Scandal - S4E21 - A Few Good Women

Posted on May 8, 2015 by Nina Perez in Featured, Scandal - S4 // 0 Comments

Previously on Scandal, ‘First Lady Sings the Blues’

You Don’t Get to Die

Jake’s back in Olivia’s bed, but not for sexy fun time. He’s recuperating and having bad dreams about the horrible shit that’s happened to him since being with Olivia. She checks on him before leaving for work, and completely ignores his question about who’s taking care of their Franklin Russell Russell Franklin problem.

The answer, of course, is Huck and Quinn. They have Russell Franklin Franklin Russell tied up in Lois’ old apartment across the hall. Quinn takes pleasure in pulling out one of his fingernails, but not as much pleasure as Huck who licks his lips at the sight. Ewww.

Olivia pops in to assure Franklin Russell Russell Franklin he won’t be dying. Death is too good for him. Huckleberry Quinn will just torture the shit out of him until he tells them about Foxtail.

Captain of Crazy Towns

V.P. Susan Ross is doing a photo op on a Navy ship when she notices bruises on a young woman’s wrist. Susan arranges for Ensign Martin to show her the living quarters as a way to get her alone to ask about them. Martin claims it happened in a training exercise, but Susan knows better. So much so that she takes her off the ship and to the White House.

Fitz and Cyrus are apoplectic. Susan doesn’t have any authority to do this, even if she believes Martin has been raped. It doesn’t help that Martin has not actually said she was raped. Fitz cites 200 years of precedent as to why this isn’t their business. Since when has this stopped Fitz?

The military has its own way of dealing with these situations - like, if she says she was raped and the man gets off, she can be charged with filing a false claim - so Fitz demands Susan “put her back.”

Susan heads right to OPA to enlist Liv’s help. When Liv sees the secret service entering the offices, she smooths her hair in preparation of seeing Fitz, and is clearly shocked and disappointed to see Susan. She agrees to help though because the next thing you know, Liv is approaching Ensign Martin as she prepares to check back onto the ship.

12 Seconds

Standard operating procedure states that Command will check in with Russell Franklin Franklin Russell every ten hours. So, that leaves HQ just three hours to get him to talk. Of course, Rowan calls early - just as Quinn was drilling into Franklin Russell Russell Franklin’s knee-cap. HQ debate whether or not they should answer it. If they can keep him on the line for 12 seconds, Huck can trace the call. However, the moment Rowan realizes there’s a problem, he’ll move against them. In the end, Quinn answers and remains quiet as Rowan asks who’s on the other line. He hangs up in exactly 11.54 seconds. *sigh*

So, in one night they moved Russell Franklin Franklin Russell next door and moved Jake into her bed? Okay.

The Hard Thing

Lizzie is pushing Mellie to campaign in Springfield, but Mellie resists because that’s where Jerry died. Mellie is down three points, Lizzie says. If they can get through Springfield, they’ll pull in women and progressives. Mellie looks thoughtful.

Olivia pushes Martin to tell her who raped her - she just needs a name, when, and where. We don’t see what Martin’s answer is, but later Quinn is giving Olivia the details on an Admiral Hawley. He’s highly decorated and butt buddies with Fitz.

Olivia heads right for the White House for lunch with Abby, and to push in getting the White House involved. Even though Olivia just told her a woman is raped, Abby just wants to munch on her kale salad and talk about Liv’s love life. What the fuck happened to this show?

Olivia gives a press conference with the naval ship in the background and calls them out. This forces Abby to address it and go on record that the president will not get involved in a military judicial case. Mellie takes a beating in the press because people want to know what Fitz plans to do. She wants to be able to tell them yes, so it doesn’t look like they’re on the side of rape. But Fitz tells her the same thing he told Susan. Not getting in it.

Olivia arrives at Lois’ just as Russell Franklin Franklin Russell is ready to talk. Huck removes the gag, but Franklin Russell Russell Franklin immediately tries to swallow a poison pill hidden in his teeth. With Olivia’s help, Huck is able to remove it before he can. Olivia has a bit of a PTSD moment, remembering being kidnapped mixed with images of her and Russell Franklin Franklin Russell having sex. Shonda, you gonna get this woman some therapy or nah?

He’s a Better Me

Olivia goes home and tends to Jake. He knows all about them keeping Russell Franklin Franklin Russell across the hall. They share a wall and the walls are thin. How, exactly, does she share a wall with the apartment across the hall? Anyway, he warns that Franklin Russell Russell Franklin won’t talk because he’s exactly like Jake: a B613 agent groomed to seduce her, except Jake has the defect of being in love with her. RFFR has no such defect. Torturing him will never make him talk.

Olivia shares how she came to be happy in the disgusting bathroom when she was kidnapped. Being in that bathroom made her feel safe because she knew what to expect - there, her father couldn’t get her. Huh?

“You can’t take Command, son.” - Jake and Russell, imitating Rowan

Dag, JAG

An official inquiry begins into Martin’s allegations against Admiral Hawley. The JAG lawyer, Virgil Plunkett, arrives late and he’s a mess - bumbling, rambling, and this is his first case. Olivia and Quinn realize they assigned him because the military wants them to fail.

The deposition doesn’t go well. Hawley denies having sex with Martin and calls out Olivia as an enemy of the country. Dramatic as fuck. He says he wasn’t even on the ship that night.

Olivia and Quinn get Virgil cracking on requesting the security logs from the ship for the night in question. Then, Olivia gets a frantic call from Martin. She rushes to the ship where Martin tells her she’s pregnant and she wants an abortion. Even though waiting a few weeks would allow them to get DNA from the fetus and prove the rape, she can’t do it. She wants the abortion. Olivia is kicked off the ship and is told she can’t leave with Martin, who has a job to do.

My Two Sons

Huck gives Jake time with Russell Franklin Franklin Russell. Jake has brought cheap domestic beer so they can have a bro moment. They bond over what it’s like to work for Papa Pope, never living up to his expectations. Franklin Russell Russell Franklin was constantly compared to Jake, who he thought was a myth Rowan made up to make him feel inadequate. Jake gives him props for almost killing him. FRRF laments that he was sloppy - Olivia caught him. Jake tells him that was part of the plan all along. Olivia has to find out so she knows Papa Pope is always in charge and that you can’t take Command. They both point out that Olivia never stood a chance with her crazy-ass parents. Jake promises RFFR that he’ll keep Olivia safe, then FRRF asks to be tied back up so Crazy Huck can come back in and do his thing.

Lean Out of My Damn Face

The Navy won’t let Martin off the ship so Olivia (with help from Abby) comes up with a lie in which Martin has a sick relative. Meanwhile, Lizzie is still pushing for Mellie to talk about her son’s death to appeal to women voters. She advises Mellie to not look at it as exploiting his death, but “leaning in” to it. Mellie tells Lizzie to get the hell out of her face.

Olivia brings Martin to her place and introduces her and Virgil to Huck, who then leaves to check on FRRF across the hall. Olivia makes the excuse that her friend Jake the Contractor is doing renovations. Virgil gets a call: Their request for the ship’s security logs has been denied.

Olivia calls Fitz to vent. He’s still unwilling to help. Olivia then holds Martin’s hand as she has an abortion.

Mellie is still up when Fitz comes to bed. He says he was talking to Liv and Mellie doesn’t even blink.

“Oh, that’s good.”

That’s new, but I like it. He holds her in bed as they think about what Jerry’s life would be like now if he were still alive. Then he offers to go to Springfield with her, but she says it has to be her. She’s just not sure what she’s going to say. He asks if she wants to know what Liv would advise: throw your husband under the bus.

Crafty Ladies

Abby brings Liv the ship’s security logs. Fitz requested them after all. They find that Hawley was swiped into the operations building on base as he said, but Captain Weaver (who fellows him around all day long) is not swiped into any place all day long. Olivia accuses him of swiping Hawley’s badge on base to provide him with an alibi while he raped Martin. Olivia says she’ll get the video surveillance from the ship to prove it. And she does. Hawley confesses and the White House vows to facilitate a full overhaul of the way the military handles rape cases.

Mellie stumps in Springfield and slays. She denounces Fitz’s unwillingness to get involved and promises to push for an independent council to look into assault allegations in the military when she’s Senator Grant.

Dumb For No Damn Reason

While at the Pentagon saying goodbye to Martin, Quinn notices something that gives her pause: a trophy case has a picture of JAG Virgil Plunkett and he doesn’t look like the Virgil they’ve been dealing with. We see that the real Virgil was killed by the imposter. Meanwhile, Virgil shows up at Lois’ and asks Huck to let him into Olivia’s apartment for some files he left there. When Huck turns his back, Virgil hits him with a Vulcan Sleep Pinch and frees Russell Franklin Franklin Russell.

Mellie is done with her speech and Lizzie tells her they need to make a quick stop so she can meet with a potential donor, who’s none other than Papa Pope. The Secret Service report in on the First Lady’s (Foxtail) location.

Thoughts and Questions:

When, exactly, did Liv and Jake break up? Is it me or has this show been doing shit without clear explanations for the past few months? They showed us that they were listening in on the plans to bring down her dad, and Jake was doing this right across the hall. Olivia had RFFR all up in her apartment with Jake right next door, yet Jake barely recognized him the night FRRF tried to kill him. That makes no sense.
So, Olivia didn’t know Mellie’s Secret Service codename? I call bullshit. Was it changed after Olivia stopped working at the White House? Do they change them like companies change the passwords when an employee is fired?
How come everyone is in B613? I mean, enough already. Didn’t Olivia learn a lesson from last week when she was talking about shit in front of a stranger? There’s no reason for her, Huck, or Quinn to be that sloppy.
Speaking of, why would Huck turn his back to get the keys to Liv’s place for a complete stranger? Maybe he was going to call Liv to verify, but still… why turn your back? Is he B613 or nah?
Wouldn’t it be funny if Mellie is the one to kill Rowan when she finally learns he killed her son? Please let that happen. I’ve had enough of Papa Pope.
Will this show ever acknowledge how disgusting it is for Papa Pope to send men to screw his daughter?
Why am I still watching this?