Scandal Recap/Review: "Everything's Coming Up Mellie"

Raina Deerwater ’16/ Emertainment Monthly Staff
This week’s Scandal open with Mellie (Bellamy Young) doing a “Real Housewives of the White House” bit with a camera crew. It’s sort of like if The Office and Scandal combined and it’s horribly uncomfortable. Because the media apparently hates Mellie now, she has to do this interview to get the public back on her team.
She also gets flashbacks this episode, which is kind of exciting because we’ve never seen this before. It goes back to 15 year ago, when Fitz (Tony Goldwyn) and Mellie were actually happily married. He is starting to think of running for governor and being a cute lil’ baby politician. Fitz’s dad, Jerry (Barry Bostwick), whom we remember from being even worse than his son, continues to be horrible. He does introduce Fitz to Cyrus (Jeff Perry) for the first time, which is great. Late-nineties-married-to-a-woman Cyrus has a beard and also some facial hair.
Flashback Fitz’s campaign is not going well because this one time he shot down a plane of civilians and he doesn’t want to run on the whole “war hero” because it’s all a lie. Remember when Fitz was actually semi-decent? Good times. Anyway, Mellie tells Cyrus that she will handle the conflict between Fitz and his dad. She does so by drinking with him and saying that she will do anything for him. Ol’ Papa Fitz takes this the wrong way and starts making the moves on Mellie. She protests, he doesn’t listen, and he ends up essentially raping her.

Wow Scandal, was that really necessary? I understand that Fitz’s Dad is now the worst person on the show, but I’m not sure how him assaulting Mellie was necessary for her character. Mellie Grant could have started her career of manipulating the system without having to be a rape victim. Bellamy Young killed it acting-wise though, giving a thoroughly believable performance in all areas. And in a way everything came up Mellie: she used her leverage to make Jerry apologize to Fitz and Cyrus take the campaign. It didn’t feel much like a win, though. Also, she got pregnant with the first Grant kid and leaves us to wonder who the father is. It’s a little soapy, but it’s Scandal.
In the present times, Mellie is simultaneously putting on a sweet face for the public and scheming with Cyrus to take down VP Sally Langston (Kate Burton). They try to target her flirty husband, but he doesn’t go for the girl as he should. Instead he chats up James (Dan Bucatinsky), Cyrus’s husband. Mellie and Cyrus mentally fist bump over this discovery. There should just be a spinoff series of Cyrus and Mellie ruining people’s lives. It would be fabulous and vicious.
For the interview, Fitz finally sticks up for his wife and tells the media to get off Mellie’s ass in so many words. It makes Fitz seem like an okay person again, but he’s also grasping at straws a little because Olivia is definitely not going for him anymore.

Speaking of our girl Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington), she is busy investigating her father and ex-boyfriend’s involvement in the murder of her mom. It’s not a great week. The best part of the whole sad case is when Abby (Darcy Stanchfield) gives Olivia a hug. Because Olivia really needs it, Abby doesn’t take no for an answer. It’s a little funny, a little beautiful, and really heartbreaking. The team also discovers the name of a man who could be a potential link.
Meanwhile Quinn (Katie Lowes) has been off spying/making out with Charlie (George Newbern) and ends up accidentally killing a random security guard. Turns out the guard is the missing link the team discovers and Quinn is now a member of B613. Quinn, don’t trust shady assassins even if they are good kissers! That’s basically the first rule of Spy Club.
And in the final moments of the episode, there is even a bigger twist. Eli/Rowan Pope (Joe Morton), the B613 leader and father of the one and only Olivia goes to visit a prisoner, and it’s Olivia’s mom. Boom goes the dynamite! So neither Fitz nor Eli killed her mom, but will Olivia find out? Or forgive them? Also what does Mama Pope think of all this?
Tune in to Scandal next week to hopefully get some answers!