Season 6 of Scandal narrates the rise and fall of Cyrus Beene. And now we’ve seen Cyrus at perhaps his lowest point. Typical Cyrus, though, tries to work manipulate his way out of jail. But does he still have it?
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In “The Belt,” Cyrus uses his former power and knowledge to try and get Tom to recant his story. Meanwhile, Olivia and her associates continue to work to prove Tom and Cyrus are connected to Jenny’s murder too. And Huck bonds with a former Frankie campaign worker, Meg.
Beene Behind Bars
Cyrus quickly gets processed and thrown behind bars after his arrest. He’s put into “murders row,” and is immediately miserable, as anyone would be. During a walk in a small cage, he sees Tom and foolishly asks the guard if he can talk to him. Obviously, the answer is “no” and the guard spits in his face. Later on, he asks another guard for a paper and pen, which is also denied.
Elizabeth North visits Cyrus, a request from Abby. However, Cyrus gets her to agree to get a letter to Tom. He believes that Tom is hurt, and he wanted to hurt Cyrus, which is why he brought him down with him for Frankie’s murder. Cyrus thinks that if he can write Tom a letter convincing him that he still loves him, he’ll recant his story and then Cyrus will be free. Elizabeth reluctantly agrees. So, Cyrus works out a deal with a jail guard, a pen and paper in exchange for help to get out of being a drug mule. Cyrus writes his letter to Tom, gives it to Elizabeth, but she gives it to Michael, who then comes to visit Cyrus and tells him he wants a divorce, adding that he wants the house and full custody of their daughter.
The Truth
Just when Cyrus is feeling down and out, guard Gerald comes by and offers Cyrus some fresh air, which is just a ploy to get him outside so a group of inmates can rough him up. As he lay beat up on the ground, Cyrus dreams that Tom recants his story and he is made president, but obviously that’s just a dream. At his lowest point, Cyrus calls Olivia, who tells him his bill needs to be paid, and he needs to stop being a monster and start being a man.
Cyrus takes this advice, as he asks Gerald for a belt to hang himself. Gerald finally agrees, as long as another jail mate, Ralph, backs up the story that a different guard gave Cyrus the belt. As Cyrus prepares to hang himself, he gives Gerald letters to give to Ralph, who then starts to strangle Gerald to unlock both cell doors. Cyrus tells Gerald that he promised Ralph a kill, either him or Tom. Obviously, Gerald picks Tom, so they head to his cell, where on the brink of strangulation, Tom tells Cyrus that he didn’t kill Frankie. Cyrus tells Ralph to stop, and Ralph kills the guard instead. Tom confesses to Cyrus that he never killed Frankie, he just lied to hurt him.
Power Hungry
While Cyrus is working the jail system, Abby is on the outside trying to convince David not to try Cyrus on the death penalty. When he refuses, Abby pulls rank and says that the president ordered him to remove the death penalty from the case. David and the FBI director reluctantly agree.
Abby gets Elizabeth to see Cyrus to inform him of the news. However, the no death penalty is short-lived. During some pillow talk between the FBI director, Angela, and Fitz, she tells him what Abby did. This is news to Fitz, so the next day he calls Abby into his office and rips into her. He then holds a press conference saying that the case will be tried with the death penalty.
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A Short Celebration
With news of Cyrus’s arrest, Mellie is thrilled and celebrates with Olivia about her upcoming inauguration as president. Quinn and Charlie look on, so Olivia tells them that there’s really nothing to celebrate yet until Mellie is actually sworn in.
Meanwhile, Huck is obsessing over one of Frankie’s former campaign workers, Meg. She knew Jenny before she was killed. Huck befriends her, and tricks out her apartment with a security system. He even gives her some lessons in self-defense. In the time he spends with her, she tells him that she’s worried that whoever killed Jenny will come back for her. When Huck assures her that Tom is behind bars, she reminds him that Tom hasn’t been charged with anyone’s murder yet.
Huck goes back to the group with this news, so Olivia tells everyone to continue working to prove without a doubt that Tom killed Frankie and Jenny. But what they find confirms what Tom told Cyrus, Tom didn’t kill Frankie. In fact, they find out that Tom was in Atlanta the night of the murder, and that someone must have paid him to confess because there’s $2 million in his bank account.
So, No Madame President?
Now that Olivia has proved that Tom didn’t kill Frankie, it could be safe to say that Cyrus had nothing to do with it either. But where does that leave Mellie? And where does that leave Cyrus? And who will become the next president?
But the big question is, who killed Frankie? Jake has been suspiciously absent in season six of Scandal. My money is still on Jake and Papa Pope somehow putting the hit out on Frankie. They may not have pulled the trigger, but I feel they certainly had something to do with it. Papa Pope might have sworn he didn’t have anything to do with it, but when has Papa Pope ever really been truthful with Olivia?
And Abby needs to come down off her power trip. I get that she’s chief of staff, but pulling rank and speaking for the president, thinking he wouldn’t find out, is way out of line. Especially when his lover is involved. I’m wondering what is up this FBI director’s sleeve, what her ulterior motive is. Fitz seems to be moving quick with her, so I’m curious if that will pan out to anything or just fizzle.
What did you think of “The Belt?” Did you think that Cyrus would just give up? Were you surprised that Cyrus managed to get Tom to confess to him? Are you surprised that Tom didn’t kill Frankie? Let us know in the comments below. Scandal airs Thursdays at 9/8c on ABC. Want more news? Like BuddyTV’s Scandal Facebook page.
(Image courtesy of ABC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
