Guest Star Goodness: Scandal “Icarus” 

This Operation Remington business is getting more twisted by the minute. For me, it’s making me ask a lot of questions:

• Did Fitz really shoot that plane down?
• Did Command really give the order to shoot that plane down?
• Did he lie to Olivia when he claimed he didn’t?
• Is Quinn going to be pulled into B613? She’s hardcore right now, it’s scary. I mean, Charlie’s back and he’s laying the groundwork, right?
• Does Fitz even know what he did?
• How is he going to act now that he knows Liv’s mom was on that plane?
• So Olivia’s mom, Maya, really is dead?
• Is there some sort of significance to Maya mentioning a boss to Livvie when she was leaving for London?
• Will Jake and Huck have to continue to fear for their lives?
• Will Fitz and Olivia’s connection make it through all this in tact?

See? Tons of questions. My head is kind of hurting…in a good way.

I also enjoyed Harrison getting to be part of the action for once. Who is this criminal guy (Adnan Salif) that Cyrus is letting back in the country? I’m actually afraid for Harrison’s safety. But at least he didn’t bow to Cyrus’ will. He continues to have Olivia’s back. He likes seeing her all inspired and passionate and that’s what’s happening while she’s taking on Josie Marcus’ campaign. Josie’s daughter is making me nervous though. I don’t know why but she just is.

Some other thoughts

-Wow, Josie made James look effin’ stupid in that interview. I kind of felt bad for James. I won’t be watching that scene again. It makes me too uncomfortable. But, man, Olivia is the right person to have on your side in a campaign. Just ask Mellie for a reference. She’s desperate to have Olivia back in Fitz’s camp.

-It’s official. I love Jake. I love that Fitz protected Jake as well. I’m still thinking about that awesome one-on-one basketball game from last week’s episode. But I am also loving how Fitz is referring to Jake as Olivia’s boyfriend even though it’s not really true yet. For me, I wouldn’t mind if Olivia and Jake got together in the present. I have faith that Olivia and Fitz are end game.

-I can’t believe how Huck continues to shut Quinn out. He has no clue as to what kind of effect this is having on Quinn. She’s dangerous.

-Where the hell was David Rosen? It should be a requirement that he is in every episode.

-How great was Cyrus’ response to Mellie being uber excited about Olivia coming to the White House?

Cyrus: “This is…weird isn’t the right word. ‘Strange.’ No… ‘Greek.’ Mythic and disturbing. This is winged horses. Wait, is it the horses whose wings almost melted? I don’t know. I can’t remember. But my point is, this is a Greek tragedy in the making. Winged mistresses flying too close to the sun.” Mellie: “She wins elections.” Cyrus: “She wins elections.” Fitz: “She wins elections.” Mellie (to Fitz): “You’re welcome.”

-The way Fitz shuts down over Operation Remington no matter what is so troubling. This is Olivia. Open up, dude.

-That drunk Olivia/Rowan phone call was so good. And intense.

-I miss the Huckleberry Quinn friendship.

-I love that Sally thinks she has one over on Fitz. But she doesn’t. Cyrus the Evil Mastermind is one step ahead. He’s pretty awesome. Except when he’s threatening to make Harrison’s life hell:

Harrison: “Do you understand how long it’s been since Liv’s been inspired by someone? Not just fighting the good fight. Not just being the best at what we do but inspired? Liv wants to work for Josie Marcus. I work for Liv. Not for you.” Cyrus: “You understand I don’t make empty threats?” Harrison: “I understand that if you want to issue an inadmissibility waiver you’re gonna have to go tell the State on record that ‘I Cyrus Beene want to bring this criminal back into the country.’ I don’t think you wanna do that.”

Harrison’s definitely underestimating Cyrus here. Cyrus is a bad guy. He just is.

A few more of my Favorite Lines (including that last Olivia/Fitz scene)

Harrison: “Stupid super spies.”

James: “You’re a shameless monster.” Cyrus: “Who loves you dearly!”

Olivia (to Josie): “Nice got you a congressional seat in Montana. Nice doesn’t get you president. Unless you want to be president of Candyland.”

Charlie: “Hey Robin, where’s Batman?” Quinn: “He’s not here.”

Fitz: “Why is this so important to you?” Olivia: “There was a global world airlines plane that went down — 329 people were killed.” Fitz: “Olivia…” Olivia: “They said it was mechanical failure, something they could never quite figure out. How a plane could just fall out of the sky. That doesn’t happen. That never happens. So they recalled the engine. But it turns out they didn’t need to. Because it wasn’t the plane at all. Because what nobody knew? It didn’t crash. It was shot down right out of the sky. Someone killed them, all 329 of them, they fell into the ocean. And they died. So I want you to answer the question — where were you during Operation Remington?” Fitz: “Like I said, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Olivia: “One of the bodies in the ocean was my mother. Do you still not know what I’m talking about? Fitz…” Fitz: “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Olivia: “I was 12 when she died. I was 12.”

Guest Star Goodness

Lisa Kudrow

The Role: Josephine Marcus, presidential hopeful
The Actress: It’s good to see Kudrow on Scandal. I must admit I wondered if I was going to be able to forget the fact that she was Phoebe Buffay on Friends for ten years. The show has been off the air for almost ten years and still she’ll always be Phoebe to me. However, the Emmy-winning actress doesn’t have me immediately thinking of her iconic character while she’s on Scandal and that’s awesome. And, remember, in real life, Kudrow’s producing partner is Scandal‘s Dan Bucatinsky (James Novak). Together they produced her HBO series The Comeback and they currently produce her Showtime series, Web Therapy, and the celeb-reality show Who Do You Think You Are? I wonder what it was like for them to shoot that awkward interview in this episode? Kudrow’s character definitely came out on top.

Jack Coleman

The Role: Daniel Douglas, Sally Langston’s husband — the one with the wandering eye
The Actor: I’m used to seeing Coleman as the one in control. So it’s interesting that his Scandal character is the vice president’s husband. And Ms. VP is secretly making moves to ensure her entry into the presidential race. Meanwhile, Daniel Douglas has to keep himself occupied. Flirting with Mellie right under his wife’s jealous eyes was clearly on his agenda in “Icarus.” Coleman has developed into one of my favorite TV actors. If he appears on a show, I’m almost always going to watch. He was the second Steven Carrington on Dynasty. But when he played HRG on Heroes, that role helped revitalize his career and now he’s the go to guy for so many shows like Castle, Burn Notice, The Vampire Diaries and The Office. I’m expecting he and his character — Senator William Bracken — to return to Castle at some point.

Paul Adelstein

The Role: Leo Bergen, Sally Langston’s campaign manager who doesn’t back losers. I’m sorry to say I think that’s exactly what he’s doing.
The Actor: Adelstein is no stranger to Shonda Rhimes shows having starred as a series regular on the Grey’s Anatomy spin-off, Private Practice. Before that, he was on FOX’s Prison Break. He played Secret Service Agent Paul Kellerman. Kellerman was not a good guy. Not even close.

Khandi Alexander

The Role: Maya Lewis, Olivia Pope’s mom.
The Actress: Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see much of Alexander as Liv’s mom. We briefly saw her in flashbacks. It is my hope we’ll get to see more of her sooner rather than later because Khandi Alexander is a fierce actress. She’s a joy to watch in any project that she’s in whether it’s in series regular roles on NewsRadio, Treme or CSI: Miami or in guest starring roles like on ER. She’s an underrated actress and when the powers that be finally started playing to her strengths on NewsRadio, she proved she was as adept at comedy as she was at drama. However, some shows (I’m talking to you, CSI: Miami) don’t let her be the force of nature that she is as an actress. Because that’s what she is.

Sally Pressman

The Role: Josie’s daughter, Candace. Of course, her entire life she thought she was Josie’s sister. Woops.
The Actress: Sally Pressman was Roxy on Army Wives. The long-running series came to an end in 2013. Lifetime announced that the show would not return for an eighth season. However, the network is reportedly planning a retrospective special set to air in 2014.

Teri Reeves

The Role: Kate, someone Jake turned to for some top secret help. Of course, she ended up dead because she was about to betray him. Thankfully, Fitz assigned protection for Jake and nothing happened to him.
The Actress: She played Casey’s doctor girlfriend, Hallie Thomas, on NBC’s Chicago Fire. However, Hallie died in a fire leaving Casey heartbroken. Reeves was also in a recent NCIS episode called “Under the Radar.”

Scandal airs Thursdays at 10/9c on ABC.