Scandal 2.14 Review: 'Whiskey Tango Foxtrot'

rating: 4

Following the shocking events of last week's episode - Verna dies! Fitz kills her! - The whole Cytron shebang gets unveiled! This week's episode, the brilliantly titled 'Whiskey Tango Foxtrot' jumps forward ten months in the timeline, finding Olivia engaging in some early morning poolside downtime and some saucy memories of her time being the mistress of the most powerful man in the world. Fitz doesn't seem to be taking the breakup well either - although Mellie tries to allay his worries with a little morning... ahem, pick-me-up, before they're rudely interrupted by Cyrus reporting that US citizens have been kidnapped. The biggest shocker this morning though? David Rosen finding himself bloody and in bed, apparently having killed a woman! Surely not! Judging by his reaction, he doesn't know either - although he's pretty adept at covering it up from police. Olivia and co. are soon on the case, learning about the dead girl and giving us a quick update on Rosen's history since the Cytron case collapsed. He's been a bit of a failure although - he's teaching at a middle school about basic government stuff - and the fact that he was roofied and set up for the murder only makes things worse. Olivia and Rosen finally have a head-to-head and he learns to trust her and her team's judgement as they move the girl's body out of the apartment.(Am I the only one who found Huck and Quinn's bonding over covering up the body at the girl's apartment kind of cute? I want to see more of their dream team). Fitz is briefed on the US civilians and they turn out to be far from the innocent aid workers they appear to be, actually US spies. Tensions between him and Cyrus remain incredibly high, he and Olivia sharing the opinion that Fitz knows about the entire vote-rigging plan. Cyrus and Mellie unite their forces to keep a borderline-alcoholic Fitz on track and to keep him trusting them. Olivia and the team find out that the girl was some kind of scandal spy, digging up dirt on certain potential stories and scandals at the cost of those involved - a massage parlour scandal here, a nightclub there - and selling them to the newspaper. Unfortunately David is arrested before they can dig up more information but Huck finds out that someone in the Pentagon keeps on ringing the girl's number - someone high up clearly knows the dead woman! Olivia meets up with Captain Jacob Ballard, an officer at the Pentagon - and he's the man Olivia shared a brief flirtation with at her local coffee shop. They're adorable. They verbally spar over the dead girl's contact with the Pentagon officials but Olivia leaves empty-handed. The plans to get the US assets are tricky as Cyrus doesn't want to risk putting the SEAL team in. Fitz agrees, but their relationship remains as rocky as ever. Sadface. Fitz keeps on drinking and I'm beginning to become worried that following the past year or so, he hasn't found a healthy way to deal with all these betrayals and seismic shifts in his life. Mellie has a frank discussion with him on the way to Cyrus and James' daughter's baptism - the first we've seen where she is vulnerable and emotionally stripped away - and talks about the whole thing, being completely honest in her desires to see him President. Fitz and Mellie share a moment, actually working together to help the US civilians, and Fitz finally gets back on his game, pleasing Mellie no end. At the reception after the baptism, godparents Olivia and Fitz have an awkward encounter in a server room - Olivia tries to flee, he kisses her, she slaps him and then they get down to it against a bank of electronic equipment. Happy Valentine's Day folks! Nothing says true love like a quickie inside an electrical storage unit. Unfortunately the SEAL team's attack goes horribly wrong as a mole in the unit is revealed and everyone tries to uncover it. Fitz deals with this latest setback by finally getting hot and steamy in the shower with Mellie - although it looks pretty... well, lacklustre. Meanwhile, a reconciliation attempt between Abby and David goes awry although shortly after David finds the dead girl's flash drive in his computer, revealing that she'd been in the midst of downloading his stuff on the vote-rigging scandal. Olivia's dealing with her own new love life - she arranges a dinner with Ballard, the pair flirting and sparring over their taste in establishments and what to do on dates. She's unaware that in his apartment, he has a bank of monitors watching her every movement, scattered throughout her entire apartment! Yikes - and just when I thought they were going to be cute together! The episode isn't as good as last week's 'Nobody Likes Babies' which resolved so much of the season's first huge arc and gave us such great emotional beats - this week's episode is definitely a breath of fresh air as we deal with the ten-month time jump and with the changed relationships. It's definitely Kerry Washington, Tony Goldwyn and Bellamy Young who are our MVPs this week - Washington is all about Olivia's recovery and learning to deal without the love of her life, while Goldwyn's tortured, downward-spiralling President is at times utterly charming and darkly sinister, something emerging since his euthanisation of Verna at the climax of last week's episode. Bellamy Young gives Mellie something fresh and new - honesty and vulnerability. This reviewer is so used to seeing Mellie as the fierce tigress who'll cut down her husband without breaking stride, but in her car ride convo with Fitz, she's honest and hopeful. We could get used to this side of Mellie - but not too much. In short, this week's episode sets up a lot of pieces for the second half of the season but also gives us some great character work and gives us a hell of a new enigma - just who the hell is Jacob Ballard? 'Whiskey Tango Foxtrot' indeed.