Scandal Recap 1×07
The episode starts where the previous one left off.
Billy, the Vice President’s chief of staff, very stupidly did not finish the job of killing Gideon. He left Gideon lying on the floor with scissors still in his neck. Who tries to kill someone then leaves knowing the victim is still alive?
Quinn opens the door and walks into apartment. She spots Gideon and immediately runs to him and pulls the scissors out of his neck. WTH Quinn?! Blood starts oozing and she covers his gash with her fingers. With her other hand she reaches toward a phone. This seems to loosen her pressure on Gideon’s neck with her other hand. He bleeds out and dies.
The Vice President’s cheif of staff back at WHite House is having a psychopathic break down. He can’t focus. He is not together. It”s also totally clear he didn’t have anyone clean up his dirty work.
Olivia enters into Gideon’s apartment and sees Gideon dead. Olivia tells Quinn they can’t call police. Quinn asks why. Olivia says if they call the police they’ll find out who Quinn really is.
Cyrus confronts the President about his outing the previous night when he visited Olivia. Cyrus says he has worked too hard and sacrificed to much to put him in the White House. The President is being careless. Cyrus says the President does not deserve this job. Maybe he doesn’t?
Back at Gideon’s apartment, Olivia’s whole team is on the scene. Olivia tells them they have to cover up for Quinn. Olivia tells them that Quinn is actually their client when they ask who she is. Olivia also says her name is not really Quinn Perkins. The team is hesitant to move forward with the cover it up. They realize that they will have to destroy all evidence to do this. Gideons murder will never be solved. They protest, but at the same time seem a little too complacent. “Oh man! Do we have to clean it up and destroy the evidence Ms. Olivia?”
In addition to tidying up, they get rid of Quinn’s DNA evidence, going so far as to remove sheets from Gideon’s bed.You can’t help but wonder why they clean the murder scene like they are pros.
They take Gideon’s cell phone on their way out, but does it really matter? There are records of that stuff after all. Before leaving, Olivia also calls and reports the murder form his home telephone.
Back at the office, Olivia’s crew goes through Gideon’s stuff – cell phone calls, laptop, etc. to see what he got close to, and what got him killed.
At a press conference at the white house, the Vice President’s chief of staff steps up and resigns. Stealing the spotlight, he admits to his affair with former employee Amanda Tanner publicly. He lies to the press and says he wanted to propose to Tanner when he found out she was pregnant.
He still tries to shame the President. He spins the story and says he found out about Tanner having a sexual encounter with the POTUS. At this point in the speech, Cyrus sprints down hall to inform the POTUS of whats going on. The VP Chief of staff continues. He says he found the President’s sex tape, and he believes the President used his position to take advantage of Amanda Tanner.
Next it is crisis mode in the oval office. Staff are brainstorming how to deal with this press disaster. The President asks everyone to leave except for Olivia and Cyrus who stay behind. They talk. For now the plan is defer answering any questions related to the sex scandal.
The next scene in the episode was very cool. It’s a montage with funk music playing over it. In the montage we see the President is dodging press and doing business. Olivia and Cyrus are actively doing positive press. The Vice President’s Chief of staff is still dissing the President. Throughout the montage, we hear the now public clip of President whispering “take off your clothes” at least 3 times.
Dartmouth David arrives at Olivia’s office. Olivia is not there. He asks for Quinn. She steps forward. David takes her in.
Olivia goes in a men’s bathroom where she confronts the Vice President’s chief of staff. She calls him a murderer. He seems to know she cleaned up the crime scene. He gives a crazy speech saying President didn’t deliver on promises. He betrayed the American people and the country going off the rails. How this somehow justifies the murders he committed is unclear.
Olivia visits Dartmouth David. She wants Quinn. He tells her to get out of his office before he arrests her for tampering with a crime scene.
Cyrus. Olivia, and the President strategize again. Olivia says she will confess it is her voice on the sex tape. Cyrus says that won’t solve everything. The President says he will just resign. Olivia is sorry. In private, the President says if he resigns he can have the life he wants, the life he’s always wanted. Clearly he intends to be with Olivia. They make out, ignoring the camera above them in the oval office.
Stephen confesses to Olivia thats he’s been screwing around on his fiancé. They haven’t had a heart to heart in a while.
Huck offers to take care of Billy Chambers (revenge for Amanda Tanner). He is a little too eager and it is creepy. Olivia makes him promise not to kill Chambers.
The First Lady speaks to Olivia. She says Olivia let the ball slip by allowing Amanda to get to her husband when she left the White House. The First Lady she needs her husband back. Awkward…
David Dartmouth brings Quinn food. He uses her fork to trace her fingerprints.
The first lady tells her husband the she will say its her on the sex tape. She will accost the press for this invasion of privacy, and also tell the public she is newly pregnant (which she is not). The President says this is insane, we can’t do this, but Olivia is not on his side.
The President needs his Vice President’s support. He black mails her into supporting him by bringing up her 14-year-old daughter who had an abortion. She backs him in a press conference. Her ex Chief of Staff sees this and is pissed off.
Cyrus is gardening at home. The Vice President’s Ex Chief of Staff, Billy Chambers, waltzes into his backyard. Chambers tells Cyrus that he needs the other half of the money wired for Amanda Tanner’s death. Cyrus looks to blame after all.
Last scene David bursts into Oliva’s office alongside Quinn. He says he ran her prints. The whole staff is watching this interaction. Olivia asks Quinn, “do you want to tell them who you are or should I?”
The first season ends.
