SCANDAL: SEVEN FIFTY-TWO (TV)

Summary

One in this drama/political thriller about the Pope & Associates crisis management firm in Washington D.C.

While recovering in the hospital, Olivia recalls the first time she met Huck, when he was a homeless man living in a subway station. President Grant comes to visit her and attempts to kiss her but she pulls away, snapping that she hates him and that he has not treated her with the respect she believes she deserves. He tells her that he loves her but she says she no longer believes anything he says. Jake tells President Grant that she was attacked just outside her apartment by a mysterious assailant, and he asks him to find out who it was. Huck is still recovering, curled up in a fetal position in a closet. Harrison learns of Olivia’s whereabouts and confers with Abby and Quinn to determine what course of action to take. Huck suddenly starts muttering loudly, repeating the number “seventy fifty-two” over and over again.

Fourteen years ago, Huck enters a library where a young woman is reading to a group of children. He greets the woman, who is overjoyed to see him; she is Kim, his girlfriend, and has missed him ever since he went on his tour of service in the marines in Kosovo. His tour was cut short, but he does not know the reason why, knowing only that he is to attend some sort of meeting the following day, possibly to offer him some sort of new job in Washington D.C. Huck is interviewed and hired, although he is still not clear on what he is being recruited to do. The recruiter notes that his tests indicate that he is “gifted” in both his skills and personality; Huck deduces that he is being recruited for the CIA and attempts to decline the offer. However, the recruiter gives him an ultimatum: either join or be sent on another tour of service in Kosovo. He decides to join, as the recruiter notes that Huck has no real family and that they will serve as his new “family.” He is officially inducted into B613.

In the present day, Harrison tries to get in to the hospital to see Olivia, but is blocked by secret service agents. He spots Charlie there as well, also attempting to get in. He tries to chase Charlie down but Charlie manages to evade him. Harrison reports back to Abby and Quinn, who are highly concerned about Olivia’s safety. Huck remains in his catatonia and continues to repeat “seven fifty-two” ceaselessly. In the past, Charlie briefs Huck about B613’s mission, chiefly torture and assassination, noting that there is no way out of the job. He gives Huck various weapons and equipment and briefs him on his first assignment, a defense contractor suspected of selling missile specifications to enemy forces. Huck carries out the assignment and knocks the man unconscious with a syringe. He finds himself experiencing an emotional reaction to carrying out the assignment, feeling guilt for capturing and torturing the man, and subsequently wrapping his body in plastic to deposit in the garbage as per Charlie’s instructions. He returns to B613 and confesses to Charlie that he enjoyed himself, something Charlie claims to understand well.

Back in the present, Harrison calls Olivia to tell her about Huck; she does not know the significance of “seven fifty-two.” She advises them to keep speaking to him in an attempt to reach him somehow. Olivia promises Harrison that she is safe for the moment and will return as soon as she can. Quinn speaks to Huck, talking about the dreams she used to have about what her wedding to Jesse and subsequent life with him would be like; recounting these desires makes her quite emotional. She urges him to let go of whatever horror is degrading his sanity and consuming his life. She manages to get him to stop chanting for a moment before he resumes his previous behavior. In the past, Kim tells Huck that she is pregnant, and he is unsure of how to react. She feels that he is pulling away from her and tries to leave, but he tells her that he wants the baby, and she wants his full support, afraid that he might walk out on her. He promises not to leave her and that he will be there for her and their budding family. He asks her to marry him on the spot, and she says that she will. This puts Huck in an exceptionally good mood, even joking and laughing while he tortures his targets. He and Kim buy a house and he secretly maintains a lockbox where he keeps wristwatches taken from the bodies of his victims. He and Kim are married at city hall and once her term is up he rushes to the hospital to be beside her as she gives birth to a boy. While wrapping up the bodies of one of his victims, Huck suddenly starts sobbing.

In the present day, Cyrus goes to President Grant at the hospital and tells him that it is inadvisable for him to be there visiting Olivia. President Grant insists that he is going to wait there until Olivia is discharged, motivated by his concern for her. Jake enters and President Grant introduces him to Cyrus. Abby tries to reach Huck, recounting her relationship with David and how she felt about being married to an abusive husband years ago; Olivia “rescued” her from being killed by her husband. She goes on a rant about Olivia’s proclivity for “saving” those that work for her and the difficulty of becoming her “gladiators,” she notes that stealing the Cytron memory card for Olivia ruined her chances of ever being loved by David again. Huck briefly stops again before resuming his mysterious chant. In the past, Huck returns home to find Charlie in his house holding his son, accompanied by Kim. In private, Charlie berates Huck for starting a family, which he views as inimical to their mission. Huck insists that he can still accomplish his job and maintain his personal life, but Charlie says that Huck must “get rid of” his family, or he will do it for him. That night Huck tells Kim that they have to leave for at least a year in order to maintain their safety. Kim asks to know what Huck is involved in, but he says he cannot explain it and that she has to trust him. Before Huck can get his family to safety he is cornered by B613 agents and thrown into an oubliette-like prison by Charlie.

Harrsion, in the present-day, makes his own attempt to get through to Huck. He notes that he is a “talker” and has been able to use the power of persuasion to get himself nearly anything in life, but that he has never been able to get through to Huck. He believes that Huck’s life has been that of a “warrior” and that he has seen and done things that Harrison cannot even comprehend. Harrison admits that he has nothing to say, and that Olivia helped him realize that he has no substance to his character beyond his way with words. He decides to sit by Huck silently and allow him to clear his mind of his bout of insanity. In the past, the hatch to Huck’s prison is periodically opened and he is asked if he has a wife and child. When he answers that he does, the hatch is closed again. This is done repeatedly, making Huck more desperate and agitated each time; it continues over a periods of several months, and even Charlie is taken aback at the level of cruelty on display. In the present, Hal informs Mellie of President Grant’s whereabouts and that Olivia is scheduled to be discharged shortly. Mellie is distressed that President Grant has shown Olivia so much concern. President Grant enters her room again and tries to make amends with her, again proclaiming that he loves her. Olivia still wants nothing to do with him, angry that he placed her under video surveillance. He goes on a rant about how he deserved to be made president and that neither Olivia nor anyone else can “fix” him; he is angry that she rigged the election in an attempt to “fix” him. He asks if she still loves him and she responds, with some trepidation, that she does. She tries to rebuke him but he says he cannot exist without her by his side. He asks her to give him another chance, and they share a passionate embrace before Olivia suddenly pushes him away, saying that she cannot be with him.

President Grant returns to the White House and finds that Mellie is packing up her things. She tells him in private that she has decided to leave him, moving into the Blair House and maintaining the public appearance of their marriage. She insists on taking their son with her despite President Grant’s objections. She threatens to reveal the truth about his affair should he make any missteps with her. Cyrus calls Charlie and asks him to determine the relationship between Jake and Olivia. Jake reports to his mysterious superior, telling him that Olivia is alive and that she knows that “Albatross” is after her. His superior hopes to use Olivia to lure out “Albatross” so that he can be caught. Jake asks to be reassigned, claiming that there is a conflict of interest due to his friendship with President Grant. His superior refuses, claiming that “there is no ‘out.’” In the past, a defeated and ragged Huck is asked one last time if he has a family, and he finally responds with “no.” He is reinstated into B613 and immediately given another assignment. However, Huck cannot go through with torturing his latest victim, forcing Charlie to step in. Charlie yells at Huck to run and never return, and that if he speaks to anyone of his time in B613 he’ll kill his family. Huck flees, and Charlie reports to the head of B613 (the same man Jake reported to) that Huck was killed during his assignment.

Olivia, in the present day, returns to the Pope & Associates office and approaches Huck, still incapacitated. She puts her hand on his knee, quieting him, and recounts meeting him in the subway; she notes that ordinarily she wouldn’t have noticed him but was fascinated by the sadness she saw in his eyes. She thanks him, noting that she is “all alone” except for him, and that they exist in a similar frame of mind. She begs him to snap out of it and come back to her. Huck finally comes to, telling Olivia that he can vaguely remember his family but is unsure if they were real. Olivia assures him that they were real as long as he believes they were so, and Huck bursts into tears. Olivia helps him to his feet, and Harrison remarks that they will never know what “seven fifty-two” meant. In the past, Huck takes to living in the subway station, and believes that he sees Kim and his son getting off of a subway train. The boy rushes over to him to give him a dollar, and Huck responds only with a smile and a nod. He glances over at a clock and sees that the time is 7:52 AM. Includes commercials.

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