Guest Star Goodness: Scandal “Boom Goes the Dynamite” 

Whoa. We have an out of control POTUS on our hands. Since Scandal‘s 10-month time jump, the guy has been drinking up a storm. We might end up having the leader of the free world showing up to AA meetings before this series is over.

And what in the world — he ordered Jake to monitor Olivia. At some point it went from photo surveillance to video surveillance? What’s Fitz going to do next? Ask Jake to see some of the vid that he’s collected? I don’t know about you guys but I was crushed when Fitz told Jake that Olivia wasn’t a good person.

Let’s talk about Jake. It looks like he’s getting attached to Olivia. Could his admiration and attraction for Olivia turn into obsession? Do we have a potential stalker in our midst?

In other Gladiator news: Huck is feeling the effects of his recent torture. It’s heartbreaking to see him scared of rain. Meanwhile, David and Abby are still having “meaningless” sex. Yeah, meaningless. I don’t think so. Those two are still in love. Although, we did find out something interesting about Abby courtesy of the case of the week: She was a politician’s wife — he was her abuser. That’s such an interesting development. Quinn’s helping Huck — I’m loving their newfound bond. I believe Joshua Malina tweeted recently that he was with one half of Huckleberry Quinn. Love that name for the Huck/Quinn friendship. And Harrison continues to be his steady, reliable, badass self. He’s the heart of Pope and Associates. But something has to happen with this guy soon. He’s too awesome to not be part of the action in a more integral way.

In White House news: We found out who the mole is. And karma was a bitch when Cyrus got even with Mellie for her constant backstabbing. She’s been throwing Cyrus under the bus in a big and bad (so bad) way. Cyrus did his thing (with a little inspiration from Olivia) and now he’s back in Fitz’s good graces. OK, well maybe not his good graces yet. But it was a small (devious) step in repairing his relationship with the president.

Now let’s get to the Guest Star Goodness.

Synopsis for “Boom Goes the Dynamite”: Olivia and the team are hired by an up and coming politician, Peter Caldwell, but this time instead of fixing a scandal, they’re playing high-powered matchmaker. Meanwhile, David is trying to leave the past behind him, but when he feels like he’s being followed, he finally turns to the team at OPA for help. Back at the White House, Fitz is still struggling wtih whom to trust and how to handle a delicate hostage situation, and Jake just won’t take no for an answer when it comes to dating Olivia.

Scott Foley
Scandal Role: Jake Ballard, a Navy guy who now works in Intelligence for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He’s also an FOF — Friend of Fitz. We found out he’s actually doing some work for him. The job? To spy on Olivia. The surveillance has taken on a decidedly creepy angle since transitioning from photos to video monitoring. Thankfully, there are boundaries he won’t cross. Jake didn’t watch Olivia undress. Still, it’s unclear whether Ballard has entered the stalker zone considering he’s inserted himself into Olivia’s life. Regardless, I’m loving Scott Foley’s presence and am in dire need of figuring out what his intentions are when it comes to Ms. Pope.
TV Credits: Oh man, Foley will forever be Noel from the late great series, Felicity. After the WB hit came to an end, he was Elliot’s boyfriend on Scrubs and starred in the CBS military drama The Unit for four seasons. He was Teddy’s no insurance having husband, Henry Burton, on Grey’s Anatomy. And he was in season 5 of HBO’s True Blood as Terry’s ex-soldier buddy, Patrick Devins. He’s also filmed episodes of a FOX comedy called The Goodwin Games that has yet to air.

Kurt Fuller
Scandal Role:  The Director of the CIA aka the Albatross. Yes, he’s the mole that tipped off the terrorists to the true identities of the group (CIA spies) they kidnapped . He also tipped the terrorists to the fact that the president was sending in a rescue team. And, oh yeah, he’s also the guy that killed Wendy, sending David Rosen into a world of trouble. A friend of Wendy’s fingered the head of the CIA while at Pope and Associates.
TV Credits: Kurt Fuller — what hasn’t he been in? I loved him when he portrayed the evil angel, Zachariah, in a few episodes of Supernatural. He’s so lovably goofy as Woody the Coroner on USA Network’s Psych. He recently played Kristina’s doctor on Parenthood — the one that was treating her cancer. He’s a jerk of a judge on The Good Wife — he’s been in three episodes so far. And he was the dad in the short-lived sitcom, Better with You. Fuller’s a go-to guest star for a reason: he’s memorable in just about everything he does.

Eric Mabius
Scandal Role: Peter Caldwell, a senator and member of one of the country’s “dirtiest political dynasties in history.” He wanted to make sure his younger brother, Will, was elected governor. Peter was more aware than anyone gave him credit for — he knew that his wife was having an affair with Will. But family comes before anything. Getting Will elected was more important. He feels his brother has a shot at the White House someday.
TV Credits: He was the dean of the high school on The O.C. and had a role on a good but quickly cancelled show called Eyes. He was also Tim Haspel on Showtime’s The L Word. But Mabius is most known for playing Betty’s boss, Daniel Meade, on Ugly Betty. Since the show went off the air, he’s appeared on Franklin & Bash, a British series called Outcasts and the mini-series Political Animals.

Sam Page

Scandal Role: He’s Will Caldwell, a congressman who’s running for Governor of North Carolina. His brother, Peter, enlists Olivia’s help because  it’s a problem that Will is perpetually single. A scheme to secure him a fake wife is cooked up. Only we find out he’s not celibate. He has been having an affair with his brother’s wife, Marion. Olivia advises Will to end things. Now. (We’ll get to more of that later)
TV Credits: I love, love, love Sam Page. He was Trey Kenyon on the daytime soap, All My Children. And did several episodes of American Dreams. After being part of Point Pleasant and Shark, he was Rex’s illegitimate son, Sam Allen, on Desperate Housewives. Before tackling the role of Joan’s selfish husband, Greg Harris, on Mad Men, he did guest star stints on both Gossip Girl and Greek. He’s also done several episodes as lawyer Craig Tebbe on ABC Family’s Switched at Birth.

Lisa Sheridan
Scandal Role: Marion Caldwell, wife to Senator Peter Caldwell, mistress to his brother, Congressman Will Caldwell. She was jealous of Will’s search for a fake wife. In fact she went out of her way to sabotage it.
TV Credits: Sheridan played Eddie Cibrian’s wife on the sci-fi series Invasion. And she’s acted on UPN’s Legacy and NBC’s Journeyman. She was in the NCIS episode “Child’s Play” and has guest starred on CSI: Miami, The Mentalist, CSI: NY and Private Practice.

The ScRant of the Week

The Scandal Rant of the week comes from Olivia Pope when she confronts Will Caldwell after spying him and his sister-in-law together. She basically lets him know he needs to end things with Marion right now.

Courtesy of writer Jenny Bans:

“You have nothing. You have a pile of secrets and lies and you’re calling it love. And in the meantime, you’re letting your whole life pass you by while they raise children and celebrate anniversaries and grow old together. You’re frozen in time. You’re holding your breath. You’re a statue waiting for something that’s never going to happen. Living for stolen moments in hotel hallways and coat closets, you keep telling yourself they all add up to something real because in your mind they have to, but they don’t. They won’t. They never will. Because stolen moments aren’t a life. So you have nothing. You have no one. End it now.”

So amazing. Olivia very much comes across as someone who knows what she’s talking about, right? She’s experienced it. She lives it. And we all know she has. It’s really sad to see how much being without Fitz has affected her life. And that even though she knows it’s wrong — that she and Fitz are wrong — she would give anything to be with him. Those two are so wrong they’re right.

Scandal airs Thursdays at 10/9c on ABC.