Scandal - S4E19 - I’m Just a Bill
Previously on Scandal, ‘Honor Thy Father’
Brandon Bill
The Grant administration is rallying to get the votes for the Brandon Bill, which will make cameras on police officers mandatory and overhaul racial discrimination in police departments. They manage to get the votes they need thanks to a little press fake-out suggested by Lizzie. Cyrus celebrates the idea of getting the black vote for a Republican president. Abby calls him gross. Cyrus is like, “Have you met me? Duh.”
Unfortunately for Fitz, one of the senators with an affirmative vote goes into labor a week early. They need Susan, the VP, to vote for the bill and Fitz sends Cyrus to get it done. Even though voting has already begun, Susan insists on reading all 1,200 pages of the bill before she votes. And then she has questions, lots of them, and wonders if she could speak to someone from the Justice Department who can address her concerns. Cyrus damn near has another heart attack, but he puts David Rosen on the case.
David is super impressed by Susan’s diligence and ends up being a bust. So, Mellie tries to appeal to Susan, who already knows Mellie suggested her for VP so Mellie could run for her Senate seat. She’s cool with it, but she’s still not cool with the bill. And she doesn’t think Mellie should be either.
The big gun is brought in and Fitz tries intimidation and insults to get Susan to vote, but she stands firm. Cyrus comes in to find Fitz and Susan with their sleeves up, working to revise the bill. This bill, Susan says, will work. Cyrus says they need something else to distract the press. That means it’s the perfect time for Mellie to announce her run for Senate!
Activist Marcus
Activist Marcus is running for mayor and apparently winning. That’s why it’s particularly bad when he calls OPA to help him deal with the dead body of the mayor’s wife, who he was sleeping with. He says they thought her husband was home early so he hid in the closet. While there, he watched as three men in masks killed her, grabbed some jewelry, and left. He chooses the Pope Platinum Package of services which involves Huck and Quinn breaking the dead woman’s bones so they can fit her in a suitcase while Olivia sits with Marcus on the stairs. I must say, this was done MUCH better on The Americans.
Huck and Quinn wipe up the crime scene including getting all the blood out of the carpet, but Olivia still had to throw out that couch cushion, huh? Okay.
Marcus expects Olivia to judge him for being a hypocrite: he laid into her for the doing the work of The Man and here is he banging The Man. Nope. Olivia doesn’t judge. She saves lives and that’s it.
Marcus is really getting the most of out his Pope Platinum Package when the police bring him in for questioning without actually arresting him. Olivia popes all over the damn place and stomps out with her client. Turns out, they brought him in because there were threatening emails sent from him to the mayor’s wife, who’s now “missing.” Huck does his magic and discovers Marcus’ account was hacked by someone close to the mayor.
Marcus remembers that one of the masked men was called Mickey, and after witnessing the mayor’s driver with a bandage on his hand, the team figures out he was one of the masked men - Mickey is a nickname because he has big-ass ears. I suppose Dumbo would have been too obvious.
Marcus is given a choice: he can tell the truth and they can get the mayor and his driver arrested, OR he can use what he knows to blackmail the mayor into dropping out the race. Justice or career, Marcus? Which will it be?
Marcus picks his career, at first. But at the press conference, after the mayor drops out of the race citing his wife’s disappearance, Marcus tells the truth. Guess he didn’t appreciate it when the mayor said to him, “The bitch had it coming,” upon being confronted.
Later, Olivia applauds Marcus for doing the right thing because once you start doing the wrong thing, it’s a slippery slope and the next thing you know your black ass is being sold on the dark net.
Papa Pope Pontificates and B613 Blah Blah Blah
Papa Pope sits up in Olivia’s living room, sipping wine like he doesn’t have a damn gun in his waistband. He gives her 48 hours to shut down the B613 case, citing the president’s downfall if she doesn’t. But Olivia is still shitty with Fitz, which daddy can read all over her face and he reminds her that no matter how white the knight, all men are just men, including Fitz.
Russell Franklin Franklin Russell has been drugged and bound on Olivia’s floor. Papa Pope did that so they could chat in peace. After he leaves, Olivia has to release Franklin Russell Russell Franklin and pretend that he passed out because they drank too much wine.
At the Down With B613 Team Meeting, everyone agrees they are still on board, even if it means shining a light on Fitz’s dirty deeds.
Jake checks on Olivia at OPA while she’s working the Marcus case. He wants to make sure she knows he’s there if she needs him. She doesn’t deserve you, Jake!
David, Jake, and Liv meet to go over Jake’s testimony. The subject of B613 operations comes up, including Operation Remington. David is stunned to learn that Rowan ordered a civilian plane shot down. Who was the pilot? You can totally see David making career decisions when he hears Fitz’s name.
Olivia is all fucked up over the fact that she’s about to proceed with this at the expense of raggedy-ass Fitz. So she drinks some wine and calls Russell Franklin Franklin Russell over for some sex. And I smooth fast-forwarded through all of it.
David gives Team Down With B613 a rousing speech. They toast to wearing white hats.
Papa Pope wants to know what Olivia has decided. She tells him to kick rocks in flip flops. He’s proud of her for finally becoming a worthy opponent, but warns her she won’t like what happens next.
I damn sure didn’t like what happened next: Jake arrives at OPA because Olivia texted him. He’s attacked by a man in a mask. They fight, and Jake rips off the mask. It’s Franklin Russell Russell Franklin! He stabs Jake and tells him he’s disappointed Jake wasn’t more of a challenge, considering how much Rowan would talk about him. Then he stabs Jake some more.
So, does Papa Pope just a file named Agents For My Daughter to Fuck?
P.S. Fuck this show.
This recap is a perfect summation of my own sentiments with this show.
We all saw it in the tea leaves with last week’s Franklin/Russell “pillow talk” - this week’s PapaPope dog & pony show was ultimately just as gross this week.
I do have a serious question: if PapaPope really wanted the AG’s case against him to go away — why kill Jake? Why not kill David instead?
B613 has had a David problem for damn near 3seasons now — case in point: Jake just whacked David’s secretary last week — so why is he still breathing?
No shade, I like his character, but what exactly is he contributing to the Scandal storylines at this point?
.He has no romantic partner — Abby is shacked up w Leo
.He knows absolutely nothing about whats really going on — based on his intake interview with Jake
.He makes awful toasts in a room full of murderers about wearing white hats — somebody kill this guy already
Aside from the PapaPope & Team B613 scenes — I really think this was one of the better episodes of this season.
I stand by my orig assessment that Mellie’s gonna have a huge Susan problem during her Presidential run.
Susan is whip-smart, funny, & engaging in a genuinely folksy kind of way that Mellie can & never will be.
Plus, with Susan as his #2 Fitz finally has an out-front ally to help him enact his Liberal agenda, so he can finally shed that wooly Republican cloak he’s been hiding in for so long.
Firstly- HEY GIRL!
This episode was awesome until the end! Daddy Pope came back and told Olivia about herself, which I loved. It’s a neverending joy to witness him read from “The Book Of Eli.” I caught the shade when he said “No matter how WHITE the knight” too. Olivia read that police chief for blood and reminded me of why I liked her in the beginning! She should make Marcus her new Harrison. Susan Ross is a little firecracker and I love that she legitimately wants to make a difference. She also saw firsthand how terrible a president Fitz is. Russell and Olivia’s sexytime scene gave me LIFE! Little peen or not, she never sounded like that with Jake or Fitz!
Now. The end of this episode was atrocious. It was predictable. It was stupid. And it was gross. WHY, SHONDA, WHY, must you have Daddy Pope send yet another man to smash his daughter? We ALL saw that coming. Him killing Jake was a bit of a surprise; I thought he’d last till the end of the season. But Russell? Really? Stop. You know what would have surprised me? If Russell was just a good guy who liked Liv…and MARCUS was B613. My patience is wearing thin with this show. I only watch now to see Daddy Pope. DASSIT.
You know I love your podcast, girl. I ain’t gotta say it.
While the episode was decent Im still pissed the fuck off.
1. Militant neighborhood guy shacks up with mayors wife but confesses he was a witness at a press conference?! :::eye roll #1:::
2. So Poppa Pope sent creepy hot guy to screw his daughter? This grosses me out. Why is he so obsessed? It’s really starting to creep me out. :::rolled eyes so hard they almost got stuck:::
3. White House….haha Susan is smarter than all of you! Make her president! :::no eye roll, just a smirk ovation cause it showed Fitz is a dumbass:::
4. David….did this foo just say white hat? Yes! I chose him to say that….Damn I forgot to submit my predictions!!
I loved this episode! For a variety of reasons. Lol
Papa Pope is a crazy mofo but Joe Morton is amazing!
Loved Liv reading that cop! That’s the Olivia Pope we know & love! Forget the personal life bullshit! This is what I want to see every week.
Marcus seems a bit too moral to be a gladiator but we’ll see if that where they’re going. Then again, sleeping with the mayor’s wife not very moral.
I love Susan so much! If politicians were really like her the world would be a better place.
Now, while I’m not upset about the stabbing at the end cause y’all know how I feel about that man. What I am upset about is that Russell works for Papa Pope! Damnit! Can Liv have a least 1 man in her life with absolutely no connection to her daddy!? And why is her daddy so obsessed with her sex life? This bothers me so much! This is why I want Liv to be celibate for a while. No booty calls, no distractions and no man sent to seduce her by her daddy. Celibacy would solve a lot of her problems. That and therapy.
That’s all I can think of. I can feel that y’all are gonna put out a very interesting podcast this week.
And what are your thoughts on those promo pics? Should they have been released or not?
I don’t think Jake is really dead.
I think we’re all supposed to think he’s dead so all the fans they’ve been losing tune
in for the last few episodes of the season.
This isn’t going to be popular with the Papa Pope folks but I think the show jumped the shark when Olivia said “Daddy”. I think the writers are addicted to Joe Morton but like most addictions it isn’t good for them.
First off I wanna say I’m all in and will not quit bc I’m loyal!! And as a matter of fact I rather enjoyed this episode!!
Let’s start with Jake!! Yes I was on his team, but we’ve all known shonda don’t give a single fuck about our feelings, so we knew somehow Jake was gon get it!! And fitz’s lame ass would be there to pick up those pieces!! Now the fact the generic black guy killed him definitely surprised me!! And again I don’t understand papa popes willingness to add all these dudes to Liv’s body count!!
Also the Susan storyline really intrigues me!! I’m really loving her character and would love her to be the next president honestly!!
So all in all I’m ok with the show and I know some of you are still salty(Nina) but just look at the bright side, at least with Jake gone maybe they will highlight Quinn more
Wow. So I can tell by your recap that you were not feeling this episode Nina. I liked some parts. I appreciated the fact about the Brandon bill since thought we would never hear about the Ferguson-like episode again. I liked the references to real-life political dealings where bills are just made to make people feel better, but nothing really gets changed. Also, Cyrus’s comment about the black vote was crude, but very really. Alot of politicians dont really care about the under privileged until its time to get their vote. As far as the Marcus stuff goes, I just find it totally unrealistic. So you mean to tell me the mayor has his wife killed, but he’s not going to have the guy she was sleeping with, and that witnessed the murder killed also? Additionally, after Marcus confessed, there were no questions about where the hell her body is? I guess they just assume the murders cleaned up the crime scene. But really Liv and her team should have been arrested for obstruction a long time ago. Finally, you called it Nina, Jake is dead and Russell is working for papa pope. Ugh! It just didnt make sense. All the fights and close calls Jake has had and he gets killed in Liv’s office with just a knife? And Liv should have known something was up with Russell this week when he states that he clearly thought something funny happened or he was drugged but he just sleeps with her anyway. Although I cant stand the character, Nina you crazy. That brother is fine! You missed those muscles when you fast-fowarded thru the scene. I really dont know what direction the show is going in, but at least there was action this week. Cant wait to hear the podcast!