The dismantling of B613 and the knowledge of a bomb bring swift action in the immediate aftermath in the episode “Flesh and Blood” — Olivia Pope & Associates is the place for a real powwow with everyone.
Jake and Olivia’s team are already there, Fitz and Cyrus show up since, well, the president has to be there. Cyrus brings over his contacts — Charlie and Quinn — and Fitz calls in the one man who might know where to look for Maya. Yep, Rowan. Under the circumstances, the tension and silence shouldn’t be so amusing, but it kind of is.
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The Hunt is On
It’s six days before the election — it’s six days before the election?? — and Fitz wants to continue his public appearances despite the very real threat on his life. He seems to be particularly worried about where the NAACP stand, despite Olivia’s insistence that Sally doesn’t have their votes. It’s until she has to remind him that “I’m telling you I’m black. Sally doesn’t have the NAACP,” which sounds absurd to say just as it is to hear, but this show is absurd.
Anyway, it forced Fitz to stay put, although someone in the White House has died, an immigration official, and he might have to eventually deliver the eulogy.
Meanwhile, Rowan rolls up his sleeves and gets to work in tracking down crazy Maya, while Jake is left to go off on his own since those two obviously can’t work together. He shows up at Rosen’s office, all sitting in his chair and showing who’s boss. And he’s not happy that Rosen helped bring down the B613 empire. Jake orders Rosen to use the newly minted facial recognition technology to look for Maya, even though Rosen isn’t an expert with the system (he was too busy helping Liv and friends. Oops.)
Up to No Good
Leo is hard at work to get his boss elected to the big seat in the White House. It seems he has an inkling that Fitz’s son may not be his biological son. He bribes a girl to sleep with Jerry in order to get his DNA. Wait, scratch that, a toothbrush could’ve done the job, Leo tells the girl, but then it wouldn’t be as hilarious as watching her hand in a sample of his goods, right? In return he’ll have to get her into both Harvard and Yale. He also gets Rowan to get some of the president’s DNA … and soon Mellie’s secret will be exposed!
Olivia gets wind of this because of course she does. Abby bribes the doctor with some cold cash — although, frankly, it didn’t seem like too much. A small envelope of cash rather than a bag or briefcase to forge the results of a paternity test? But it works, and Sally sees the results, and all she can do is go “aw shucks.” You tried, Sally.
Olivia confronts Mellie with the information, and the scene is beautifully played out. Olivia has it figured out that one of the children isn’t Fitz’s, but she knows Mellie wouldn’t do that, wouldn’t be so careless. Although nothing is explicitly said, I get the feeling that Olivia knows it was bad. Not just an affair. But Mellie’s reaction is classic, admitting that she’s lived with the secret for 15 years, that she got her husband in the White House, and when will it be her turn?!
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Don’t Think Twice
Rowan tracks down Maya’s partner, Dominic, who can lead them to Maya. But even when his life is threatened with a gun, Maya could give two craps about it and hangs up before Huck is able to trace the call.
With his plan failed, Rowan does the one and only next move in his eyes: Kill Dominic, even with Olivia begging and trying to stop him. At least he has the decency to order her and Huck out of the room, but still, there was cold-blooded murder at Olivia’s office, and that can’t fly with her.
Their best lead is gone, Maya is gone and it seems like time is running out. Not only that but Fitz is ready to give his speech — at Defiance, Ohio of all places. Rowan believes the only way that bomb won’t go off is if Olivia’s there. Maya has never loved anyone besides her own daughter, and there’s no way she’ll kill him.
Going in for the Kill
So Olivia has run off to Ohio, Harrison is out tracking his own lead down but ends up with a gun to his head thanks to his fling and Charlie/Huck/Quinn are in charge of cleanup. But it’s mostly Charlie and Huck bickering like an old married couple. Quinn wants none of it and disposes Dominic’s on her own. Then, Quinn and Huck finally do it in the parking garage.
Unfortunately, they don’t see who’s walking by them … Maya.
She’s at Olivia’s office, alone with her father. She wants her daughter back.
Win At All Costs
It’s not that surprising to see that the speech wasn’t the actual spot of the bomb. Claire had been compromised recently, which meant that the plan was too. It’s just a nice distraction from the actual target spot, which Rosen and Jake figure out when they see Maya coming and going from the immigration official’s office!
That I didn’t see coming, that she killed him so the president would just have to be at the funeral. Cyrus learns of the news through Jake … but upon realizing that Sally is already at the place, he just does absolutely nothing since he’s Cyrus. To Cyrus, when life hands you a bomb, you throw it at your enemy.
Man, that is so evil, but of course, not surprising. He’s willing to kill innocent people so that his guy can retain the White House. Damn.
Meanwhile, Olivia had returned to her office. Then Huck and Quinn get there too — and they see her over his father’s stabbed body! Maya has practically killed her ex-husband.
And there you have it. Looks like next week’s finale will go through the events of the bombing. But how will it shock us and frustrate us and surprise us?
Scandal airs Thursdays at 10pm on ABC.
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(Image courtesy of ABC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
