By RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com, originally filed Thursday, February 12, 2015
Shonda Rhimes gave us two riveting episodes after the winter break that were paced much slower than normal. Tonight, we're back up to normal "Scandal" speed and it's an odd letdown.
But we do have one revelation that may guide the show down the road: Mellie wants to be president, Hillary Clinton style. And Fitz is okay with it.
Otherwise, the unprecedented "auction" of Olivia Pope is the focal point of the night. While any thought of a black person on sale is vastly awkward, this is Liv's idea. This is her way to find a way not to rot in prison before an incipient death. She thinks this is a possible way out.
She comes to an agreement with Ian to help lead her to a "reasonable" buyer. But Ian stupidly brings back Gus under the fold. He is one of the two underlings who watched over Liv two episodes ago in the fake prison. He happened to survive Liv whopping him on the head with a pipe and he's not pleased with the situation.
When he discovers what Ian is trying to do and may pocket at least $1 billion, he has a great idea: he shoots Ian in the head and plans to split the cash three ways instead of four. Ian's blood splatters all over a shocked Liv.
"This season's it girl," says Gus as he wipes Ian's blood off her face.
Unfortunately for Liv, Gus is truly sadistic, far worse than Ian. She tries to convince the two younger tech guys to join her side while Gus is inexplicably out of the room. She fails.
Gus is out because he had been holding face-to-face negotiations with someone from Iran. He purposely chooses them because he knows they are super evil. "You smashed my head and killed my best friend. Who do you think I was going to sell you to?" The auction is over. And we see her handed off to... who exactly?
In other related story lines:
Abby angry again. The now White House press secretary finally notices Liv's gone. She gets no help from the Gladiators. She's not a Gladiator anymore. She goes to Liv's apartment. She sees it in disarray. Oddly, nobody has bothered to clean things up (and the wine on the couch hasn't fully dried up!). Fitz later tells her what's going on. She yells at boyfriend David Rosen for not telling her. (A child abduction notice came up so I have no idea what she's saying for about a minute but I'm sure it wasn't that important.)
Cyrus back in business: Cyrus has Fitz fire the entire Secret Service staff and has the Navy SEALS watch him now that they know Andrew was in on the Liv kidnapping. (How this hasn't been leaked to the press, i have no idea.) He wants Andrew to resign for faking an assassination to push America into war with West Angola but Andrew says he'll bring Cyrus and Fitz down with him if they try that route.
Mellie's ambitions: Mellie realizes that if Andrew is forced to prison, he would take Mellie down, too, for sleeping with him, a traitor. She tells Fitz there's a double standard. "I'll be ruined," she says. Why? Because that would guarantee she wouldn't be able to be president. So Fitz agrees. Andrew walks to preserve her chances.
I want my cable! Huck can't find the auction. He says only bad folks can be invited in. Jake knows one black hat: Mama Pope. She has a connection to an evil-doer but wants something in return. David Rosen won't give her a backyard with grass or people to hang out with or a lower security prison. But she is cool with a TV and basic cable. (She can keep up with "Project Runway!")
Body part smorgasbord: Mama Pope has a connection with a guy but the only way he'd help is if Huck kills a few other bad guys. So Huck has a field day torturing these guys in ways that even grosses out Jake and Jake is no slouch in the killing department. He tells Quinn he is worried about Huck's state of mind. She insists he'll be okay - especially if they can get Liv back. But the auction shut down before they can bid. And when Huck describes what could happen to Liv if she ends up with the bad guys and Fitz doesn't do what they say, Liv would be killed gradually, body part by body part. His macabre rendering of Liv's bleak future perturbs Quinn to the point she starts pounding him and yelping, "Shut up you sick bastard!" His conclusion: "Olivia Pope is dead!"
Of course she won't die. That's one thing we know about her. She will figure something out.
Extraction vs. neutralizing: The U.S. knows that Iran will be getting Liv. How do they know that? No idea. Fitz wants to "extract" her but the Defense Secretary thinks it's smarter to "neutralize" her. Fitz will have none of it. He and Cyrus agree they will find a way to find her. He says he has sacrificed so many American soldiers for Liv, he has to get her back. We also see Mellie attending all funerals for fallen military.
QUOTES
"You are my b**** to the end of time" - Cyrus to Lizzie Bear.
"He likes severed limbs. It's like a horror film." - Quinn, on Huck
"We sleep better when she's lying between us." Mellie, referencing Liv and Fitz, metaphorically.
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