Scandal recap: Episode 6 – “Icarus”

Scandal recap: Episode 6 – “Icarus”

Before I start the Scandal recap, I want to explain the story of Icarus. In Greek mythology, Icarus was the son of a master craftsman, Daedalus. Daedalus offered Icarus a pair of wings made of feathers and wax in an attempt to escape together from the island of Crete. The only rules for Icarus were that he fly not too close to the sun or sea and that he follow the path of his father. However, due to Icarus’s excitement from flying, Icarus curiously flew away from his father and drifted toward the sun. The sun melted the wax on his wings and he began to fall. When Icarus tried to flap his wings, he realized that all he was flapping were his bare arms, and he drowned in the sea. The moral of the story is to not be overambitious.

Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) is beginning take the real-life form of Icarus in her quest to learn more about why her mother died and the role that Operation Remington had. The problem is, like Icarus, she was continuously reminded throughout the episode that the matters she was getting into were off limits. She rushed into the Oval Office to ask President Grant (Tony Goldwyn) about the operation which he reiterated multiple times that he didn’t know what she was talking about. She also made a drunken call to her father, Eli Pope (Joe Morton), learning that he did not make the call to shoot the plane down and that she should stay out of matters that don’t concern herself. I’m assuming that whoever decided to shoot the plane down would ruin Olivia mentally.

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On the campaign forefront, Josephine Marcus (Lisa Kudrow), in what looks to be Pope & Associates’ main client for the rest of Season 3, continued her campaign for presidency. However, there were many times that she needed to be pushed by Olivia and Abby (Darby Stanchfield). At first she didn’t want to talk to PAC’s, but they convinced Josephine that it would be the only way to get campaign funds. They also noticed how angry Josephine became when they pushed her to respond to questions in certain ways. Olivia and Abby decided to show her a commercial before a big interview in order to make her look aggressive and strong for the American viewing public. However, her sister realized that Abby was the actor in the commercial and that the commercial was fake.

Harrison (Columbus Short) is beginning have a bigger role in the show. For a character who hasn’t been at the forefront of an episode all season, his role looks to be expanding with the introduction of Adnan Salif. Cyrus (Jeff Perry) told him that this Salif character would return to the United States if Harrison wasn’t able to convince Olivia to quit working with Josephine Marcus’s campaign. Salif’s relation to Harrison wasn’t revealed in the episode, but Harrison did mention that Salif would kill him if he could get back into the country. However, Harrison decided not to help Cyrus, and instead made it impossible for Salif to get a visa, or so he thought. Cyrus called one of his associates, and told them to make a special visa for Salif to get back into the country.

I have a feeling that Eli Pope is hoping that Quinn Perkins (Lindsay Dwyer) will work for B13. I feel like they understand her talents (the fact that she’s qualified enough to work for Pope @ Associates, her gun use and interest in killing) and want to utilize those. I also feel like there is a character from Operation Remington that has yet to make an appearance. The episode flashed back to the day when Eli learned of his wife’s death, showing Eli visibly depressed as he watched the news highlights of the downed plane. As hardened and ruthless as he is, I can’t see him killing his own wife, unless he was forced to let the situation happen by someone else in Remington.

Potential Stories for New Episode

  • How Eli Pope plans to utilize Quinn
  • The future appearance of Adnan Salif
  • The motives for Josephine’s sister in the campaign

Memorable Quote

Jake (Scott Foley) about the president and getting information about Remington from him:

“We’re going after the most dangerous person in the world. How hard can that be?”

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Scandal Season 3, Episode 6: “Icarus” — Eric McCandless/ABC