SPOILER ALERT! (stop reading if you don’t want to know what happens in this episode)
The gloves are off as Olivia and Abby use their respective campaigns to edge the other out. It’s a showdown of wills and I’ve got the recap below!
Three debates in the battle is between Mellie and VP Susan for the Republican slot. It’s time for Florida to vote and whoever wins it will take the lead. Elizabeth has Susan and David keeping up the shenanigry of their relationship by locking them in her hotel room at night. Meanwhile, Olivia tells Mellie that she has to win over Governor Baker at dinner if she wants to win Florida and Elizabeth tells Susan the same thing. Liv and Quinn run into Abby in the hotel hallway but Liv blocks the door and tells Abby she can take the stairs. Abby then makes sure that Liv’s plane can’t leave until after Air Force One possibly preventing Mellie from making the dinner with Governor Baker. Liv calls Mellie to get her to let their plane leave but she tells her she’s not going to do it (she must not have learned from what happened to Andrew).
Liv decides to go to the press to shame them out of not moving the plane. Fitz wants to know what’s going on but Mellie tells them that they can’t lie so they have to roll with what she’s done. She and Liv go tit for tat in the press against who’s lying and who’s in the wrong. Mellie doesn’t think they’re ever going to move but Quinn wants to know why she’s having a contest of wills with Abby. Huck jumps in and tells her that she should be saving Jake and Liv goes off telling them she’s not going to sit there and explain their jobs to them.
Marcus checks on Mellie to see if she’s okay because she’s worried that the back and forth will tank her campaign. He suggests she talk to Fitz directly and use the media to get him to talk to her. She walks out on the tarmac and stands there waving for Fitz to come out. Fitz goes out there despite the fact that Abby thinks it’s a bad idea. Liv wants Marcus to go out there and get her but he refuses. Fitz tells Mellie she’s doing a good job and he’s proud of her. She asks him to move his plane instead of letting Abby cause problems with Liv. She makes a joke about Liv killing her and Fitz stops her. He asks her if she knows about Andrew and she makes the connection. She tells him Liv is a different person and it makes sense They then talk about her daily habits and he tells her to make sure Liv runs, sleeps and eats. Mellie tells him he needs to move his plane now and not just for her.
Fitz returns to the plane and tells Abby to put the plane in the air and not to say another word until they land. Liv is upset that Mellie went out there because they’ll still be late but Mellie asks her if she has any plans of her own. In Florida, Governor Baker pays David a visit and tells him that at the moment she’s backing Mellie but if he drops his investigation against her big sugar corporations she may change her mind. David tells Elizabeth an Susan Governor Baker’s offer but he tells them he’ not going to sacrifice his job for the deal. Susan agrees he shouldn’t but tells them she’ll still go to the dinner. Mellie arrives to the dinner with Fitz in tow and he apologizes for making her late. Dinner quickly turns awkward after Susan calls Governor Baker out while Liv and Abby down the wine.
Confessions and Blindsides
Alex keeps pestering Michael to help him but Michael tells him not to contact him again. Frankie and Edison are polling close and Alex believes he can edge him out by using his kids. Frankie is against this and wants them to find a different issue. Cyrus returns home and Michael confronts Cyrus asking him if he’s cheating. Cyrus admits he is and tells him that he’s trying to make a president and needs someone who knows they’re place and isn’t needy. Michael asks him if the guy’s name is Tom and Cyrus tells him he better watch himself before he ends up ass out with nothing… pretty much. Michael turns over all of Cyrus voicemail recordings to Alex from the week of the shooting teling him that Cyrus deserves whatever he gets.
The next day Governor Baker makes her endorsement and it’s for Susan; she calls her the real deal.The anchor then announces that photos of Frankie’s daughter was released of her in the hospital. Frankie finds out the pictures came from Alex and immediately fires him unaware that Cyrus set him up with help from Michael.
Huck talks to Liv and tells her she wasn’t ready to return to work. He tries to tell her what she’s experiencing but she doesn’t want to hear it. She tells him she’s not grieving his death, she felt satisfied and slept for the first time in over a year. Huck just stands there and tells her he’s waiting for the rest of it. She tells him about her father’s threat on Jake’s life trying to explain that she’s better than him before breaking down and letting Huck console her.
Abby is still pissed about Fitz making the decision to put the plane in the air. She tells him she runs him and he runs the country and he shouldn’t question it. She breaks down and tells him that she didn’t make her kill Andrew; she was just doing her job. He tells her that she was doing her job but now she needs to forgive herself. In the end Hollis ends up wining Florida due to what happened on the Tarmac. Abby goes to OPA and confronts Liv about why she was so mad at her and seemed so happy she could’ve lost everything. Liv tells Abby that Fitz made her lose the White House, her power, and she wants it back because she’s done losing. They both come to the agreement that they need to work together to take down Hollis. We find out that David did indeed make a deal with Governor Baker while Michael packed up all of his shit and left taking Cyrus daughter with him.
Some takeaways…
- While I’ve been enjoying Cyrus this back half of the season I have to give Michael his props. Cyrus came at him sideways and dirty, got that man playing house and taking care of his daughter. Michael wasn’t having anymore of it and he bounced right along with the child. This is like James 2.0. Cyrus needs to get it together before he ends up alone indefinitely.
- I’m glad Liv finally told someone about Rowan’s threats. Not quite sure what they’re gong to do about it, if anything, but at least someone else knows.
- Not quite sure how I feel about crazy Liv. I was frustrated with a lot of the decisions she was making, or trying to make, particularly during the tarmac standoff. She just seems so angry and it’s affecting Mellie’s campaign as proven by the Florida outcome.
- Good job Fitz for stepping up and giving Abby good advice. Not going to lie, I almost that they were going to try to make them have a moment. I hope this is never the case because I just can’t. Let the man be single for a while please.
Will teaming up stop Hollis from snagging the Republican presidential slot? Let me know below and on Twitter!
