Scandal - S4E7 - Baby Made a Mess

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The Audacity of Hope

Olivia dropped a 4-letter word on Fitz and now he’s calling her every night. He wants to figure out a way for them to spend time together, but first Olivia wants to make sure prison bae is being treated humanely. She hangs up on him after dropping a list of demands and Mellie overhears her raggedy-ass husband talking to his mistress right under her nose.

You Can’t Stop What’s Coming

Quinn wanders into Mr. Winslow’s (Caitlin’s father) house even though all the lights are out and that usually means nothing good. She finds him sitting on the stairs and drinking. Quinn proceeds to reveal everything she knows: Caitlin came to her dad’s office to snitch on her stepmom and overheard something she shouldn’t have. She grabbed the files on Olivia and ran (what we saw on the elevator) and is later killed for it. Quinn wants to know why they were watching Olivia. He could probably tell Quinn, but then he’d have to kill her. Unfortunately for us, he kills himself instead, right in front of Quinn.

Baby Made a Mess

A Republican senator is caught on a tape drinking with a hooker while wearing a diaper and then shitting in said diaper. Clearly he has to go. Abby has to field questions from the press as to who will take the disgraced senator’s seat. Rumors are circulating that Fitz has already endorsed Chip Putney from VA. This is clearly news to Abby and she doesn’t look happy about it. Cyrus later confirms that it’s true and then Abby watches at Putney, and his campaign manager (Leo), shoot the shit with Fitz in the Oval Office.

Putney is Abby’s abusive ex-husband. More importantly, he’s Anders from Battlestar Galactica!

Huck has been playing an MMO with his son, making him believe he’s also a little kid. When his son asks to meet at an arcade, Huck agrees. Oh, Huck. Quinn tells Huck about Winslow’s suicide, and they decide to keep it from Olivia. She has too much on her plate dealing with Jake’s incarceration.

Over a Cliff

Seeing her ex has sent Abby to the bathroom to throw up. Olivia shows up with a fresh dress for her to wear and the two talk on the floor behind Abby’s desk. Abby is a mess of tears and she’s convinced nothing can be done to stop Chip from being elected. Olivia is like, “Challenge accepted.”

Olivia immediately heads over to Chip’s opponent’s campaign headquarters and takes over Susan Ross’ pitiful efforts. First thing to go? Campaign signs made with Crayola markers. Next? Susan’s image needs major work. Unfortunately, nothing can save her poor TV presence so Olivia puts Susan’s adorable daughter in front of the camera to shoot an ad. It helps and Cyrus, Leo, and Chip take notice that Olivia Pope is on the case.

Chip confronts Abbie in an empty parking garage and he’s super fucking creepy. He’s inappropriate on so many levels. Abby shows him the new Abby. New Abby points a gun at his face and tells him to back the fuck off. He listens.

Later, Abby walks into Olivia’s office and tells her what happened. Olivia is like, “Um, first I’m gonna need you to give me that damn gun and stop waving it around.” She advises Abby to tell her story, to expose Chip. Abby notes that women who speak out against abuse from powerful men, usually end up with no career to speak of.

Truman v Roosevelt

A car bomb goes off near the U.S. embassy in West Angola. Fitz orders the nearest ship in the area, the USS Truman, sent in to increase military presence. Cyrus, suspicious of what Abby told him, tells Michael they’re sending in the USS Roosevelt and then orders Ethan to monitor all of Lizzie Bear’s press activities for the next 24 hours to see if she mentions it.

Meanwhile, Mellie is prepping for an interview about presidential china patterns. Lizzie walks in and offers her something better to do.

To the SuperMax

David has finally returned Olivia’s calls and he shuts down her request to bop into super max to see Jake. Not only does Olivia have a plan to make it happen, she tells David it’s not Jake she wants to visit. It’s Tom.

He stares at Olivia and notes she’s beautiful. He can see how she has all the white boys on this show acting a fool. She wants to know who really ordered him to kill Jerry, but he wants to talk about why she left Fitz. He tells her that Fitz went to her apartment after she’d gone and cried inside while he waited in the hall. He also reveals that Fitz tried to kill himself. He compares Olivia to Helen of Troy, the face that launched a thousand ships. And much like Olivia, Helen didn’t have a father. Her father was a god. Olivia tries to convince Tom that her father ain’t all that, but he’s like, “You don’t know Command like I know Command.” He sticks to his Jake Ballard story and Olivia warns him that her father will have him killed once he’s no longer needed.

Hope Makes a Man Do Thangs

Fitz calls Olivia and says that Jake is being treated like he’s staying at the Ritz Carlton for prisoners. Now he wants to talk about how he can get in dem panties. She throws cold water on him by admitting she saw Tom and he told her about Fitz’s suicide attempt. This shuts him up for all of five seconds and then he’s back to talking about hope and what it means. Does it mean we fucking or nah? After some dirty talk, Fitz hangs up on Olivia, leaving her looking at her phone like, “What the fuck am I doing?”

Yahtzee

Ethan reports that Lizzie hasn’t said shit about the USS Roosevelt so Cyrus is happy his boo thang for hire is trustworthy.

Huck shows up at the arcade, but only watches his son from afar like a creeping creeper who creeps.

Leo tells Abby they found out Susan Ross isn’t a widow because she was never married to her daughter’s father so… boom. They won. Abby then drops the bomb that Chip is an abusive asshole and suddenly Leo doesn’t look so smug.

I Brought You In This World…

Papa Pope is waiting in Olivia’s living room when she gets home, like he pays rent. He is too through with her ass for going to see Tom. She tells him to beat it and he monologues about all he’s done for her and how she betta not ever cross him again. She doesn’t back down, though. She basically tells him his life efforts weren’t worth shit because she’s not afraid of him. When he reaches to caress her face, she flinches because Olivia ain’t that damn stupid. He only cradles her face and warns that against him, she will lose. When he leaves, Olivia has to change her underwear.

Tom is shanked by a prison guard, who pulls a Roose Bolton. “Command sends his regards.”

All the Tea is Spilled. All of It.

Quinn and Huck finally tell Olivia that whatever happened to Caitlin, it was about her.

Mellie drops the USS Roosevelt name in her china pattern interview, and Cyrus, who is laid up with bae for hire, realizes he’s been played.

Leo finds Abby in the empty White House press room and offers her a drink. Chip dropped out of the race because someone leaked to the press that he paid the hooker who filmed diaper boy. Abby realizes Leo leaked that for her and they kiss. And then they drink. And just like that, Abby got a new boo.

Huck’s son, Javi, finds him at Pope & Associates. He tracked him via his IP address because, duh, he’s Huck’s son. He knows Huck is his daddy and wants to know why he left.

Fitz tries jumping up Mellie’s ass for talking about West Angola, but she reminds him that he wanted this Mellie back and now she is. Deal with it.

Tom confesses to Olivia and she plays his confession tape for Fitz. Fitz wonders why Tom chose now to tell the truth. Olivia played him like only a Pope can: SHE paid for the guard to stab, but not kill, him. Now that they know Rowan had Harrison and Jerry killed, it’s time for Fitz to release Olivia’s baby.

Jake meets with Olivia in the secret bunker and all is right with the world. Until we see Fitz is there, too. Boy, bye.

Thoughts & Questions

• Tom’s speech was everything. I said last week that everything on this show revolves around Olivia’s vagina (something I’m getting so tired of) and finally someone told her to her face. Everything bad that happens to these people stems from her relationship with Fitz.
• So. who’s watching Olivia? Could it be connected to Mama Pope?
• David Rosen had some of the best lines. “I’ve been Poped and I don’t even know it, right?”