Scandal (2012–2018): Season 6, Episode 14 - Head Games - full transcript

While outgoing President Fitz considers his legacy, the Gladiators question what's next for OPA, and Jake finally discovers the motivation behind Peus's and the Mystery Woman's reign of terror.

I can confirm that, yes,
as of early this morning,

United States forces have
successfully dismantled

all the remaining drones.

Carol.

What about the people responsible?

Unfortunately, I'm unable to tell you

anything more at this time.

The important thing to
remember here, folks,

is that the threat is now gone.

Are there any more questions?

With all this behind him,



what will President Grant be focusing on

in his final days of office?

The President will continue to be

both passionate and eager, Carol,

with a long list of interests
he still hopes to tackle.

The transition of power

will be both successful and easy,

not just for the President-Elect,

but for the country as well.

Today, Americans should
be feeling excited

about what lies ahead,

invigorated by the promises of tomorrow.

Well...

what do you think?



I think you should have told me

what a maid of honor has to do.

Well, is it too much? Not enough?

No.

You look beautiful.

Now, I don't have too many more chances

to stand up here in front
of all you lovely people,

and, well, avoid your questions.

But, I, for one, am more optimistic

about this country's
future now more than ever.

We may just have another
week-and-a-half left here,

but we are not done.

We're not even close to being done.

Nine more days left of this.

Nine more days.

Trust me, people, when we're finished...

you'll know.

Mr. Rosen, of all the people
I expected to see me off,

you were not on the list.

- You're leaving?
- I am.

Retiring.

My work here is finally done.

At long last.

She is headed off

to the American Museum
of Natural History,

and I am heading off
to white sand beaches,

crystal-blue water.

I trust you are not here

to try to keep that from happening.

- No. No, no, no.
- Good.

Because the assassination
of Frankie Vargas

is a closed case, is it not?

It is, yes. Absolutely.

No, I'm not here in
any official capacity.

Ah. I'm here...

Well, I'm here to ask about Samantha,

the mean one with the ponytail.

- She and I, we were...
- Yes. I know.

I've been trying to figure
out what her real name is.

She gave me another one
during the interrogation...

Grace Dennis... But it
was another dead end.

She ever say anything to you,

leave anything behind

that might help me identify her?

- A credit-card receipt?
- Mnh-mnh.

She had a toothbrush
in my bathroom, red.

I threw it away.

Now I wish I had kept it.

I could run her DNA through the system,

identify her that way.

Or perhaps, Mr. Rosen,

it's time to move on?

If you knew how it felt to be used,

someone pretends to love you

and then uses you to try
to torpedo democracy...

But you're leaving on a trip,

and I'm taking up your time.

Safe travels.

Wait.

I, um...

I may have something that could help.

- These all pardon petitions?
- Uh-huh.

I need to choose which
convicted prisoners

to pardon by the end of the week.

You know you have dozens of people

to sort through these for you.

I'm being thorough...

Hands on.

You're being irresponsible,

because you're scared.

Scared? Of what?

Of Abby.

Of trusting Abby.

- I want this done right.
- Hmm.

You need to talk to her, Fitz.

Have the difficult conversation.

Either you let her back
in or you let her go.

Don't you have another President
to challenge and annoy?

I do.

Mm.

Today's schedule...

You've got Marcus at 11:00.

He'll prep you for the BNC interview,

tell you what kind of questions
you're likely to be asked.

Then at 2:00 we've got Ackerman
coming over for pardons.

His aide gave me a heads up last night

about which petitions he'll be pushing.

I could stay...

Tell you which ones I'd recommend.

It's being taken care of.

Why don't you take the rest
of the day and work from home?

Everything's good here.

Work from home? Sir, let's not do this.

- Do what?
- "Work from home."

When have I ever worked from home?

When have I ever done anything

but serve you and serve this office?

You really want me to answer that?

I asked you to be a friend.

I told you about all the
horrible things I did

because I needed a
friend and you agreed,

and now you're holding it against me.

You asked Liv to forgive me.

She did.

Why can't you?

Fine.

I'll go and work from home.

Since we can't decide on a
single place for our honeymoon,

let's just work our way
through the Caribbean ABCs...

Aruba, Barbados, Cuba...

We won't have time to
go to all those places.

I can't be away from
the office that long.

What office? The election is over.

Mellie's about to be sworn in,

and we haven't had a case in forever.

Trust me, Robin,

Olivia's already got
one foot out the door.

Liv's leaving?

Of course not.

There's no OPA without O.P.

Exactly my point...

Once she gets in that White House,

sayonara, muchachos.

No way Liv shuts us down.

This is her legacy, right, Huck?

I don't know. Maybe.

Guys, the writing is all over the walls.

This happened all the time at B613.

Remember Belize? That
was a sweet outpost.

We had a great run for, like,
six, seven months, right?

Zip-lining, cave tubing,

political assassinations...

It was... It was a party.

Next thing you know, it's last call,

the lights get turned on,

and we knew we only had
time for one more drink

before we get home.

What are these?

- Petitions for a presidential pardon.
- Mine make the cut?

The White House wants to
execute a high-profile pardon,

something clean with little blowback.

Dig in, find something.

We need a slam-dunk case

that will reflect well on the President.

So much for your sayonara.

See? Liv's not going anywhere.

What is wrong with you?

You look...

- What's wrong with you?
- Can I come in?

- Why?
- Thanks.

- David...
- Sorry.

I-I need to put this in
the freezer or the fridge,

but there was no room in
my freezer or my fridge,

and I thought Abby has a
massive freezer and fridge,

which is bizarre because she
never has any food anywhere.

Why is that?

Why do you have such a big
fridge if you don't use it?

- You eat. I've seen you eat, so...
- David, stop.

What's going on?

I-I-I need to put the box,
uh, somewhere cold.

- What's in the box?
- I-I don't want to say.

- You better say.
- I don't want to say.

- You better say.
- You know how they say

- "Be careful what you wish for"?
- David.

- Be careful what you wish for.
- Give me that.

- No, Abby, Abby... Abby!
- David, stop it!

Shut up and sit down.

Sit!

What is this?

David, is this some kind of joke, or...?

David...

Is this a human head?

Yes.

Where did you get that?

- It was a gift.
- A gift?

From Rowan.

Olivia's father,
the skilled super-spy assassin

- gave you a head as a gift.
- Yeah.

- Was it your birthday, because...
- Abby.

Start talking, with words,

- informative words that tell me things.
- Okay.

So, I wanted to know who she is...

Samantha.

Ponytail bitch, got it.

- So, you went to see Rowan?
- So I went to Rowan.

I thought he might know something,

have something that
might help me I.D. her,

track her down, find out her real name.

And the something he had was her head?

That man terrifies me.
Was not about to argue.

He gives me a head, I take a head.

I say "Thank you for the head."

- I take the head and I go, right?
- Right, David.

Okay, so fridge or freezer?

David, I live here.

This is my home, and
that is a human head.

I called Jake.

He's coming right now.

He'll collect the DNA

and do whatever NSA
people do with a head,

and then it's done, it's over.

We'll know once and for
all who these people were.

We'll know what they wanted.

We'll have answers.

She said she wanted to
have kids with me, Abby.

Fridge.

We chose Noah Baker for
your final interview

because he's interested in your legacy,

not to nail you to the cross.

This is my last chance

to speak to the American people.

Well, Clinton spoke about

turning the deficit into a surplus

and balancing the budget,

"W" honored those

who fought to make our
country safer after 9/11

in his final weeks.

And both likened themselves
to Thomas Jefferson.

I'd skip Jefferson if I were you.

Noted.

I'm gonna go for Lincoln.

"Nearly all men can stand adversity,"

but if you want to
test a man's character,

"give him power."

- Strong.
- I think so.

I like this approach.

You should be compassionate,

unafraid to discuss your flaws.

My flaws?

That is where you're going
with that quote, right?

No.

Oh. Of course not.

I want to talk about Clarence Parker,

that the power I've been
given the past eight years

is through the American people...

Through their stories,
through their tragedy

we've been able to pass
legislation like the Brandon Bill,

holding police officers accountable,

making our cities safer...

An homage to the people in Rosemead.

Everyone will love that,

except the people in Rosemead.

Why not?

Those people were starving for a meal,

and you gave them a thin
slice of stale bread

because the whole world was watching.

Unemployment is at its
lowest rate in a decade.

Record numbers of people

have moved from government assistance

into the work force.

People in Rosemead and elsewhere

are better off than when I took office.

Based on the numbers.

Is there something else
I should base it on?

Have you been to Rosemead
in the past eight years?

North Philly, South
Side of Chicago, the D?

The D?

That's a no.

You're saying the numbers are wrong.

I'm saying they're just numbers.

Clarence Parker is not a number.

He also doesn't speak for
every black person in America.

Who exactly do you
think you're talking to?

If you feel you're on the right track,
sir...

it's your speech.

Do you need anything else?

That's all.

Robert Edward Barnes...

"Bobby" to his white
supremacists friends.

Bobby the Bigot?

You want the President to
pardon a church bomber?

I know we like the challenge, but...

No, not the bigot... Shaun Campbell,

the one serving a life
sentence for killing the bigot.

Bobby Barnes put that
pipe bomb under a pew

right before a Sunday service.

I heard the explosion from my house.

He killed eight people... Women, kids.

We all knew someone who died.

We all knew who did it.

But despite all the
evidence against him,

Bobby the Bigot was acquitted

by an all-white jury of his peers.

This is my surprised face.

I knew this sounded familiar.

This is from that podcast, right...

- "An Eye for an Eye"?
- Mm-hmm.

Never caught it.

He was a terrorist and he walked.

I guess where I'm from,
we should be used to that kind of thing,

but it didn't change the
fact that we wanted justice.

We were hungry for it.

The cops knew it, and so did Bobby.

And he... He rubbed our faces in it.

Bobby the Bigot returned home

to a hero's welcome
among his fellow bigots.

It didn't take long

before him and his white-power posse

were running around town

like the bad guys in "Road House."

One night they walked into a bar

where Shaun was having a drink.

Tell me about the bar fight.

T-That's what that
wack podcast called it,

but it didn't get that far.

They made it clear I
wasn't welcome there,

words were exchanged,

and I walked away before
anything really happened.

And that was the last time I saw him,
I swear.

The next morning,

Bobby the Bigot was found
hanging from a tree.

He was lynched?

- That is...
- Karma.

All the cops had was the word
of the drunks at the bar,

and Barnes' pal Donny
Logan, the bartender.

Logan said he saw Shaun near the woods

where the bigot was found.

He was the prosecution's entire case.

No physical evidence... Nada?

They didn't need any. Shaun was black.

And from the same part
of town as that church.

Guys, I think there might be something
wrong with our justice system.

It gets worse.

Because of the lynching,

they charged Shaun with a hate crime,

making it a federal offence.

The bigot's murder was the hate crime?

That's too much irony, even for me.

I didn't hang him from that tree.

I wouldn't.

I-I've seen the pictures,
I've heard the stories.

Only an an animal like Bobby
would kill someone that way.

Shaun has lost two appeals,

and the Supreme Court
refused to hear his case.

A pardon is his last shot.

You tell the President... This pardon?

It's not just for me.

It's for all those folks back home.

They need justice, too, Ms. Perkins.

Don't let him forget that.

Look, it's high-profile,

it's a gross miscarriage of justice,

and I know we'll find something
that proves Shaun's innocent

because he is.

It checks off all the boxes, Liv.

Yeah, sounds promising.

Great.

So, uh, what should we do?

Where should we start?

Liv?

I have to vet Mellie's Cabinet picks,

but you guys don't need me.

You're good to handle this, right?

Right.

Good.

What the hell just happened?

Like I said...

We don't have to go home,
Robin, but we can't stay here.

Think about it...

This is all we are, just parts.

A head, an arm, a foot...

I mean, you kissed those lips,

and now they're just parts.

- Abby.
- Too much?

- Yes.
- Good.

Remember this the next time

- you want to bring a head to my house.
- Okay.

This should be enough to get
us a DNA match in the 24 hours,

but in the meantime, let's
get her on ice. What?

Just in case we need to come back

- for dental impressions.
- No.

I'm not putting a severed
head back in my fridge.

We could do the freezer.

- The freezer's fine, right?
- No, that's not the...

I'm the Chief of Staff

of the United States of America!

And I'm the Director of the NSA,

and he's the Attorney General,

and if these walls could talk.

What's your point?

My point is...

- it's a head.
- Right.

And I'll be back for it tomorrow.

In the meantime, don't answer your door.

Jake, no. This is just... It's wrong.

Abby, I don't think you
should be attempting

to dictate what's right and what's wrong

for any of us ever again.

Wait, where are you going?

To my room. I'm done.

So, what do you want me t...

Stop talking, David.

I like Owens for Defense.

Former head of the D-I-A

and a retired four-star general.

He'll have bipartisan support.

Agreed.

About about Azad for State?

I'm leaning more toward I fill.

She has more experience than Azad.

Leave them both in the mix.

Let's see who looks better after we vet.

Good idea.

What about Communications Director?

I thought we were discussing

possible picks for your Cabinet.

Why are you bringing up
Communications Director?

It may not be a Cabinet position,

but it's still an important job.

I-I was wondering

if Marcus might be interested.

It would be a promotion.

It would be.

Oh, no, Liv, that ship has sailed.

Marcus and I are over.

You sure about that?

Absolutely.

I can't.

- That's not happening.
- Maybe not now,

but four, eight years from now?

Mellie...

it doesn't have to be over.

Okay, Secretary of Education...

Lopez is our front-runner.

There are only two traffic
cams in Shaun's town,

and neither of them caught
him walking home that night.

To the surprise of no one.

Rockingham County's still
using paper records,

so hacking's out.

- Sorry, buddy.
- You could march over there

and demand that the cops hand over

everything they have on Shaun's case.

That's really more of a Liv thing.

Have you tried calling her?

She trusts us to figure
this out on our own.

If she thinks we can
do it, we can do it.

Not returning your calls, huh?

No.

I wouldn't feel too bad, Robin.

The podcast lady's been researching
this case for two years,

and she hadn't gotten anywhere either.

Hey, I don't remember Donny

being interviewed for the podcast.

That's because he wasn't.

He refused to cooperate.

He's literally the only thing

connecting Shaun to Barnes' murder.

You think he's lying?

If he is and we can prove it,

we'll have all we need to
sell Liv on the pardon.

I got the address to the bar.

Who wants to go on a road trip?

♪ But no one seems to notice me ♪

♪ Still, I will always try ♪

♪ For tomorrow is another day ♪

- ♪ My hope will never die ♪
- Donny Logan?

Who's asking?

We wanted to talk to you

about the murder of
Robert Edward Barnes.

You were a friend of his, right?

Sure, I knew Bobby Barnes.

Hard not to know Bobby

- after what happened to that church.
- Mm.

But you were the witness

that helped put Shaun Campbell away?

Damn right.

What can you tell us about that night?

What's there to tell?

That boy walks in here,
starts trouble with Bobby.

Later that night, Bobby's strung up.

The way we heard it,

Shaun was already here
when you and Bobby came in.

Look around, lady.

Does it look like he belonged here?

If he'd known his place,

there wouldn't have been trouble.

Now, who the hell are you, anyway?

I don't have to answer your questions.

You're not answering them.

You're lying,

while an innocent man's
life hangs in the balance.

An innocent black fella, huh?

Ain't no such thing.

It was you.

You killed Bobby.

You planned the bombing,
but Bobby got the credit.

Must've been great

when it looked like Bobby
would go away for it,

but he got off, became a hero.

So you put Bobby in his place?

S'pose I did...

does it matter?

They pulled Bobby off a tree,

that black boy's in jail,

and I'm here,

the way God meant it.

The colored boy

would have ended up behind
bars eventually anyway.

Right, boys?

How the hell did you know he did it?

I didn't.

I learned it by watching Liv.

I suggest you leave.

And take, uh, Nacho here with you.

I knew it.

I could smell the wet on your back.

My fiancée invited me here
in case there was trouble,

and I was really hoping
there'd be trouble.

Back to your corner.

Huck.

Come on.

Huck!

What?

Now we can go.

You... racists!

So, what's the plan?

Get a boat?

Start deep-sea fishing charters?

That would require

dealing with stupid human beings.

Why would I spend my day

dealing with stupid human beings,

- when...
- So fishing alone it is.

- Mm-hmm.
- Better for everyone involved.

Fishing, reading, traveling...

- Sounds amazing.
- Mm-hmm.

Just what you need.

You seem happy to see me go.

It's not like this is goodbye.

You'll last... three weeks on vacation?

No. This is goodbye.

It's what you need.

Now that you're on the brink of power,

you can't have me hanging around.

What's the one rule?

The only rule that matters

to maintain your position of power?

No family.

Can we not get dramatic
in public, please?

We wouldn't have to get dramatic

if you would just listen to me.

Here we go.

From where you'll be standing,

there is no place for others, for love.

It's easy to say before you have power,

but then you have it.

And your head begins to expand,

telling you that you can do anything,

that you deserve everything,

that you have earned
the right to happiness,

to love, to family,

that you may now break
the one golden rule.

And that's when you
know that you've failed.

That's why I must go away,

because otherwise you will
end up risking your place

at the pinnacle of power for me.

More coffee?

- Remove yourself.
- I'll take some.

Thank you.

I'm not you.

You think of me as an extension of you.

You are an extension of me...

My flesh and blood.

Environment, experience,

nurture over nature...

I have not done the things you've done,

seen the things you've seen.

I don't blame you... Sandra, Mom...

Mistakes. Lapses in judgment.

- Mistakes?
- Mm.

- Hmm.
- If Mom was a mistake,

that makes me a mistake, too.

I know you don't think that.

You are smarter than me,
and I'm proud of you.

You have it...

The Oval,

and not as First Lady.

My girl.

Take a break, then come back.

We can reconstitute Sunday dinners,

chew on the issues of the day,

solve the great problems together.

You're smarter, but I'm wiser.

This is goodbye.

Goodbye, Olivia.

Goodbye, Dad.

David?

David, stop hovering and come in.

I can't sleep downstairs with that...

Her head so close.

- You could go home.
- I'm not gonna go home

and leave you alone with that head.

- I'm a nice guy.
- Thank you.

You're welcome.

Get in.

What, are you gonna sleep on the floor?

All right.

Whew.

Today I drove around with
a human head in my car.

I thought I was a good
person before all this.

I thought I wore the white hat.

I was the law, the law was me.

I believed.

Abby, I was a true believer.

I wanted to form a more perfect union.

The Oval Office was a place

where the highest aspirations of,
we, the American people

could safely live.

The President was someone to be admired.

There was honor here,
and I was a champion.

I was a part of it, you know?

That's gone.

The thing is, nobody stole it.

I just...

I gave it away, handed it to her.

I'm this idiot who...

I don't know.

This idiot who was lonely and alone

then saw something shiny and warm.

And you reached for it.

I reached for it.

She made me feel like...
Like I was something.

And now I keep thinking "Why me?"

How did she know to pick me?

Did she look at me and just see it,

see that I'm greedy enough,

ruthless enough, callous enough

to stick my arm in

and dig the bullets out
of the corpse of a man

who would be president?

I never thought I was
a good person, David.

But I didn't know that
I could be an evil one.

Want to poke our freezer
head with chopsticks?

What?

Who says that?!

A once-in-a-lifetime chance.

Hmm?

Quinn, you're in my office.

Shaun Campbell is innocent.

We found the killer...

Some cracker-barrel bigot

who thought Bobby got
too big for his britches.

What are you doing in my office?

What am I...?

You haven't been here.
We're running out of time.

We need to get this to the President.

- Get what to him?
- The pardon.

Were you even listening to me?

I was listening. I
didn't hear any proof.

Well, we couldn't exactly
find the final piece,

but, Liv, I know he's innocent.

I just...

I have a feeling.

You want me to take

a racially sensitive
tinderbox of a closed case

to outgoing president
with a legacy to protect

because you have a feeling?

Since when is the President's legacy

our concern?

He'd never sign off on it.

What are you doing?

Trying to get back to work.

You work here.

Your name is still on that door,

so I have to assume you still
care about helping people,

- about saving people, right?
- You should go.

When did all of that become
just a bunch of crap to you?

When did you stop gladiating
and wearing the white hat

and forcing us to risk everything

because you felt something in your gut?

Quinn... Does any of it
matter to you anymore, Olivia,

or is your only concern these days

being able to stand in
certain circles of power?

You do not come in here,
you do not yell at me,

and I certainly don't offer you
an explanation for anything.

I'm me.

And I'm not risking the
reputation of this firm

without hard proof of innocence.

You're you.

You have your own office.

It's down the hall.

Get out of mine and shut this case down.

Should we go in?

Robin?

How am I supposed to

look a wrongly accused man in the eyes

and tell him he's stuck in prison

for the rest of his life?

Ah, you know, you're not telling him

anything he didn't already know.

I looked him in the eye

and told him I would get him out.

And I... failed.

I failed him.

OPA's over,

but there's always gonna
be another mission.

There's always gonna be another job.

I mean, look at me.

B613 ended, and here I am still working.

Look, we can still do a lot
of great things together.

Like, we can move to Tahiti
and be assassins for hire.

Ugh.

Or, you know, we could, uh,

protect Tahitians from assassins.

You want to be a
gladiator in a swimsuit?

Look, my point is just because Olivia

traded in her white
hat for the White House

doesn't mean we have to
stop being gladiators.

No. It doesn't.

Picture him in his underwear.

It will help with the
whole star-struck thing.

I've met him before, Marcus.

Not in the Oval, you haven't...

Place puts a spell on people.

She's been looking into one
of your pardon petitions...

Asked to have a word with you.

Go ahead.

I'm sorry... Mouth's a little dry.

Um...

This is...

It's round.

- So I've heard.
- Uh...

Where'd you get that?

Olivia.

She gave us a stack of them,

told us to find a slam dunk.

We chose this one.

Shaun Campbell.

He was convicted of murdering
that church bomber in Virginia.

I'm familiar with the case.

Well, he's innocent,

and I think you should pardon him.

Not think. Know...

I know you should pardon him,

because he didn't do
what they said he did.

- And you're basing this on...?
- My gut.

And that will have to be enough for you,

because it's all I have.

Shouldn't Olivia be telling me this?

If she thought it was a slam dunk, yes,

but she doesn't, so I'm telling you.

Wait, I'm sorry.

Olivia doesn't think
I should pardon him?

No.

She thinks it will be bad for you,

and it will be, sir... Bad.

People will talk, people will protest,

it will be a distraction.

But it will also be right.

Thanks for coming in today.

Marcus, let me know when you're ready

to continue our interview prep.

No!

No?

I'm not leaving, sir,

not until you agree to sign that.

You do realize there are men out there

who would happily shoot you

- for taking that attitude with me?
- Yes,

And they're welcome to do that.

It doesn't change the fact
that I am staying here

until you sign that petition.

It's one petition.

One petition that Olivia
Pope, your boss...

She's not my boss.

Not this Olivia.

No.

This Olivia works for
the President-Elect.

This Olivia wants things to be safe.

This Olivia needs to
protect relationships

and make sure the
country is on her side.

That's not my Olivia.

My Olivia works for the people.

My Olivia rocks the boat
because no one else will.

My Olivia doesn't give
a crap about your legacy

and paving the way

for a smooth transition of power.

My Olivia would have
marched through that door

and shoved that petition
down your throat.

That's my Olivia!

But she's not here anymore.

So I'm here instead.

It's me marching through that door,

me shoving that petition
down your throat,

me demanding you sign it.

So go ahead.

Call in your dogs.

But I'm not leaving until
you pick up a damn pen

and give Shaun Campbell his due... sir.

Take a seat.

- Um...
- Not that chair... that's my chair.

Sit there.

You're packing up already?

Why wait?

I'd like you to stay on
under my administration.

You are a good Press Secretary,

but you'd be a fantastic
Communications Director.

Communication Director. Wow.

What do you say?

I say thank you,

but the other President Grant

offered me a position
to run his foundation.

Oh.

I see.

Come on, Marcus.

This is the White House.

Isn't this where you'd rather be?

No.

This is where you want me to be.

Marcus...

I didn't get into
politics to gain power.

I did it to make a difference.

If you want to make a real difference,

then stay here with me.

We make a great team, remember?

I'm not Olivia Pope.

Goodbye, Madame President-Elect.

I wish you all the best.

And the President seems to forget

that he, too, has done awful things.

For a person handing out pardons,

he's pretty unforgiving.

Jake?

We'll be right there.

The DNA test?

He's got a name and address.

Gertrude...

Her name is actually Gertrude?

Her apartment.

- Not what I expected.
- What did you expect?

Based on how we spent
our time together...

I don't want to know.

I'm showing you these pictures
because it seemed like

your tender,
little baby heart needed closure,

but the decor was actually

the least interesting part of my visit.

I pulled this out of the
wall behind the light switch.

She wiped out the memory,

but I was able to retrieve

the most recent items from RAM.

She received this text.

"I would remind your friend Peus"

that your work is not finished.

Your debt is not paid.

"Do not disappoint me again."

"Do not disappoint me"...

So Peus and Mystery Bitch...

It wasn't their operation.

They were taking orders
from someone else.

You know, before you take office,

you have all these things
you're determined to do.

And then you get there and
you learn the hard truth...

Government is about compromise.

When you're not horse-trading
and consensus-building,

you're putting out fires.

You're saying it's uphill both ways?

For anything worth doing, yes.

And I've climbed a few of those hills.

The Brandon Bill, for example.

The Brandon Bill is a
piece of legislation

I'm truly proud of.

But to be honest, Noah,
I could have done more.

I've been the most
powerful man in America,

and yet I have neglected

some of the men and
women of this country

who most needed their government's help.

Luckily, I have a few more days,

so I'm kicking off my
final week in office

with a series of presidential pardons,

and there's one in particular
I'd like to highlight,

where a young man, Shaun Campbell,

was convicted under a
federal hate crimes statute

for the murder of church-bomber
Robert Edward Barnes.

And let me be clear...

People are going to be
upset about this pardon,

but when I look at the
facts of Shaun's case,

I don't just see reasonable doubt.

I see probable doubt.

And that is just not the way

our system is supposed to work.

So, Shaun Campbell gets a second chance.

He does.

And hopefully, so do I,

because reviewing these cases

showed me just how many of
this country's young people

are sitting in prison for
want of a fairer trial.

And that's why,

when I leave office a week from today,

I'll be leaving to launch a foundation

that will help appeal
cases like Shaun's,

where there are signs
of biased sentencing

or inadequate defense.

We'll also be helping families
experiencing financial insecurity

as a result of a family member

being arrested or incarcerated...

Forgotten families in
cities like Philadelphia,

and Chicago, and the D.

For too many Americans,
there is no safety net,

there are no second chances.

And I am going to work to change that.

So, in that case,

how do you want Americans to talk about

President Fitzgerald Grant's legacy?

Ask me again in a decade.

For now,

I'd like them to say
"He's just getting started."

- Quinn...
- You gave us a case,

and you asked us to handle it,
and that's what I did.

I handled it.

I did what was best for the client,

not what was easy or
politically efficient,

because one pardon

won't make or break the
President or Mellie.

But this pardon?

This pardon is giving an innocent man

who never had a fair
trial a shot at life.

And I'm sorry if it isn't the
tidy slam dunk you wanted,

but we wouldn't be gladiators
if we only made slam dunks.

We take risks.

You can't just walk away from me.

- You haven't even been here...
- Our bank accounts,

client folders, high-level contacts.

Why are you telling me this?

Leading this firm

means going up against
the White House sometimes.

In eight days,

that'll mean going up against me.

I needed to know that
you could handle that.

What?

This was a test?

This was a test.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Now, I have work to do.

Of course, sorry.

I'll go back to my office.

- Quinn?
- Hmm?

This is your office now.

What will you do with her?

Toss her into the Potomac? Mm.

Hope that a family of crabs

makes a decent meal out of her?

You're not evil, Abby...

Not even close.

I scoured security footage
at Gertrude's building.

Someone went into that apartment

during the time she was in our custody.

- I managed to get an I.D.
- How?

Street cams, QR... It
doesn't matter how.

What matters...

I know who the bigger bad is.

Sir, we need you to come with us.

Under whose authority?

Mine.

I'm here.

Now tell me, why am I here?

Peus was taking orders
from someone else.

No. I'm done.

- Free.
- You're the only choice.

You know her better than anyone.

- She is not my problem.
- You said no family.

You said I'd be safer
with you gone, right?

Mm.

Well, who's gonna protect me from her?

What do we know about her plans?

With only eight more
days to the Inauguration,

security along the parade
route and in the ballrooms

is beefing up...

The Secret Service
leaving nothing to chance

as the nation prepares to celebrate

the first Woman President

and hoping to assuage public concern...

Hit me. Up and dirty.