Scandal is back from its winter hiatus with the episode titled “One of the Dog.” Last we saw them, the president was in the hospital still in a coma, VP Langston was just sworn in and Huck was led away in handcuffs, being held under the Patriot Act.
Tortured and Beaten
The basement of the Pentagon — not exactly the place where I imagined them to “waterb — interrogate” Huck, in the words of David Rosen. David is the only one among the interrogators and those watching behind the invisible glass whose reaction matches ours — extreme uneasiness. There’s a nice exchange between Rosen and the CIA director about what’s good for the country and right vs. wrong in this situation.
But Huck isn’t budging. If any of them actually knew who Huck is — and I’m not exactly thinking they do — their tactics aren’t going to work. Even we know that.
Forged
Could it be? Is the president really awake? It appears so, as Edison receives a letter (while at Olivia’s of all places) signed by the president himself stating he sought to get full power back. Olivia and Cyrus feel cautious optimism as they walk down the hallway to the president’s room. It’s feeling all a bit too good to be true.
And it is. The first lady has forged his signature, which is a federal crime, and an act of treason. But she says she couldn’t sit still after finding out that Hollis Doyle might have played a role in her husband’s assassination attempt, especially with Hollis being by Langston’s side ever since she took over. He’s just a power-hungry freak, so she believes she did what she had to do.
As crazy as everything sounded, I believed Mellie’s belief that what she was doing was right.
Cat and Mouse Game
Olivia, Cyrus and Mellie are forced to keep up the charade that the president is awake, fully alert, and wants to be briefed on East Sudan and go about his regular duties after Hollis convinces Langston to leak the letter to the press.
Now it’s a media frenzy outside the hospital, and therefore the president becomes Olivia Pope and Associates’ newest client. The rest of the team work to try and convince doctors, even the Secret Service to lie to the press.
Meanwhile, Abby breaks into Hollis’ office and retrieves the secret phone that Verna Thornton, the Supreme Court justice, told them about. She jots down the lone phone number in the call history — and now it appears everyone’s piecing the puzzle together.
Letting Him Go
Huck finally breaks during his torture, but needs to know one thing: Is the president still alive? No one wants to answer, but David does. Well, then the president’s life is still in danger, Huck tells them.
With that piece of info, David takes it to Olivia — and reveals where they’ve been keeping Huck. Even after the many times that Olivia royally screwed him over, David Rosen is still one of the good guys. Perhaps the only good guy on this show.
Olivia manages to convince Langston to release Huck. A few glances at his CIA file seemed to convince her. With Huck out, they can then all set up the real killer’s fall.
What Comes Next?
The news of transporting the president to Camp David is part of it. It gives Becky the opportunity to be able to set up her sniper shot on the roof of a building that will give her prime aim to get the job done. But with Huck and Olivia one step ahead of her, she’s apprehended.
It’s not as anti-climactic as I would’ve liked but that’ll have to do. Quinn later then asks Olivia what we’ve all been wondering: Why not bring down Hollis Doyle since everyone knows he orchestrated everything?
Olivia is about to tell her, but then her phone rings. It’s the president! All alive and talking for real this time. But not all is right with him as we see in next week’s episode.
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(Image courtesy of ABC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
