Our Scandal recap breaks down the events of season 4, episode 3 titled “Inside the Bubble.”
Battling for Gun Control
David briefs Fitz on the current situation with gun control reform and is proud to be working so close with the President. He’s “inside the bubble”! David goes to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals but isn’t able to make any progress – much to the delight of Lizzie.
David updates Fitz on the situation, and the President gets very angry that he can’t get anything done. He believes himself to be as useful as a monument lately.
Desperate for success, Mr. Rosen goes straight to one of the judges and blackmails him with some dirt he dug up. It does the trick! The judge votes in Fitz’s favor and they secure the gun control reform, but not without deep consequences: The judge kills himself. With a gun.
The Curious Case of Kathryn
The main case of the episode is one that looks to stretch into next week’s episode too.
Olivia stops by Rowan’s house, and dad is surprised that she’s there to only say hello. When she refuses to even step in the house, Rowan realizes that she’s having a hard time adjusting after her extended vacation. Dad decides to invite her and Jake over for dinner in order to remind Olivia what a normal home life is like again. Jake doesn’t love this idea when Olivia presents it for two reasons: They’re not officially in a relationship, and he and Rowan have… let’s just say… a history. He eventually agrees to dinner because he’s got new information on the death of Jerry Jr.
The nice father/daughter moment is interrupted by a call from Abby, who says Kathryn (LOST alum Sonya Walger), a former friend from law school, has been looking for her. Why? Her daughter Katelyn is LOST missing, and Olivia agrees to help find her.
The case is brought into Olivia Pope and Associates. They start interviewing friends of Katelyn’s and realize one of them is covering for her. Also in this quick scene there are endless references to modern day tech including SnapChat, Instagram, and Uber. Kids these days.
They find Katelyn at the Taft hotel, and when they do, Kathryn asks that she goes to the hotel herself.
It turns out to be a big mistake. Huck finds a sex tape depicting Kathryn and her daughter’s boyfriend, and Olivia calls the hotel to discover that Katelyn has been killed! Olivia catches up to Kathryn and throws her against a wall. “What did you do?!” she yells.
Kathryn begs Olivia to help, and she refuses, but when her husband Jeremy walks into the room Ms. Pope may feel a change of heart. She takes herself off the case, and when Abby tries to talk to her about it, she refuses.
Olivia goes to Jake for some romance to burn off the stress, but he refuses to let her in. Why? He reminds her she loves someone else! We’ve been through this song and dance before.
Later, Katelyn convinces Olivia that she wasn’t the murderer, despite the fact that she had a motive (her daughter found out that mom and boyfriend were shacking up).
At the end of the episode Huck finds a new video of Katelyn and a mystery man in an elevator fighting over a folder. What’s in the folder? Who’s the guy Katelyn’s fighting with? You’ll have to wait until next week!
Jake versus Rowan
The big Jake-Rowan-Olivia dinner arrives, and less-than-exciting conversation ensues until Huck calls Olivia. As she steps outside to take the call, Rowan thanks Jake for keeping Olivia safe. Jake has no time for this small talk though. “Why’d you kill him?” Jake asks, referring to Jerry Jr.
Jake orders Rowan to no longer head B613 and says he must leave town and never talk to Olivia again. Rowan stabs a knife between Jake’s fingers. They both threaten each other’s death just as Olivia re-enters and says they have to leave.
Detective Mellie
Mellie becomes fascinated by the killer cliff bride case out west (a story which was ripped from real life headlines). She’s upset that this woman, Gretchen, was convicted so quickly and wants to go to Yosemite to conduct some interviews to do her own investigation. Abby reminds her that the First Lady taking a trip there would distract from Fitz’s gun control vote. Mellie agrees… then asks that they send Jeff, one of the investigators in Yosemite, to D.C. instead.
Gabby Abby brings this news to Fitz, and in a moment of frustration tells his Press Secretary to give Mellie whatever she wants.
Mellie assembles Jeff and a larger group of higher-ups including people from NASA and the FBI at the White House to discuss her findings. When they tell the First Lady that their investigation added some eyewitness interviews which discredit her theory, she grows upset.
Poor Mellie. She isn’t having a good few episodes, but at least she’s stopping regular visits to Jerry Jr.’s grave.
Charming Charlie
Charlie smashes Jake’s head in when he sees him in a parking garage. Holding him captive, Jake offers Charlie anything that he wants in exchange for information he needs on Jerry Jr.
Charlie picks quality time with Quinn for a few hours. “You want me,” she comes to realize after learning that he picked her of all things. They begin making out juuuust when their one-on-one time runs out.
Now that Charlie got what he wants, it’s time to tell Jake everything. Charlie shares evidence Jake needs to prove who killed Jerry Jr.
Elsewhere…
– Fitz sits down with Abby for a drink and asks about Olivia. This upsets her because for a fleeting moment, Abby was so happy that Fitz finally wanted to get to know her!
– Cyrus runs into Michael at a restaurant, and it turns out he’s more than a sex worker – he has a MBA! Throughout the episode Mike and Cyrus play at each other’s heartstrings until the latter finally agrees to more sex (thanks to some great lines about thirst). Cyrus is still paying him though. What is Lizzie up to with Cyrus?
What did you think of ‘Scandal’ season 4, episode 3?
The next episode of Scandal airs Thursday, October 16 at 9 p.m. eastern/pacific on ABC. According to previews, Olivia will be back in the White House.
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