The Scandal season finale White Hats Back on was a roller-coaster ride from start to finish. This episode had me feeling dizzy throughout. I felt like everything including the kitchen sink had been crammed into it yet I still have questions.
Let’s start at the beginning. There was no time for explanations as the first scene had the gladiators discussing the fact that Billy Chambers was the mole. How they found out was left to the imagination as the pace just seemed to speed up. I just assumed that Huckleberry Quinn worked some magic and voila the information revealed itself to them.
Huck explains that he didn’t’ kill Billy Chambers because of the promise he made to Olivia so he sub-contracted the job out to Charlie. In speedy flash back scenes we see Billy fast talk his way out of being merked by Charlie, with a promise to share White House access codes and wealth.
By the time the opening credits were finished I didn’t care how they found out as Cyrus, Mellie, Hollis Doyle and Olivia were meeting to discuss the Billy Chambers problem. It looks like they were meeting in a kitchen or storeroom in the White House. Mellie, still hurting from Fitz’s rejection of her said she wasn’t’ staying as she was no longer part of ‘this administration.’ The team were joined by Fitz who agreed the problem needed to be handled but stated that there should be no more bloodshed.
After the meeting Cyrus grabs Mellie in a corridor and tells her that Fitz wants to make up meanwhile back in the kitchen Fitz is telling Olivia to use her superpower to fix the American public so that they will accept her as his First Lady. Then he proceeds to use his superpower on her. Fellatio is his super power? OK then.
From here I can imagine that all those people who vowed to quit Scandal two weeks ago when Olitz got it on but secretly tuned in again in the hopes that the Scandal writers had changed their mind, were all depressed as Fitz declared his intentions to marry Olivia. Oops.
Well the moral high ground crowd didn’t’ have long to wait for their prayers to be answered as Olitz on again off again fun fairground ride was definitely off again by the end of the episode. But I’m jumping ahead and with good reason. I woke up at the arse crack of dawn to watch this episode and lack of sleep and Scandal shenanigans have me feeling kinda high and out of it. It could be the caffeine in my tea as well. *shakes*.
Anyway let’s step back a bit. Vice President Sally Langston has decided to run against the Prez as the revelations of Fitz’s affair were not something she could get behind as Fitz was breaking some commandments. Do you remember Sally’s daughter’s secret abortion? Get off your low donkey Sally!
During a lot of scene switching back and forth, the team quickly surmise that Governor Reston is working with Billy Chambers and put a tap on his phone so they can find Billy. At the beginning of this episode Olivia talked a lot about her gut being right about the Governor. Fair enough, she was right but she still couldn’t smell the mole adjacent scumbag David Rosen, sitting amongst her crew.
Soon we see that David Rosen has been holding on to the damn Cytron card as he didn’t want to give up his leverage too soon. And as the team discuss what to do about Reston, David tips off Billy. Nice work gladiators and Frak you David Rosen! Next season Olivia should recruit Pete Lattimer from Warehouse 13 as he gets a vibe about bad things. I’ll trust his vibe over Olivia’s gut any day.
In a meeting with Billy, David suggests that the gladiators are his friends (with friends like him…) and Billy goes off on one reminding him that Olivia ruined his life and lost him his job. He admits to the murders of Molly, Wendy and Director Osborne and blackmailing David with Wendy’s murder. Crazy Billy justifies this as a means to an end. He calls team Olivia thugs and that gave me pause for the first time ever about what it is the gladiators do. But unlike Billy (and Huck), the gladiators don’t kill people. Olivia Pope’s hat has been a very dark shade of grey this season but she’s still a good guy. Well that’s what I tell myself and it makes me sleep at night. David Rosen hands over the Cytron card to Billy. Frak you David Rosen!
Jakes B613 handler is very busy today. He tells Jake to bring in Liv or he’ll get someone else to do it. He also meets with Cyrus and tells him to show Fitz the sex tape of Olivia and Jake or else. He says he’ll deal with Olivia and that Cyrus should worry about Fitz. Cyrus is worried about everything.
Cyrus has been cruising for a heart attack for many episodes so it’s not surprising that he finally has one. Even in the ambulance as paramedics are attending to him Cyrus is on the phone giving Fitz the lowdown on Reston. I loved it when Cyrus threatened to shoot the paramedic. Poor guy, Cy is such an awful patient. Too late Cy, Governor Reston has already visited the President and made his demands. Reston wants Fitz to put him on his ticket for the next election or he’ll scream vote rigging.
There was a touching scene at Cyrus’ bedside when James called him a bastard and asked him not to die. But the best bedside scene goes to Mellie and Fitz. After seeing a news snippet announcing that the President is seeking advice from his spiritual guide, Mellie hot tails it down to the hospital for a photo op believing that that there marriage has a chance. Her hopes are dashed when Fitz tells her they are definitely not getting back together. In an extremely calm manner Fitz laid out his plans to run and win as a single man, date a few high profile ladies and then after a few years rock up with Olivia on his arm. Mellie was devastated. I felt so very bad for her; I think I shed a tear to be honest.
In Olivia’s open all hours to everyone apartment, she is saved by Jake from an assassination attempt by the female member of B613. You know the one who served Charlie doughnuts in the pastry shop (episode 220 A Woman Scorned), when Jake was laying a trap for him. Jake shoots the female operative and takes Olivia back to her office where he tells her she should be safe. He wounds Olivia by telling her, sleeping with her was his mission. I don’t care what he said, I think Jake really likes Olivia. Oliva didn’t care either, she tells him to close his eyes and kisses him.
The gladiators catch up with Billy and Huckleberry Quinn wait for him in his apartment, Quinn was a bag of nerves but Huck finally got her to chill and wait quietly. I laughed out loud when Billy entered the apartment saw the dynamic duo and bolted out the door again. Funny.
Huck couldn’t torture Billy as it seems he’s still recovering from being locked in the box in the storage place (seven fifty-two) so Quinn took over. I thought she’d flake but #WhatTheHuck! Quinn drilled into Billy like he was a piece of plywood. I am officially worried about Quinn and so is Huck. Billy gives up the whereabouts of the Cytron card but when Abbey fires up a Huck, ready to go computer hack to test the card it turns out to be fake. The scene cuts back to Quinn torturing Billy as he drops David Rosen in it too. We then see scenes of David spending every moment that he’s alone in the offices of Pope and Associates (remember I told ya! ), trying the various combinations to Olivia’s safe until one day he cracks it, takes the card and makes a copy.
Cyrus discharges himself from the hospital and sets out to destroy the good ship Olitz. He blows holes in their Romeo and Juliet relationship and tells Olivia that Fitz, the love of her life killed Verna. He then goes back to the White House and plays Fitz the tape of Olivia and Jake getting it on all over Jakes apartment.
Meanwhile it turns out that David Rosen is a good guy. He had secretly taped his conversation with Billy Chambers and turns up at the White House and gives the real Cytron card to Cyrus with strings attached. But is it real this time or just another fake? At a press conference the President praises David for routing out the mole and aiding in his capture. David is back as US Attorney! “I am the law, the law is me.” I am so glad for David. I was getting a bit tired of calling for his demise. He does wear the white hat and it seems he believes Olivia Pope does too.
The most emotional scene for me was Olivia opening the box left by David Rosen to find a tape with Billy’s murder confession and a gorgeous white hat. *Tears* After everything that Olivia and her team have done to ruin his career, this was like an olive branch. David had spent weeks working with the gladiators and must have felt like we do, that these guys do bad things for the right reasons (most of the time).
So the scene that sent Olitz shippers over the edge would be the one where Olivia and Fitz meet and he says he would have forgiven her for Jake but it was obvious that Liv would not forgive him for killing Verna. I think it’s for real this time guys.
“I’m their gladiator. They need me”. Liv tells Fitz as she finally wakes up and smells the reality.
She was quite right when she told Fitz that she had taken her team too far to the edge of the cliff. There have been some seriously blurry lines this season. The relationship between Abbey and Harrison is not the same as, ever the gladiator; Harrison did dirt to break up David and Abbey. Quinn is the most surprising of all; she actually got a buzz from torturing Billy Chambers. I am so worried for her right now. I have visions of Quinn in a padded cell yelling “just give me the drill”. Damn!
All seemed like sunshine and lollipops as we see a montage of Fitz crawling back to Mellie like a wounded dog, Cyrus destroys that fraking Cytron card, Jake being thrown into the Huck floor cell by B613 operatives, Olivia getting ready, leaving her apartment, smiling at folks in the lobby and stepping into a wall of press. Ish just got real. Someone leaked it to the press that Olivia was Fitz’s bit on the side. I’m thinking Mellie.
Olivia is grabbed from the clutches of the press and pushed into a car. She comes face to face with Jake’s B613 boss and utters those cliff hanging words: “Dad?”.
Like many gladiators, I’d come to the conclusion that this was Olivia’s dad. He was given no name until this episode when Cyrus called him Rowan. Skulking in the shadows and giving out orders with no clear end game. Creepy. My big question: what kind of man puts a hit out on his own daughter? What the actual f*ck. Maybe the female B613 operative was just meant to bring Olivia in and Jake pre-empted her with a head shot.
Questions for season three
- Has the Olitz ship finally sunk? It’s good to see Olivia with her white hat firmly back on. Did David’s gesture prompt Olivia to break up with Fitz for the sake of her team or is she letting that pesky murder get in the way?
- Did Mellie or Olivia’s scary dad leak the scandal to the press?
- Did David hand over the real Cytron card to Cyrus?
As I mentioned, I’m feeling a bit light headed so this turned out to be a bit of a recap instead of my simple observations. That’s cool though, it goes to show I needed to talk through this episode in order to sort out my feels.
I am looking forward to season three both Olivia and David have their white hats back on, happy days. I’m also looking forward to the break though. This season has been great but the obsessing, thinking about the show when I should be doing real life things and the few sleepless nights, it’ s intense.
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