Scandal 2.16 Recap - 'Top of the Hour'
rating: 4
And we're back after a month of no new episodes of Scandal! After leaving on a suitable cliffhanger of a CIA boss being a traitor and our team caught in the middle, it's so good to have one of the best shows back on television. Excited! A typical upper-middle class family scene is disrupted by a slew of reporters at the front door as the mother of the family, Sarah Stanner (Lisa Edelstein), a CEO whose life is being broken by the revelation that she had an affair with Supreme Court Justice candidate Murray Randall (Fitz's nominee no less) fifteen yeaars ago. Olivia is drafted in by Sarah's lawyer - Pope and Associates to the rescue! Is it wrong I want them to have a theme song at this point? Olivia and Ballard flirt in his office over a camel but she's called away. Before she leaves, she reveals her recently-garnered information to Ballard. He questions why she can't tell the White House but she declines and Ballard is left with all the info. They meet again and discuss Wendy's information and the validity of it. They're learning to trust each other, even as Olivia gets snapped by a paparazzi which she brushes off and which Ballard looks moody at. Olivia, Abby and Harrison arrive at the house to conference with Cyrus who also wants them to handle the situation on behalf of the White House. Olivia rebuffs Cyrus, she taking Sarah's side and soon she's handling the situation - moving the kids out, taking in the trash and schooling Sarah and her husband on how to handle the situation. Later on, Olivia suggests a conference that'll spin all the blame onto Randall and save Sarah the unfair moniker of being a homewrecker. Her husband agrees and soon they've got the press on their side, soon to the chagrin of Cyrus. Meanwhile Huck and Quinn are taking on their plan of tracking Osbourne, the CIA boss accused of being a leak in the government. They're stumped as to how get past his 'shadow', a team of closer-than-close bodyguards, to find out where he's dropping the information to his informants. There's a humorous beat where Quinn tests out her skills at a dry cleaner's and ends up losing her shirt (literally). This little dynamic duo are hilarious. Later their results turn out to be fruitful when they discover at least $20,000 in Osbourne's dry cleaning and cover it up. Quinn's turning out to be quite the little protege.
In a cool reflection of Scandal's habit for photo jump-cut montages and a 70s funk number, Cyrus and his own team start twisting the truth to make Sarah look like a stalker and sexual predator. It's a neat spin on how Olivia and her team do things but it's so murky and grimy either way - neither Randall nor Sarah are bad people, they're merely pawns in a battle between Liv and Cyrus, one which almost costs Sarah her job as CEO until Harrison steps in like a boss and saves it, at least for the time being.
Unfortunately it turns out that Sarah has been lying all along and the affair has been on for much longer, to the point where Sarah's husband Phil is unsure whether their daughter is his. Harrison ends up struggling to save Sarah's job with the new revelations so Olivia orders Abby and Harrison to save it. Olivia has an emotional conversation with Fitz (who has just discovered Olivia is indirectly behind Randall not winning his Supreme Court position) where they discuss Defiance and the devastating effect they've had on each other's lives. It's so awkward and painful, particularly with Sarah and Phil arguing tooth and claw in the background.
Ballard comes with news regarding the hostages - they might have found a way. Mellie spots him exiting the office and puts two and two together. Cyrus is later surprised when he learns about the plan to free the hostages from Fitz who's planning to kill the Randall situation with this projected good news. It works perfectly - the hostages are rescued, the terrorists killed and Fitz pulls this off with some Obama-like power and authority. Ballard beats the crap out of the paparazzi who shot Liv and steals the camera - over-protective on orders of Fitz? Or might he be developing genuine feelings for Liv?
Olivia comforts Sarah who's busy drinking away her pain straight from the bottle (which everyone's done at least once, don't deny it) and the pair share troubles over expensive wine. Their talk about lies, betrayal and the prices they pay hit Liv hard, although they still have to agree to the paternity test for Annie, their daughter. Olivia and Annie chat later on and she consoles Annie that her dad will always be her dad, genetics be damned.
Harrison and Abby come up with a way to get Sarah's job back - they lie to the all-male board by threatening to expose their secrets (which they don't know) and soon she's got her job back. The paternity test results come in but Phil destroys them, choosing to be in the family no matter what. Good feelings all around and crisis averted.
Mellie discovers the source of Fitz's late night phone calls to be his late-night meetings with Ballard and lets a disgruntled Cyrus know. Meanwhile, Olivia and Ballard end up at his place and he smiles into his own set-up camera at his place. Osbourne hears from the dry cleaner's and receives an image of the person digging into his files - Quinn. Uh-oh.
All in all a great case-of-the-week that ties everything up a little too neatly maybe but not a bad thing - Kerry Washington and Columbus Short are great here and while Darby Stanchfield doesn't get much to do, her scene with Short where she reflects on their changed relationship is wonderfully sad and broken.
Lead guest star Lisa Edelstein is the best one here, her change between wrongfully accused CEO to a broken survivalist who'll do anything to protect her family, a genuine delight to watch. My new favourite has to be Lauren, the cute and sweetly shy secretary to the President (I can't find the actress on IMDB, if anyone knows her name, I'd be grateful).
The hostages storyline gets resolved well and leaves Fitz on a career high following the Obama/Osama Bin Laden resolution in 2011 - but what this means for the rest of Fitz's arc this season, we're not sure. Very good, Scandal, but this was an episode for moving pieces ahead of a big game-changer, not a game-changer itself.