“Scandal” Recap: “Air Force Two”

(ABC)

On Thursday’s “Scandal,” Cyrus and David’s plane was hacked, putting their lives in jeopardy. Here are the most important things to know about “Air Force Two,” the 13th episode of season 7.

The show began with Cyrus finding out Mellie was sending him and David to Lisbon for a digital piracy summit, preventing him from giving a speech at the annual Al Smith dinner. He thought Jake was behind the change, and refused to share his planned speech with him. Before David departed, he told Abby he made dinner reservations for them at a fancy establishment for later in the week. She panicked, thinking he was going to propose. Huck and Charlie hacked his computer, discovering that he did make a purchase a jeweler.

Cyrus was grumpy as he and David took off on Air Force Two, which quickly hit turbulence with the TV going out. They were informed the pilot lost control of the plane and communication was down. The aircraft was hacked. Everyone on board had to hand over their electronic devices, in case they were infected with malware. Cyrus’ secretary told him her laptop went temporarily missing the day before, and he suspected Jake was the culprit and trying to take him out, lethally. He confided in David, and had a staffer send the virus from the laptop to QPA via satellite, along with a message asking for help and warning not to “trust” the White House.

Mellie and the White House was in crisis mode, since they could no longer communicate with the plane. But the satellite showed the aircraft abruptly turning around, making them suspect it was going to be used in an attack on Washington, D.C. Jake said they may need to shoot the plane down, and Mellie confronted him about being behind the plot, which he denied. She didn’t believe him, and kicked him out of the Situation Room. Mellie later called Fitz, but declined his offer of advice.

Amidst this, Olivia brought her mom a special meal for her birthday, and turned off her ringing phone to celebrate with her. Mama Pope angrily asked if she was only there out of “guilt” for keeping her in “prison” after going to the Supreme Court on behalf of people behind bars. She accused Liv of living in a “fantasy world,” at which point Olivia stormed away and turned on her phone.

Mellie went along with Jake’s suggestion to send out fighter jets, but warned no one was to pull the trigger. Seeing them out the window, Cyrus muttered to David, “Ballard’s winning.” David wanted to use the satellite to communicate with Mellie, but Cyrus thought she’d be manipulated by Jake and told him to “prepare for the worst.” A journalist suspected there was a secret Wi-Fi signal and begged one of the staffers to let her phone connect before everyone was ordered to take their seats. She then filmed Cyrus addressing everyone onboard and was able to live stream it.

At QPA, Abby was on the verge of tears as she suspected the F-15 missiles would be used. Huck encouraged her to accept the potential marriage proposal, but she was thinking David was going to die before it would ever be a possibility. She, Fitz, Olivia, Jake and Mellie all watched Cyrus’ streamed remarks from different locations. The vice president warned his fellow passengers that they may meet an “honorable” ending, as the government may be forced to take action to prevent the plane from crashing and killing thousands. “This is something to die for,” he told everyone. “I’m proud to do that with all of you.”

Olivia’s mom tried to calm her, but was really just mocking her. Mama Pope even said they should celebrate the imminent deaths, since they were people who contributed to her exit from the White House. Disgusted, Liv left. Jake again denied to Mellie that he was involved in the hijacking and said he would do whatever she wanted. With a minute to go before the plane would be too close to land, Mellie had a life-or-death decision to make and urged her team to try contacting the plane again. At the same time, Charlie and Huck breached the virus and tried to shut it down.

The show then cut to David arriving home to Abby, safe and sound. “Just do it right now,” she told him, begging him to propose. He gently told her he wasn’t planning an engagement, and she was happily relieved. Fitz, drinking with Mellie, told her she made the “right call.” Olivia gave a present to a messenger, who delivered it to her mom. It was a coat Mama Pope had referenced earlier, along with information for a one-way ticket to Paris and a Swiss bank account. “I’m giving you what you want,” Liv told her over the phone. “You won.” But Mama Pope wasn’t happy.

The episode ended with Olivia checking in on Cyrus and questioning why someone would hack Air Force Two when they could hack Air Force One. She accused him of being behind the whole thing to come out looking like a “hero” in Mellie’s eyes and that of the public. He indicated he doesn’t have “patience,” making Liv think he was planning to do something to Mellie.