SPOILER ALERT! (stop reading if you don’t want to know what happens in this episode)
This episode had some of my favorite moments of the season so far. There was a point where I actually was like yes this is what I want from this show…. but I’ll get into that later. Let’s start from the beginning.
Jake is on it and wants to know how Rowan did it but he’s playing mum. Jake tells him that Lazarus One is his plan to rebuild his empire. Roan tells him that he can’t do anything and blames Olivia for him being in jail. He tells him that she got greedy too much but Jake tells him he can tell him who he’s working with now or he’ll find out. Rowan, in a way that only Rowan can talk, he tell him that true power is never lost and he’s always free. Jake still isn’t playing dirty and tells him he always leaves a trail and he will find out who he’s working with on the outside.
Jake has reached out to Charlie for help and they go to Paris posing as sellers of the stolen art to meet with an art dealer who would be buying the stolen paintings. In Paris they meet with Elise and there’s some type of history between her and Jake and she immediately calls the deal off. Jake pays Elise a visit and apparently he thought she was dead but she tells him she got to Grand Central Station but he left her behind. He tells her he waited for an hour before leaving and honestly thought she was dead; they were even married (I’m guessing for a job). He tells her why they’re in Paris and she agrees to help.
They set up surveillance of her meeting with Yevgeny Valenkov who has the stolen painting and they realize he’s not B613. As they’re watching the video feed cuts out and they hear gun shots. They run in and find Yevgeny dead and Elise wounded. Jake visits her in the hospital and she tells him that she never showed up to Grand Central station because their is no relationship for spies. He asks her to return to the States with him.
Olitz Craze
Quinn intercepts Marcus to offer him a job because OPA needs a mouthpiece. She asks him if he wants to be a gladiator in a suit and he strait tells her no because he doesn’t like what he’s seen. They cut corners and lie plus they’re losing clients. Fitz is going ballistic about the media coverage that Liv has been receiving but Lizzie tells him they need to focus on things they can control like Senator Gibson. Abby walks in and Fitz fires her on the spot no questions asked but Lizzie tells her not to leave the building because she’s going to fix it.
Liv tells Fitz he can’t fire Abby and tells him he’s being emotional; he’s the president he can’t be emotional he has to be smart. Fitz tries to push back but she tells him that Abby did exactly what she would’ve done. She tells him that this is her choice to make and she doesn’t need to be rescued. She notices that a photographer is across the street taking photos of her on the phone.
She calls Huck and Quinn and they jump into to action making sure no one will take pictures of her at home. Quinn tells her that she tried to hire Marcus but Liv tells them that they are fully equipped to handle it. Meanwhile, Mellie gets called to a senate meeting with fellow women senators and she’s informed that because the men have their own way of doing things they do to and tells her that they want to impeach him if she gives the go ahead.
Cyrus thinks it’s absurd that they want to impeach him because he had an affair and she tells him that she’s not going to go along with it. Cyrus then tries to convince her that she should consider it thinking about her future run for president. Olivia is at home watching all of the news coverage about her and Quinn and Huck return to OPA to find Marcus who changed his mind and wants to help because he needs the cash.
Lizzie meets with Gibson to try to persuade him but he tells her that Fitz needs to answer some questions in person or he can do it under oath on live television. Mellie returns to the White House to get some of her things and finds Fitz playing with Teddy (rare spotting). She tells him that she doesn’t want to fight anymore and she won’t hurt him if he doesn’t hurt her and he agrees. Lizzie, Abby and … tell Fitz that he needs to talk to Gibson because if he doesn’t congress will investigate and a special counsel will be appointed who will ruin him and Liv so he agrees to the meeting.
Fitz meets with some of the men of the senate and offers to back some of their projects but Gibson isn’t for it and tells him that the true cost of mercy is talking about the deal for legislative reform. He tells them it’s preposterous because they want to get rid of equal pay and the Brandon bill. He tells him that it’s extortion but Gibson tells him that he’ll give him equal pay but he has to give them the Brandon bill and he has no choice. Fitz tells him he’ll think about it then Gibson tells him the next time he steps outside his marriage to choose a girl who’s a little more palatable to the base. He then tells him full rollback on the Brandon bill or they start pursuing impeachment.
Fitz calls Liv to talk about the Brandon bill but she tells him about all of the disgusting things on the internet about her including at least a thousand threats of rape. He tells to get off the internet and she breaks down telling him that she’s fine but she’s losing it a little bit. Cyrus is still trying to push Mellie to go along with the women senators but she tells him to let it go. She asks him why he’s so hellbent on revenge and he tells her that he spent 14 years devoting his life to him. She tells him that she can walk away with some dignity but he ells her the difference is her heart was never broken because she didn’t love him but he loved him as his son, child and soul. He has a hole that will never close and he can’t be there to shelter him from the storm. Mellie swiftly kicks him out for comparing his relationship with Fitz to hers with her son and he tells her that he quits.
Marcus addresses the press after being bombarded while leaving OPA and hearing one of the reporters say she’s “usually so well spoken”. He turns it around and asks if she means for a black woman. He then goes in on the press about their coverage of Liv over the pass 72 hours. Quinn tells him he went off script but he tells her this is war, there is no script and if he’s going to do this he’s doing it his way which is to go out swinging. They then go on a media tour and go on various news shows exposing the media for dog-whistle politics and it works.
Fitz goes to Abby since Liv said that she did what she would’ve done. He asks her what Liv would do about the Brandon Bill and she tells him that if he wants to avoid impeachment then he’ll have to give up the bill. He tells her that it’s Liv’s job to make the smart moves but they don’t work for her, they work for the American people. He tells her it’s not about doing the smart thing but the right thing. He then takes a motorcade to Liv’s building complete with full media coverage to take her on a date.
Mellie is pissed and goes to the women of the senate and tells them that she wants to impeach Fitz, as she should.
Some takeaways…
- I do not trust Elise one bit. That “shootout” seemed like a setup and I think she’s working with Rowan. She’s a spy, she has ties to Jake, she can use his vulnerabilities and all the while Rowan is setting up shot under his nose. Yea I don’t trust her.
- I’m liking Marcus as an addition to OPA. The sequence of them pushing back on the press was one of my favorite moments of the episode. It finally felt like someone was actually doing something. OPA needed another member and I’m liking this new/old addition so far.
- Y’all know I’m over the whole Olitz thing but at least it’s making for some interesting story lines outside of those two. I knew as soon as Fitz walked through Liv’s building door that Mellie was going to go ape shit. She should definitely impeach his ass although I don’t think he’ll be impeached. I mean, look at Bill Clinton.
- Another one of my favorite moments from this episode was when Cyrus went off about how Fitz was like his child. We’ve always known that Cyrus was ride or die for Fitz but we finally got to see him express how he really feels about him and why he’s so hurt. Makes sense to me.
Do you think Fitz deserves to be impeached? Are you liking the new addition to OPA? Let me know below or on Twitter!
