Scandal - S4E18 - Honor Thy Father

Previously on Scandal, ‘Put a Ring on It’

The Case

Congressman Reed seeks Olivia’s help in getting a stay of execution for his father, who is on death row for murdering a man who had an affair with his teenage daughter, which resulted in her suicide. He’s been in prison for 15 years and his son insists he didn’t do it. He thinks his father confessed falsely.

Olivia meets with the father in prison and after a few moments of him insisting he is guilty, her gut tells her otherwise. She is going to prove he’s innocent whether he likes it or not. The return of the gut! 

Olivia and team go over the details of the Reed case. After the daughter killed herself, her father found her diary where she detailed the affair and how the teacher dumped her. Reed maintains he went to the teacher’s house and killed him. They decide to look into other students the teacher may have slept with and eventually land on his ex-wife.

Olivia goes to interview the woman herself, only to learn she passed away weeks ago. Since the ex-wife wasn’t a career criminal, Olivia guesses she might have left some evidence of her crime behind. She tasks Quinn and Huck with breaking into the dead woman’s house to find it. They find a gun, and call in an anonymous tip so the cops will find it, too.

The ballistic report shows it is the same gun that killed her husband. However, Olivia tells Congressman Reed and his father that the gun couldn’t have been sitting there for 15 years without any signs of rust or wear. Congressman Reed begins to confess, but his father demands he shut up and respect his wishes. When he leaves the room, Reed does confess to Olivia. His father would threaten to kill himself any time he wanted to tell the truth.

Olivia talks the father into letting his son take responsibility for what he did. She will be there to help him regain his life when he’s served his time. Reed confesses, is arrested, and his father is released.

The Sister

Lizzie meets with Mellie’s half-sister, Harmony, to vet her before Mellie’s election. It’s clear this blonde, kinda trashy, extremely southern woman is the polar opposite of Mellie. Lizzie is concerned. Later, Mellie rages when she learns Lizzie reached out to her sister. Despite Mellie’s anger, Lizzie tells her if she wants to make a run for Senate and later the Oval, she needs to welcome her sister with open arms.

Cyrus warns Abby to keep Harmony away from the press because she’s basically a hot-ass mess…. buuuut he’s kinda cool with her bringing a raincloud of drama because after the rain, flowers will grow. Sweet-smelling flowers in the form of Fitz putting a big old HELL NO on Mellie’s candidacy. Cyrus, you dastardly bastard.

The first step in softening the sisters’ relationship is inviting Harmony to spend a few days at the White House. Things turn sour almost immediately when Mellie asks if Harmony needs to borrow a pair of flats before going on the White House tour. Harmony thinks it’s a jab at her clothes, but Mellie insists she’s just concerned for poor Harmony’s bunions. I mean, really. You can’t wear hooker heels to the White House, girl!

Fitz brushes Mellie off when she presses him to have dinner with her and Harmony. It’s her sister; she should deal with it. Cyrus loves it. Fitz tells Cyrus if Mellie is so easily frazzled, she’ll never stand a chance in the election whether he’s by her side or not. Um, why wouldn’t you be by her side, you ungrateful asshole?

Fitz does have dinner with Mellie and Harmony and Mellie can barely stand it. Harmony talks about the animal fat she uses to make soaps and she keeps calling him Fitz, which Mellie corrects. The two argue and accusations are made about home-wrecking whore mothers and other dirty little secrets, all of which Harmony threatens to expose if Mellie doesn’t watch her tone. Poor Ftiz. You know he is not used to this ratchedness. 

Later, over some of her Daddy’s hooch, Mellie speaks with Fitz and he warns her that she’s going to have to make nice with Harmony if she wants to win. Mellie points out everyone likes Fitz even when they don’t. She doesn’t have that likability gene and it was his job to diffuse the situation, like she does for him. Preach, girl! 

Harmony is leaving, but first Fitz has a chat with her and asks that she takes it easy on Mellie. Mellie is secretly jealous of her, he says. That works. Harmony gives Mellie a big old hug before she goes. Fitz tells Mellie she’s going to win that election and he’ll be by her side when she does. I love these two so much when they’re working together and he’s not trying to touch Olivia’s nipples when he should be worried about some Presidential shit.

Side note: Cyrus overhears this promise of support and he doesn’t look happy about it.

The Mission

Olivia awakens to find Chocolate Boo Thang still in her bed and asking why she speaks six different languages in her sleep? He knows her real name is Olivia and says his real name isn’t Franklin, it’s Russell. Or maybe it’s Russell and not Franklin. I forget. Anyway, Franklin Russell or Russell Franklin insists on getting freaky again, even though she told his ass it’s time to go. Thankfully, a phone call about the Reed case interrupts.

I don’t like this motherfucker one bit.

David tries to get Jake to sign the immunity agreement Huck got so he can testify against B613 and Command. Jake ain’t bout that life and reminds David he doesn’t need his protection; David needs protection from him.

With no other recourse, David, Huck, and Charlie reach out to three former B613 agents who worked with Jake, and offer them immunity. Unfortunately for them, Jake is listening to all of their plans via a bug he planted in David’s office. Damn. David stay losing.

The three spies are in, and kept in a safehouse with Charlie while Huck and Quinn go help Olivia with the Reed case. Charlie returns to the safehouse with food only to find two of the agents dead, one hanging on for dear life, and Jake moseying out the bathroom like he didn’t just kill two motherfuckers. They fight and struggle over a gun, which accidentally finishes off the third agent, and then Jake runs off.

David wants to be sure it was Jake. Charlie offers to kick David’s ass so he can see if he’ll remember Charlie’s face afterwards. Charlie knows what the hell he saw. Point taken, David suggests finding other agents who worked with Jake. Charlie points out they won’t be willing to cooperate when they learn what a bang-up job David did protecting the first three agents.

Charlie says they need to kill Jake. Quinn ain’t bout it. This isn’t Jake. There has to be an explanation. Huck says the explanation is B613: this is pretty much what they were trained to do when threatened. He thinks Jake needs to go as well. Quinn gives in.

Huck and Quinn have pinned down Jake’s location from tracking his phone. Charlie’s on the street nearby, looking for him. That is until Huck realizes Jake is inside Olivia’s apartment building. They call her, but get no answer so he and Quinn rush over, only to find Liv sipping wine and eating popcorn with her chocolate boo thang. Everything is fine, Liv says, and sends them away.

Well, where the hell is Jake? Jake is in Lois’ apartment across the hall. He tells Huck and Quinn that Liv is safe as long as he’s alive. Welp.

The Sad Spy Club meet on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. What to do about Jake? Huck says they’re done because if they go after Jake and fuck up, Liv is dead. David - the one least capable of doing anything useful - insists they keep going. He’s outvoted.

In his office that evening, David remembers the night James was killed. He sends his assistant, Holly, out for some coffee and then he calls Huck. He will testify against Jake, telling everyone how Jake killed Vanessa, Shelby, and James. Of course, Jake is listening in to this conversation as well.

Huck meets Olivia on the street and tells her he’s there to protect her from Jake. Meanwhile, David is walking to his car with Holly, as Jake watches. He confronts the two with a gun, and you know David shat himself. Jake instructs David to take two steps to his left and when he does, we see Holly has a gun too. She’s B613. Jake kills her, getting blood all over David’s face so now he’s covered in blood and poop. Holly was the one who killed the three agents in the safehouse and she was hiding under a table when Jake and Charlie were fighting. The injured agent who was shot accidentally was trying to crawl towards her when he was shot. Jake warns David that Papa Pope is coming and he won’t always be able to tell the good guys. That’s what this shit is about. David outchea playing checkers while Jake is playing B613 chess.

Olivia is laying Huck’s ass out on the street. He’s been lying to her, keeping things from her, and she’s had this shit under control the whole time. She knows what Jake is doing and has been in the room with him as he listened to their conversations in David’s office.

At home, Olivia gets a visit from Random Dick Chocolate Boo Thang Russell Franklin or Franklin Russell and he’s not alone. He’s with Papa Pope.

Told y’all his ass wasn’t ’bout shit!

Overall Thoughts:

•  So Liv and Jake have been working this the whole time. Hopefully, this will finally get viewers used to the fact that Scandal operates within the true spy genre where men and women go toe-to-toe. Jake slamming her against the wall wasn’t domestic abuse. Jake viewed her, in that instance, as a domestic terrorist who just toppled the one organization able to keep Fitz safe from Mama Pope and her plans with Adnan. It would appear that Olivia - assuming she has her own agency here and slept with Russell Franklin Franklin Russell as part of their plan to catch Papa Pope - just did what James Bond has been doing in films for decades: sleeping with people to get the job done.
• Even though the case-of-the-week was predictable as hell, I enjoyed this episode. I loved the interactions between Mellie and Harmony, and Fitz is always his most likable when he’s being good to Mellie.
• Cyrus stay hatin’!
• I hate to say it, but I missed the B613 stuff.
• And by bae ain’t evil! *twerks* #TeamJake