This week’s episode of “Scandal” focused on several themes hinted at during the first episode of the second half of the season. One of them was the fact that Andrew Nichols and 1st Lady’s Grant have a past. SHOCKER!!
Nichols, who was the former lieutenant governor of California under then-Governor Grant, in the past had overheard Mellie in a troubling situation and came to her rescue.
Apparently, some sparks initially flew between the two but nothing ever became of it.
The fire may have died for Mellie, or so she tries to make us believe, but for Andrew, the fire never left. Andrew who quickly answered the President’s call to be his new vice president seems to have a secret agenda.
In the first episode, in an attempt to deter Fitz from choosing Nichols as his running mate, Liv gave her team the job of digging up dirt on the new second in command.
Nichols turned up clean, but in this episode, Fitz’s camp got wind of a sketchy drug-related past involving Nichols and prescription meds. Nichols readily accepted his imperfections and made Liv suspicious in the process.
As Nichols’ pill-popping past came to light, another plot twist surfaced about Mellie’s past with Nichols and it was something that no one saw coming. I don’t want to give anything away but here’s a hint: it has to do with a one of Fitz’s family members being intimately involved with 1st Lady Grant.
The other elements of the show revolved around the B6-13 program and Liv’s father’s involvement in the program. Liv threatens her father about his involvement in the program and his personal plan to bring down the President. Liv leaves the restaurant where she went to meet with her father only to catch Quinn, who previously worked with her, spying on her with binoculars from inside of a car.
When Liv approached Quinn and begged her to leave the risky CIA operation, she threatened to kill Liv if she did not stay out of her way.
Liv, though hurt and confused, left Quinn and went to question Jake Ballard, the CIA operative, who she refers to as her fake boyfriend, about Quinn. Liv could not get him to go into great detail about Quinn’s involvement. But she did accomplish one thing during the episode and that was to confront 1st Lady Grant about her past with Nichols.
Lastly, another situation brewing is James, Cy’s partner, is possibly leaking a story from inside the White House, that could jeopardize Fitz’s run for reelection. James, Cy’s partner, connected with David Rosen in the hopes of getting the damaging story to the media. Rosen was supposed to meet with a reporter named Vanessa Tanner in the hopes of getting her to report the story.
This did not happen as the story took yet again another turn as Rosen was kidnapped outside of the location.
The night ended with the donor’s ball that Fitz’s campaign put together on his behalf. Another bomb was dropped at this time and it involved Olivia’s mom, who Liv previously thought was dead.
This left me on the edge of my seat, and praying for next Thursday to arrive. This show, much like House of Cards, is just that good.
