SCANDAL: CRASH AND BURN (TV)
Summary
One in this drama/political thriller about the Pope & Associates crisis management firm in Washington D.C.
Olivia scrambles to find out who kidnapped Amanda, although Quinn is convinced that Amanda panicked and ran away. Huck notices a government car watching them from across the street and deduces the method which the kidnapper used to abduct Amanda. Olivia goes to David and asks for his help in finding Amanda, and he reluctantly agrees. Harrison takes Quinn out to the site of a plane crash in a field; one of the 120 now-deceased passengers is Senator Paul Sanchez, a longtime political veteran held in great esteem by President Grant. At the relief site Olivia meets with a representative of the pilot’s union who asks her to make a statement on their behalf, but she is upset that the airline’s public relations department was permitted to speak first. She, Harrison, and Quinn arrive in time to hear the PR representative imply that the pilot is at fault for the crash. Cyrus urges President Grant to use Senator Sanchez’s death to help push a bill involving granting citizenship for the children of immigrants attending university in the United States. However, President Grant feels it is insensitive to pursue this matter so soon after Senator Sanchez’s death.
Gideon tries to visit Quinn again, but she tries to get him to go away. He reveals that a missing person’s report has already been filed for Amanda by her father, Hank Tanner. Huck reviews security footage from near Olivia’s home and finds something suspicious. He confers with an old associate of his, known only as “Charlie,” whose face he saw on the footage. Charlie simply replies that Amanda is “gone” and will not say where, and leaves Huck without any useful information. Olivia and her associates attend a meeting of the investigatory panel into the airplane crash and listen to the audio from the plane’s black box. Back at the office they discuss the particulars of the black box recording and determine that the pilot, Laurie Mackelson, may have indeed froze or panicked in the final seconds before the plane crashed. Olivia points out that declaring pilot error would be cost-beneficial to the airline and that they will pursue these charges. They receive an unexpected visit from Andrew Mackelson, Laurie’s husband, who attests to her courage and reliability and is upset that Olivia has not made any public statements in Laurie’s defense. Olivia assures him that she will do what she can, working to change the “narrative” of the airline before they can fully condemn Laurie. Andrew reveals that Laurie used to be an alcoholic but had been sober for the past twenty years and regularly attends AA meetings. As per Olivia’s predictions, the news reports that the pilot and some of the crew had consumed alcohol just prior to the crash. Abby receives word from a bartender that Laurie and the rest of the crew had some drinks the night before the flight as well. The black box audio has been leaked and Olivia has Harrison and Huck work on securing a copy of it. Olivia notices a discrepancy in the listed number of flight attendants and tries to figure out the meaning behind it.
Huck suddenly announces that Amanda is dead, stopping everyone dead in their tracks. Olivia, incensed, rushes out to the government car surveilling the office and demands that the driver notify the president that she knows what he did to Amanda. Quinn finds Hank and brings him to the office, where he meets with Olivia. He says he and his wife are worried about Amanda since they have not heard from her recently. Quinn assures him that everything will be all right, but in private Olivia tells her that Amanda is dead and warns her not to make promises, asking her to explain to him that they will do all that they can to find Amanda. President Grant calls Olivia and she accuses him of ordering Amanda’s murder. He insists that he is not responsible for her death, but Olivia does not believe him. Olivia implies that Cyrus is the one who organized Amanda’s death on his behalf, and says that he must now deal with the consequences. Meanwhile, Abby visits Carly Restin, the missing flight attendant for the downed airplane. She was in attendance at the party attended by the captain and crew the night before the crash and reports that Laurie was not drinking, and only came out because it was Carly’s birthday. David calls Olivia out for withholding a great deal of information about Amanda from him and obstructing justice, but she says she cannot tell him anything.
Olivia visits the crash site with Andrew, who is bitterly depressed about his wife’s fate. Olivia holds a press conference and fervently denies that Laurie had consumed any alcohol before or during the flight. With some trepidation, Olivia asks Huck to locate Amanda’s body, although stresses that he is under no compunction to do so. Huck simply replies that he will “take care of it.” President Grant talks to Cyrus about Amanda’s death; Cyrus seems unconcerned about it, and President Grant takes offense to this. Cyrus feels that the other concerns of the administration, such as the plane crash and the proposed citizenship bill, are more worthy of his concern and sympathy. Stephen obtains a series of mechanic reports about the downed aircraft and notices an oddity about them, specifically that two completely different reports from different inspectors contain the same contents, even a specific spelling mistake. The evidence suggests that the last inspection of the plane made before its crash was falsified. Harrison reviews the audio from the black box again, this time more carefully. Stephen speaks to the mechanic who last inspected the plane, who confirms that the report is not his and recalls making recommendations that the plane should not fly based on a problem with its rudders. Harrison confirms this hypothesis by figuring out that the sounds in the background of the black box recording indicate a mechanical problem with the aircraft. Huck finds and ambushes Charlie in his apartment and tortures him for information on Amanda.
The team compiles its information on the plane’s malfunctions in order to more accurately ascertain what happened. President Grant and his staff work to secure votes for the bill in Sanchez’s honor; they get enough for a tie which could be broken by the vice president. However, attempts to contact her have been unsuccessful thus far. Huck tells Charlie that his actions are not personal; he recounts being trained by Charlie and abused by the CIA, mentioning that he can no longer contact his family. He mentions his disgust at considering the horrific actions he has performed as “fun,” and begins torturing Charlie with a drill-like device. President Grant secures a meeting with Vice President Sally Langston, who refuses to allow the children of illegal immigrants to be granted American citizenship. She is motivated largely by her strict religious beliefs, so President Grant appeals to her political sensibilities and her ambition to one day become president herself, threatening to withhold his endorsement unless she votes to pass the bill through the senate. Cyrus, visibly troubled, informs President Grant that they have received a blackmail letter from a mysterious source, and he is convinced that Olivia is not responsible. As Huck continues to torture Charlie he recounts some of the indignities he suffered in the CIA’s employ, such as suffering from insomnia, being forced for a time into some kind of prison facility, and eventually ending up as a homeless vagrant until he was found by Olivia. He threatens to skin him alive unless he tells him the whereabouts of Amanda’s body.
Olivia visits David again and tells him the location of Amanda’s body, presumably due to information obtained by Huck. The blackmail message to President Grant includes a video clip of President Nixon’s resignation speech, implying that the blackmailer’s demand is that he step down from the presidency. Olivia and her team look on as the police fish out Amanda’s body from the bottom of a river. Olivia confronts the CEO of the airline and accuses him of covering up the mechanic reports to avoid a costly recall of their aircraft. The CEO expresses his deep sadness over the loss of valuable employees and claims he does not know how the report did not get passed along. Harrison discovers the truth: Phyllis Hayes, a low-level and overworked office worker at the company duplicated one of the reports in order to send them out on time, fearing for the loss of her job. She gives him the true inspection report and reveals that she is wracked with guilt, believing herself to be ultimately responsible for the plane crash. The CEO gives a press conference expressing his sincere sympathy to the families of those who died in the crash, and proclaims that Laurie “fought ‘til the end” to keep the aircraft up. Hank is brought in to the police coroner and identifies Amanda’s body, bursting into tears at the sight of her.
President Grant expresses a desire to leave the White House unaccompanied, although his secret service bodyguards inform him that this is not possible without a great deal of approval and oversight. President Grant is frustrated at his inability to leave on his own despite being “the most powerful man on the planet,” and they work out a compromise wherein he can leave with a reduced security detail. David tells Olivia that in all likelihood Amanda’s death will be ruled a suicide, although he personally realizes that she was murdered. Stephen, against his better judgment, seduces Lisa the police coroner in order to obtain the autopsy report on Amanda. A distraught Quinn visits Gideon, who is quite concerned about her. Stephen informs Olivia that the coroner’s report indicates that while Amanda was pregnant, the father was not President Grant. At the moment, President Grant appears at Olivia’s door, much to her surprise. Includes commercials.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: May 3, 2012 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:57:47
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 108404
- GENRE: Drama, mystery/suspense
- SUBJECT HEADING: LGBT Collection - Drama; African-American Collection - Drama; Drama, mystery/suspense; Politics
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 2012-2018
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV – Commercials – All laundry detergent
- TV – Commercials – Buick automobiles
- TV – Commercials – Charles Schwab financial services
- TV – Commercials – Claritin antihistamine
- TV – Commercials – Droid smartphones
- TV – Commercials – Dyson vacuum cleaners
- TV – Commercials – H&M apparel
- TV – Commercials – Honda automobiles
- TV – Commercials – Hunter Douglas window dressing
- TV – Commercials – JCPenney department stores
- TV – Commercials – Macy’s department stores
- TV – Commercials – Nationwide insurance
- TV – Commercials – Nespresso coffee machines
- TV – Commercials – Nokia phones
- TV – Commercials – Petco pet stores
- TV – Commercials – Pronamel toothpaste
- TV – Commercials – Sierra Mist soft drink
- TV – Commercials – Stouffer’s prepared meals
- TV – Commercials – Target department stores
- TV – Commercials – Walgreens pharmacies
- TV – Commercials – “The Vow” home video release
- TV – Promos – “Castle”
- TV – Promos – “Dancing with the Stars”
- TV – Promos – “Desperate Housewives”
- TV – Promos – “Duets”
- TV – Promos – “GCB”
- TV – Promos – “Jimmy Kimmel Live”
- TV – Promos – “Modern Family”
- TV – Promos – “Once Upon a Time”
- TV – Promos – “Rookie Blue”
- TV – Promos – “Scandal”
- TV – Promos – “Shark Tank”
CREDITS
- Shonda Rhimes … Executive Producer, Created by
- Mark Wilding … Executive Producer, Writer
- Betsy Beers … Executive Producer
- Judy Smith … Co-Executive Producer
- Jenna Bans … Co-Executive Producer
- Roxann Dawson … Supervising Producer
- Scott Collins … Producer
- Merri D. Howard … Producer
- Heather Mitchell … Co-Producer
- Chris Van Dusen … Co-Producer
- Steve Robin … Director
- Chad Fischer … Music by
- Kerry Washington … Cast, Olivia Pope
- Henry Ian Cusick … Cast, Stephen Finch
- Columbus Short … Cast, Harrison Wright
- Darby Stanchfield … Cast, Abby Wright
- Katie Lowes … Cast, Quinn Whelan
- Guillermo Diaz … Cast, Huck
- Jeff Perry … Cast, Cyrus Beene
- Tony Goldwyn … Cast, President Fitzgerald Grant III
- Kate Burton … Cast, Vice President Sally Langston
- Joshua Malina … Cast, David Rosen
- Bellamy Young … Cast, Mellie Grant
- Matt Letscher … Cast, Billy Chambers
- George Newbern … Cast, Charlie
- Graham Beckel … Cast, Hank Tanner
- Liza Weil … Cast, Amanda Tanner
- Brendan Hines … Cast, Gideon Wallace
- Darren Pettie … Cast, Andrew Mackelson
- Leslie Goodman … Cast, Lisa
- Lenora May … Cast, Phyllis Hayes
- Brian Letscher … Cast, Tom Larsen
- Stoney Westmoreland … Cast, Hal Rimbeau
- Amanda Fuller … Cast, Carly Weston
- Julia Prud'homme … Cast, Daniella
- Katherine Kirkpatrick … Cast, Bartender
- Emily Harrison … Cast, Jamie
- Dan Gordon … Cast, Nelson O'Shea
- Nick Jaine … Cast, Kurt Sheehan
- Alexander Bedria … Cast, Airplane Mechanic