• Celebrity
    • OTE – Screen Kings
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Best In Black Beauty 2023
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Sponsors Recognition Page 2022
    • Latest News
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United

WHERE BLACK CULTURE, COMMUNITY AND CONSCIOUSNESS MEET

Sign up for ESSENCE Newsletters the keep the Black women at the forefront of conversation.

Your email is required.
Your email is in invalid format.
Confirm email is required.
Email did not match.
Select the newsletters you'd like to receive:
Please select at least one option.
By clicking Subscribe Now, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Skip to content
SUBSCRIBE
  • MAGAZINE
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Celebrity
    • OTE – Screen Kings
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
      • Paint The Polls Black
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Best In Black Beauty 2023
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Sponsors Recognition Page 2022
    • Latest News
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Home · Celebrity

Scandal recap: An Innocent Man

Scandal recap: An Innocent Man
By Abby West · Updated October 27, 2020

We said it last week and it remains true: Olivia’s gut is just a little off right now. 

This week she got played by the man convicted of shooting a former president decades ago. After that president died, the convict (Private Practice‘s Brian Benben–forever Dream On for me) convinced Olivia that he was not the shooter, only to manipulate the situation so he is named the murderer of that president, which is what he wanted all along. Olivia may not have been able to follow her instinct there and it left her unsettled but once she got an idea of the manipulation game going on with Rowan and Fitz, she jumped in with both feet.

While Papa Pope did play Fitz like a violin (for which we got another masterful monologe by Joe Morton), Olivia is the queen of making Fitz do what she wants (Mellie said as much during the episdoe). All it took was a hint that she would take him back and Fitz scrapped plans to ship Jake to B613, which Rowan wanted all along to ensure Jake’s demise, and instead sent him over to a nice, clean, relatively safe super max prison. And when her father stomped in angry that his plan had been thwarted, Olivia had this to say and close out the episode:

“You may be Command, but I’ve got weapons at my disposal. Weapons you can’t possibly possess.”

And it seems like everyone understood what she meant.

Did Olivia just tell her Daddy that the fi-ya between her thighs is a better than any weapon or wrath he could every possibly unleash?! 0_o

— Rowdy Rooksy (@RowdyRooksy) October 31, 2014

 

–We tweeted this during the show but it bears repeating: We are here for all things Mellie and Bitsy. You could see the light go off for Mellie as she listened to the former First Lady privately curse and tell her the real truth, which was that she ran the country and not her duly elected, now deceased husband. Their camraderie was a reminder how isolated Mellie has been, not just since her son’s death but during her time in the White House. And how it has all beaten her down. But that ambitious manipulativeness returned, along with her suits and helmet hair, and she did as the Republican lobbyist asked and helped shut down that closing bases rumor. And she probably got to light up with Bitsy for her trouble. I’m telling you, Thelma and Louise over here.

Their dynamic duo-ness did not go unnoticed online.

 

Mellie gone run for president. Season 5. This old lady is going to be her Cyrus

— k.p. (@_kyndrah) October 31, 2014

I’m loving this woman. She’s schooling #mellie Get ready for #presidentmellie

— Black Girls Golf ™ (@BlackGirlsGolf) October 31, 2014

 

–And yes, Abby is back in for sure. She went from pitching temper tantrums to suiting up for Olivia, confronting the leader of the free world, excuse me, the man who slept with her friend, in a heartbeat. And then she put Cyrus on notice that she knows about his secret  life with the escort. She has picked up a thing or two. I’d worry about her life expectancy–we all know how Cyrus deals with threats–but I have a feeling she’ll end up helping him get out of the mess when the Republicans either blackmail him or plain old leak it. That should be fun.

–Huck playing online video games with his unwitting son is both cute and disturbing. Getting a sense this can’t end well.

What did you think of tonight’s episode?

You can follow Abby on Twitter at @AbbyWestNYC

TOPICS:  Scandal
COMPANY INFORMATION
  • Our Company
  • Customer Service
  • Essence Ventures
  • Change Your Address
  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Internships
  • Media Kit
  • tag
SUBSCRIBE
  • Newsletters
  • Give a Gift of ESSENCE
  • Magazine Tablet Edition
FOLLOW US
MORE ON ESSENCE
  • Home
  • Love
  • Celebrity
  • Beauty
  • Hair
  • Fashion
  • ESSENCE festival

ESSENCE.com is part of ESSENCE Communications, Inc.

Essence may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.

©2023 ESSENCE Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Essence.com Advertising Terms

Get The ESSENCE Newsletter and
Special Offers delivered to your inbox

By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Get The ESSENCE Magazine
by subscribing below
subscribe now