Scandal Episode 3.03 Mrs. Smith Goes to Washington

Olivia watches as a beaten, bruised, bearded but not broken Jake recuperates in her bed. She refuses a call from the president who wants to discuss how Jake got there. Liv only wants to talk to Huck, but he still needs time away from her after learning that her father was Command. She has no idea that he's using that time to trail Rowan, aka Eli Pope. Olivia returns to work to discover the team has taken on a new client. Her name is Mary Nesbitt. She forks over a $25,000 retainer for Pope and Associates to manage a private family matter. Mary doesn't have time to go over the details because she has a meeting on Capitol Hill.

The team learns that Mary Nesbitt's son is Chris Lawrence, a young man who was killed in an FBI raid 15 months ago. The apartment he was living in was linked to an alleged terrorist cell. Olivia makes her way to the U.S. Capitol where people are fleeing down the halls. The work area she enters is empty. No one is at their desks. Olivia opens the door to the main office which is home to Congressman Jim Struthers. He's inside along with several other frightened members of his staff. Mary Nesbitt is there, too. When she turns around, Olivia can see that she wearing a vest filled with explosives. Mary's finger is inches away from pressing a trigger.

The Secret Service springs into action when an intruder tries to make his way into the Oval Office. The man claims he needs to talk to the president about Operation Remington. The president is put in a safe room until it can be determined this wasn't a coordinated attack with what's happening at the Capitol where Mary wants to know why exactly her son was killed. Olivia sees how distraught this woman is. She's been told her son was a terrorist. Mary knows in her gut this isn't true. She went to see Olivia because she always trusts her gut, too. As for the White House intruder, Cyrus orders him to be released once he learns the man's identity.

Olivia speaks with FBI hostage negotiator Randolph Boles. If Chris Lawrence's government file isn't declassified ASAP, they will all be blown up. Olivia's team springs into action to sort this out. Liv convinces Mary to release most of the hostages. Only she and the congressman remain behind. Mary lets them know that she made her explosives by following a recipe she got on the Internet. The president is shown the Chris Lawrence file. He gives the sniper team the go-ahead to take out the suspect. Olivia knows they are coming in. She steps in front of the window to let the world see her. Fitz gives the order for everyone to stand down.

The president gets a phone call. He thinks it's Olivia. It's not. Jake lets Fitz know that Olivia needs the Chris Lawrence file. That's not going to happen. A worried Jake wants Liv to get out of there. Harrison does, too. That's because an FBI agent shows him a video proving that Chris Lawrence was a terrorist recruiter. Of course, the woman who showed him the clip isn't really FBI. Olivia asks for help from David Rosen, who is surprisingly efficient when it comes to holding his own when trading threats with Cyrus Beene. He actually gets access to the Chris Lawrence file.

RING! Olivia picks up the congressman's phone to hear that the President of the United States is on the line. He's in the room with Cyrus, David and the head of counterintelligence. Fitz asks Olivia to not react as he reveals that Chris Lawrence was a CIA spy who was posing as a terrorist recruiter to infiltrate their cells. He was killed by an FBI agent who didn't know he was working undercover. Chris Lawrence wasn't a traitor. He was an American hero. Unfortunately, his mother can never know this. If the truth is ever revealed, 57 other agents who are still undercover will be tortured until they die.

Olivia must decide if she will protect those brave patriots or let one heartbroken mother know that her gut was right about her son. It's an impossible choice. Olivia lies. She says that Chris Lawrence is a terrorist. Mary breaks down. She's devastated. Once Olivia and the congressman step out of the room, Mary barricades herself inside. BOOM! An explosion rocks the area. Fitz wants to know what happened. He wants an immediate update. Once the smoke clears, he's told that all of the hostages are safe. Mary Nesbitt, however, is now with her son.

Fitz and Mellie are reluctant to be trapped with each other at Camp David to show the American people how committed they are to each other as a family. Cyrus almost bursts into a full-on rant when he declares they WILL be doing this, but stops short of completely blowing a gasket. Fitz believes Mellie would have been happy if Olivia had been blown to bits. That's not the case at all. She'd much rather have her alive because she's her husband's flaw. Olivia is the one thing she can use to pull Fitz's strings to make him dance.

Huck follows Rowan down a city street with a gun in his hand. He looks as though he's going to take him out until his target gets a phone call. It's Cyrus. He lets Rowan know they have a Remington problem. Huck continues his surveillance. Rowan makes his way into the trailer of Peter Foster, aka the White House intruder. He wants the guy to adhere to the deal they had regarding keeping Remington under wraps. When Rowan leaves, Huck is waiting for him with a gun pointed at his head.

Olivia learns from Quinn that Huck is obsessed with her dad. She is startled to find him sitting alone in her office. She wants to know if he killed her father. He didn't. Huck reveals that Rowan knew he was following him. He left him a present inside the trailer in the form of shackled Peter Foster. Huck proceeds to kill the guy while making it look like a suicide. He lets Olivia know that even after all this time her father still controls him. He owns him. Huck breaks down in Olivia's arms.

Olivia returns home to find a clean-shaven Jake waiting for him. Gettysburgers are on the menu for dinner. Apparently, they deliver. Olivia doesn't want to think about food right now. She wants to know how Jake is here. They don't just let people like him out. Jake has no idea how he's here. The only thing he does know is that picturing Olivia's face is what kept him going in that hole. He's here because she saved him. The two of them realize that Rowan still owns them as evidenced by the fact that he keeps repeatedly calling Olivia's phone.