Liv’s plate is full this week, between going to Abby (and QPA) for help to stop Cyrus and exposing a sexual misconduct scandal on Capitol Hill. Our full recap of “The List”.
“The List” begins with us following an young (20’s-ish) African-American woman through a department store. She’s on the phone, talking with her dad about her internship. The woman makes it to her destination and we find that she intends to purchase a gun. For what purpose?
In the next scene, we flash to Liv and she has gone to Abby for help. Liv tells her that Cyrus was behind the hijacking of Air Force Two. We knew Liv wouldn’t take this lying down, and she has come to Abby for help. Cyrus has no intention of waiting for Mellie to finish her presidency before snatching the office for himself. Yet, Abby is quite resistant. Liv has to know that Quinn won’t have any interest in teaming up with her. *SIGH* It’s as if QPA has forgotten that they were first OPA. In any event… Abby says she’ll see what she can do.
Us watching this-> ? #Scandal pic.twitter.com/xrgkk5gRqn
— Scandal (@ScandalABC) March 15, 2018
Liv is at the Grant Institute to invite Marcus to dinner when they’re interrupted by an older gentleman. It turns out he’s the father of the young woman we started the episode with, Alisha. Alisha has gone missing and Gary has come from Ohio for help in order to find her. He has come to Liv because she is the reason Alisha got interested in politics in the first place. Liv has to help.
Liv and Marcus bring in Fitz for his help on their case. They learn that Alisha was a summer intern for Ohio Congressman Philip Beard. Liv meets with Alisha’s roommate, Meghan, and learns she was recently fired. However, Meghan has been hired on full time. Hmm… Liv takes Alisha’s laptop to do some further digging.
Liv, Marcus, and Fitz are able to access Alisha’s emails and see a message she sent to Tim Waterbend, her boss and Beard’s Chief of Staff. Alisha essentially begs for her job back and promises not to tell anyone about what happened between them or being GFV’d. WHAT?!
Marcus deduces that the message is referring to Alisha being rated a GFV on a DC “fresh meat” “hot list”, ranking women interns on their willingness to sleep with their male bosses. GFV = Gluten-Free Vegan, meaning that Alisha won’t “put out”. And if one of the guys accessing this list get Alisha’s resume, they won’t hire her. And it was true for Alisha. After being fired, she sent her resume to 28 internal job listings and got no responses. DISGUSTING.
At first, we’re concerned that Alisha is going after the Chief of Staff who ruined her prospects. Liv and Marcus tell Tim Waterbend this much, though he denies responsibility. It’s not his fault that Alisha didn’t want to play the game.
However, we soon learn that Alisha bought the gun for herself. She has committed suicide and her father has been called in to identify the body. Devastating. Gary takes out his anger on Liv, cursing that Alisha would follow the example of a woman who slept her way through DC in order to accumulate power. “She followed you into the swamp and it sucked her under!”
(Sir, you’re grieving, but you don’t need to come at Liv like that.)
This only galvanizes Liv to figure out how to expose the list and all the men in DC who participate in this denigration and harassment of women in the Congressional workspaces.
Marcus goes to Mellie for help. Mellie knows all about the difficulty facing a woman who tries to report her harasser on Capitol Hill. Ideally, Mellie knows that legislation is needed, but realistically, there’s no way she can propose a bill that would punish the men who have to pass it. An executive order is also out of the question. Marcus becomes frustrated: “when it comes to you, I never get what I want!” Mellie asks Marcus to leave, forthwith.
Liv has another plan and goes back to Alisha’s roommate. It turns out that Meghan is on this list too, rated a “prime rib” by Tim Waterbend. She played the game, slept with the Chief of Staff and now has a job. Liv encourages Meghan to expose Tim Waterbend and corroborate what happened to Alisha.
Interestingly, this Alisha case triggers a conversation between Liv and Fitz. Fitz thinks back to when he and Liv first met and wonders if he was inappropriate with her. Did he use his power to coerce her into a relationship? Liv assures Fitz that she was an equal partner and entered into a relationship with him of his own volition. Liv has no regrets.
As for Abby, she takes Liv’s suspicions to QPA and Quinn and Charlie are highly doubtful that Cyrus could be behind the hijacking. However, Abby says that she she’s raising concerns based on conversations with David Rosen. Charlie *really* doesn’t want to go after Cyrus. He claims he’s concerned about losing Quinn again. But QPA begins work trying to trace the origins of the malware and the hacker who Cy hired. In a TV interview, Abby notices that Cyrus’s Cezanne from Fenton Glackland is no longer on the wall. He totally sold it to pay for a hacker! The team hits a wall when trying to figure out how to prove Cyrus’s involvement. So Abby finally reveals to Quinn that it’s Liv who tipped her off to Cyrus’s link to the plane hijacking. Quinn is incesensed and immediately orders they stop working on the case.
Meanwhile, Cyrus is riding the wave of renewed popularity after surviving the hijacking. Cy is also tying up loose ends to prevent his being implicated. He meets with the man who helping him somehow with the Air Force Two hijacking. The man, Lonnie, is nervous about being found out, especially since he has a photo of Liv visiting Abby to get QPA to investigate. But Cyrus isn’t concerned. He has a plan to make sure they both get out of this scot-free. Besides, this is their chance to take about a corrupt system. Not even Olivia Pope can stop them.
In the end:
Meghan decides to go to the press about the “hot list” and expose sexual harassment and misconduct among Congressional staff. Liv and Fitz shake hands over a job well done. P.S. I want every, single Olitz scene from now until the end to be narrated by Whitney Houston songs. Js.
"Don't be a stranger, Olivia Pope." #Scandal pic.twitter.com/ASdzFH1JXw
— Scandal (@ScandalABC) March 20, 2018
Abby goes to Liv to tell her that QPA will no longer work to expose Cyrus. However, Abby is inspired that the old Liv is back. Abby, herself, will help Liv take down Cyrus.
Mellie and Jake bond over working to get their budget passed through Congress. Could late nights with fried chicken and hooch become more? Mellie shuts things down (she has no interest in sleeping with someone who has slept with Liv). Yet, Jake claims his attraction is genuine. But I reject this. Mellie and Jake can’t happen.
“When you and Fitz had a good week working together, did you hold his hand too?” #Scandal pic.twitter.com/TvDqJpv0DZ
— Scandal (@ScandalABC) March 22, 2018
We see what Cyrus’s plan has been all episode long. He has framed Charlie as the mastermind of the Air Force Two hijacking. The FBI descend on QPA and take Charlie away, even as he shouts his innocence. We see that, because David was involved in the situation and a witness, he cannot prosecute Charlie. Therefore, a special prosecutor has been appointed. It’s the man who Cyrus met with earlier in the episode and gave his Cezanne to, Lonnie Mencken.
Never a dull moment on #Scandal! pic.twitter.com/ONS1M6oHzt
— Scandal (@ScandalABC) March 16, 2018
Damn Cyrus. DAMN. I bet Quinn will want to work with Liv now… which is likely why she shows up at Liv’s door.
Scandal airs Thursdays at 9p/8c on ABC.