TV and Movies

Run: Scandal Episode 410 Recap

I’m so glad I had put on extra deodorant and applied a good layer of Jamaican Black Castor Oil to my edges for the return of Scandal last night. I ate a filling meal beforehand so my energy levels and sugar could be right. I figured since Scandal had been gone for almost 2 months, Shonda an’ ‘em were going to try to make up for lost time and lost snatchage by doing a lot. That they did. Let’s just get into the tea.

Scandal ABC 7

Forward and Backwards – The first thing we see is a disheveled Olivia running for her life like Forrest Gump towards a red door as her natural hair flew behind her. It was like a Motions commercial and y’all know I love any time we see her hair in all curly. Whether she reaches the door? We don’t know because they take us back to her in her apartment, dancing with Jake, telling him “I’m not choosing Jake. I’m not choosing Fitz. I’m choosing me.” Right before he went to her room for a pillow and some kidnapper chose her.

They pick her up, making her spill her wine on her white couch, and by the time Jake gets back to the living room, she’s gone. In his boxer briefs (heyyyyyy), he takes the stairs downstairs and sees a car beep, chases the car and loses it.

Un-Neighborly – The scene is replayed slowly, and when the kidnapper grabs Olivia, he takes her to… THE APARTMENT ACROSS THE HALL! That is why they disappeared so fast. Inside the apartment are several men, who have duct-taped the old lady who lives there’s mouth. Liv has also been duct-taped and the men are watching surveillance video. The car that Jake chased was just a decoy to buy them time as they go back into Olivia’s apartment to remove the surveillance equipment they had in there. Liv sleekly removes a ring she’s wearing and slides it under the carpet with her foot.

Jake comes back upstairs, checks her apartment and calls someone to tell them Liv has been taken. He gets dressed and leaves, not knowing she’s across the hall behind the door 3 feet away from him. When he’s gone, the kidnapper turns Olivia around and makes her watch as they remove the duct tape from her old neighbor’s mouth. The poor woman (Lois, but I feel like calling her Alma Mae) thinks the men got what they want and as she tries to assure Liv that things will be ok, the man holding Liv pulls out his gun and sends a shot through Alma’s heart.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Why did y’all have to do that to the poor lady?!? WHYYYYYYYYYYYY??? Summabitch!

Emergency – EMTs wheels a body out of the building and when they load the body bag and they all get into the back of the ambulance, we realize that it’s those men. They open the bag and remove the old lady’s body. Underneath it is a shaking Olivia. I’m traumatized for our girl. This ain’t right and it ain’t ok. Lawd!

They remove the duct tape from her mouth and they tell her to plead for her life because after this, she won’t see the United States again. She says “I only negotiate with people with the power to say yes or no.

Negotiate Power Scandal

Look at Baby Goon Liv. I’d be rocking #bagginfoaf right now. She makes the good point that the guy who was holding her was the one in charge and since he ain’t in the ambulance, then none of them got power. OOOP. They can’t even argue with her so they just stick a syringe in her neck and she passes out. At this point, I already can’t deal. Olivia gon need some extra therapy after this. DIS TEW MUCH.

Locked Up – Olivia wakes up on the floor of some cell, and even after her ordeal from the night before, her hair is STILL laidt. That’s a premium press for you. She got a cell partner and he’s all slumped in the corner and he tells her that his name is Ian. Liv is trying to figure out where she is, because the walls are high and the window is out of reach and he tells her he was kidnapped because he was a journalist writing about Egypt. Homeboy seems traumatized because he’s been there for a while. He says “We’re going to die. They’re going to kill us.” Then he talks about how he was stuck in the neck with a syringe and woke up there, and he was in a cell with a dude named Bradley.

Olivia thinks they’re in the Middle East or a country where Islam reigns because they might have heard a prayer call outside. Liv yells “BATHROOM” and they lead her to a really dirty one and say she got 5 minutes. Like the real woman that she is, she put some tissue on the seat before she sits down. Although, I think she shoulda hit the squat and hover move too. You can never be too safe.

Loose Lips – In the cell, Liv starts asking Ian questions about what’s outside and he has a meltdown because her ideas of escaping might get them both killed. He has a daughter that he wants to live to see again. Liv hugs him like Mama Bear and gives him a very close face-to-face talk about not giving up. And if he’s been locked up for a while, then his breath musta smelled like landfills and onion rings so her eyelashes shoulda been curling on their own at that point. Either way, ma’am WORRY BOUT YOURSELF.

Save us

Liv tells him “I’m going to save us.” Him: “How.” “I’m Olivia Pope.” Girl this is not the time to be dropping your LinkedIn credentials. You don’t even KNOW dude. Outchea tryna play Captain Save-a-Hoe. girl save yourself! And then they both begin to eat the food they got, which looks like cous cous, spinach and kale.

Next, Ian is talmbout how he’s a journalist for a living as he runs his hands up and down her back. He’s helping her look for a tracking device that she thinks might have been placed there and if it was, someone might find them. She says her mother had one because her dad put on there. “He won’t come find me. We parted ways.” He tells her there is no tracking device under her skin and she whispers “If I’m missing, the President of the United States will come looking for me. He will not stop until he finds me. ”

OLIVIA CAROLYN POPE, YOU TALK TOO DAMB MURCH!!! Girl, I need you to sharrap because you are currently doing the damb most. Ugh.

5 Minutes – There’s a montage of the men saying “5 minutes” where Olivia is taken to and from the bathroom. I tried to count and I got 15 “5 minutes.” So if she’s going to the bathroom 3 times a day, let’s say she’s there 5 days at this point. What I was enjoying was watching Olivia’s hair transitioning from the press to its natural state. Each point is giving me YESSES. She needs to start a YouTube channel on how to maintain fluffy hair when you ain’t got products.

Liv sits on the toilet seat without tissue and I squeal. Don’t do that! There might be foot & mouth disease on that seat. Eeeewwww. But I guess she’s fresh out of dambs after this time. After sitting there for a couple of minutes, she looks up and sees the window. She takes off her bra, rubs it on the ground and removes the underwire because UNDERWIRE BRINGS FREEDOM! She steps up on the sink and puts the wire through the small hole in the window and successfully unlocks it. As she does that, the door opens because her 5 minutes is up. The guy comes in and flips out. He grabs her and she tries to fight back and 2 of them drag her back to the cell.

“You’re going to have to be punished for trying to escape.” and Liv is all “you can’t do anything.” Oh? They grab Ian and drag him across the hall to the next cell and she hears his screams. One of the men comes back with blood in her face to snarl and tell her there is no way out… Aw damb.

Jake and Jam – After a firefight, Jake barges into the cell and scoops Olivia up. He came to save her. He carries her out the cell and she jolts and wakes up in a bed with the sun streaming through her windows. She gets into the shower, where Fitz joins her for a good ol’ make out session. Afterwards, she strolls into their kitchen where Fitz is complaining about having to throw out the first pitch since he’s mayor.

Jam Scandal 3 Jam Scandal 4

The fridge is full of jam and Liv is wearing a GIANT rock on her ring finger. WHEW! Tom walks in as Mayor Ghost walks out and she asks him “what are you doing here?” He replies: “I belong here. I’m protecting him. From you. You asked me to come, remember?”

Liv takes her nice dog for a leisurely stroll in Vermont and Abby rolls up on her. “He resigned from office just like and poof you’re here? Where’s Mellie? Where’s Karen? Where’s Teddy? Where’s the press that would be swarming you on a daily basis if the President of the United States went all Wallis Simpson on America? And what? Now you make jam for a living?

“Jake and Fitz can’t help you. There is no man to rescue you. You are the only Gladiator in the place. You have to rescue yourself.” 

Rescue you Abby

I fux with Abby. Everyone needs that friend who will wet blanket you when you need it the most. Abby is that gal, because she straight told Liv about herself.

Before Abby leaves, she tells her that she dropped something. It’s a weird rusted ring. We see the ring on her Vermont kitchen table and Tom shows up. He tells her there’s no way out and as she knocks the ring on the floor, she wakes up out of inception to food being delivered to her cell. It was all a dream. She used to read WordUp Magazine.

Run – Liv pulls out the 2nd underwire from her bra and puts it into her pants and she knocks on the door and yells BATHROOM! As one of the guys takes her to the bathroom, she looks at the red door. BTW, her hair is now giving total Diana Ross when she wakes up in the morning realness.

Liv gets in the bathroom and sees that the window has been sealed shut with bricks, so the underwire trick ain’t gon work this time. She starts doing these heaving sobs because the poor girl has earned a meltdown. She stops and looks under the sink and sees the ring in the dream she had with Abby and it is attached to the sink pipe. A-HA!

She uses her underwire to twist the ring and remove the pipe, hides it under her sleeve and knocks on the door to indicate that she’s finished with the toilet. The bathroom door opens and she slams the pipe on homeboy’s head repeatedly. I think he’s dead. She grabs the keys attached to his belt and his gun and runs like USAIN BOLT towards the red door.

Run Olivia

At this point, I’m SKRESSED, BRUH! Like my heart is beating fast and I’m sweating like I’m the one doing the running. I also think I was holding my breath because who got time for inhaling during this crisis? WHEW.

She is running with all her might when one of the main goons turns up and I screamed. She points the gun at him and he says “If you were going to shoot me, you would have done it already… there’s nothing to be ashamed of. That’s a man’s tool you got there.” She pauses and then pulls the trigger, sending a bullet through his forehead. WELPPPP!!!

Olivia runs to the red door, fumbles with the keys, opens up one lock and it feels like it is taking her forever to get the 2nd one open. She finally unlocks it, pushes the door open and runs, only to stop because she’s in front of a screen and a speaker that is playing Arabic sounds. LAWD! They got my girl on a soundstage.

No freedom

She turns around and Ian walks to her, all clean-shaven. OF COURSE he was the leader. Of. COURSE.

“I told you there was no way out of there. I knew you had fight in you. Clever girl. Well done. I had questions. I needed to extract information but I was told you had to be returned in your original packaging so I needed the right sort of extreme circumstances to pop your cork. The secret to you, you always have to save everyone. He loves you. He’s never gonna stop looking for you. That’s what you said, right? I got the goose that lays the golden eggs. Knowledge is power.”

He tells Liv that this is just the beginning and escorts her back behind the red door and closes it.


GAHHHHTTTDDAAAMMMBBB, dawg! There’s so much to unpack here. Lemme take it from the top.

First of all, I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask for a moment of silence for Granny Lois, aka Sis Alma Mae Jones. A good woman. A God-fearing woman. All she did was devote her time to serving her Lord all her life. So for her to just get caught up in the Liv rapture because her apartment was next door ain’t right. Services for her will come on January 32nd at the This Little Light of Mine Still Shines Even as the Devil Tries to Take It COGIC Baptist Pentecostal A.M.E. Please tell Sister O’Dell what you can bring to the repast. We’re order tater salad from Whole Foods because we can’t have what happened when we had a funegro for Brother Harrison (aka Brolivia Pope). Gone but not forgotten.

Dead Verna gif

Aight so moving on. Most of us figured out that there was no way in hell Ian was just some random prisoner. They are not throwing Olivia Pope in a cell with just someone else. And since she did say she only negotiates with the person with power, her ass wrote a check that her mouth was cash-deficient for. Overdraft fees of life. WHY DID SHE SING LIKE A BIRD TO THIS STRANGER?!? Liv. Loose lips sink ships and you just hit every iceberg on the way. She told the man all her business and I was tryna tell her to shut up but you know she don’t listen to me. Daddy Pope and Mama Pope would be so disappointed in their baby. She should know better than that. But then again, the girl is traumatized and I shouldn’t even blame her. You put duct tape around my mouth, the moment you take it off, I will sing like Julie Andrews. What do you wanna know? I’ll tell you everything, because I’m a punk.

Its True Though gif

But who sent Ian, though? I am banking on the Vice President. Andrew did tell Fitz that he was going to get what is most important to him in the world. BUT if that was the info that Ian was so happy he got out of Liv when she “popped her cork”, wouldn’t VP already know that? Remember that Andrew Nichols wants to go to war with Angola!

Could it be Rowan who sent Ian? Nah. Because he already has all the information he needs and again, he ain’t gon do that to his daughter. I maintain that. When it comes to Liv, his Daddy-ness always trumps Command.

Chile, this is gon be a mess. I just wanna take the time out to also remember other Lost Ones in this episode:

* Olivia’s off-white couch – The red wine that was spilled on it is gon leave a real NASTY stain. Unless Jake hit it with some club soda and baking soda before he left her crib. That couch is what needs real saving.

* Olivia’s premium press – Her hair was DID and they went and kidnapped her. By the end, it looked like she might have been harboring a couple of bird nests in it. Oooo she gon need a whole bottle of detangler the next time she gets it done.

* Olivia’s bra – That underwire bra did an amazing job. The sale of underwire bras are about to skyrocket. You never know when you might need to escape. Even our accessories are super.

Anywho, GLADIATORS ROAR in the comments. Drop your thoughts and feels.

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86 Comments

  1. Malcolmisha X
    January 30, 2015 at 1:09 pm

    Alma Mae “Lois” Jackson 1945-2015
    The Dedicated Deaconess will be greatly missed. She paid her rent all the way up to the end of January and they couldn’t let her get to the end of the month!! Sister Alma your death will not go unpunished! (Plot twist: Alma is from Angola lol)

  2. Shawn
    January 30, 2015 at 1:12 pm

    Wallis Simpson, not Wallace. 🙂 She was the woman who Queen Elizabeth’s uncle gave up being the King of England to marry, Elizabeth’s father became King when he stepped down.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallis_Simpson

    • Milaxx
      January 30, 2015 at 2:06 pm

      Played quite handsomely by my boo Colin Firth in The King’s Speech I might add. 😉

  3. Jayri
    January 30, 2015 at 1:21 pm

    Ok. So ya’ll didn’t peep the neighbor was Virgil Tibbs aunt. The one with the criminal son…..where my 8th babies at??? But I digress. …
    It got hot under my sweatshirt. Because that’s where I was…hiding my eyes and whatnot. I needed Brown Liquor and a pack of Kools…
    Shonda……Play….tooo…..Much!!!

    • Denise
      January 30, 2015 at 1:48 pm

      LOL.. I said the same thing when I saw. That’s Virgil Tibbs aunt!

    • LAMAR
      January 30, 2015 at 2:28 pm

      JAYRIIIIIIIII !!!! see I thought I was the onliest one remembering that. you made my day. lmao.

    • Shannyn
      January 30, 2015 at 5:55 pm

      A pack of Kools-*dead*

  4. Lyn
    January 30, 2015 at 1:23 pm

    If Olivia had as many locks on her apartment door as there were on that “red door”, none of this would have happened.

    • MissusMax
      January 30, 2015 at 1:38 pm

      Ma’am, yes ma’am!! Her apartment is more open that a fresh air market in the summertime! I was about to have a thousand fits waiting for her to unlock them chastity belt locks! I guess Liv is so used to being saved that she never invested in security. I can hook her up with ADT when she gets back.

    • Milaxx
      January 30, 2015 at 2:09 pm

      True dat! Cause everybody just walks in to Liv’s apartment. Also what happened to the security Huck was supposed to have installed in Liv’s apartment? For that matter how come Liv doesn’t upgrade? Jake was able to install surveillance equipment around Huck’s security as well.

    • Nancoise
      February 1, 2015 at 1:30 pm

      That building security is laughable. Not even a rotund white doorman!

      Bad guys didn’t even have to kick in the door?

  5. Kayla
    January 30, 2015 at 1:26 pm

    Last night episode came in with a bang! I think its Hollis! He didn’t die…I’m sure he has a lot to gain if they went to war…it works in his favor! I pray they strent in the lord…..because Jake and Fitz will stop at nothing to get bae back

    • Milaxx
      January 30, 2015 at 2:10 pm

      I think it’s Andrew & Hollis in cahoots! I don’t trust Andrew and Hollis is just out for himself.

  6. Asia E.
    January 30, 2015 at 1:29 pm

    took me several minutes to interpret “#bagginfoaf” that alone has me incapable of non snickerage. i literally posted on FB earlier that Shonda don’ hired bout 40-11 new writers ‘cuz all of the first half of the season bored me. i literally couldn’t even scroll my timeline last night!! i’m also bankin on the VP! she real sheisty.

    • Milaxx
      January 30, 2015 at 2:11 pm

      Sally is no longer VP. She won’t mess with Liv since they helped her cover up her husband’s murder. Andrew is VP now.

  7. JenniferG
    January 30, 2015 at 1:32 pm

    Can we once again discuss the TOTAL LACK OF SECURITY in Liv’s building? Has she not learned her lesson? Why does she not have 10 locks, a chair under the knob and a beer bottle on top?

    That scene running down the hall….wow! But…what happened to the gun?! Why did she leave it when she opened the door? She could’ve just popped Ian and, boom, back to gladiating (that is totally a word).

    I guessed the sound stage trick pretty early on, but NEVER suspected Ian.

  8. Diva
    January 30, 2015 at 1:33 pm

    Let me tell you want upset me… After Liv gave 5 minute man a 3rd eye, she dropped the gun! You don’t drop the gun. You shoot that other fool for good measure and keep it in case there is trouble on the other side of the door. Which there was. Ian coulda been dead. And she did not tell him that Fitz loves her. THAT info clearly came from VP Backstab.
    Prior to that, when Jake thought he heard something & it was duct taped Liv at grandma’s crib, I wanted to SCREAM.
    Where can I get a man that will run out into the street with boxer briefs on?

    • paintgurl40
      January 30, 2015 at 1:56 pm

      LOL!!! I thought the same thing!

    • Cinnamon
      January 30, 2015 at 2:39 pm

      I am soo glad I am not the only one that said that. I was yelling at the tv cause she coulda done shot old dude and got away.

    • January 30, 2015 at 8:38 pm

      “How you go and drop the gun, Gangstalicious?That is not gangsta. That’s very not gangsta!” – Riley Freeman

  9. Morgan
    January 30, 2015 at 1:36 pm

    I want to send my deepest condolences to the family is of Ms.Ethel May June. I knew she wasn’t long for this world as soon as the masks came off. I knew Ian was shady when there were no other prisoners in the cells,she never heard anyone else ask to use the bathroom. CLUE. (Did yall notice Olivia’s jam company is called white hat jam) but lordt did I wanna fight the air when she was telling that man anything especially since there should have been clues like his breathe smells like a peppermint patty or that those were the same big baby blues that snatched her….but she is the daughter of the grand goon she should know how this goes .but ugh I wait patiently for them to broadcast her begging for her life so that her parents can form the true legion of doom and murk everybody.

    • Lo
      January 30, 2015 at 2:57 pm

      “I wait patiently for them to broadcast her begging for her life so that her parents can form the true legion of doom and murk everybody.” I hollered! The grand goon that is Daddy Pope is gonna bring his baby back come hell or high water because he is the hell and the high water!

      • shaluv7
        January 31, 2015 at 10:01 pm

        Yaaasssss!!!!

    • Londa
      January 30, 2015 at 8:47 pm

      The Goon Squad Reunion and Rescue mission ain’t gon’ be nothing nice. There will be much hell and high water to pay for snatching Liv (and hopefully restitution for snatching my edges, too).

      It’s like this, I don’t care what race, creed or color you are; but, nearly EVERY family has this one rule: “I” can talk about or be mean to or not speak to my family member 366 days a year, 25 hours a day, 8 days a week. But, BET NOT nare’n one of nobody else say or do something to hurt my family. Cuz, if you do, the pack rolls deep. And every last one of us, whether we like each other or not, will come to the defense of the family member. We’ll be holding the line tighter than all of the X-Men in “The Last Stand.” The best offense is a good defense.

      All this to say, the Goon Squad Reunion and Rescue Mission + Gladiators In Suits + My Boyfriend and My Boyfriend’s Boss = It’s About To Go Down. While James Brown’s “Payback” is playing in the background.

      • Pamela
        January 31, 2015 at 11:45 am

        Londa, you have won the internet, girl. Black folks and ‘I’talians kno you don’t let nobody talk ’bout the family. Didn’t Liv see the Godfather??

  10. Carrie
    January 30, 2015 at 1:38 pm

    First let me just say that this episode was written, directed and acted better than the entire last two seasons of scandal.
    Kerry looked the right level of traumatised and terrified, I just wish she would learn that there is a time and place to monologue and tell of someone and that time is not wjen they just took you from a body bag with sis Almam. Liv needs to stop talking out her private bidness with strange white men, but noooo she just has to be the saviour, leave that job to Jesus and worry about yourself girl. Rowan is going to lose it and Maya mught just go on the warpath forget Fitz he is still by his cabinet and really can’t do much except order people to try and save her.

    • paleo_wino
      January 30, 2015 at 8:19 pm

      “Stop talking bout her private bidness to strange white men”. So my funeral gonna be the Saturday after Sister Alma’s. I’d like if everyone wore purple.

  11. Kacizzle
    January 30, 2015 at 1:46 pm

    Luvvie you truly have a way with words :

    “how to maintain fluffy hair when you ain’t got products.”

    “It was all a dream . She used to word up magazine ”
    I died after these two lines.

    You hit the nail on the read with this entire review . I thought it was the VP but he knows Fitz loves Olivia so it doesn’t make sense . It has to be some new entity. It can’t be anybody in or related to the White House because they already KNOW. THIS BY THE WAY WAS ONE OF THE BEST SCANDAL EPISODES EVER ! I couldn’t leave my seat . When she was running I was yelling so hard ..”Runnn girl runnn” like I was a black momma at a track meet .

    Ps. Liv’s life with the president was so cute. I was waiting for some lil bi racial kids to come running through the house . Abby was so right though . Him leaving the presidency would not be so clean . Even if it happens after his second term is up . Can you imagine a white president divorcing his wife and dating his black former aide ? Lol the media would be all over it every day. He definitely wouldn’t be no damn mayor with all the bad publicity. It was cute though .

    • KAcizzle
      January 30, 2015 at 1:54 pm

      Hit the nail on the HEAD*

    • wendylous
      February 1, 2015 at 4:05 am

      Black Mama at the track meet.
      Just perfect. Just perfect.

  12. Ms.Monica2U
    January 30, 2015 at 1:52 pm

    Okay this is my first response luvvnation Gladiators but this episode made me sooo mad I have to chime in…
    1st why is jake running down all those stairs without a gun or nothin…they could have taken him out easy too (they are both slipping!!!)
    So is Huck no longer checking Liv’s apartment for surveillance equipment (again EVERYbody is off their game!!)
    Enough has been said about the lack of security in Liv’s building but Ms. Alma May (RIH) shoulda looong had a meeting with the coop board about all of the foolery going on from Liv’s apartment!!
    Ian wasnt on his game either bc how can you be locked up for however long with a 1week at best 5oclock shadow!!! And for real – Im sure his breath or body odor should have been off too…it was all just too wrong.
    Liv really needs an intensive session with Iyanla, Dr Phil and everybody on Super Soul Sunday to break her out of her crazy!!!

    All that said…cant wait for next week to see what Fitz and Jake are gonna try and do!!

    • BMonique
      February 5, 2015 at 3:50 pm

      Everybody on Super Soul Sunday! Bravo!

  13. paintgurl40
    January 30, 2015 at 1:53 pm

    Great post Luvvie! I cackled while reading from beginning to end. I couldn’t stop thinking of those blue Obama shoes when I first laid eyes on Sister Alma Mae.

  14. Nichelle
    January 30, 2015 at 1:59 pm

    i always suspected Ian was shady but I got my confirmation when he name dropped Otto right after he said he lied about Bradley. If you were really a prisoner like that these dudes aren’t just telling you their names during casual convos…. Plus I figured thats why he never talked during the kidnapping, so she wouldn’t recognize his voice later on. #detectivelife lol I watch too much Sherlock& Elementary haha scandal is back!!!! I’m too hype!!

    • Wessie
      January 30, 2015 at 6:45 pm

      I hollered! I peeped Ian’s game early on too–who gets a cellie when you supposed to be kidnapped?!?!? And by the time he was grooming her back, I knew he was pumping her for intel. Shady! And that whole soundstage jig was cray-cray…saw that one from the trailers. Liv ain’t going nodambwhere outside the contiguous 48 unless it’s sunny and that slab o’ nothingness weren’t it. Liv’s off her game…I’ma need her to get back to Gladiating so she can trust her gut mo’ betta!

  15. Shar
    January 30, 2015 at 2:01 pm

    I’m a wine connoisseur on Shonda Thursdays but this episode had me straight reaching for a bottle of Hennessy. My nerves were all the way shot and Shonda and em didn’t allow me to get up off the floor the whole hour. I had to poor some out for Sis. Alma doh, she was such a good neighbor….Mr. Rogers would have been proud! #wontyoubemyneighbor

  16. Courtney H
    January 30, 2015 at 2:07 pm

    YASSS! Life is good. Scandal is back and so are the recaps.

    So my theory…it’s the VP and it is Ellen’s bae. Yes, they already know that the Pres loves Olivia, but maybe the kidnapper didn’t know that. Ian was likely given minimal information. Ultimately, VP and Ebae want war. They hired Ian at top dollar (that is not a cheap set up, so he is a high priced kidnapper). Ian wants to know why Olivia was worth so much money so he found out. Now he has leverage against VP and Ebae. He can get more money or blackmail the President and get even more money out of the deal.

    End scene.

    • GaNeane
      January 30, 2015 at 8:27 pm

      You just killed me with Ebae !

    • phylligurl
      January 31, 2015 at 10:09 pm

      Snorting at Ebae!!

  17. Nikki M-S
    January 30, 2015 at 2:13 pm

    Ok, so how about Jake: “No Quinn, she has not run off to an island with another man, now put Huck back on the phone!”

    *I cackled*

    I love when Shonda throws those little kibbles out there for us: nibble, nibble. Too funny!

    • Londa
      January 30, 2015 at 8:53 pm

      Hahaha! I liked that too!

  18. Smidgen
    January 30, 2015 at 2:21 pm

    Was the first guy to pull of his hood and mask Charlie?

  19. Ms Kim
    January 30, 2015 at 2:35 pm

    Wasn’t the short hair and no beard enough to give away that Ian hadn’t been there long? Liv should have picked up on that.

  20. January 30, 2015 at 2:44 pm

    Lol at #vernadead

  21. January 30, 2015 at 2:45 pm

    1. Huck is off bonding with his son and old wife.

    2. Abby is the truth!

    3. Jake running down the street in his drawls was a great action scene!

    4. I think the VP is tied up in there somewhere, just can’t get all the info he needs so he calls in Ian to finish the job.

    5. Olivia earned her MacGuyver Girl Scout badge with the underwire trick!

    6. Even under duress, Olivia still knows to read somebody and make them feel ever so insignificant – love the way she called the dudes out in the ambulance!

    7. Dude shoulda kept his mouth shut telling her the gun was a man’s tool – I knew she was gonna pop his ass – remember she did pull the trigger on Daddy Goon, not knowing the gun wasn’t loaded.

    8. Ian was too convenient – I knew he was a plant.

    Awesome recap, Luvvie!

  22. Marie
    January 30, 2015 at 2:49 pm

    Great recap and episode. Best acting Kerry has done. Ever. LOL
    They BROKE her. Poor baby.

    One thing, I think she was being held for much longer than 5 days. 1) I seriously doubt they would give bathroom privileges 3 times a day. Once a day would make more since. 2) her hair was a least 1 week out from a comb. LOL!

    Can’t wait for next week.

    p.s. I will bring lasagna to the repast for sister Alma…

    • Marie
      January 30, 2015 at 2:50 pm

      sense not since. 🙂

  23. MelissaAlexis
    January 30, 2015 at 2:58 pm

    I think the dudes are just contractors that Andrew hired and they didn’t know the details. They played their tricks to get the information that VP and Lizzie Bear kept from them (cuz they knew there was more to the story). Now, they are going to use that info to get more $$$ out of their bosses and then renege by not releasing her, and fleece Fitz. Liv’s a big-mouthed gift, that keeps on giving.
    By the way, I had his episode figured out from the minute Liv had her first convo with Ian. I read too many danged crime books. I have faith that Shonda will find a way to mess with my head.

  24. Makenzie
    January 30, 2015 at 3:13 pm

    It has been Andrew the whole time. Let’s not forget that Andrew was having Olivia followed by the doughnut eater. Andrew was also banging Lizzy (Portia) on the side. And every other day Lizzy was busting up in Cyrus office crying about how the party was not happy. Andrew planted that car bomb thinking that would push Fitz to declare war, but it wasn’t enough. He had to take Liv because he needed a big bargaining chip.

  25. Lovedbyverdie
    January 30, 2015 at 3:20 pm

    I think it’s the VP. Do you remember the fake car bombing when he was doing press? Do you remember how they kept pressing Fitz to go to war? So in the preview when Oliva said “if war isn’t declared in 48 hours, I’m dead” and the VP all but told Fitz he was coming after the one thing he loved.

  26. MsBrome
    January 30, 2015 at 3:21 pm

    I don’t know who’s involved with this here. But I knew Ian was off when his teeth were whiter than white; not beige and frothy like most dungeon dweller’s teeth are. Maybe Mellie and Ellen’s wife did this to her?

  27. January 30, 2015 at 3:26 pm

    I believe it’s the VP and Portia De Rossi..can’t even think of her name on the show right now. Yep, the VP Andrew and Ellen Degeneres’ wife because in the previews for next week Liv says they want a war. Andrew and ol’ girl was mad that Fitz didn’t go to war over the Veep almost getting killed with the bombing. Yep, it’s them.

  28. Myia
    January 30, 2015 at 3:55 pm

    I have a question that requires some memory.

    So, remember when Jake and Liv first got together, and she realized he was watching her. She asked why, and he pointed to the screen which showed someone going into her apartment.

    They never really completed that story. I didn’t understand it until Papa Pope talked about her having no idea how he has protected her. I guess it was foreshadowing for the day people would capture her successfully.

    I don’t know that I would say these are the same people, but I definitely believe this is not the first attempt someone tried to take her to bribe the president.

    It’s for this reason, I believe Papa Pope knows where she is and is waiting on her to understand 1) life without him and a.) how similar they are.

    That’s my theory.

    • Rochelle
      January 30, 2015 at 5:44 pm

      Charlie was the person who was going into her apartment and he was there to bring Olivia to her father because Jake refused to do it. Jake didn’t know that Charlie was also B-613 or that Liv was Command’s daughter. He just thought Papa Pope was going to kill her because she was messing with the president.

      • Obsessa
        February 3, 2015 at 9:29 am

        Just a clarification, Jake hadn’t refused yet. Command didn’t ask him to bring Olivia in until he was sure Jake was attached and asked to be taken off the case. Sadly, I have watched all of the episodes multiple times on Netflix and recorded this season (lost “like father like daughter” when I changed to cable). Charlie was in her apartment for the mole and after putting Huck in the box for 7:52. Of course the rest of what you said is correct.

  29. Kenya
    January 30, 2015 at 4:32 pm

    I’m going to be ripped to shreds for this theory but I can’t shake this opening scene. I’m still not 100% here for Jake! There was a glance he gave the door before he went down that hall to get the pillows for the musical mambo on the piano. That glance was like…it’s time to get out the way so these shenanigans can ensue.

    He is too much of a professional assassin to think that the kidnapper would be in plain sight for him to see his tags.

    I’ont know good people. It’s too obvious that the VP would be behind this. Shonda messing with our Shondo would not so easily be deciphered!

    PS: Luvvie I heard your psa here in DC and I cheered loudly like we were line sisters!!! So proud of my friend in my head!!! Keep rising to the top! You deserve every bit of these accolades!

    • AnnB
      January 30, 2015 at 7:34 pm

      YES!!!!!!! I keep saying this about Jake and that glance and you’re the only other person to notice that!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • Tracey
      January 30, 2015 at 9:58 pm

      THANK YOU!! I been saying that Jake is shady as a California redwood. You could have a picnic and a BBQ in his shade. Anyways, I don’t think its the VP.

  30. Jimmy
    January 30, 2015 at 4:40 pm

    Damn you to hell Playtex because it certainly wouldn’t have taken all that excessive floor scratching to rip through the material on one of my bras. All I could think was damn where she get that bra from? La Perla?

    • Monnie
      January 31, 2015 at 1:45 am

      Yep, that is mos’ def a La Perla boobysling. I found myself panting with lust err time she and the Prez were doin’ the nasty and it wasn’t the sex. It was the underwear!!! Livvie is body beautiful, but she ain’t boobylicious enuf to have to wear underwires. La Perla loves underwires to hold all that lacy loveliness together and they are seriously padded so they don’t hurt or mark your skin. I tried to try one on one time but they don’t make that kinda wonderfulness in 38 J!! Good thing, or I’d be hocking my future grandkids to have a few.

    • LAMINOR
      January 31, 2015 at 1:46 am

      This is hilarious…#realtears

  31. Football Mom
    January 30, 2015 at 5:36 pm

    Someone should have reminded me to watch they last episode before the break before watching this one. I was lost and confused for a while. But, here are my observations:
    1. did it seem weird to anyone but me that the first person Jake would call would be Huck? When did they become boys like that?
    2. Kerry acted her butt off last night. Finally earning her money after last season’s mess.
    3. The dream sequence must have had some hidden meanings that will come into play later. Jake is her savior but Fitz is her future maybe? I would have loved to have seen Huck in there and her dad…because even when you are stressed and go to your happy place, dont you bring your family? I guess not.
    4. I predict that Ian is going to fall for nappy-headed Liv. She has that effect on men. So the love triangle is going to turn into a square.
    5. I also predict that her kidnapping is going to force Jake, Fitz, Rowan and MommaPope to work together.
    6. More people died in this episode than in the entire last season, didn’t they?

    • Obsessa
      February 3, 2015 at 10:10 am

      Jake and Huck started their cooperation in season 3. When Jake investigated operation Remington he drew Huck into it. They respect each other. Witness Huck apologizing to Quinn for not giving her enough credit in season 3 after Jake called him on it, and Jake telling Olivia to cut Huck a little slack (in searching for her father I think) because for them her father is not a hero.

  32. Trish
    January 30, 2015 at 5:51 pm

    OMG, this is errything! Luvvie, how did I only now find your site? Please say you will turn this into a video recap a la Gay of Thrones and make Friday mornings even better.

  33. Jai
    January 30, 2015 at 6:12 pm

    Another theory…remember in the 752 episode they went back and showed when Huck was inducted into B16…the guy that kept asking Huck if he had a wife and kids…was that Ian by chance???

  34. Serenity
    January 30, 2015 at 6:15 pm

    My grandmother’s name was Alma Mae and she didn’t look anything like that dead woman. Nor would she have been all soft and fuzzy. She was a broom ninja and would have took all them jokers down while cursing their ancestors an unborn children.

    Scandal jumped the shark with this episode. It better get good and fast….

  35. sherry
    January 30, 2015 at 6:39 pm

    Papa Pope warned her silly butt when she fired the gun at him about imagining a world without his presence and protection… Naow looket wut dun happen!!

  36. Dee
    January 30, 2015 at 7:06 pm

    Lois is the true hero of Scandal. I need Shonda to provide me with her back story. I wanna do a proper tribute during Black HERstory month! *snickering*

  37. Margaret
    January 30, 2015 at 7:41 pm

    I’m STILL mad that they killed Ms. Jane Pittman’s body double and I haven’t been this stressed since Verna went on to the Capital Hill in the sky. I did notice that like the lion’s mane in ‘Madagascar’, Olivia’s hair got worse by the day.They could have at least given her a comb to handle her business. Hopefully Jake was able to find someone to clean the wine off Olivia’s couch.

  38. Absurdist
    January 30, 2015 at 7:44 pm

    Here’s a thing:

    TWO GOONS DEAD.

    If that was part of the plan, how were they convinced to volunteer? Who volunteers to be mortally expendable? To be killed by a hostage?

  39. Mona
    January 30, 2015 at 7:55 pm

    A. I knew that beard was too damn short for him to have been in there more than a day or two

    2. Pappa pope is going to see her ransom video, and think ive got to to save this girl again 🙁

    iii. Mellie is going to be pissed because fitz is going to be all about saving liv and not paying her any attention. Especially when she finds out her boo, andrew drove fitz back to liv. She cant win.

  40. TeeCee
    January 30, 2015 at 7:57 pm

    You guys should have watched the winter finale before watching the new epi. Andrew (VP) planned that bombing and blamed it on Angola hoping that Fitz would go to war with that country. I’m guessing he would get some sort of financial kickback. Anywho, there was a scene with VP and Fitz with VP basically threatening to hurt Fitz (by harming Olivia). From what I got, Andrew and Liz planned the kidnapping in order to blackmail Fitz into going to war with Angola.

    Also, I knew from jump that Ian was a bad guy. Didn’t figure he was the ring
    leader, but I knew he was no good.

    PS: if I had a gun in Olivia’s situation, I woulda shot the bad guys, good guys, the spider on the corner, the ant crawling across the floor. Errbody woulda been murked. Fa sho. I woulda kept that metal pipe too, just in case. Maybe I’m violent. I ‘on’t know.

    • Tracey
      January 30, 2015 at 10:03 pm

      Like Kevin Hart said… Pwhing, pwhing, errbody gone die.

      • PoetrysTruth
        January 31, 2015 at 3:11 pm

        EXACTLY…I was like what kinda goon DROPS the gun…WHAT KIND? I just don’t #unnastan why she’s not more hardcore…this chick speaks MANDARIN (you know that shit ain’t easy to learn!), she’s the offspring of gooniest goons on any goon planet…why she so…goon-less?

        • oakbliuffsdiva
          February 1, 2015 at 11:08 am

          She’s never had to be a goon in the physical sense. Someone has always been there to ‘goon’ for her, to rescue her. This time? No such luck and to some, she made a big mistake. But Ian was armed and watching her every move. He knew she was attempting to escape and was waiting for her. If she had had that gun in her hand, he would’ve had his aimed and ready when she ran out of that door.

  41. Cherie in the D
    January 30, 2015 at 8:01 pm

    The recap was that deal but the comments were the business!
    I do not watch Scandal but may start because of this recap. Love your blog!
    #dontshoot@donotwatchscandal

  42. January 30, 2015 at 10:24 pm

    Kenya, AnnB and Tracey: the tribe has spoken…you’ve been voted off the island.

    #teamjalivia!!!

    lol omg I can’t even deal with this right now….that episode was too much. reading your recap is my way of decompressing after that stress.

    tew. MURCH!!!

    I feel like…I need to just wait a few weeks so I can watch episodes back-to-back because the suspense…#faints

  43. January 30, 2015 at 10:30 pm

    Oh, and since this is the official place to discuss Scandal (sorry, ABC dot com) I shall declare: Rowan will be the one to rescue Liv. They foreshadowed it just like they foreshadowed that she would “go somewhere” before Jake went to get the blanket.

    Although, my husband thinks that there’s gonna be some kinda “Homeland” bidness where she’s forced to return to her old life doing Ian’s bidding for awhile…but that would just be too depressing.

  44. LAMINOR
    January 31, 2015 at 1:56 am

    I think it’s “BABY ELLA” Where is she btw…

  45. irene
    January 31, 2015 at 11:50 am

    I must admit that watching live I found this episode boring ( I kept changing channels ) but it picked up about halfway through and when I watched it again the next day I really did enjoy it
    Kerry is not an actress that does well with big dramatic moments and monologues, she tends to overact. She is excellent in those quiet emotional moments
    You can see her acting as opposed to feeling what is happening to her . Her facial expressions were so distracting in this episode that I actually did not feel for what she was going through.
    Its an interesting twist and I cant wait to see where they take this storyline!

  46. JUnique
    January 31, 2015 at 10:20 pm

    Too many pee breaks – LIV IS PREGGERS!!!!!!!

    LOL @ EBa

    Shut up, Tibb’s Aunt? I should have watched the episode!

    Thanks, Luvvie, for the never disappointing.

    Shonda. Shonda. Shonda.

  47. Soozy2shooz
    February 1, 2015 at 3:41 am

    Excellent recap, Luvvie! Absolutely hilarious. I’m so happy to have found your blog! I’m Scandal obsessed and it seems that I’m in good company here.

    I’m gonna go out on a limb here and predict that Mellie is involved in Liv’s kidnapping, somehow, some way. Knowingly or unwittingly.

    Early in season 3, she told Fitz that Liv was a weapon that she could use to make her puppet husband dance. Someone had to put Andrew and his cohorts on Liv’s trail in the first place. Someone who already knew Liv’s importance to Fitz. Only Cyrus, Mellie, Tom, Hal and Jake had the slightest clue.

    Whatever the ultimate goal is, it has been in the works for a while and meticulously planned. Remember, Jeremy (Liv’s law school buddy’s husband) told Quinn that they couldn’t stop what was coming…nobody could. Then he blew his head off. Hollis Doyle is more than capable of adding kidnapping to his bulging list of sins, if oil is the ultimate goal; but Hollis was never privy to Fitz’s feelings for Liv. That brings us right back to Mellie.

    Now, what she stands to gain from all of this besides a nervous breakdown and/or a lifetime supply of orange jumpsuits, who knows.

  48. oakbluffsdiva
    February 1, 2015 at 10:51 am

    I’ve read all of your theories and I agree with most. But where does Liv’s friend Kathryn’s husband committing suicide (because he was more afraid of another human than death), the deaths of their daughter and her friend, and Kathryn being blackmailed for the daughters death, come into play?

    And, the clue Darby dropped about someone from S1 returning. The synopsis for 4-12 says, “Jake, Huck, and Quinn seek assistance from an old friend to help find Olivia.” Who in the heck could that be? I’m confused…

    How am I supposed to wait until Thursday?

    • Soozy2shooz
      February 1, 2015 at 3:18 pm

      Hey Diva,

      Jeremy’s forewarning of the “unstoppable” just tells that a lot of planning went into this. Someone is playing an ultra-high-stakes game; we just don’t know what the real stakes are. Declare war for what? Who stands to gain? Is this the result of all that “thinking” that Mellie does? If so, what’s her endgame?

      As for who’s coming back from Season 1? My guess is Steven. The lawyer with the sexy Scottish brogue who left OPA to get married after season 1. With Harrison gone and Abby otherwise employed, this makes sense to me. I wonder will the same guy, Henry Ian Cusik, play the role, if Steven does return. Questions, questions and more questions…

  49. E
    February 1, 2015 at 1:07 pm

    The real issue is that Oliva didn’t take the gun with her! And why was said gun actually loaded?!

    Knew from the jump cellmate was “crooked”! Liv is too busy to watch cinema clearly…. and yes–all the LinkedIn information! Stranger was a danger.

    Shonda, a true genius, is the real MVP.

  50. February 3, 2015 at 8:59 am

    I have a Scandal routine. I put the child to bed, pour a glass of wine and put my phone and my husband on silent. The I enter the Scandal zone. As soon as it is finished, I’m straight over to Luvvie’s as I always watch it a few days after the show has aired, when I know Luvvie has delivered her luvvieness.

    I must say, Scandal has not really been the Scandal I love from Season 1 and 2, but I stick with it because I’ve got an investment and I love me some Olitz.

    As with some other comments here, I was a little bored with this comeback, until about half way through, when I clicked that Ian was a plant and I thought, ok now this is getting interesting BUT there were some big issues for me.

    1) Olivia is a cold fish. She does not hug people freely. She doesn’t even hug her bestie Abbey much or her other Gladiators, and she’s only really affectionate when she’s sexing. Yet a few days in, maybe even hours (we know this because her hair is still sleek) she is hugging Ian and telling her whole love story to him and how she’s gonna save him. She’s had clients with worse stories come to her and she’s not even given them so much as a handshake, let a long a full on hug and hair stroke.
    2) Scandal was getting too Homeland for my liking. I don’t like my fav programs blending into one! And this whole kidnapping thing does take Scandal to a different direction.
    3) Guns aren’t even legal where I come from, yet I was still shouting at the screen ‘pick up the gun.’ That said, had she shot Ian, there’d be no story, so she kind of had to drop the gun.

    Also, I found the start a bit repetitive. I know they wanted to show the kidnap from all angles and of course do the big reveal that Olivia was just next door, I was getting fed up with the dancing and I can’t listen to that Stevie Wonder song for a long time now.

    All that said, I was gripping the sofa towards the end and I did love that little Vermont scene, even though it was a little fantasy episode. It took me back to seasons one and two, when there was hope.

    I’m ready for episode two now, anyway. I need to see where this is going.

    Ps I love the comments so much on here. Luvvie + comments = genuis x 2.