Anatomy of a Scandal recap guide: Episodes 1 to 6

Anatomy of a Scandal episode 3 recap

James’ counsel takes center stage, another woman comes forward and a shocking revelation about James and Tom’s friendship is revealed in Anatomy of a Scandal episode 3.

The episode picks up shortly after Olivia’s confession in episode 2, with Tom apologizing to Sophie and assuring her that he does not share the same feelings for Olivia that she does for him. Sophie recovers and seems to believe James, agreeing to return to court the next day. Kate continues pressing Olivia for details on her story in a riveting sequence that showcases Naomi Scott’s talent. Olivia is forced to recount the assault to the jury as Kate pushes for accurate and concise details.

According to Olivia, James was upset that day because a reporter wrote poorly about him in an article. He storms out of the commons and Olivia follows him. He asks her if she thinks he’s arrogant, as the reporter suggested. Olivia says “arrogant” isn’t the right word, that he can be cruel sometimes but that also arrogance can be terribly attractive. Then he gets into the lift and holds the door open, suggesting she follow. Olivia claims she did so because she hoped James was interested in rekindling their relationship.

They kiss passionately, and James wrenches open her blouse to get at her breasts, biting her painfully on the left one, leaving behind a sizable bruise. Olivia submits a photo of the bruise into evidence. She tells the court that the bite was painful and it was the moment the encounter changed from a heated hookup to assault.

They were in a public place with a meeting just minutes away, Olivia didn’t want someone to catch them. She told James “not here” but he persisted, ripping her underwear and penetrating her moments later, going on to call her a “pr*ck tease” when she struggled against him.

During the cross-examination, Angela rises to the challenge on James’ behalf. She attempts to poke multiple holes in Olivia’s recount. Olivia says she feared someone would see them, but Angela challenges her on this point as she and James had had sex several times in the offices before. Why would she suddenly be afraid? Also, she knew they had a meeting in a few minutes, yet she got into the lift anyway in the hopes James would take her somewhere private.

And despite claiming she did not want things to progress the way they did, not once in her statement does Olivia tell the jury she told James “no” or “stop.” All she said was “not here.” Angela also points out that her blouse was not torn and even though her panties were ripped (which is also submitted to evidence) the fabric could have been thin and easily torn. Or perhaps Olivia ripped them herself earlier that day.

Of course, Angela’s assertions don’t mean Olivia was not raped, at all, especially if she was clearly pushing James away from her, a fact the barrister doesn’t engage with despite Olivia’s persistent claims she physically shoved him but James ignored her and kept going. That said, there isn’t tons of evidence in this case and it’s going to be hard to prove. Olivia is clearly rattled and she’s moved to tears by the end of the session.

At home, James and Sophie are under the impression it was a good day in court and things are looking up for them. Based on Angela’s performance and the lack of physical evidence, it looks like James might be found innocent.

But then Chris Clarke (Joshua Mcguire), the Prime Minister’s right-hand man, shows up on James’ doorstep bringing yet another bombshell: another woman has come forward. It’s someone else we’ve already met, Sophie’s tutorial aide partner from Oxford, Holly Berry, who has appeared in various flashbacks.

This new revelation is the final straw for Sophie, whose faith in her husband has finally been thoroughly shaken. It’ll be interesting to see if she can continue standing by his side after this, despite James swearing up and down that he doesn’t even know who she is, though he can’t rule out having had sex with her since he was a known lothario in college. Despite this, he assures Sophie that while he might have hooked up with a lot of people, he never assaulted anyone.

One of the more interesting reveals in this episode comes from a conversation between James and Tom Southern (the Prime Minister). After Holly comes forward, Tom tells James he’s been put in a challenging position. The conservative party is not happy that Tom continues to stand by James as they’d prefer to save face and cut him loose. The thing is, James and Tom have history. Chris was not wrong in his assumption that James “has something” on Tom.

During their days as Libertines at Oxford, James found Tom using heroin with their friend Alec on a rooftop during a party. James forced Tom to stop using and got him out of there. On their way back to their flat, the pair saw Alec standing over the edge of the rooftop and Tom urged him to “fly.” Seeing as Alec was high on the drugs Tom supplied, he listens and jumps. You can guess what happened next (Alec jumped off the roof and dies).

James and Tom rush home with James assuring Tom everything will be okay as long as they pretend they were never there. But Tom gave Alec the drugs and encouraged him to jump. A scandal like that would end his political career before it even begins, so he’s eternally thankful to James for getting him out of that mess. “I owe you for life.” And now James is planning to cash in on that favor by strongly encouraging Tom to remain loyal.