You Spin Me Right Round

James and Sophie return to their home in Boston after a long day of work. James tells Sophie that he has something important to tell her and she looks skeptical but agrees to listen. Sophie is nervous as she enters the room, but James assures her that everything is going to be okay. Olivia arrives and begins to speak, but Sophie interrupts her. Olivia reveals that she was not consenting to the kiss because she was not sure if it was really love at first sight. She admits that she was only thinking of herself at the time and does not remember whether or not James agreed to the kiss. Sophie is upset with her husband for lying to her and decides to end things with him. James tries to console his wife, but she doesn’t want anything to do with him anymore.

Maggie talks to Kate about the old old Libertine parties. Kate believes there may be something there to confirm past behaviour and, in particular, hints that James could have committed sexual assault before. ..

Olivia begins her testimony by recounting how James was upset that day, as a journalist had written a bad article about him in The Telegraph. Specifically, she says that he was angry and frustrated, and that he threatened to kill the journalist. ..

Olivia followed James when he left the committee and asked him if he’s arrogant. “You’re ruthless when you need to be. Cruel sometimes.” James hung up over the word ‘cruel’ before apologizing. She perceived this as an apology for the affair.

James kissed Olivia and then bit her on the left nipple. Things got nasty afterwards and Olivia ended up getting scared. James even ripped her underwear.

After initially consenting, Olivia told him “not here” but it was no good. After several minutes he “shoved it inside me.” According to Olivia’s statement, James told her “not to be such a prick tease.”

After Olivia begins to cry and breakdown, the court recesses for a time. When it reconvenes, the defense takes over and Angela Regan questions her. It’s an interesting tactic, especially as she clings to the notion of the passionate kissing and Olivia’s blouse not being ripped. Furthermore, Angela points out that she didn’t actually say no, just “not here” and continues on to mention, in detail, all the different instances they were together. ..

Angela reinforces Olivia’s point by showing that even in the police report, the word “no” wasn’t even mentioned.

While this is happening, news spreads that some of the Conservative Party are on the verge of voting No Confidence in the Prime Minister. Chris thinks he should distance himself from James publicly, but Tom refuses to do so, telling his aide he’ll “do what needs to be done.” ..

Back in the UK, the case takes a drastic turn as James is told about an assault on a girl called Holly Berry back during his Oxford uni days. Of course, Sophie knew exactly who this is but he remains stoic and confused over his ties to her. Apparently she’s abroad and can’t be found, at least according to Chris anyway. ..

James and Tom were at university together when they first met Alec. They were convinced that Alec could stop smoking and they walked away laughing, but a sickening splat soon stopped their laughter. Alec had jumped and fallen to his death.

James promises to keep this between them, hiding the truth and making sure they’re not found. That night, as an ambulance arrives on campus, James is left with Tom’s drugs and he covers for his friend. This also goes some way to explain why they have such a tight bond. ..

As the episode ends, our wild cameraman goes on a bit of a bender again, rotating the camera annoyingly around and around in circles like this is some sort of looping rollercoaster. Sophie questions whether James really could have raped Holly, as the episode comes to a close.

The Episode Review

Olivia’s statement in the third episode is completely ripped apart and the possibility of her lying brought up for the whole court to see. However, 3 episodes down and I’m still not quite sure who we’re supposed to be rooting for here.

James is not a likable character and there’s not a whole lot of depth with Sophie but yet these two get the lion’s share of the run-time. Beyond Olivia’s teary confessions, we don’t actually see her outside the court, nor do we actually understand how this assault has changed her life.

That’s frustrating given that I’m one of many people who find myself rooting for Olivia to take down this lying Tory MP.

Anatomy of a Scandal is a court drama that has a shaky story and characters who are not very likable. Hopefully, the second half of the story improves. ..