Scandal 2.19 Review - 'Seven Fifty Two'
rating: 5
Hello, gladiators and welcome back to the best political thriller on TV! It's been a while thanks the sporadic way US TV schedules operate but still, better late than never. When we last spoke, Huck had just had a mental breakdown brought on by being trapped, Olivia had discovered that love interest Ballard had been spying for her on behalf of Fitz and we were no nearer finding out the true identity of the mysterious Albatross!
We jump in to the show five years earlier with Olivia recruiting a homeless Huck for his intelligence regarding the rail services in the city. Nine years before that, we see a warm and funny Huck reuniting with his schoolteacher love Kim (played by a radiant and underused Jasika Nicole) after a war tour of Kosovo. However, the meeting for a government job goes well (with a smirking Charlie in the room), he becomes part of the B-6-13 unit and begins training to torture and kill people. All because Starbucks is too pedestrian (kidding). However, Huck discovers he has a real taste for it just as Kim finds out that she's pregnant to his surprise and joy, he proposing and beginning a bright and shiny life where he finds enjoyment in his work, marries Kim and has a baby boy. The birth, however, starts to wreck him emotionally. However, none of it is scarier than when Charlie visits the family and threatens Huck to get rid of his family, forcing Huck to try flee with Kim and the baby - only to get captured and thrown into a government brig of sorts where he's conditioned to forget his wife and child at the hands of Charlie (who seems a touch reluctant) and other torturers. Huck is reprogrammed and forced to run as a 'ghost', unable to contact Kim or his son or he'll forfeit their lives, leading to his ongoing on-off feud with Charlie and his homelessness, where Liv recruits him. A big shock comes that the leader of B613 is the mysterious black man - meaning Ballard's a member of the unit too! Meanwhile in the present day, Liv gets a clean bill of health from her doctor and fends off the apologetic advances of Fitz who tries to get back in her good books on her hospital bed but to no avail. Later on as she tries to discharge herself, they have a face-off over their mutual past indiscretions and mistakes, ending in Olivia admitting that she still loves him but can't do this anymore. Fitz gives a sweet speech about how he can't live without her - one so sweet and heartfelt it made my non-shipping heart beat a little for them. They share a regretful kiss then Liv bolts. The team are dragged away from trying to prevent Huck's current breakdown by news of Liv's attack and hospitalisation, although Huck manages to mumble "seven fifty-two" over and over and over again, almost non-stop. Harrison finds Charlie trying to visit Liv in the hospital - baseball cap and all - but he disappears to the chagrin of the team. 
Quinn talks to Huck, talking about the life she wanted when she was Lindsay, trying to make him feel comfortable, the pair opening up emotionally although Quinn is unable to snap it out of him. Later, Abby talks to Huck, admitting about her remaining love for David, her traumatic, abusive past and her resentment of Olivia for making her choose. In a neat twist, Harrison also opens up, for the first time we getting a great look into his character, admitting that his skills lie in words and coercion and persuasion, rather than anything physical. He feels upset and inferior to Huck, in that Huck is a much tougher, stronger person than him. Meanwhile Cyrus confronts Fitz in the hospital waiting room, telling him that his presence there will affect his ratings and cause controversy. Cyrus also bumps into Ballard for the first time, meeting the man he's been unknowingly fighting for Fitz's bromantic affections. Drama! Mellie learns about Fitz and Liv and finally moves out, moving to the house across the street and taking their son with them, landing a dangerous political move that will effectively blackmail him for his indiscretions. Ballard meets with the mysterious black guy - now revealed as the head of B613 - who admits that they're using Olivia as bait to catch the real Albatross. Ballard seems upset about using Liv and seems genuinely invested in her wellbeing although he remains commited to his boss. Upon discharge, Olivia talks to Huck, admitting that they saved each other - she saved him from homelessness and he helped save her from feeling alone, from being all alone in the world. This finally breaks through to Huck, who admits that he doesn't remember if he has a family or not but Liv convinces him that they were real and brings him back to the relief of the team. In a final call back to the past, 'seven fifty-two' is revealed to be the last time he saw Kim and his son on the morning train at that same train station. 
An absolutely stunning episode and easily one of the best the show's ever produced, 'Seven Fifty Two' is a masterclass for everyone on screen - Guillermo Diaz deserves an Emmy nod for this episode, showing the transformation of Huck from a warm, loveable family man into the broken, cool guy we've seen since the start of the show. Fortunately this is also the show where everyone gets a moment to shine, particularly Abby and Harrison in their confessions to a catatonic Huck. There's wonderful support for Jasika Nicole, an actress who really deserves more and bigger roles (and fortunately the episode leaves it open for her to return someday, hopefully) and while the White House gets pushed into the background for this episode, there's still some great moments of relatable villany from Bellamy Young's Mellie and moral greyness from Scott Foley's Ballard who gets a great reveal as a CIA assassin here. Plenty of great and desired backstory, a slow-burning of reveals and some of the best performances all season - a truly excellent lesson in storytelling from the folks over at Scandal. Keep up the good work.