Scandal: Inside The Bubble

I think we are about to hit our stride in Season 4 of Scandal. The last couple episodes have been great, don’t get me wrong, but this one felt different. We were playing catch up with everyone as they were still doing their own thing. All of the pieces started to come together and everyone’s story lines are about to start merging in classic Scandal way.

This week’s episode saw Olivia helping an old friend, Jake getting the information he needs and Cyrus looking for a glass of something other than water. Let’s get into it, shall we?

Let’s just get this out of the way right now: No I did not get my #oneminute scene this episode but if the preview for next week’s episode is any indication, IT IS COMING!

Mellie seemed a bit better in this episode. She passed on her daily cemetery visit in order to obsess over a news story about a “killer cliff” bride. Mellie doesn’t believe that the woman killed her husband and as a result, basically called a cabinet meeting with evidence she commissioned to prove her point and solve this mystery. She’s disappointed though – not that she wasn’t right because she was. The detective lets her know halfway through her defense that the case had been solved hours ago when eye witnesses came forward. While Mellie is happy about this outcome, we see the wind get knocked out of her. I’m positive though that she’s getting there – lawyer Mellie was in full effect for just a brief moment and it was great!

DAVID IS IN….

The bubble that is.

The main concern for the Grant Administration was the Elliot Gun Control Act, which was in danger of getting – and did, at first – blocked. David was brought into the Oval Office where Fitz stated that since he can’t be a soccer dad in Vermont (Shout out to my #TeamOlitz members!), he needs his administration to mean something, even if it means that people can’t just shoot up schools with AK47s. Now David had already started to feel what it was like to be inside the President’s “bubble” and he liked it so what does he do? Mr. Rosen uses one of his handy B613 files to convince the judge to reverse his stance. This gave David two gold stars from Fitz and the White House. However, it came at a cost: the judge later killed himself.

David’s hat has been getting a little dirty these past episodes and I am interested to see how this will take a toll on him. I know it will because in the end, David has always been about doing what is right and fair. Even though he got the short end of the stick before and the law hasn’t always been on his side his stance has always been strong. It has been wavering for a while and I wonder how long that will last. I know he will probably dip back into those folders again as the need arises, and it will arise, but how much is that going to change the David that we know?

ABBY IS NOT

Speaking of the bubble, one person who is not ever going to be in there is Abby. First of all, the only person who knows her name is Mellie. Cyrus calls her Red and Fitz calls her Gabby. It looked like it may be a little hope for her at the end when Fitz invited her for a drink in his office. He thanked her for the help with Mellie and said he appreciated her. She quipped that if would help if he would at least get her name right. After apologizing and offering her a seat, you would think Fitz probably wants to get to know her a bit more, right? WRONG! Mr. President only invited her to his office to inquire about Olivia. He wanted to know if she has spoken with her and if she’s doing okay. Abby’s face dropped. Poor thing, she has yet to realize that they don’t really give a damn about her. She’s basically holding that position until Liv comes back to The White House (which based on next week’s preview might be sooner than later – at least I hope so!).

OLD FRIENDS:

Olivia’s priority this week was helping her college friend Catherine find her missing teen daughter, Caitlin. Things go downhill after she does though. Huck discovers that Catherine was actually sleeping with her daughter’s boyfriend, which Caitlin threatened to tell the husband about, and Liv races to the hotel only to be too late – Caitlin was killed. Catherine insists that she had nothing to do with and though Huck may have discovered evidence that proves that she was telling the truth, Catherine was still arrested.

A telling scene in this episode is when Abby stops by Liv’s apartment to get an update on Catherine (they all went to school together). She leaves empty handed as Liv refuses to tell her anything even after Abby reverts to her old job and starts listing off the things that Huck and Quinn should have already done. Liv doesn’t budge though it looks pretty painful for her to do – it is then that I believe Abby sees just how bad things are between her and Liv.

OLIVIA’S BOYFRIEND

We know she doesn’t have one. Jake knows this and made that known to her this week. She knows this too but still seemed a bit taken aback when he said that to her after refusing to let her in. Honestly, I don’t think she even wants Jake to be her boyfriend. The thing is, Jake is comfortable for Olivia. She doesn’t even have a piece of Fitz right now and I think she’s trying to fill that void. As much as I am pro #OLITZ and will never leave, even I can admit that their relationship is just a ball of confusion and they feed off each other – which is good and bad in so many ways that we won’t get into now. I say all of this say: Jake is in love with her, we all know this – he has admitted this to her. She’s not in love with him and they both know that. But it is something about Jake that lures her to him – she needs him though she will never admit that. After his refusal to let her in and declining her dinner invitation, a sad and frustrated Liv tells Jake that she is “done”, though we know that is a lie.

Well, when he says it like that, I would probably call him too!! Image via @ScandalABC — Well, when he says it like that, I would probably call him too!!
Image via @ScandalABC

Let’s talk about why he declined the dinner date. Olivia wants Jake to have dinner with her and her father. Yes, Rowan Pope. The same man who put Jake put in a hole. Now do you blame him? I would have said HELL NO too.

DINNER WITH DADDY DEAREST

Jake ultimately agreed to dinner. Why? Because Jake has found proof that Rowan not only killed Harrison and Adnan but had Jerry killed as well. The reason he didn’t want Liv to come into his hotel that night was because he was connecting the dots. Dinner seems to go by okay at the Pope household, though Jake only gives one word answers, until Olivia leaves the dining room to take a call. Jake puts his cards on the table: asking Rowan why he killed Harrison, was it because he found out about Jerry Jr.? Jake demands that Command get out of town and never come back because he refuses to let him hurt Olivia anymore. But do you think Papa Pope would just take that sort of thing quietly? No. He plunges a steak knife between Jake’s fingers (they were spread) and declares, “I’ll be the one standing over you when you die.” They put on a mean poker face when Liv comes back into the room though.

At the end of the episode, we see Jake spying on Rowan as he goes about his day. Did Jake really think Rowan would just leave? He should know better than that. The question is , now that Rowan has called Jake’s bluff – what is Jake going to do about it?

ONE REQUEST

Jake had to get all this damning information from somewhere. Where else but our guy Charlie? After smashing Charlie’s face into a candy machine, he takes him prisoner. Charlie is willing to give him what he needs – he just has one request: He wants a night with Quinn. Jake comes through for him and though she tries to resist him at first, Charlie’s mind games about how she has no people get to her and they kiss (ewww! Though not as cringe-worthy as Huckleberry Quinn going at it!).

Charlie’s words about Quinn having no one does take on extra meaning when Liv and Huck didn’t even realize she was gone for 24 hours. After laying into them she storms off where later Huck tells her that the next time she goes missing, he will look for her. In Huck terms, that’s basically saying “I Love You.”. As much as I don’t like Quinn, she does have a point. She really did keep tabs on everyone and made sure everything would be okay once the OPA team came back together. They should have noticed she was gone and been at least a little worried, considering all that has already happened with Harrison – which she did point out. The band is back together but not all the way, Liv has to be extra vigilant about her team now more than ever.

ARE YOU THIRSTY?

Cyrus and Michael are playing this cat and mouse game and cross paths a few times until Michael finally invites Cy to quench his thirst, to replace that “dry lump in his throat”…. with something that we know isn’t water! Next we see, Cyrus is giving $2,500 to Michael the next morning who then reports to RNC Liz, that it is all going as planned.

CYRUS!!!! Didn’t I tell you not to do that? Didn’t I warn you that this boy is using you?! Is it too much to hope for that Michael might change his mind after spending some more time with Cy. Though Cyrus is a monster, there is something about him that is lovable – you just have to peel back all of the layers.

Liz played on his emotions at a time where Cyrus is uncharacteristically vulnerable and I shutter to think of what is going to happen when all of this finally comes to light.

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Natalya

Natalya is an Account Manager by day and an editor and author's assistant to passionate creatives by night. When she is not adding to her enormous book collection or stationery supply, she is catching up on her favorite television shows.

Natalya is the author of All The Things I Never Said, a soul-stirring collection of short stories, prose and love letters for the soulful wanderers, the brokenhearted and the hopeless romantics.

You can follow her rantings and occasional sparks of brilliance on Twitter @NatalyaMuncuff.