Everything’s Coming Up Mellie: Scandal Episode 307 Recap
For a show that is notorious for shocking us with a new development every episode to outdo itself is no small feat and Scandal did that with episode 7 of season 3. When it ended, I literally spent 20 minutes just mumbling to myself saying “OMG I CAN’T” at random intervals. Tonight, it was her turn to shine. Or burn. She did both and Shonda hemmed my emotions up and still hasn’t let go. Let’s just get right into it.
Reality Mellie – Mellie is getting her “Real Housewives of the White House” on as a camera crew follows her on a tour of the East Wing. She’s talmbout the cocktail reception she’s planning to highlight some of the paintings she had restored in the White House.
Flashback to Santa Barbara – Fifteen years before, Fitz and Mellie are waking up and about to get their freak on when his father interrupts them. The ultimate cockblocker. When they get downstairs, Big Jerry introduces them to Cyrus Beene, who is rocking a terrible hairhat and a respectable beard. He’s there to help him get into the Governor’s mansion and Cyrus circles around them like a vulture.
Shooting with Sugar – Quinn is at the gun range getting her practice on with Charlie. He tells her he’s a private investigator now and she’s sopping it up with a biscuit.
Call from Boo – Olivia is on the way out when her Fitz phone rings. She leaves but runs back in to answer. GIRLLL GET A GRIP! Stop! He is calling because he’s worried about her and she flips out and calls him a stranger. “I’m surrounded by men who are murderers…I’m surrounded by men who have a body count. I’m standing in a graveyard made by people I thought I loved.”
Fact, Liv. She mentions Rowan and he asks her “How do you know Rowan?” “Oh that’s just my evil daddy” shoulda been the reply. He warns her to stop digging into Operation Remington and she hangs up on him. OOP.
I must take this time to give a SHOUTOUT to that Black tuxedo coat-dress Olivia had on in this scene! WHOOOOO!! It was Dior and it was splendid. Also, the fact that she’s in mostly black is so telling because she’s in a dark place and her usual white ain’t gon do it.
Cyrus’ Strategy and Daddy Issues – In a flashback, Cyrus is giving Fitz and Mellie strategy on what they need to do to position him as Governor as Fitzgerald Grant II (aka Big Jerry) looks on. Since Fitz is the third, I might start calling him President Trey. Cy suggests that he runs as a “war hero” and Fitz shoots it down (hehe pun). Now we know it’s because homie felt shady about the part he played in Operation Remington.
Re-election Scheme – Mellie needs an image revamp and that’s why the camera has been following her. She’s getting all the public disdain for her heaux ass hubby. However, for him to have a fighting chance at re-election, she needs to become more likable. Also, Cyrus knows that VP Sally’s hubby, Daniel Douglas is slightly sleazy so they plan on hiring a hooker to bait him. Chile, desperate times…
Gladiating for Maya – Olivia tells the Gladiators that their latest client is her mother, Maya Lewis. She spills the tea about flight 522 being shot down on her father’s orders. They all look shocked but then she puts up the picture of the person who shot down the plane and it’s President Ghost. If I was one of the Gladiators, that would make me just leave that table. TOO MUCH!
Huck, Harrison, Abby, Quinn and Jake get right to work and find out that the plane left Dulles Airport 27 minutes after it was scheduled to. The senator placed in charge of investigating the crash of flight 522 was… FITZGERALD GRANT II! Big Jerry was involved in the cover up?!?! *faints* Meanwhile, Baby Huck made sure to come to Huck to tell him “told you so!” That lady would give tylenol a headache. UGH!
Father Fallout – We flashback to Big Jerry chewing Fitz out for not wanting to listen to him and run as war hero. He tells his son that he told him not to join the Navy so look at the mess he’s created.”You’re a senator’s son! You had a trust fund!… It shoulda been some poor kid from some backwoods town who shot that plane down. Not MY boy!… I own you.” Mellie walks in just in time to hear her father-in-law tell her husband that being a Grant is the ONLY thing he has going for him. That is way harsh.
Abby’s Sympathy – Olivia is in her office when Abby comes in and says Remington goes deeper than they thought, because of the involvement of Fitz II. Liv says her father ordered the plane to be shot down but remember her father answering her question that he did not? I believe him. 22 years before, he didn’t have the power to ask for such a thing. Anywho, Abby tells her boss that she’s gonna hug her and she gotta deal. She’s basically like “Girl, you need one of my awkward hugs.”
Liv don been THROUGH it!
Crouching Idiot, Hidden Kiss – Quinn is spying on Charlie in some hotel parking lot while hiding in a bush and he of course walks up on her because she’s not stealthy. He then pushes her against the wall and tongues her down. The entire world basically went “EW!” Ain’t nobody here for that.
Stood Up – Mellie’s filming with Baby Teddy, and they’re supposed to take footage of her and the President playing with their last born. As her and the cameras roll into the Oval Office, they’re met with crickets. He didn’t show up. Womp womppppp! Not cool!
Also, she tells Sally that one of her staffers complained that Daniel was being fresh with her. The VP replies by saying her husband keeps his hands to himself. Yeah… aight.
Begging Cyrus – Old School Cyrus walks out because he ain’t here for the Grant’s drama but Mellie runs after him. He tells her that his job isn’t to babysit her man; it’s hers. But Melie reminds him that she’s a partner at a law firm so it ain’t her job either except it is. “If he’s going to walk in a position of power, HE is your charity work. He is your full time job.”
Can we please get into the flashback hair hats everyone’s wearing? HA! Between the hair kufi the placed gingerly on Cyrus’ head and Mellie’s terrible wrap wig, I was cracking up.
Will He Show Up? – Mellie barges into Cyrus’ office, mad as hell that Fitz made a fool of her by not showing up for her “Real Housewives” shoot. There’s an interview they’re supposed to film the next day and Cyrus can’t guarantee to her that he’ll show up.
Omar Dresden – Harrison and Abby go talk to the lady who was the gate agent on the day of the plane crash. She tells them that a federal marshall delayed flight 522 from leaving because someone was being taken off the plane. His name was Omar Dresden.
Abby puts his pic up on the Gladiator window. They are now on a mission to find out if anyone saw him being taken off the flight. Right then, Quinn gets a call and it’s Sugar Charlie asking her out on a date. UGHHHH!!!
Wayward Warning – VP Sally is fixing her hubby’s tie when she drops some not-so-subtle hint to him that he needs to keep his peen in his pants as she begins to campaign for president on the Indie party ticket. OOP.
The Incident – Flashback to Mellie sitting with an intoxicated Big Jerry as he rants about being a good father to Fitz because he never beat him. I will walk away from that before making a Color Purple reference. MELLIE KNOWS FITZ SHOT DOWN FLIGHT 522?!?! Wow. She knows Fitz more than Olivia EVER could and this is one of the reasons. She knows ALLLLL his dirt.
Then, Big Jerry starts to touch her leg and she moves his hand away. But the man wasn’t taking no for an answer. He laid himself on top of her, pinned her down and forced himself inside her as she disassociated. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! IT WAS NOT OKAY! IT WAS NOT ALRIGHT! OMG OMG OMG!!! Mellie Grant was raped by her father-in-law and I felt like crying for her and how terrible she’s been treated by everyone, especially Fitz.
Fight for Me – Mellie, looking ravishing in red, waits in the Oval Office until Fitz comes in. And she lets him have it in the most touching way possible. She is hurt that he didn’t show up to the taping but it’s just another example of him being careless with her.
“You didn’t show up for me. You left me hanging and I had to do everything myself. I always have to… If you knew the pieces of myself that I have given away for you…You declare war on me and you shame me and you make me beg for scraps and I’ve done nothing but fight for you…the least you can do is be my friend. The least you can do is show up for me.”
And my heart broke into tiny pieces because that was 15 years coming. And we know what she meant about pieces of herself. And he is NEVER nice to her. This woman has SACRIFICED for him and all she gets is side-eyes from this man.
We flashback to Mellie walking into the bedroom with Fitz, looking utterly broken from being raped by Big Jerry. She wants to go take a shower but he insists she comes to bed and he cuddles her.
Showing Up – It’s time for the interview and Fitz isn’t anywhere to be found so Mellie is already coming up with excuses to the reporter when she walks up behind her. The reporter asks Melie how she feels since a third of the American public question her emotional stability for airing out their dirty laundry publicly. Fitz steps in and firmly says “I had the affair. I should be sole carrier of blame and embarrassment for this fiasco. I made the mistake. I’ve apologized for it. Now it’s time. I am moving on. We are both trying to move on.” FINALLY! Thanks for speaking up for her, Trey! That is the least you can do! (-__-)
Mission Date – Charlie and Quinn are sitting in a car, on some sort of twisted date that’s really a mission. Then they start making out and I’m wondering about how foolish she really is. WHY WOULD YOU BE FRATERNIZING WITH YOUR MENTOR’S ARCHNEMESIS?!?! Ugh.
After playing tongue hockey, Quinn walks into a building where a security dude is sitting behind a desk (clearly, this ain’t Liv’s building. Shade). She grabs his hand when he tries to hand her a pen and jabs the needle that Charlie gave her into it all hapzardly.
Thinking he’s asleep, she calls Charlie. Then she looks over and sees the man foaming at the mouth. He hits the floor and she realizes that he’s dead. Her GOOFASS just made her first kill and she was tricked into it. FAIL, BABY HUCK! UTTER FAIL! This is why you can’t have nice things!
Morning After – We flashback to the morning after the incident and Mellie joins her father-in-law at breakfast. Having to look into the face of your rapist after the fact is the story of too many people who’ve been assaulted. She takes their time alone to tell him to apologize to his son and show his support without being the verbally abusive asshole he typically is. “You will tell him that he doesn’t have to run on his military record.” And people say she doesn’t love Fitz. Come on.
Cocktail Coupling – It’s the night of Mellie’s cocktail party and she thanks President Ghost for showing up for her at the interview. He says he meant every word of it. As they mingle with guests, Cyrus is watching the hooker they hired try to bait Daniel Douglas but he isn’t biting. James comes up and Cy dismisses him right before he blurts out that he was just fired. AAWWWW!!! Woo woo woo Mr. Novak-Beene. As Mellie strides over, he tells her that the hook-line ain’t sinking but when she looks over to Daniel, she sees he’s REALLY into James. AW SNAP!!! It must be hot in that closet!
ALL THE TEA SPILLT – A man brings a folder to Fitz in the Oval Office and he updates him that Olivia isn’t in imminent danger.
Jake shows up to the building Quinn just left and sees EMT zipping up a body bag with the security guard in it. He calls Olivia to tell her and she knows that her father probably got there first. Or one of his minions.
Quinn is placing a call to Huck when Charlie shows up to stop her. He says Huck would be totes disappointed in her since there’s footage of her killing homeboy. And he tells her “You belong to B613 now. Welcome to Wonderland.” Seems that the security guard kill was the initiation she didn’t know she was having. DUMMY!!! THAT’S WHAT YOU GET!
Fitz’s guy comes with info on Olivia’s parents, including a picture of Maya Lewis. He says her father is Elijah Pope, who works at the Smithsonian and he had to work hard to find a picture of him but he did. It’s an old pic and Fitz pulls it out, presenting his well-known “Fitz Face” of realization. And he knows that him and Liv are truly strangers. MMMHHHMMM President Ghost. Command is Mr. Pope.
Rowan Pope struts into a prison and he says he’s there to visit Omar Dresden. He shows his top level clearance badge and goes through door after door and it’s a lot of security wherever this person is. He finally enters a cell and sits down as the inmate comes from under the blanket. IT’S… OLIVIA’S MOM!!!
I. DON. DIE! TELL ME HOW I’M POSED TO BREATHE WITH NO AIR, LAWD! Where is Verna’s tank?!?!?!
The episode shoulda just ended here, honestly. But we flashback to a party that Fitz and Mellie are throwing to thank the people who’ve signed up to work on his campaign for Governor. When Fitz notices that she doesn’t drink the champagne she’s holding, he realizes that she’s pregnant! He’s giddy and gives her a huge hug as she looks super nervous. COULD HER BABY BE BIG JERRY’S?!?!?! DOES FITZ HAVE A BROTHER-SON?!?! Please Shonda. Do not break my heart like that. Tell me Mellie ends up finding out her baby was Fitz’s. DON’T BREAK MY HEART!
I CANNOT BREATHE!!!!! RUNS AROUND MY HOUSE LOSING MY SHIT BECAUSE I AM UNABLE TO CAN. I AM CAN DEFICIENT. MY ABILITY TO CAN IS DONE! THERE IS A WORLDWIDE SHORTAGE OF DEALAGE!!!!
THIS EPISODE DID SO MUCH! So much tea was spilled that Lipton factory must exploded in the Scandal writing room.
VP Sally’s husband is gay. Quinn is now B613. Mama Pope is alive. Fitz’s daddy raped Mellie and their first born might be his brother-son.
I have so many thoughts and questions.
First of all, MAMA POPE LIVES!!! I just knew she couldn’t be dead. She’s been in a cell for 22 years??? I thought she was gon be chilling in a remote island living the life. I didn’t expect she’d be locked up like that. WHAT PART OF LIFE IS THIS?!?!?
Now I’m hella curious. If she’s in jail, then she’s not some innocent person who was caught up in the crossfire of Rowan’s mess. She musta did something or maybe she was the person who put the bomb that Jerry was talmbout on that plane. Maya Lewis was a goon, yall! And maybe even a bigger goon than Rowan. Also, can we see now that he probably didn’t make the order for the plane to be shot down? Something tells me that when we find out what is REALLY behind Operation Remington, we’re all just going to wanna quit everything. It’s deeper than the pacific!
Quinn is a case of curiosity killed the cat. Her “20 questions” self is now a part of B613 because she’s nosy to a fault and she’s now gotten herself into the world’s most powerful gang. Look at her life and look at her choices. She was feeling dismissed by Huck so she ran into the arms of his enemy. Well, she’s gonna be getting a taste of whiskey more often now. Also, I wanna punch her GOOFASS!
And for the most important person in this episode: Mellie Grant. I MUST give Bellamy Young ALL the salutes because she was AMAZING! She’s been stealing the show all season and this episode was her chance to truly shine and she was blingy like a diamond.
People don’t like Mellie because of the love for Olivia and we sometimes forget she’s really not the enemy. She’s power-starved, manipulative and hella devious. BUT I also firmly believe that she loves her husband. Every single thing Mellie does is not solely for power because some of it is for the approval of the man she married. That same man who looks at her with disgust, as he plays kickball with her feelings constantly. He looks through her so often that she ends up being like a show dog saying “Look what I can do.”
I’ve been falling in love with Mellie Grant all season 3 but after tonight, me and her officially go together and I’m now a member of Team Mellie. That woman is the RIDEST OR DIE-EST lady EVER. She’s sacrificed SO MUCH for Fitzgerald Grant and she truly gets very little in return. Even as First Lady, she’s lost the respect of most people when she talked about Fitz’s hoshit. But for over 15 years, she’s suffered for his benefit.
This brings me to the most important thing that happened in this episode: Mellie’s rape. That was the hardest scene I’ve ever had to watch on this show and I cringed and was horrified and I averted my eyes. For many people, that scene was so tough and I expect a lot of pieces on it today and I’m hugging everyone who felt that to their core because it triggered their own abuse. However, people’s reaction to Mellie after the rape surprises me. Some even say that because she didn’t fight back, it proves that she set up herself to be raped so she could use it as leverage and I’m appalled by that thought.
WHO THE HELL SETS THEMSELVES UP TO BE RAPED?!? That’s so callous and such a dangerous way to think and part of the reason why women who do get assaulted carry stigma and shame with it. No one allows themselves to be raped. There is NO glory that comes with someone violating you to that level. That wasn’t a “setup.” Rape is not a tool that women use to get the upperhand. Those three stories you might have heard mean nothing when MILLIONS are victimized.
And then many people maintain that she brushed it off and used it to blackmail Big Jerry at the breakfast table, therefore minimizing the impact it really had on her. Although I do wish they would have let Mellie stay vulnerable post-assault, I understand why she dealt with him like she did. She did what she could to figure out a way to not lose EVERY PIECE of her power. He had taken a lot of it the night before. That was probably her being in survival mode. DEFENSE MECHANISM, PEOPLE! Whether people agree with how she dealt with Fitz’s father the day after, her response should not negate her trauma.
Ugh! I’m tired and this recap is already giant, so GLADIATORS ROAR in the comments!!!
Why do you think Maya Lewis has been in prison all these years? How did you feel about the rape scene and how the morning after was handled? Did this episode change your views of Mellie? Just go forth and chat!
P.S. This is my longest recap EVER.
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299 Comments
FIRST!!! (or second!)
After last night I really want them to slow down its soo much and I want them to not give me so much at one damn time! I couldn’t even sleep last night I was so distraught lol
Second this. After reading I am taking a nap!
I was EXACTLY there myself. Woke up in the middle of the night thinking about this episode – actually had a hard time figuring out if it was LIFE or a dream! SOOOO much and I was soo NOT prepared at all! WOW!!!!
I so agree. I was just thinking it is time to slow it down so I can process some this drama.
Luvvie..
been looking for this for over an hour.
Glad to see it.
I don’t even know where to begin about last night’s show.
I guess I gotta go with
When ‘Welcome to Wonderland’ isn’t the most shocking moment of your episode..
You have been writing FIERCE.
Quinn ….we told your ass to go somewhere and have a timeout.
But, she thought she was ready to play in the big leagues, even though she’s a fucking guppie, and in the end, she’s so out of her league and jumped straight into hell.
You knew Charlie was NO DAMN GOOD, but she was like Icarus and that sun…and now her ass has melted.
Mama Pope is a GOON.
No other explanation for it.
She’s a GOON. Papa Pope’s a GOON.
Olivia’s was raised by the Black equivalent of Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
I never saw HIM holding her captive. I didn’t see that one coming.
Mellie?
Oh Mellie. I’m on team Mellie and I understand Mellie a lot more now. She broke my heart.
I’m going to have to go back and watch the show all over again to see what I missed..cause we didn’t even get into Sally’s hubby being on the Down Low.
Cyrus had a wife? ….sigh.
And POTUS finally getting the connection between Rowan and Olivia.
You literally couldn’t turn away a minute in this episode, or you would miss something.
ALL of this!
LOLOL @ Olivia being raised by the black Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Hell yeah she was!
I totally compared them to Mr. And Mrs. Smith too!! One interesting fact that a friend pointed out last night was that Cyrus Beene was driving a STATION WAGON!! Does Cyrushave an old family somewhere???
When Daddy Pope was strutting down all them hallways flashing his badge I knew it couldn’t be anyone else but Mama Pope in there!!
What about the way she tells him she needs to see their daughter and she wants HIM to make it happen!!!
C’MON QUINN how can you call something going on between Olivia’s and her dad but not see this Charlie setup from a mile away!! I can’t even call you Baby Huck because you ain’t got the commonest of spidey senses!!
I heard him say he had a “WIFE” at home.
Quinn lost all of my respect. what kind of STUYPIDNESS was that? how on earth can u believe that Charlie fancies you when he’s tried to kill you in the past and Huck??? SERIOUSLY!
Interesting since Kerry Washington was in Mr & Mrs Smith
Cyrus had a wife… I am so glad to see someone else caught that too.
The Black Mr and Mrs Smith though…I’m dying at how accurate this is LOOOOOL.
YES!!! “Olivia’s was raised by the Black equivalent of Mr. & Mrs. Smith.”
I just told my husband (both of us love Scandal and he’s the one that got me watching it) that I bet Olivia’s mom and dad had a relationship like Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Olivia’s mom is a bigger assassin beast than Mr. Pope.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who made the connection of Olivia’s parents to Mr. and Mrs. Smith, LOL!
I needed this recap because I needed to see the events that unfolded in writing because I can’t …like I just didn’t know how to go on after all that was thrown at me. That was some season finale material and honestly I would be fine if Shonda left me on ice until January. Because…chile….woooo! Now I need to get ready to actually read this recap.
I just cant.
Wow… that episode took a lot to process. Kudos to the actors (and makeup folk!) in the flashbacks because we’re talking what, a good 15-20 years ago and they (Mellie, Cyrus, and Fitz) did it well. Even Big Jerry as he began to groom Fitz for political office.
I say again: DO NOT be fooled by Mellie. She is no shrinking violet. Why do folk keep forgetting that she knew Big Jerry BEFORE Fitz? Big Jerry hooked them (Fitz and Mellie) up! This was brought out during an episode in Season 2 (because we’re in Season 3 now, yes?)
The assault was horrible. No question. I do believe Big Jerry “knew” Mellie (as in the biblical sense) prior to the tragic event shown in this episode. I think Mellie made some choices around this time to sacrifice herself for the greater plan of political power.
Sally’s husband is low-down and down low! Yikes! And then he’s hitting on James? He has no shame in his game. James has been annoying but I tolerated him for kicks but sometimes he’s just so whiny! LOL! And Cyrus probably won’t think twice about “giving” James over to Daniel (Sally’s DL husband) for the greater plan to keep political power.
Quinn/Lindsay/Bumbling Spy: Sigh…. Shonda: stop trying to make Fetch/Lindsay happen! Finish her character and give the remaining screen time to Harrison so we can know why he exists.
Ok. Let me go back and read AL’s recap and I will probably have more to say post-perusal. Keep being great Awesomely!
Mellie “knew” Jerry before Fitz? No just no just all kinds of NO. I know you didn’t mean it this way (at least I hope you didn’t) but this sounds like you’re making excuses for the Rape. I don’t think in any way that Mellie slept with Big Jerry before Especially since she loved Fitz and knew his dad was a cheater. That doesn’t even make sense.
By no means anywhere or anyhow in this time/universe continuum was I suggesting that that there was any excuse for the rape. There was none.
I do believe Big Jerry and Mellie had some kind of (intimate) association prior to the start of Fitz and Mellie. Mellie kept emphasizing that Fitz was her husband now. It surprised me at how Big Jerry was so free to feel up on Mellie in the sense that:
1) his level of debauchery and entitlement is such that he just takes what he wants whenever he wants it or
2) he has known Mellie intimately in the past and thought she would be “willing”. When she said no the FIRST time he should have stopped. And I don’t think her lack of resistance indicated that she was a willing participant. I think she did what she had to do to survive THAT MOMENT.
I do think she made some decisions per the breakfast table conversation. I do think as noted in future scenes with him (like flashbacks from Season 2 when she was all googly-eyed is that she buried the trauma(s) for the greater good of Fitz’s political career.
Dove, I like your point of view. It was something about this that made me think that Mellie has been in this situation before. I believe she has been raped before (perhaps repeatedly by the same person when she was a child)and she has now learned how to cope (maybe not the right word) with this trauma. Not saying the rape is right. I am saying that Mellie has a Ph.d in mastering the art of dealing with negative situations. Remember this woman induced labor to get her husbands attention. I love Mellie and she is definitely the girl I would want on my team, although I am still all about Team FitzO. I was hoping to see more of Mellie’s life before Fitz. But if Shonda has not taught me anything else, she has taught me that ain’t nothing what it seems to be.
Nope Mellie didn’t “Know” Big Jerry. She was introduced/set up with Fitz by Big Jerry & Her father (I think?). A more accurate description might be Big Jerry knew who she was and picked her as the right gal to marry his son. The scene in season 2 made it seem like Big Jerry wanted his son to marry the right kind of gal, someone said, ” I know this gal, right Southern family, old money, intelligent, etc….” and just like Cy & Mellie picked that call girl for Sally’s husband, it was decided that Mellie was right gal for Fitz.
HOWEVER – regardless of their history, that scene last night was still rape because Mellie said “NO!”.
Ok. Rape is rape because “no” means no. But wasn’t there a feeling of deja vu, of been-here-done-this when Big Jerry put his hand on her knee? Ain’t excusing nothing. Just saying it felt like this was not the first time.
Also, how did Big Jerry know about Fitz shooting down the plane? If he was on a terrorism sub-committee, does that mean other folks know? And if other folks on the committee had access to this info, what did Big Jer do to silence them? And if they didn’t, if BigJ just covered up this mess on his own, then perhaps he was a bit more powerful than just a senator.
Big Jerry said that “I’m going to tell you something that only 20 people in the world know”. So others know. The cover up happened outside, likely before the subcommittee investigation. Remember Pete Foster and the missing flight plan for him and how Fitz was thought to be piloting on the Ops Remington mission giving support cover for Jake and 4 or 5 others on the ground. That is the coverup and that happened, making it appear that Fitz was in that plane Foster was flying, so that committee examining down planed never knew about Fitz on special mission in Ireland.
Oops…I meant “Iceland” not “Ireland”…
From what we’ve seen Bug Jerry was a mean womanizing abusive drunk. Mellie may have been used to that and thought his putting his hand on her knee was more of the same, bit I don’t get any implication that Mellie & Jerry were flirty with each other.
Yes Big Jerry knew about Fitz shooting down the plane. He said he had to call in many favors to get that covered up.
*but*
I agree. By no means am I say she deserved what big Jerry did to her and am in no way saying rape is Ok but Mellie is power hungry. Big Jerry is powerful and she wants power. He set her and Fitz up and he could break them apart. Big Jerry did say she was becoming worthless at one point in the scene.
Ooooh, if Big Jerry knew Mellie in that way beforehand, that would be a super deep revelation on Mellie and overturn any sympathy she may have just gained n the episode.
I love the Mr and Mrs Smith analogy – lets see some black folks running t’ings!
I actually think Sally’s hubby is bi because he was such a realistic flirt with Mellie; it would be the worst case scenario for Sally because she would have no clue whatsoever on how to control that kind of wandering eye. Suddenly everyone becomes a threat!
I agree Cy would have no remorse whatsoever on pimping him out. the backstory shows that Cyrus has always been power hungry from day one and it’s not surprising that he was once married: let’s not forget the political climate in that period. it would be just too much if a family pops up however.
This is some real ish y’all. Abuse by someone you know and trust ain’t the same as some stranger attacking you in the parking lot. You know you have to see that person again in life, and yeah maybe the next day and every day. You know that it’s not just you who’ll be impacted if you speak up, but other people you care about. Mellie had every damn right to decide how she wanted to handle it. And choosing not to disclose the attack and be civil, does not mean she was sleeping with him before or that she was ok. If you think she’s had a strange reaction, then be grateful you’ve never had to make that choice like many other women have had to make.
Honesty I felt like it was way too much. I didn’t think the rape scene was necessary it actually made me dislike mellie. I feel sympathetic towards her but I’m sorry I will never love my husband enough to have his father rape me and say nothing to benefit my husbands career. I knew the mother was alive so no surprise there. I have hated Quinn since the first episode when Harrison interviewed her for pope & associates. I HATE her SO GYADAMN MUCH now and I didn’t think this it was possible.
Last night was too much didn’t like the rape scene at all, sure it was done so audiences could be more sympathetic to Mellie but it actually didn’t work for me…going back to season 2 when they were doing flashbacks on campaign trail she was giddy when Big jerry came to help hugging him and all. It doesn’t make sense to me either Shonda and them forgot about it or Mellie is just a low down I am going to do what I need to get to the top kind of person. I take the latter
I don’t think it’s fair to dislike the character of Mellie based on how she chose to respond to being raped. When you think about it, that’s why Mellie get SO mad, and SO bitter, and SO frustrated with Fitz’s foolishness. She chose to bury that DEEP inside herself, because she love Fitz and wanted to see him be proud of himself and succeed by any means necessary. She made the choice to give herself up for “the greater good” of her husband. She thought he’d always hold his side of the bargain of loving her throughout the duration of their marriage (WOW I can’t believe I’m dissecting fictional characters! DAMN YOU SHONDA!). Clearly, Fitz has NOT kept up his side of the deal. Mellie is a HURT person. Point, blank, period.
*gets, *loves
Well said.
thank you for this about Mellie.
The rape was horrible. I always thought there was something going on between Big Jerry and Mellie based own how she swooned over him in S2. I also thought Mellie experienced some kind of abuse based on what she said to Liv in the elevator when she caught Fitz feeling up Liv in S2.
Mellie had 20 years to tell Fitz. Why didn’t she? There’s more to this story. Remember, we have yet to find out why Fit z has such disdain for Mellie. She alluded to it in the limo ride from the reverend’ s funeral in The Other Woman episode.
Thanks for this point. That’s my question, too. We learned last season that their marriage was a political one, arranged by Big Jerry and Mellie’s daddy. It was clear from the flashbacks that Mellie and Fitz loved each other at some point. Or rather, he loved her back. My question is what happened?
It’s not unusual for rape victims to compartmentalize the trauma. Look how many people get raped by priest or family members, people they see everyday or at least regularly and don’t say anything for years.
Mellie only pretended to like Big Jerry. She always despised him. I remember in season 2 when she was pregnant with Teddy, she told Cyrus that “Fitz exists because I say that he exists, I built him up after that Monster that raised him destroyed his self confidence. I now know why she made that remark.
WOw…you dislike Mellie because she was raped and didn’t say anything because you think it was to advance her hubby’s career….
I think had she told Fitz it would have detroyed him in every since of the word and because she loved him, she bottled it up and tucked it inside and tried to use the power she had to support Fitz
I’ve never liked mellie at all. But to me this made things even worse. I’ve dealt with rape victims first hand and I know everyone responds differently. but it was TOO much. I just didn’t like the episode. To me, its extremely odd to keep that to yourself for the sake of the husband becoming president and I think that Fitz (back when it happened) wouldn’t think that Mellie would be capable of doing something like that. The actual rape didn’t change Mellie for the worst, the decision to use it for power did. And as time went by she obviously got way more power-hungry and cold and eventually fitz fell out of love. Does Mellie love power or does she love Fitz more?
I don’t think she kept it to herself just for political gain; I also think she knew that it would completely destroy Fitz and Big Ger already dysfunctional relationship and there would be no coming back from that. I think part of the reason for the sacrifice was a way to help mend the father-son relationship.
I totally agree with you, Steph. I don’t get why people can’t see that. Men can’t deal with rape – if she told Fitz it would’ve absolutely destroyed him and probably their (her and Fitz’s) relationship, not to mention how all-consuming his anger towards his father would’ve been. He wouldn’t have bounced back from that.
I’m not saying she shouldn’t have told him, but I understand why she didn’t and honestly I probably would’ve done the exact same thing.
I want to reply, but I can’t. Too emotionally spent.
Luvvie chile, that rape scene had me searching my house for a shank to castrate Big Gerry. When he first touched her, I was like, ew what a disgusting old fool, but then once he was all like “Do you really want me to stop?” my heart sank. That was terrible, and I do think think that the oldest child is his. Sigh. I am going to file a class action suit against Shonda for emotional distress because this episode left me drained and heartbroken.
I already had my suspicions about Mr. Sally – it was something about they way she told Fitz that he was suddenly “fun” way back in the first episode of this season. Cyrus’ ole ruthless azz is probably going to oil James up and serve him on a platter just to get some dirt to use against the holy hillbillies.
Mama Pope was the biggest surprise to me because I did not expect them to reveal that she was alive this soon, and I did expect her to be in the clink looking a hot wretched mess.
I have been team Mellie for a while because I have never understood her husband’s hatred. People fall out of love all the time, so I could see him being disinterested, but he acts like she did him wrong and that is so not true.
These folks talking about how she allowed herself to be raped need to quit. Yes, this is only a tv show, but this what happens to many women in real life – victim blaming.
All I know is Mellie is my new Mrs. Jenkins and no one better say anything else bad about her. Including the king of shade who used to be married to a woman!
I will now resume the fetal position on the floor.
Could not have summed up a better response myself. Like you, curling up in the fetal position now. My ability to “can” is done…
“…oil James up and serve him up on a platter…” HA!
You know he would. Heck, he almost had the dude killed.
Mellie definitely did fight back against Big Jerry, but I think there was a point where she had figured fighting was a lost cause and I think she just gave up.
I’ve been on Team Mellie since she was desperate enough to let Liv come back and run Fitz campaign. Takes a hell of a woman to let your husband’s mistress hang around because she makes him happy.
Mellie is power-hungry definitely, but there’s no doubt that there’s at least a part of her that still truly loves Fitz.
But I called it, I knew Mama Pope was a goon. Not B-613 like I thought, but you gotta be goonin’ if you’re locked up in a what looks like a terrorist prison.
I dunno. There are some in Gitmo who aren’t goons, and yet they remain, uncharged, uninterviewed, unable to see their families. You never know. That said, I think Mama Pope is a bigger goon than the evil Rowan!
The rape scene was terrible to me, particularly for what happened after the show. We have to be careful when we give people something like this on a show, but then have no space for informed conversation. Folks out here thinking women wanna be raped and rape don’t really bother them if they don’t react a certain way. Everybody ain’t clued in enough to know that folks deal with rape in different ways.
Other than that, I like that the show is getting back to drama and less about this mess of Olivia and Fitz. Cause honey their Lady Gaga Bad Romance makes me more tired than Miley Cyrus’ hanging butt cheeks.
ITA: I have been a Shonda fan for some time, but I actually stopped watching Private Practice because I couldn’t deal with how it was handled on the show. I’m not crazy about how it was used as a plot device to make Mellie more sympathetic, but I’m trying to go along with it for now.
I am however deeply disappointed that so many are posting that Mellie set that up intentionally or any other variation of victim blaming. I thought Shonda’s audience was smarter than that.
#TeamMellie….I mess with her!!!! Excellent re-cap
The morning after Mellie was raped, I wanted her to go off on him like she did with Fitz when she was drinking in the conference room and she was telling him she was glad Liv didn’t die (lest he worship at the shrine of Olivia the rest of his life).
I wanted her to break that rapist down. Threaten him. Tie up his balls and squeeze like hell. Instead, she used her ONLY card to zero in on the one thing she could impact: helping her man move forward. That was so smart. So selfless. So BEYOND.
And she did it all over a pleasant breakfast.
I didn’t have any time for Mellie before tonight but now I can’t wait to see what she’s going to do next. And SHAME on Fitz for treating her so dirty – he doesn’t know the half of it!
I’m curious…we got 15 years ago and none of the years between….does Mellie’s “sacrifice” (hate this word that’s been used to describe her pain and secret) wipe out any actions that turned their marriage south?
We didn’t get insight into why or how their marriage is so cold. Are Mellie past manipulation and schemes now all forgiven because she did what she thought she had to do get Fitz where he is today?
this is exactly my thought!! Describing Mellie rape as *taking one for the team* diminishes the criminal nature of the act itself. In addition, what motive does she have to *sacrifice* for Fitz when he never wanted to be in this position in the first place.
THIS! she chose for that to be a sacrifice. she could have also confided in this man that she “loooooves so much”. nope. she didn’t. she let a criminal go free to possibly rape many more women over his lifetime (who knows if she was the first given his confessions immediately prior to the crime), and for what? so her hubby could be somewhere he didn’t want to be, but where she wanted him to be.
So, seems like the women in Fitz’ life are always willing to sacrifice themselves to get him something he doesn’t want. Makes me wonder who Liv and Mellie are really doing all this sacrificing for? Hmmmm.
I think she did felt she was doing this for the man she loved so much. Fitz was broken down just from Gerry’s drunken rants Finding out he raped his wife under his roof would likely have broken Fitz.
The statistics are stacked sky high with women of all socio-economc status who refused to report their rapist for a wide variety of reason.
I am more sympathetic to Mellie now, but still Olitz all the way. Fitz loves Olivia; she’s his true love. He does not love Mellie. I wish Mrs. Grant had the self respect to walk away and carve out her own political career. But thinking about Big Jerry, my heart just breaks for her. No one deserves that, not even Mellicent Grant.
Last night did too much for my emotions. I jumped up immediately and said their first child ain’t his! I felt so bad during that rape scene I turned the channel for a few seconds. I think Maya is definitely a grand master goon, but trying to figure out the plane and why she was pulled off is doing too much to my brain right now and I have to work! lol
The rape was the most shocking part for me. It made me see Mellie in a whole new light. We all knew Mama Pope wasn’t dead. But they way she looked & where she was, mouth wide open!
#CharleQuinn… Done. Stupid ass.
Fitz finally standing up for his WIFE, that, I am here for. I can’t wait to see how he processes Rowan being Liv’s Dad.
All I can say is… I hope Liv gets to lay eyes on her mama before she dies. Because the previews for next week show a not-so-healthy looking mom missing her baby girl.
OMG, I couldn’t believe it when I saw it. #TeamMellie for life! It explained everything that she’s done since S1E1. Poor Mellie!
I had a conversation this morning about Mellie not fighting back hard enough. She didn’t let that happen to her and it hurts me that other women see it that way. I think it’s just another way of showing how women are raped, because not every woman does the stereotypical fighting that we see in TV/movies. Also, that was her father-in-law! Poor girl didn’t know what to do!
Then Fitz gave her that whole speech in bed and she knew if she said anything it would ruin his and her political ambitions and the Grant family name. Moreover, she never had time to process the rape. She was running on empty at that point! I feel for her because she was victimized and stuck in a difficult situation about how to deal with the aftermath. None of the Grant men have ever been good to Mellie. They just abuse her! From now on Fitz needs to give her ALL THE THINGS! I can’t take him yelling and berating her in another episode.
Now I understand why she doesn’t like babies. She has been forced to have 2 out of her 3 kids. Jerry might be a product of rape,and Teddy was conceived to save the presidency. Hopefully she wanted to have Karen.
Baby Huck is SO stupid! We could see this coming from space. She is getting everything she deserves!
I almost fell off the couch at Mama Pope! I don’t even know how Olivia can have a white hat coming from those two people. Olivia was built be an assassin and she’s out here trying to save people.
I even have Qs about Teddy being the Prez’s … I mean, were Mellie and Fitz seem like they haven’t got down like that in awhile … just sayin’ …
Shonda Rhimes has laid that to rest. She said Teddy is his.
1: I just knew Maya was gonna stroll into OPA like a certified Bad Bitch in a white trench just like Liv. Not be locked in the dungeon! NO! Why? I need answers!
2: Last week I kept telling people Mr. Langston was gay (#Swerve) and everyone acted like I was crazy. So glad to be vindicated. haha
3: I can’t even be mad at Mellie anymore. Short of her slapping Liv or Harrison in the face I’m just like…she was raped by her mean ass drunk father in law and (possibly) raising her rape baby AND never told her husband. Shonda humanized her so much last night. Mellie is more human tonight than she has been in all three seasons-I just wish it hadn’t been through fireside rape.
4: Quinn is an idiot. They should have let her go to jail.
5: Fitz is feeling reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeall dumb now. Knowing how Rowan is connected to Liv.
This episode left me TIRED. I am mad and sad and excited for next week. It’s just a trip!
“I’m sorry. Krystal cannot come to the phone right now. She is still slain in the spirit after last night’s episode of Scandal and Luvvie’s epic recap. She will come out from under the sheet in 20 minutes. This message will repeat in 3 seconds. 3-2-1… I’m sorry. Krystal cannot…”
Whew! I need more time at the altar. I’ll be back later when I can form full sentences and stop drooling stupidly.
I second this emotion. My recording is duplicate of yours with the name Krystal replaced with Londa.
It’s impossible for me to even put the “ant” after the letter “c” to even form the word that I am unable to do.
Last night I wished I lived in a ritzy high-rise building (instead of my two story house)so that I could do a full-length upper-to-bottom level wall-slide from the seventy-fifth floor down to the parking garage. That’s just how emotionally and physically spent I was.
LMBO, ROTF!
THIS!!!! I am with you, sister!!
And doesn’t Jake have a real job anymore?
BAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Naw, State Farm let him go…
That’s cold-blooded! LMAO
He’s an intern at OPA.
My view of Mellie had been changing since her first drunk episode but I really saw her in a new light last night. That rape scene had me cringing. I can’t begin to guess why Mama Pope is in prison. Scandal continues to throw me for a loop and I love it!
I am not functioning with this episode! I am NOT!
As far as Mellie and the rape, Big Jerry had all of that power. I cried when he even started touching her and kept waiting for Fitz to walk in. When he didn’t I was so unable to beleive this was happening. So unable to deal! And her reaction was survial mode to the HILT! Mellie is a lawyer. She knew, KNEW that reporting Big Jerry would cause her nothing but more pain so she decided to cause him some so she could deal. The man covered up his son shooting down a plane. He became and remained a senator despite being a low-down-hoe-down. The man drips power and the second she reported him she would have to deal with the police and courts treating her like it was her fault (because folks this still happens) and then would have to deal with him making her life hell. So she fought him and she fought dirty. My heart broke for Mellie, literally because she has been dealt so much wrong. So much! But she is the strongest of them all.
That was a great explanation for why she would be scared to tell anyone, let alone report the rape. It’s easy to say what she should have done without assessing the big picture, including how powerful Big Jerry was. Plus, the fact that it would have completely destroyed Fitz and put a nail in i the coffin of his relationship with his Dad. Poor Mellie….I think this is leading up to her finally having a complete breakdown about this incident and finally dealing with it…
Thank you for bringing up that she’s a lawyer in this context, I think it’s a crucial detail that people are forgetting. I was completely on her side anyway but realizing she would have crystal clear knowledge of exactly how reporting it would go down makes her decision even more compelling and reasonable.
Let’s not forget too – Gerry told her mere moments before the rape that his son shot down a civilian, commercial aircraft and Gerry successfully COVERED IT UP. A rape charge would be child’s play for him to get out of.
IMO, somewhere along the way Fitz finds out about that rape, his disgust comes from her choosing the pull of power over him.
Or, more specifically on top of the daddy issues Fitz already has, he realizes his wife in reality choose (to protect) his father over him. Fitz’s dad is a loose lipped mean drunk-it’s how Mellie found out about the plane and it is how Fitz will find out about the rape.
He’d have to already know. Remember in their present time, Big Jerry is dead. He died during Fitz’s first presidential run.
Can I just say here…I think BigJerryTheRapist was killed. Remember in one of the flashbacks, he was really disrespectful and rude to Huck. It was the very gathering of OPA during Fitz’s campaign. The next thing you know…He wuz dead…heart attack. Something ain’t right with that.
I have had the same thoughts and I think Huck did it too. Remember the politician and Jennie Nystrom and Huck told the dad don’t kill him and then the politician suddenly died of a heart attack before the dad could get to him and kill him
I kinda agree with your statement but I believe that Fitz may have found out they “slept” together and assumed it was consensual. Especially seeing as they were so touchy-feely with each other last season.
This^^^ I totally agree. What other reason does Fitz have to HATE Mellie and he hates her, no question! Folks fall out of love, don’t really like each other, blah-blah-blah but it’s utter hate.
I’m so slain in the spirit about this episode…
I absolutely love you blog, Luvvie…..especially your recaps.
As an avid watcher and fan of Scandal, I must say this show took a very dark turn for no reason last night. Is Mellie’s character that cold that we, the viewers, needed to see her being raped in order to feel sympathy for her? I didn’t need that. Someone on twitter said it best, “…it was a bad use of a very serious subject matter.” The show didn’t need to go there. After watching the episode, I really couldn’t believe they would title it, “Everything’s Coming Up Mellie.” Seriously???
I couldn’t even get excited when I saw Mama Pope. However, I was still able to call Quinn a dummy when she killed the security guard. She stay losing.
I was coming to type something very similar. I’ll just sum up my comment by saying…Yes, everything you said.
Lol, I thought I was the only one bothered by the episode title after watching it. And I third everything you just said 🙂
Sorry, this ep (and I hate the title too) was the first time I felt ANY sympathy for Mellie. And as horrible as the rape was, I still want Fitz with Liv. Mellie is a smart, strong, capable woman. She deserves someone who loves her the way Fitz loves Olivia.
I am still not team Mellie 100% because I don’t like the way they had her cheating on Fitz in season 1 and now acting all hurt that he cheated on her. When it comes to cheating she is not the victim. However I have always felt she was Fitz Ride or Die. Who includes their husband’s mistress in everything just so he’ll be happy? That rape scene and events after just prove how much Mellie is there for Fitz. She knows Fitz is too weak to deal with the stuff she takes on for the both of them. She has stated time and time again she is too brilliant to be the First Lady, yet she fights like hell to make sure Fitz remains president.
Mellie DID NOT cheat on Fitz. The opposing campaign paid another political guy to say he was sleeping with Mellie. Harrison threatened to tell the world about the man’s “toe sucking porn adventures” if he didn’t come forward denying the affair.
Oh ok I don’t remember that part.
well technically Fitz had cheated with her with Olivia before that even happened. Before the “first season”, Olivia had broken it off with Fitz
No what I was referring to was during the campaign before Olivia even showed up. I can’t remember which episode but it was a flashback.
Didn’t Fitz sleep with another chick before Olivia? the chick died or something?
I guess cheating is in the Grant blood
I have to re-watch this episode again (okay maybe 2 times, let’s be real, lol), SO needed your recap Luvvie, thanks for breaking it down. I am still in my feelings about last night!! The rape scene was horrible and I knew the idiots would come out of the woodwork because people respond to trauma/rape differently. Yes, we all wanted her to scream the house down and karate chop him in the throat/balls/face but not everyone reacts like that.
Anyone could see Mellie was damaged and shell-shocked by what happened. She did like a lot of rape victims report doing – she took her mind to another place until it was over. Who couldn’t see she was traumatized when she walked into the bedroom, and then had to lay next to Fitz all wound up tight and probably still frightened and in shock?
I do hate that they have Teddy looking like a mini Addams Family Gomez Addams. All he was missing was a tiny mustache. :/
I KNEW I had seen that baby somewhere….
^^^ YASSSSSSSS!! LOL
That’s the baby!!!! That part in his hair was worrying me!
I was so in “Awww mannnn mode the whole time watching this episode” this episode was happy, sad, shocking and wtf!!!
I also don’t like how Olivia is getting weaker and weaker every episode. I need season 1 Liv back.
I agree. She needs a good girl friend to get her together!
Great recap!
Yeah I don’t see Eli marrying a sweet homemaker type. She was into something…they were like the Mr & Ms Smith couple. Maybe she got caught and he hooked her up best he could.
Regarding the rape. Damn!! for haters who said she used it that’s crap. I have known victims of assault, who never said anything. but if you look at it for real what would have been her best possible outcome? Everyone learns what a scumbag Big Jerry is…and FItz would have lost the “grant name”. It would have ruined his chances by no fault of his own. yeah he probably would have stood by her and could have been happy but she decided not to let big jerry ruin Fitz dreams. she would have been looked at the rest of her life as a victim. so she said EF THAT. she did what women have done for centuries put them selves second, or even third.
but like she said herself FITZ doesn’t know all shes done. Defiance was nothing!
that’s my two cents. back to work.
My analysis/theory/comments/thoughts whatever you want to call it will have to be broken up into sections.
Mellie: SHE GOES HARD!!!!! I always knew Mellie wasn’t the enemy and that she loves her husband, but I can honestly say I like Mellie more than Liv now. The rape scene was very hard to watch, much more difficult than watching a murder. It was hard to comprehend that it was her father-in-law that raped her, though I wasn’t too surprised because he’s an ass wipe.
Fitz and Mellie: They seem to have a great marriage in the beginning. What we don’t know yet is what actually happened to make Fitz hate her so much? Is it because he found out that their first born wasn’t his? The questions I have!
Sally’s husband: I knew he was gay the minute I saw him. I called it first! I think Sally knows that he’s in the closet, too.
Cyrus: I just asked someone last week how did Fitz and Cyrus even MET?! Now it makes sense. And did y’all catch that Cyrus had a wife? Did he kill her, too? Y’all know he dgaf.
Quinn: Huck will end up killing her and none of us will care too much. That is all.
Mama Pope: I have a feeling that something will have to her before Liv will get a chance to be reunited with her. I don’t know.
Command/Eli Pope/Rowan/The Devil: I knew he had a soft spot, even though he’s the scariest negro alive. I think he saved Mama Pope’s life, but faked her death because of B6-13. He still ain’t shit though.
Olivia: She needs more Barney and Friends hugs.
Correction:
Mama Pope: I have a feeling that something will happen to her before Liv will get a chance to be reunited with her. I don’t know.
Yes why is she on oxygen on the sneak peek for next week?
I’m pretty sure Sally knows too. That’s why when Mellie came to her with the whole “Your husband was handsy with my FEMALE staffer…” Sally dismissed her so swiftly. She knows her husbands preferance.
Dead at scariest negro alive! Scarier than a Samuel Jackson character!!! You ladies are hilarious!!!
Yeah, I think Mama Pope is Rowan’s one soft spot. He would kill Liv if he felt he had to, even though it might break his heart, but I think he just could not cause Maya’s death.
Does the 2nd Family have children? If they don’t Sally is suspect too….
Ok first, that GIF of Old Aunt Viv collapsing made me SCREAM!
Ok. I knew Quinn’s dippity do-day dumb ass was gonna make a huge mistake of some sort, and realized B613 was involved, but I thought they were setting Huck up. The fact that Quinn simultaneously screwed the Gladiators investigation AND managed to self-initiate into B613 is just….*sigh*
The rape scene was AWFUL and very difficult to watch. When the fight left her eyes I was so verklempt! I applaud her for keeping her sh*t together and being able to channel all that pain to help her husband. I could have never! I would have stabbed Big Jerry in his sleep.
I can’t wait for next week. I haven’t had cable forever and usually watch at work, but I was off yesterday and bought an antenna just so I wouldn’t miss it! I take it just that seriously!
Yes, OLD AUNT VIV gif was hilar and I’m at work screaming off of “Quinn’s dippity do-day dumb ass …”
OK, last nights episode has turned me inside out I sat on the couch in a stupor for 25 mins after the show ended trying to process what the hell I had just watched !! 1st let me just say that coat Liv had on was my life on Christmas morning !! I loveeeed that coat!!!!!!!
The rest of the show had me pillow diving and screaming into my shirt as I gulped down glass after glass of red wine. MELLIE is a G and she LOVES FTIZ I knew that when she begged Liv to come back but I did no know the depthness of her G unitl I saw what she has done for fitz in those flashbacks!! I am here for Mellie and I think the if she had told fitz what his dirty damn detestable daddy had done to her he would have never cheated on her and they really could have had a stronger marriage… I for one could not carry something around like that daddy grant woulda been shot on site if he had hemmed me up like that and Fitz first child may not even be his this is some serious shit!! I actually liked seeing a lovey-dovey Fitz and Mellie and I was a hard-core OLITZ fan but maybe I gonna have to put it down because Liv is on my nerves. That rape scene really messed me up I was shook all night it was raw Shonda real raw.
Is there even a point to speak on Quinn’s dumbass fuckery?? She is the most simple ignorant character on the show… I have no words on how stupid she is. Huck told her over and over again to stay in her lane but no she just had to find out what that life was about and now look at her she is in B613… I hope they waterboard her ass…
-Flashback Cyrus and that bad wig and beard was awesome
-Flashback Mellie and that Monica Lewinsky wig was awesome
-Flashback Fitz looked yummier than present day Fitz
I think that Mama Pope might be the real goon here and had that dirty bomb on the plane Daddy Pope might actually turn out to really protecting national security and his daughter… I think he was crying because he knew what his wife had done and was where she was…. But I knew she wasn’t dead I Knew it Knew it!! and Olivia gonna keep digging and she gonna learn the truth today!!
Shonda Rhimes you can’t take my soul with this tv show and have me turnt out looking like a burned out crackhead every Friday!!!!
Liv’s gonna learn the truth about her mother and run back to Fitz. But, it’s gonna be too late because Fit z will find out about the rape and he and Mellie will reunite. Shonda is setting us up for a Fitz/Mellie reunion. If anyone thought the Fitz/Mellie shower scenes were gag worthy last season, get ready for more.
It’s THE HOLE for Baby Huck! Good riddance.
I was SLAYED! This season of Scandal was starting to get on my nerves with Liv crawling for her Fitz phone, Jake and his thirstiness for Liv, baby Huck being dumb as fuck and Harrison having no air time (Hey Boo)! But this episode was every-THANG! It was a good move to finally give the spotlight to Mellie… and anyone shaming the way she dealt with the rape should be dropkicked in the face. Multiple times. Letting yourself being raped for leverage? Really? I ain’t here for victim blaming. A no is a no. Period.
Mama Pope is definitely a goon.
Quinn is a… I don’t even know why she’s still in the show anymore.
My fellow named Sister has slayed me… Just when I think I can’t anymore .. She take me all the way there, drop me off, comes back to get me and leaves me slayed again. I can’t live like this!! Mama Goon is a triple double spy… She like the dude on the Blacklist …but flier.
Me thinks the season finale will be Mrs Goon (aka Ms Sophia) showing up on Liv’s doorstep.. Cause ain’t no security in her building.
Then all of Metro ATL will burn. .. Cause there will not be enough wine or Jack Daniels Honey to help the masses get thru the holiday hiatus.
OMG Jack Daniels Honey is my everything!
First off, I was shopping last night and when I realized it was after 9pm I jumped in the checkout line, skipped to the car, and called my husband. I had him turn the tv on Scandal and leave his phone on the tv stand so I could listen on my way home. YES! IT’S THAT SERIOUS!
I was actually glad to get more on Mellie! I’ve enjoyed her this season. The rape scene 🙁 it did make my heart ache for her. I was glad that Fitz showed up for her FINALLY and set that damn reporter straight.
Whether their first born is Fitz’s brother-son or not, I don’t know BUT she shole had that “oh shit” face Smh.
And Mama Pope! This is going to be SO GOOD! Khandi Alexander is gonna give Rowan a run for his money.
Yesssssssss, Shonda gives me LIFE every Thursday!
Girl get that ABC app on your phone so you don’t miss anything. You can play LIVE programming on your phone or tablet.
SKKKKEEEEEEEERRTTT!!! You can watch LIVE on your phone? I thought it was just “the Day After” like OnDemand. Thanks for this.
LIVE when you log on you have to enter you cable provider ID and password, but yes, LIVE. I have used it once or twice myself.
LIVE?????? Oh HELL yeah!!! Thanks for the news!
Excuse my french, but last night’s episode was one giant mindfuck after another. My 10 immediate reactions are:
1. Shame on Shonda for not including a trigger warning for that rape scene.
2. WTF Big Jerry???!!!
3. I’ve always, always, always believed there was a reason Mellie behaved as she did. She is too smart and too vested in Fitz success for it to just be love. And now we know, if he fails every piece of herself that she has given away for his success will be for nothing. That is by far the biggest testament to love and the sorriest fucking thing I have ever seen.
4. Cyrus Beene won #ThrowbackThursday hands down.
5. Olivia is dead wrong bringing the gladiators into this case, she knows Papa Goon will not only kill them but probably have them eliminate each other for sport.
6. Really Quinn, really??? I saw her getting screwed by Charlie from a mile away. You wanted to dance with the devil and now your ass is burnt.
7. Papa Goon is worse than R. Kelly, trapped in the closet? No, trapped dead to the maximum security jail cell.
8. Can we get Maury to slide throw and test that baby, I need some comic relief. #Imjustsaying #Notthepappy #TheyReallyNamedHimGerryThough
9. Did anyone notice that Olivia’s mama’s hair was still laid in that cell, must be genetic.
10. We all know Cyrus will do anything for power (sniper after the husband), do y’all think he will ask James to cozy up to Sallie’s beard?
As a sexual assault survivor I needed a trigger warning. Also, Mellie dealt with her assault the way she saw fit, that is the first rule of survival, do what you need to do to stay alive. If she would have caved in or broken down she might not have recovered. I think she made the best decision for her and no one should ask for more. People want survivors to report and go on a rampage and shout about their assault, but no one wants to admit the flip side, we live in a culture that perpetuates the sexual assault of women, so no matter how much screaming from the rooftops women do, there is still the rampant paternalism and sexism that demean their efforts.
I completely cosign with the whole post, but most definitely the latter part of it. 100000%
I don’t know about anyone else but there was a warning on my network about the nature of last night’s show albeit brief.
yes…and there was a warning during the preview of next week’s episode also.
Thanks for posting this. I didn’t get the warning on my tv. I was feeling lowkey kinda mad at Shonda/ABC for not including it. Maybe I turned too late to see it.
Thank you, you’ve said everything I was thinking in that last paragraph. I was done for a good minute after that scene, and then to read comments about how she “should” have reacted… I was not in a good space at all.
And i definitely cackled at #4 on your list!
We had a warning, thank goodness.
Yeah, Mellie is officially my best friend and I feel like Ja Rule needs to come back and make a track about how Ride or Die she is. I luh her
$30 says Big Jerry was murdered too and Mellie was behind it. I mean, it seems like eveyone on Scandal done killed a person or two at this point.
Maybe Mama Pope was a lowkey terrorist? Maybe Mama Pope is also B613? Maybe she shot the sherif but not the deputy?
Shonda ain’t shit
*CACKLING*
Luvvie…you’re my shero now let’s get to it. Thank you for delving into the fashion jungle that is Scandal- Olivia stay snatched and that coat was life ( I have to work on my depression wardrobe, too big sweatpants, ripped t-shirt and tore slippers ain’t gongetit). That faux fur on Cy’s head and what is really gon on with the death becomes her makeup on the Falshback Mellie doll? Not only is Quinn et-up with the foolery, her outfits are straight Garanimals-I can’t. The Modern Mellie doll has upped her ante with that woman in red dress. it has earned her her first Fierc(Yass)Go head Miss Mellie. Lastly-Shonda is a beast with a heart. Big ups for dealin with a nasty rape and the cruel cloud of shame that usually hovers over the victims. i must return to the work here on my desk but seriously??? Bank just called, I’ve got insufficient can’ts!!!
We will find out that Maya/Omar is the biggest of all goons ever. Oh & I BEEN going with Mellie! Last night made me want to put a ring on it!
I called it I knew it all along – Mama Pope is a bigger goon than Daddy Pope. I now get why Liv’s gathered all these damaged people and made them family, her dysfunction is deeply entrenched. I blame the parents. And that she’s a fixer of other people’s bs is just par for the course. Everything’s explained. Her flicted meter is busted.
I feel for Mellie I truly do. That woman loves her husband. He gave her a proper shoutout for a change, but mark my words he’ll be back to his triflin self in no time.
I live in the UK first thing this morning I watched this episode. I was suppose to be working from home well I couldnt do a thing for almost an hour. There was so much in this episode I am awed that week on week this season each episode tops the previous.
I can’t even read all these comments. I am still can deficient.
*ying yang twin voice* people always talmbout wut Fitz do. They never talk about what Mellie do…..until now!
For Maya Pope to be locked behind that type of security, she did something BAD. Maybe she was the terrorist with the bomb on the plane, and Rowan decided to spare her life because of his love for her. IDK
Quinn…well, i have nothing to say about her.
Some kind of way, Omar Dresden and the Salif dude that Harrison is scared of are connected. Maybe that’s the connection of Maya to Harrison.
Cyrus had a wife?! I wonder where she is?
James is so nerve-wrecking with his whining. I guess Cyrus is going to use James as the pawn to get dirt on Sally’s husband.
Is Jake on leave from his public job as a Naval Officer?
Mellie…oh Mellie. I have mixed feelings about her. I was beginning to like her, but this episode threw a wrench in that relationship. The rape scene was very hard to watch, and my heart went out to her. I was on her side when she told Big Jerry to apologize to Fitz. I do not think that she ‘planned’ it as she was clearly distraught when she went back to the bedroom. However, I do think that she kept the rape quiet for her own personal gain. Mellie knew from the beginning that it was not Fitz’s desire to be Gov or President. He was doing it for his father. If she was truly not out for self, she would have encouraged Fitz to follow his own heart and told him what Big Jerry did just to push Fitz from out of Big Jerry’s clutches. I do beleive that she loves Fitz, but she was definately using him to catapult her career….until Cyrus shot her dreams down.
Mellie told Fitz said that she gave away pieces of herself for him. That leads me to believe that she had an affair with Big Jerry…..because clearly she did not give herself to Big Jerry that night. Why would she put herself through all of this to help the person she love get a position that he never wanted in the first place? This is my dilema with Mellie.
It’s interesting how the White House is trying to get tv America to soften to her….just as Shonda is trying to get Scandal viewers to warm to Mellie’s character.
I mean if people want to warm to Mellie because she was a rape victim great for them, I mean this is the same woman who in the same episode picked a whore to go after Sally husband so they could get dirt on her but I mean heh she is doing it all cause she love Fitz soooo much lol. “Rolling eyes”
People deserve a warning because rape is a traumatic event and for those who may have experienced it in real life, seeing it portrayed nonchalantly on a tv may trigger further trauma and PSTD events. Particularity if the way the scene unfolds is similar to what they have experienced.
To compare that to picking a pretty girl to flirt with a character’s husband is the height of insensitivity.
It is a tv show get over yourself
Wow, Momongo. Rape is real, it is one of the absolute worst things than a human can suffer and its effects can last a lifetime. A little sensitivity, please.
I am not condoning rape and never said anything like she deserved it show me where I said that and I will apologize but I didn’t. My goodness
Let me clarify myself since I am coming off as mean and insensitive. I am speaking for myself I felt as if the writers were trying to make viewers more sympathetic to Mellie by writing in the rape scene. I didn’t enjoy it like anyone else on this forum. My problem is don’t write that in and then have the character, Mellie, move on to use that event to help her husband and further his career because of love and not address the seriousness of what happened. I don’t like that and in turn that makes me not really sympathize to Mellie as a character. Because in essence the writers are saying that everything evil or underhanded Mellie does for. Fitz presidency is because she made the ultimate sacrifice by hiding the fact that she was raped by his dad. I don’t like it and I posted on my fb how much I hated that part of the episode. I didn’t get a warning like anyone else and would have appreciate one like everyone else. I don’t know if that explains myself but at the end of the day I am saying it is a tv show and I am not undermining the seriousness of rape. Last week episode was so awesome to me and after this week episode plus adding on paternity question with Fitz/Mellie kid was just too much and unnecessary in my opinion.
De-lurking to say, that I never liked that Mellie until tonight. Oh, how my heart broke.
“Where is Verna’s tank?!?!?!” <<—–LOLOLOL!!
Best recap EVER for one of the BEST TV DRAMA episodes EVER!!!!!. That’s all I got. I’m still rockin back and forth waiting for Iyanla to come fix my life after this episode.
Didn’t Mellie talk about having a miscarriage during the Presidental campaign? Then when Liv asked Fitz if it was true, he said she was lying? My theory is that Mellie aborted that baby because it wasn’t Fitz, but his dad’s.
No she totally made that baby up. She over heard them saying Fitz was losing votes with women and made up the story without telling anyone.
The rape happened before Fitz’s first run for governor and the fake miscarriage happened before his presidential run. Very different time periods
As mentioned that wasn’t a real pregnancy. Also it occurred before baby Teddy.
I NEVER hated Mellie, but I still don’t think she and Fitz should be together. She’s literally given up everything for this man, and he won’t reciprocate. He’s willing to go to great lengths for Liv, that he won’t for Mellie. It’s time to move on, and onto greener pastures. I totally sympathize with her, in a way I hadn’t before.
I also think the rape scene was toooooo much. A harsh kiss would have been more than enough to get the point across that Big Gerry is worth absolutely no sh*ts.
Even a rough kiss wasn’t necessary if the only purpose was to show that Big Jerry or Gerry was a bad dude. We already got that message loud and clear prior to #307. Something else has to be up… Shonda, oh Shonda, what could it BE???
Been trying to speculate parts of last night’s episode, sorry for these just random random thoughts…WHEW!
SOOO..MamaPope was going to job/interview/conference that day (need to see that episode again)
Rowan/Elijah: Do you have genuine feelings? Not these abnormal lunatic ones…WHEW
Big Jerry knew there was a bomb on the plane, but it seemed planned that his son was the shooter
Suppose Rowan KNEW a few things…dirty bomb on the plane AND someone going to shoot it down.
How would you get your wife/mother of your child off that plane, without anyone knowing YOU knew about BOTH happenings?
Suppose MamaPope was the bomb, and she was removed, but the plane kill order was already in place and could not be stopped. And how could you explain why your mama still alive, kept in tightly secured prison UNLESS MamaPope was …dare I say it the REAL leader of B613….hmmmm
YASSSSSSSS I THINK SOOOOOOOOO. Rowan still loves her.
WHEW!! just WHEW!!!
I’m still trying to get my life back after Shonda snatched it last night.
A few things:
First, I’ve been drinking the Mellie hateraid for three seasons, but I’m TEAM MELLIE now! She is ride or die and she deserves ALL OF THE THINGS!
Mama Pope is a GOON! THe BIggest GOON OF THEM ALL! THE GOON TO END ALL GOONS!
YAAAAAS
Cyrus looked like he wanted to scratch every few minutes. Hell, I wanted to scratch him.
I just want them to put Quinn in the hole for her stupidity and leave her there. I’m done
My one issue with this episode…HARRISON?????
First, Cyrus did not have a wife 15 years ago it was not acceptable to be homosexual so the word “wife” was thrown around loosely.
Secondly, I’m DEAD after you told Quinn, “that’s why you can’t have nice things”. Like seriously, I love you sooo much more for that line.
Thirdly, Mellie is a lot of things but I do not believe she’s a whore. She loves Fitzgerald Grant III to her core (in my my Mimi for LHH:ATL voice)! She did not get raped for him but she stayed quiet for him and his career. I still don’t like her though.
Fourthly, Mama Pope is ALIVE. You called it, I’m not like Huck honey I’m gonna give you your props!!!
Shonda…baby…this episode last night did the MOST!
It’s very possible that Cyrus had a wife, that’s just the first time we ever heard of her. Remember the scene with him and Olivia discussing his homosexuality? It wasn’t until then he was ready to be openly gay and marry James. Sally’s husband is clearly gay, but he’s married to a woman.
LISTEN….Shonda Rhimes her and that horse she rode in on can go back to HELL! UGH MY ENTIRE LIFEFORCE WAS SUCKED RIGHT INTO THAT TELEVISION!! That scene was HORRIBLE to watch….and I felt horrible for Mellie after watching it. Im still not rocking with her quite yet….I’m sure she will throw a monkey wrench in my feelings for her soon. I will say this….in the past 15 years I do believe her and FITZ have played a role in how their marriage is falling apart. She had affairs too..and she gave permission for Olivia to sleep with her husband….sacrifice my ass…..you can’t be mad when the mistress in a better place when you allowed it to happen in the first place. NO Woman deserves to be raped….which is why some of her ways I can partially see why she does them! Still not quite #TeamMellie! I just knew Olivia’s mom was ALIVE….I just knew it!! They wouldn’t bring in a semi well known actress to play in flash backs if she wasn’t going to be around!! MY LORD…..so many questions…..am I the only one who thinks that Maya’s and Harrison’s story line is going to intermingle?? IDK….but whew I’m still trying to recover
I think the Harrison/Maya story will have something to do with Dresden/Salif story
LAWD!!!!!! I think I’ma just lay out on the floor from now for next week, because MI CYAAN MANAGE!!! (Jamaican patois for ‘All my cans have migrated to Canada.’)
BEST. EPISODE. EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have two questions:
Is a Brother-son like a Puppybrother, and, did they use Khandi’s (RHOA) hairstylist for those flashbacks because everyone had WAAAAAAY to much hair????
I just spit all over my keyboard at that puppybrother comment.
OMG! I thought the same thing, I just thought it would be insensitive!!! But yes…is it?
I can’t with you! ROTF LMFAO on The Day The Lord Hath Made! But he knows my heart! #puppybrother
I have a few questions:
So, Mama Pope is Omar. Wasn’t Harrison working with Omar?
What happen to change Fitz and Mellie’s relationship?
Didn’t Quinn think that building would have camera’s in addition to a guard?
No, his name was Adnan Salif but it’s possible they have a connection.
MELLIE I wanted to cry but held it in, I was pisswd at Fitz and sad for Mellie, that woman has has to put her life and career on hold she wanted to do charity work but chose Fitz instead. I ONT CARE what happened to make him dislike her so much, she dose not deserve it and Fitz bout de place talking bout how he luv Liv. Mellie needs to tell him to take long walk from a short cliff.
And Quinn has gone from being a wacka mole to daffy duck since she now works for Acme. HOW THE HE double hockey sticks does a person become an assassin by accident? By ,trusting one that’s how of all the assanign things in this world she could do. I thought she been grounded, they should have taken her phone an computer away too such bad parenting on Huck’s part
First off, people saying that Mellie wanted to be raped because she didn’t fight back obviously needs to have a stadium full of seats. Sometimes fighting back will do nothing because the aggressor is stronger than you. Mellie went into a state of shock and probably disassociated herself from her body. That is truly what happens. So please people, do NOT judge her giving up the fight on her wanting it. That’s just super stupid and ignorant.
Mama Pope? A super goon. We may need to take the Grand Goblin title away from Rowan and give it to her b/c there is no way she is being jailed like a terrorist for something stupid like tax evasion. Nah, she must’ve been gooning HARD and got caught.
Quinn is just a complete asshat. She knows Charlie is a manipulator and you play into his game regardless all b/c you want a kill under your belt. Damn dummy.
I am just so in love with Mellie right now. She has done everything for that ungrateful ass Grant family and she can’t even get a “thanks, boo” in return. Couldn’t be me. I would spill all the tea.
1. Maya Lewis was not in that prison all those years she was overseas somewhere and was trying to get a visa remember??? back to the country of the united Americas
2. She knew what was going down because she kissed liv and told her she loved her, looked like she knew she wasn’t going to see her ever again.
3. Harrison is closer to this mission than we think. He is so wrapped up in this shit!!
4. I need to lay down, just typing this and thinking about it scresses me owt. my ability to can is on flight #522
You have her confused with Adhan Salif, Harrison’s old boss.
OH CHILE THANK YOU FOR CLEARING THAT UP!!!!!!!!!!!
My heart is starting to beat at a normal pace.
Hahahahahahaha!!!!
1 more thing. I slept in a fetal position for Mellie last night. I love her and I want her to leave Fitz and go and get some “Her” time.
I am de-lurking for the first time… I discovered this site after the first episode of season 3 and have been an avid follower since.
Luvvie, I dig what you stand for and I commend your God-given talent. You deserve everything that God has for you.
To the E-community here, I look forward to all of the respectful comments.
This episode: I’ve been just as hooked on this show as all of the scandal fans here. This show is life. But I am so not for that rape scene…
I’m not 100% sure how essential that scene was to the plot. I’ve been team Mellie and she slayed with her drunken rant earlier this season. She has done nothing but prove how ride-or-die she has been for her husband. But that scene was severely disturbing.
I question Shonda’s decision to go that route with it. Because like another poster commented, in season 2, Mellie and Big Jerry were quite chummy. And even if she can play that part (like nothing ever happened), there is always a certain amount of contempt or malice toward a rapist from their victim… even in situations where victims are forced to see the perpetrator on a daily basis. And in season 2, there was none. There wasn’t a cutting of the eye, or eye-roll or anything that would indicate that this horrendously tragic catastrophe ever occurred. I’m saying that to reference how that particular scene not only doesn’t seem necessary to the story, but it also raises a potential continuity issue as well.
The fact that people would in any way victim-blame in our society in 2013 is beyond me. That is disgusting and disappointing that it is done with the fictional character on this show but still happens every single day…
I’m sorry that this is what brought me out of my lurk-dom… Carry on.
I just wanna say that while I never cared for Mellies character on Scandal, I certainly appreciated and respected her first lady gangsta. After last night I understand things much differently and I am officially #teammellie. I STILL am down for Olivia, and #teamgladiator. But last night is another example that you are only as sick as your secrets.
This episode truly left me spent. I literally felt drained after watching the episode. To start on a bright note, Olivia’s coat games stays on point! Give her stylist ALL the awards!
I really have mixed feelings on Mellie and the Grant back story. It was strange, yet nice to see them during happier times, and they must have loved each other at one point. It made me think back to all the times when Mellie said they were simply “partners” rather than a married couple in love. They looked much more than just partners to me. I don’t doubt Mellie loves that man.
I could have done without the rape scene tbh. When Big Jerry started feeling her up, I thought ugh…but I thought it would just stop there. I never imagined he would cross the line and fully violate Mellie like that SMDH. The arguments about Mellie not fighting back is ridiculous. She DID try to fight back, but was overpowered.
I thought the following scene where she had to face Big Jerry was really telling. She had covered herself, pulled her clothing closer when she saw him too. I knew as soon as Mellie was attacked, the writers could drop a Fitz brother-son storyline in there. NO, NO, NO. I do not want that to happen. I know Scandal is known for out-there storylines (the reason why so many of us love it) but that is going too far.
Liv girrrrl, both your parents are STRAIGHT GOOOOOONS. Forreal. Olivia’s DNA is 100% goon. I suspected Mama Pope is alive and a G but I was still SLAYED when she was revealed in that cell. She must’ve done some terrorist ish or something to end up in there. She prolly a bigger O.G. than Rowan. I’m thinking, once Liv finds out her mom is still alive, that’s gon’ leave her with with ALLLLL types of abandonment issues. Even more so than she already has. I think that will officially send Liv off the deep end. OOP.
No surprise James got fired. He stays getting caught off guard. No wonder Sally shut down Mellie’s accusations so quickly, I think she knows her hubby is trapped in the clooooseeeet *R Kelly voice*
Quinn deserves everything she gets. That what you get when you become too big for your boots and start nosing around where you are not needed. She is the dumbest character on the show by a mile and a half, take a stadium of seats!!! (Luvvie…that cat gif is soo on point)
The fact that Mellie knows about Operation Remington doe…I wonder if she’ll tell Liv?
Scandal’s back! Finally. Now this is the pace i’ve grown accustomed to. This 3rd season got off to a rather slow start.
OMG Mellie, oh what she has endured! I have to now rewatch all past episodes with new eyes.
Quinn made her bed, now B613 has someone on the inside of OPA. darn it Quinn!! Uhg!
And why was papa goon crying while watching the crash footage if he’s had his wife on lock down all this time?
I CANNOT with Quinn. I just can’t. She’s gonna get herself killed and I probably won’t even give a damn.
That’s a good point about Rowan, so much happened in last night’s episode I forgot about him crying previously. I thought they were genuine at the time, but I guess they were crocodile tears?
Orrrr perhaps Rowan was upset at the whole situation. I firmly believe he loves Liv in his own way, and his baby girl is his Achilles heel. So just maybe he was crying at the fact he knew Olivia wouldn’t see her mother again, and he’d have to lie that she had died in a plane crash. I’m probably wrong lol, but that’s the only reason i can think of.
Normally, I just lurk on here and not really comment but last night’s episode has shaken me! I will say that I am turning to Team Mellie. She is giving it to us this season and I’m so in love with her! For people who say she didn’t fight back and wanted to be raped, they need to find on seat on a cliff and sit down! I would say that is the moment that she turned into the Mellie that we know. Fitz didn’t even noticed that she was crying and disheveled! It was all about him and his needs and feelings! It was at that moment that she knew that he was always going to put his needs before her’s and if she was going to survive she was going to have to depend on herself. He doesn’t even know the part he played and turned her into who she is now.
Quinn, Quinn, Quinn. I need her to find Jesus! She so wanted to play with the big boys that she is now out of her league. I hope that Huck has to kill her! She done messed up now and not even Olivia can fix this for her.
I glad Mama Pope is alive, although I’m mad that she is in a cell, in Gitmo, in Cuba!
“Quinn walks into a building where a security dude is sitting behind a desk (clearly, this ain’t Liv’s building. Shade).” hahaaaaaaa I laughed at that for good two minutes. Lawd knows Liv needs security in her building.
Now that we see Maya was in jail this whole time we know she probably had a part to play in the bomb. Although Rowan was not the Rowan we know back then he probably had enough power to get her off the plane and locked up in a secure place. Gone from Liv yes but still alive. I think she may have been working for some bad people and if they found out she was still alive it would have meant dire consequences for her whole family. So Rowan changed her name and had her in lock down. They probably both planned his rise in B613 so that he could have the power to keep her alive hopefully to eventually get her released.
Yup I am not convinced Daddy Pope is the bad guy/ring leader in all this…Mamma was a bad muthasucka and ish is about to hit the fan.
Love your recaps Luvvie! I don’t think that Mama Goon is locked in though, more likely that other things are locked out. And I suspect that Mama Pope is really Grand Poobah Goon of B613 and she is sending Papa Goon to arrange a meeting with her daughter.
Mellie’s rape scene took the wind from my chest. There should definitely have been a warning for viewers about difficult material being ahead in that episode. That aside, this episode just further shows the steel that is Mellie’s backbone. By the end of this series, she may be the only one left standing. My heart aches though for her trauma.
I hear the stories about the declining ratings but I’m still excited for next week because of the complexities of the characters, good and bad. Except Quinn. She needs to sit down and shut duh hell up. Ignert moojin like she. Stupse!
Hi, Luvvie
Read your recaps every week but I’m writing for the first time.
This week’s episode was too much to process. I don’t like what is being done to the characters this season. I feel like, as the viewer, I’m being manipulated especially when it comes to Mellie & Fitz. Bellamy Young is a great actress and I loved how she portrayed Mellie in S1&2. Based on those seasons, Mellie is calculating, manipulative, power craving bitch (write it as a compliment) and I loved to watch her do all the crazy stuff. From the start it was clear that her marriage to Fitz was a sham, Fitz said it on numerous occasions and Mellie showed her disregard for her husband plenty of times. This season though, Mellie is deeply in love with Fitz and all she does is for him or because of him. And with last night’s rape episode, writers are trying to get us to root for Mellie. In light of last night’s events we are to conclude that Fitz is a horrible husband and a terrible man who has two strong women in love with him. Why would anyone love such a jackass? It’s very hard to watch how the character of Fitz is being presented. I don’t know how the writers are going to address this but they need to balance things out. I think Olitz is no more. At some point Fitz will find out about the rape, he will realize everything Mellie has done for him and that would be it. Jake is basically useless now, he only hangs around Liv all day for OR – so the next thing is for them to get together in order for Jake to stay on. The writers should have gone with the divorce storyline, Fitz divorcing Mellie and running for office would have made better TV (in my opinion) and all this OR stuff could have surfaced then – would have been more exciting, so much to explore. Oh, well. Still love my Scandal, but it’s getting harder to watch. That’s why I turn to your recaps to cheer me up.
YYYESSSSSSSS to this!!!!!!
Quite frankly I still can’t with that rape scene. IMO it was completely unnecessary and didn’t add any real substance to the story besides shocking the audience for the sake of shock. After last week’s Josie tirade against sexism, the way the writers (not Mellie) decided to brush this off like a mosquito bite was disappointing. I’m a huge fan of the show but if they do reveal that the eldest kid is Big Jerry’s I think that’ll just drive me over the edge enough to quit the show.
I was glad to see the focus shift to Mellie though cos she’s been my number one on the show since the beginning. The Olitz relationship grates my nerves to no end.
PS: I’m sorry but in terms of acting and convincingly bringing a character to life, Bellamy Young eats Kerry Washington for breakfast EVERY.DAMN.TIME. (Yeah, go ahead and snatch my weave for that)
Snatch LOL, Bellamy is good though she looked real pretty and the party they hosted at the end of show
1. The show could have warned me
2. No one is responsible for their own rape, even when power dynamics are present. Mellie in this case, made the best decision for her & her future, long-term.
Plus, getting justice when high status WHITE MEN are the PERPS, is an uphill battle very few people are equipped to climb.
3. The show could have WARNED me.
4. Mama pope locked in solitary confinement for GOD knows HOW long. o_O.
5. Bellamy Young aka Mellie have been handling tier BUSINESS this season. WHOA!!!
Good Day
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Fitz can’t make babies y’all.
I SAID THIS!!!! Watch… We right.
This episode moves me to comment for the first time.
Although I love Olivia, I have never understood the general disdain from many scandal fans towards Mellie. Sure, she is manipulative, power hungry and a badass, but Fitz put a ring on her finger and has not filed for divorce. So as far as I am concerned, she is his wife, if they have problems they fix things. At least that is what I think marriage was all about.
Secondly, I see Fitz to be weak, a dreamer with no desire to actually work towards achieving them. He wanted to be governor but he was not prepared to do what it took, wanted to be President, but had to be given it on a silver platter. Then he wanted Olivia but never filed for a divorce…And let us remember that he did have another affair in season 1 eventhough he was tricked.
I still do not understand what either Mellie or Olivia see in that man, forgive my french. He has cheated on both of them!
But am grateful for Rowan this season. He has made the show much more interesting.
Took the words right outta my mouth. I’ve always been #TeamMellie. Fitz bores me to tears and his relationship woes with Olivia belong on Days of Our Lives
I agree completely..that relationship needs to end yesterday.
Co-Fuking-Sign!
*Affixes stamp of approval* #TeamMellie from her first appearance. Not even #TeamMellitz, because Fitz deserves to be alone and Mel deserves better.
Yup. I’ve BEEN saying both Liv and Mellie deserve so much better than Fitz. They’re both too good for him IMO. I’ve always liked Mellie, I probably shouldn’t but i’m both #Team Olivia AND #Team Mellie.
Y’all gone be bad because looking at clips from next week Olitz is back on!!!!!!
First – did you see the look on Mama Pope’s face when she sat up? I think she is the only goon Daddy Pope fears.
Bellamy Young played that role last night for the win!!!!! I am definitely impressed by her talent. She broke my heart both after the rape, and when she told Fitz he could at least be her friend. How true.
Quinn is seriously irrelevant now. When the gladiators find out she killed their remaining link – and they will find out – Huck may have to take her to the woodshed.
Cyrus had a beard – kinda symbolic, huh? And if you didn’t get the hint, he had a wife who possibly acted like his beard. See what Shonda did there? Next week is gonna be glorious!
Right, just like VP Langston is her hubby’s beard. An arranged marriage to a gay man with ‘the understanding’ is called a grey marriage. I got that from watching GCB. Didn’t anyone else watch GCB??
I would not be surprised to find out that Sally has a grey marriage. Shit, she may be a lesbian like people say about Hilary Clinton.
i loved GCB, and was a lil salty when it got cancelled lol
I have so many words about last night’s episode…but I’ll try to keep it to a minimum! I’ll TRY…my thoughts may spill out randomly. PLEASE don’t judge me!
For starters, Shonda is a writing genius! We already know that but it bears being repeated…often!
*Quinn is a BIG dummy! Again, we already know that, but it also bears repeating! Figured she’d be recruited by B613, but who knew it would happen this “quickly”–with regards to how early in the season it happened! Also, who knew she’d be recruited in this manner! When the SOLE thing you know about a person is that he was trained to spy on, torture and assassinate people and will still d–well, two things…because she also knows he likes sugary pastries–you MIGHT not want to trust that person so easily! Sheesh!
*Figured that Mama Pope was alive–but being in a prison was a big shock…and being in, what seemed to be, the men’s side of the big house was even greater a shock. I, too, thought we’d get to see a jazzy, snazzy Maya Lewis rocking some sunglasses on some remote island, laughing about how she “got away”. Hmm…now I wonder what else we don’t know about her! Maybe Papa Pope “inherited” B613 from her?
*I wondered why Daniel Douglas (uh, the two first names thing, or the calling him by first and middle name…again, STOP THAT!) commented that Leo Bergen wore a suit well. Not that a man can’t compliment another man, but it just seemed like an odd thing to say in that moment. So…between that comment and his interest in James, we know where this is headed! Also, Sally CLEARLY knows…when she said “Your aide is lying.” I thought, “She knows WHY the aide is lying.” Now we ALL know the reason…because the aide was a “she”.
*That rape scene was hard to watch!! In fact, when I watched the episode for a second time, like I usually do, I fast forwarded through it. It’s a shame that Mellie had to go through such a horrifying thing! It’s even sadder that she had to have breakfast with her assailant the next morning! Disgusting! Thankfully, no one that I follow on Twitter had anything crazy to say about her rape. But apparently, the people THEY follow did! What a shame!
*This leads to my final thought…what if Fitz knows, somehow, that his oldest son is not his! He may, or rather may not, know that his dad raped Mellie. Well, he may think that they consensually slept together–because Fitz does know his dad is a cheater! We don’t know if he knows that Big Jerry was a rapist, too! So, he (Fitz) may know that Jerry is not his son, have assumptions about his dad, and that would also explain his disdain for Mellie.
This episode was amazing!!
And I LOVE your recaps (not just Scandal…) and any opportunity you have to use the “WTF-ing” cat gif!!
I was not nor am I now here for Mellie. Love or no love, her objective has always been power and she has done all she had to to get it and will do whatever she has to to keep it.
Cosign
The Aunt Vivian gif from right after her dance class (where she was KILLING THEM even though she was twice the other dancers age) was MUY APPROPRIATE and summed up my entire feelings on the show!
I keep having these random thoughts, lol. Is Quinn turning out to be this season’s David Rosen? Will she somehiw figure out a way to turn this around? If Mellie is unsure the baby’s paternity, wiill she have it? Does she not? If noy does Fitz find out and not knowing why hates her? Will Shonda pay my therapy bills ’cause my insomniaOCDobssessivecompulsive disorder is acting up behind Scandal.
I just wanted to add/agree with those who feel that the rape scene and possible brother-son was unnecessary. There is enough drama to go around with out that. I really wish shonda would have skipped that and I hope that- while there was a scare- Jerry isn’t Big Jerry’s.
Other than than the episode was terrific and definitely made up for the last couple of slow episodes.
Scatter thoughts…
– I’m definitely #teammellie
– I need to know how momma Pope ended up in that cell
– when will we EVER get to Harrison’s story?!
-Daddy Pope is a goon because Daddy Grant is the goblin
-Ok so happy Big Jerry is dead because I think we (the sane ones) wanted to kill him after what we learned
– I hate Quinn so much ino longer care. she deserves whatever happens to her.
– if I was Pope associate I’d just quit. Soooo…You want me to go after the most killingest man on the show and the President. Nah, I’m good
-how many episodes are left? because if this ain’t a finale episode I dunno what is
Luvvie I really expected you to have the good of the team after Olivia posted Fitz’s picture to the wall. Harrison reaction was the absolute best!http://instagram.com/p/gta9udvD5H/
Okay, I just had a thought while reading the comments. It’s not well thought out but don’t jump on me lol
What if… WHAT IF Quinn is still being used some kinda way for the Gladiators sake? I say that because it’s not like Huck to not be pretty aware of what’s going on around him. Even though it seems like he can’t stand Quinn right now (I know I can’t) I have a feeling he’s still been keeping tabs on her because he sees her curiosity/eagerness for “whiskey” and knew it would be a draw for something bad. So what if he knew about the rendezvous with Charlie, pieced together that she was being courted by B613 and is somehow waiting to use her as leverage or a spy or bargaining chip…
Far fetched, I know. But it just came to me, and you never really know with this show!
I like it. I agree.
Not farfetched at all, Tori. I agree with you.
I was thinking the same thing….. I just can’t see it being that simple. Who’s to say Charlie isn’t working with Huck??? #TOOMUCHTOOMUCHTOOMUCH
Shout out to whoever on FB or Twitter (can’t remember which) said that Mama Pope was looking like Cleo from Set It Off. Ok, now…my thoughts:
Liv – she need to tap into her roots. Her parents are Certified, Credentialed Gangsters and she is running around crying and getting drunk and hanging up on people. I need her to do better. Tamar needs to give her a “Get Your Life” pep talk.
Cy – He is going to bribe James to cozy up to Sally’s hubby. A job for the dirt. He is such an @$$.
Quinn – I wonder if her B613 name will be Alice. She stay tumbling down the rabbit hole.
GoonSquad Pope – Not sure if Rowan is protecting Mama or keeping her away from Liv because of her dirty deeds. I do know that Mama Pope’s Boss and Harrison’s old boss are probably either connected, or they are the same person – or her old boss was Command.
Fitz and Mellie: I liked seeing them in happier times. Mellie and that rape and subsequent actions following it earned my undying respect; but I am not jumping to her team quite yet. My memory is too long and I remember all of her shenanigans. At some point she went from being a supportive partner to being vendictive, manipulative and degrading (like Big Jerry), and that was before Liv was in the picture. Something else happened for them to get where they are, and I think it had something to do with the forgiveness she asked for in Season 2 Ep. 2 or the ‘set up’ that she was in on with his dad that he didn’t know about. I know we all say “Well he is cheating on her with Liv.” But at the end of the day, if she had put her foot down and said “This is unacceptable, I will not allow this to happen and still run as your first lady” that wouldn’t be an issue. She allowed it. She allowed them time and space to fall in love and was butt-hurt when it happened. Fitz does need to stop being so mean to her, but he doesn’t have the full picture like we do. I can’t wait to see what else is in their closet.
Anyone else peep how both Sally and Mellie were fixing their husbands ties aka getting them straight? (Now we know why Sally took forever messing with her hubby’s tie and it was still crooked – he won’t ever be straight!)
Alice! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Crooked ties…lolololol!
Agree James is about to pimp James it’s gone backfire watch out Cy….Liv do need to “get her life” Momma Pope look gangsta as hell, lol!!!!! Quinn is sooooo funny to me I am enjoying her way too much!!!!
I mean Cy is about to pimp James
I don’t know where to begin except for the fact that the rape scene was horrible to watch but I was not that thrilled that she kept it to herself for Fitz personal gains. I admire Fitz more now because he did not want to use a lie to run on. Mellie may not have wanted to be raped but she played right into big Jerry’s hand when she kept it from her husband. How much love can one woman have for a man. The rape was done to soften Mellie up to the audience but to me it did the opposite Mellie is a social and power grabber that is the only reason she stayed with Fitz is because she wanted the spotlight remember in last nights show Fitz had just begun running for governor and she was declaring his presidency. Quinn is a damn fool and deserves anything that happens to her. Olivia has issues because of both of her parents and everyone knew that she was alive the question is why is she in the cell hole?
I agree, to me the latest plots are just too soapy. Previous seasons, the show focused more on political scandals and major players in Washington. This season, it’s just too predictable, Liv’s mom being alive, Big Jerry is now granddad/father of Mellie’s baby. Wish they just focused on the re-election and wrote an intelligent storyline about divorced Fitz running for office. I’m sure SR would have done a great job with that. Well, I guess now we have to watch what is next.
Hey guys all seriousness aside wasn’t Fitz rocking that turtleneck last night Mr. president was looking fine and sexy. He has beautiful hair.
LOL I am here for FITZ this season! you saw when he went in on that reporter during Mellie interview!!!! presidential balls!!!
This recap was so on point as usual. I’m not going to tell you that I was sitting up in here reading it while eating some Almond Milk Cookies and Cream Ice Cream all content and stuff. Lol.
I have always admired Mellie. I thought she was on some other ish most of the time, but her strength in a political world where women can get messed over is very admirable. I was horrified by what happened to her at the hands of Nasty Ass Jerry, but like the G that she is, she Olivia Poped that bish and used a bad situation to get her power back. To those who say she didn’t fight back perhaps they should watch that scene again. She repeatedly said stop and no and tried physically to get away but couldn’t. She sacrificed her personal honor for that of her husband. She loves that man! But flashing forward and being crapped on over the years that love has definitely turned to hate more than a few times.
Mama Pope looks like a bad bish and I can’t wait to see what Khandi Alexander does with her. She always plays some strong women and she will give you a look that will turn hot tea into ice cubes in 10 seconds so you know whoever is in scenes with her will have to bring their A game!
Baby Huck, sigh, teeth suck and neck roll. That’s all I can say about Quinn’s crazy behind. Lol. I am still reeling from this episode and I must say it’s probably one of the best of the entire series!
Next week awaits!
I had to take time to digest my feelings about last night and read the comments before I could intelligently formulate thoughts.
1. I was not that impressed with the black and white coat. I thought it was ill-fitting…probably reflective of Liv’s dark mood and the fact that she is unaccustomed to being there. That’s the first outfit that I didnt want to purchase.
2. The Mellie rape…I dont think she was involved with Big Jerry before then but I do think that she was star-struck in his presence and he knew it. AND…I think Fitz saw the rape. Probably mistook the rape for consentual sex and thus his hatred for her formed. I was in no way ready for the rape. My mouth hung open all the way through the commercial. Thank God for DVR’s! I had to catch my breath before going forward. Yep…her first born is probably Big Jerry’s son…what if all three kids are? What if Fitz is really sterile????
3. I was ready for Maya to appear but I was certain that she was chillin’ on an exclusive island wearing white. Has she been locked up that long? I need answers!!!!! Good choice in actresses…she and Kerry could be related.
4. Quin…we need to rename her CHILD….cos that’s all I kept saying the last few weeks was “child, sit your behind down…dont you know you are grounded?” Harrison told her and she still had to get up in grown folks business.
5. I knew Mr. VP was gay…now, he’s a minor player…the bigger question is…if cyrus going to let hubbie go so that he can keep Fitz in power. The young Straight Cyrus was so nerdy looking.
6. Rowan is losing his grip…seemingly…hwo can he think a loose cannon like Quin can help him?
7. What is Mellie going to do with the Remington info??? Now that we know hat she knows, you know she’s going to unleash some serious drama for everyone involved.
8. Harrison, Huck and Abby have been relegated to minor roles…what’s up with that???????? David didnt even show up last night.
9. Lastly, Luvvie, you have a gift. Thanks for your recaps!!!!!
Luvvie,
This latest episode was phenomenal. All hats off to the writers, actors, and crew of Scandal.
Luvvie, I had to go and revisit the post you did when the Scandal ladies and gents were singing in the rain. Viewing those images through the lenses of the blood-stained glasses that we’re wearing
now, seven episodes in, these photos are making more and more sense. I have to give it to you, lady…you were on point more than we could have possibly known.
Abby is still dressing and looking like she’s stunning the judges on America’s Next Top Model. To me, she’s looking fit and fabulous and, unlike former seasons, soft. Not in a pudgy, weak way. I mean that Abby’s being the nurturer now that Liv’s taking blow after blow and is unable to provide comfort. Abby is being the giver (we’ll work for free – remember that?).
You called it on Quinn. Baby Huck is a murdering-fool…emphasis on the fool. But, look at that umbrella. Black. Look who else has a black umbrella – Liv. I’m wondering if the black umbrella symbolizes Liv’s parents’. Quinn is in over her head now with an un-holy allegiance to B613. But look closer at her umbrella…it’s tinged with white polka dots. Liv’s gonna save her ass. She’s gonna beat that ass, too. But, she will save Quinn, somehow. And, Quinn will win her way back into our hearts.
My girl Mellie is standing out there with her arms wide open…as is her life this season. I feel like I’ve finally become a Na’vi (from Avatar) because I am truly **seeing** Mellie now. And, the more I see her, the more I love her. I may not always like her…but I love my new homie.
I think Huck and David are used to being outside without the shelter of someone. These two may be the flipside of the same coin. They are critical linchpins that hold things together and keep everything and everyone from splintering. While Rowan/Big Daddy Goon/Eli may be the Hell and High Water…these two are justice. And, justice, sometimes, is dark.
Jake…from State Farm…is neither all good nor all bad. He is just a secret agent (Double? Triple? Quadruple?). Look at his umbrella in comparison to Cyrus’ and Fitz’s umbrella. Jake’s is blue and red with green and white threaded through it. He has honor, we see that. But, he’s also a killer…we’ve seen that too. The green is his own will showing through…his rebellion, maybe. The white…Liv.
Cyrus…shoot, we know…Cyrus got blood on his hand. But, what does he need an umbrella for? Cyrus is a bad you-know-what. Somebody’s got something on him. It, obviously, isn’t his sexuality since he’s in an open gay marriage which didn’t prevent his political rise (but did prevent him from his hope to be president). His overcoat is a light color – for Cyrus anyway. He ain’t heavy (he’s my brother). Cyrus is a complicated monster that we love and hate.
My young lover, Harrison has purposefully declined his shelter, just like you said, Luvvie. He knew ish got real long before everybody else. My momma always said that it’s the quiet ones that you’ve got to watch. But, look how firmly (and outstretched) he’s holding on to the umbrella. Perhaps he don’t want no parts of the lineage, but he’s got the shelter (Liv) securely in his hands. I think he and Liv may have a temporary falling out. As much as I love looking into that penetrating glance, he’s got that, “I wish a n-word would” look about him that kinda scares me. Not enough to scare me off. Just enough to tingle me and make me say, “heyyyyyyyy Harrison.” Bottom line…anyone that messes with Liv will have a mess on their hands.
Fitz has the weight of the world on his shoulder. He’s got his back protected in the storm. But his heart is wide opened and will keep getting hit. Not to mention that gut check that’s coming his way. Poor baby. I’ma need SSA Tom to stand in front of him and help shield him. I’d include Hal, but something tells me Hal would duck and run.
Back to Liv…that dang black umbrella? Does it symbolize her parents being bad to the bone? Is this why she fights so hard to be a good guy…to try to right some of their wrongs? But, even she doesn’t know how deep the goonage runs, my goodness. HARRISON! You and Huck need to pay attention to your big sister. Homegirl can’t keep drowning her sorrows in grape juice…I mean red wine. Ain’t that many vineyards in the world to stave off her despair.
So many feels.
1. I am not happy about the Mellie rape scene. I get that the point may have been to make Mellie more sympathetic, but that scene was a bridge too far. I really hope they don’t make that child Big Jerry’s. I am disturbed by the thought the Josie daughter/sister storyline may have been a bit of foreshadowing.
2. EVERY AFFILIATE NEEDS TO HAVE POSTED A WARNING. I read in comments that some people saw a warning before the episode aired. I didn’t see one. I am still disturbed by that scene. Having trained with the WOAR (Women Organized Against Rape)Rape Crisis Center & had the unfortunate experience of assisting in administering rape kits while working in the ER of an inner city hospital, I no longer question how any woman deals with or compartmentalizes something that traumatic.
3. What do people see in Fitz? Is his peen magic? I have yet to see what it is about him that is so “good”. Every flashback has him beaten down and forlorn. He seems like a nice guy with a jerk for a father, but why is he the great, white hope? He has 2 intelligent women completely ride or die for him. I’mma need some Fitz flasbacks to show me this worthiness.
4. I have always sympathized with Mellie. I have also always thought a part of her loved him. This season has convinced me more than ever that Mellie don’t deserve all the mistreatment Fitz gives out. She not only gave up her career, but quite literally parts of her soul for this man and he only condescends to return the kindness after she either reads him for filth or begs him. I’mma need Fitz to tuck his salty in a bit more often and remember the woman he first fell in love with.
5.Quinn – I wish this was David Rosen level fake out, but I don’t think it is. I’m not made at her, I feel sorry for her. Huck trained her and saw her growing thirst for whiskey, yet he got so caught up all this B613 that he forgot she wasn’t ready to roll without her training wheels. Yes Quinn was foolish getting caught up with Charlie, but Huck’s dismissing her when she was clearly starving for his attention & approval.
6. Mom & Dad Pope – I’m not sure if mama Pope was trying to get away, if the former Command ordered a hit on her and Eli did a fake out, or what went down, but I wasn’t surprised that Mama Pope was alive. I wonder if the Sunday dinners are so Eli can deliver info on Liv to Maya.
I’m still reeling from this episode and I am not sure I’m ready for the impending December hiatus.
I love Scandal and I love the recaps but shame on some of you for some of the comments that were made on the rape scene…unless you have been abused or ever been raped; you have no idea how you will react until you are in the situation even if you say you do now. Some women freeze in fear b/c they can’t believe it is happening to them by someone they know! I am horrified at some of the comments some of you wrote. I know it’s just a show but a very serious subject was introduced into the mix last night. Just please shut the hell up with your ignorant comments if you have never been in that situation. It’s a very devastating situation to say the least to have to deal with a family member who has hurt you and then have to keep dealing with them after they have hurt you. This just doesn’t happen in lower socio-economic families…it happens in affluent families like in Scandal and gets covered up all the time to keep the family from falling apart but the individual suffers…I can truly identify. I am over 21, successful, educated, married and have had years of counseling over this and you learn to live with the hurt, distrust and fear…it doesn’t go away. #teammellie
It never goes away. Hugs to you.
Wow. So sorry for your ordeal 🙁 I can’t even imagine. I’m glad you’ve picked your life up and have received counselling to help you work through it. Stay strong sister, because you ARE strong and brave.
Last night when the credits rolled, I had to jump up and turn on some Gospel music… like the old Shirley Caesar songs from the 80’s… the kind of music that changes your life and your dedication to Jesus with a lyric. I also had to crochet some baby blankets… yes, Jesus and babies was where I needed to find my center after Shonda n’em had me laid out on the floor like one of Beyoncé’s good wigs saying 752 on repeat.
Now, I’ve always been a closeted Mellie fan… I mean, she is the wife fighting for her position and no wife should ever have to fight for the love and affection of her husband. With that said, Mellie has been both strong and pathetic and I always lean towards the strong Mellie… and when she’s drunk… WINNING! But this foolery last night… I’m not only #TeamMellie… I’m now #Mellie2016. Mellie needs to run for office and kick old saddlebags Fitz to the curb and we’ll see what he and Liv make of what’s left.
Mad, stupid props to Bellamy Young for playing the character with dimensions and layers. I can’t even get mad at Mellie for scheming to cause trouble in Sally’s marriage.
Quinn… I’ve only got one suggestion… can we put her in the B613 box and forget she’s there. I don’t see anything good coming for the future Quinn.
Harrison can rock hot pink suspenders all day any damn day and I’m always gonna show up and gladiate for him day or night. Yes, boo, you can still get it!
Abby is growing on me… that’s all I’ve got. The actress who plays Abby is rocking the smokey eyes though… and that’s a very, very good look on her.
Jake from State Farm… is he collecting a check from anyone? Like Navy benefits or something? What is his life all about?
Liv in the Pilgrim coat… I never want to see that coat again! EVER!
BABY this write-up is the SHIT but I Soooo hatechew fo’ that Barbie doll pic. LMAO!!!!
I think Momma Pope is a goon also but for a different sect, like FBI vs CIA or something. I been here for Mellie because she love her some Fitz to the point she begged his side piece to come back AND was excited about it just to make his less than stellar self happy. I think Fitz firstborn is his brother and the way Shonda brews and sips the tea, we gonna find out that Mellie had something to do with Big J death and those kids gone play a bigger role on down the line. Poppa Goon setting Liv up to choose who’s gonna lie in the graveyard next; Huck, Jake, or Quinn…she can’t save them all! Me thinks Jake gone turn out to be dirty too and that Kerry Washingtons pregnancy gonna be written into the script to set up a love triangle we aint ready for. Nah! Shonda too stealthy for that but I’m way ready for Momma Pope to give a whole notha twist to my tea like lemon! GLADIATORS G UP!!!!
I was sick during the rape scene. SICK.
As someone else said I fuq with Mellie, I have always liked her character. I know eventually we’ll get background on why their marriage turned south, but as someone else said what if Fitz KNOWS son #1 is his daddy’s, since he has no idea about the rape he may be thinking Mellie is just another one of his Daddy’s whores. I hate how folks are going in on Fitz…he doesn’t know she was raped. And we don’t know what has transpired in these past 15yrs…give Shonda time to give us the info.
VP hubby being gay is the best. Have to say Sally is the most hypocritical person on the whole show AND that’s saying a lot…especially when she went in on Cyrus! talmbout HIS lifestyle…welp Cyrus is laying with HIS husband. HER husband is laying with…EXACTLY!
Quinn. Nope.
Mama Goon is about to RIDE THE FUCK OUT and my body is so ready. Is Liv’s mama a terrorist goon? Say What?
A bit off topic, but Shonda is giving us some on the low “black folks see it” realness with this show.
From the time the client thought Redhead chick was Olivia…cause she was white…
To Daddy Goon giving the 2x as good to get 1/2 of what they got speech…
To Quinn feeling like she’s entitled to be in the middle of er’ry damn thang AND being so disrespectful and UNGRATEFUL to Liv even though Liv has given her LIFE more than once… ( white woman in america syndrome)
I think a lot of these things aren’t being “seen” by her white viewers…I could be wrong. JMO
Remember when Khandi Alexander played on “The Corner”? When she rolled out that bed….she looked like she had been hitting them “red tops”…for real!! Whew Lord…. *smh*
The “rape” scene was a bit much. I mean I GET It..I get why it was there. I do not think Shonda is gratuitous in what she does. I wish I had gotten a warning like “Viewer discretion advised” (I mean they say that every week but lord….that was traumatic….)
I wonder why Shonda thinks the audience is so stupid that she needs to go to such lengths to ” humanize” Mellie? We understand that while Fitz and Mellie were set up long ago there was at one time love and mutual respect there, but ambition got in the way, at least for Fitz. And, I thought that I understood the ambition before. Being raped by your father in law and potentially having his child wasn’t necessary to confirm this. But, in Scandal, Shonda loves crazy and parallels so I guess that I should have eyeballed that whole Josie Marcus situ harder.
I sincerely hope that Shonda realizes her show is a soap now. And, I am not sure when the show being about Olivia wasn’t enough, but OK. Bellamy Young did great with her material.
This episode gave us facts re Mellie but it still doesn’t explain to me why a law firm partner, smart ass woman gave it all up just like that for a shot at the presidency for her already reluctant husband? I fundamentally don’t get this. I am not even sure that I understood why Cy directed her to do so at that time in the late 1990s.
I noticed people saying Team Mellie vs Team Olitz, blah blah. I am Team Mellie if that means she deserves better, and that should be without Fitz. Yes, she sacrificed for him but it’s clear now that he doesn’t know what, when, why, or even how. That is both their faults and a symptom of a highly, dysfunctional relationship and far from a partnership. She is a victim but not his victim. In their relationship, they have both done some crazy shit and I can’t abide by grown ass adults telling each other to shut up in front of their young child. Toxic.
Fitz doesn’t love Mellie – that’s clear to everyone including her, so why use rape to somehow build (or re-build) the bridge between these two characters. I also love Mellie, she is great at being mean and she deserves to be with someone who loves her. The major problem is now Fitz, his character needs repair because at this point one asks a question – why are these women so in love with him? Liv said that Fitz would make a great president, well so far we haven’t seen that. I hope writers will fix this somehow. Otherwise, the show will just turn into an evening soap.
Because at the time of the assault Fitz & Mellie were in love. Apparently she loved this man enough to make whatever sacrifices were necessary. Now she is simply past the point of no return. I also get the feeling that every time Fitz does throw a crumb of affection her way, Mellie gets hopeful.
Well said EM
first i look forward to this recap b/c there is way to much going on and you fill in the gaps.
i have been team mellie since she told liv to do her job and keep fitz happy. however, my heart really went out to her last night after i got over the shock of what i was seeing.
quinn, is that little sister you just want to slap the ish out of b/c she just will not listen. i need huck to just shake her one good time.
i told a my scandal circle that mama pope was goon can’t wait to see her story play out and yes papa pope still loves her.
“That lady would give tylenol a headache.”
Scandal is known for taking us on a roller coaster ride but I WAS NOT ready for everything that happened last night. I’m still trying to digest it.
I totally agree. Mellie is the truly the RIDEST OR DIE-EST woman EVER. Trey is so busy being butthurt about Defiance, if he only knew the real truth. All the more reason for him to sit down somewhere.
I have nothing to say about VP Sally’s husband. But it’s a good lesson on watching your words. Remember what she said to Cyrus about not saying anything about his lifestyle? Politicians. Their words always come back to hurt them.
Mama Pope is ALIVE and it seems, locked away in an EXTRA ULTRA SUPER MAX prison. The way Khandi Alexander came out from under that cover scared me. What did she do?
I guess every show needs to have a trifling character and that person is Quinn. Why couldn’t she just do what she was told? And I can’t believe she told Huck “I told you so.” Next thing you know, she’s running out of a building after killing a man and trying to call Huck on the hot line. Why in the world did she not consider there would be security cameras in the building? She needs to be thrown into the B613 hole?
I’m still shaking my head at this episode.
Lolol I said the same thing about Mama Pope. I literally thought “Damn, she is on LOCKDOWN!” The amount of security in that joint. Unlike Liv’s apartment (-__-)
Quinn needs to be thrown in the hole for a good while. That’ll teach her not to poke her nose in places she is not needed, Huck told her repeatedly to take a seat smh.
YES, Mellie was genuinely raped, by a disgusting man.
NO, she did not in anyway, ask for it. It was not a setup. All she intended was to get capitalize on the fact that her father-in-law was drunk. Maybe get him to come clean with some info, maybe put a manipulative bug in his ear, to leave her hubby the hell alone. The entire rape was utterly disgusting, and I had GENUINE EMOTIONAL feelings of OMG for her character. Side note: she played the HELL out of that scene. Real feelings were felt. I was so sad for her and her spirit. I now have wayyyyy more empathy for her character than I did before.
HOWS OF EVER…
Instead of telling the man she loved “aye dude… your daddy, the son of a bitch, raped me.” She focused on the BIGGER PICTURE of what her husband was set to achieve, and used the situation as leverage, so FITZ would be taken care of emotionally, so he can go be great for glory. Um…. WHO DOES THAT??? Sacrifice be damned! RESPECT YOURSELF! She wasn’t scared of his daddy! No sir no ma’am. She was scared of her husband losing his stomach for that political life! Scared he would want to, oh I don’t know, move away from his father, cut his ass off, and live OFF THE GRID, maybe be an insurance salesman! She knew, that if Fitz became privy to the fact that his father RAPED his wife, he would quit the campaign trail… Yeah… Mellie. Ain’t. Real! She’s out for power, and she uses people and situations, to go get that MONEY POWER RESPECT.
It’s what she needs in life.
Miss POPE on the other hand. Had that been her???? Well… she woulda told her husband. Begged him to quit all the foolishness so they can get away from all the TOXIC ass people in his life… Real love makes you protective of your loved ones feelings in a real way. Real love would have made Mellie protective of his MENTAL health from the GET GO, cause his daddy is an abusive ass fool. A dirty political goon.
Yeah. TEAM OLIVIA.
Hows of ever, lol too funny!!!!
Wow!!!luvvie, I am in the UK and I prefer to read your recaps than watch the show.I just dont have the liver to handle it.I read your recaps religiously and this one has just got knocked me out.I cant think anymore so I am skipping dinner and going to bed.The end.
I am shaking my head at all of the negative things being said about Fitz what is going on here? This was an Arranged Marriage with rapist Jerry doing the arranging . I wonder if you people are watching this series with your eyes open? Wasn’t it Mellie herself in a scene when Fitz said would it be bad to give this all up and loving Mellie told Fitz to get himself together for a speech of course it would be bad to give it up Fitz said last Niigata after the rape let’s go home and forget about running but Mellie was not having any of that. Throughout this series Cyrus has said over and over how the prez only wanted to be a regular guy but he was pushed into politics by his wife and father, Mellie loves the limelight which will be her downfall as Livvy always says let Mellie be Mellie and when it comes to Fitz she is her own worst enemy. Olivia is in a state of turmoil she does not know what direction to go. Fitz truly loves her and she he but their love is always overshadowed by one thing or another. GET IT TOGETHER !! Is Jake a gladiator now?
Chill, you really act like you know Fitz’ penis size (-____-)
Honey, Jake is a GLADIATION of SATISFACTION! Balm for that ache! LOL….. You know… I used to make fun of my mother for watching her “stories” and Dallas… I am becoming my mother. Oh dear God no!
you know what bothers me the most? all this “mellie truly loves fitz” stuff related to how she handled being raped. NOTHING about that reads love to me. NOTHING. maybe some other stuff she’s done over the years could prove her feelings, but letting Big Jerry *get away* with that heinous deed? that ain’t love. could be fear, intimidation, power-move, or something… but not love.
it’s sickening to me that people can think that “a woman truly loves you because she rolled over on a rape case for you”.
THANK YOU! Thank you times a trillion. I thought I was crazy. People are confusing emotional pain with love. Woooo… Mellie is a complicated character. Noing good and well Fitz would have been MORE than happy to have the support of his wife, to move on from that sadistic bastard. And I believe he would have supported her, and written his father out of his life, as well as pressed charges.
Girl I was like WTF! When the episode ended. I’ve always been team Mellie but now even more because of all the shit she has put up with! But the bomb at the end that maybe her first born is Fitz’ brother and not his son had me nauseous. Oh this is too much!
This episode was just…..*faints* and YES @ Olivia being raised by the black Mr & Mrs Smith! lol that was an EXCELLENT comparison! and i’m super excited about the impending Maya/Olivia reunion & the fallout yall know will ensue! Now, on the rape…I can’t believe that there is actually a human being WORSE than Eli/Rowan and we saw him in action last night, Holy CRAP Big Jerry! I’m still not #TeamMellie after this, but DAAAAAANG, I really wish she had told Fitz/Ghostie/Trey what happened so that ‘man’ could have died sooner! UGH, i can’t believe him! Speaking of death, so now that Quinn has been “initiated”, neither she nor Charlie think that Huck will figure out WTF happened?!…that’s about to be good!
Now this is the part where i really hope whoever reads this doesn’t hate me or think i’m trolling; i’ve wondered about part of the following statement for quite some time, so an answer WITHOUT hating me would be great….
For those that are in their feelings about (but Lord willing, have not experienced one before) the graphic nature of the rape scene: is it really any more graphic than watching Huck or Charlie torture/kill someone…or a mass murder scene in real life or any other movie or show (a la the Red Wedding from Game of Thrones)?! i legitimately do not get it! it’s never okay or cute or fun to be raped (NO ONE ‘asked’ for it or ‘brought it on themselves’!), and neither is getting gutted or sliced open or shot repeatedly. for me, BOTH are very hard to watch, but even as a woman, graphic or hard core violence makes me cringe more than rape.
Yes the murders are graphic, but I think folks are more affected because rape is often pushed under the dark places of our mind. The person who is victimized has to LIVE with that trauma. Most folks feel like the KNOW the character so it feels more personal. Rape is the invasion of your WHOLE being. HEART, MIND, SOUL. While murder is tragic, the victim is gone, suffering for the victim is not life long.
Not being a bitch but rape most definitely IS graphic hard core violence of the WORST kind. I believe for the victim nothing else in the world compares to having someone take not only your power, but your sense of safety, sense of self (who you thought you were and what you thought you would do in certain situations), and overall mental stability.
I am a sexual assault victim. As a healthcare provider I also work with rape victims. I have also taken care of murder victims trying to safe their lives (young and old) and from what I’ve seen rape victims have the hardest journey.
First, I’m sorry that you were victimized in that way and i’m glad that you are helping other though that same and unfortunate trauma. And second, thank you for explaining that (i’m definitely paraphrasing here) rape is more of a psychological breakdown through a horrific physical act that can last a lifetime, whereas murder is dirty as well but it ends quickly (relatively speaking), hence rape being so overwhelming to watch on film.
Shonda had another horrific a rape scene in Private Practice and I stopped watching that show. There was no warning on this episode, but next week’s warning does have it. I honestly may have to sign off on watching this show because I was that disgusted. I wanted Mellie to yell out Fitz’s name! I mean, he was sleeping in the same damn house! Why didn’t she tell him when she got back up to the room? He hated his daddy so I’m sure he would have helped her or took her to the hospital for a forensic examination. WTF! Sh*t like this pisses me off because same thing in happened in Private Practice! Kadee Strickland didn’t want to report her rape either. Why can’t women be written strong enough to report and get justice?! (eventually the Private Practice rapist got killed, but not soon enough!)
I watch American Horror Story too and one of the witches got raped on that show and she killed every single one of her rapists (it was a gang rape) by blowing up the bus they were on!
I need Shonda to have these women get justice. I need instant justice gratification after crimes on women. I’m kind of mad. Still processing.
So many great comments could not read them all, such a great recap. So let me just add my two cents.
I HATE QUINN. She is the type that someone has to yell SIT YO ARSE DOWN and still she want get it until she falls on it. I HATE QUINN.
Cyrus had a wife.
Did anyone else notice how sad and quiet Harrison was looking.
I have made comments on Mellie’s rape. Bottom line I don’t think anyone deserves or tries to get rape, but it is something about this that made me think there was more to it than what was shown.
I am going to need Olivia Pope to get her head back in the game. Her crew is being handled and she is not even noticing that OP&Assc. is being gutted from the inside out.
Okay that’s all I have for now, because its nap time.
First off….. WHAT THE ENTIRE blip!!!!
This episode was just insane. Exploring exactly what Maya’s in for…
I think a bomb threat was B613’s explanation to the subcommittee headed by Big Jerry (Yep, conspiracy within a conspiracy) , and Fitz was probably the one to carry out the order because whoever was in charge at the time knew his father would somehow end up on the subcommittee to investigate the crash by virtue of being a senator and would of course sweep it under the rug. I think those 300 some folks were collateral damage to cover up something else.
Also, Rowan’s anguish at the crash was too real so he probably didn’t know his wife wasn’t dead until he became top dog and privy to all things goon. Who got Mrs.Goon out the plane? She’d already put on her sea-belk(sic) and everything. She could have simply checked in and skipped out. Discounting the bomb story because whoever got her out could have gotten it out too. For all intents and purposes that plane HAD to go down. But Why?
So many questions, not nearly enough answers!
@Shix, I’m right there wit-cha. You are so on point.
Shonda is tellin’ us….stay tuned y’all….stay tuned. These questions and more will be answered.
Does anyone think Jake From State Farm is going to be absorbed into OPA like Lemony Snickets did when he lost his job as ADA? at least until they find something else for him to do. His name is third in the opening credits after Kerry and Columbus.
Oh, and I don’t like the new make-up or eyeliner look on Abby or Quinn this season, they look like they’re trying to hard. Disturbs me every time I see them.
As usual Luvvie, great recap. I am in the same boat as you, unable to deal and on Team-Mellie! When I watched that scene between her and that oaf of a disgraceful father-in-law, I could tell what was coming, especially since he keep whining that he not a “womanizer” or a freaking drunk, and he’s both, that tard-jerk-face. I wanted to pluck him off of her myself, and even tried while cringing, watching the scene….I did…I know, crazy! But good grief, for anyone in real-life to think that she invited that on herself, SHAME on them! My heart broke for her and now I understand her a lot more…..WOW!!!!!! I was glad that Fitz did show up and did defend her, she deserved that championing! YES!!!!
Now Quinn!!!!!! O.M.G.!!!! That girl need a serious slap in the head from Huck with everyone else standing in line ala the movie Airplane waiting their turn! Seriously!!!! She is a nutjob and she deserves what comes to her…..~rant over~..I know, it’s TV, but dang, it IS Good TV!!!!LOL!
this episode was amazing !! bellamy young totally killed it that women is a phenomenal actress. for all of you who are outraged at how this rape was handled unfortunately rape victims rarely get revenge on their rapist that is a movie fantasy In real life when the rapist is known i.e friend /family often times this is how it plays out. THIS IS AN EMMY SUBMISSION/WINNIG EPISODE !!! On that note where is Kerrys Emmy Worthy Material I dont know if its that Kerry has had great monologues but poor delivery ? OR HAS SHE NOT HAD GOOD MATERIAL YET WHAT DO YOU THINK?
I thought Olivia was good last week with Eli on the phone, her performance with Huck was good when he was in her office and they were talking about Rowan, and of course the first episode with Eli and with Fitz/Mellie in the vault….She has done good I think Mellie is getting more air time this season I guess. Bellamy is good though.
Sigh. SSSSIIIIGGGHHHHHH. I have so many feelings about this episode.
Oh, Mellie. Like many other commenters, I question Shonda’s use of the rape scene and I hope this wasn’t just an attention grabber. I was so heartbroken for Mellie the whole episode. The look on her face…it truly looked like at that moment, a piece of her soul died.
It honestly makes me resent Olitz more and more. Mellie is a real person with real feelings and it puts Olivia’s and Fitz’s affair into perspective. Fitz doesn’t even know or care about all that Mellie has done for him. Olivia and Fitz are not some fairy tale romance; their sad co-dependence on each other is not true love. It’s lust and coping mechanisms because neither of them can deal with the realities of their lives. WHERE’S DR. PHIL WHEN YOU NEED HIM UGGGGHHHH.
Oh and I hope Quinn makes a swift exit from this show because SHE IS THE WORST.
That episode left me curled up in the corner of my couch with a wicked headache… it was too much. TOO MUCH! Your recaps have me eyeing every shit that happens and I was reading that episode last night and becoming smaller and smaller in the couch. I done lost my breath for that entire rape scene and had to remind myself to breath. I can’t wait for next week though… I’m glad I have a week to recover.
So after reading the comments and gettin my life about 100 times. I just went back and rewatched the episode. And as sally was straightening her husbands tie she was talking about leo making progress for them on the financial front. Her husband responds “I always did like that guy and he wears a suit well too”… BOOOMM THAT WAS OUR HEADS UP!! He feeling lil mr beene
Mama Pope didn’t do anything wrong. Rowan is B613, and can’t have a family (remember Huch and 752???). So he got rid of his wife and shipped Olivia off to boarding school.
It is not that simple. I will guarantee you that. Nothing ever is on this show.
You’ve all said some variation of what I’m thinking/feeling after last night’s episode, which I just watched. However, I’ma throw something into the pot – and maybe someone HAS said this, but I CAIN’T read through fiftyleventeen comments to double-check. Just hear me out before y’all start throwing rotten tomatoes, m’kay?
We all (and I mean AWL) hate Quinn’s ass, but what if Nervous Nellie being sucked into B613 could be an asset (if she figures out how to stop being so dang NEEDY!) Jake and Huck are no longer operating for the organisation, but if Quinn could just get her $#!+ together and act like she got some SENSE, she might be able to find tidbits of info to leak back to OPA. Granted, I’m sure that’s the very same purpose Papa Goon roped her into the fold, but that girl better know where her loyalty lies! (But then again, why should she be loyal to the folks who ruined her life and took away her man? Things that make you go ‘hmmmm…’
Ok, I’m done with my little theory. Y’all take time with me. I had a rough day. *quivers in the corner like Huck in #752*
Good point maybe Quinn will bring info back to OPA. I waiting for Hollis to pop up too he has something to do with all this madness
If she has any sense, she will remember what B613 did to Huck and know that they didn’t recruit her for a sleepover.
And Hollis! For real, how come we haven’t heard from him yet? Hmmmm…
Sleep over, lol…Hollis gone pop up I know he is in the circle with Fitz daddy and Cyrus and maybe Rowan
Hello Luvvie! I absolutely love your blog although this is my first time posting. Last nights episode was so traumatic for me that I was just through! First I felt Shonda went way too far with the whole rape thing. She just should not have gone there in my opinion. Secondly I believe Mellie did not want to be with Big Jerry that time, but that she has been with him before. I also believe that not only is the oldest son Fitz’s brother but also the daughter. I believe the baby will be proven to be Fitz only child. Why? Who knows, power position, title? I believe the episode was meant to inspire sympathy for Mellie; but instead only showed her as the callous person Fitz believes her to be! I also think he knows about the affair, and the children! Butnot the rape! Which is why he hates her and doesn’t connect with her.
Quinn is UGH! Huck just needs to take care of that!
Mama Pope was a spy for a foreign power. Daddy pope probably didn’t know it until she tried to blow something up! You just don’t keep someone locked up for 20 years for nothing!
As a married woman it shames me to root for the mistress ( if only in shondaland); but as a wife I also know the limits I’d go to for my husband, and that ain’t it! That is not love Mellie is displaying but political manipulation! Mellie loves Mellie!!!!
I couldn’t respond all day cause I was so out of cans. Shonda and her crew done left me and MY crew in a puddle on the floor and that janitor just came by and mopped us all up! I’ve been following you a couple weeks now Luvvie and only started watching scandal at the start of season 3 (binge watched 1 and 2 one weekend to get caught up) but they done snatched my wig after tonight. Mellie is a trooper, better one than I’d ever be and for the Olitz lovers (I’m one too but I can’t right now) RAPE IS RAPE IS RAPE! Having worked in an abuse shelter with several rape victims RAPE IS… well see above line dammit!
My only question from last night’s episode though is why/when/how did Fitz start resenting Mellie? (they were already through when Olivia came on the campaign and she demanded they look loving to win). I guarantee there’s more to the back story cause it is damned Scandal. Watch the heroine/hero turn villain within three wig flicks! And how does this Mellie story correlate with Fitz’s monologue about the”real” story of how they met and the arrangement for them to hook up set up by his pops… I’m a newcomer so I know I might be getting too nit picky on the details but please help this sista enjoy an organized type A ride Luvvie.
First off let me start by saying I ALWAYS read this blog, but THIS EPISODE had me so in my feels that I had to comment. (I also don’t have cable so I get it how I live)
– in reference to the Cyrus and his “wife” comment I still believe he was talking about James. If you remember, he was always hiding his sexuality because he was a republican. I figured when everyone heard that they would just automatically be like “yea…ok” -____-
-A good point that was made about daddy goon not calling the hit on momma pope was that 15 yrs ago he most likely did not have the same amt of power to make shit shake like he does now, so its possible he could’ve been a simple paper pusher or rowan from allstate. If I wanted to go out on a limb and try to reach Shonda’s thought process, I’d even go as far as to say Momma pope is the original goon and Daddy goon was the poor sap who fell for her. (Shonda loves strong female leads and making the “obviously” bad guys actually victims/good guys) shes did it with Jake and now Mellie. I mean all the seeds were planted against him even when Olivia said “mother said the same thing to me about you” Just like everyone believes Mellie loves Fitz, I feel the same for Rowan and MP. shes’s prob locked up to protect Olivia as well as bc he still loves her and she “should” be dead. but iunno I can’t stay in Shonda land for too long. I start coming up with conspiracy theories like dam who REALLY shot JFK? smh
– the rape. terrible. never wish that on anyone. Mellie did what SHE felt was the right way to deal with it and we can leave it at that. slut shaming is so 1900s lol.
Sally and her hubby/can’t get a passing score on an open book test Quinn …sighs ..who cares? no use crying over old tea. I agree with the commenter about its time to delve more into Harrison’s character which leads me to further create theories on how he could be related to that incident or another incident that is related bc remember the only info given on him was he was connected with a “terrorist/bad guy” who he was abs terrified of getting back into the country. Bad guy turned white hat?
Ive written so much Im sorry. just lots of feels and Im a recent grad working a full time job on top of my masters. le internet is my only friend *le sighs*
This rape scene has me so confused. Not about rape but other interactions we’ve seen between Big Jerry & Mellie. Specifically S2 as you mentioned and how she wanted him to go on trail with them campaigning. How when Fitz said know and was drunk at the table she ran off after Big Jerry.
We know there was some type of transaction according to Fitz. BJ claimed to have business in Boston though he had no real reason to do business in MA given he was gov of CA. Fitz gets introduced to Mellie, clerk of a justice who was having dinner with BJ. So this makes it seem as though BJ and Mellie had some prior knowledge of each other. Before the actual rape when she told him no/stop he said something that sounded like ” do you really want me to stop, huh, huh” she didn’t respond and he moved to pin her down and started fighting. We know that “no” means “no” even up to and including penetration. Ask Mike Tyson on that one. So he was dead wrong, regardless of whether there was a prior relationship or not.
One thing that also troubles me is all the discussion about the whole why does Fitz treat Mellie so poorly given that she has sacrificed so much for him. Why is he so bitter and ungrateful toward her. There is something that has happened between these two that hasn’t been uncovered yet and this episode left me with questions and did not answer why there is such distance between them and when did it happen. I wonder if either Fitz at some point discovered what happened between Mellie and BJ that night and her not telling him has driven a wedge between them or maybe there is something else that happened post that incident that became the wedge. What keeps coming to mind for me is the limo ride after the pastor’s (S2 ep2: The Other Woman) funeral, Mellie was telling Fitz about coldwater flat they lived in and how they were partners & friends. She went on to say that she needed him to forgive her that somewhere inside was the girl from the coldwater flat and he had to forgive her. I always thought this referred to something that had happened to cause a rift between them. Does anyone recall this? If so, does my meandering seem plausible that something happened and it could be likely this rape situation?
My last comment on the rape is that I was disappointed in how this was handled, happened without any disclaimers or warnings or any teachable aftermath. But Shonda has said there are no lessons in Scandal so I guess this is proof.
I’ve always believe MamaPope was alive and believed that she might have been in B613. Quinn, well what can I say…I give up on trying to figure out what is going on with her. However, I do believe that Rowan will use her as a pawn to reign Olivia in. I’m thinking Cy/Mellie will attempt to pimp James to Daniel Douglas or as a minimum use the kiss that happens next week as a pawn to bring Sally inline. Lots of stuff happening. There is another clip that shows Olitz kissing next week but since there are two additional episodes after that hookup I suspect that by episode 3×10, they will be on the outs again. SSDD.
I don’t know what could have happen between Mellie/Fitz to cause Fitz to dislike her so much. I said dislike because I do believe he loves her to some degree. Mellie did sacrifice a lot for Fitz but Fitz didn’t know and I am sure he wouldn’t have wanted her to suffer like that for his political career. Everybody wanna claim that Mellie is strong Liv is weak, NOT Mellie is just as weak as Liv maybe more because she been dealing with Fitz for sooo long. In the interview Mellie was so vulnerable she was speechless. I feel a tiny bit bad for Mellie only because she chose her path in life and now is not happy with the results. Been there done that in real life…..man in the mirror girl make that change it’s not too late. Lol
First, I just want to say that I usually lurk, but I’ve enjoyed (and agreed with most of) the comments thus far, so won’t add anything further to what has already been said re: rape, Mellie (Bellamy Young SLAYED last night!), Liv, Harrison, etc.
I just rewatched last night’s Scandal (had to take 24 hours to get my mind right–even now, I’m about to watch something fluffy to clear my head, like RHOA or BFV…or maybe Mr. & Mrs. Smith!)
In rewatching it, I now have a theory about Quinn: Huck and Charlie are doing this to teach her a lesson. Even though Quinn is as dumb as a bag of hammers, think back to when OPA was getting/giving the lowdown on next steps in the case. Huck kept watching Quinn over the top of his laptop (this was after she was all “I told you so”). Shortly after that, she received the call from Charlie, setting up a date. Then the killing of the guard went down, she tries to call Huck, and Charlie gives her the “Welcome to Wonderland” speech.
I say all this because since Quinn obviously has no sense of self-preservation, Huck has long figured out that Quinn will not listen to reason and, basically, that a hard head makes a soft behind. So, he (via Charlie) cooked up some tenderizer for that azz. Charlie was down because he still has professional respect for Huck (and because Huck didn’t kill him, thus returning the favor Charlie once did him), and Charlie probably agreed that Quinn running around unchecked was bad for business. So they joined forces on the low, had Charlie get his flirt on (like Huck couldn’t see that Quinn was Gobi-desert thirsty–after all, Quinn was trying to get with Huck in a low-key way), get her all geeked with the shooting range lessons, let her TRY to spy on Charlie, and then set her up. Because Huck predicted her behavior; Quinn is as see-through as the binoculars she loves to use on others.
Huck be knowing. Charlie too. B613 doesn’t recruit clueless people.
Somehow, I don’t think B613 jumps people in like that; you KNOW up front you have to kill someone, and how to do it smoothly so nothing comes back on you or the organization (hence the intense training, The Box, the disavowal of family and other attachments, etc). There’s no, “Oops, I killed someone, my bad…even though I’m caught on camera and left bodies around…so I’m in?” Even Crips and Bloods know what they have to do to become full members; B613 is a gang on a federal, black ops level. Same concept.
Just my $.02.
Nice theory and I think it’s possible. However, remember that Rowan is involved in this. He called Charlie when Quinn was at the shooting range to ask on progress. She’s HIS project so this is beyond Huck. IF Huck is involved, then he doesn’t know Rowan is too.
I was totally pissed off when I read the comments that Mellie didn’t fight enough or set herself up. Not to play the victim but I was one of those people who felt this episode to the core. I think that Mellie looking at her attacker in the face and moving past is was very strong of her..suffering in silence is how a lot of people choose to deal with it.
Okay in less depressing news, I think that Liv’s mom did some wicked shit that landed her in that situation an I think she was on that flight trying to get away from some punishment…like that jail cell she’s in now and got busted. Or…she could be there under the alias of Omar Dresden because Daddy Pope is trying to protect her. Maybe B613 wanted her dead for something and he faked her death in order to save her….IDK I’m grasping at straws but great recap as always Luvvie.
I’m not bragging on it, because it’s not something I even wanted to know, but I also saw that whole rape thing coming from the first time we saw Big Jerry back in season 2. It seems, between here and Masters of Sex that Barry Bostwick is having a very rapey-old-man kind of 2013. This is Brad Majors here, the man who had to be tricked into having sex with ANYONE back in 1975.
Okay, I just had to respond to this because I, too, saw him on Masters of Sex, and I totally agree with you!
Also, VP Sally’s husband played a closeted gay man on The Office. Shonda (or her casting director) knows how to cast for type.
someone brought up a good point that it was 22 years go Rowan may not have had that type of juice to drop that plane, started from the bottom now they here?!
When Mrs.Pope hugged Olivia bye, she did have a rather enormous box to only be on travel for a few days while her boss gets settled-? what if that was her initiation into B613?
you see how they’re tricky and got Baby Huck. lets see Pres Trey is down dropping planes maybe that was his tricked out “in”. Huck is down, you recall his story, some trickery. Jake, Charlie…Fitz II…
Maybe Rowan obtained the power along those 22 yrs.
why is Mrs Pope on super lockdown -looking rough whew…he couldn’t do her better than that? he was gonna send Olivia to Thailand when he tried to fix her scandal
The title. The TITLE! Everything coming up Mellie? More like everyone! I COULD NOT BELIEVE THAT. Also, what an amazing recap. Thanks for this!!
So many feelings but for now a quick Q: I didn’t see Sally’s husband being gay coming. Remember the dinner they had with Mellie and Fitz and he was checking Mellie out during grace? Maybe he don’t discriminate.
I don’t think Mellie buried the rape just for political gain, although I think that was part of it. I also think she knew that this incident would completely destroy any semblance of father son relationship with Fitz and Big Ger. After hearing Fitz say that hearing his Dad say how proud he was, that would make him run, Mellie made a tough choice and buried her rape and tried to have some good come out of it by making Big Ger do the right thing.
I also think its completely understandable that she could still have a relationship with Big Ger at various points later down the line because she buried the rape, so in her mind it’s like it never happened. I’ve seen it before and remember the mind is very powerful at blocking things out for protection.
I’m not sure how i feel about the rape scene being.used as a tool for people to like Mellie. I really hope that’s not the purpose, because I’ve always liked Mellie. I’ll reserve my judgment based on how they follow up with it for the rest of the season…
I agree, I don’t necessarily think the purpose was to use the scene as a tool for people to like Mellie. I think it was to illustrate the depth of what she is willing to do and endure for what she wants.
Though I find it hard to believe that Mellie would sacrifice herself so that Fitz and his father could have some shred of a relationship. Maybe she was softer back then (which, having made it to law firm partner, she likely was not), but Mellie circa 2013 would never sacrifice herself for something so uncertain and untenable without some gain on her end.
Shonda, again, knocked it out the park!!! How many calls did get Thursday night that began with a ‘GRRRRRLLLLLLLLLL, di dyou see it?”, lol!
3 Points:
1) Mellie is the right match for Fitz-she’s confident, brassy, focused, tough to the bone, and allthewayinlove!
2) Sally’s frigid, holier-than-thou person the result of OR the cause of hubby’s indiscriminate dalliances?
3) Olivia needs a sister or female BFF in a serious way just about now!
Peace ya’ll!
Totally down with everything you said. Big Jerry knew Mellie before Fitz and he did say do you really want me to stop giving the indication that something might have happened before. This show has donegal exactly what Shonda wanted it to do which was to soften Mellie to the
viewers. The rape was terrible and Mellie made it worst in my opinion. By letting him get away with it for political gains. What good did her scarfice do for her? She is still not the one and Fitz and his father were still at odds with each other. I have always like Mellie with her devious ways but any woman that allows her husband to have an affair and helps in them being together cannot and will not have my respect. Cyrus was married to a woman this was fifteen years earlier and he had not met James. Olivia has got to get it together or everything and everyone around her will be in shambles. She can’t see the forest for the trees these days.
Anyone that’s been sexually assaulted (and hasn’t been brainwashed to believe it was, in some way, their fault for existing) knows that any bs about Mellie not fighting made her less raped is …well, bullshit.
As far as her reaction the following morning – it seemed classic Mellie to me. She hides her pain and moves forward.
I have a problem with how dismissive Fitz is towards her as well. I want to know what the back story is on that. It certainly didn’t start just because Olivia showed up.
(Hey ya’ll, long time reader, first time commenter.)
Mellie’s Rape
I agree with everythang Luvvie said on that! So no need to comment further except how it changed my perception on Mellie which it did. I’m in a ménage à trois now; “me him and she, what we gon do baby? I don’t , I don’t know, oh, oh, oh”!!111 (don’t judge me)
Baby Huck/Quinn
She should have known better. If not, while on time out she should have been watching throw backs vids on BET of Trick Daddy ft. Trina” &itch you know nann @!gga”. If it is a covert operation on #teamolivia side then its one hell of a double, triple secret mission. Bcuz it WAS Daddy Goons’ original plan with Charlie.
Fitz Showining up for Mellie
Thank God bcuz he was waaaaay over due, like my mama was that time when I was 7 years old and they revoked my library card, and I didn’t get a new one until we relocated to a new city with a fresh start.
Liv’s Mama in prison all these years?
I wasn’t expecting that unless she was being held a prisoner by Daay Goon himself. Only thing I can think of is for her safety, bcuz I just won’t go there imagining HER being the bad guy. She was supposed to be my SUPER shero and team up with Liv to out do everythang to her husband/Liv’s Daddy.
1) Been on Team Mellie from day one. She rules.
2) Didn’t see the LOCKUP:DC coming regarding MamaPope. Wall slides. But it does reinforce my belief that she was/is a bigger goon than PapaPope
3)VP hubby gay. Can’t wait to see where that goes.
4) I’m not here for Baby Huck either BUT, now that she’s in B613, I betchu she gon be da one that rescues MamaPope.
I cried for Mellie. The way she detached herself from the situation with Big Jerry made me think that cycle of abuse and control has been going on for a long time. Pobrecita.
Hey Luvvie! Loved your recap (As usual)! This ep did not change my mind about Mellie, b/c my mind was made up about her in the LAST season! I have been Team MEllie ever since. Ppl LIVE for the Liv/Fitz storyline but that man is MARRIED! and Mellie should not be made the bad guy b/c she loves, fights for and supports her hubby/marriage! Because of Mellie, Fitz is one of my LEAST fave characters on Scandal. And even though Mellie is treated tantamount to a diamond covered in poop by Fitz, she’s still a diamond like you noted earlier. Nothing a lil soap, water and shinola can’t fix.
As for the other stuff.. like you said, the ability to can left me as well as I try to process all that happened in this episode! Twitterverse supplied a humorous glance at all that happened in one short phrase:
“OMG Fitz’s son is his Puppy-brother & Quinn just pledged B6-13” LOL
I knew Mama Pope wasn’t dead though.. they kept alluding to her “death” too much for her to be dead. While I didnt know HOW they were going to pull off Mama Pope being alive, I knew she wasn’t on that plane. And I dont think she’s there for anything that she did per se.. Maybe she’s there against her will.. IDK.. we shall see.. Kudos to Shonda and the team. This was a great ep! But it was too much to take ESP since I’d watched it AFTER I sat thru 2h of Best Man Holiday! My Soul Had NO MORE FEELINGS OR TEARS! I just laid there a heap of bref .. Just take me now Jesus! LOL
Quinn stupid ass piss me off with her shenanigans. Going in there to do another man’s business cause he kissed you. girl bye. She stay fucking with the wrong ass men. Ugh.
Mellie shutting down during the rape and then compartmentalizing her attack afterwards like that make me think she’s be abused before. I felt real bad for her. but I would have stabbed my father in law so fast I wouldn’t have realized it till the blood was on my hands.
I think it is interesting that the automatic conclusion is that Mellie “sacrificed” something for Fitz by being raped by Big Jerry and holding it in so he could run for office. But Fitz was pretty ambivalent about running for office and not really that into it, so if Mellie wanted to rat out her father-in-law to her husband, and therefore kill his chance to win the governorship, she probably could have taken Big Jerry down with her husband (who couldn’t stand Big Jerry in any event) firmly by her side.
Instead, she uses what happened to get Fitz to run for office (by using it to convince Big Jerry to say the words Fitz needed to hear). Mellie didn’t sacrifice for what Fitz wanted, she sacrificed for what Mellie wanted–her husband in the White House–and that’s okay. #TeamMellie
This show is very good but has serious continuity issues! The plot twists and turns are definitely made for holding the viewer’s interest but maybe it’s better if the viewer forgets past seasons and episodes to be able to relate to new material. I for one can make NO sense of how Fitz declared Mellie to be set up with him (Season 2-19) and when he told Olivia “what coward was I to marry her and not wait for you to show up” (season 1-06) and him and Mellie having a “dead marriage for the last 3 years” (his words in season 1-06) when Olivia had joined the campaign as a fixer. Then there’s Mellie in 2-02 saying to Fitz “we were never in (love) but we were friends and partners.” How does all this match up with a loving couple in the beginning and why does Fitz resent Mellie so much?
I’m not going to parse the rape scene, baby drama issue because I just can’t with that plot twist, so I’m burying it like it never happened as per Mellie.
Well I guess like I said I’ll just forget the past seasons ever happened and believe Fitz to be a crazy monster who suddenly went nuts on his wife, and to top it off has a long lasting affair with someone even though he was perfectly happy in a wonderful marriage with Mellie. And just like Olivia, Mellie has serious issues to want to stay in a relationship to someone who treats you badly, clearly doesn’t love you and could care less about being president. Just like how Olivia weaks out with Fitz because she loves him (at least he loves her back), Mellie does the same (he doesn’t reciprocate here). Why suffer that emotional abuse in the name of love? And can it be really termed love? Is it really just obsession, control, power? Does she too like Olivia want “painful, difficult, devastating love?” It’s almost as if everyone (Olivia included) except Fitz wants him to be leader of the free world. He just wants to get a divorce, move to Vermont, and make freaking jam! Why must he and Mellie stay in a miserable marriage (he loves someone else, she loves him but is treated like crap) because he’s president? Isn’t he human first? Don’t divorces happen all the time? Don’t people move on? I’ve got questions. Anyway forget I asked, I’ll just sit back, relax, and enjoy the fictitious, discontinuous ride. At least Mama Pope is alive so that’s good news right?
And just as an aside without the Fitz/Olivia white house/OPA crossover storyline this show is DEAD! Think about it. If Fitz made up with Mellie and stops pining for Olivia, and Olivia moved on with Jake and stopped pining for Fitz, all we’re left with is a disjointed white house and cases of the week over at OPA. Hell Olivia won’t even have to deal with Cyrus anymore y’all. That would be some boring crap because then who would care about Fitz shooting the plane down etc, etc because it won’t hurt anyone’s feelings. So I suggest we stop making this about real life (even though people do leave their spouses for others in real life even after years of sacrifice) and we just enjoy the ride. Forget about which character is better with who even though I’m interested to see how the writers can ever make Fitz a likeable guy again. He more than anyone has been taken so far bad that I don’t know he can come back.
This is exactly how I feel. Next thing we’ll find out that “nice” Mellie (eps 3×08) was killed by her evil twin sister and taken her place (seasons 1&2), that’s the only explanation for such drastic character change. Don’t get me wrong I love Mellie at being bad, I think Bellamy Young is just great but it’s difficult to accept this season’s direction knowing how things were between Fitz & Mellie. In season 1 (ep 6), Fitz had a fight with Mellie, he said their marriage was dead. So, before Olivia came along, that marriage was just a formality. I hope that Jerry’s paternity stuff never comes up, they should just leave it alone and move on. The focus of the show from the start was WH and OPA and it was nice to watch different plots but the focus remained constant. This season, there are too many characters, too many plots, one shocker after another but the show has gone off the focus. I miss Cyrus, Cyrus & Liv, Cyrus & Fitz, James. What about David Rosen? My wish for season 3
Fitz divorces Mellie and runs for the office
Liv works for Josie, I think it would be nice to see Fitz win without her help
Cyrus could get a new campaign manager – smart lady (let’s have some fun and see jealous Liv)
Mellie can become a senator, maybe she & Rowan can plot to take Fitz down, throw in Jake or even Josie, she was in the military and single – former B613?
Well, there are plenty of intelligent and interesting stories to explore. I hope the show gets back on track, it’d be sad if it goes the Revenge route.
Amazing recap, Luvvie. Thank you so much for addressing people’s ignorance about the rape scene. How people deal with a rape shouldn’t be judged, EVER.
That scene broke my heart and just kept breaking it, it was so hard to watch. I agree with you, I think Mellie was trying to regain some sense of power over her attacker. Nobody should be judging my girl for not fighting back “hard enough” and she definitely didn’t “set it up” to happen, that’s a disgusting thought.
I love Fauxlivia (my name for Prez Ghost and Liv) but I am also 1000% team Mellie. Between Drunk Mellie and her heartbreaking, revealing backstory, I wish she was a real person that I could drink hooch with. I hope she leaves Fitz and becomes a political powerhouse on her own.
OMG I am a Scandal junkie. Just saw a preview of tonight’s show on the View along with Cyrus, Harrison and Abby. I have that feeling junkies must get when they get a satisfying hit and yet I can’t wait for the next one. Oh yeah, let me just say, I think Liv’s mom was the person who planted the bomb on the airplane.
the only thing I am angry about is the lack of a trigger warning on the episode. Especially considering that this show’s demographic are mostly women. Considering that 1 in 6 will be sexually assaulted or have had an attempted assault on them, you would think that Shonda Rhimes would care enough about her fans to at least give them a heads up. Especially considering the graphic nature. I don’t give a shit whether it spoils the “surprise” of that scene. People’s mental health is worth more than the surprise of a plot twist
hence why I am not bothering with Scandal anymore.What is the point of being a Gladiator if you are abandoned completely with all your trauma and demons?
Mellie has been my favorite female on the show since last season. Bellamy Young is a FANTASTIC actress! She plays Mellie with so much depth. Mellie TRULY loves Fitz and he’s used and abused her and she plays the reaction to/consequences of that so well too! Joe Morton and Bellamy Young have taken the show to a whole new level this season! I’m already loving Khandi Alexander who is also a phenomenal actress!! Onto your recap of episode 308! (I watched 307 and 308 back to back…LAWD!!!)
I almost threw my laptop away when I was watching this episode. Too many feels. my heart couldn’t take it. I had to pause, walk away from the laptop and take deep breaths