“Honesty is the best policy” must have been the theme of Thursday night’s episode of Scandal because everyone was committed to telling the truth, even if it hurt.
Here are eight times when someone kept it real—and sometimes a little raw.
1. “You are not my girlfriend. … Call me later if you want me to do that thing to you.” —Jake Ballard The time when Olivia Pope invited Jake to her father’s house for dinner, and Jake told her that “friends with benefits” don’t get those privileges. What’s that on the ground? Just Olivia’s face from when Jake cracked it.
2. “The truth is, Robin, nobody else wants you. Nobody.” —Charlie The time when Quinn Perkins resisted Charlie’s romantic overture, and Charlie reminded her that he was all she had. Quinn countered by saying that she had people, namely, “Liv, Huck, Abby and Jake.” To be fair, Quinn, Charlie wasn’t entirely wrong. Olivia and Huck didn’t notice that you had been missing for 24 hours, and Jake traded you for secrets and tossed you into a cave with Charlie like you were in The Hunger Games.
3. “We aren’t in a relationship because you’re in love with another man. You come here to have sex. Great sex. But just sex.” —Jake The time when Olivia showed up at Jake’s door, and not only did he not let her in, but he barely cracked open the door. Ouch. Conveniently, Olivia’s face was already lying on the ground from when Jake had cracked it earlier.
4. “I just did what I had to do.” —David Rosen The time when David rummaged through Jake’s B-613 files and found evidence to blackmail a judge into ruling in favor of Fitz’s gun control law. David scored a huge victory for the Grant White House … and then the judge killed himself. I called it last week: David Rosen is headed down a bad path.
5. “I screwed a kid … and it felt freakin’ great.” —Catherine The time when Olivia’s law-school classmate Catherine confessed to having sex with her daughter’s underage boyfriend … and filming it. Gasp! Then the daughter ended up dead. Olivia snatched Catherine up and hemmed her against a wall, representing the first time we’ve ever seen Olivia become violent. She would have made Mama and Papa Pope proud.
6. “You’re thirsty, but you’re not here for a drink.” —Michael the “sex worker” The time when Cyrus Beene tried to pretend like he wasn’t going to shag Michael, the prostitute hired by Republican National Committee Chairwoman Lizzy Bear. A full $2,500 (plus gratuity) later, Cyrus’ thirst was quenched, but his wallet was dry.
7. “You do owe me an apology.” —Abby Whelan The time when Abby tried to warn Fitz that Mellie was about to make a fool of herself, and he yelled at her to give Mellie whatever she wants. See, things were starting to look up for Mellie. She had replaced the bathrobe with a cardigan and traded last week’s fried chicken in for a red apple. She had even found a case to solve that was breathing life back into her after Little Jerry’s death. She spent days researching the case and ordering reports, and with much pomp and circumstance, she called a high-level Cabinet meeting to present her conclusions … only to find out that the case had already been solved. Mellie’s humiliation was heartbreaking. And just like that, Mellie was back in her bathrobe. Abby had tried to warn Fitz. Sure, she’s no Olivia Pope, but she’s nobody’s fool.
8. “Shut up. Just shut your stubborn-old-man mouth up.” —Jake The time when Jake checked Papa Pope at his own dinner table. Lawlessness! Once Jake got Charlie to spill the beans on Papa Pope’s involvement in Harrison’s, Adnan’s and Little Jerry’s deaths, he agreed to join Olivia for dinner at Papa Pope’s house. Once Olivia excused herself to take a call from Huck, Jake took the opportunity to let Papa Pope know that his jig was up. He told Papa Pope that he was going to show Olivia evidence that he killed Harrison and Little Jerry, and suggested that Papa Pope start packing up his sad little house now because it was time for him to go and never be heard from again. Not to be outdone, Papa Pope, punctuating his remarks with some particularly crafty knife play, warned Jake, “I’ll be the one standing over you when you die.”
The smart money is on Papa Pope. Thus far he has delivered on all of his promises, but with three points on the board for this episode, Jake gets the gold for keeping it way too real.
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.