Scandal recap: “YOLO”

Scandal recap: “YOLO”

I entered my viewing experience at 6 this morning (I was busy during the episode) believing that an episode titled “YOLO” wouldn’t exactly be a moniker for television excellence and that I would promptly fall back asleep during the episode. Then again, this is Scandal we’re talking about. In true Scandal fashion, it had me off the futon, definitely awake, and excited to start my day like the sun mascot from the Jimmy Deans commercials.

My excitement began with the opening scene, featuring a kill-thirsty Huck (Guillermo Diaz) standing over a similarly situated prey like during his B613 past, only this time it was Quinn (Lindsay Dwyer). The same Quinn who in the last episode who was trying to destroy the evidence of herself killing an innocent desk officer.  Huck wasn’t exactly pleased to be torturing a friend, so he “politely” yanked a couple of teeth out. Although after every yanking, he mentioned that he would take a little and she would give a little (information), but her little was not shown originally during the tooth yankings. At the end of the episode, we learn that she did talk to Huck and actually recommended another option to make him equally as happy: Kill Eli Pope (Joe Morton).

scandal-yolo

Meanwhile, Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) was handling her mother, Maya Pope’s (Khandi Alexander) hiding arrangements. Olivia was still shaken from learning of her mother’s existence as they sat in a hotel waiting for the next action. She revealed to Jake Ballard (Scott Foley) and Huck that she escaped from Eli, which prompted them to take a tracker off of Maya’s neck. The group then looked for a way to give her a new identity and keep her safe, but Eli posted her picture with a fake name and charges on the FBI’s most wanted list, and quelled the group’s plan. After the experience, Olivia had a breakdown and called none other than President Grant (Tony Goldwyn), who promised to take down Eli any way he could. They then made plans to for Maya to leave for Hong Kong that night by flight, with fake visas and fake identifications in hand. As Maya made her way like a stranger to the group towards the plane, Olivia finally gave her mother the warm embrace lost to two decades of separation. Only after this hug did she recollect on a call she received on the phone just as she saw her mother the last time from a male voice asking for Marie, who she hung up on. Marie is the same name her father labelled her as for the FBI so he was trying to help Olivia the whole time! Only now he’s about to be attacked by a now-free Quinn.

On a less climactic scale, James Novak (Dan Bucatinsky) continued to have a focus this episode as well after his pushed sexual encounter with Daniel Douglas (Jack Coleman). Cyrus Beane (Jeff Perry) began to realize this episode that pushing your spouse into cheating with someone else actually has drawbacks. He ignored the situation until he sadly opened up to James, only James wanted a divorce (naturally). Cyrus then blackmailed James into staying in the home after revealing that he had photos from the encounter. He later showed the photos to Vice President Sally Langston (Kate Burton) with the hope that it would quell her run as a third-party candidate in the next election. However, she responded negatively and assumed that Cyrus would never have the guts to release the photos. In turn, she had an altercation off-screen with her husband and killed him with a lamp, right in her office.

Potential Stories for Next Episode

  • Vice President Langston’s plan to cover the death and her knowledge of the photos between James and Daniel
  • Whether Eli can stay alive through next episode or not.
  • The plan to handle the now free Maya Pope situation.

Memorable Quotes

Maya Pope to Olivia

“I was hoping for more of me (personality) and less of you.”

Vice President Langston to her husband

“The good lord rewards those who walk his righteous path.”

First Lady Grant to Cyrus

“It (cheating) will hurt until it doesn’t.”

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Richard Cartwright/ABC