Scandal - Episode 3.15 - Mama Said Knock You Out - Review

Welcome back Scandalites! I’m happy to say this week’s episode was a lot calmer in terms of tears cried (0) but of course there was plenty of drama to keep us appeased. Let’s dive in, shall we! 

We open to Liv trying to convince a Matt Lauer type to push an interview he has scheduled with the Grant family. However, the interview is scheduled to begin in 60 minutes so Mat Lauer v.2 isn't really up to push a live interview. Turns out something super dramatic has happened (I'm so shocked) and Liv is trying to keep the Grant kids from acting a fool on live television.

Cut to 24 Hours Earlier. 

The elusive older Grant children have returned to the White House to film a special family interview in hopes of giving Fitz's campaign a much needed boost. Let's just say Liv trying to wrangle Jerry and Karen is super super awkward. She goes to them and tells them they need to talk. I can imagine it must be pretty strange for her especially since she's having relations with their dad. 

Meanwhile, Fitz and Mellie are giving each other serious pep talks. Turns out they're only hyping each other up to speak to their children (who are really only mentioned in passing.) Despite the constant absence of their older children, it's pretty obvious that the White House shenanigans have completely effed up these kids. Fitz awkwardly tries to start a conversation with his son/maybe brother and when it fails he says "At the end of the day, let's just remember that we love each other.  They’re like..Yea sure dad. WHATEVER. 

Back at Pope & Assoc., the gladiators are busy trying to find a way to bring down B6-13. They are trying to find a source of their budget and aren't coming up with much. Huck is obviously against the entire idea and is convince they're on a suicide mission. “We don’t take down B6-13," he says, "You run, you hide, or you die". I can't help but agree with him. He's also busy trying to save Quinn's life but Liv is totally against it. 

Speaking of the disgraced gladiator, Quinn stupidly told Charlie about her little rendezvous with Huck while conveniently leaving out the part about them making out. She seems to forget that he's a crazy person that is literally trained to know when people are lying to him. Quinn keeps tripping over her story and mixing up stories and Charlie is totally on to her ass. He asks if she wants him to kill Huck for her. She quickly says no and he seems to drop it. Meaning he hasn't dropped shit. Oh Quinn...

While this whole exchange was going down, we see that Quinn and Charlie are holding some guy named Dimitri i.e. the guy Mama Pope was anxious to meet a few episodes. Turns out Dimitri is some Russian mobster that entered the country illegally a few days ago. Fitz is trying to learn more information about him but he's told that Dimitri just vanished. He asks if he was picked up by another agency and they tell him no. And we've already confirmed that B6-13 has him. 

Liv is with Fitz still trying to learn more about her maybe future stepkids (haha, NOT) but he isn't having it. He takes her to their secret corner in the Oval and start making out. "Can we not discuss my kids right now," he says as he zips up her skirt. WHAT?!?! 

And since the White House should change it's same to the Extramarital Affair Sex House, Mellie and Andrew are also getting it in. She tries to pull away from him saying, “Andrew, my children are here”. But he begins to do some things and she quickly forgets that her kids could walk in on her at any time.  

This moment doesn't deserve the TSwift GIF. They are being reckless and messy. 

After Liv's little afternoon delight with Fitz, she seeks out Jerry and Karen again to speak with them about the interview. Jerry begins to ask very specific questions about how many people will be watching (by Liv's estimation, over 15 million) and asks  “If I say something stupid, can I take it back.” "No, you can't take it back." she says warily and immediately thinks something is up.

She calls Abby and tells her they're dropping by the B6-13 takedown for the time being and they need to look into the kids. "Why? Are they funding B6-13?" Abby quips (btw I've been LOVING her one liners lately.) "No," Liv says, "But we need to get to know them before the rest of America does." Liv hangs up the phone and sees Mellie coming out of a room with a smile on her face, she’s about to follow after her when Andrew leaves the room soon after and is straightening his tie. Look familiar Liv? Since she is so blindly oblivious to the situation, she tells Andrew to leave Mellie alone. "The last thing this campaign needs is another sex scandal," she says. Andrew looks at her pointedly and just says, "Glass houses Olivia."

Since this part of the episode is the Liv gets her ass handed to her section, her dad calls her up and tells her to stop looking into B6-16. Her inquiries are drawing attention and he's had to use a lot of old connects to smooth things over. “We both know what B6-13 does to it’s enemies," he says, "Stop this game, Olivia” Liv isn't convinced (oh girl) and she still wants to know where they get their money from but Papa Pope is all about living, so he hangs up on her. 

Meanwhile, Mellie is with Karen trying to pick out “innocent colors”  for their interview. Mellie tries to strike up conversation with her daughter but Karen isn't down for small talk. Karen basically says that Fitz is a loser and wants to know why she's still with him. "He's a cheater," Karen says to her mom who just finished up her own sexy time. Mellie tells Karen that everyone isn't perfect.....Guilty conscience alert.

We then cut to Mama Pope pacing around her swank hotel room. She's upset that Dimitri is MIA and Adnan not so casually suggests they drop the whole thing. I've already suspected that Adnan is all bark and no bite, but girlfriend might want to be careful around Liv's insane mom. Mama Pope knows what's up and informs Adnan she knows she's looking for a way out. "But there isn't one," she says. "It's just you and me".

Mama Pope is on that Mariah Carey type ish

Speaking of crazies, Charlie is still trying to figure out what happened with Quinn and Huck that night at her apartment. Quinn is annoyed by his constant questions and seems to be surprised that Charlie isn't dropping it. 

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My thoughts exactly. Also please follow Akilah on twitter. She is absolutely hilarious!

Charlie then says he wants her to move in with him so Huck will stop bothering her. She tries to persuade him that forceful co-habitation is not necessary but he's not budging.  She then tries to woo him with her drilling skills. We see Dimitri on the floor covered in blood. She takes the drill and yells “I want answers you son of a bitch” before drilling into some unseen part of the poor guy's body.

Pope & Assoc. discovers that Jerry is running twitter account littered with Anti-Grant propaganda including a badly photoshopped pic of Fitz as Hitler. Huck re-routed the IP address so it can't be traced to Jerry and also shuts it down. Liv immediately tells Fitz and Fitz starts going through Jerry's things and finds a "Reston for President" t-shirt!! I'm just glad the kid has enough sense not to support Sally's crazy ass. Jerry is screaming that his dad is invading his privacy and how Fitz can't go through his things.  Karen is watching the whole scene and says she's going to tell Mellie. She runs out the room but not before slamming into Liv's shoulder. Liv has a oh know this bitch didn't look on her face but quickly runs after Karen since Mellie has had some very interesting extracurricular activities lately. Sure enough, Liv walks into to Karen running away from her mother's office upset and Mellie is running after her with her dress around her shoulders! And Andrew is in the background adjusting his pants!!!! 

Liv tries to jump in and tell Mellie to run after Karen. I get that Liv is supposed to be a fixer but homegirl really needs to learn her place. Mellie snaps on Liv immediately."Karen is my daughter!" Mellie yells, "and I will take care of it!" Therefore marking the third time that Liv has gotten shaded/yelled at/ verbally abused in this episode. 

Before she can really react, she gets a phone call from Harrison saying Adnan is at the office and she wants help. Adnan wants help because she's figured out that Mama Pope is uh duh CRAZY! Liv tells Adnan tough cookies because she should've known what she was getting into by dealing with a known terrorist. But Harrison wants to do this for Adnan because he owes her a favor. Liv reluctantly agrees but Adnan says she won't give up any information until she has immunity. So now David is getting pulled into the mix...again.

Mellie is trying to smooth things over with Karen but the poor child is obviously tramautized. She's packing a bag and wants to leave the White House of horrors (can't blame her there).  Mellie tries to tell her she's not going anywhere but Karen yells “You were on your knees with Uncle Andrew! I was wrong, you've been the cheater all along." Mellie tells her she's being dramatic (uh, no she's not) but Karen is just like get out of my room mom! I hate you etc etc etc.

But really, can you blame Karen for her reaction. Walking in on your parents mid-sexy time is bad enough but walking in on your mom with your play uncle?!?! Hello therapist bills.

Fitz has summoned Jake and tells him he wants Dimitri back. Jake plays stupid and begins talking in hypothetical terms but Fitz doesn't really have time for games. "I'm Commander in Chief," Fitz yells. "And I am Command," Jake shoots back. “I am Command which means you don’t tell me do anything. I am not your bitch.  You look pretty, you don’t do anything. I decide if America sleeps at night. This is not a game, Mr. President.” Btw that was complete paraphrasing but Jake pretty much told Fitz that

Meanwhile, Cyrus comes up to poor long-suffering Lauren and asks who Fitz is meeting with. He walks into the oval, pauses for a moment, then takes a vase from a table and launches it at Jake!!!

Cyrus came in like a wrecking ball!!!

Jake stops him and puts him in a chokehold. Cyrus tries to get another chance to attack, but Fitz stops him this time. “HE KILLED MY HUSBAND! HE KILLED JAMES!” Leaving us wondering, how the hell does Cyrus know?  Fitz is having a tough time holding Cyrus. so a ton of Secret Service men run in and restrain him. “I think I should go,” Jake says. NO SHIT SHERLOCK. He looks at Cyrus with all seriousness and says “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Congrats Scandal writers, if you were trying to get me to hate Jake, you are definitely doing your job. 

Cyrus tells Fitz that James lived world where the VP of the US could kill her husband in cold blood and not get away with it. He lived in a fairy tale. "I suppose Jake was just doing his job," Cyrus sighs,   "Serving at the pleasure of the president just like the rest of us." Cyrus can't seriously blame this on Fitz can he? He seems to forget that he was the one that pimped James out and put him in the situation in the first place! I really need Cyrus to acknowledge his role in James' death before the season is over. You've got 3 episodes to address this writers!!!!

Anyways, Liv is walking into the White House and gets a call from her mom. "I want Adnan back," she says. Liv mumbles something about her mom being a terrorist and such, which makes me wonder how the hell anyone can utter those words outside the White House and not get attacked by a gaggle of Secret Service. But I digress... Mama Pope isn't phased by Liv's disdain. "I'd rather be a traitor that what you are Livvie," she says. "You're nothing but the help and you don't even know it."Not much Liv can say to that and then Mama Pope says, "I'm going to stay out of your business. As long as you stay out of mine."

Shots fired! 

Back at Pope &. Assoc., Adnan is confronting Harrison about ditching her. He claims he left her to avoid a lengthy prison sentence. Harrison tells her that the deal he's making with David means they are even and she needs to leave them the hell alone afterwards. Adnan then takes her panties off and sits down “Are we even?” she says and  they begin to initiate ex-sex. 

Liv is trying to convince Mellie to continue with the interview because it's going to be live and not doing it would send a very bad message to the American people. Mellie wants her to push it though and yells at her to fix it because that's what they're paying her to do. Liv begrudgingly agrees but it looks as if her mothers' harsh words are getting to hear. Harsh truths make for harsh realties. She goes to talk to Jerry and Karen when Fitz walks in and notices they're not dressed for the interview. "We're not doing the interview," Karen says defiantly. Fitz thinks they're still mad at him for all this muck ups. "Well do it out respect for your mother," he says. Awkward glances all around and Liv is looking at Karen like

"She doesn't respect you," Karen says ignoring the laser beams Liv is pointing at her, "I saw her with Uncle Andrew, it was gross." Fitz storms out of the room with Liv trailing behind him. "Don't do this!" she says, "Don't do anything stupid." He wants to know how long she's known and she said she was going to tell him right after the interview. Fitz finds Andrew in some meeting and PUNCHES HIM IN THE FACE!!!!

What the hell Fitz???!?!?! First of all, ummm hello pot meet kettle. Take kettle out to dinner. Marry kettle then cheat on kettle. Second, you can't just walk around punching bitches all willy nilly!! You're the freaking PRESIDENT!! Thankfully, there was a commercial break in the middle of all of this so I could gather my thoughts and pick my jaw off of the floor. 

We're treated to a lovely Charlie/Quinn scene right after the break. They're meeting with Jake and he asks if they got any information from Dimitri. They say yes and begin to leave, but Jake asks Quinn to say behind. Charlie looks annoyed and suspicious, meaning he most likely stayed to listen at the door. It seems as if Jake sent Quinn to meet with Huck to find out what he wants. He was going around punching B6-13 agents earlier in the episode so I guess Jake wants to know what the deal is.

 “What do you want Huck,” she asks.  “I want him to let you go. I want you out of B6-13. I want you safe” Huck replies. "Last week you wanted to kill me, what’s changed?" Quinn retorts.  “You put your tongue in my mouth and now I deserve to live.” and then she licks his face. Once again Huck wastes a great opportunity to choke a bitch and instead they start making out again! It is so gross and so wrong.

I think they've officially out-grossed these guys. 

She suddenly pushes him away and wipes her mouth.  And of course we know that Charlie was watching from somewhere and someone is gonna die.

Adnan and Harrison are still hooking up at the office. “I never would’ve turned on you,” she says and then injects him with something!! “And now let’s call it even” DONT EVER TRUST A LONG LOST KARDASHIAN.

Jake is still on his high horse so he goes to meet with Rowan and Daddy Pope just wants to know what he wants. “What you need to do is stay out of my business” Jake replies. He's getting too big for his britches so Daddy Pope has to let him know bout his shit. “YOU’RE ALONE!” We are not equals and nor will we ever be. You are alone….was there something else you wanted to ask me?" Jake just looks at him then says, "Thank you for reminding me that when I decide to kill you, I need to do it all by myself.”

One does not simply threaten Daddy Pope and get away with it. 

Back at the White House, Mellie and Fitz go into a room after Fitz  punched Andrew. You can bet that some real life shit is going to go down. Andrew is following closely behind them, but Liv stops him and tells him the needs to get out of town. At first he looks at her like she's crazy and says that it's not some lurid affair but somehow Liv manages to convince him to leave town for a while and say that he got the black eye from playing tennis with Fitz. That's a good story and all, but what about all the people that were in the room with him when Fitz clocked him??!?!

Anyways, Fitz is taking this time to completely shame Mellie and ask her why she could sleep with Andrew. "How long have you been screwing Andrew?," he asks. It seems as if he thinks their affair started after Jerry was born because Mellie was so distant afterwards. But Fitz obviously doesn't know what really happened to Mellie. She tries to speak up but he shuts her down. "Don’t play the victim now. I am saying you ruined our marriage. You killed us. I would have never have cheated. I spent 10 years with a wife that wouldn’t touch me." Of course Liv is listening at the door!!!!!!!!!

Mellie finally gets a chance to speak and says that she's given up her life for him and that he doesn't know what she's done to get him to the White House.  “All you’ve done is denied me love and schemed to have power.” He says, "What have you lost?!?!” He keeps yelling at her and Liv walks in and tries to interrupt. “We need to focus on the interview” Liv says but he keeps asking Mellie what she’s lost and Liv tries to interrupt again.  “I’M TALKING TO MY WIFE” Fitz screams at Liv, she looks at him and then walks away. He tries to chase after her saying sorry and Mellie just walks away. And guys, she was TOTALLY about to tell him what happened with his dad when Liv walked in.

Terrible, terrible timing there Olivia

Since this is the 10010000th time Liv has been yelled at, she is over it all and is leaving the White House. Cyrus chases after her and says he hates to play the dead husband card, but he really needs her help. “Tell me we’re not the help," She sighs, "I’m not some maid with a mop in my hands cleaning up messes when they ring the bell.” Cyrus doesn't sugar coat it and tells her they essentially are the help. He does try to make it better though. He tells her what they do is important and that James died for a reason (yea having a hard time buying that one). "Do the job for both of us." he says, "It’s not just that family you’re putting back together. It’s the hole damn country."

Basically the pep talk from The Help

Liv takes Cyrus' pep talk to heart and goes back into the White House to finish her job. Fitz is waiting for her and tries to apologize and be all cute. But she shuts him down. "Save that regret for your children and your wife," she snaps. "I am at work and this is my job. I can not afford to fail at my job right now because it is all that I have left.” Fitz listens to Liv and goes to Mellie. They're a united front as they go to talk to their kids, who are going to need years of therapy after this. “Are you here to yell at us?” Jerry asks. Fitz shakes his head and the close the door and hopefully have a very serious come to Jesus meeting. 

Meanwhile, Quinn comes home with her rendezvous no.2 with Huck and Charlie is there! Turns out he moved in without her knowing. “You get to keep the apartment and I get to keep my eye on you." he says with an evil gleam in his eye. We already know that Quinn is stupid but I really feel like this needs to be said:

He obviously knows about her little make out sessions with Huck. 

Back at Pope & Assoc., Abby and David are walking in and he's saying that's the last time he grants immunity to an enemy of the state. Abby begins calling for Harrison. She finds him passed out on the floor of his office and thankfully he's still alive. Turns out Adnan's plea for help was a rouse to steal information about Fitz's campaign!!!! We see her telling Mama Pope that she has everything from Fitz's schedule to detailed information about his security detail!!!! We also see that B6-13 is watching from a distance, they probably learned about the meeting after Quinn/Charlie tortured Dimitri. An agent says they have the chance to kill or capture. But Jake says no, let's see how it plays out!!!!! It looks as if he's going to let something happen to Fitz out of jealousy/insanity/who knows!?!?!

I'm so over Jake's craziness right now. 

It seems as if things have finally calmed down between the Grants as they sit down for their interview. Olivia is all smiles and all about business but you can tell this is killing her. Cyrus is watching the interview from home and we FINALLY get to see adorable little Zora. She is so cute toddling around him and it almost makes me cry, but I stayed strong! Right as the interview is wrapping up, Daddy Pope calls Liv and tells her that B6-13 is funded by every government agency. "Why are you helping me," she asks. "Despite everything, we're family" He says and end scene.

SCANDAL TALLY

NUMBER OF TIMES JAKE ACTED CRAZY : 3+

NUMBER OF TIMES LIV GOT YELLED AT BY HER MARRIED BF: 1

NUMBER OF TIMES DADDY POPE WAS ACTUALLY A GOOD FATHER: 1

NEXT WEEK: Ish is going down!! Everyone is yelling at Liv including Andrew and yep, Fitz. Apparently things are crashing down all around her. At the end of the preview, Jake shows up at her door on the phone and asks her to come in. She says no and he starts pounding on the door like a crazy person and yelling for her to let him in?!?!?!?!?! Annnnnd Jake has finally completely lost it. :(

So what did you think of last night's episode? It was a welcome break from all the sadness and there were OMG moments aplenty. Sound off in the comments below! 

About the Author - itsalanna

Alanna is Co-Founder/Co-Editor of Big Girls Don't Gossip along with fellow Spoilertv writer, Jasmine Alyce. Alanna works in the post-production industry by day is a full fledged TV-fiend by night. She also loves fashion, romantic comedies, and traveling.

Alanna graduated from Georgia State University with her Bachelors in Broadcast Journalism and Film.