Olivia Pope came back to the White House to help the first daughter bury a sex tape, while Jake lost a battle with Command on Scandal’s “Like Father, Like Daughter.”

The First Daughter's Sex Tape

Jake (Scott Foley) is late for a dinner date with Olivia (Kerry Washington) after narrowly escaping a car bomb planted by Command (aka Rowan), who is now trying to kill him. Liv, trying to create a relationship with Jake, orders take-out for the strange pair, but their dinner is cut short when Liv gets an urgent phone call from Karen Grant, the President’s daughter.

Liv and Quinn (Katie Lowes) manage to get Karen (Mary Mouser) out of the rave party she’s passed out at without any eager attendees getting a photograph or recording a video on their cell phones, and, just as Karen thinks she got out without incident, she gets video text. It’s a sex tape showing Karen having sex with two boys. As Liv tells Cyrus (Jeff Perry) on the phone, it’s “the dirtiest sex tape I’ve ever seen.”

When they arrive at the White House, President Grant (Tony Goldwyn) is waiting, and furious. Fitz’s anger lessens just enough for him to ask Karen whether or not the sex was consensual, but then she’s the one who’s angry. In an effort to lessen the tension, Liv sends Karen to get sober and rest while she handles Fitz in the Oval Office. Fitz begs Liv to help find the sex tape and destroy it. He needs his best fixer for this job, and Liv reluctantly agrees.

Of course, Abby (Darby Stanchfield) and Mellie (Bellamy Young) are less than pleased to see Liv & Associates walking around the White House. Mellie even chases Liv down after spotting her in the halls, convinced that her presence means that Fitz has, once again, started having an affair.

Mellie bursts into the Oval Office and demands an explanation from Fitz, who unceremoniously tells Mellie that their only daughter has a sex tape, and that Mellie herself is in no position to help the situation. He tells her that she has not been a mother since their son, Jerry, died, and she is in no position to judge his fathering. While she’s been grieving in her pajamas, eating junkfood and acting out, he’s been grieving while running a country. Mellie leaves the room quietly, but not before getting the last word. “A sex tape. She takes after her daddy then, doesn’t she,” Mellie tells him.

Huck (Guillermo Díaz), Quinn and Liv quickly find the first boy in the video and intimidate him into giving the name of the other boy, the one with the tape. Unfortunately, unlike the first boy who is easily intimidated, the one with the tape has eager, WASP parents who want to get ahead and milk the situation for all it’s worth. They meet with Liv and demand $2.5 million in return for the tape.

Olitz Reunites In The Oval

Liv meets with Fitz in the Oval to get the money, and finds Fitz wallowing in self-pity. He knows he hasn’t been the best father to Karen, or the best husband to Mellie, and he misses Liv. One sad look, and the two are making out in the middle of the office, but Liv knows she needs to be honest and stops the kissing from developing further. She tells Fitz she wasn’t on the island alone, she was with Jake.

After Liv gets Fitz to accept the deal, she returns to the parents and delivers the check. The couple, however, want to change the terms and demand another $500,000, which Liv refuses. Instead, Liv takes photos of the couple and the check and tells them that, if they don’t turn over the tape and sign a non-disclosure agreement right now, she will take the story to the press and destroy them. Hell, she’ll even lie if she has to.

With the sex tape gone, Mellie has a talk with Karen. While she’d try to be supportive if Karen could tell her that she had sex with those boys because it made her happy, she knows it didn’t. But, she also knows that Karen saw her brother die right in front of her, and that gives her one free pass.

Jake Is Taken By Command

Meanwhile, things are quickly deteriorating for Jake, and he’s bringing B613 agent/Secret Service agent Tom (Brian Letscher) down with him. Jake meets with Tom after the first failed attempt on his life and informs him that he knows about how Jerry really died. He knows that Rowan (Joe Morton) had him killed, and ordered Tom to do it. That’s why Rowan wants him dead. With this information, Tom is faced with a choice: carry out his orders and go after Jake, or turn on Rowan. If he kills Jake, then Tom will be the only person left that can link Rowan to Jerry Grant’s death, and Rowan will likely have him killed. However, if he turns on Rowan, that means admitting to killing the President’s son, and having a huge target on his back. In the end, the decision is taken from him when a Secret Service review finds some discrepancies in his travel logs.

During the interrogation, Tom is ready to give up Rowan in exchange for a deal, but, before he can get the words out, Rowan appears acting as his interrogator and presents Tom with evidence that he was the one who stole the strain of meningitis that was used to kill Jerry. “You want me on your side! You need me on your side!” Rowan screams, asking Tom to tell him who ordered Jerry’s death. Jerry cracks: “It was Jake Ballard.”

A group of agents surround Jake, who is waiting outside the Oval Office with an envelope of proof against Rowan. They take away the envelope, and take Jake into custody – all under orders from the President and Rowan.

Scandal airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on ABC.

Article by Olivia Truffaut-Wong

Olivia Truffaut-Wong was born and raised in Berkeley, California, where she developed her love of all things entertainment. After moving to New York City to earn her degree in Film Studies, she stayed on the East Coast to follow her passion and become an entertainment writer. She lives on a diet of television, movies and food.