07x18 - Over A Cliff

Episode transcripts for the TV show "Scandal". Aired: April 2012 to April 2018.*
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A White House Communications Director leaves to start her own crisis management firm only to discover she has not left the past behind.
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07x18 - Over A Cliff

Post by bunniefuu »

You're not going to investigate, are you?

I'm too compromised.

I'd be a liability.

Why drag me out here in the middle of the night if you're not even gonna...

You know what?

Never mind.

You've already wasted too much of my time.

Ms.

Pope.

What if I can get you a Senate hearing?

Something with scope, resources.

Can you make that happen?

I can...but I need you to make me a promise.

I need you to guarantee that if Mellie Grant stays President, she'll make g*n control a priority.

g*n control?

g*n control.

If Jake Ballard and Cyrus Beene go to jail and B613 is gotten rid of, yes, I can promise you that g*n control will move to the top of the Grant administration agenda.

Thank you.

What are you doing?

I'm getting you your Senate hearing.

No, Lonnie!

Liberty Lovers, our brethren in the U.S.

Senate have just this morning formed a select committee...

the sole purpose of which is to investigate B613.

Sadly, it took the su1c1de of Mr. Lonnie Mencken to make this happen.

Mencken's death sent shock waves through the capital, confirming once and for all that we've got rats in our nation's basements.

Fear no more, Liberty Lovers.

Mama's calling the exterminator.

It's k*lling time.

The questions raised by Sally Langston and the death of Lonnie Mencken are very serious questions.

As head of the select committee, it is my sworn duty to get America some answers.

Now, if that means questioning old political rivals, so be it.

We need to create k*ll folders on every single member of that committee.

What are you so worked up about?

Lonnie's dead.

His conscience won't be a problem anymore.

The select committee...

The select committee has no teeth without the backing of the Justice Department.

Jake, who runs the Justice Department?!

No.

No, he had to recuse himself.

That's the old playing field.

This is a brand-new game we're playing.

It's not just about the hijacking anymore.

It's about B613, which means...

David Rosen is back in charge.

That's why I'm so worked up.

They've scheduled a closed-door session tomorrow.

You and everyone else they've subpoenaed will testify before the committee's 15 members.

Once everyone's been questioned, they'll make the recommendations to me as to which charges should be filed.

We'll keep our answers short and straightforward.

1/10th of what we know should be enough to force them to take on B613.

What happens to Jake and Cyrus?

Exposing B613 means exposing Jake and Cyrus, so...

So they're screwed?

Not a legal term, but, yes, they will be screwed.

And the rest of us?

We're confessing to some bad things...

some of those things really bad.

Like really, really bad.

Does that mean we're screwed, too?

Why did you summon me here?

I'm the one.

I exposed B613, Sally Langston, the committee...

That all started with me.

Hmm.

Then now you're going to testify?

Yes.

- Do you want my blessing?

- No...

- Good.

- ...I want your help.

- Ha!

My help.

- You can join us.

You can be on the right side of this.

You can help hand this country back to the people.

What's this?

The deed to my house, keys to a safety-deposit box in Alexandria, offshore account number for a trust I've set up for you and your child.

Why are you giving this to me?

I'm leaving, Olivia.

You want to fix this, fix it yourself.

What do you want from me?

This is my chance to start over, to live in the light, stand in my truth, and become the person you raised...

someone you could be proud of.

The person I raised doesn't hold out her hands and smile when she's being shackled.

That's what a sl*ve does.

- Dad, y...

- Stop talking!

Watching my child enslave herself in order to fix massa's problem, this unyielding desire of hers to fix everybody else's problem...

What did I do wrong?

What you did, Dad, was the very same thing all those years of protecting the Republic, doing their dirty work for their government...

That was you leading by example.

So tell me, what's the difference?

It wasn't their government.

It was mine.

I was in charge, I made the rules, but I stayed in the shadows.

Why?

Because in the end, they don't care what happens to us.

You think because they pet you on the head and tell you that you're smart and pretty that you matter to them?!

You are in the light so that they can stay in the dark.

After this investigation is over, no one will be in the shadows.

No more tricks, no more dirty, little secrets, no more B613... everyone equal.

And this country will be better for it.

You sure about that?

We're live outside the Capitol, where we're just hours away from today's closed-door committee hearing.

We don't know exactly who's testifying, but if rumors are true, some D.C.'s highest and mightiest have some serious explaining to do about this so-called B613.

Madam President, I'll...

Wow.

With everything that's going on, the National Portrait Gallery decided to postpone the unveiling, so...

I had them send mine over in the meantime.

It's beautiful.

Isn't me.

That is a portrait of the First Lady of the United States of America in 100 years.

That's the only Mellie Grant anyone will see.

You are the President of the United States.

People will know who you are and what you've done.

They will know I was impeached.

Once I have testified, the House will impeach me, and the Democratic Senate will throw me out.

Those are the facts.

That's the end of my story.

Mellie, I...

Marcus, I didn't invite you here for a pity party.

I wanted to you tell you...

It's funny how much time I've spent trying to make all the right moves, being afraid of making a mistake, afraid to just...

be here...

with you.

Oh, my God.

There, it's straight.

Thanks.

Quinn...

I have a baby.

I'm voluntarily marching myself into prison, and my baby hasn't even taken her first steps yet, spoken her first word.

I'm gonna miss it...

all of it.

Robin's about to grow up with a couple cons for parents.

I watch enough reality TV.

I know how that turns out.

That's why you're doing this.

You're doing this for Robin - so that she...

- Shut up!

Look, I'm sorry, but seriously, I mean, shut up.

I don't need to be talked into it.

I'm in...

clearly.

I just...

I'm scared.

I need Charlie.

He doesn't even know I'm doing this.

At least you don't have to worry about him ever leaving you or moving onto someone, you know, not in jail.

Moving on?

What are you talking about?

I'm sure you'll be nice at first, but what about a few months when I'm covered in prison tats and you're tired of talking to me through a thick pane of bulletproof glass?

You'll start visiting once a week, then only on my birthday, and then not at all.

And one day, I'll read you married Jennifer, a nice Jewish girl your nana just loves.

I have to talk in front of 15 people!

The cars are here.

The Select Committee will proceed now with the first witness in our inquiry into the existence and activity of government agency B-6-1-3.

Will you please state your name for the record?

- My name is...

- Thomas Larsen.

- Diego Muñoz.

- Abby Whelan.

Quinn Perkins, previously known as Lindsay Dwyer.

Fitzgerald Grant.

Melody Grant.

My name?

Ain't nobody within 20 klicks of the Potomac don't know Hollis Doyle by sight or sound.

And you know that Jake Ballard assassinated President Rashad because you saw him do it?

I know he k*lled Rashad because I ordered him to do it.

And how many killings were you ordered to carry out on behalf of B613?

One.

A lot.

I was aware of B613, yes.

Yes.

That's correct.

And Cyrus Beene personally ordered you to k*ll Governor Frankie Vargas?

He's too smart to leave a trail, too crafty, too...

evil.

Fake hijacking?

Damn.

That's good.

Compared to that, all I did was tilt a few pinball machines at the arcade.

Cyrus Beene staged the hijacking of Air Force Two for his own political benefit.

Then he, along with Jake Ballard, proceeded to frame President Mellie Grant.

There's no evidence linking Cyrus to the hijacking, but there is evidence of a coverup.

- used Jake Ballard...

- the future of everyone...

I made sure that the hacker's code trail linking Charlie...

- must be stopped.

- I plead the Fifth, the First, the Second...

hell, every damn amendment.

Any further questions, talk to my lawyer, or y'all can come find me at the Gettysburger down on D and 8th.

So what now?

Now we wait.

When the committee's done deliberating, they'll reach out to me with their recommendations.

Since that could mean jail time for some of you, I'd use the next 24 hours to get my affairs in order and say my goodbyes.

Any questions?

No questions, but we do have a favor to ask.

Come here.

Uh, we...

we only have 10 minutes.

How's Robin?

Oh, she's...

she's great.

She's smiling.

Oh, she's smiling.

Oh, that's fantastic.

I'm gonna be ex*cuted, right?

That's why you're all here?

I'm a dead man walking.

No, you're not going to be ex*cuted.

I testified about B613 this morning.

- We all did.

- Everything's out in the open.

Oh.

So you're being ex*cuted.

No one's being ex*cuted.

Not today at least.

Just shut up and let me marry you.

Okay, this might be our last chance to make it official...

you and me.

So...

what do you say?

Will you marry me?

I see.

Yes.

Of course, yes!

Okay.

- Dearly beloved, we...

- Wait, is this gonna be offish?

Yes.

I registered online.

Um, we are gathered here today to witness the union of two people whose love for each other has been an inspiration to all of us.

Do you...

legal name, please.

Charlie's fine.

Bernard.

Bernard Gusky.

Your name's Bernard?

It's a family name.

It's a good name.

And do you, Bernard, take Quinn to be your lawfully-wedded wife?

I do.

You're not Robin, Quinn.

You're Batman.

Do you, Quinn, take Bernard to be your lawfully-wedded husband?

I do.

And I promise to never hack you without cause, to help you hide the bodies, no questions asked, and to always have your six till the day I die for real.

By the power vested in me, it my great honor to pronounce you husband and wife.

You may kiss the bride.

Bernard?

Really?

How did Huck do?

No, I'm not jealous, I'm just sad that I missed it.

Abby, I'll call you back.

You look happy.

That's unfortunate.

The sky is falling...

literally falling...

and you are...

happy.

One, the sky isn't literally falling because if...

Whatever.

Two, I'm just doing my job.

I always liked you, David.

You seem smart.

You're not gonna flatter me into sparing you.

I'm not being literal.

I'm threatening you.

Imagine the g*n in my waistband was no longer in my waistband...

it was pointing at your head.

Familiar?

And I say something like, "I always liked you, David.

You seem smart." Yeah.

That's it.

That's the look I remember after I sh*t your pal, James.

Then I ask one more time, "Are you smart, David?" What are you doing?

Not giving in...

not backing down, not running.

You're not gonna sh**t me in the back like you did James Novak.

I'd prefer you didn't sh**t me in the face.

Believe it or not, I'm kind of vain, but I can only control what I can control.

- Are you ready to die?

- No!

What?!

What kind of crazy person is ready to die?!

I'm just...

I'm just sick of all this.

And I'm supposed to cry and run because I'm your bitch?

But I'm not your bitch, Jake Ballard.

I...am...

not...

your...

bitch!

I'm the Attorney General of the United States.

I'm the bitch of the United States of America, and this is me acting like it.

You sound ridiculous.

Why would you get it?

What do you stand for?

What do you care about?

W-W...

Who cares about you, huh?

Seriously, who cares about you?

Who would miss you?

Shut up, Rosen.

People will miss me.

They care about me.

There are people out there that I love.

What do you love?

Who do you love?

Shut up!

You know what you are?

You're the bitch.

You're always someone's bitch.

This time it's Cyrus Rutherford Beene.

So go ahead.

Do what Daddy told you to do.

Or...

you could try on the white hat.

For the first time in your life, you could see how it feels.

You could decide to care about something for no other reason than because it's the right thing to do.

I'm grabbing my stuff.

I'm leaving.

So whatever.

sh**t me in the back if you really want.

It's kind of your thing, I guess.

So...

So what?

Did you pay our little friend a visit?

I went to see Rosen, yeah.

And?

And I'm going home.

I'm sorry?

Did you really not hear what I said?

I'm confused.

Did you take care of our David Rosen problem or not?

Ballard?!

Get your hand off me.

You couldn't do it?

You backed down?

You couldn't man up?

The committee makes its recommendation tomorrow, and if David Rosen is still our Attorney General when that happens, we're finished.

Is that what you want?

I k*ll.

I am a k*ller.

I could k*ll David Rosen and not lose one second of sleep, but for what... you?

You can't do what I've done.

You think you're a k*ller, but you've never actually gotten your hands dirty.

Without me, you're just a whiny seal barking orders from behind a desk.

So until you actually put a b*llet in someone's head or snap someone's neck while they breathed their last breath through your fingers, don't ever question me.

Now, like I said, I'm going home.

I never stand up to anyone... ever.

I'm a lawyer.

I'm too worried about the legal ramifications, but standing up to Jake, looking death in the eye and walking away from it, that felt so good.

What time do you think the committee will issue its recommendation?

I could have the recommendation in my hand by lunch.

Lunch.

Right.

Good.

So...

I'll be in prison by when exactly?

I will never leave you.

Okay?

I will never marry a nice Jewish girl named Jennifer.

I will wait for you.

I will wait as long as it takes.

What is it?

Cyrus.

He wants to deal.

I'll enter this confession into the official record in the morning.

You're prepared to admit that you h*jacked Air Force Two and framed President Mellie Grant for the crime?

Among other things, yes.

You want a drink?

Have a drink with me.

I'd rather not.

Oh, come on, Rosen.

This is the end of the road for me, and when we're done here, you're going to have me arrested.

Fine.

I'm not a bad person, Rosen.

I wouldn't say you're a good person.

God, I've never really understood the...

value of good people.

Too many good people are just people without goals, drive, will.

I'm not a good person, but...

there is a reason for everything I do, and it may be sick and twisted to some, but...

it is always thought out, never ex*cuted out of...

spite or malice, never hasty.

Okay.

I'm consistent.

I do what needs to be done.

I-I do what other people can't.

I am relentless...

In pursuit of the things I want, and I will not let anyone stand in my way.

And sometimes people get hurt.

I am inches away from the Oval.

I can taste my dream.

And you...

David Rosen, you...

are in my way.

No hard feelings.

Help.

Help.

Help!

They said it was a heart att*ck.

It was Cyrus...

and Jake.

But why was he even at the Naval Observatory?

You don't just go meet with the enemy you're threatening to take down.

Cyrus told him he wanted to cooperate.

It was a trap.

So...

that's it?

The monsters win?

Long live the monsters?

I mean, what else can we do?

Charlie's still in custody and the one good guy left is dead.

David...

is dead.

"I am the law.

The law is me.

I wear the white hat." - He's gone.

- Don't do that!

Don't!

Not now.

There will be a time for it, but this is not that time!

Abby.

Don't touch me!

No one look at me, no one touch me.

Don't cry or I will start and won't be able to stop.

Right now, it's time to do something.

Act now, cry later.

I'll take care of it.

No!

No more blood.

If David is gone, then we're the good guys now.

We're the only white hats left.

Just get us out.

A new city, an island, a fishing hut in Zanzibar...

It doesn't matter as long as it's far, far away from here.

What am I, a travel agency?!

Shh, keep your voice down.

Look, you have the resources.

- Just please...

- Please what?

Risk my own freedom?

You and your husband would be the most-wanted fugitive in America.

Shh.


They find you, they follow the trail, and it leads to me.

Look, I am going to prison...

forever.

Do you really want Robin to grow up without parents?

You blindly, stupidly followed my daughter out of the trenches and into the f*ring line.

Now, what happens to you, to your family is not my responsibility.

I...am retired...

responsible only to me.

Well, all I have now...

all I am...

is a parent.

I can't retire.

I wish you the best of luck.

Well, here's to losing.

- No.

- We lost, Fitz.

Cyrus does not get to just walk away from this.

- If David were still alive, he would have made certain that Cyrus didn't get to just walk away from this.

But Cyrus...

he's got the Deputy AG in his pocket, which means that Mellie is going to be impeached, which means we are all going to jail, which means that Cyrus didn't get to just walk from this.

You're right.

He also gets the Oval.

- Well, we need to make sure th...

- Why?!

Why did I even begin to think that I could fix any of this, or anything at all?!

My father was right.

You think I'm the one who's always right.

No.

Olivia...

- you're grieving.

- And?!

And you're not thinking clearly.

My thoughts have never been more clear.

I didn't fix anything here, Fitz.

I just made it worse.

By doing what's right?

Come on.

You have to know that.

Tell me you know you did the right thing.

Will you stop saying that?!

I am so sick of...

Who the hell knows what's right?!

I managed to take down every single person I care about.

Is that supposed to be what's right?

That's not what...

I dragged everyone down with me!

Was that really the right thing to do?

Everybody did what they did on their own!

I destroyed a legacy you spent a lifetime forging.

I did that, not you.

I did that willingly.

You didn't have a choice.

I went over that cliff with you.

- And you made a mistake.

- How can you say that?

Because I was the problem!

You followed me, you relied on me, you trusted me when this entire time, I was the problem.

It was me.

That's how it's always been.

It's been me.

I realize that now.

- You're not f...

- Stop.

Before you say anything else, before you try to argue with me any more than you already have...

I'd like you stop and realize something.

I'm going to jail tomorrow.

This is, most likely, the very last time that you and I...

will ever be in the same room together...

alone.

So we have a choice to make.

We can keep talking, we can keep having feelings...

or...

or we can do something else.

Feelings, option "A," something else, option "B." Which is it going to be?

- Liv...

- Make a choice.

Option "A" or option "B"?

"A" or "B"?

"A" or "B"?

"A" or "B." "A" or "B"!

- Olivia...

- Pick one!

Take off your clothes.

Washington is reacting today to the death of Attorney General of the United States, David Rosen.

The coroner stated that Rosen, the second-youngest AG in the nation's history, suffered a massive coronary last night at the home of Vice President Cyrus Beene.

I don't understand.

When did this happen?

Okay.

Thanks for letting me know.

What is it?

Did the committee make their recommendations?

No.

They've postponed.

Postponed?

Why?

They have a new witness.

Mr. Pope, moments ago, you stated that you...

- Rowan.

- I'm sorry?

Eli Pope is a civilian.

I'm not speaking before this committee as a civilian.

I'm speaking before this committee as Command of B613.

As Command, I am Rowan.

Apologies.

"Rowan" is your spy name?

My k*ll name.

So, as this Command, you testify that you, and you alone, were responsible for the organization known as B613?

No.

- No?

- No.

Forgive me, but I'm confused.

I said that I created B613.

I built it with my own two hands, my own sweat, my own blood, but I did so in response to a need.

I did so because of you.

Because of me?

Well...

uh...

all of...

you.

The ones in charge.

The masters of the universe.

White men whose complacency, whose privilege left this country, this republic in a state of neglect.

You are all children who did not appreciate their toys, who left them out in the rain to molder, to decay.

I was not born with your privilege.

I was taught to respect the things that I had, to care for them, to nurture them, which I have done for the past 30 years.

Nurture through t*rror1st activity, through election rigging, through assassination of foreign leaders?

Yes.

Senator, you asked if I alone was responsible for B613.

I was not.

You bear that responsibility with your privilege.

What I am responsible for is every decision to go to w*r, every President sitting in office, every soldier brought home in a casket, every citizen who sleeps free and easy in their beds.

I kept the stock market afloat...

the dollar where it needs to be...

our shores at peace.

I am responsible for the fact that this nation still stands.

I wake up every morning and I make America great.

That is my legacy.

You sound as though you expect a parade in your honor.

A parade?

I want my face on Mount Rushmore, I want a statue that would dwarf the Washington Monument, and I want my name on the lips and hearts of every patriot, every American citizen from sea to shining sea.

I want to see with my own eyes the face of every white, complacent, privileged man who believes that he is in a position of power when he hears the news that a black man has been running this country for the past 30 years, that he only wields his power because my black power allows him to.

God bless America, right?

Gentlemen, you need to give them someone.

You need to give them Command.

But that doesn't mean you need to give them me.

In a stunning turn of events, the Select Committee has confirmed the existence of the illegal agency known as B613, as well as the identity of its commanding officer, Admiral Jake Ballard.

The former head of the NSA and current Chief of Staff of the President of the United States of America is due in court to face allegations that he alone is responsible for both the assassination of Bashrani President Rashad and the attempted assassination of Vice President Cyrus Beene.

Suck it, Jake, you little piece of...

Abby.

It's over!

Charlie's getting out of jail!

We are not going to jail!

Jake is going to jail.

Everything we said at the hearing, it's all been redacted.

We're free.

The good guys win.

The good guy's dead.

They're transferring you in an hour, the guard said.

To the Supermax Federal Penitentiary in Illinois, of all places.

I spent my whole life trying to get the hell out of the Corn Belt and now...

I'm full circle.

Why are you here?

You didn't have to come.

I wanted to show up for you...

one last time.

If I'd let you stay on the island, if I never made you come back...

with me...

if I could've just let you go instead...

who would you be now?

I made you step out of the sun.

Jake, I'm so sorry.

No.

Don't be sorry.

I loved you.

So don't ever...

be sorry for that.

I got something.

You know, for a little while, I was someone good.

You aren't the only one who did things wrong.

All of us...

Cyrus...

But you're the only one losing your freedom.

You're the only one going to prison.

For that, I am sorry.

Prison's nothing.

How's it go?

"Freedom is never lost.

I am always free.

They can't cage me." No.

They cannot cage you.

Thank you for showing up for me.

Goodbye, Jake.

Lovers of Liberty, our shadow government has been put to bed, and with it, any talk of impeaching Mellie Grant has been served its glass of warm milk.

I say, "Good for her." May Mellie Grant lead us forward into a new day, and may her enemies face the judgment of their maker in heaven...

or in hell.

Where's...

Mellie's back to focusing on being the President.

Your resignation letter...

effective immediately.

I wasn't charged with anything.

No, you weren't, and you can continue to fight and tarnish your reputation, or you can sign and enjoy whatever peace you can find.

Oh.

Can you still enjoy a drink?

Cyrus, I'm not having a drink with you.

I'm...

not asking you to have a drink with me.

I know you wouldn't, after everything.

A...good, strong drink has always been the only way f-for me to calm my mind to...

stop...

the gears turning the darkness.

Now, when I have a drink, it's all still there.

No drink can take it away, no meal, no man.

Not even the presidency, I'd guess.

C-C-Can you st-still enjoy a drink?

You can, I bet.

I'm glad for you.

I hate to spoil the mood, but at some point, we're gonna have to start talking about...

What happens next?

How do we restore the public's trust in our institutions?

I'm sure you'll figure something out.

I was thinking we'd do it together.

No.

Thank you, but no.

I think I've spent more than enough time helping people clean up their messes.

That may be true, but we need you.

I need you.

Mellie, you don't.

You've always wanted to stand on your own two feet, to step up and run this country in the way that you know it needs to be run.

I'm not going to get in the way of that.

You're gonna be great...

and I can't wait to watch you do it.

What will you do instead?

Whatever I want.

Hi.

Hi.
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