Scandal Episode 3.07 Everything's Coming Up Mellie

RING! It's the Fitz Phone! Olivia tries to ignore it, but she can't. She answers the call only to tell the president that she's surrounded by murderers. Fitz says he loves her. Olivia replies, "So what?" She's incredibly hurt. Fitz wants her to stop digging into Remington. He wants her to stay away from Jake. That's not going to happen. Olivia rallies the troops. She says they have a new client. Abby says the picture on the big board looks familiar. That's probably because the woman in the photo is Olivia's deceased mother.

Olivia gives everyone all the details on her father. She wants to know if her mother's death was collateral damage or intentional. Everyone offers their full support. They learn the identity of the pilot who was ordered to shoot down the plane. Up on the big board goes a photo of the President of the United States. The team learns that Fitz's father is the person who headed up the investigation into the crash. Abby relays this information to Olivia. Then she warns her that she's going to hug her. Remarkably, Liv doesn't pull away. Later, Harrison and Abby learn that a federal marshal took a passenger off the plane that Olivia's mom was on just before takeoff. The guy's name was Omar Dresden. His family believes he died in the crash.

Mellie has a camera crew in the White House's East Wing to show what goes on in the world of the First Lady. She's playing up to the press big time, being a bubbly as can be. It's part of plan to restore her public image. 15 years ago in Santa Barbara, California, Fitz and Mellie are young and in love. It's inside Jerry Grant's mansion where they first meet Cyrus Beene, who has a strategy to win the governor's office. The plan is to play up his candidate as a war hero. That doesn't work for Fitz. Running on his military experience is off limits.

Big Jerry lets his son know that he had no business signing up for Black Ops mission. He recalls how he had to clean up the mess Fitz made when he shot down that plane. That means he owns him. That means he'll do what he's told. The father-son bickering drives Cyrus away. Before he goes, he gives Mellie some advice. She says Fitz is her fulltime job from here on out. So Mellie goes to work. Big Jerry tells her that her husband shot down a passenger jet because there was intelligence that there was a dirty bomb onboard. It's jarring news. Then something truly disturbing occurs. Big Jerry forces himself on Mellie. He rapes her.

In present day, Cyrus and Mellie conspire to find a call girl to seduce Daniel Douglas. Elsewhere, Fitz threatens Rowan with exposure if he harms Olivia. When he gets back to the White House, Mellie is waiting for him. She wishes he knew what she gave up for him. She at least wants him to show up for her, to at least be her friend. We flashback to the night Mellie was raped. She never let on to Fitz. She used the incident to force Big Jerry to tell his son what he needs to hear. Fitz is soon back on track and running for governor. Mellie lets him know that she's pregnant. Fitz is overjoyed. Mellie is as well until she realizes who the father could be.

In the present day, Fitz shows up to support Mellie in the last part of her interview project. The reporter lays out just how unpopular the First Lady is amongst the American people. What can be said about the way she aired her marital dirty laundry to the world? The President has the answer to that one. He chastises the reporter for attacking his wife. Anyone who does that has to go through him first. He lets everyone know that he's the one who made the mistake. He apologized and is moving on. They are both moving on. All they can do is ask the American people to do the same.

Quinn is spending lots of time at the gun range with Charlie, who is doing work as a private detective. She tries to get back into Huck's good graces, but he's still giving her the deep freeze. Charlie catches Quinn spying on him while he's spying on someone else. He backs her against a wall and plants a kiss on her. Charlie tells a breathless Quinn to give him a call if she wants to hang out. He ends up giving her the job of knocking out a security guard. What Quinn doesn't know is that the injection she gives the guy is lethal. She tries to save him but it's too late. The guard is dead. Quinn flees the scene with blood on her hands.

At a White House event, Fitz lets Mellie know that he wasn't acting when he fought for her with the reporter. He meant every word. In another part of the room, Cyrus watches with interest as the call girl he found makes her move on Daniel Douglas. James interrupts to let him know that he's been fired from his job. The bad news continues when the call girl strikes out with Daniel Douglas. As it turns out, she's not his type. James, on the other hand, is. This has Cyrus and Mellie considering an entirely different approach to their problem.

The team gets info on Omar Dresden, the mystery plane passenger. Olivia knows that if they find him then they find the truth. While following a lead to finding Omar, Jake shows up at the office building where Quinn killed the security guard. Cops are everywhere. He sees the dead guard in the lobby. Not too far away, a panicked Quinn is desperately trying to contact Huck when Charlie shows up. He has video of her killing the guard. Charlie says, "Welcome to Wonderland."

Olivia believes her father must be behind the death of the security guard. At the White House, Fitz is also trying to find answers on Olivia's mom. He sees a photo of Rowan. He now knows he's Liv's father. Speaking of Rowan/Eli Pope, he makes his way into a high security lockup facility. He's there to see Omar Dresden. He takes a seat inside the cell. Rowan/Eli says, "Our daughter's been asking about you." The prisoner arises from under some bed sheets. It's Olivia's mother. It's Maya Pope.