Tonight on ABC Scandal starring Kerry Washington continues for another exciting episode in an all new Thursday October 9, season 4 episode 3 called, “Inside the Bubble.” On tonight’s episode Olivia’s friend seeks help when her daughter goes missing. Meanwhile, a national news story intrigues Mellie; a business breakfast gets uncomfortable for Cyrus; and David goes above and beyond to prove himself.
On the last episode, in order for Fitz to make the biggest impact with his State of the Union address on gun control, Cyrus set out to recruit a power couple (Mary McCormick and Josh Randall) who were influential on the issue. Meanwhile, Mellie’s personal struggles got national attention. Did you watch the last episode? If you missed it, we have a full and detailed recap right here for you.
On tonight’s episode an old friend (Sonya Walger) returns for help after her daughter goes missing, Cyrus has an awkward run in during a business breakfast, and Jake uses his connections to get some answers. Meanwhile, Mellie becomes obsessed with a national news story and David goes to great lengths to prove himself.
Tonight’s episode of SCANDAL is going to be absolutely incredible and you won’t want to miss even a minute. We’ll be recapping it for you here live. In the meantime hit up the comments and tell us how excited you are for this fourth season!
Tonight’s episode begins now – Refresh Page for Updates
At Colchester Academy, Lizzie drops off her son. Dale, a lobbyist and fellow parent hassles her about David getting pushed through as AG. She says she’s meeting with Sparks in an hour and has backup plans galore. She says she has it covered. Cyrus greets Michael who is at a restaurant and seems surprised. Michael says he’s not stalking him – he’s meeting with his B school friends. He gets pissy and says he knows more than whores and is more than a whore. He asks him to leave so his friends won’t find out how he pays tuition. Cyrus is shamed and walks off.
A guy videos himself at Yosemite National Park – with his buddy Kurt. He says it’s day five of their trip. They see in the background a woman push a guy off the cliff. Mellie comes in and sees it and asks about the case. Abby asks if there’s anything she can do for her. Mellie tells her to go answer her phone. She does.
David talks to Fitz about his gun control legislation and says Sparks is the swing vote. The Prez says he’s counting on him and he smiles. Cyrus tells him it must feel good to be inside the bubble. Olivia shows up to see her dad. He asks if she’s in trouble or being forced to come there. She insists it’s just a stop by – she even brought him a coffee.
He offers to fix her breakfast but she says it’s just a hello. He says re-entry is hard from deep cover – he says she’s not a spy, but it’s the same idea. She says everything seems colder and he says he was cold to start with so he must feel familiar to her. She says it’s an adjustment and he reminds her she has Jake and says he knows what it’s like. He tells her to bring Jake over for dinner and says he’ll learn to like him.
Olivia says she’ll ask but gets a call from Abby. She says Catherine Winslow is looking for her because Caitlin didn’t come home last night. Abby tells her not to go full Olivia and she tells her to mind her business. Olivia shows up with Quinn to Catherine’s place. She thanks her for coming. Olivia compliments the mega mansion. She tells Quinn that Olivia looks amazing and always has.
Catherine says she and Caitlin had a fight after dinner the night before. Huck asks if this is normal. She says she’s run away before but not for this long. Olivia calls Jake and says she has to work late. She asks him to dinner with her dad and he says he’s command. He says if she was his girlfriend he would come to dinner but says she’s not, so no. He tells her to call later if she wants him to do that thing.
Jake walks up on a guy getting candy from the vending machine. It’s stuck. Jake tells him to use his head and cracks the guy’s skull into the machine then takes his Hershey bar that fell loose, takes a nibble and smiles. Mellie sits watching a news story on the cliff pushing bride. She has her laptop in her lap as Fitz comes in. He says they are calling her the Killer Cliff Bride.
She says she’s researching it and trying to figure out if she did it or not. He offers to take her to the cemetery but she says she’s going to stay here. Fitz is pleased. Quinn puts up the data on Caitlin. She’s a great kid, high grades, first chair in band. Huck says no emails to her dad or mom and her phone has been off since yesterday. Jeremy, the dad, runs a powerful law firm.
Huck hacked her voice mail and found a message from Darren, her recent ex boyfriend. There are selfies with her and her friend Faith, her BFF. She hasn’t seen or heard from her but says she’s busy. Olivia finds this odd and thinks Faith is covering for her. Huck hacks Faith’s credit cards and finds a room charge to the Taft.
Charlie wakes up lying naked on a plastic tarp. Jake has a torture kit. He says he knew Charlie had Harrison in the Adnan in the trunk on Rowan’s orders. Charlie says torture won’t work on him. He says he’ll tell him what he wants to talk. David is pitching to Sparks for the gun control legislation. He says they want to protect the spirit of the Constitution but in modern times with considerations to protect public safety. Sparks says the Elliott Gun Control Act isn’t as clear as David’s vision and seems unconstitutional.
Catherine asks Olivia if Abby is happy at the White House and says they don’t talk much. She asks if Olivia is dating and she says she doesn’t have time. Quinn calls and says Caitlin is at the Taft. Catherine says she’ll go there herself. She tells Quinn she can head home but Quinn gets a call from Jake. She shows up to where he asked and he tells her he wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.
She was Charlie’s one condition. He says he has three hours but Charlie wants the whole night. Jake agrees and locks here in with the guy. Charlie smiles and calls her Robin. He tells her she looks good, stronger and tougher. She says nothing at first. She asks why he asked for a night with her in a cage. She asks what he thought would happen.
She asks if he thought she’d want him back and he says she’s used merchandise and she says no, you want me. She says he was hoping she’d rip off her clothes and beg him to take her. She says being summoned there makes her feel sorry for him. He goes after her and she knocks him down and chokes him out. She thanks him for making her stronger.
He says he could have anything he wanted but wanted her and says no one else does, nobody. He coughs from the choking. Abby comes to see Mellie and she says she needs her to arrange a trip to Yosemite. She says she thinks the guy slipped and she was trying to save him and thinks she can prove it. Abby says a trip to Yosemite will be distracting with the whole gun control issue.
Mellie tells her to fly Jeff there instead. Abby comes to see Cyrus and says park rangers are flying in. He tells Abby to mind her own business and leave Mellie alone. Michael calls for Cyrus and he says he’s stalking him. Cyrus apologizes for upsetting him at breakfast. Michael asks if he’s single. He says yes then Cyrus asks why. He says he’s powerful, successful and sweet so he’s surprised.
They flirt then Michael ends the call leaving Cyrus wanting more. Abby comes to see Fitz and tells him his wife has become obsessed with the Killer Cliff Bride and is making demands. Fitz yells at her to give Mellie what she wants and she leaves chastened. David comes to see Fitz and says he thinks they’re going to lose. Fitz says he’s lost too much and needs this all to have a point.
He rants a bit and David stands silent. Fitz finally says he’s sure he did his best. He says their best isn’t enough with these gun people. He thanks David for his efforts. David goes back to his secret files. He pulls out one and stares at it. He puts it in his briefcase. Olivia lies asleep with her mask on when Huck wakes her up and says – sex tape.
He says he found one on Caitlin’s laptop that was deleted. It was Catherine sleeping with Caitlin’s boyfriend. He found a voice mail on Catherine’s phone from Caitlin calling her mom a pedo and saying she’s going to tell her dad about her sleeping with her boyfriend. Olivia shows up to the morgue and finding Catherine crying as she identifies Caitlin’s dead body – she was shot in the chest. Olivia asks to speak to her alone and slams her into wall and demands to know what she did.
Catherine asks what she means and Olivia says she knows about her and the boyfriend and calls her sick. She tells Catherine to look at her and asks if she had her find Caitlin so she could kill her. Catherine begs her to destroy the video and says Jeremy can’t find out. Olivia says she can’t and won’t find out. Jeremy shows up and she embraces him as he cries over his daughter.
Charlie and Quinn lie on the floor and he says being a super-spy is lonely. He says torture is a single man’s game. He says there’s less work with a liberal, above-board president. He says he’s lonely and empty without her. He says there’s a hollow space him now. He asks if she ever feels like that. She says no, she has people so she doesn’t get lonely. She says she has Liv and Huck, Abby and Jake. He says okay. She rolls over to face him and says she’s sorry he misses her, but she’s not like him.
He touches her face then kisses her. She grabs him and pulls him to her but then the door opens. Jake says time’s up and he asks if he got what he needed. She goes to walk away and Charlie says he’s there if she ever gets lonely. Jake tells him now he has to tell him everything. Abby comes to Olivia’s door and asks if she’s investigating then rattles off a list of stuff to do.
Olivia says she can’t discuss the case and says she’s not on the case anymore anyway. Abby says Catherine was their friend. Abby gets pissy and says she’ll call Catherine herself. She stalks off. Olivia closes the door. She next goes to Jake’s. He has the chain on the door and says he’s working. She says he doesn’t have a job. She asks him to let her in then asks if there’s a woman in there.
He says she’s in love with another man and only shows up to have great sex with him. She asks why he’s picking a fight with her. She says she invited him to dinner at her dad’s and he said no so they’re done. He slams the door in her face. David finds Sparks at the hot dog cart and asks what the NRA offered him. Sparks says he’ll rule the same way he always has – by the law and his conscience.
David tells him he knows he killed a woman and her child in a hit and run and fled the scene because he was drunk. He says he’s sending it to the Times unless he votes the right way on the gun law. David smirks and walks away. After the court upholds the bill, David is greeted with cheers at his office. David says it’s a victory for the American people.
Fitz is thrilled with him. Abby interrupts to tell him the First Lady’s meeting is beginning but he dismisses her. Catherine tells Olivia she’s going to be an official suspect and Olivia says she can’t do anything without the truth. Catherine says she was bored and made a mistake sleeping with a 17 year old then says Caitlin found out.
She says she knows she was sleazy but says she’s not a killer. They work the case and Quinn asks if they didn’t notice she was gone for 24 hours. She rants at her and Huck and says they didn’t even notice she was gone and says it was unacceptable and says that’s how Harrison dies. She says if one of them goes missing for a day, the others need to freaking look for them.
Jeff, the investigator on the cliff killer case shows up, and is shocked to see who all Mellie pulled together. She says they’ve all seen the video but that she didn’t kill him and says it’s physically impossible. She had NASA draw up a diagram showing the difference between where the victim would have fallen if he had tripped versus been pushed.
Mellie has a packet with info from the surgeon general. Fitz shows up and is surprised to see most of his cabinet. Abby says this was the meeting she wanted. Mellie asks him to sit. Jeff tells her she’s right and says two eye witnesses came forward and confirmed that he fell. He says she’s right. Mellie seems taken aback that her momentum was short circuited. She says that’s wonderful news.
She says he can take all her reports with him if it might be helpful. Abby gestures with her phone and says the First Lady is expected at a meeting and they have to cut this short. Mellie pauses but then takes the cue to exit gracefully.
Cyrus finds Michael at the bar and he jokes if he’s stalking him now. He asks to buy Michael a drink but the guy says he knows he wants what he was fantasizing about. Cyrus says he doesn’t pay for sex and Michael says he’s paying for privacy and discretion. He tells Cyrus they can go upstairs and replace that dry lump in his throat with something much more satisfying.
Abby comes into the Oval Office and Fitz hands her a drink. They drink and he tells her it’s 76 year old Scotch. She says it’s the second best Scotch in the world and she can get him the best – says she can call the Queen. He apologizes for yelling at her and underestimating her. She says he owes her an apology for not learning her name. He claps her on the arm and tells her to have a seat. She does.
He thanks her for handling the thing with Mellie. He asks if she’s talked to Olivia and asks how she is and how she’s doing. Abby says she’s really good. She seems disappointed that’s what he wanted to talk about. Olivia gets a call from Jake. He says he’s in for dinner with her dad. She thanks him and asks if he’s sure it’s okay to see her dad. He says it’ll be good to see him again.
Quinn works when Huck comes in – he says he’ll look for her next time she goes MIA. She thanks him. He leaves and she smiles. Mellie lies on the sofa curled up in the fetal position. David’s assistant says Sparks is dead, an apparent suicide, gunshot to the head. She says it’s ironic that he killed himself with a gun. David looks very thoughtful.
Jake eats in silence and finally Rowan asks how the food is. He says he used coffee grinds in the rub. Jake says it’s delicious but isn’t talking much. Olivia gets a call from Huck and leaves the room. Rowan thanks Jake for keeping Olivia safe and says it’s comforting knowing she’s in good hands. Jake asks why he killed Harrison. He asks if he figured out that Rowan killed the President’s son.
Jake tells him to shut up and says he’s no longer head of B613. He says he can pack up and leave and says once he shows Olivia proof that he killed her friend and the President’s son, she won’t be happy. He tells him he knows a nice island he can go to. Rowan says he’ll be standing over him when he dies and he can trust him on that. He nearly stabs him in the hand with a carving knife.
Olivia comes back in and says she has to go. Jake says that’s too bad since he was enjoying getting to know her dad. Rowan says they can do it again since he’s not going anywhere. Jake offers a dry laugh at his defiance. Olivia comes in and Huck shows her Caitlin arguing and fighting with a man at her dad’s law firm. The news shows that Catherine was arrested. They ran facial recognition but can’t see who it was Caitlin was arguing with.
Cyrus pays Michael who says next time he’ll be a pro – it’s just awkward the first time you pay. He asks Cyrus if there will be a next time and says he knows where to find him. Lizzie drops her daughter off at school and turns to find Michael there. He says hook line and sinker. Jake watches Rowan get into his limo with his security team as he lurks nearby.
THE END!
