after her boss instead of publishing the book. That’s how she can regain control of her life and move forward. I nearly fell off the bed from rolling my eyes so hard. 

Cyrus meets Olivia with a briefcase filled with $3 million in cash. He says it’s to get Abby out of her pickle, but really it’s to use the book to blackmail the powerful people in it. Olivia is disgusted by the town and everything it does. Because she’s not a big part of that problem? Oh, Olivia. 

 

Lizzie goes to Mellie and pitches herself as Mellie’s campaign manager. It totally works and I think these two will make a great team. 

Quinn and Huck head to Sue’s to drop off the paperwork on her lawsuit against her boss. They find one of the men from her book is there and threatening her with a knife. Huck gets the guy to drop the knife and let’s him go. Then Huck picks up the knife and slices Sue’s throat. Huck wasn’t taking any chances. That book must never come out, or he’ll never be able to get his immunity deal and return to his family.

Quinn gives Olivia the manuscript and tells her finding justice for Sue will come at a cost to Abby, her family. I’m not clear if Olivia just thinks Quinn took evidence from a crime scene or if she also realizes either Quinn or Huck killed Sue. I’m guessing it’s just the former since Quinn said she would help find whoever did it and take the manuscript to the cops if that’s what Olivia wants, but just understand that it will fuck Abby in the end.

Huck signs his immunity deal in David’s office and says he’s going home.

Leo and Abby talk about Sue. She was a nice, perverted girl. She brought him chicken soup once when he was sick. This is a nice moment about a girl killed because of them, but it quickly devolves into dirty talk and sex in the kitchen. This fucking show.

While Jake reports in to Fitz about Olivia, Olivia returns to the bar and successfully picks up the same stranger from the other night. This time, they have sex in her house.

I need to quit this damn show.

Overall Thoughts:

• I am not a fan of Lena Dunham’s. I think Girls is terrible and her acting is a mess. I did like the character of Sue, though. I loved that she read Olivia’s ass so very accurately. That’s why it was so perplexing when Olivia tells her going after the shitty ex-boss is the way go as an alternative to publishing the book. Sure, she handed it back to Sue, but clearly Olivia still wanted Sue not to publish it. Why can’t she do both? Was there any reason Sue couldn’t have just removed job titles or departments from the stories. She could have edited it so that all people would do is speculate. This “scandal” felt so unnecessary.
• It’s particularly tone deaf that the episode contained all these messages about slut shaming being wrong and women gaining control of their lives (Sue, Olivia, Mellie, Abby, Lizzie), and there’s even a commercial featuring Kerry Washington advocating for an organization that helps victims of domestic abuse gain financial independence, but it ends with Huck slicing a woman’s throat. And Quinn going along with it.
• So, one night stands cure PTSD? Why is this show so determined to keep Olivia from getting any real damn help?