We open where we left off in episode five: Olivia, “Why are
you here?” Fitz, “I didn’t kill
Amanda Tanner.” Olivia, “I
know.” Fitz then says, as if it’s
Olivia’s fault, “You left me. She
was there. It was one time. A mistake.” Olivia, “You cheat on your mistress with your
girlfriend?” Fitz, “She’s not my
girlfriend, and don’t ever call yourself a mistress.” Fitz holds up the sex tape. “You need to hear this.” Olivia believes it’s a tape with Fitz and another woman; she
refuses.
Superimpose titles: TWO YEARS AGO
The then Governor Grant is giving a speech about how Sally
Langston is beating him. She won Iowa and they're in danger of losing New Hampshire. He asks
his campaign team for ideas.
Olivia speaks up and tells him the problem is his marriage. “It looks like you don’t screw your
wife.” People want to vote for
people they can invite into their home, have a beer with, like George Bush ‘cos
he looks like fun.
This is actually an interesting speech because the same
holds true for television viewers; audiences watch shows that contain a ‘family’ with which they resonate. Even if it's a family with extreme faults, it provides them with characters with whom they can sympathize, even empathize. In some cases, it makes them feel better about their own lives, family, jobs. It’s why people invite TV characters into their home week
after week. And in this episode,
we will develop a kinship with Olivia and Fitzgerald Grant. Instead of seeing them as the untouchable
President of the United States and high-powered Washington DC fixer, we will
relate to them as two people deeply in love who, because of circumstances and
timing, can’t be together. If you have a romantic bone in your
body, this episode will break your heart, which is perhaps why the show scores
high across all Key Women brackets (ages 18-34; 18-49; and 25-54)
Continuing, the Governor asks, “And you are?” And, there’s our sweet, diminutive protagonist standing proud, “Olivia Pope.”
In Cyrus’s office, Fitz tells Cyrus to fire her. When he turns around Olivia is standing
there. She takes off. Cyrus gives another of his sharp
speeches in which he describes himself as a sausage-maker, a nitty-gritty,
back-alley brawler for which politics is his hallelujah, heroin and reason to
breathe. But, Fitz, “You don’t
have the stomach for it, so you go on and make nice with Olivia Pope. Ger her back or you can go find another
sausage maker.”
Fitz chases after and catches up with Olivia. They stand toe to toe, warriors facing
off. She explains that she gave up
her job in order to volunteer for his campaign, she would eat, breathe, live Fitzgerald
Grant every day and “You’d be lucky to have me.” He agrees, “I would be lucky to have you.” Now they’re eye to eye and it’s clear
that he means something more; the attraction is mutual and it’s palpable. “Is this the reason you fired me?”
They resolve to get back to work and we cut to: both campaigns working a
Veteran Pancake breakfast in New Hampshire. A happy, eager intern delivers a schedule of events to Olivia
and Cyrus. It’s Amanda
Tanner. Cyrus thanks her,
“regardless of what party you’re voting for.” This seems like a throw away comment, but every piece of
dialogue in Scandal either advances
the story or contains sub-text. In
direct contrast, we cut to a close-up of Amanda Tanner laid out on a slab in the morgue. The DA calls Alissa, “We’re working
late tonight.” Oh! This is not going to be an ordinary
night, which we already know it isn’t because across town the President of the
United States of America is in his lover’s apartment without the benefit of the
entire secret service to protect him.
Amanda and Gideon have fun in bed. She’s about to leave when he tells her to stay to night;
he’ll go into the living room to work.
At the DA’s office we finally get to see Alissa, an Asian Barbie doll
with a penchant for eight-inch heels who is one bar-test away from becoming a
lawyer. The DA, David, tells her,
“We have a murder to solve.” He
outlines the Amanda Tanner situation… “Don’t you at least find that
interesting, incongruous, intriguing?
If so, what would be your first question?” Alissa replies, “Who in the White House would want her
dead?”
We’re back in the past and Mellie is aghast, “You cancelled
all our events?” Cyrus and Olivia
leave Mellie and Fitz to discuss the situation. A screaming argument ensues in which Mellie outlines
everything she’s done for him including giving up her career and having
kids. Fitz retorts with, “If
living on Pennsylvania is that important to you, suck it up and start acting
like this isn’t a dead marriage.”
Cyrus and Olivia hear every word.
The Governor and Mellie are questioned by reporters, with
James asking the leading question, “Five points down in the polls, isn’t it risky to be taking time off?”
Preparing for a morning talk show, Olivia and Fitz share an
intimate moment when she replaces his tie because the one he was wearing was
bad for the camera. Cyrus and
Olivia look on as the interview is underway and we learn that Mellie was first
in her class at Harvard Law.
Mellie makes a joke. Cyrus
says, “Not bad.” Olivia says, “Yes, but they’re still not touching.” At the next Grant campaign event, an
ice-cream social, Mellie proffers an ice-cream cone to her husband. He licks it and lands up with some on
his chin. On the sidelines, Olivia
is silently urging her to wipe his chin, wipe it. Seconds pass by and Mellie finally wipes his chin and then
licks the cream off her hand. He kisses
her and it’s a great photo opp that makes TV headlines, causing Sally Langston
to virtually have a fit because the tables are turning on her and it is not
God’s intention that she should lose.
She wants to know who’s running the campaign. Her wrath is aimed at Billy, who will do everything in his
power to find out what’s going on in the Grant campaign.
The night before the New Hampshire vote and the Grant
campaign is jubilant. Cyrus breaks
the news that they’re not going to win because a story is going to hit early in
the morning announcing that Mellie is having an affair. Little
Uh Oh! We certainly didn’t see
that coming. Olivia comments to
Fitz that she thought he and Mellie were doing great. He replies, “I think you underestimate how good a politician
I am.”
Sally wins the New Hampshire primary and Billy tells Olivia,
“You can’t spin a dead marriage.
Sally and Doug can’t keep their hands off each other; they’re like
teenagers.” We’ll eventually find
out the truth of that, but not in this episode. Billy offers the VP slot if they’ll concede before South
Carolina. Olivia declines and
Billy comments how confident she is for someone with no cards left to
play. Olivia, “I always have cards
left to play.”
At Grant HQ, Huck, barely recognizable through wild dreads
and an unkempt beard, chows down on pizza. Fitz, “That’s the man who’s going to save my campaign?” Earlier that day, Olivia brings coffee to
a homeless man on the street. He
announces, “You’re late.” Olivia
asks if he’s ready to enter the real world today. Back to Grant HQ and Huck is debriefing the team on the man
who has been following Mellie for six months photographing all her meetings and late-night conferences
with the man who heads up the Literacy Program. What makes things worse is that he isn’t denying the
affair, leaving the media to conclude that it's true. Huck has hacked into his
bank records and points out strange, incremental deposits that have been going
on for thirty years.
Olivia calls Abbey, still baking in Olivia’s kitchen, “Are
you ready for something new?”
Abbey says, “I’m thinking of going savory.” Cut to Abbey walking into offices bearing a tray of baked
goods. “What goes on here?” It’s a ‘specialty’ film company. Olivia tells Fitz and Fitz jokes about
how they’re going to use the information, who are you going to surprise me with
next? Olivia, “I got a guy,
another guy. Technically, he’s on
probation.” Cut to Harrison
watching porn in the Literacy man’s house; apparently the Lit guy has a fetish for sucking toes... that's the specialty film! The Lit guy walks in and
Harrison delivers his smooth, persuasive dialogue that leaves the opponent no
options. The Lit guy will make a
statement denying any untoward relationship with Mellie.
It’s the night of the Republican Presidential Debate in
South Carolina. Sally gets in the
first digs about immigration, wanting to protect the nation's borders, suggesting that
perhaps, “Governor Grant open his Santa Barbara home for amnesty.” The next question for the Governor
addresses his marriage, even though infidelity has been dismissed. Fitz gives a great political speech,
because he manages to tell the truth a la
Clinton that leads everyone to believe one thing when actually he means
another and that is after 20 years of marriage, there’s only one thing he can
say with absolutely certainty and that he is, “a man in love with an incredible
woman.” His eyes meet with
Olivia’s across the room.
In an elevator, Olivia and Fitz stand alone, close, but not
touching. He slowly inches towards
her and turns just as the elevator door opens and Cyrus, in a hallway packed with the
campaign team, pops champagne.
Fitz exits, leaving Olivia alone, quietly devastated.
Meanwhile, back in real time, Gideon is burning the midnight
oil on the phone tracking down Amanda’s Golden Retriever, the one that she
claimed the president gave her. He
learns that her boyfriend has the dog.
“Her boyfriend.
Really?” Alissa is
analyzing the White House logs, determines that Amanda never goes home,
concludes that whoever she’s doing it with, she’s doing it in the White House,
leaving 56 possible male candidates.
Super Tuesday is around the corner and Olivia is busy at
Grant HQ. Fitz follows her into
the hallway. Theu face each other.
“I’m married.” The situation is
impossible. He asks, “Can we just
stand here for one minute?” They
stand eye-to-eye, close, but not touching. “Just one minute.” She says, “One minute.” It’s testament to this show’s cast and
crew that two people standing silently for the best part of a minute in screen
time can be sexy, poignant and full of tension, which is broken by the ebullient
Mellie bursting in, horrified at what Wardrobe wants her to wear that
night. She hustles Olivia away,
but not before giving her husband an arched eye.
On the Grant Campaign Bus, Cyrus reads polls, announces they’re still down, not winning women votes. Some dirty campaign tricks are proposed and Fitz says,
“We’re playing this game above board, win or lose.” The scene ends on Mellie.
At a campaign stop before a crowd of Southern pie-baking
women, Mellie can’t take it any more; she tearfully confesses that the stress
of the campaign trail caused her to lose their baby. "Though it was only 8 weeks, it was a party of our family…" Bring out the tissues. Fitz had
wanted to quit, but she wouldn’t let him because she knows he’s the best man
for the job… The crowd eats it up.
Mellie turns to hug her husband, “I think that ought to take care of it,
don’t you?” End on Fitz’s
astonished face. Ouch!
In present time, Gidoen learns that Amanda was pregnant;
while Alissa goes through all the pics of White House employees, discarding
each one as fat, old, ugly. She
ends on Billy. “He’s cute.”
It’s night and it’s dark and quiet on the Grant Campaign
Bus. Olivia takes her coffee and
retreats to the back of the bus to sit next to Fitz. She offers her condolences, asks whether Mellie shouldn’t take a break. Fitz replies, “Twelve campaign stops in
two days, she’s thrilled. Nothing
keeps that woman down, not even a fake miscarriage. She’s a real catch my wife. I’m a lucky man.”
He continues, “I’m looking down at myself wondering how did I get
here? Why didn’t I meet you
sooner? What kind of coward was I
to marry her and not wait for you to show up?” Though I’m running this dialogue together, this is a long
scene with a lot of quiet moments and extreme close-ups. Fitz asks Olivia to say his name. She says, “That would be
inappropriate.” He asks again,
“Say my name.” Olivia struggles;
eventually she says, “Fitz,” and their hands inch towards each other.
At the hotel, Cyrus is leading the charge to his room, says
good night. Olivia’s room is next
with Fitz’s at the end of the corridor.
He tells her to go into her room, pretend this never happened. Her back is to him and we can’t see
what she’s thinking, but eventually she turns and leads the way to his
room. We next have a series
of intercuts mixing up and shortening the series of events. Nonetheless, for broadcast TV, it’s hot
and heavy. The only words uttered
are by Fitz, “Take off your clothes,” and as her panties fall to the floor the
camera pans to a recording device beneath the bed.
The person listening on the other end picks up the phone,
announces he has something and, soon thereafter, a package is delivered to Amanda Tanner with the
message, “This goes to your boss.”
Amanda delivers the package to Billy, and we cut to a montage of Amanda
being pulled from the water, photos of men at the White House, ending with
Billy hitting on Amanda. Amanda is a huge fan of Sally Langston.
Gideon, still burning the midnight oil, watches footage and
ends on Billy.
We zip through an historial montage of Fitz and Olivia that brings us back
to present time with the sex tape as V.O. culminating in Fitz, “Take off your
clothes.” Olivia is stunned into
realization. “They’ve had this for two years. Why now?”
Because all they had was a voice, they needed a girl. “They needed Amanda Tanner.” Oh
No! We’ve reached the point of
what the whole Amanda Tanner story is about.
Meanwhile, Alissa proposes that they subpoena the men at the
White House for blood samples. The
DA says, “We can’t subpoena. We
have a suicide and a hunch.”
Gideon, however, is forging ahead.
He’s on the phone asking to speak with Billy, when Quinn appears from
the bedroom and announces she’s off to get bagels.
Back in the past and Billy presents Sally with a flash drive
containing the sex tape. Sally,
however, has just accepted the position of Vice President. Billy begs her to listen to the tape,
but Sally is in full holy-roller stride telling a story about a farmer and his
crop. “One day God will burn the
weeds and save the fruit, but for now, let them grow.” Billy is sorely disappointed.
In Olivia’s apartment, dawn is breaking and Olivia tells
Fitz that he needs to get back to the White House before the press corps comes
in. The President stallw, “I
imagined your place a thousand times.
I like it. It looks like
you.” They both agree that he
should go, but, like other lovers, parting is such deep sorrow. Fitz says, “One minute?” She says, “one minute.” They sit on the sofa, his arm around
hers, and then she curls into him.
Time passes, eventually she stirs.
They stand and she helps him with his jacket. They stand face to face. He says, “Goodbye, Olivia.” She says, “Goodbye, Mr. President.” And the audience screams, at least this
one does, “are they never going to see each other again?!”
At Gideon’s apartment, Gideon confronts Billy with the
information he has that points to Billy being Amanda's boyfriend. Billy rants
about the morons that surround him, how he handed the story to Gideon on a
plate, sent him photos, logs, did “everything but draw you a picture of their
(president and Amanda) stick figures doing it. “It was an easy script, big letters, small words, you could
follow it in your sleep.” It dawns
on Gideon, “You sent her in to sleep with the president.” Billy admits he may be a joke but a
dead White House intern carrying the VPA’s love child is still a story. Billy stops in his tracks, cold murder
literally crosses his face. When
Gideon goes to fetch the coroner’s report, Billy stabs him in the throat with
scissors. Twist-a-Roo!
Two years earlier:
the President and VP are on stage with Billy, Cyrus and Olivia
applauding in the wings.
Recap:
It’s fitting that as we draw to the close of the season we are given insight into our characters' backgrounds and how they came
together, revealing what makes them tick and how this creates "characters who plot their own play." [Egri, 1946, p.100] This is done so cleverly, intertwined with the love story of Olivia and the President and the murder mystery
of ‘who killed Amanda Tanner?’
And, if we weren’t rooting for our lovers to be together, we
are now as Mellie is revealed to be a cold-hearted, political animal, whose aim
in life is to be First Lady.
Judging by the speech that she gave, i.e. I had children for you, we may
ask, “Did she ever love Fitz or was the White House always her goal?”
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