Liv is back to work just in time to handle a DC tragedy—preview tonight’s Scandal,”The Lawn Chair,” airing at 9:00pm ET|PT on ABC.
Scandal is back tonight after taking a week off so we could enjoy the two-hour How to Get Away with Murder finale and, in my opinion, also have the time to digest the fact that Liv (Kerry Washington) is back from captivity!
Before delving into the upcoming new episode, let’s recall the highlights of “No More Blood.” The episode began with Crazy Gus (Chad Donella) leading Liv out to meet the mystery buyer…who, as it turned out, really was someone Iranian! But being the amazing woman she is, Liv was able to talk her way out of the situation by playing both sides off one another. Who in the world knew she could speak Farsi?! Well, it came in handy…both Gus and the Iranians were concerned that they other would kill them and the exchange was aborted.
Gus and his friends re-started the auction, and this time, Huck (Guillermo Diaz; properly chastened by Jake—Scott Foley—and Quinn—Katie Lowes—about keeping the beast locked up) was able to get in and make a top bid. By the end of the auction, OPA (under Marie Wallace’s name) had tied at $2 billion with a group out of St. Petersburg. Gus asked Liv to what she thought should happen..and she tried to swing it to Marie Wallace, but Gus went with the Russians. Liv tried to run away, Huck tried to compel more information from VP Nichols (Jon Tenney), and Jake even reached out to Papa Pope (Joe Morton)…but eventually she was turned over the Russians…who were led by STEPHEN (Henry Ian Cusick), the ORIGINAL Gladiator!!! Gus and his people were arrested after Liv gave him a thorough beatdown, and she eventually made it back to Washingto D.C.
In the midst of this, Abby (Darby Stanchfield) repeatedly tried to appeal to Fitz (Tony Goldwyn)/Cyrus (Jeff Perry) and the OPA to share what they knew, but each side refused to let her in. In particular, Cyrus and the security advisors did not think it was likely Liv could be safely extracted. They very seriously wanted to just kill Liv so she wouldn’t be turned over to any other country, friend or foe. Cyrus was completely unwilling to sacrifice the integrity of the Republic for one person, even Liv. *sidenote* that scene when Cyrus envisioned telling Fitz off and quitting…WOW!
Abby figured out the scheme and went through some other channels to secure Liv’s safety—she was the one who called Stephen!
In other developments, Mellie (Bellamy Young) presented Nichols with his amnesty deal in exchange for his silence about his relationship with Mellie and helping to get Liv back safely. But Nichols vowed to do whatever it took to keep Mellie from ever being president. Of course she wouldn’t take that lying down, so she contacted Lizzie (Portia de Rossi) to find a way to shut Nichols up. Who did Lizzie turn to? HUCK. And let me tell you, Huck completely shut Nichols down—as in, Nichols would be bed-ridden and silent for the remainder of his life.
However, for me, the most jarring parts of the episode was finally seeing Papa Pope again and Liv’s response to Fitz when she returned:
Ever since we returned from hiatus, Papa Pope had LITERALLY been out fishing. When Jake went to him to beg for help with Liv, he responded by saying he didn’t have a daughter anymore. WOW. So it’s quite possible that Rowan has disowned Liv and will have nothing to do with her…I mean, he was willing to see her sold to Iranians/Russians and not lift a finger. Do you think this means we won’t be seeing much of Papa Pope anymore
Liv reaming Fitz for his willingness to do anything to save her still has me confused. He loves her…what does Liv expect? Well, she expects Fitz to put the Republic first, as Cyrus is willing to do, even if it means her death. Perhaps Liv is still in shock at the end of the episode and not really able to process the events. With that said, it was NOT the Fitzlivia reunion I wanted.
In tonight’s episode, “The Lawn Chair,” written by Severiano Canales, directed by Tom Verica, and guest-starring Courtney B. Vance: A tragedy in D.C. gains national attention and the White House must deal with their problematic VP. (via ABC)
Take a look at these two clips from the upcoming show. In the first, Mellie goes to see Fitz in the Oval Office. Apparently, he and Cyrus are vetting someone to take up the vice presidency; however, Mellie is concerned about their selection creating competition in a future presidential election. It’s her turn, and Mellie expects Fitz to pay up. In the second video, Liv is back to work. An African-American teenager has been shot by a police officer and the DC police force needs Liv’s help to keep things from escalating to a riot…
WOW, it seems that things are already much more serious than maybe the Commissioner expected, and the young man’s father (Courtney B. Vance) has shown up to demand answers by force.
Tonight’s episode will definitely hit close to home, but that’s one of the things we love most about Scandal: the plot is always current and deals with contemporary issues in our society. It will be interesting to see Shondaland’s POV in this instance.
Check out images from “The Lawn Chair” and remember to tune into ABC at 9:00pm ET|PT for the all-new Scandal!
