Olivia Pope, are you the president's mistress?
Yes.
Previously on "Scandal"...
Olivia Pope has a certain reputation here in Washington.
You're talking about the fact that Pope's
been linked to several powerful men?
As to their nature,
you'd have to talk to Ms. Pope about that.
Pope, got a visitor.
- The Louvre is on fire. - Lazarus one?
Who are you working with?
How could I, prisoner 052213
at the Milford Federal Correctional...
Lazarus one is your invention, your baby.
If B613 is left for dead,
this is how you refill its coffers...
steal some paintings, set a fire,
leave a couple of charred forgeries behind,
and then sell the originals to gangsters and oligarchs for billions.
What happened at the Louvre... that's Lazarus one, your plan.
So either this is you working with someone on the outside
to rebuild your empire...
My empire? Look around you.
Thanks to my daughter and her infinite wisdom,
I am no longer in a position
to protect our Republic.
So this is Liv's fault?
Isn't it?
Eli Pope grew up an orphan on the mean streets of Detroit,
but envisioned something more.
He worked three jobs to put himself through college,
eventually earning his phd in paleontology.
He married Maya, a young secretary, and they had Olivia.
They were living the American dream.
That dream was shattered
when Maya was tragically killed in a plane crash.
Olivia was just 12 at the time.
Now a single father, Eli Pope sent Olivia to Surval Montreaux,
an elite Swiss boarding school
whose powerful alumni include 14 current world leaders
and eight of the world's top billionaires.
He once told a colleague
that he was on a quest to do the impossible...
raise an African-American girl
who felt fully entitled to own the world
as much as any white man.
Olivia got a little arrogant...
A little drunk on her own sense of power.
So drunk that she forgets the most basic facts.
She forgets everything that I taught her.
Nature abhors a vacuum.
By putting me here, Olivia has created a dangerous one.
That quest was expensive and ultimately his downfall...
Eli Pope embezzled millions from the Smithsonian payroll
and now serves time in federal prison.
You're a desperate man in here.
You want out. You want to regain your power and free yourself,
and you and I both know that you're enacting Lazarus one.
You can either tell me who you're working with now,
or I will find them and kill them.
It's as if you've learned nothing from me.
I think I failed with you.
Did he succeed? Did he do the impossible?
Is Olivia Pope her father's success story?
Did he go too far?
Did Olivia Pope's manufactured sense of privilege
make her feel so entitled to that brass ring of power
that she simply took it instead of earning it?
Or is she still questing?
Is Olivia Pope still seeking to fulfill her father's dream?
I don't have to regain my power.
Power... true power... is never lost.
And freedom?
Boy, I am always free.
No one will ever cage me.
You always leave a trail.
It how you ended up in here.
And it's how I'm gonna find
who you're working with on the outside.
Over the next hour,
we're going to take you inside corridors of power,
behind closed doors, and, yes, even between the sheets,
to uncover the sometimes thrilling, sometimes sordid,
always mysterious world of Olivia Pope.
Happy hunting.
- Synced and corrected by martythecrazy - - www.addic7ed.com -
You're early.
Hey, Quinn.
Look, it's good to see you, but I...
I know. You're waiting for Layla.
But you don't have a date with Layla, Marcus.
You have a date with me. See?
Oh, don't worry.
Layla's real, and from her e-mails,
I think she really likes you.
She just didn't text you to meet up tonight. I did.
- All right, what in the hell... - You're broke, Marcus.
You're unemployed because you screwed the mayor's wife.
You're damaged goods, but you're charming and attractive,
and you can drive a narrative.
Plus, you know, stray dogs.
Okay. Now I see.
You're crazy. Is that it?
You're one of those crazy chicks?
I'm offering you a job.
- A job? - A job.
Olivia Pope and associates needs a mouthpiece.
You're good with the press.
You won't just be some corporate spinner.
You'll be one of us.
Look, the job is yours if you want it.
It's the best job you'll ever have.
You will change lives, you will slay dragons,
you will love the hunt more than you ever dreamed.
And I am not crazy.
I'm a gladiator in a suit.
That's what you are when you work at O.P.A.
You're a gladiator in a suit.
Do you want to be a gladiator in a suit?
No.
No?!
Look, that was flashy. You do flashy well.
I know because I've seen how you do business.
The problem is, I don't like what I've seen.
You might slay some dragons, but the way they go down...
You cut corners. You break rules.
You think the law is a suggestion.
You're shifty, you're shady,
and you lie even when you don't have to.
That might work for you, but it doesn't work for me.
Plus, you're hemorrhaging clients.
In less than six months, you'll be as broke as I am,
so do I want to be a gladiator in a suit?
Hell, no.
Have you seen this garbage?
You see what they're calling her in there?
Yes.
And in every other newspaper in the world.
The morning shows?
Morning, when people's kids are in the room.
Gave estimates on how many men she'd slept with
and at what age she'd lost her virginity.
- Yes, sir. I saw... - It's disgusting.
Liv's blindfolded
on her knees in front of the firing squad,
and we're doing nothing.
Well, you told me to do nothing.
Abby tied her hands!
We need to concentrate on things we can possibly fix...
Like senator Gibson.
The republican leadership is going to put the screws to me.
- We knew this was coming. - But I know Gibson.
I've charmed him in the past.
Let me feel him out and see if I can...
- You're fired. - Mr. President...
Do not talk! You are done talking.
You are fired.
Uh, sir, it's not the best time...
I want her gone by the end of the day.
Let me fix this. Go back to your office.
Do not leave this building.
Do not turn over your hard pass.
Just wait.
Where we going?
Paris.
I can't go to Paris.
Yes, you can.
I got a job. You got a lot of contacts over there.
You're going to Paris.
Fine. It's gonna cost you.
Someone launched Lazarus one.
The Louvre fire.
That sucks.
Eh. But I have a business.
To just take off like this...
Look, you helped us take down B613,
so whoever's doing this is your enemy as much as mine.
I'm not asking you to work for free.
I'm asking you to work for your life.
You cannot fire Abby.
You're being emotional.
Yes, I'm being emotional. I'm pissed.
What's wrong with being emotional about this?
Ok, now you're an idiot.
Did you just call me an idiot?
We have been over this.
You're the president of the United States.
You don't get to be emotional.
You have to be smart.
And firing your Press Secretary
in the middle of a scandal is not smart.
You're a leader.
- Think like a... - Like a leader. It's...
I know I said I would do this.
Abby went behind my back.
She betrayed you.
Abby did exactly what I would have done.
Then you're an idiot.
I told you...
This is my choice to make.
If you take that away from me...
I do not need to be rescued.
I find it offensive.
So I sit on my hands while you act as a punching bag?
No.
You walk down the hall and give Abby her job back.
Liv. They are crucifying you out there.
How long can you handle that?
Liv?
Oh, my God.
Liv?
I have to go.
Liv?
Olivia Pope.
Age 23 in her first year at Georgetown law.
My dream job?
The White House.
One day, I'd really love to work there.
I want to impact a national agenda
that drives America forward.
What better, more influential place to do that
than the White House?
A few short years later,
Olivia Pope would, in fact, have a seat
at the world's most powerful table,
next to a man she helped get elected.
Is Olivia Pope a political savant?
Or a woman so ambitious she would do anything
to get where she wanted to go?
No one is gonna be taking pictures of you
from that apartment anymore.
I rented it,
several hundred dollars above market.
You sweep the place?
All clear... no bugs, no taps, no cameras.
Burners. Month's supply.
Use a new one each day and then ditch the old one.
I know the drill.
What?
So, here's the thing...
between the press and our clients,
we're kind of swamped at the office.
Quinn, the last thing we need is another person in our business.
Okay, but I tried to hire Marcus Walker
- to help out, who you like... - Quinn.
He shut me down anyway. I...
- look, I just really think we need someone. - No.
Whatever's going down, you two should be able to handle it.
- Understood? - Understood.
Coming up, we talk
to Olivia Pope's third-grade teacher.
I can kill the cable altogether.
Don't bother.
She's late.
It's France. There's no such thing.
- You sure she's got art contacts? - Yeah, this is her thing.
If someone's selling stolen paintings, she'll find them,
and then she can pose as the buyer.
Mm-hmm. And she's good?
Yeah, she's good.
She's got more kills than you and me put together.
She's legend.
Oh, and she's hot. Like sexy hot.
- I've been working on her for years. - What's her name?
Hello, Charlie.
Elise.
I'd like to introduce you to... Jake.
Elise is a nice name.
And French... that's a good way to go.
It's Jake?
That's what you're calling yourself?
Well, Jake...
Deal's off.
Au revoir, Charlie.
The senator has no comment at this time
other than that she is looking forward
to serving the good people of Virginia
as their junior senator.
In fact, right now,
she has a senate women's caucus meeting to get to,
so if you could all just let her do her job.
Hello, ladies. I'm sorry I'm late.
The press caught me in the rotunda.
But I wanted to say how honored I am to be here,
and I will work hard.
Where were you on the agenda...
equal pay? Reproductive rights?
That's not why we asked you here.
Oh.
Then why are we meeting?
Senator Grant, how about you take a seat?
Mellie, I know this is your first day,
so let me tell you how the senate really works.
A bunch of men are going to gather somewhere,
and they will have cigars, and they will have scotch,
and they will make themselves a deal.
What the deal is, we won't know.
There will just be some votes...
votes we've probably worked our asses off on
for God only knows how long
that'll suddenly go a different way.
But this is a bipartisan caucus.
Why would you work together?
This isn't about Republicans and Democrats.
It's about peckers... too many peckers.
The men have their own way of doing things,
so we started having ours.
Good news.
I've lined up interviews on every afternoon talk show.
"Why afternoon?" You ask.
Because aggrieved women love their afternoon talk shows.
More cheating bastards get raked over the coals
on those comfy couches than...
They want to impeach him.
What?
Fitz.
The women of the senate...
all the women of the senate...
want to impeach him.
But only if I give the go-ahead.
They want to impeach a man for having an affair?
They want to impeach a man
for having an affair that everyone just shrugs about
because a man having an affair is a daily occurrence.
They want to impeach a man because all we ever hear
is how women are controlled by their hormones,
but what is more hormonal
than man who can't keep it in his damn pants?
They want to impeach a man because he broke his vows
and disturbed the office of the presidency
and distracted the country with his libido,
and the only person that gets raked over the coals
is the woman he screwed.
That's why.
But that's... that's, um...
He's a man.
Cyrus!
It doesn't matter anyway because I am not doing it.
You're not going to have him impeached?
- Of course not. - Hold on.
- Mellie, let's talk about this. - No.
Fitz put himself in the cross hairs.
That merits a conversation.
If I went after him, it would look vindictive.
Or righteous.
I'm a freshman senator.
I need to keep a low profile,
start out where other freshman senators start out.
On some do-nothing subcommittee in the capitol basement?
I do not want to impeach my husband.
No.
What you really want is the oval.
So let's not be too hasty
because this doesn't have to be about your husband.
This can be about your country, about the greater good,
- about a leader who deceived the American people. - Cyrus...
and let's not forget Susan Ross.
If Fitz gets impeached, Susan Ross becomes president,
and we all know how that turns out.
The woman's gonna eat her own head
and set herself on fire at the same time,
after which the country will desperately want someone
who's the polar opposite of Susan.
Someone stately. Someone with gravitas.
Someone who's a true leader.
You, Senator.
This is it.
Your chance.
Either you go after your husband now
and claim the White House for your own,
or you do nothing and end up being
that sad little well-meaning freshman senator,
sitting on that do-nothing subcommittee,
publicly grinning at the world,
privately wanting to hang yourself.
Known around town as a fashion icon
for her expensive shoes and flashy purses,
Olivia Pope isn't someone who goes unnoticed.
The articulate, often outspoken Olivia Pope
remains silent.
It is fair to wonder if the apple
didn't fall too far from the tree.
Her father is incarcerated.
champion of Brandon Parker and other urban causes.
Is Olivia Pope that good or simply lucky?
She was always very aggressive.
Some might say arrogant.
- Her father's incarcerated! - Simply lucky.
Liv has no plan.
Meanwhile, our client roster
is getting gobbled up by the other firms.
Cream?
What are you doing here?
Where do you guys keep the cream?
Seriously?
I changed my mind.
I accept the job.
I'm ready to gladiate in a suit or whatever.
- We're not hiring. - Perkins told me something different.
Phone's been ringing off the hook since I got here.
- Anybody gonna answer that? - You have to leave.
- He doesn't know what he's talking about. - Liv said that we had...
Liv said for me to handle things.
That's what I'm doing. It's handled.
Everything I said earlier still holds,
but I need the cash,
and I might as well take it from you guys
while you still have it to offer.
So, when do you want me out there facing the reporters?
All we need is to keep our clients.
So our strategy is, it's business as usual
at Olivia Pope and associates.
Olivia is working.
She's so busy taking care of her many clients
that she's too busy to address the media, et cetera.
You get the drift?
No.
- Let me in. - No.
We're gonna stand here.
I'm gonna say "let me in" a few more times.
You're gonna say "no" a few more times.
And you're gonna give me a look you always give
when you want me to know how mad you are,
but eventually, we both know you're going to let me in
because you always let me in.
Nice. Elise does well.
She's an art dealer. She has to.
What? You thought I couldn't handle business on my own?
I thought you were dead.
I was at Grand Central Station, Jake.
I was at Grand Central Station.
You were nowhere. I was there, Jake.
- You were not there. - I was late.
I was late, but I was there.
I waited!
Protocol lets me have 25 minutes.
I gave you an hour.
I got there!
You left me!
You left me behind.
You should have trusted I would make it.
You should have waited.
Look...
Elise...
I don't need an apology.
You're here about the job.
What's the job?
We're on the trail of some stolen art pieces.
I need you to put out some feelers.
Find out who's selling, make a buy.
We put a GPS chip in the cash and track them to their boss.
Exactly.
I really thought you were dead.
25 minutes no-show is one thing, but an hour?
I thought you were dead. I thought...
I grieved.
I really loved being married to you.
We were good together.
Liz!
Senator.
I have to investigate him, Liz.
We're all Republicans... Family.
We can find a way to work this out.
I'd sure like to, but I sure can't.
We're talking about sex between consenting adults.
Unfortunate, yes. Illegal? Absolutely not.
The woman ran his campaign, worked in his White House.
She had access to things. He paid her for things.
So don't try and give me your talking points
like I'm some senior citizen drooling away in my la-z-boy
watching cable news from sunup to sundown.
His whole administration he's had these bitches
- lined up like planes on a Jetway. - Senator.
Are you telling me this woman
isn't pulling his strings like a marionette?
There are legitimate questions.
Now, the president can answer them in person,
or he can come up to the Hill
and answer them under oath on live television.
I'm here to get some of my things.
What are you doing?
Don't shush me, and don't tell me it's not a good time.
I have a right to be here whenever I...
what?
I wonder where Teddy is.
You can't find him?
I've looked everywhere.
Have you looked... Over here?
Not yet.
Well, I don't see anything!
Wow!
Where could he be?
How do we lose a whole boy?
I don't want us to fight anymore.
If you don't hurt me, I won't hurt you.
Okay?
Okay.
I'm gonna get my things.
I'll pick him up tomorrow.
Okay.
Come out, come out, wherever you are!
In his first run at the White House,
governor Fitzgerald Grant's presidential hopes
were stopped dead
after a humiliating defeat in the Iowa caucuses.
Campaign manager and future chief of staff Cyrus Beene
was desperate.
Not just desperate... we were broke!
The consultants... the dozens of beltway bandits
earning 40 grand a month...
they'd all failed to provide a winning strategy.
Frankly, Olivia Pope was the only strategist
I could afford at the time.
I also knew she'd be great.
I had no idea she'd be a miracle worker.
A miracle worker, indeed.
In three weeks, Olivia Pope turned a fourth-place candidate
into the winner of the south Carolina primary.
Keep an eye on her.
She'll be a household name, Mark my words.
Thus Olivia Pope is in a unique position of being a black woman
in a world dominated by white men.
But being an outsider is something Pope...
sorry.
I can't watch any more.
It's the same crap over and over.
I was in line at the grocery store this morning.
There was a couple in front of me... white, mid-60s.
The wife's looking at a picture of Liv
on the cover of some tabloid
and the husband's going on and on
about how angry Liv looks,
how he totally believes she took advantage of the president
because she looks conniving and power-hungry,
but the wife... God bless her... defended Olivia
by saying, "she must be pretty sharp
if she pulled herself up by her bootstraps
and made it out of the ghetto."
Liv went to one of the most expensive boarding schools
in Europe!
So you're not here for the money.
I'm here to help a sister out who helped me when I needed it.
Well, what's your suggestion?
We call the press out.
Make the public aware of what they're really being sold.
We shift the conversation away from Olivia
to the reporting of Olivia.
Olivia's name is on that door.
Stick to the plan.
Gladiators don't ask questions.
That's gonna take some getting used to.
If you don't sit down with Senator Gibson,
the judiciary committee is going to launch an investigation.
This was the smart strategy?
They mercilessly attack Olivia,
and I have to stop my own party from investigating me.
Remind me... what was the dumb strategy?
The one where you've already been impeached.
The fact that Gibson is willing to negotiate
means this is working.
You're only here because firing you right now
would add fuel to the scandal.
Do you really think talking to me is your best move?
It won't just be the senate, sir.
If congress investigates you,
I'll be forced to appoint a special counsel.
A special counsel can run wild.
No one tells them what to do. They'll bulldoze you and Liv.
Set the meeting with Gibson.
Feed's up.
I got to hand it to you, boss.
You got game.
What are you talking about?
Oh, I'm just saying.
Your girlfriend back home chooses another dude.
It's all up in your face.
So you hop across the Atlantic
and slide back in with a hottie who hates your guts.
Impressive. You're an idiot.
Why is this so grainy?
I-I don't know if I'm the guy to be giving advice here.
You're not.
Bonjour.
- Zoom in. - Got it.
Running QR-15 facial recognition.
He brought the painting.
Yevgeny Valenkov. Based in St. Petersburg.
Affiliated with the Semion Mogilevich Syndicate.
I don't understand. This guy isn't B613.
What are they saying?
He's got a Delacroix in the case
and a Renoir in a warehouse.
- That's it? - That's it.
Where are all the other paintings?
What's going on?
I-I can't get it back.
What's he saying? He wants to see the money.
We got to get in there now, boss.
No, if... if we go in now, we're blown.
She knows what she's doing.
- Can you get the feed? - I'm trying!
Elise?
You're gonna be okay, Eise.
Hey.
Elise.
I shot him.
You shot him.
You're gonna be okay.
You hear me?
Stay with me, Elise.
This was your father?
Yep, back when he was a congressman.
Had the whole place in stitches.
That's hilarious.
Now, gentlemen...
We all know why I asked you here.
I made a mistake...
Betrayed the people's trust...
And, in doing so, created a situation
where you can either support me and risk looking like fools
or throw me under the bus and help the democrats hang me.
But as it's me who put you in this position,
I'm willing to offer some things in exchange for your mercy.
Now, Steve, I know you have a tight race
coming up in November.
I'm prepared to stump hard on your behalf
and put my whole machine behind your fundraising efforts.
The president's also prepared
to back the infrastructure bill, senator.
Even though there's way too much pork
going to your cronies there in Wyoming, Arnie.
Liz will finalize all the details.
Now, unfortunately, I do have a country to run,
so as much as I'd like to stay...
Sit, Mr. President.
This has been fun.
But as far as I'm concerned,
we're still at the foreplay stage of the evening.
The fun stuff still lies ahead.
So have yourself a seat
and let's start talking about the true cost of mercy.
This is preposterous.
Well, we'll roll them back in increments.
That way there will be less media attention.
Equal pay? The Brandon bill?
Those were huge legislative achievements, senator.
For the democrats. Not for us.
No. Absolutely not.
Gentlemen, can we have the room, please?
That means you, too, Liz.
Stanley, this isn't politics.
This is extortion.
All right, how about this?
How about I give you equal pay? Hmm?
I'll let you keep that.
Arnie only put that in there, I think,
'cause his wife is driving him bonkers.
So that's yours.
But in return for that favor, though,
I must insist you give us the Brandon bill.
Stan, listen to me... whatever you have to do to kill those provisions...
executive order...
I'm not gonna do that.
I'm afraid you don't have a choice.
You know, I've had dalliances, Mr. President.
We all have.
Your problem is, you got caught.
And that's why it's you on your knees in front of me
instead of the reverse.
Kill the Brandon bill.
You made a lot of enemies for us
with the law and order community passing that thing.
If you could find a way of quashing it,
that would make all the difference.
Let me think about it.
Oh, and, sir?
Next time you decide to go outside your marriage,
choose yourself a girl
who's a little more palatable to the base.
What is that supposed to mean?
Full roll-back on the Brandon bill,
or we start pursuing impeachment.
Sir.
Friends say Pope's post-college years
were typical of an urban 20-something...
scraping by, having fun, and hustling to make her mark.
Those hard times faded, though,
once Pope began dating older men.
No doubt drawn to her youth and beauty,
the men shared not just the fact that they were older,
but they were powerful.
Pope was even once engaged
to senate majority leader Edison Davis.
Senator Davis' office refused comment for this piece.
One thing that is certain is that with each new relationship,
Pope's profile increased
along with the power of the subsequent suitor.
Knowing this, is it any wonder that Pope would set her sights
on the powerful man on the planet?
What?
I need to talk to you.
About the Brandon bill.
Did you know that there's a porn version of us?
Actually three, I think.
Yeah.
- Liv... - And a lot of people,
a lot of anonymous Internet people,
cowards who won't use their names,
apparently want to have me killed.
Also raped.
How come whenever a woman does something that people don't like
the only way these men on the Internet
know how to express themselves is by threatening rape?
Listen. Turn off the computer, Liv.
No, seriously.
I have...
At least 1,000 threats of rape here,
just on this one site,
from guys who are mad that I had the audacity
to be born female and black.
Olivia...
Turn off the computer.
Do you think if I told them I own a gun
and that I've shot someone, they'd threaten to rape me?
Do you think if I told them
I've survived being kidnapped and tortured,
they would get that their weak little misspellings
barely make me blink?
That I would welcome the chance
to take out a little bit of PTSD
on the next man who put his hands on me?
You think they'd still want to...
turn off the computer now,
or I will come over there,
walk through all the reporters outside your building,
and turn it off for you.
I'm fine.
I'm just...
I'm losing it, but only a little bit.
I'm fine.
How's that arm?
Flesh wound.
You've seen me take worse.
I'm sorry for getting you involved in this.
If I knew you'd get hurt...
I never showed up at grand central station.
We're spies.
There's no forever for us.
We both knew that.
And what about now?
What about now?
Come back to the states with me.
Those senators came to you!
They're deferring to you.
They're bowing down. What should that tell you?
That's it time to come out from behind the throne
and wield some power that's got your name on it!
I won't do it, Cyrus.
As much as I want to, there's no way
that I come out of this looking like anything more
than a vindictive harpy.
The smart play...
the smart play is to take the high road.
You know that.
What that man did to you...
What he did to us...
Is on completely different levels.
Cyrus, come on.
He was my husband.
You were just colleagues, friends.
Why are so hell-bent on revenge?
Let it go already.
C-colleagues.
Friends.
Mellie, I devoted my life to him, to you,
to the Grant cause.
The last 14 years have been...
He kicked me in the teeth and didn't even look back,
and I'm supposed to just it go?
I guess that's the difference between me and you, Cy.
When my heart is broken,
I can get up and dust myself off
and walk away with some dignity.
Dignity's a good visual.
That's... that's what you think the difference is?
Between you and me? No, no.
There difference between you and me
is that your heart was never broken
because you never loved him.
You needed him, used him, coexisted with him,
but you did not love him!
I would have died for that man.
I loved him as my son...
As my child...
As my soul.
That does not end. That never ends.
It just rips a hole inside of you that never closes.
Your child is dead!
You can visit his grave, bring him flowers.
You know exactly where he is and what he is.
My child is breathing and talking
right down the block from me at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,
but I can't see him.
I don't know how he is or what he needs
or if he's even okay.
He's surrounded by vultures
who want to pick the flesh from his bones,
but he doesn't know it.
And I do.
And I'm not there to shelter him from the storms,
to pick up after him, to remove the obstacles in his path.
Your child is safe in the ground
where everything bad has already happened.
But my child... my soul...
all you have to do is turn on the news
to see that the bad things for him
are just getting started.
Get out...
Before I have you thrown out.
Oh, no need, no need.
I quit.
reason, high crimes and misdemeanors.
These are the charges for impeachment,
according to our constitution.
Just which of them, if any, will president Grant face?
Within minutes of Ms. Pope's declaration,
pundits began postulating how, and if,
Grant broke the law with his affair.
Are you gonna respond to allegations?
Where is Olivia Pope?
When's she coming out of hiding?
Just tell us why she won't defend herself
as passionately as she defends her clients.
She's usually so well-spoken.
"For a black woman."
"She's usually so well-spoken for a black woman."
Isn't that what you meant?
I say that because I've been looking at the last 72 hours
of your station's news coverage,
and when you're not suggesting
that Olivia Pope is an angry black woman,
you're implying she's a homewrecker
who slept her way to the top.
What the hell was that?
- Gladiating. - You did the exact opposite of what I asked.
You can only dodge so long.
At some point, you have to throw a punch.
You went off-script.
This... Is... War.
There is no script.
You can choose the battle,
but if you send me out, I'm fighting my way.
I don't play. I don't hide.
I don't hold back or look for exits,
and I sure as hell don't lean on the ropes and take it.
I swing because that's me.
That's who I am. That is how I gladiate.
They're gonna try to confuse you.
They will bring up your past criminal record to rattle you.
When you get stuck or don't know what to say,
just accuse them of playing dog-whistle politics.
Now, Quinn Perkins wasn't always your name.
Before you started working for Ms. Pope,
you were known as Lindsay Dwyer.
The "Molotov Mistress."
That's what you were going for, right, Dan?
But why would you bring that up now
when we're supposed to be talking about...
Olivia Pope doesn't fit with the slutty-mistress stereotype.
So instead of representing her as she is...
a formidable, passionate advocate...
you take the easy route, shading her,
using all manner of coded language.
There's a name for that, Claire, and it's...
Dog-whistle politics.
That's your buzzword. That's your talking point.
Dog-whistle politics.
Yeah, okay, but what exactly is that?
It's racism, sexism, anti-semitism, misogyny.
It's bigotry in the form of a language so coded that...
Only the person it's targeting is insulted by it,
- like a dog whistle. - It lets them get away with it.
- Are you accusing me of using offensive language? - Yes.
On this network alone, Olivia Pope
has been described as lucky...
sassy, ambitious...
well-spoken, well-mannered, articulate...
shrill, calculating, overconfident, secretive...
urban, hot-blooded...
known to use thug politics...
arrogant, a siren.
Words like these mean nothing to the general public,
which is why the media...
and I'm including you in there, Claire...
can get away with using them.
But when women of color, like Ms. Pope,
hear that kind of coded language,
they know exactly what you're getting at.
Well, that's all the time we have tonight.
Would you like to add anything else before you go?
Dog-whistle politics.
Yes.
You've said that a few times now.
So...
Who's gonna tell Olivia I work here now?
I will.
I'm damaged.
She doesn't like to yell at me.
Mr. President.
Abby.
Liv said I can't fire you
because you did exactly what she would do.
Do you always do what Liv would do?
Well...
I learned from her playbook, so...
I don't know. I guess so.
Just look at the first page.
It's a summary.
Sir, the Brandon bill is your legacy.
Yeah.
What would Liv do about that?
If you have any hope of avoiding impeachment,
I'm sorry, but you have to give Gibson what he wants.
That's what Liv would do?
That's the smart move, yes.
Abby.
Sir?
It's Olivia's job as a fixer to be smart...
To be practical and unemotional.
She makes the the smart move.
In her office, the smart move is the only move that counts,
but you know what?
We don't work for Liv.
I'm president of the United States.
We work for the American people.
The playbook is the constitution.
In my office, it's not about doing the smart thing.
It's about doing the right thing.
Dog-whistle politics.
We interrupt this broadcast with some breaking news.
Dog-whistle politics. The president's motorcade was seen leaving the White House
roughly eight minutes ago
and is currently traveling down Wisconsin Avenue.
White House sources tell us
no outing was planned for the evening,
so president Fitzgerald Grant
appears to be taking an unscheduled ride
in the presidential limousine.
We are unsure where exactly the president is headed.
What are you doing?
But he's clearly not visiting the Capitol or the Pentagon.
The motorcade now making its way through a residential area.
Don't you dare.
Don't you dare. That is, in fact, the same neighborhood
where the president's mistress,
former communications director Olivia Pope, currently resides.
And I'm being told that this is Olivia Pope's building.
For those of you just tuning in now,
the president of the United States
appears to be visiting the woman
with whom he's been having an affair.
What the hell are you doing?
The right thing.
I'm taking my girlfriend on a date.
Guys, look away,
cause I'm gonna make out with my girlfriend now.
Fitz.
Fitz. Fitz!
An unprecedented sight.
President Grant escorting his reputed mistress,
Olivia Pope.
A bold move, as if he's daring the world
to come between them.
Olivia... Reputed... Daring...
Will Olivia Pope become our next first lady
or the first lady to take down a sitting president?
It's late, Mellie.
I know. I take it you've seen the news.
That's why I called you here...
because I wanted to talk to you...
About impeaching my husband.
I'm Francesca Hunter,
and tonight, we are, as always, on the hunt.