Scandal Episode 2.05 All Roads Lead to Fitz

At the end of "Beltway Unbuckled," we witnessed the start of a secret meeting with energy tycoon Hollis Doyle, Supreme Court Justice Verna Thornton, First Lady Mellie Grant, White House Chief of Staff Cyrus Beane and Washington's favorite fixer, Olivia Pope. They are discussing the David Rosen situation. They'll all be looking at prison time if he finds the connection between Cytron and Doyle Energy. In order to stop Hollis from "freelancing" without them, Olivia assures the group that she'll take care of David.

Governor Reston of the great state of Maryland returned home to find his wife, Joan (guest star Brenda Strong of Desperate Housewives fame), being raped by their contractor. So he shot the guy dead. Reston calls Olivia for help. These two have a rather acrimonious past. It seems Olivia derailed the governor's bid for the White House when she got Fitz elected president. The U.S. Attorney assigned to the case promises to be discreet since Reston is such a respected figure. The governor's spokesperson defies Olivia's advice by declaring her boss a hero for killing the man who was harming his wife.

The team digs into the contractor's background. Abby finds the guy's hair all over the governor's house. This wasn't a rape. The contractor was having an affair with Joan Reston, who panicked when her husband walked in on them and cried rape. The governor says he has no idea his wife was being unfaithful to him. Still, he doesn't want her to go to jail so he asks Olivia to see if there's any evidence of the affair. If there isn't, maybe it would be best to have the world keep thinking of him as a hero.

Joan lets Olivia know that her husband changed after he lost the election by a mere 4,359 votes. Reston's obsession with the defeat is what led to her having an affair. In other news, David learns he can have his job back as long as he's done obsessing about Olivia Pope. He's not sure he's going to take it though because he has a meeting at the Griddle Cafe with a former Cytron employee. This ultimately turns out to be a dead end. So, David returns to work. His first order of business is to arrest Governor Reston for murder, as there is proof of an affair. Joan can't let this happen. She offers to tell the truth that she lied about being raped.

As Reston addresses the public, Olivia finds compromising photos of his wife and the contractor. As it turns out, the gov knew about the affair all along. Reston had planned to kill his wife and her lover. He'd then turn the gun on himself. But his wife yelled "rape" and the opportunity to be a hero was too good to be true. Olivia knows she's been played. As for Governor Reston, he gloats about the murder because he knows attorney-client privileges prevent Olivia from doing anything. The guy's approval ratings are through the roof and this somewhat demented fellow is satisfied to finally have an understanding of what it feels like to win.

Cyrus is shocked to see that James got his job back as the Chief White House Correspondent for the most powerful news outlet in the nation. Hey, his hubby had to find something to do with his days since Cy refuses to cave to his desire to have a baby. Their first press conference together is, for lack of a better word, awkward. Cyrus later puts Mellie in her place when she has a chat with James. He makes it clear that she is part of whatever happened with Hollis and the others. There's simply no getting away from that.

In relationship news, Senator Edison Davis is pursuing one with Olivia. She's not ready for something like that yet, but encourages him to keep after her. She later shares some wine and quiet time with her old friend, Cyrus. Huck has a date with a nice lady in his AA group. Harrison gives him the name of a nice restaurant while Quinn fixes his hair and tie. Abby wants to make sure he doesn't lose the lady's number, so she types it on a computer sticky note. There's another note on the screen that gives her pause. It's the name of Griddle Cafe with a time listed. That's the place where David had his dead end meeting. Hmm.

Huck's dinner at the fancy restaurant is a bit awkward. He eventually takes his date to a place he likes. That would be his car, where they can watch a nice family enjoy game night through the living room window. If stalking could ever be considered sweet, this would be the case. Huck and his date manage to pull their gaze away from the window long enough to start making out.

David takes down all the postings on his big conspiracy wall. He seems ready to move on with his life. That's before Abby enters to let him know that the man he met with at the Griddle Cafe was a plant. She also learns that Quinn's boyfriend was working on a software program that was officially used on slot machines. Unofficially, it was used on voting machines. David and Abby shudder at what this could mean. They have no idea that their entire conversation is being listened in on from afar by Olivia Pope.