SCANDAL: THE PRICE OF FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS {SEASON THREE FINALE} (TV)
Summary
One in this drama/political thriller about the Pope & Associates crisis management firm in Washington D.C.
Cyrus continues to stall President Grant to prevent him from attending the funeral. Rowan is admitted into the emergency room to treat his stab wounds. Cyrus nearly tells President Grant about the bomb threat, but Jake bursts in to the Oval Office to tell him himself. The bomb threat is discovered and the police evacuate the church. President Grant watches the proceedings go off midway through the evacuation, and a number of people are caught in the blast. President Grant orders a full security sweep and soon discovers that Vice-President Langston is alive. Leo advises Langston not to leave and believes that if she stays and helps the survivors that it would be a great boost to her polls. She agrees and rushes back to the church. Olivia bursts into President Grant’s meeting and demands that he get into the briefing room, and she secretly tells him and Jake that Maya stabbed Rowan. Olivia believes that President Grant must act quickly in order to save his reelection. Olivia’s efforts are undermined when the networks put the press conference on split-screen with footage of Langston tending to wounded survivors, and eventually drop the press conference altogether.
As Langston speaks to the press at the church and leads them in prayer for those who perished in the bombing, Olivia confers with Cyrus. They are convinced that Langston’s much-publicized heroism has made it impossible for President Grant to get reelected no matter what they do. Olivia visits Rowan in the hospital as he recovers from his injuries. She tells him about the situation and he wishes he were able to do something; he notes that despite his dislike for President Grant he wants Olivia to be happy and genuinely loves her. Salif prepare to shoot Harrison, as he knows too much about Maya’s plans, but Harrison claims that he will remain quiet about them in order to save both himself and her. She releases him and reconvenes back at the Pope & Associates offices with Abby. As they try to figure out what to do about Maya, they accidentally walk in on Huck and Quinn having sex, much to the embarrassment of all concerned parties. David confronts Jake about not revealing that Cyrus allowed the bomb to detonate, enraged that Jake would allow innocent people to die in this fashion. Jake believes that his wish to reveal the truth is pointless but David appeals to Jake’s subsumed sense of morality. Charlie is upset that Quinn has decided to be with Huck and he leaves, but not before giving Quinn an envelope to deliver to Huck, claiming that its contents will ruin their relationship.
That night, Olivia reviews President Grant’s reconciliation speech and he believes that once he loses he will be able to divorce Mellie and fulfill his dream of moving to Vermont with Olivia. However, Olivia becomes uncomfortable when he claims that he has “no allegiance” to Mellie and that she never truly loved him. She tells President Grant about her accidental discovery that Mellie was raped by his father over fifteen years ago. He does not believe her at first, but soon confronts Mellie about it directly and tries to give her some measure of comfort. Leo and Cyrus share a drink together and Cyrus essentially concedes to him and tells him to try to maintain his “soul” once he has the job. Quinn reveals to Huck what she learned from Charlie: she has discovered where Huck’s family lives and takes him there, giving him some facts about their lives. Quinn claims that she loves Huck and wanted him to know about them, but Huck is confused and angry at this. He says he wants nothing more to do with Quinn and storms off. Olivia opts not to join President Grant at his campaign headquarters, and he says that he will miss her. She also tells President Grant not to leave Mellie, as she wouldn’t be able to love him back if he did so knowing about Mellie’s past.
Olivia visits her father again but finds that Maya is sitting beside his bed. She claims that her plan was all for Olivia’s benefit, claiming that President Grant does not truly care about her. During President Grant’s speech, Fitzgerald IV suddenly starts coughing up blood and collapses onstage. He is rushed to the hospital and suffers a seizure, and he soon dies from what appears to be bacterial meningitis. Olivia and Cyrus now believe that the sympathy from American voters towards President Grant will ensure that he is re-elected. Cyrus confesses to Olivia that he chose not to stop the bomb from going off at the church. The secret service discovers that Fitzgerald IV was infected with a very specific variety of meningitis; a vial of the particular strain went missing from a government facility earlier that week, suggesting that Fitzgerald IV was murdered. Rowan, still hooked up to an IV, confronts President Grant in the hallway. He tells Rowan that Maya is apparently the one responsible for killing his son. Rowan offers to help President Grant kill Maya in revenge, feeling sympathy for him as a father, and President Grant accepts his offer. He tells Olivia about what he has learned and she bursts into tears.
Polling shifts in favor of President Grant following the death of his son. President Grant speaks to Mellie, who regrets not being more involved in Fitzgerald IV’s life due to her fear that she was the product of her being raped. Huck tells Olivia that Quinn found his family, and Olivia recommends that he try to make contact with them, although he feels that this would be a bad idea; he thinks that it would be better if they continue to believe that he is dead in order to keep them safe. Rowan checks himself out of the hospital and begins the search for Maya, refusing to give Olivia any information about it so she can “stay clean.” Olivia asks Rowan if he can still arrange for her to leave the country and start a new life, and she strongly considers doing so. She tells Abby about it, and Abby is incensed at the news. She refuses to believe that Olivia would quit, but Olivia says that is what she intends to do. Abby feels as though Olivia is betraying them by leaving, especially after everything they’ve done for her. Rowan finds Harrison and demands that he tell everything he knows about Maya and Salif. Harrison refuses, but changes his mind when Rowan presents him with evidence that Salif has been murdered by Maya. Jake visits Olivia, incredulous that she quit Pope & Associates. Olivia believes that she is responsible for the death and misery of those she cares about and believes that they will all be better off if she leaves. Jake asks to come with her so that he can start a new life as well.
With Harrison’s assistance, Rowan’s people are able to apprehend Maya. Rowan calls President Grant and claims that Maya is now dead. Harrison finds out that Olivia has left and confronts Rowan about it, asking him to stop her from leaving. Rowan believes that this will not be necessary; in exchange for capturing Maya, President Grant reinstated B613 and put Rowan back in charge of it. Harrison suddenly realizes that Maya did not have the proper motivation to kill Fitzgerald IV and that Rowan must be the one truly responsible for it, and for Olivia’s departure and his newfound favor with President Grant. Rowan admits to this, noting that it was all done to satisfy Olivia’s wish that President Grant got reelected and that there was a “price” for it. Harrison also deduces that Rowan is the one who killed Salif in order to secure his cooperation. Rowan reveals that he used Agent Larsen to secretly inject the meningitis strain into Fitzgerald IV. Cyrus tells President Grant that the electoral vote makeup suggests that President Grant has won the election. He goes off the Oval Office alone and drops to his knees, sobbing. Olivia and Jake board Rowan’s plane together. David receives boxes filled with B613 files with a note from Jake instructing him to “go get the bad guys.” Huck ultimately decides to speak to his family, and Kim is shocked to see him at the door. Rowan apparently has Harrison killed, and it turns out that Maya is alive and being held in B613’s custody. President Grant tries to call Olivia as the plane takes off, but chooses not to answer her phone. Includes commercials.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: April 17, 2014 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:59:56
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 115756
- 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:
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- TV – Commercials – Ace hardware store
- TV – Commercials – Ameriprise financial services
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- TV – Commercials – “Heaven is For Real” motion picture
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- TV – Commercials – “Neighbors” motion picture
- TV – Commercials – “Ride Along” home video release
- TV – Commercials – “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” motion picture
- TV – Commercials – “The Other Woman” motion picture
- TV – Commercials – “Transcendence” motion picture
- TV – Promos – “2014 Billboard Music Awards”
- TV – Promos – “Black Box”
- TV – Promos – “Grey’s Anatomy”
- TV – Promos – “In My Dreams”
- TV – Promos – “Jimmy Kimmel Live”
- TV – Promos – “Last Man Standing”
- TV – Promos – “Modern Family”
- TV – Promos – “Once Upon a Time”
- TV – Promos – “Rising Star”
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CREDITS
- Betsy Beers … Executive Producer
- Shonda Rhimes … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Mark Wilding … Executive Producer, Writer
- Mark Driscoll … Co-Executive Producer
- Allen Heinberg … Co-Executive Producer
- Peter Nowalk … Co-Executive Producer
- Mark Fish … Co-Executive Producer
- Judy Smith … Co-Executive Producer
- Tom Verica … Co-Executive Producer, Director
- Heather Mitchell … Supervising Producer
- Scott Collins … Producer
- Merri D. Howard … Producer
- Noah Esvlin … Co-Producer
- Holden Chang … Associate Producer
- Peter Noah … Consulting Producer
- Jenna Bans … Consulting Producer
- Chad Fischer … Music by
- Kerry Washington … Cast, Olivia Pope
- Columbus Short … Cast, Harrison Wright
- Scott Foley … Cast, Jake Ballard
- Darby Stanchfield … Cast, Abby Whelan
- Katie Lowes … Cast, Quinn Perkins
- Guillermo Diaz … Cast, Huck
- Jeff Perry … Cast, Cyrus Beene
- Joshua Malina … Cast, David Rosen
- Bellamy Young … Cast, Mellie Grant
- Tony Goldwyn … Cast, President Fitzgerald Grant III
- Jon Tenney … Cast, Governor Andrew Nichols
- Dylan Minnette … Cast, Fitzgerald Grant IV
- Kate Burton … Cast, Vice-President Sally Langston
- George Newbern … Cast, Charlie
- Khandi Alexander … Cast, Maya Pope
- Nazanin Boniadi … Cast, Adnan Salif
- Madeline Carroll … Cast, Karen Grant
- Mackenzie Astin … Cast, Male Anchor
- Jasika Nicole … Cast, Kim
- Brian Letscher … Cast, Tom Larsen
- Paul Adelstein … Cast, Leo Bergen
- Joe Morton … Cast, Rowan Pope
- Eben Ham … Cast, Tanner Shaw
- David Grant Wright … Cast, FBI Director Foster
- Kimrie Lewis-Davis … Cast, Lisa Campbell
- Deborah Geffner … Cast, Homeland Security Chief
- Barry Levy … Cast, Secret Service Agent #2
- Erica Shaffer … Cast, News Anchor
- Jack Guzman … Cast, Secret Service Agent
- Deb Hiett … Cast, Local Politician
- Brandon Morales … Cast, Secret Service Agent #1
- Roderick McCarthy … Cast, Secret Service Agent #3
- Adam Burch … Cast, Reporter
- Hilary Pingle … Cast, Paramedic
- Eddie Jackson … Cast, Secret Service Agent Director
- Johnny Todd … Cast, Delivery Man