And So The White Hat Moves Into The White House #Scandal #ABC #TGITAwakens

And So The White Hat Moves Into The White House #Scandal #ABC #TGITAwakens

All pictures courtesy of ABC

Well, the stuff hit the fan or nearly hit the fan... sort of. With Scandal moving ever so close to its winter finale, last night finally put some heat back into the otherwise lackluster couple of weeks.

The latest episode of Scandal (#Scandal) began with the framing device of a treaty or accord or whatever they call it when two countries that have been feuding non-militarily finally come together and open their borders to each other, singing and holding hands as they skip through that yellow-flowered field of love. Holding a dinner for the leaders of the Middle Eastern Muslim country, Cyrus is shocked when they accept Liv instead of shunning her as the president's full-time hoe. As she and the President dine with the leader, his interpreter slyly sneaks a plea for asylum in between the otherwise frivolous banter.

The man wants to come to America at first for reasons unknown other than the fact that the leader has become obsessively violent, killing anyone who so much as breathes incorrectly in his presence. Kept under lock and key by his country's security, Olivia tells him that he better have really good leverage/intel on something dirty his country is doing in order to risk the history-making signing. The intel he gives her is of the nuclear variety, expressing how he knows of a factory where they are making and housing nuclear weapons. Not wanting to risk the treaty, the President says he wants nothing to do with this and hands it off to Liv.

Meanwhile, as she puts her team on figuring out if the coordinates the man gave to this secret site reveal anything worthwhile, she also has to deal with the slow-rise of the aftermath of her releasing her father from prison, or rather, playing a part in his release. Never one to stray too far away from his baby girl, Eli comes to visit her office and expresses a true sense of fear. Someone is trying to kill him and he's afraid they'll succeed. What? The devil's afraid of going to hell? I'm shocked! Dear God, no. Somebody stop him from being killed. What has he done to deserve such a fate!?

Anyway, having compassion for some reason unknown to me, she tells all of her current "men"--Jake, the president--that her father is in danger. Knowing the man's a world-class criminal who has tried to kill them before, of course both men swell with sympathy deep in their hearts for the man. The truth is that the president can't wait to see Eli dead and even sicks Jake on the hunt to find him. Always one step behind, Jake comes too late to the hideaway he tracked Eli to, finding instead the former secret service man that killed the President's son. But apparently Fitz ordered Jake not to kill the man just bring him back in because ever since he's been gettin' sex on the reg' from Liv, he's become a cuddly teddy bear.

Back to the guy seeking asylum, when the team manages to find the listed coordinates on satellite, they do see a building there with huge trucks entering and exiting. A scan for nuclear activity reveals zip! The guy must have lied--anything to get out of his country and to the land of the free. Denying his asylum, Liv focuses her efforts on trying to figure out how to tell Fitz about her father and what she did there. But Huck spots a discrepancy in the satellite pictures over the course of weeks. While tons of trucks come in and out of the facility, the 18-wheelers sitting in the back of the supposed soda facility never move. What does come in and out are the water tankers. Why the need for so much water? To cool mega servers. Turns out the factory is a cover for a cyber warfare division that has been responsible for countless digital attacks on western targets. The guy was partially right.

Running back to the man, Liv finds him with a slit wrist in the bathroom of his hospital room (her team had to poison him just to get him away from his country's own detail). The doctors manage to save his life after which he reveals the reason he wanted asylum. He's gay. And not to stereotype or be insensitive but gays in the Middle East don't fair well no matter how important they are to their leaders.

The day saved, Liv can go back to her place happy, right? Wrong! The side story of finding her father got Cyrus up to his old tricks of manipulating at a doctorate-level and using USADA David to dig through the prison files and figure out who got Eli released. Though Mellie actually did the act, the paperwork somehow points back to Liv. She is then detained and brought to that creepy interrogation cell with the poor lighting and walls that look dungeon-esque.\

Epic Cry Face! 

Now forced to tell Fitz, Liv comes clean about everything in a beautifully artful scene in which none of the dialogue is heard as the song "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" plays in the background. Disgusted, Fitz only needed time to cool off before making another power play of his own and releasing her without charges. But she is released right into the White House, the place she didn't want to be living in because it felt like a cage. Her face telling it all, she is not the least thrilled to be living with her love-of-her-life boyfriend as she watches the servants move all of her clothes into their closet. Smooth move, Fitz. The episode ended on Eli being roped to a chair in a factory and who else but Huck coming to "ask him some questions."

I loved this episode and I will be referring back to it in a few weeks when every show starts going on that long winter/holiday hiatus and the Christmas carols start playing and nothing is on to watch, but for now I'll keep my secret but interesting topic under wraps.

What do you think? Should Fitz have been so forgiving of Olivia so quickly? Do you like how he made the silent power play to get what he wants, knowing that she can't make a real objection to her new digs? Do you think Huck will actually kill Eli or will the writers/producers find a way to keep their big villain around? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).

Check out my new comedy novel Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend. #AhStalking

If you’re looking for a scare check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or  #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is out now NOW exclusively on Amazon. If you like fast action crime check out #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right.

Until next time, "will you still love me... in the morning? 'Wait, you're still gonna be here in the morning? Because I kinda like to sleep alone."

P.S. For all you comedy fans out there, Amy Schumer's Trainwreck is out for the Holiday season. I thought it was an OK comedy, but nothing to write home about. But hey, if you like it, good for you.

P.P.S. After a late-night viewing of NBC's The Blacklist, I might have to make that my DVRRewind as I see the Provocateurs are hard at work trying to fluster people. The same guy seeking asylum on Scandal was also doing the exact same thing on The Blacklist in the same time slot. Blowing your mind yet?

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