'Scandal' S4 Ep. 2 Recap: The State of the Union

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On tonight's new episode of "Scandal" Olivia was recruited into helping President Fitz prepare for his State of the Union address, where he had to address the popular issue of gun control.

Cyrus essentially blackmailed Olivia to help President Fitz and the White House reach a power couple, the Elliots, who can help them with this issue. Olivia was sent to the front lines, to the fighting couple's home, to get them to attend the speech because they are the face of gun control. Huck and Quinn went to spend time with the Elliots and hopefully ease the tension between the two.

However their attempts failed as the two engaged in another fight and declared they were not attending ; of course Olivia was called in for support to fix the situation and she was able to convince them to attend the speech.

Fitz not only had to worry about his speech and getting the Elliots there, but he was struggling dealing with Mellie's mental health.

Meanwhile Mellie was still struggling coping with their son's death and her mental behavior has been fully covered by the press. The White House was inundated with questions about Mellie and her mental health, and Abby's answers were only fueling the fire for the nation.

Olivia did her best to help the gladiators at OPA, to which she received harsh reception because of her abandonment of them.

Fitz and Cyrus did their best to convince her to attend the speech, however she vowed not to go despite all of the negative media it would bring to the White House.

Abby gave Mellie a solid pep talk to convince her to attend the speech, saying that it is her job and duty to not only support her husband, but also the nation.

Olivia gave Fitz advice before his State of the Union speech, and with her advice he strayed away from his speech that appeared on the teleprompter. Instead of talking about the Elliots and gun control, he discussed the family trauma that he and Mellie, who was in attendance, are going through.

He used his son's wrongful and sudden death to transition to the issue of gun control.

His speech not only showed power, but also struck a passionate point among everyone watching and listening. Mellie showed true strength by attending the speech, however afterwards she literally crumbled apart emotionally and physically.

Meanwhile Jake has began his investigation into Harrison's death, and may have uncovered a lead. Meanwhile Attorney General nominee David Rowan was dealing with issues of his own.

His nomination came under scrutiny as the issue of domestic abuse arose, and Lizzie urged Cyrus to have Rosen turn down the nomination.

Rosen had plans of his own, however, blackmailing a senator to change his decision and influence other Senators to vote for him.

Now Cyrus has his own issues as Lizzie is working with a male escort to get blackmail material on him, as it seems she is out for his job.

The next episode of "Scandal" airs Thursday, Oct. 9th at 9 p.m. on ABC.