Lisa Kudrow sure is fun to watch, isn’t she? Spoilers if you haven’t watched tonight’s episode of Scandal (“Icarus”)! We saw a bit of Kudrow’s range as an actor tonight as the episode revealed her character Josie Marcus’ range of emotions. Marcus has no shortage of jokes and witty responses, but put a bit of pressure on her and she’ll flip like a switch. I have to say, it’s far more interesting seeing Olivia in her corner than it would have been had she turned Marcus down. Never mind that Olivia’s choice to work with Marcus was probably more emotional than anything else. Aren’t most of the decisions made by the characters in this series?
Here’s my prediction. Olivia works with Marcus through the primary, gets Josie Marcus the Democratic spot in the election, and then flips and goes back to working with Fitz. Let’s just assume conflict of interest doesn’t apply to the scenario or she finds some way around it. This business with Fitz and Operation Remington will be sorted out by then, won't it? Or we’ll be on a break from it or something, and Olivia and Fitz will be back on good terms. And then it’ll be all about Olivia taking down the very candidate she helped build up in the first place. That’s my current theory and I’m sticking with it. For now.
We saw Olivia use Marcus’ temper to her client’s favor by making an — obviously fake — ad to get Marcus riled up just before her big interview with James. Instead of telling some story about a drunk bison, she took James, her opponent and anyone else who doesn’t think she has the balls to be president down a peg. It was a manipulation tactic on Olivia’s part, but after Marcus resisted pretty much every bit of coaching Olivia presented to her, pulling her strings and pushing her buttons seemed like the only option, and it seems to have paid off. The end result? Lots of money for Marcus from previously hesitant backers who now feel like they have a reason to support her full-force.
The rest of the episode was jam-packed with a lot of plot set-up but few answers. Cyrus is putting pressure on Harrison and is now issuing a visa to some guy who could pose a major threat to him for some reason. Mellie’s angry that Olivia’s not working with Fitz. The Vice President is laying the groundwork to run under her own ticket, which isn’t going unnoticed by Fitz, Mellie and Cyrus. Quinn’s seeking assistance from Charlie on target practice, and she seems primed to be recruited for B613, what with her growing appetite for kill. Jake nearly got killed trying to get more information about Remington from a very pretty source who may or may not have been planning to kill him. (I really don’t trust that anything Rowan has a hand in is as we’re meant to think it is.) And Olivia didn’t have much luck getting answers of her own about Remington, but she has good reason to distrust two of the men in her life. Her father gave her “one question.” (Seriously?) And his answer to it was that he didn’t order the plane to be shot down. Again, don’t trust the guy.
Meanwhile, did it seem like the fact that Olivia’s mother was on the plan was news to Fitz when Olivia told him? With no real answers about Remington, we’re left to theorize, and you can read some of our theories here.
