Scandal season 3, episode 2 saw a slew of flashbacks in which Olivia fell in love with wine and Huck met his future boss.

Here were the highlights of tonight’s Scandal season 3, episode 2 titled “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner.”

Flashbacks and (some) answers. At the start of the episode Olivia and her dad are at dinner. She learns that when her mother died she was sent to boarding school. Jumping to another flashback, Olivia was mugged and Huck enters her life when he saves her from the attacker. Back at dinner, Rowan plays off this man and calls him mentally ill. Interestingly, it’s at this dinner that Olivia begins to develop her love for wine thanks to her father making a recommendation that’s on point. Now a days she’s downing bottles at a time, so this was as big an occasion for her as any other.

Freedom for the innocent. Olivia Pope’s is adamant about clearing Jeannine’s name. In a statement to the media, Olivia says that her client absolutely did not have an affair with the President and accused the White House of slander. After this announcement, Cyrus and Mellie try to convince Fitz to continue with the Jeannine plan, but he refuses and commands them to deny the affair with the truly innocent woman. Not listening to the Commander in Chief, Mellie hatches a new lie to push the accusations harder: She leaks a report that Jeannine and Fitz were alone frequently in the White House.

Olivia fights back by planning a morning television interview where Jeannine will clear her image. As they do, Olivia Pope and Associates put great care into Jeannine’s physical appearance to give her an innocent look. All is going according to plan, but the night before the big interview, Mellie offers Jeannine $2 million to admit to the lie. The next morning as she’s about to speak on TV and “come clean” (despite pleads from Olivia who just learned of the situation), she’s pre-empted by the President who goes on air and confesses to the lie himself.

Protection for his true love. This strategy is a win for Olivia, which is why Fitz decided to do it. Rowan had told her that he would free Jake if she went with the Jeannine confession. Fitz was not able to cut Jake loose any other way.

“Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner,” the episode’s title, lived up to its name when Olivia – in a flashback – brings to dinner her boyfriend who conveniently works for the Senate Intel Committee, the type of group who should be feared by her father. After realizing his daughter’s threat, Olivia tells Rowan to release Huck and put him back in his home in the subway. He obliges, but not without a new threat: The so-called “boyfriend” has been told by Rowan to propose to Olivia.

Towards the end of the episode Quinn connected Olivia and her father to Huck’s early days in the subway. After Quinn approaches Huck about this, he realizes that a deal was made by Olivia to save him in the flashback scenes. Olivia had lied to him in season 2, which sends him lurching towards his boss because he now knows her father is head of B613, the organization that cost him everything.

At the end, Rowan calls Olivia to tell her to open her apartment door. Jake is outside in bad shape but alive, and Rowan reminds her over the phone about the dinner promise she had made earlier to save Jake.

All in all, it was another action packed episode that we may have to watch again to make sure we caught every little detail.

What did you think ‘Scandal’ season 3, episode 2?

Hit the comments to discuss your thoughts on tonight’s storyline. Where do you think Jake, Olivia, and Fitz are heading next? What will come of Fitz’s so-called affair with Jeannine?