Larissa:
After Fitzmania at the White House, we'll go to OPA dealing with Marjorie "Whiney" Smithers and Karen's skirt.
Maggie (handing out another document to each of the GWs):
Here is the dialogue that I have come up with so far. I start with Whiney's meeting with OPA, followed by a phone conversation between Olivia and Cyrus about Whiney and circles back to Fitzmania.
INT. OPA CONFERENCE/MEETING ROOM
Olivia, Quinn, and Marcus are meeting with Marjorie Smithers in the conference room.
MARJORIE
Ms. Pope, I need you to help me get my job back. I know you have a special relationship with the White House and a personal relationship with the President…
OLIVIA
Marjorie, even though I have a relationship with the White House and know the President, I don't think the White House had anything to do with you being fired.
MARJORIE
How could they not be? The Senator would not have fired me for making the comment about the President's daughter unless he was pressured to do so.
OLIVIA
Why do you say that?
MARJORIE
Senator Keaton hates the President. Even though they are in same party, the Senator thinks the President should be stripped of his party membership and should have been impea…
(pause)
Look, Ms. Pope, I didn't do anything wrong. I just expressed my personal opinion on my personal Facebook page. I'm entitled to have an opinion.
OLIVIA
You are.
MARJORIE
Even it's not a nice one about a person.
OLIVIA
That's true.
MARJORIE
So, you and your team will help me?
OLIVIA
Why don't you give my team and me a few minutes to discuss this?
Olivia, Quinn, and Marcus exit the conference/meeting room and enter Olivia's office.
INT. OLIVIA'S OFFICE
QUINN
Liv, are we actually taking this woman on as a client? I feel like we are being disloyal to Karen if we take this case.
MARCUS
Why should you feel disloyal? Olivia should be the one having the problem since Karen is her ex's daughter.
OLIVIA
OPA handled a matter for Karen a while back. I think Quinn developed a fondness for Karen in the end.
QUINN
I did. She's a good kid. Was going through a bad time because her brother died. In fact, he died right in front of her. Her mom became a nut job…
OLIVIA
That's enough, Quinn.
MARCUS
Liv, do you really think the White House pressured the Senator to fire Marjorie? If they did, it would be high handed of them and we should take Marjorie as a client.
(pause)
Someone shouldn't get fired for expressing a personal opinion.
OLIVIA
Marjorie posted on her personal Facebook page. I guess she wasn't expecting her comment to be shared outside her group of Facebook friends.
QUINN
How would she not expect it to be shared? Those Facebook friends have friends. That's how something goes viral.
MARCUS
Especially, if it is a comment calling the President's daughter a slut. Something like that is going get spread.
OLIVIA
I think we should take Marjorie on as a client. She did something without thinking about the possible consequences. We can try to help her get out the mess.
Olivia, Quinn, and Marcus exit.
INT. OPA CONFERENCE/MEETING ROOM
Olivia, Quinn, and Marcus return to the conference/meeting room.
OLIVIA
Marjorie, we are going to take you on as a client. As part of the damage control, you are going to issue an apology to Karen.
MARJORIE
Why? I didn't do anything wrong?
OLIVIA
Even though it's a personal opinion or comment, what you said what was judgmental. Wearing a short skirt doesn't make a female a slut.
(pause)
You may also need to issue an apology to the White House if it turns out that they had nothing to do with you being fired.
MARJORIE
I will not. I would rather die than apologize to the White House…
OLIVIA
All right. Then OPA won't take you on as a client.
MARJORIE
Fine. I will apologize to the White House if I have to.
OLIVIA
Good. I have some phone calls to make.
(pause)
Quinn, Marcus, can you help Whi…Marjorie prepare her apology statement? It needs to sound as sincere as possible.
Quinn and Marcus assent to Olivia's request.
MARJORIE
What about getting my job back?
OLIVIA
I'll work on that.
Olivia exits and returns to her office.
INT. OLIVIA OFFICE
Olivia sits down at her desk. There is a copy of the magazine with Fitz's photos on top of her desk. She calls her cell phone. As she is waiting for the call to connect, she is looking at the front cover of the magazine.
INT. CYRUS'S OFFICE
Cyrus is sitting at his desk when his cell phone rings. He checks the caller identifier before identifier.
INTERCUT OLIVIA AND CYRUS
CYRUS
How are you, Olivia?
OLIVIA
Fine, Cyrus. I've have taken on…
CYRUS
Yes, you have taken Whiney Smithers as your client. We figured. Even though she's a whiner, she's not stupid.
(pause)
And before you ask, we, meaning neither the President nor I had anything to do with Whiney getting fired.
OLIVIA
I didn't think you did but I needed to know just to make sure.
(pause)
I'm going to have Whi…I mean Marjorie issue a public apology to Karen.
CYRUS
That's fine. I'm sure the President would appreciate it.
OLIVIA
Is Karen ok?
CYRUS
She's fine. The President hasn't said anything about Karen being in distress with the situation.
OLIVIA
Good.
(pause)
I'm going to meet with Senator Keaton about getting Marjorie her job back.
CYRUS
Good luck with that. I heard through Capitol grapevine that Keaton has been trying to get rid of Whiney for years but only has kept her on his staff out of family loyalty.
OLIVIA
Thanks for letting me know.
(pause)
Cyrus, about these photos of the President, you need to put a stop to them. They are a distraction…
CYRUS
I don't think the White House can injunct the global media for publishing the photos. Especially since the photos have spread through the corners of the globe. The only thing the White House can do is to ride out the storm…
OLIVIA
How did these photos get out? Was there a paparazzi photographer lurking somewhere in the palace?
CYRUS
No. King Richard's Chief of Staff and I finally touched base. It's kind of sad situation. A palace staffer saw the President out by the pool and was taken with the President's physique…
OLIVIA
What?!
CYRUS
Olivia, calm down. You have to admit the President is in good shape for a man his age. Anyway, the staffer took some photos on her cell phone solely for her own enjoyment.
OLIVIA
For her own enjoyment?! For God's sake, he's the President of the United States of America. Not some Chippendales dancer or a male stripper…
CYRUS
Would you just relax? Why are you so worked up about this? It's just some photos that have taken a life of its own now. And just because Red, Ethan, and I will have to be a human blockade for the President until the situation blows over, we will survive.
(pause)
Anyway, getting back as to how these photos got out – it seems that the staffer has a younger brother who took part in General Fortesque's militia. She sold the photos to get money for legal fees. Even though the decision was made to give amnesty to the participants in the militia, the participants still need to have lawyers to process the application for amnesty. The family didn't want to take the risk of hiring a hack doing the job so they got one of Caledonia top attorneys who is very expensive.
OLIVIA
Did she get fired?
CYRUS
Who?
OLIVIA
The staffer. Did she get fired for invading the President's privacy?
CYRUS
She did.
OLIVIA
Good.
CYRUS
Good? Have some compassion here, Olivia. The poor woman lost her job for trying to help her misguided brother…
OLIVIA
She had no business taking those photos of the President and selling them.
CYRUS
I agree with you that she shouldn't have sold the photos but I don't see any harm in her taking the photos for her own enjoyment.
OLIVIA
I don't she had any business taking those photos in the first place regardless if it was for her personal enjoyment.
(pause)
What did you mean by you, Abby and Ethan having to be a human blockade for the President?
CYRUS
It seems the photos have created a mania response.
(pause)
I've got Sally Langston calling wanting the President to appear on her show.
OLIVIA
Sally wants Fitz on her show?!
CYRUS
Yes, believe it or not.
(pause)
I also have female staffers from Yale, Harvard, and the Naval Academy who have specifically requested to meet the President when they come to present their proposals for the President's presidential library.
(pause)
Red got a phone call from that ABC TV show, The Bachelor asking about the feasibility of the President being the bachelor for its show while he is still in office.
(pause)
Ethan is handling a deluge of requests for interviews, talk show appearances, photo shoots.
(pause)
Not to mention, I've got DC's top match matcher and other match makers across the country calling me to offer their services in helping the President to find his next First Lady.
OLIVIA
Are you serious?!
CYRUS
Just because it wasn't your cup of tea, it doesn't mean that there aren't women out there who would be interested.
OLIVIA
Cyrus, you've got to be careful with all this. These women, all they would want is the status. They wouldn't care about him or love him…
CYRUS
That might be so and all the more reason why the President needs a human blockade. Don't worry Olivia, I've got it covered.
(pause)
Olivia, I need to go to a meeting but I'll give you a call later to talk, ok? It's been a long time since we last did that.
OLIVIA
Sure. I'll talk to you later, Cyrus.
Cyrus and Olivia end the call.
Maggie:
Now that we know Tony can swim, we can have the Olivia's daydream scene about her and Fitz being in the pool.
INT. OLIVIA'S OFFICE
Olivia opens up the magazine to the pages containing the layout of Fitz's photos. She is looking at them and starts to daydream.
Fitz is swimming in a pool. Olivia wearing a swimsuit slips into the pool without Fitz noticing. She swims towards him and they meet.
OLIVIA
Hi.
FITZ
Hi.
Olivia reaches for Fitz and kisses him. He responds back and deepens the kiss. They start to make out in the pool.
QUINN
Olivia. Liv. Earth to Olivia.
Olivia hears her name being called and her attention returns. She sees Quinn in her office.
QUINN
Are you ok, Liv?
OLIVIA
Yeah. My mind wandered off…
Quinn notices the open magazine and sees the photos of Fitz.
QUINN
(with interest)
Wow, the President has a hot bod!
OLIVIA
What did you just say?!
QUINN
(taken aback)
Nothing. Nothing at all. Sorry.
(swallowing)
Marcus and I are having trouble with Whiney…I mean Marjorie. Whatever she writes doesn't sound genuine. I think we may have to write something for her to say and have her practice it before she gives her public apology.
(pause)
Working with Marjorie is like being an elementary school teacher having to watch a disgruntled kid write out "I will not call my teacher stupid" a hundred times.
Marcus enters the office.
MARCUS
Ms. Smithers…
OLIVIA
Marcus, why are you being so formal in calling Marjorie, Ms. Smithers.
MARCUS
I have trouble calling her Marjorie and calling her Whiney seems disrespectful. Anyway, she says she needs to leave for a mani-pedi appointment but she said she will come back afterwards.
OLIVIA
Fine. Tell her she has to come back if she wants us to help her get her job back.
MARCUS
I think she knows but I will make it clear to her.
(pause)
Since our client is leaving, I'm going to get some food. Working with her wore me down.
QUINN
I'll go with you. Do you want us to bring something back for you, Liv?
OLIVIA
No, thanks. I'm fine. I think I'll go for walk and then head over to the Hill to see Senator Keaton about Marjorie getting her job back.
Maggie:
We then go back to the White House where we get Karen's perspective on the skirt-slut comment. We'll start we will start off with Cyrus and Fitz in the Oval with Cyrus letting Fitz know that Olivia has taken Whiney on as a client then discussing the Fitzmania problem which segue into the Karen seeing Fitz in the Oval about the Whiney getting fired for the slut comment
INT. OVAL OFFICE
Fitz and Cyrus are in the Oval.
CYRUS
Mr. President, I got a call from Olivia. Olivia has…
FITZ
Whiney Smithers is Olivia's client. I figured Whiney would hire Olivia to help her out of this mess.
CYRUS
Olivia is getting Whiney to issue a public apology to Karen.
FITZ
Good.
CYRUS
And she is going help Whiney get her job back.
FITZ
I wish her luck with that. Keaton has been trying to get rid of Whiney for years…
CYRUS
I already let warn Olivia that she might be moving mountains to get Keaton to re-consider.
(pause)
Mr. President, about you going to the Hill later today, I think it might be best if I went with you.
FITZ
Why?
CYRUS
The situation with the photos of you in Caledonia is a lot more serious than I thought.
FITZ
How so? According to Abby, we don't have a damage control problem with the photos.
CYRUS
We don't but it seems the photos have created a mania response amongst women. I am concerned that you might be mobbed while you are on the Hill…
FITZ
Mobbed?! You have to be joking, Cyrus. These are Congresswomen and female Senators. They don't mob. And they certainly don't experience mania, especially for me. This is the same group of women who wanted to throw me out of office a few months ago.
CYRUS
Yes, I know. But I think things have changed for you…
Before Fitz can respond to Cyrus's comment, Karen enters.
KAREN
Dad. Cyrus.
Cyrus greets her while Fitz approaches her to give her a hug and a kiss.
FITZ
Everything ok, sweetheart?
KAREN
I'm fine, Dad.
(pause)
Did you know that the Senator's staff member got fired? The one who called me a slut on her personal Facebook page for wearing a skirt that was too short?
FITZ
I do.
KAREN
Dad, did you or Cyrus have anything to do with her getting fired? The woman, Marjorie Smith…
FITZ
Smithers.
KAREN
She said that White House got her fired. Is this true?
FITZ
No, we didn't have anything to do with it. As your father, I'm angry and upset that Marjorie made that comment about you and if I was a regular person, I would definitely say something to her about it. But since I'm the President, I can't say or do something that…
KAREN
It's ok, Dad. I just needed to know that you or Cyrus didn't have anything to do with her getting fired.
FITZ
You're upset she got fired?
KAREN
Yeah.
(pause)
She was just exercising her First Amendment right. Geez, Dad, if everyone in America got fired for saying something bad about you, the country's unemployment rate would skyrocket.
FITZ
(chuckling)
You're right about that.
KAREN
Do you think Mom might have something to do with it?
FITZ
I don't know. I don't think so. Cyrus and I do know that Senator Keaton has been wanting to let Marjorie go from his staff for a long time.
KAREN
I see.
(pause)
I admit I don't like it that Marjorie called me a slut on her Facebook page, especially because of a skirt. That's stupid.
(pause)
Now, if she called me a slut because of that situation with the two boys…
FITZ
(protectively)
Karen, sweetheart, you don't have to bring it up…
KAREN
It's ok, Dad. We were all going through a rough time with Jerry dying and with the exception of Teddy, who didn't understand, we all went crazy because of it.
(pause)
Dad, would you be able to help Marjorie get her job back?
FITZ
I don't think she is going to need my help. Marjorie has hired Olivia to help her out.
KAREN
Good. I'm glad she has Olivia to help her.
(pause)
Are you still going to have time later to help me with my project on the US Constitution?
FITZ
Yeah. I need to go to the Hill first but my schedule is free after 5PM.
KAREN
You're going to the Hill? Are you taking Cyrus with you?
FITZ
I wasn't planning to. Do I need to?
KAREN
Yes. Also, some extra Secret Service goons, as well.
(pause)
You don't know about the photos, do you, Dad?
FITZ
Well, I heard photos of me taking a swim in King Richard's pool have been published.
KAREN
Cyrus, have you shown my Dad the magazine?
CYRUS
No, I haven't, Karen. I didn't think he needed to. Your dad's attention is focused on more serious matters…
KAREN
That's true but I think he needs to know why he is going to be mobbed when he leaves the White House.
(pause)
Dad, I already have friends from school who have unmarried moms asking them to ask me if you were back on the market now that you are officially divorced from Mom and not really seeing Olivia anymore.
FITZ
Cyrus, you better show me the magazine.
Cyrus makes a call on Fitz's desk phone.
CYRUS
Ethan. I'm in the Oval with the President and Karen. Can you bring the magazine over? Thanks.
Cyrus hangs up.
Ethan enters the Oval with the magazine in his hand. He greets Fitz and Karen before he hands the magazine over to Cyrus. Cyrus passes the magazine over to Fitz.
FITZ
I'm on the cover!
KAREN
There's a full layout inside, Dad.
(pause)
Dad, between you being a hero for risking your life to prevent the coup in Caledonia, being America's most eligible bachelor, and looking good for a guy who is over 50, we might have keep you locked up in the White House for your personal safety…
Stephanie:
Larissa, are you ok with us making Karen more mature or so grown up in her attitude. We were thinking if the adult women in Fitz's personal life, i.e., Mellie and Olivia were making him crazy, he needed one female to be his ally or at least who wasn't going to make him nuts.
Larissa:
I think that's good.
So, do we have any scenes where Olivia is actually getting a taste of the extent of Fitzmania?
Claire:
We do…