‘Scandal’ Season 7, Episode 3: Fitz & Marcus Spar In Vermont In ‘101 Days’

Episode three of the seventh season of Scandal starts with Fitz in Vermont after he fires a huge stuff so that he can be alone.

SCANDAL RECAP

He is living every day like a normal citizen, buying groceries and burning turkeys. Once he loses interest in the every day, Fitz calls Marcus, who cuts short a Cuban vacation to spend time with his buddy in Vermont. Fitz says he wants to help Mellie out, but needs to wait 100 days out of respect – as the former president and also as her ex-husband.

The pair head out to a bar and discuss the political issues surrounding Confederate statues before turning their attention to Olivia Pope. Fitz wants her to have a place in his home, but their conversation soon turns to sexism when they agree that she is just a woman and doesn’t deserve her own place in his home.

Later, the men go to a fundraiser, and that’s when tensions really starts to build. A man has been sleeping under a Confederate statue to get the governor’s attention, and Marcus suggests they do something about it. Fitz says no because it’s complicated and divisive, but Marcus isn’t happy with that answer. Later in the evening, a donor refers to Marcus as “Chico,” and he almost loses it. By the end of the night, Marcus quits and Fitz has nothing better to do than stereotype Marcus and tell him he’s just always angry.

The two share a fighting match, and bring Olivia into it. Marcus complains that he’s been nothing more than a glorified valet for Fitz and that Fitz turned Olivia, who was the true head of the White House, into “another black ho.” Fitz turns around and calls Marcus a coward who follows other people’s success instead of making his own. The two actually start to brawl before Secret Service pulls Marcus off.

Back in Washington, Mellie gets a call from Marcus, who tells her he’s quitting because Fitz has no respect for him. Mellie, sadly, tells him that’s just phase two of a relationship with Fitz. They share a moment and you can tell they miss each other.

In Vermont again, Olivia Pope’s father comes to visit Fitz. He holds Fitz’s own gun at him and questions him on whether any new appliances have been installed or a new Secret Service guy hired – apparently there are people coming after Olivia. Fitz says he can’t help and Rowan leaves. Fitz takes the gun his father gave him and sits out on the porch. Marcus shows up, and Fitz confides in him that Cyrus once said, when the presidency was over, that Fitz would kill himself with that gun.

The men make up, and once again their conversation turns to Olivia. “Is Olivia Pope everyone’s world, or just mine?” he asks. “When the 100 days are up, I need to go to Washington for a while, but before we leave, I’d like to do something meaningful.”

And as the episode has been pointing to, Fitz and Marcus find the man sleeping under the Confederate statue. They offer him a few wise words and a warm pair of gloves. The man asks to take an Instagram photo with the former president, and Fitz agrees. In the end, the 11 million likes the photo garners is enough to get the man an agreement with the state government to take down the statue.

And then we hit Fitz’s “Day 101” – also the name of the episode. He waits outside Olivia’s apartment, and then we see that she is somewhere else in an elevator getting busy with Curtis.

Check out our uInterview with Kerry Washington:

Kerry Washington by Uinterview