Olivia knows she can't handle this latest storm on her own and calls for help from an unexpected source. Meanwhile, Mellie and Cyrus continue to pull strings from the sidelines and Jake is still occupied by a ghost from his past, in "You Got Served," Season 5, Episode 5 of "Scandal." Here's a recap:
A Senate judiciary committee is forming to vote on impeaching the president. What law did he break? Turns out an impeachable offense is whatever the majority of Congress thinks it is. The committee members tell Mellie she can't participate in the committee's investigation of Fitz because of her conflict of interest. Having decided to go after Fitz, Mellie isn't happy at being told to stand down.
Olivia calls on fellow political advisor Leo Bergen for help dealing with her ruined image in the press.
Leo decides that Olivia has to look like a regular person, so she has to dress with clothes from the mall and go grocery shopping to fill her empty fridge.
Olivia asks her former finance, Senator Edison Davis, for his help. Edison is justifiable peeved, since Olivia cheated on him with Fitz and then lied about it. But he tells the media that the attacks on her character are racist and sexist, and Olivia is a wonderful woman who bakes cookies for the homeless and is kind to puppies.
Olivia goes to get advice from Jake - and he has a woman in his apartment. It's Elise, the spy we met in last week's episode, who was married to Jake. Awkward! Elise smooches Jake before leaving him alone with Olivia.
Olivia sits for a television interview in a bid to finally tell her side of the story. She says she wishes that she and Fitz had never met because it would have meant a lot less pain for their families and friends. She wishes she could stop loving him, but she can't. The interview changes the public's view; now they think of Olivia and Fitz as co-workers who couldn't help falling in love.
Marcus Walker, the newest Gladiator, earns a bonus by learning that the judiciary committee has learned about the tape Olivia made under duress while she was held hostage last season. In the tape, Olivia delivered the kidnappers' message that Fitz had to declare war on East Angola, or they would kill Olivia. So of course, he did declare war to save his girlfriend. It seemed reasonable at the time, but the committee probably won't see it that way. The only person who can verify that Fitz saw the tape is Cyrus. Would Cyrus spill what he knows to get back at the man who humiliated him in last week's episode? (Cyrus begged for his job back and Fitz threw him out of the Oval Office.)
Fitz calls Cyrus while Cyrus is getting drunk with Mellie and watching Olivia on cable news. Cyrus pulls on a tie to meet Fitz in the Oval, who invites him to be a new senior advisor. But Fitz can barely look at him and sounds forced. Cyrus guesses that the judiciary committee knows about the tape and West Angola, and further guesses that he is being offered a White House job to buy his silence.
Cyrus throws out tiny details of their past together - going back nearly 20 years -- to illustrate that he worships Fitz and knows him intimately. Cyrus's brain is a depository of Fitzgerald Grant trivia. "I dream your dreams and I sweat your nightmares," Cyrus says. But, Cyrus says, it's not a two-way street because Fitz just uses and abuses Cyrus to save his own skin. Cyrus accuses Fitz of not remembering the name of Cyrus's mother. He refuses to play that role again, "because this band is never, ever getting back together. I do not need you. Not anymore."
Cyrus stands up to leave the Oval, but Fitz stops him by relating his own obscure memory, one involving Cyrus's mother Helen. Fitz does indeed remember her name. Fitz gives a heartfelt, deep apology for ruining their friendship and partnership, and forgetting that they are family. "You are my guy," Fitz says, echoing what Cyrus told him in last week's episode when he groveled to get his job back. "That seat on the couch is yours if you want it."
Of course, Cyrus sells out the little corner of his soul that still remained, and takes the deal. Cyrus demands that chief of staff Elizabeth North - who engineered his downfall - be terminated immediately. He will be the new chief of staff. He wants new carpet in his office, and a full presidential pardon, signed and sealed, for anything he does during his tenure. For all that, Cyrus will keep yet another presidential secret.
The men seal the deal with a handshake.
Notable Quotes:
"Grant's Groupie, Sidepiece in Chief, Olivia Poke. Mistress mania has taken the nation by storm, making you the delusional paramour, the wily homewrecker who slept her way into the president's bedroom. You're his Monica, his Marilyn, his m-m-m-m-my Sharona, and the country does not approve." - Leo Bergen summing up Olivia's ruined reputation.
"Is the love of two people worth all this destruction?" - Olivia, during her television interview.
"She's actually managed to go from being a slut, to everywoman, to your sister-wife in under 48 hours. I didn't even know that was possible." - Cyrus, about Olivia's transformation in the public eye.
"I'm gorging on brownies."--Cyrus, living on the sofa and binging on cable news about Olivia.
"Going to war for your mistress is an impeachable offense." - Olivia.
"I serve at the pleasure of the president. The honor is all mine." -- Cyrus, accepting his old job back.
"Charlotte, please ask Elizabeth North to come into my office." - Fitz, about to fire Elizabeth as Cyrus demanded.
Soundtrack:
"Let's Get it On" sung by Marvin Gaye
"Feeling Good," popularized by Nina Simone.
Cast List
Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington)
Abby Whelan (Darby Stanchfield)
Quinn Perkins (Katie Lowes)
Huck (Guillermo Diaz)
Marcus Walker (Cornelius Smith Jr.)
Cyrus Beene (Jeff Perry)
President Fitzgerald Grant (Tony Goldwyn)
David Rosen (Joshua Malina)
Mellie Grant (Bellamy Young)
Jake Ballard (Scott Foley)
Elizabeth North (Portia de Rossi)
Check out the "Scandal" wiki or the show's Wikipedia page.