This week’s Scandal episode introduced us to some new faces, brought back a familiar one and raised a number of questions.
Olivia’s gut is back. Sort of? Olivia wakes up—flawless and without a head scarf (girl, please)—next to the sexy stranger she picked up at a bar a few episodes ago. Scandal's DJ should have played “Brown Skin” by India.Arie because they looked lovely against her white sheets. He wonders why she shouts in Russian, Farsi, Swahili and Zulu in her sleep, but before they can learn each other’s name (Franklin or Russell? Alex or Olivia?) or figure out how exactly he recognizes all those languages, Olivia’s phone rings and she’s got to go.
Someone avenged the death of a 15-year-old girl who hanged herself after her 29-year-old math teacher broke her heart. The girl’s father says he did it, but his son, the congressman who hired Olivia, claims his father is innocent. Long story short, Olivia knew immediately that the father didn’t kill the math teacher. The congressman/son did it. Great. The most interesting takeaway is that Olivia’s gut is working again. Welcome back! We’ve missed you!
Mellie’s got a half-sister? We learn that Mellie has kinfolk she’s embarrassed about, just like the rest of us. Like the cousin who keeps posting the link to his latest mixtape, Trap Tour Tales Vol. 6, on your Facebook wall. In Mellie’s case, it’s her estranged half-sister, Harmony. The sisters have bad blood because Mellie’s father left her mother to be with Harmony’s mom. When Harmony arrives at the East Wing, Mellie has a meltdown, but Fitz steps in to smooth things over so that Harmony won’t jeopardize Mellie’s Senate run. In my favorite exchange, Harmony tells Mellie, “You think you’re better than me,” and Mellie replies without missing a beat, “I am better than you.” Don’t mince it, Mellie.
Jake has gone rogue. Or has he? David Rosen is still on a mission to expose B613. Huck, Quinn and Charlie are on board to testify in exchange for immunity, but he can’t get an amen from Jake. In fact, Jake folds David up on top of his desk and basically says, “Don’t start none,” but David refuses to take off his white hat. He rounds up an assortment of B613 agents to testify and places them in a safe house until he can convene a secret grand jury. When Charlie returns to the safe house from a Trader Joe’s run, he finds everyone slaughtered and Jake standing in the middle of it all.
Charlie reports back that Jake has gone rogue. Huck and Quinn determine that Jake is now in “survival mode,” and they have to kill him. Nooo! Not Jake! Can we see him shirtless one last time?? Huck tracks Jake’s movements to Olivia’s building, so they rush over, but Olivia is having a Netflix night with Franklin Russell and she doesn’t have time. When she closes the door, Jake hops out from the apartment across the hall and tells Huck and Quinn that Olivia is safe … as long as he’s safe. That sounds like a threat.
Defeated, Huck, Quinn and David sit on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial saying their goodbyes as they prepare to be hunted down by Jake, but David isn’t ready to take off his white hat because of justice. And hat head. So David is now on his own. He decides to testify that he witnessed Jake gun down James Novak (at the end of season 3).
Meanwhile, some new lady named Holly, whom nobody has seen or heard of before, is bringing David files and offering him coffee. As she’s walking him to his car, we’re asking Harpo, “Who dis woman?” Suddenly Jake creeps up from the shadows and kills her. As it turns out, Holly was a B613 agent who was masquerading as David’s assistant in an attempt to sabotage his investigation. In fact, she was the one who slaughtered all the B613 agents in the not-so-safe house, and Jake was on her tail all along. Jake was never the bad guy. In fact, he was protecting David from the bad guys! Seeee how quickly you all doubted your boy Jake? You guys are real sometime-y.
Papa’s got a brand-new goon? Before you can ask who sent Holly, Papa Pope shows up on Olivia’s doorstep … with Franklin Russell. Did Papa Pope have a gun to Franklin’s back and simply use him to get Olivia to answer her door? Or is Franklin one of Papa Pope’s B613 goons? Oooh, did Papa Pope hire Franklin to sleep with Olivia (like he did with Jake)? When is Olivia going to get a moat? And before you can get any answers … boom. Credits. And Scandal doesn’t return until April 16.
Akilah Green is a recovering Washington, D.C., lawyer-lobbyist-politico turned TV and film writer and producer living in Los Angeles. She currently works for Chelsea Handler’s Netflix talk show, Chelsea. She has also worked as a staff writer for Kevin Hart’s production company, HartBeat Productions, and as a consultant for Real Time With Bill Maher on HBO. In addition, she co-wrote and is producing Scratch, an indie horror-comedy feature film, and is a regular contributor to The Root. Follow Green’s adventures in La La Land on her blog, Twitter and Facebook.