As any O.G (Original Gladiator) knows, it can be difficult to keep up with the fast-paced world of Pope & Associates. So, now that season four is in full swing, let’s break down the key moments from tonight’s episode.
**Spoilers below. Scroll down at your own risk**

1. Case of the week: The Elliotts
Who: America’s sweetheart couple when it comes to promoting gun control
Why: James and Lisa Elliot, an ex-POW that was taken hostage by the Taliban and a schoolteacher that was paralyzed from the waist down after a school shooting, are the face of gun control in America. Since the topic of guns is one of the main issues that President Grant wants to bring up in his upcoming State of the Union address, he wanted the Elliotts to be in attendance to show their support. Unfortunately, the seemingly perfect couple goes MIA and misses their flight to Washington D.C after a huge argument.
Cyrus tries to force Olivia and her associates to take the case by blackmailing her with threats involving the IRS, but she isn’t fazed. What makes her take the case is when Cyrus threatens to tell Fitz that Olivia calls for him every day and wants to see him.
Only Olivia Pope would be more intimidated by an ex-lover than a government agency. Olivia is a fierce woman, but her priorities aren’t always very straight.
While trying to reconcile the couple before the address, Olivia tells Huck and Quinn to babysit the Elliotts in their hotel room in D.C. However, Olivia should have known better than to ask one dysfunctional couple to babysit another dysfunctional couple. When Huck and Quinn run to the bathroom to have their own heated lovers’ quarrel, Lisa stabs her husband in the leg with a bottle opener. Luckily, the injury is minor and Olivia is able to scare the couple into getting along and going to the SOTU by reminding them that their only other option is divorcing and losing their public persona.
Like I said last week, I definitely love the return of the case of the week. It gives me ‘Scandal’ season 1 vibes except this time around we’re not also bombarded by Fitz and Olivia’s relationship issues. 
2. Jakes digs deeper into the deaths of Harrison and Adnan
Since Jake has nothing else to do with his life these days except argue about booty calls with Olivia, he’s still trying to figure out how Harrison and Adnan died and whether or not B613 had anything to do with it.
While he hasn’t connected all the dots yet, Jake seems to be able to connect Charlie (Huck’s old B613 frenemy who is only loyal to whoever will pay him enough to kill someone) to Harrison’s death for now.
3. David Rosen almost loses U.S Attorney General confirmation
A few seasons ago, Olivia and Harrison planted a fake story in David’s past that involved him allegedly being an abusive boyfriend. They had all grounds covered and even paid off one of his real exes to go along with the lie. Even though we thought the plant was taken off of his record after Olivia admitted what she did to Abby, the story comes out again in this episode when David is going through confirmation hearings to become the next U.S Attorney General.
Both David and Abby are furious when the committee reveals what they uncovered, but instead of cowering in another one of Olivia’s lies, David is determined to fight back. He decides to blackmail one of the committee members who has a sketchy past and is able to win his position as U.S Attorney General.
I get they want to remind us how tense things are between Oliva, David, and Abby, but this storyline definitely seemed like more of a time filler than anything else. Now that David is officially Attorney General, I’m excited to see what measures he’ll take to get back at Olivia.
4. State of the Union Address
As if the Elliotts weren’t enough of a PR problem for the SOTU address, paparazzi caught Mellie sitting at her son’s grave eating potato chips. Obviously the First Lady is still grieving, but that doesn’t keep the media from pegging her as having gone “crazy” when these photos are released.
When Fitz tries to tell Mellie he’d like her to show the nation that she’s okay by attending the ceremony, she tells him no because he only wants her to show up to make himself look good. Later, a surprising impassioned speech by Abby is what changes Mellie’s mind.
Abby tells her that millions of other moms lose their children every day, but only have a few days or weeks before they are forced to go back to work. Abby’s point is that it’s time for the lady to be strong for not only herself, but for other parents who have lost their children.
At the State of the Union address, after quick advice from Olivia, Fitz pulls a surprise on everyone when he goes off of his prepared speech on the teleprompter. Fitz mentions what’s going on with him and Mellie as they grieve their son and makes a connection with all of the families that have to lose their children to senseless gun violence. Fitz mentions his “lovely, amazingly strong wife Mellie,” who everyone takes the time to give a standing ovation to. Despite all of the love, after the Fitz finishes his speech, Mellie quickly runs out of the crowd’s eye and breaks down.
After all we have seen Mellie go through on this show, this is the first time we have truly seen her unravel. I have to mention how amazing it has been to watch Bellamy Young (the actress who plays Mellie) shine week after week. While she’s still playing the same person, this is a completely different character from the ruthless Mellie Grant that we have learned to love and hate over the years.
What did you think of this week’s episode of ‘Scandal’?
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