Scandal Episode 3.12 We Do Not Touch the First Ladies

Jake learns that it's standard operating procedure for the Secret Service to lock down the entire floor of a hotel while the president is using one of the rooms. This way no one can overhear the shouting match taking place between Olivia and Fitz as they get dressed. Well, the Secret Service agents can hear it. So can Jake, which is a tad awkward since he's one of the topics of conversation. The new head of B-613 takes it all in stride. After the screaming subsides, Fitz and Olivia exit the room. He heads off with his Secret Service detail. She's five minutes behind with Jake by her side. Theirs is a complicated relationship.

A reporter has a source alleging Oxycotin drug use inside the California governor's mansion during Fitz's first term. Andrew admits that he took painkillers when he threw out his back, but didn't go through the proper channels to get them. Olivia threatens the reporter doing the story but it doesn't take. She needs to find her source. She wants Jake to make sure it isn't her father.

We jump back 14 years to see Andrew overhear an argument between Fitz and his wife. He later finds Mellie passed out on the floor after having down an entire bottle of Oxy. He forces her to vomit effectively saving her life. He later gets her to admit that her suicide attempt is because her father-in-law forced himself on her and she doesn't know if her son is his.

James is worried Cyrus is close to discovering he is Publius (a name with historical significance, by the way) once he's asked to set up reporter Vanessa with an exclusive interview with the president. David suggests he send the NSA tape to the reporter. He hides what he's doing from Abby, who asks Huck to hack into her boyfriend's files. Theirs is a complicated relationship, too. David agrees to pose as Publius during a meeting with the reporter. This could turn out to be a very dangerous favor.

Hollis Doyle meets with Sally Langston. He wants to choose the next Secretary of Energy in exchange for a sizeable campaign donation. But when he sees that the vice president isn't at the top of her game, he makes a secret deal with Cyrus to attend a donor dinner. In other news, Adnan Salif opens up a suitcase filled with cash as Harrison gets dressed for work. She wants him to do something for her. She blackmails him by threating to tell Olivia a secret from his past. So Harrison makes a sizeable donation to the Grant reelection campaign.

Quinn does surveillance on Charlie while he's doing surveillance on Olivia and Rowan. She sees her boyfriend drive off after getting a call from Cyrus about the Daniel Douglas/Publius situation. Quinn is caught outside the restaurant by Liv, who tells her to come home. B-613 will destroy her. Quinn orders Olivia away or she'll shoot her. At home, Jake assures his fake girlfriend that he didn't send Quinn to watch Rowan. Then he hops in the shower to prep for a night of pretend sex. There's no way to tell if pretend cuddling is also in the cards.

Abby and Harrison meet with the doctor who delivered the Oxy to the California governor's mansion all those years ago. They learn that it was a woman who made a call to him. Andrew is protecting someone. It's Mellie. Liv manages to kill the story. Jumping back to Santa Barbara, we see how Andrew fell for Mellie and vice versa. In the present, Andrew wows the crowd at the donor dinner. This includes Hollis Doyle, who won't be involved in the campaign if Fitz has anything to say about it.

James learns that the meeting David is having with the reporter is a setup. Cyrus sent Charlie in to deal with the situation. David is kidnapped and tossed into the back of a trunk. He calls Abby to tell her he loves her. Of course, he can tell her in person once the trunk opens. Abby and Huck stand before him. They are his abductors. As stated before, theirs is a complicated relationship. Cyrus calls off Charlie once Publius is a no-show.

As the man with the highest security clearance of any intelligence officer in the land, Jake is given a briefcase filled with top secret documents. He's told a trusted agent is already inside the White House in the form of Secret Service agent Tom. While reprimanding Quinn, Jake learns from her that Rowan has been meeting with Leo Bergen. Elsewhere, Huck brings Olivia lots of coffee to apologize for what happened with Quinn even though he actually blames her. She should have never given a monster like him someone to love.

When Andrew jokes that he could steal the White House portrait of Jackie Kennedy, Mellie warns that we do not touch the first ladies. That's too bad because Andrew really wants to kiss her. Nevetheless, we do not touch the first ladies. However, no one said anything about the first lady touching him. Mellie gives Andrew a passionate kiss before ultimately fleeing his embrace. It's yet another complicated relationship, much like the love triangle of Olivia, Fitz and Jake, who sees via secret Oval Office video that his fake girlfriend may have real feelings for him.

Adnan Salif introduces herself to Cyrus. She got into the donor dinner thanks to the call Harrison made on her behalf. She lets Cy know that she has unlimited funds that can help him. Adnan is in. This is good news for the person she meets with at the end of a long day. This mystery figure in cahoots with Adnan turns out to be Olivia's mom, Maya. This would be yet another complicated relationship.