Scandal s01e05 Episode Script
Crash and Burn
Amanda Tanner is pregnant.
What? Previously on "Scandal" I want to tell the world what he did.
Amanda.
I want them all to burn for this.
You don't have to worry about that sex tape, because who needs a sex tape when you've got a fetus full of presidential D.
N.
A.
? That's not my baby.
I'm out.
I'm gonna tell them the truth.
She's not our problem.
She's a kid.
Our real problem is Olivia Pope.
President Fitzgerald Thomas grant III has declared war on you, Olivia.
May God have mercy on your foul.
(Muffled groans) (Projector and camera shutter clicking) Answers, people.
We need answers, and time is of the essence.
Her phone's gone and her purse.
She ran away.
You told her she was gonna have to go on TV, she freaked out, and she ran away.
I gotta say, as crime scenes go, it's pretty clean.
No broken locks, no signs of struggle, and I'm not finding any prints aside from yours and Amanda's.
Because it's not a crime scene.
Because she ran away.
There's someone watching you.
What? Your trash is gone, and it's not trash day, and there's a sedan parked across the street U.
S.
government plates, tinted windows.
What about Amanda, huck? Whoever it was came up through the service elevator, picked the lock on the back door, sedated her, taped her up, got her in a duffel bag.
In and out, probably seven minutes, six if they were quick.
How do you know? That's how I would do it.
(Projector and camera shutter clicking) My secretary has a standing order to stop you from walking in here.
Alissa, you're fired.
One of my clients is missing.
Have you looked in jail? You often seem to find them there.
Her name is Amanda Tanner.
She's 27 and she was staying in my apartment.
How long has she been gone? Five, six hours.
You consider that missing? That's barely enough time to rack up a good bar tab.
(Cell phone alert chimes) Oh, God.
What's wrong? I know I ask a lot of you, but this Amanda thing is big.
She's a good kid and she was under my protection.
Can you help me find her? I'll see what I can do.
Thank you, David.
Don't fire Alissa.
I snuck in while she was in the bathroom.
(Projector and camera shutter clicking) (Panting) You're late.
I keep trying Amanda's phone, but it goes straight to voice mail.
When I say "all hands on deck" Harrison, she's our client.
She's missing.
I mean all hands on deck.
We should be doing things.
Things should be happening.
Shouldn't we at least file a missing persons report? Just 'cause you don't see things happening, doesn't mean things aren't happening.
With Olivia, things are always happening.
I just don't what could possibly be more important than Amanda right now? That.
(Indistinct conversations) (Projector and camera shutter clicking) (camera shutters clicking) I first met Paul ten years ago at the governor's conference.
I thought my speech was pretty killer, so when Paul took me aside afterward, I was looking forward to simply "congratulations, Fitz.
You moved me to tears.
" And then for ten very long minutes, he told me, point by point, why every word out of my mouth was not only wrong but potentially the dumbest thing any politician had ever said.
(Scattered laughter) Senator Sanchez told you the hard truth because he cared, because he thought we could all do better.
He scored no political points and never asked for anything in return, but he earned my profound gratitude, and today, my profound sadness.
Of course the senator would be the first to object if I stood up here today and talked about him and failed to mention the 119 other people who died this morning.
This is A tragic day for all of us.
Our prayers are with all those who lost loved ones on flight 684.
(Indistinct conversations) (Woman) Where's my daughter? (Man) Any information at all? I can't oh! Ms.
Pope, Nelson O'Shea, pilots' union.
Nice to finally meet you.
Yes.
I wish it were under better circumstances.
Yes.
Very sad.
So it's a standard crash investigation.
We'll need you to make a statement on belief of the pilots' union to the press as soon as possible.
The airline P.
R.
is up there right now, so you let them go first? I didn't think it was a problem.
Sky national has immediately activated our emergency response protocol and is in direct contact with the F.
A.
A.
and N.
T.
S.
B.
Although our primary concern at this time is for the passengers on board the aircraft and their families, we're able to assure you, this particular plane has a perfect safety record.
And there it is.
They're saying it's the pilot's fault.
No, he didn't.
He just said they're not saying it, but they're saying it, and this crowd's eating it up with a spoon.
(Projector and camera shutter clicks) Make sure we know when the memorial is so we can clear my schedule.
Sir, we ought to take this chance to bring the D.
R.
E.
A.
M.
act to a vote.
Cyrus.
The poor man's still scattered across the Virginia countryside, and you want to start using him to leverage a vote? Paul wanted this more than anything.
A pathway to citizenship for immigrant kids who go to college he'd be honored.
It's a divisive issue, even within our own party.
Let me put a call in to his wife, she if she'll reach out to the fence sitters.
How close is the vote? Nose count has us within four or five.
Ah, we're gonna look opportunistic.
Never let a crisis go to waste, Mr.
president.
Make the call.
And how long was her tour of duty in the air national guard? And she flew C-141S out of Dover? (Camera shutter clicks) Okay.
Thank you so much.
How many times do I have to tell you you can't just walk in here whenever you feel like it? Look, Amanda Tanner is gone, and that means my story is gone, but it also means your client is gone, so I thought I could just walk in here and talk to you.
If Amanda is gone and I'm not saying she is then I'm sure Olivia's working on it.
Well, I saw the news.
Doesn't she have her hands full with this plane crash? Sometimes just because you can't see things happening doesn't mean they're not happening or something, you know, if she is gone.
There's a missing persons report, Quinn.
There's a report? Who who filed it? Amanda's father.
(Presses key) (Sighs) So what are you calling yourself now? Huck.
You? Charlie.
Huck finn? That's funny.
Well, Charlie, like Charlie brown? I thought you were dead.
I'm not dead.
(Chuckles) Huck freaking finn? Don't make fun of my name.
You out of business? I was never in business.
It's lucrative when you contract out.
I'm a retired government employee.
Oh, really? You sure? You know what they say "once you go black, you never go back.
" Ops, that is.
Black ops.
You never could tell a decent joke.
So what do you want then? Female, 5'4", 105 pounds, Amanda Lynn Tanner.
Don't know what you're talking about.
You're getting sloppy in your old age.
You crossed the street at a light.
I got you on the traffic cam.
Well, then.
You don't need to ask me about her, now do you? You got me on the traffic cam.
Yeah.
But where is she? No.
No.
That's just tacky.
That's tasteless.
You know better than to ask.
What did you think? That you were gonna buy me an assassin's brunch and then we'd hold hands? No.
Jeez.
Now you're off looking for missing girls? Come on.
Ugh.
Tacky.
Stop looking.
She's gone.
Hey, you ever want to come back, make a little more money than the U.
S.
govern pays, you give me a call.
Talent like yours should not go to waste.
And, uh It's not like Charlie brown.
Like manson.
Charlie manson.
Now that's a name.
Huck finn? (Laughs) Come on.
Ah.
Hey, buddy.
(Door opens, bell jingles) Welcome, everyone.
This is the preliminary C.
V.
R.
meeting of all interested parties to sky national flight 684.
This morning, I'll play the black box recording in its entirety without stopping.
You'll hear it once and once only.
The national transportation safety board prohibits you from recording what you're about to hear.
You are allowed to take notes, but you are prohibited from taking those notes from this room.
Any questions? (Beep) (Woman) Here it is, my special fruit drink.
(Woman) That's good.
What's in it? Cranberry, grapefruit.
(Man) It'd be perfect with some vodka.
(Laughter) (Video fast-forwards) (Man) Sky national 684, you're cleared to descend to and maintain 5,000.
(Woman) Roger national 684.
We'll be out of 15 for 5.
(Video fast-forwards) (Man) National 4 miles away at 2:00.
Possible wake turbulence.
You may feel a bump or two.
(Video fast-forwards) (Man) 684.
Got the aerostream.
(Thumping) (Woman) And I feel the bump or two.
(Loud bang) Hang on.
I'm pitching down.
We're nosedown.
(Alert beeping) (Man) Sky national 684, I show descending.
What's your status? (Man) Kick rudder.
Lori, left rudder.
Left rudder.
(Man) Sky national 684, what's your status? 684.
Emergency.
(Thumping and clicking) Left rudder.
Left rudder! What the hell are you aah! Oh, here we go.
(Air whooshing, crash) No, there was a loud bang and the captain was saying "hang on.
" No, that was the first officer.
Fine.
But I can't remember if he said it before or after the two thumps.
Before, I think.
Maybe after.
I don't know.
I-I should've written the whole thing on my arm.
Before (Pounds table) The two thumps.
It was loud thump, loud thump, long clicking sound, short clicking sound, then three faint thumps.
The first officer saying, "left rudder.
Left rudder.
What the hell are you aah! Here we go.
" I got a good ear.
But I'll tell you what I didn't hear in the last ten seconds the pilot.
As soon as they hit the wake from the aerostream, I think she panicked, maybe overcorrected.
It was like she didn't hear.
She she froze.
Which is exactly what the airline will say.
If sky national can prove pilot error, they save millions of dollars.
They don't have to ground their fleet, do extra maintenance.
They have every reason to want to trash Lori Mackelson in the press, cast her as a panicking, P.
M.
S.
ing woman who can't handle a little turbulence.
Lori had 16,000 flight hours under her belt.
She didn't panic.
She was a great pilot, under any conditions.
She did not freeze.
Can I help you, sir? Not unless you can bring my wife back.
All I want them to do is to get out there and say she didn't do this.
Believe me, Andrew.
We're gonna do everything we can to clear your wife's name.
Why haven't you said anything? The news has already said the plane was perfect.
Can't you just call a-a press conference? If I get up there and play defense, hold my gloves in front of my face, it confirms their narrative.
We need to change their narrative.
We need to anticipate what they're going to say about Lori before they say it and then hit back with evidence.
So lay it on me.
What is the worst thing they can say? (Clicking) She's been sober for over 20 years.
She still goes to a.
A.
Meetings from time to time.
So she's an alcoholic.
That's not how I would phrase it.
Which is why they will.
(Sly & the family stone's "everyday people" playing) (Woman) Sources say that the flight crew, including the captain and first officer, were drinking at their hotel the night before the flight (Man) F.
A.
A.
regulations prohibit the consumption of alcohol 12 hours before a plane's scheduled departure time.
The crew was in direct violation of these regulations.
(Woman) Boy, were they hammered.
Not the pilots, though, right? Two pilots, six flight attendants hammered.
Even (Clicking) I said "y'all better not be flying tomorrow.
" She says to me, "don't worry.
These planes these days they fly themselves.
" Can you believe it? (Man) According to the manufacturer, the mw-85 has a perfect safety record.
(Woman) It's one of the top performing passenger planes in the world.
The plane has met with nothing but praise from the aviation community.
(Woman) I could lose my job.
I just need a quick peek at the mechanic reports.
You're asking for a lot.
You're not offering much there, Stevie.
No one will ever know.
Oh, our little secret, huh? Maybe if you want to come by my apartment around 8:00? I'd like to get in a workout and have some time to rinse off.
(Chuckles) (Man) Early indications from the black box recording indicate that the airport tower tried to communicate with the pilot Damn it.
They already leaked what was on the black box? Somewhere in that recording is the truth.
We need our own copy.
I'll get huck on it.
taken to the tower.
Pleas from the first officer also appear to have been ignored.
(Steven exhales deeply) (Door closes) I was this close to getting the mechanic's report.
What happened? I lost my superpowers.
I'm engaged.
I can't use every tool in the box anymore.
And by tool, you would mean your okay.
Just find another tack, Stephen.
We need those reports.
Abby.
The bartender confirms that both pilots and all six flight attendants were drinking.
Six? Manifest listed five.
You think one of 'em didn't make the flight? (Huck) Black box recording.
How'd you get it? N.
T.
S.
B.
server.
Kid's play.
Olivia, may I talk to you? Check the airline schedule.
See what attendants were supposed to fly 684.
Got it.
In your office? See what other flight crews were passing through Philly that night.
Got it.
Where's Quinn? Has anybody seen Quinn? I think she went out.
Where's the manifest? On my desk.
(Huck) She's dead.
If there is a missing flight attendant who is alive right now, we need to find her before the airline does.
Amanda Tanner is dead! Are you sure? (Scoffs) Pull down your window.
You tell your boy you talk into that little radio in your sleeve and you tell the president I know.
I know what he did to her.
I know! Shanker and holiday are both on board, but we're still three votes short.
You'd make it a lot easier on the V.
P.
If you could throw in a few carrots for border security.
It might give us something to work with.
Come on now, Billy.
Are you telling me you can't work with bright, energetic young people earning their way to citizenship through good grades and hard work? It's not that, Mr.
president.
Great.
Then I will count on the vice president's active support.
Yeah? (Whispers indistinctly) (Projector and camera shutter clicking) (Quinn speaks indistinctly) Quinn.
Who is this? Hank Tanner.
I'm Amanda's father.
Uh, it's a pleasure to meet you.
I stopped by Amanda's place and found Mr.
Tanner outside.
Amanda said that she came to work for you after she left the White House.
Yes, that's right.
I don't mean to be a bother here, but, uh, I've I've been talking to Mandy every day since she was in the hospital, and then I haven't heard anything from her, so I decided to come up here and make sure that everything was all right.
Her mother is really worried about her.
It's okay, Mr.
Tanner.
Everything's going to be fine.
I promise.
Mr.
Tanner, you look like you could use a cup of tea.
Quinn, would you help me get some tea for Mr.
Tanner? Thank you.
What you did back there? You made a promise.
We don't make promises.
But Amanda Tanner is dead.
Wh she's dead.
How do you know? We know.
But we can't tell him we know because we're not supposed to know, and there is no body.
So right now, we're gonna go back in there and give that nice man a cup of tea and tell him we are doing everything in our power to find his daughter.
And don't ever promise an outcome we can't deliver.
(Cell phone rings) (Ring) I have to take this.
(Beep) Are we on a secure line? Why the hell are you threatening my agents? You mean the men you sent to follow and scare me? You told them that you know what I did to her.
To who? Amanda Tanner? Playing dumb doesn't suit you.
Olivia, either say what you mean or stop war is war? Fine.
But murder is murder.
Amanda's dead? She has a dad a really nice man who's looking for his daughter.
How do you think he's gonna feel when he finds out that the man he voted for had his daughter killed? I didn't do this.
You know me.
You know I didn't do this.
I don't know anything.
Trust your gut.
(Scoffs) Your gut's never wrong.
I don't have a gut anymore.
Livvie Come to the White House and look me in the eye.
We need to talk about this face-to-face.
Face-to-face is over.
That girl is dead.
This wasn't Me.
You know me.
And the thought that I would ever, that I could ever You know me.
If you didn't kill her, we both know who did.
Tell me I'm wrong.
You let a pit bull off his leash, he mauls a baby.
No one blames the dog.
You let Cyrus off his leash.
That's on you.
(Snaps cell phone shut) Carly Reston? Yeah? You're a flight attendant for sky national? Oh, God.
Look, I called in sick before I went to bed last night, which is more than six hours in advance, so if you couldn't find anyone to cover, it's not my fault.
You're not from corporate, are you? (Crying) All of them? Everyone? Yes.
Sammi? All of them.
Everyone.
I need to know if Captain Mackelson was drinking at your party at the bar last night.
Lori? No way.
She's been sober for, like, a million years.
Goes to meetings at every city on the route.
She almost never comes out with us anyway.
The only reason she even came out with us last night is 'cause it was my birthday.
(Projector and camera shutter clicking) You didn't tell me Amanda Tanner used to work in the White House.
You didn't tell me she had a previous suicide attempt.
You pretty much didn't tell me a single thing about the girl whom you tasked me with finding.
So if I'm about to step into political quicksand here, I'd like to know it before I sink.
I can't tell you any more than I've told you.
But you know more.
If you can't tell me more, then you're actually obstructing justice.
I'm sorry, David.
(Projector and camera shutter clicking) You know what the flags are for? Yellow's where they picked up pieces of the fuselage.
Red's for body parts.
I heard one of the emergency workers talking.
It's how they keep track of whose parts are whose.
Andrew, you should really get back when my mom died, we had an open casket.
When my dad died, we had an open casket.
It's how we say good-bye.
What are my kids gonna see when they look in Lori's casket? A red flag? (Metal creaks) I'd like to correct (Camera shutters clicking) In the strongest terms possible The idea that the pilot, Lori Mackelson, had been drinking the night before the crash.
She had not, and we have a witness to that effect.
(Reporters murmuring) A little history about Lori she was married to Andrew Mackelson for 17 years.
They have two boys Carter, age 15, and Jonathan, age 12.
(Projector and camera shutter clicking) I don't want to ask you to do this because it's Not what you do anymore.
You want the body.
I know what I'm asking.
And if it's too much for you, if you don't want to, you can say no.
That'll be the end of it.
We'll find another way.
I'll take care of it.
Huck, you need reeling in, you call me.
I'll come for you.
I got this.
I'm good to go.
No problem.
Digrazzo flipped! It took a lot of pork and a guarantee of heavy campaigning from you in New Jersey come mid-terms.
We're only two away now.
Amanda Tanner's dead.
How sad.
Aren't you gonna ask how it happened? No.
Should I? A young woman died.
A member of this administration.
I said how sad I was.
You didn't hear me? I'll say it again.
How sad.
Let's lower the flags.
For God sakes, Cy, show some respect.
children, mommies and daddies and best friends and husbands and wives died in that plane crash yesterday.
That's sad.
We lost one of the few sane and worthy members of the senate yesterday.
That's sad.
Four Navy S.
E.
A.
L.
S died in Afghanistan, and that doesn't even touch Sudan, Congo, northern Mexico.
That's sad.
But the disturbed girl who made it her life's mission to take down this administration, the one who was happily no, gleefully carrying your illegitimate bastard child she's no longer with us? Well, I'm sorry if I'm not sitting shivah.
I'm sorry if I can't help but see the millions of people that we'll actually be able to help now that Amanda Tanner is gone.
I am sorry, but this is a good thing.
It is a good thing for us.
It is a good thing for the country.
(Door closes) What happened to McKinley? I was just getting used to seeing his judge-y face every morning.
He's being restored.
His judge-y face got flaky.
What's your preference Madison or Van Buren? Van Buren has a certain wisdom about him.
What's bothering you? I think we're gonna pass the D.
R.
E.
A.
M.
act.
Cyrus is on it like a dog with a bone.
You know he called Sanchez' widow? Good.
It needs to be passed.
Still, there should be limits.
We're political animals.
We're not animals.
Sometimes I think he's too willing to go to extremes.
Tom, hal, would you come here, please? Tom? Yes, ma'am? You would take a bullet for the president, wouldn't you? Yes, ma'am.
Hal? Yes, ma'am, I would.
Thank you.
That's all.
There isn't a person in this building who isn't willing to go to extremes for you.
(Projector and camera shutter clicking) (Stephen) I got .
.
You got it? Got what? Mechanic report - I got it.
How'd you get it? I got it.
I bet you did.
I looked through 200 reports, every inspection made on this plane in the last year thee are two separate reports, this one is signed and dated by a mechanic in Phoenix last fall (Clicking) This one's signed and dated by a mechanic in Philly a week ago the last inspection before the crash.
No problems reported in either.
That's bad for us, right? That means the plane was fine.
Read line four "power control unit.
" Notice anything? He misspelled "control," but Line four.
(Abby) Oh, it's misspelled here, too.
What are the chances? Identical reports submitted by different mechanics in different cities, months apart? The Philly report is fake.
The last inspection of the plane before it crashed was forged? (Man) Descending.
What's your status? (Alert beeping) (Man) Kick rudder.
Lori, left rudder.
Left rudder.
Sky national 684, what's your status? 684.
Emergency.
(Thumping and clicking) Left rudder.
Left rudder! What the hell are you (tape rewinding) 684.
Emergency.
(Thumping and clicking) (Curtis Mayfield's "pusherman" playing) (Tape rewinds) (Thumping and clicking) Thank you.
Ain't I clean? (Tape rewinding) (Man) 684.
Emergency.
(Thumping and clicking) Superfly, here I stand you know me, I'm your friend your main boy, thick and thin (Keys jangle) (Door opens and rattles) I'm your pusherman (Door closes) (Man grunts) (Thud) (Tape rewinds) (Thumping and clicking) That is your signature.
No, it is, but that's not my report.
That's not my handwriting.
I wouldn't misspell "control.
" I won my sixth grade spelling bee.
You were the last one to inspect the plane before it crashed.
Can you tell me what you said in your report? Hey, I just turn 'em in, all right? This thing's not on me.
I'm not here to blame you.
I just want you to remember.
Look, it's important.
First, I would've checked the P.
C.
U.
, then the summing levers.
And you want to make sure they're okay, 'cause if they're not, you risk the rudder deflecting to full blowdown limit.
I'm just trying to think if something was going on with the levers.
If there was, I would've put the plane down.
(Tape rewinds) (Thumping and clicking) I seem to remember recommending that for one of my birds.
Slow down.
Just (Chuckles) I don't want to miss any of this.
What exactly are you saying? (Tape rewinds) Are you saying there's something wrong with the plane.
What? She didn't panic.
She didn't freeze.
She was she was doing everything right.
That's what the noises are.
It's her responding, but it didn't matter, 'cause there was something wrong with the plane.
(Man panting) I know.
I know.
Just showing up at someone's house it's so tacky.
But we really do need to talk about what happened to Amanda Tanner.
(Speaks indistinctly) Okay, Charlie? (Man) Lori, left rudder.
Left rudder.
Right there.
Hear that? Those three soft thumps.
They're there.
Trust me.
Trust him.
It's the sound of Lori pushing on the left rudder, but the pedal won't move.
It won't let her go left.
Why not? The thing that makes the rudder go left or right according to the mechanic, one of its parts was bent.
It'd be like making a right turn in your car and having the steering wheel lock up on you.
The mechanic mentions the bent lever in his report, but that report is gone.
This is good, Andrew.
We can use this.
It means Lori did everything in her power to stop that plane from going down.
It means it wasn't her fault.
Then whose fault was it? My wife is dead.
Who's to blame for that? (Projector and camera shutter clicking) Well, we really appreciate your help.
And I know senator Sanchez would, too.
This is a great way to honor him.
We'll have you and Lynn over to dinner at the residence next week.
Okay.
Thank you, senator.
Yeah.
Bye.
Jankowski's in.
(Laughs) (Staffers murmur) Well done, everyone! All right! As long as brownhill's gallbladder keeps him at home, we have got a tie.
And the deciding vote is cast by the vice president.
I'm sorry.
I tried again this morning, but don't do this to me, Billy.
We're gonna need one more.
Get your boss up here.
This has gone far enough.
I don't want you to think that I'm doing this because I'm mad at you.
I'm not.
I'm not.
You trained me, but it was the agency, really.
They took stuff from me, and not just my name or my ability to ever contact my family again.
I was young, I was fresh out of college, and they made it sound fun.
(Gloves snap) We had fun, didn't we? That's the problem.
It's horrible and it's sickening, and just when you think you can't take any more, it gets fun.
The U.
S.
government really knows its stuff, yeah? Something in you just falls away, and it gets fun.
There's a high.
It's good.
It's so good, which is what I wanna remind you of how good it can get.
You think about that.
Okay, I'm thinking about it 'cause I'm rusty.
I'm sober.
This is gonna be bad for me for a while, but I'm gonna push through the horrible and the sickening and then something's gonna fall away, and I'm gonna start enjoying myself.
All right? And we both know Mnh-mnh.
What an artist I can be.
(Sighs) And like any junkie, I'm gonna enjoy the high for as long as I can.
Okay? (Groans) Are you ready, old friend? (Whirring) (Muttering) (Muffled screaming) (Flesh tears) Madam vice president.
Thanks for coming on such short notice.
It's an honor to be invited to the party, sir.
I just came from a prayer meeting.
You know how my people like to pray.
I do.
My Cassidy was only 12 years old when I was deciding whether or not to take the V.
P.
slot, and she said, "do it, mama.
Governor grant walks with the lord.
" Can you believe she was only 12 years old? Very precocious, that Cassidy.
(Chuckles) We did it, Sally.
The D.
R.
E.
A.
M.
act is tied in the senate, and you will have the great honor of casting the deciding vote.
Sir, I'm afraid that I we made a hell of a team out on the campaign trail, didn't we? The children of illegal immigrants should not be allowed to take part in the bounty of America, Mr.
president.
That is not God's plan.
I will never forget the way you brought those people to their feet in Utah.
Rain pouring down on 10,000 tired people, and they jumped up like a baptist choir.
That is the closest I've ever seen to political magic.
I'm not saying that they shouldn't be allowed to partake in certain paths to legal immigration you're an experienced politician and a woman of God, so I'm not gonna waste your time by trying to talk you into something that you've obviously given a lot of serious thought to.
So let's just get right to it.
You intend to be president one day.
Sir, I and whatever our disagreements, this country could use a woman president.
But of the 14 vice presidents in our history who have gone on to assume the presidency, do you know how many have done so without the endorsement of the president they served? None, sir.
We are going to do great things together, you and I.
Great things.
And we're going to start by passing the D.
R.
E.
A.
M.
act.
(Door opens) (Cyrus) Sir? It's my honor, sir.
(Whispers) Cyrus.
She's in.
Deal closed.
We're good.
The bill will pass, no problem, or I will tear her right-wing guts out.
I'm back.
I am back.
(Sighs) Cyrus? Cyrus.
We got a blackmail letter.
A demand.
It's not Olivia.
It's not Amanda.
Olivia's not this crazy, and Amanda is dead.
Which means there's someone else, a third party.
Olivia did not send us that sex tape.
Someone else did.
Cyrus, what's the demand? (Muffled screaming) Oh, Charlie, you make a beautiful noise.
They did, you know, take stuff from me the U.
S.
government.
After I started not being able to sleep after I started crying when I wrapped a guy in plastic, they put me in a hole nobody wants to be in.
And I don't mean a metaphorical hole.
I mean, an actual hole.
They took stuff from me, Charlie.
So much stuff, that I was homeless, on the subway, begging for change when Liv found me, which is why I'm breaking my sobriety, 'cause she asked, okay? And I'm telling you this because I want you to understand that I owe her, so I'm not gonna stop until you tell me where Amanda is.
You get that? (Grunting) (Groans) Tell me where she is.
(Speaks gibberish) Charlie, I have a scalpel, a 10-blade.
I will peel you like a grape.
(Gurgling) You're gonna retire to new Mexico.
It's nice there.
But first, you're gonna tell me where Amanda Tanner's body is.
All right? (Muttering) All right.
Okay.
(Projector and camera shutter clicking) Alissa, you're fired again.
What? You're gonna need a diving team.
You okay? Not really.
Okay.
(Whispers) Okay.
(President Nixon) Good evening.
This is the 37th time i have spoken to you from this office.
I would have preferred to carry through to the finish whatever the personal agony it would have involved.
Therefore I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow.
As we look to the future, the first essential is to begin healing the wounds of this nation, to put the bitterness and divisions of the recent past behind us.
I hope that I will have hastened the start of that process of healing which is so desperately needed in America.
What exactly are you insinuating, Ms.
Pope? I don't like to insinuate.
I'd rather deduce likely scenarios.
And in my scenario, you get a mechanic's report that says you have to ground all your mw-85s, which would cost you millions and send your customers running to your competitors.
You'd worry about what your stockholders are going to say.
You'd worry about your job.
That's understandable.
If I'm C.
E.
O.
, it's the last thing I'd want.
So one report goes missing no harm, no foul that is until 120 people fall out of the sky.
This is not some kind of conspiracy.
If that's what she doesn't insinuate.
She deduces.
(Sighs) I started this airline with one plane, two pilots, and an old furniture warehouse converted to a hangar.
I lost seven employees yesterday.
The senior flight attendant, Sammi Tyler, was one of my first hires.
Believe me, I want the truth just as much as you do.
So why did this report disappear? Why didn't it get passed up the line? I don't know.
Somebody does.
(Indistinct conversations, telephone rings) Phyllis Hayes? I'm, uh, Harrison Wright.
I'm here to I know why you're here, Mr.
Wright.
Two people used to do my job, and now it's just me.
That's not an excuse.
It just means things pile up.
I had a huge backlog of mechanic reports from all over the country and I had to get them out, push them up the ladder.
They fire you if you don't get them in on time to headquarters.
But my youngest daughter was having a piano recital and I didn't want to miss it.
I-I already missed one this year.
So I duplicated one of the reports.
I didn't think it was a big deal.
I believe this is what you're looking for.
I'm never going to hear her play without thinking about (Crying) All those people.
She's very good at the piano My daughter.
I'm sure she is, Ms.
Hayes.
(Sighs) I've come here tonight to express my sincere condolences to the victims and the families of flight 684.
As of this afternoon, sky national has participated fully in the N.
T.
S.
B.
investigation, and we understand and accept our role in the events leading up to the crash.
So I would like to take this time to apologize to all those who lost loved ones in this tragic event, including the families of the crew, and of captain Lori Mackelson, who fought so valiantly until the end to prevent this terrible tragedy.
Thank you.
Mm.
That's Mandy That's my daughter.
(Sobs) She didn't suffer.
How do you 'Cause I know what you do to people to make them suffer.
She didn't suffer.
It was a Good death.
(Footsteps retreat) Thank you.
(Whispers) It's okay.
Hal? Tom? Can you guys come in here a second, please? What if I wanted to get out of here? Sir? The press corps lid is on.
The staff has all gone home.
What if I wanted to leave? I don't think that's not possible, sir.
You're gonna tell me 41 never left? Okay, seriously.
42? Bill Clinton.
William Jefferson Clinton never left? I wouldn't know anything about past presidents Kennedy never left the White House in secret? What am I, born yesterday? Sir, we have no knowledge of fine.
I want to go somewhere spontaneously.
How do I do that? I would inform our immediate supervisor at the secret service, who'd inform the head of the secret service and the White House press secretary, who'd inform the White House press corps.
along with your bulletproof presidential limousine, your chase and follow car, your ambulance, two unmarked vehicles, as well as the sharpshooters and the marine guard no.
Sir? What if I wanted to go somewhere alone, no secret service, no press, no anything? Technically, the president of the United States is allowed to refuse the protection of secret service, but, uh "but, uh," what? It needs to be approved by the secretary of the treasury, sir (Sighs) And recorded in the national record.
(Chuckles) I'm not a prisoner.
(Both) No, sir.
I am the most powerful man on the planet.
(Both) Yes, sir.
But I can't leave my house.
(Both) No, sir.
You see where I might be a little bit annoyed? (Tom and hal) Yes, sir.
I am a grown man.
I am going to leave here.
If I have to walk out to the staff parking lot with you two following me, jump into someone's 1994 civic and drive off without protection, I am going to leave.
I would like to be safe and not jeopardize the economy of this country when I did so.
Can you come up with a way to make that happen? Two sedans, covered parking, one sharpshooter, and your ambulance.
One sedan and covered parking.
No sharpshooters and no ambulance.
One sedan, covered parking, no sharpshooters, we keep the ambulance and add two agents.
Sold.
Just like 43.
(Sighs) Yeah.
(David) Personal belongings on her body, no sign of foul play, slashed her wrists a month ago.
Cops want to rule it a suicide.
Coroner wants to rule it a suicide.
So it's gonna be ruled a suicide.
Yep.
So who do you think killed her? See, I've got this nagging feeling you've got a pretty good idea.
I know I give you a long leash on a lot of things, and I like to, because despite my better judgment and all my protests to the contrary, I really do consider you a friend.
But I can't look the other way here, not on this.
I'm an assistant U.
S.
attorney, Liv.
I prosecute crime.
I get the bad guys.
So at some point, even with you, I gotta draw the line.
I gotta do my job.
Gotta be the sheriff.
The white hat looks good on you.
(Johnnie Walker's "I believe in you (You believe in me)" Playing) Lisa.
I'm gonna need that autopsy report fast-tracked as soon as you can.
Well, I can tell you right now it's gonna be a suicide.
I'm still gonna need that report.
I feel sorry Are you still engaged? I feel sorry (Chuckles) Not so engaged that I I don't remember the freezer.
Hey.
I left you ten messages.
I just heard.
It's horrible.
I couldn't reach you.
I didn't know what to do, so I-I just started making grilled cheese, because it's literally the only thing I know how to make, and it's comfort food, and I figured you'd be hungry, and you Quinn, are you okay? (Crying) (Sniffles) For any woman out there who can say (Woman) Congressman Mike pence of Indiana (Cell phone ringing) Welcoming the compromise, but cautioning against taking too much credit (Knock on door) (Turns off volume) What? Wait.
Hold on.
Coming! Stephen.
It's not his.
What? I just got the coroner's report.
The blood type's not a match.
Amanda was pregnant, but the baby was not the president's.
Liv? Liv, you (Snaps cell phone shut) Hi.
Hi.
(Projector and camera shutter clicks)
What? Previously on "Scandal" I want to tell the world what he did.
Amanda.
I want them all to burn for this.
You don't have to worry about that sex tape, because who needs a sex tape when you've got a fetus full of presidential D.
N.
A.
? That's not my baby.
I'm out.
I'm gonna tell them the truth.
She's not our problem.
She's a kid.
Our real problem is Olivia Pope.
President Fitzgerald Thomas grant III has declared war on you, Olivia.
May God have mercy on your foul.
(Muffled groans) (Projector and camera shutter clicking) Answers, people.
We need answers, and time is of the essence.
Her phone's gone and her purse.
She ran away.
You told her she was gonna have to go on TV, she freaked out, and she ran away.
I gotta say, as crime scenes go, it's pretty clean.
No broken locks, no signs of struggle, and I'm not finding any prints aside from yours and Amanda's.
Because it's not a crime scene.
Because she ran away.
There's someone watching you.
What? Your trash is gone, and it's not trash day, and there's a sedan parked across the street U.
S.
government plates, tinted windows.
What about Amanda, huck? Whoever it was came up through the service elevator, picked the lock on the back door, sedated her, taped her up, got her in a duffel bag.
In and out, probably seven minutes, six if they were quick.
How do you know? That's how I would do it.
(Projector and camera shutter clicking) My secretary has a standing order to stop you from walking in here.
Alissa, you're fired.
One of my clients is missing.
Have you looked in jail? You often seem to find them there.
Her name is Amanda Tanner.
She's 27 and she was staying in my apartment.
How long has she been gone? Five, six hours.
You consider that missing? That's barely enough time to rack up a good bar tab.
(Cell phone alert chimes) Oh, God.
What's wrong? I know I ask a lot of you, but this Amanda thing is big.
She's a good kid and she was under my protection.
Can you help me find her? I'll see what I can do.
Thank you, David.
Don't fire Alissa.
I snuck in while she was in the bathroom.
(Projector and camera shutter clicking) (Panting) You're late.
I keep trying Amanda's phone, but it goes straight to voice mail.
When I say "all hands on deck" Harrison, she's our client.
She's missing.
I mean all hands on deck.
We should be doing things.
Things should be happening.
Shouldn't we at least file a missing persons report? Just 'cause you don't see things happening, doesn't mean things aren't happening.
With Olivia, things are always happening.
I just don't what could possibly be more important than Amanda right now? That.
(Indistinct conversations) (Projector and camera shutter clicking) (camera shutters clicking) I first met Paul ten years ago at the governor's conference.
I thought my speech was pretty killer, so when Paul took me aside afterward, I was looking forward to simply "congratulations, Fitz.
You moved me to tears.
" And then for ten very long minutes, he told me, point by point, why every word out of my mouth was not only wrong but potentially the dumbest thing any politician had ever said.
(Scattered laughter) Senator Sanchez told you the hard truth because he cared, because he thought we could all do better.
He scored no political points and never asked for anything in return, but he earned my profound gratitude, and today, my profound sadness.
Of course the senator would be the first to object if I stood up here today and talked about him and failed to mention the 119 other people who died this morning.
This is A tragic day for all of us.
Our prayers are with all those who lost loved ones on flight 684.
(Indistinct conversations) (Woman) Where's my daughter? (Man) Any information at all? I can't oh! Ms.
Pope, Nelson O'Shea, pilots' union.
Nice to finally meet you.
Yes.
I wish it were under better circumstances.
Yes.
Very sad.
So it's a standard crash investigation.
We'll need you to make a statement on belief of the pilots' union to the press as soon as possible.
The airline P.
R.
is up there right now, so you let them go first? I didn't think it was a problem.
Sky national has immediately activated our emergency response protocol and is in direct contact with the F.
A.
A.
and N.
T.
S.
B.
Although our primary concern at this time is for the passengers on board the aircraft and their families, we're able to assure you, this particular plane has a perfect safety record.
And there it is.
They're saying it's the pilot's fault.
No, he didn't.
He just said they're not saying it, but they're saying it, and this crowd's eating it up with a spoon.
(Projector and camera shutter clicks) Make sure we know when the memorial is so we can clear my schedule.
Sir, we ought to take this chance to bring the D.
R.
E.
A.
M.
act to a vote.
Cyrus.
The poor man's still scattered across the Virginia countryside, and you want to start using him to leverage a vote? Paul wanted this more than anything.
A pathway to citizenship for immigrant kids who go to college he'd be honored.
It's a divisive issue, even within our own party.
Let me put a call in to his wife, she if she'll reach out to the fence sitters.
How close is the vote? Nose count has us within four or five.
Ah, we're gonna look opportunistic.
Never let a crisis go to waste, Mr.
president.
Make the call.
And how long was her tour of duty in the air national guard? And she flew C-141S out of Dover? (Camera shutter clicks) Okay.
Thank you so much.
How many times do I have to tell you you can't just walk in here whenever you feel like it? Look, Amanda Tanner is gone, and that means my story is gone, but it also means your client is gone, so I thought I could just walk in here and talk to you.
If Amanda is gone and I'm not saying she is then I'm sure Olivia's working on it.
Well, I saw the news.
Doesn't she have her hands full with this plane crash? Sometimes just because you can't see things happening doesn't mean they're not happening or something, you know, if she is gone.
There's a missing persons report, Quinn.
There's a report? Who who filed it? Amanda's father.
(Presses key) (Sighs) So what are you calling yourself now? Huck.
You? Charlie.
Huck finn? That's funny.
Well, Charlie, like Charlie brown? I thought you were dead.
I'm not dead.
(Chuckles) Huck freaking finn? Don't make fun of my name.
You out of business? I was never in business.
It's lucrative when you contract out.
I'm a retired government employee.
Oh, really? You sure? You know what they say "once you go black, you never go back.
" Ops, that is.
Black ops.
You never could tell a decent joke.
So what do you want then? Female, 5'4", 105 pounds, Amanda Lynn Tanner.
Don't know what you're talking about.
You're getting sloppy in your old age.
You crossed the street at a light.
I got you on the traffic cam.
Well, then.
You don't need to ask me about her, now do you? You got me on the traffic cam.
Yeah.
But where is she? No.
No.
That's just tacky.
That's tasteless.
You know better than to ask.
What did you think? That you were gonna buy me an assassin's brunch and then we'd hold hands? No.
Jeez.
Now you're off looking for missing girls? Come on.
Ugh.
Tacky.
Stop looking.
She's gone.
Hey, you ever want to come back, make a little more money than the U.
S.
govern pays, you give me a call.
Talent like yours should not go to waste.
And, uh It's not like Charlie brown.
Like manson.
Charlie manson.
Now that's a name.
Huck finn? (Laughs) Come on.
Ah.
Hey, buddy.
(Door opens, bell jingles) Welcome, everyone.
This is the preliminary C.
V.
R.
meeting of all interested parties to sky national flight 684.
This morning, I'll play the black box recording in its entirety without stopping.
You'll hear it once and once only.
The national transportation safety board prohibits you from recording what you're about to hear.
You are allowed to take notes, but you are prohibited from taking those notes from this room.
Any questions? (Beep) (Woman) Here it is, my special fruit drink.
(Woman) That's good.
What's in it? Cranberry, grapefruit.
(Man) It'd be perfect with some vodka.
(Laughter) (Video fast-forwards) (Man) Sky national 684, you're cleared to descend to and maintain 5,000.
(Woman) Roger national 684.
We'll be out of 15 for 5.
(Video fast-forwards) (Man) National 4 miles away at 2:00.
Possible wake turbulence.
You may feel a bump or two.
(Video fast-forwards) (Man) 684.
Got the aerostream.
(Thumping) (Woman) And I feel the bump or two.
(Loud bang) Hang on.
I'm pitching down.
We're nosedown.
(Alert beeping) (Man) Sky national 684, I show descending.
What's your status? (Man) Kick rudder.
Lori, left rudder.
Left rudder.
(Man) Sky national 684, what's your status? 684.
Emergency.
(Thumping and clicking) Left rudder.
Left rudder! What the hell are you aah! Oh, here we go.
(Air whooshing, crash) No, there was a loud bang and the captain was saying "hang on.
" No, that was the first officer.
Fine.
But I can't remember if he said it before or after the two thumps.
Before, I think.
Maybe after.
I don't know.
I-I should've written the whole thing on my arm.
Before (Pounds table) The two thumps.
It was loud thump, loud thump, long clicking sound, short clicking sound, then three faint thumps.
The first officer saying, "left rudder.
Left rudder.
What the hell are you aah! Here we go.
" I got a good ear.
But I'll tell you what I didn't hear in the last ten seconds the pilot.
As soon as they hit the wake from the aerostream, I think she panicked, maybe overcorrected.
It was like she didn't hear.
She she froze.
Which is exactly what the airline will say.
If sky national can prove pilot error, they save millions of dollars.
They don't have to ground their fleet, do extra maintenance.
They have every reason to want to trash Lori Mackelson in the press, cast her as a panicking, P.
M.
S.
ing woman who can't handle a little turbulence.
Lori had 16,000 flight hours under her belt.
She didn't panic.
She was a great pilot, under any conditions.
She did not freeze.
Can I help you, sir? Not unless you can bring my wife back.
All I want them to do is to get out there and say she didn't do this.
Believe me, Andrew.
We're gonna do everything we can to clear your wife's name.
Why haven't you said anything? The news has already said the plane was perfect.
Can't you just call a-a press conference? If I get up there and play defense, hold my gloves in front of my face, it confirms their narrative.
We need to change their narrative.
We need to anticipate what they're going to say about Lori before they say it and then hit back with evidence.
So lay it on me.
What is the worst thing they can say? (Clicking) She's been sober for over 20 years.
She still goes to a.
A.
Meetings from time to time.
So she's an alcoholic.
That's not how I would phrase it.
Which is why they will.
(Sly & the family stone's "everyday people" playing) (Woman) Sources say that the flight crew, including the captain and first officer, were drinking at their hotel the night before the flight (Man) F.
A.
A.
regulations prohibit the consumption of alcohol 12 hours before a plane's scheduled departure time.
The crew was in direct violation of these regulations.
(Woman) Boy, were they hammered.
Not the pilots, though, right? Two pilots, six flight attendants hammered.
Even (Clicking) I said "y'all better not be flying tomorrow.
" She says to me, "don't worry.
These planes these days they fly themselves.
" Can you believe it? (Man) According to the manufacturer, the mw-85 has a perfect safety record.
(Woman) It's one of the top performing passenger planes in the world.
The plane has met with nothing but praise from the aviation community.
(Woman) I could lose my job.
I just need a quick peek at the mechanic reports.
You're asking for a lot.
You're not offering much there, Stevie.
No one will ever know.
Oh, our little secret, huh? Maybe if you want to come by my apartment around 8:00? I'd like to get in a workout and have some time to rinse off.
(Chuckles) (Man) Early indications from the black box recording indicate that the airport tower tried to communicate with the pilot Damn it.
They already leaked what was on the black box? Somewhere in that recording is the truth.
We need our own copy.
I'll get huck on it.
taken to the tower.
Pleas from the first officer also appear to have been ignored.
(Steven exhales deeply) (Door closes) I was this close to getting the mechanic's report.
What happened? I lost my superpowers.
I'm engaged.
I can't use every tool in the box anymore.
And by tool, you would mean your okay.
Just find another tack, Stephen.
We need those reports.
Abby.
The bartender confirms that both pilots and all six flight attendants were drinking.
Six? Manifest listed five.
You think one of 'em didn't make the flight? (Huck) Black box recording.
How'd you get it? N.
T.
S.
B.
server.
Kid's play.
Olivia, may I talk to you? Check the airline schedule.
See what attendants were supposed to fly 684.
Got it.
In your office? See what other flight crews were passing through Philly that night.
Got it.
Where's Quinn? Has anybody seen Quinn? I think she went out.
Where's the manifest? On my desk.
(Huck) She's dead.
If there is a missing flight attendant who is alive right now, we need to find her before the airline does.
Amanda Tanner is dead! Are you sure? (Scoffs) Pull down your window.
You tell your boy you talk into that little radio in your sleeve and you tell the president I know.
I know what he did to her.
I know! Shanker and holiday are both on board, but we're still three votes short.
You'd make it a lot easier on the V.
P.
If you could throw in a few carrots for border security.
It might give us something to work with.
Come on now, Billy.
Are you telling me you can't work with bright, energetic young people earning their way to citizenship through good grades and hard work? It's not that, Mr.
president.
Great.
Then I will count on the vice president's active support.
Yeah? (Whispers indistinctly) (Projector and camera shutter clicking) (Quinn speaks indistinctly) Quinn.
Who is this? Hank Tanner.
I'm Amanda's father.
Uh, it's a pleasure to meet you.
I stopped by Amanda's place and found Mr.
Tanner outside.
Amanda said that she came to work for you after she left the White House.
Yes, that's right.
I don't mean to be a bother here, but, uh, I've I've been talking to Mandy every day since she was in the hospital, and then I haven't heard anything from her, so I decided to come up here and make sure that everything was all right.
Her mother is really worried about her.
It's okay, Mr.
Tanner.
Everything's going to be fine.
I promise.
Mr.
Tanner, you look like you could use a cup of tea.
Quinn, would you help me get some tea for Mr.
Tanner? Thank you.
What you did back there? You made a promise.
We don't make promises.
But Amanda Tanner is dead.
Wh she's dead.
How do you know? We know.
But we can't tell him we know because we're not supposed to know, and there is no body.
So right now, we're gonna go back in there and give that nice man a cup of tea and tell him we are doing everything in our power to find his daughter.
And don't ever promise an outcome we can't deliver.
(Cell phone rings) (Ring) I have to take this.
(Beep) Are we on a secure line? Why the hell are you threatening my agents? You mean the men you sent to follow and scare me? You told them that you know what I did to her.
To who? Amanda Tanner? Playing dumb doesn't suit you.
Olivia, either say what you mean or stop war is war? Fine.
But murder is murder.
Amanda's dead? She has a dad a really nice man who's looking for his daughter.
How do you think he's gonna feel when he finds out that the man he voted for had his daughter killed? I didn't do this.
You know me.
You know I didn't do this.
I don't know anything.
Trust your gut.
(Scoffs) Your gut's never wrong.
I don't have a gut anymore.
Livvie Come to the White House and look me in the eye.
We need to talk about this face-to-face.
Face-to-face is over.
That girl is dead.
This wasn't Me.
You know me.
And the thought that I would ever, that I could ever You know me.
If you didn't kill her, we both know who did.
Tell me I'm wrong.
You let a pit bull off his leash, he mauls a baby.
No one blames the dog.
You let Cyrus off his leash.
That's on you.
(Snaps cell phone shut) Carly Reston? Yeah? You're a flight attendant for sky national? Oh, God.
Look, I called in sick before I went to bed last night, which is more than six hours in advance, so if you couldn't find anyone to cover, it's not my fault.
You're not from corporate, are you? (Crying) All of them? Everyone? Yes.
Sammi? All of them.
Everyone.
I need to know if Captain Mackelson was drinking at your party at the bar last night.
Lori? No way.
She's been sober for, like, a million years.
Goes to meetings at every city on the route.
She almost never comes out with us anyway.
The only reason she even came out with us last night is 'cause it was my birthday.
(Projector and camera shutter clicking) You didn't tell me Amanda Tanner used to work in the White House.
You didn't tell me she had a previous suicide attempt.
You pretty much didn't tell me a single thing about the girl whom you tasked me with finding.
So if I'm about to step into political quicksand here, I'd like to know it before I sink.
I can't tell you any more than I've told you.
But you know more.
If you can't tell me more, then you're actually obstructing justice.
I'm sorry, David.
(Projector and camera shutter clicking) You know what the flags are for? Yellow's where they picked up pieces of the fuselage.
Red's for body parts.
I heard one of the emergency workers talking.
It's how they keep track of whose parts are whose.
Andrew, you should really get back when my mom died, we had an open casket.
When my dad died, we had an open casket.
It's how we say good-bye.
What are my kids gonna see when they look in Lori's casket? A red flag? (Metal creaks) I'd like to correct (Camera shutters clicking) In the strongest terms possible The idea that the pilot, Lori Mackelson, had been drinking the night before the crash.
She had not, and we have a witness to that effect.
(Reporters murmuring) A little history about Lori she was married to Andrew Mackelson for 17 years.
They have two boys Carter, age 15, and Jonathan, age 12.
(Projector and camera shutter clicking) I don't want to ask you to do this because it's Not what you do anymore.
You want the body.
I know what I'm asking.
And if it's too much for you, if you don't want to, you can say no.
That'll be the end of it.
We'll find another way.
I'll take care of it.
Huck, you need reeling in, you call me.
I'll come for you.
I got this.
I'm good to go.
No problem.
Digrazzo flipped! It took a lot of pork and a guarantee of heavy campaigning from you in New Jersey come mid-terms.
We're only two away now.
Amanda Tanner's dead.
How sad.
Aren't you gonna ask how it happened? No.
Should I? A young woman died.
A member of this administration.
I said how sad I was.
You didn't hear me? I'll say it again.
How sad.
Let's lower the flags.
For God sakes, Cy, show some respect.
children, mommies and daddies and best friends and husbands and wives died in that plane crash yesterday.
That's sad.
We lost one of the few sane and worthy members of the senate yesterday.
That's sad.
Four Navy S.
E.
A.
L.
S died in Afghanistan, and that doesn't even touch Sudan, Congo, northern Mexico.
That's sad.
But the disturbed girl who made it her life's mission to take down this administration, the one who was happily no, gleefully carrying your illegitimate bastard child she's no longer with us? Well, I'm sorry if I'm not sitting shivah.
I'm sorry if I can't help but see the millions of people that we'll actually be able to help now that Amanda Tanner is gone.
I am sorry, but this is a good thing.
It is a good thing for us.
It is a good thing for the country.
(Door closes) What happened to McKinley? I was just getting used to seeing his judge-y face every morning.
He's being restored.
His judge-y face got flaky.
What's your preference Madison or Van Buren? Van Buren has a certain wisdom about him.
What's bothering you? I think we're gonna pass the D.
R.
E.
A.
M.
act.
Cyrus is on it like a dog with a bone.
You know he called Sanchez' widow? Good.
It needs to be passed.
Still, there should be limits.
We're political animals.
We're not animals.
Sometimes I think he's too willing to go to extremes.
Tom, hal, would you come here, please? Tom? Yes, ma'am? You would take a bullet for the president, wouldn't you? Yes, ma'am.
Hal? Yes, ma'am, I would.
Thank you.
That's all.
There isn't a person in this building who isn't willing to go to extremes for you.
(Projector and camera shutter clicking) (Stephen) I got .
.
You got it? Got what? Mechanic report - I got it.
How'd you get it? I got it.
I bet you did.
I looked through 200 reports, every inspection made on this plane in the last year thee are two separate reports, this one is signed and dated by a mechanic in Phoenix last fall (Clicking) This one's signed and dated by a mechanic in Philly a week ago the last inspection before the crash.
No problems reported in either.
That's bad for us, right? That means the plane was fine.
Read line four "power control unit.
" Notice anything? He misspelled "control," but Line four.
(Abby) Oh, it's misspelled here, too.
What are the chances? Identical reports submitted by different mechanics in different cities, months apart? The Philly report is fake.
The last inspection of the plane before it crashed was forged? (Man) Descending.
What's your status? (Alert beeping) (Man) Kick rudder.
Lori, left rudder.
Left rudder.
Sky national 684, what's your status? 684.
Emergency.
(Thumping and clicking) Left rudder.
Left rudder! What the hell are you (tape rewinding) 684.
Emergency.
(Thumping and clicking) (Curtis Mayfield's "pusherman" playing) (Tape rewinds) (Thumping and clicking) Thank you.
Ain't I clean? (Tape rewinding) (Man) 684.
Emergency.
(Thumping and clicking) Superfly, here I stand you know me, I'm your friend your main boy, thick and thin (Keys jangle) (Door opens and rattles) I'm your pusherman (Door closes) (Man grunts) (Thud) (Tape rewinds) (Thumping and clicking) That is your signature.
No, it is, but that's not my report.
That's not my handwriting.
I wouldn't misspell "control.
" I won my sixth grade spelling bee.
You were the last one to inspect the plane before it crashed.
Can you tell me what you said in your report? Hey, I just turn 'em in, all right? This thing's not on me.
I'm not here to blame you.
I just want you to remember.
Look, it's important.
First, I would've checked the P.
C.
U.
, then the summing levers.
And you want to make sure they're okay, 'cause if they're not, you risk the rudder deflecting to full blowdown limit.
I'm just trying to think if something was going on with the levers.
If there was, I would've put the plane down.
(Tape rewinds) (Thumping and clicking) I seem to remember recommending that for one of my birds.
Slow down.
Just (Chuckles) I don't want to miss any of this.
What exactly are you saying? (Tape rewinds) Are you saying there's something wrong with the plane.
What? She didn't panic.
She didn't freeze.
She was she was doing everything right.
That's what the noises are.
It's her responding, but it didn't matter, 'cause there was something wrong with the plane.
(Man panting) I know.
I know.
Just showing up at someone's house it's so tacky.
But we really do need to talk about what happened to Amanda Tanner.
(Speaks indistinctly) Okay, Charlie? (Man) Lori, left rudder.
Left rudder.
Right there.
Hear that? Those three soft thumps.
They're there.
Trust me.
Trust him.
It's the sound of Lori pushing on the left rudder, but the pedal won't move.
It won't let her go left.
Why not? The thing that makes the rudder go left or right according to the mechanic, one of its parts was bent.
It'd be like making a right turn in your car and having the steering wheel lock up on you.
The mechanic mentions the bent lever in his report, but that report is gone.
This is good, Andrew.
We can use this.
It means Lori did everything in her power to stop that plane from going down.
It means it wasn't her fault.
Then whose fault was it? My wife is dead.
Who's to blame for that? (Projector and camera shutter clicking) Well, we really appreciate your help.
And I know senator Sanchez would, too.
This is a great way to honor him.
We'll have you and Lynn over to dinner at the residence next week.
Okay.
Thank you, senator.
Yeah.
Bye.
Jankowski's in.
(Laughs) (Staffers murmur) Well done, everyone! All right! As long as brownhill's gallbladder keeps him at home, we have got a tie.
And the deciding vote is cast by the vice president.
I'm sorry.
I tried again this morning, but don't do this to me, Billy.
We're gonna need one more.
Get your boss up here.
This has gone far enough.
I don't want you to think that I'm doing this because I'm mad at you.
I'm not.
I'm not.
You trained me, but it was the agency, really.
They took stuff from me, and not just my name or my ability to ever contact my family again.
I was young, I was fresh out of college, and they made it sound fun.
(Gloves snap) We had fun, didn't we? That's the problem.
It's horrible and it's sickening, and just when you think you can't take any more, it gets fun.
The U.
S.
government really knows its stuff, yeah? Something in you just falls away, and it gets fun.
There's a high.
It's good.
It's so good, which is what I wanna remind you of how good it can get.
You think about that.
Okay, I'm thinking about it 'cause I'm rusty.
I'm sober.
This is gonna be bad for me for a while, but I'm gonna push through the horrible and the sickening and then something's gonna fall away, and I'm gonna start enjoying myself.
All right? And we both know Mnh-mnh.
What an artist I can be.
(Sighs) And like any junkie, I'm gonna enjoy the high for as long as I can.
Okay? (Groans) Are you ready, old friend? (Whirring) (Muttering) (Muffled screaming) (Flesh tears) Madam vice president.
Thanks for coming on such short notice.
It's an honor to be invited to the party, sir.
I just came from a prayer meeting.
You know how my people like to pray.
I do.
My Cassidy was only 12 years old when I was deciding whether or not to take the V.
P.
slot, and she said, "do it, mama.
Governor grant walks with the lord.
" Can you believe she was only 12 years old? Very precocious, that Cassidy.
(Chuckles) We did it, Sally.
The D.
R.
E.
A.
M.
act is tied in the senate, and you will have the great honor of casting the deciding vote.
Sir, I'm afraid that I we made a hell of a team out on the campaign trail, didn't we? The children of illegal immigrants should not be allowed to take part in the bounty of America, Mr.
president.
That is not God's plan.
I will never forget the way you brought those people to their feet in Utah.
Rain pouring down on 10,000 tired people, and they jumped up like a baptist choir.
That is the closest I've ever seen to political magic.
I'm not saying that they shouldn't be allowed to partake in certain paths to legal immigration you're an experienced politician and a woman of God, so I'm not gonna waste your time by trying to talk you into something that you've obviously given a lot of serious thought to.
So let's just get right to it.
You intend to be president one day.
Sir, I and whatever our disagreements, this country could use a woman president.
But of the 14 vice presidents in our history who have gone on to assume the presidency, do you know how many have done so without the endorsement of the president they served? None, sir.
We are going to do great things together, you and I.
Great things.
And we're going to start by passing the D.
R.
E.
A.
M.
act.
(Door opens) (Cyrus) Sir? It's my honor, sir.
(Whispers) Cyrus.
She's in.
Deal closed.
We're good.
The bill will pass, no problem, or I will tear her right-wing guts out.
I'm back.
I am back.
(Sighs) Cyrus? Cyrus.
We got a blackmail letter.
A demand.
It's not Olivia.
It's not Amanda.
Olivia's not this crazy, and Amanda is dead.
Which means there's someone else, a third party.
Olivia did not send us that sex tape.
Someone else did.
Cyrus, what's the demand? (Muffled screaming) Oh, Charlie, you make a beautiful noise.
They did, you know, take stuff from me the U.
S.
government.
After I started not being able to sleep after I started crying when I wrapped a guy in plastic, they put me in a hole nobody wants to be in.
And I don't mean a metaphorical hole.
I mean, an actual hole.
They took stuff from me, Charlie.
So much stuff, that I was homeless, on the subway, begging for change when Liv found me, which is why I'm breaking my sobriety, 'cause she asked, okay? And I'm telling you this because I want you to understand that I owe her, so I'm not gonna stop until you tell me where Amanda is.
You get that? (Grunting) (Groans) Tell me where she is.
(Speaks gibberish) Charlie, I have a scalpel, a 10-blade.
I will peel you like a grape.
(Gurgling) You're gonna retire to new Mexico.
It's nice there.
But first, you're gonna tell me where Amanda Tanner's body is.
All right? (Muttering) All right.
Okay.
(Projector and camera shutter clicking) Alissa, you're fired again.
What? You're gonna need a diving team.
You okay? Not really.
Okay.
(Whispers) Okay.
(President Nixon) Good evening.
This is the 37th time i have spoken to you from this office.
I would have preferred to carry through to the finish whatever the personal agony it would have involved.
Therefore I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow.
As we look to the future, the first essential is to begin healing the wounds of this nation, to put the bitterness and divisions of the recent past behind us.
I hope that I will have hastened the start of that process of healing which is so desperately needed in America.
What exactly are you insinuating, Ms.
Pope? I don't like to insinuate.
I'd rather deduce likely scenarios.
And in my scenario, you get a mechanic's report that says you have to ground all your mw-85s, which would cost you millions and send your customers running to your competitors.
You'd worry about what your stockholders are going to say.
You'd worry about your job.
That's understandable.
If I'm C.
E.
O.
, it's the last thing I'd want.
So one report goes missing no harm, no foul that is until 120 people fall out of the sky.
This is not some kind of conspiracy.
If that's what she doesn't insinuate.
She deduces.
(Sighs) I started this airline with one plane, two pilots, and an old furniture warehouse converted to a hangar.
I lost seven employees yesterday.
The senior flight attendant, Sammi Tyler, was one of my first hires.
Believe me, I want the truth just as much as you do.
So why did this report disappear? Why didn't it get passed up the line? I don't know.
Somebody does.
(Indistinct conversations, telephone rings) Phyllis Hayes? I'm, uh, Harrison Wright.
I'm here to I know why you're here, Mr.
Wright.
Two people used to do my job, and now it's just me.
That's not an excuse.
It just means things pile up.
I had a huge backlog of mechanic reports from all over the country and I had to get them out, push them up the ladder.
They fire you if you don't get them in on time to headquarters.
But my youngest daughter was having a piano recital and I didn't want to miss it.
I-I already missed one this year.
So I duplicated one of the reports.
I didn't think it was a big deal.
I believe this is what you're looking for.
I'm never going to hear her play without thinking about (Crying) All those people.
She's very good at the piano My daughter.
I'm sure she is, Ms.
Hayes.
(Sighs) I've come here tonight to express my sincere condolences to the victims and the families of flight 684.
As of this afternoon, sky national has participated fully in the N.
T.
S.
B.
investigation, and we understand and accept our role in the events leading up to the crash.
So I would like to take this time to apologize to all those who lost loved ones in this tragic event, including the families of the crew, and of captain Lori Mackelson, who fought so valiantly until the end to prevent this terrible tragedy.
Thank you.
Mm.
That's Mandy That's my daughter.
(Sobs) She didn't suffer.
How do you 'Cause I know what you do to people to make them suffer.
She didn't suffer.
It was a Good death.
(Footsteps retreat) Thank you.
(Whispers) It's okay.
Hal? Tom? Can you guys come in here a second, please? What if I wanted to get out of here? Sir? The press corps lid is on.
The staff has all gone home.
What if I wanted to leave? I don't think that's not possible, sir.
You're gonna tell me 41 never left? Okay, seriously.
42? Bill Clinton.
William Jefferson Clinton never left? I wouldn't know anything about past presidents Kennedy never left the White House in secret? What am I, born yesterday? Sir, we have no knowledge of fine.
I want to go somewhere spontaneously.
How do I do that? I would inform our immediate supervisor at the secret service, who'd inform the head of the secret service and the White House press secretary, who'd inform the White House press corps.
along with your bulletproof presidential limousine, your chase and follow car, your ambulance, two unmarked vehicles, as well as the sharpshooters and the marine guard no.
Sir? What if I wanted to go somewhere alone, no secret service, no press, no anything? Technically, the president of the United States is allowed to refuse the protection of secret service, but, uh "but, uh," what? It needs to be approved by the secretary of the treasury, sir (Sighs) And recorded in the national record.
(Chuckles) I'm not a prisoner.
(Both) No, sir.
I am the most powerful man on the planet.
(Both) Yes, sir.
But I can't leave my house.
(Both) No, sir.
You see where I might be a little bit annoyed? (Tom and hal) Yes, sir.
I am a grown man.
I am going to leave here.
If I have to walk out to the staff parking lot with you two following me, jump into someone's 1994 civic and drive off without protection, I am going to leave.
I would like to be safe and not jeopardize the economy of this country when I did so.
Can you come up with a way to make that happen? Two sedans, covered parking, one sharpshooter, and your ambulance.
One sedan and covered parking.
No sharpshooters and no ambulance.
One sedan, covered parking, no sharpshooters, we keep the ambulance and add two agents.
Sold.
Just like 43.
(Sighs) Yeah.
(David) Personal belongings on her body, no sign of foul play, slashed her wrists a month ago.
Cops want to rule it a suicide.
Coroner wants to rule it a suicide.
So it's gonna be ruled a suicide.
Yep.
So who do you think killed her? See, I've got this nagging feeling you've got a pretty good idea.
I know I give you a long leash on a lot of things, and I like to, because despite my better judgment and all my protests to the contrary, I really do consider you a friend.
But I can't look the other way here, not on this.
I'm an assistant U.
S.
attorney, Liv.
I prosecute crime.
I get the bad guys.
So at some point, even with you, I gotta draw the line.
I gotta do my job.
Gotta be the sheriff.
The white hat looks good on you.
(Johnnie Walker's "I believe in you (You believe in me)" Playing) Lisa.
I'm gonna need that autopsy report fast-tracked as soon as you can.
Well, I can tell you right now it's gonna be a suicide.
I'm still gonna need that report.
I feel sorry Are you still engaged? I feel sorry (Chuckles) Not so engaged that I I don't remember the freezer.
Hey.
I left you ten messages.
I just heard.
It's horrible.
I couldn't reach you.
I didn't know what to do, so I-I just started making grilled cheese, because it's literally the only thing I know how to make, and it's comfort food, and I figured you'd be hungry, and you Quinn, are you okay? (Crying) (Sniffles) For any woman out there who can say (Woman) Congressman Mike pence of Indiana (Cell phone ringing) Welcoming the compromise, but cautioning against taking too much credit (Knock on door) (Turns off volume) What? Wait.
Hold on.
Coming! Stephen.
It's not his.
What? I just got the coroner's report.
The blood type's not a match.
Amanda was pregnant, but the baby was not the president's.
Liv? Liv, you (Snaps cell phone shut) Hi.
Hi.
(Projector and camera shutter clicks)