Scandal Season 3, Episode 11: Ride, Sally, Ride

The show started with chaos: Sally is running for President! Everyone was running up and down the place trying to understand the impact of Sally’s decision to run. And I’m wondering how and why Sally decided to run, considering what Cyrus has on her: she murdered her husband.

Olivia: She was kissing Fitz in the Oval Office, all in the name at doing work when Mellie walked in, caught them kissing, and just acted like she ain’t seen jack. It doesn’t stop being awkward.

Sally: Her campaign manager went on television and planted a seed of doubt into the public. Now, people are wondering if Olivia really is Fitz’s mistress. Why ever would they believe that! Meanwhile, Sally is blaming the devil for inhabiting her body and killing her husband, and the look on her campaign manager’s face was, “Cool story, sis. Now go make me a sandwich.”

Fitz: He wants his former Lieutenant, Governor Andrew Nichols of California to become his new Vice President. No one is in support, especially Olivia. She has a gut feeling that Nichols is all wrong, but Fitz insists that he trusts him, that he’s loyal. Olivia hates that he’s never been married, and that he’s been seen dating different women.

Cyrus: He’s still as intense as ever, and he’s still not being straight with his husband, James. Pun intended. He’s not exactly lying to him this time, but he’s not telling him the truth either. He’s walking around on pins and needles. He has something on Sally, but he can’t really just say it because it implicates him, too. And to make it worse, her campaign manager is constantly in his face and tormenting him. Who knew that Cyrus could be tormented?

Jake: Since Jake is now the new Head of B613, he has told Charlie that Quinn wasn’t, isn’t now, and never will be a member of B613. Fresh out of a job, Quinn is considering baby sitting … because this is a perfectly normal career transition: from hired killer to babysitter. Of course!

Mellie: She’ll do anything to remain First Lady, and in some way, I can’t blame her. She’s already lost her husband to Olivia. Must she now lost her First Lady status, too? Desperate to kill the rumors about Olivia and her husband, she invites Olivia to a public place for lunch where the media is snapping away. Mellie gives Olivia a list of eligible bachelors – Black, White, Republican, Democrat. The cast is wide. Pick one. Date one. Anyone.

Harrison: Someone from his past is making his pee-pee jump. He’s on edge and literally stealing a gun from Abby’s drawer, but Abby caught him and said, “We want a gun, we ask…” and she says this ever so casually as if a gun is a cube of sugar.

Olivia: She doesn’t like all the attention she’s getting from the press about being Fitz’s mistress, so she offers to quit instead. Fitz refuses her resignation, of course. Instead, he grabs her and kisses her in ways that make me want to be his mistress, too. She tells him he will lose the campaign with her in, and he says, “I won’t win without you.” End of story. She’s not quitting.

James: It seems Cyrus’s husband is finally tired of being lied to. He has a campaign and agenda of his own: to bring Cyrus down. I guess the last straw that broke the camel’s back was when Cyrus set him up to have sex with Sally’s husband — which ultimately led to Sally’s husband’s death. James is now working with David and telling him that Cyrus is a monster. He has also put a recording chip into the picture of their child on Cyrus’s desk. And he’s anonymously giving information to a reporter — or more like giving her cause to question the death of Sally’s husband.

Rowan: Olivia’s father is out for blood. Since he was disgracefully and dishonorably discharged as Head of B613, he has had nothing but pure hate for Fitz. He told Olivia to save her time and start grieving for Fitz right now because it’s going to go do down. He tells Olivia that his greatest weapon against Fitz calls him Dad. Rowan organizes a meeting with Sally’s campaign manager. No idea yet what he’ll tell him, but whatever it is, it’ll most likely be damaging to President Fitzgerald.

Governor Andrew Nichols: He’s Fitz’s choice for Vice President, and he seems cool, calm, and collected. When Olivia interviews him and asks him why he’s not yet married, he gives her a bunch of cock and bull stories before he finally admits that he lost the one he really loves. Toward the end, he says to Mellie that’s happy to be there again, and when Mellie asks if he’s talking about being near the campaign, he reveals that he’s talking about being near Mellie: Andrew Nichols has previously shined Mellie’s congo [i.e. something has gone on between them — and Fitz doesn’t know] and she’s the one he lost.

In conclusion, Scandal won’t stop messing with my head. And I keep letting it.

*** All images via Scandal on Twitter.