Scandal – Seven Fifty-Two

• Title: Scandal – Seven Fifty-Two
• tv.com: link

With Molly (Mageina Tovah) killed the same night both Olivia (Kerry Washington) and Huck (Guillermo Díaz) were attacked, Quinn (Katie Lowes), Abby (Darby Stanchfield), and Harrison (Columbus Short) redouble their efforts to find Albatross. With Huck lost in his own mind, and Olivia still in the hospital, the group tries to talk him through his odd state where all he can seem to do is rock and repeat the same phase, Seven Fifty-Two, over and over gain.

The episode includes several flashbacks to Huck’s past including , his recruitment into the CIA by a man (David Meunier) unwilling to take no for an answer, his training at the hands of Charlie (George Newbern) in torture and murder, and montages of how much Huck grew to love his work. The flashbacks also include his wife Kim (Jasika Nicole) and baby boy and how his work destroyed their lives, the months of confinement used to make him forget, and the circumstances behind him leaving the CIA and beginning his life as a ghost on the streets of Washington D.C. where Olivia found him.

Back in the present, Fitz (Tony Goldwyn) clears out the entire floor of James Madison Hospital so he can wait until Olivia, who doesn’t want to see him, is cleared to go home. Despite breaking down and admitting their true feelings towards each other, Olivia refuses to get sucked back into their relationship. Learning the whereabouts of her husband, Mellie (Bellamy Young) makes the decision to move herself and her children discreetly out of the White House and across the street until Fitz decides just what it is he really wants. After meeting Jake (Scott Foley) face-to-face, Cyrus (Jeff Perry) orders Charlie to uncover the truth about who the man really is and his relationship to Olivia Pope.

“Seven Fifty-Two” allows each of the main characters to separately pour their hearts out to Huck in an attempt to break him out of his confused state in cathardic sequences that remind us just how troubled and broken the people Olivia has saved truly are. It’s Olivia, however, who is the only one who can reach him and who forces him to admit to himself, for the first time in years, of the existence of his family. By the time the final heartbreaking flashback reveals the meaning of “Seven Fifty-Two” the show has delivered its best episode of the season.

The episode links Huck, Jake, and Charlie all with a shadowy CIA boss (Joe Morton) who reminds each of them at different times how far the agency will go to protect what belongs to them or take he necessary steps to clean up its own mess. With only two episodes left and Mellie’s ultimatum about exposing her husbands affair, Fitz has some serious choices to make regarding his relationship with Olivia before the season comes to an end. Albatross (who apparently is Charlie) still needs to be caught, and we should expect a very interesting conversation between Olivia and Jake regarding his surveillance and the truth behind his motives.