‘Scandal’ Season 3 Ep. 3 ‘Mrs. Smith Goes to Washington’ Spoilers: Olivia Lies, Mom Dies
In the episode 3 of "Scandal" Season 3, "Mrs. Smith Goes to Washington," Mary Nesbitt is the client of Pope & Associates. She pays them $25,000 to fix a family matter, which involves the death of her son who was killed by FBI agents. The son was accused of having links with the terrorists, while the mother's gut says that her son was innocent.
At Capitol Hill, Ms Nesbitt is in the office of congressman, Jim Struthers, with explosives strapped around her vest. Olivia enters the office. Ms Nesbitt wants Olivia to find the truth about her son otherwise she will press the trigger, which will kill nine hostages.
Ms Nesbitt seeks Olivia's help because like her, she also trusts her guts. Olivia is able to make her release most of hostages, except the congressman and herself. President Fitz gets to see the file of Ms Nesbitt's son, which contains the classified information on him. He orders the sniper team to take down the mom, Olivia shows herself in front of the window, which makes President Fitz put his order on the hold.
Jake calls up the President, telling him that Olivia needs the file of Ms Nesbitt's son. But, the classified information cannot be declassified as it puts the life of the CIA agents at risk. Olivia gets a call from the Presidents who reveals to her that Ms Nesbitt's son was a CIA spy and he was trying to infiltrate a terrorist cell by posing as a terrorist recruiter. He was killed by FBI because they did not know his real identity. If the information is leaked about Ms Nesbitt's son, it will put 57, undercover CIA agents' lives at risk.
Olivia lies to the mother that her son was a terrorist. Ms Nesbitt is devastated and Olivia and the congressman step out of the office, unharmed. All alone inside the office, the mom kills herself.