Dear Scandal writers: What was this episode? Was it meant to be filler? Why did we take this turn away from the rolling election train to delve into Jake Ballard’s backstory? Why now? Did I really have to be subjected to 43 minutes of this character?
While I admittedly am not fond of the Jake character, knowing his backstory allows not only for the understanding of him but also for the understanding of Rowan’s fascination with him. Additionally, it provides insight into his relationship with Olivia Pope and what has continually driven the two of them together. Much of what was revealed in this episode could have been summarized in a two minute monologue, but that may not have had the desired effect on the overall narrative that an entire episode devoted to it would have. A summation would have failed in conveying the complex and deviant dynamics that were at play in the family that Jake was a part of as a child and in the one that he ends up choosing for himself as an adult.
“Till Death Do Us Part” wasn’t one of my favorite Scandal episodes, but it also wasn’t the worst. I had expectations of what the episode following the insanity of “Thwack” would look like and this certainly wasn’t it...not that any of that was ever in my control. It would be easy to say that this episode provided no forward movement, but that wouldn’t be true. There was movement. It just did not look the way that I had expected it to.
I briefly considered feigning illness or some family emergency to keep from writing this review, but what kind of person would I be if I did that? (“A sane one!” I hear my Twitter mentions exclaiming.) Dah well. Olivia Pope level insanity it is. I’m capable of setting aside my disdain for a character to write an assessment, so I hope y’all will hang in with me and read this to the bitter end.
As is the case with all other Scandal flashback episodes, scenes from the past are interspersed with those of the present. For the sake of consistent flow, the flashback moments and those of the present have been separated unless otherwise noted.
Delving into the Past
Since the character of Jake Ballard entered the Scandal universe in the back half of season 2, very little had been revealed about his past and who he really is. What we did know was that his childhood was shitty, his father was a predator, his sister was dead, his mother was still alive and that his time in the Navy overlapped with that of Fitzgerald’s. We also know that Jake has a hero complex, is devoted to the protection of the country and has a strong desire to be loved. Keep all of this in mind as you read on.
Before getting into the details of this episode, let’s revisit Jake’s summation of his early life from “No Sun on the Horizon” (313):
No families. That’s the first rule. No families. No connections. I never really had a family anyway. I’m more from this group of people related by blood. Indiana. Middle of nowhere.
She really liked that TV channel where you call in and buy things. Crap. You buy crap. Fake porcelain dolls. Magic stain removers. Big pictures of puppies wearing funny hats.
He really liked drugs and sex with underage girls. I had a sister, so… She’s dead now. She died anyway.
Not having a family makes you ripe, ready; a hunk of clay ready to be sculpted. No connections. No light at the end of the tunnel. No sun on the horizon. Nothing to wish for. They could burn the Wonderland stamp on your brain and no one would be the wiser because there’s no one there to miss you.
You’re now the property of the United States government, division B613. You come to work at ACME Limited. You fake sell fake paper and you run the world in a way that no one even imagines exists in real life. And then little by little you’ve been places and you’ve done things and there is so much blood.
This becomes your home. This becomes your family and you can’t imagine any other life.
The episode opens up with a flashback to “Jake” as a small boy. He is seen playing with toy soldiers on the porch of his family’s home. His clothes are dirty and so is he. He looks like someone whose body hasn’t seen water in an age.
As he is enacting a fake battle with his plastic figures, we hear his parents arguing inside the home. His mother is trying to keep her husband (I assume) from going in to see their daughter and he is in a snit about it. Soon the sound of shattering glass is followed by the sound of dad beating up on mom. This prompts little Jake to abandon his toys and crawl into a little corner, his tiny hands balled up as he appears to wish himself away from his nightmare life.
In the next flashback scene, the little boy is now a young adult. He is being held in a military prison cell when an officer comes to retrieve him because he has a visitor. His gait is ginger and we soon see that his lip is busted, hand is bandaged up and there is bruising on his face and neck. The young man has clearly been in a fight.
When he is escorted into the room, we see that his visitors are none other than Rowan and that B613 guy who recruited Huck! Remember him from “752” (episode 219)? What shall I call him? Rowan’s lieutenant? Yeah, let’s go with that.
Rowan instructs the young man to have a seat, and once he does, Rowan tosses a file down on the table and tells him that he’s been reading up on him. He says to the future Jake that “for a screw up, you are very bright.” Quite the compliment.
The youngster has one hell of a ‘tude when he is asked if he likes being a soldier. Apparently, he hasn’t had the opportunity to actually be out in the field, but he imagines that it would be a lot of fun. Rowan nods then to his lieutenant who presents the soldier with a contract to sign. Wondering what it is for, all he is told is that it is a contract that binds him to serving in a unit that they are putting together.
Future Jake wants specifics, but he won’t be getting any. All Rowan is willing to tell him is that he’ll get more action than he is currently and that he’ll be getting a lot more money. Looking down at the contract in front of him, the soldier is confused by what he is looking at and says to Rowan that the name on the document is “Jake Ballard” but that his name is Pete Harris.
Pete Harris?
Just be thankful that Rowan gave you a different name, bruh. How bland is your name, Pete Harris? You outchea sounding like a grocery store chain. Or a porta potty brand. Or the family dog. Or a three toothed man brewing up some moonshine in the Indiana backwoods. Be thankful, Jacob Hamilton Ballard.
Pete isn’t game for the name change or this unit that he is being asked to join. He tells Rowan that he’s going to pass on the offer because he signed up to be a Navy man and not to be part of some black ops group of psychopaths. When Rowan asks him if he’d rather go to prison, Pete balks at the possibility and tells Rowan that he’s got at least two more weeks in the brig before he gets out and is back in service. Rowan had to inform him that his situation is more serious than he thinks and that his latest fist fight is actually getting him discharged.
This update stuns Pete who is confused by why a fight has escalated to the point of his dismissal. It turns out that the officer that Pete had broken his hand on was the son of a congressman who wishes to have Pete thrown out of the Navy. (Could this congressman had been Big Jerry Grant?) Upon discharge, Pete will be arrested and charged in civilian court with aggravated assault. If convicted, Pete could spend a maximum of 10 years in prison.
Pete calling the matter ridiculous prompts Rowan to run down the details of Pete’s file to him. The content revealed that Pete had been cited 13 times for drunken and disorderly conduct. It also had listed seven fights that Pete has had with fellow officers, the last of his victims requiring jaw reconstruction. Rowan then goes on to recite a note that states that Pete shows a continued disrespect for authority despite several disciplinary attempts. Pete tries to defend his actions, calling his commanding officers “horrible people.”
Pete is riled as he tries to speak over Rowan in an attempt to excuse the things in his file, but none of it drives him to his feet until Rowan refers to him as “Ballard.” He tells Rowan that his name isn’t Ballard and doesn’t take too kindly to Rowan correcting him on how he is supposed to address him as his commanding officer. Pete goes to attack Rowan but he instead ends up being the one with his face pressed up against the wall.
Can we pause here so that I can ask about the carpet that they’ve got sitting atop Rowan’s head? They could have at least made his hair a color 1B or a 2 instead of this 1 that he’s rocking. Got the man out here looking like he’s wearing a midnight black foam pad on his head.
Pete is ordering Rowan to let go of him, but Rowan isn’t letting up as he gives Pete the choices that are available to him. He can either leave the room as Pete Harris and spend the next 10 years of his life in jail or he can leave as Jake Ballard and send those years in his employ. He goes on to say that he is the only one on the planet who can make Pete into somebody with a real future, and tells Pete that he can either be a prison bitch or his bitch. Those are his only choices.
Well, damn. Whichever of these two horrible options shall I choose?
In another jump ahead, we see Rowan will his fresh B613 recruits which includes Charlie and the newly christened Jake Ballard. Charlie is already proving to be a company man and he steps forward to participate in the activity of dismantling a gun. He is all about pleasing the boss. Jake? Not so much. He is as belligerent as ever.
After silencing an exchange between Jake and Charlie, Rowan orders Jake to follow him out into the hallway. When they are alone, Rowan lights into him about his behavior, reminding him that he saved him from spending 10 years in prison and asks him Jake wishes to go back there. Jake’s response is that if the choice is between that and “some weird dude who keeps telling me he’s my dad--”
LMAO!! The younger Jake may have been a hothead and reckless, but he called things as he saw them. Rowan referring to himself as Jake’s father was weird.
Pushing him into the wall to get his attention, Rowan recalls Jake to real nature of his biological father, detailing for him the ways in which Jake’s dad was scum. He brought up the domestic violence inflicted upon his mother and the sexual violation of Jake’s little sister at their father’s hands. Jake deflates under this assault, but as soon as Rowan makes to walk away, Jake’s anger drives him to attack Rowan. I don’t know why he even bothers.
Rowan is able to maneuver himself in a way that allows him to slap Jake down with his fist, sending the man tumbling like a felled tree. Rowan then either breaks Jake’s arm or dislocates it. I’m not sure which. All I heard was a cracking sound which was then followed by Rowan throwing several punches into Jake’s face. He must have broken his nose because there was one hell of a crunch.
Man, I’ve never laughed so hard in my life. Jake got taken down by the black ops grandpa and I was beside myself.
With the younger man down on the ground, Rowan lowers himself to his level and says to him probably for the first time that “Nobody takes Command, son.” Try to pull a move on Rowan and he will take you down. This reality is not yet a fact to Jake for when he is asked by Rowan is he heard what he just told him, Jake tells him to go to hell. And that earns him a boot kick to the face. Yikes!
Skipping ahead in the timeline, we see Jake getting yet another beatdown. This time it is at the hands of Charlie. He is attempting to beat Jake into submission, but Jake is stubborn. He refuses to go silently into the night, taunting Charlie by telling him that he hits like a bitch. Nevermind that one of Jake’s eyes is swollen shut and that he’s probably lost a few of his molars. He’s still trash talking. Gotta admire his moxie.
Annoyed, Charlie turns towards Rowan. He says that he would recommend tossing Jake back into the hole but he’s afraid that Jake may be a lost cause. He suggests that killing Jake may be their best option, but Rowan isn’t listening to Charlie. He instead appears to be fascinated by Jake’s ability to withstand so much pain and still not break.
Rowan approaches Jake and drops down into a crouch in order to be level with him. His first attempt at touching the recruit is rebuffed but he is allowed a touch the second time. If Rowan’s smile is anything to go by, he is most assuredly impressed by Jake. He caresses Jake’s face and says to him “good boy” like he’s a pet, which causes Jake whip his head away from his hand. Rowan straightens up then and instructs Charlie to toss Jake into the hole for a month.
When Jake is seen again, he is being roughly escorted into Rowan’s office by Charlie and a fellow recruit. He is unceremoniously dropped into a chair before his two escorts depart from the room. Once they are alone, Rowan wants to Jake to tell him about the place that he goes to while he is in the hole. He remarks that everyone eventually finds a place. That place is either some happy memory or somewhere idyllic. Rowan then adds that some tend to choose darkness instead and wonders if this is something that Jake had done to find comfort while he was in the hole.
Given the bleak trajectory of his life, Jake likely only had darkness to turn to. This contrasts to how Jake would cope in the hole when captured by B613 in the future (epi 222) and when he was falsely imprisoned for the death of the President’s son (epi 405). Olivia served as his happy memory both of these times.
Jake does not offer Rowan a response to his question, which leads Rowan to remark about how Jake has failed to be forthcoming during their weekly meetups and that he never talks about his family. Rowan then proceeds to use his family as a means to psychologically assault Jake, again recalling the times in which Jake’s father had harmed his mother and sister. He follows that up by placing the blame for their harm at Jake’s feet, asking how a 17-year-old could have just stood by and let his father continue to rape his sister.
Seeing that his words are starting to stir something in Jake, Rowan presses on. This time around, he mentions the suicide of Jake’s sister and the abortion of the baby that would have been both Jake’s nephew and brother.
Why in the world is Rowan putting this guy through this? Is this him trying to break him? Make him mentally strong? If so, this is some next level type of cruel and unusual punishment.
Rowan’s words prove enough to get Jake to his feet and ready to attack. Rowan doesn’t at all flinch at this and questions Jake on what it is that he is intending to do. He asks him if he plans to attack him in the manner that Jake was able to do to the man who brought so much pain upon his family
Rowan then tells him that Jake attacking him won’t change what happened in his past. He goes on to say that unlike Jake’s biological father, he will not hurt Jake. Rowan vows to protect him and tells him that Jake is now his family.
When Rowan carefully hugs him, Jake succumbs to tears and eventually returns the embrace. The moment is heartbreaking. Rowan has successfully reached the scared little boy who was curled up in a corner as his father beat the crap out of his mother inside the house. Tough guy Pete is no more. The man that stood before him was finally broken.
Joe Morton and Scott Foley were great in this scene. One can’t help but to mourn the childhood that was lost to Jake. Rowan exploiting Jake’s mental fragility as a means to program him to doing his bidding is just sick. I don’t know what Rowan was subjected to as a child himself, but something crooked that way went. It takes a truly twisted individual to do the things that Rowan has done to his special “sons” and even his own daughter.
Jumping forward some more, we now see Jake sitting in Rowan’s office. He is dressed in his Navy full dress whites and is being told by Rowan that his training for B613 is complete. Rowan tells him he has trained Jake in his likeness as if he were his own son. Jake is grateful and says that he believes that he is ready. Rowan is not quite certain about this and so he presents Jake with two choices: freedom or sacrifice. Jake can choose to stay and carry forth in the life that Rowan has just trained him in, become someone greater than he is today, or he can choose to be free and live a regular, normal life. Rowan says to him that he can’t make him choose B613. The choice of what he wants is up to him.
After contemplating what Rowan had to say, Jake stands up and thanks him for everything before departing. Rowan looks on sadly as it appears that his “son” has chosen normal over being great.
What we see next is Jake sitting in a car outside of his childhood home. It seems like he may have been there for some time before he decides to get out of the car. He starts up the concrete steps and walks into the house. His father can be heard asking him what the hell he is doing there and the answer he gets is in the form of two gunshots. His body is then heard collapsing to the ground. That man who had darkened his life for so long was now dead.
When Jake reemerges from the home, his gun is still in hand before he tucks it away in his bag. His white uniform is blood stained. As he starts to leave, he finds evidence of the little boy that he once was tucked between the spacing of one of the steps. It is one of the toy soldiers that he had played with as a child.
Jake is later seen coming back to Rowan’s office, surprising him. Rowan is happy that his son as returned. Jake has made the decision to be a member of Rowan’s family and was dedicating his life to greatness.
Moving Into the Now
The last moments detailed above from Jake’s past comes to parallel one that transpires in the present as Jake finds himself having to once again face the same choices once more. This time around, the stability of Rowan and Jake’s relationship is threatened by Olivia’s presence.
In the first present scene, we see Jake coming into Olivia’s childhood bedroom to bring her some breakfast. Olivia is lying in bed and isn’t at all interested in Jake or the dry ass toast that he has brought for her to eat. She is angled away from Jake, opting to keep her gaze in the direction of the windows. Her rejection of sustenance prompts Jake to say to her that she needs to stop beating herself up about having killed Andrew, especially given what Andrew had put her through. He adds that the only thing that she ought to feel bad about is having not offed him sooner.
Um, okay, Jake.
Rowan appears at the door then and cosigns what Jake just said. He also informs Olivia that because of the efforts of the Jake and the President, no one is investigating Andrew’s death, so that meant that Olivia is in the clear. (Duh! As if Fitzgerald was going to let her hang for killing Andrew.) Olivia gives Jake a quick glance before rolling her eyes and once again turning away. I guess there won’t be any forthcoming thank yous from her.
Did you guys recognize some of the items in Olivia’s old room and on the walls? Paula Abdul, Salt N Pepa, Janet Jackson, Dead Poets Society. Numerous trophies, books and a miniature horse on shelves. That room hasn’t changed since the late 80s/early 90s. Olivia has literally retreated back into the shelter of her childhood, back to a time when life was simple and she was happy.
Once Rowan dismisses Jake from the room by recalling him to the time, he tries to get through to Olivia himself by playing at caring father. He tells her that they should go out and get fresh air together, go to Adams Morgan, do some puzzles together. Olivia remains unresponsive to his coaxing and Rowan sighs as he claims a seat on her bed. He uses the moment to share with her that he has moved up Jake and Vanessa’s wedding. Now this gets Olivia’s attention. He says that he would have told her sooner but given everything that has happened recently, he hadn’t. He then adds that he knows that Jake would love for her to be there.
I swear this man is constantly playing games. He knows that prior to Olivia going all chair murderer on everybody, she was intent on discovering what it was that he and Jake were up to, and that she had every intention of thwarting them. I doubt that Rowan planned to tell Olivia anything about the wedding date earlier than he had.
And when exactly did Rowan decide to move up the wedding? I’m guessing that it may have been sometime immediately following Olivia’s return “home.” Rowan is no fool. Having Olivia in that house may be something that he desires, but he knows better than to leave anything to chance with her around.
Did it seem to you like he may have been gauging her reaction to that wedding news? Hmm.
Another morning, we see Olivia is dressed for running as she is coming into the room where Rowan and Jake are having a chat. Her appearance surprises Rowan who makes a remark about her finally getting out of bed. Olivia tells him that she’s going to take his advice and go out for some fresh air. Once she departs, Rowan says to Jake that he himself was right about how all Olivia needed was a few weeks and some peace and quiet in order to return to herself.
So Olivia’s been chillin’ at Rowan’s place for weeks? Who has been handling Mellie’s campaign while she was on this “hiatus”?
Olivia is seen running along a trail in the park and she slows down as she approaches a parked vehicle. We soon see that she is meeting up with Huck and Quinn! Huck asks her if she was followed and she says that she wasn’t, that Rowan and Jake are buying her act.
Waaaaaaait. Olivia, you’ve been pretending? How, what, when?
I feel like I’m missing a big piece of the puzzle here. How has she managed to move beyond the trauma-induced haze that she was in when she appeared on her father’s doorstep in the previous episode? Did this retreat to her childhood home really quiet her mind or has Olivia done what she always does and pushed her latest trauma to the back with all the rest? Unfortunately, no answers to these questions were in this Jake-centric episode. I do digress…
Olivia shares with her team what she has learned, telling them that the wedding has been pushed up and it isn’t because Jake is desperate to be wed to Vanessa. Olivia says to them that they need to find out everything that they can about the wedding because Rowan and Jake aren’t using Vanessa only to launder money from her bank accounts.
Having received their instructions, Quinn asks Olivia if she is doing okay, but Olivia ignores the question and tells them both to get on the job. Olivia then takes off to resume her run. Quinn appears impressed by Olivia’s ability to carry forward and concludes that Olivia seems like she’s doing alright.
Yeah, Quinn. Seems is the operative word. Ain’t no way in hell that girl is fine. If there is one that Olivia is good at, it is pretending that she isn’t crumpled like an accordion on the inside.
Back at OPA, Huck and Quinn are looking into whatever they can find relating to the wedding of Jacob Hamilton Ballard and Vanessa Rose Moss. They are able to find stuff about these two everywhere! The Internet is talking about them and have even given them the ship name of “JayMo.” The media is enamored with them. They have an 18-page spread in the upcoming September issue of Vogue. One paper even referred to the upcoming nuptials as the “most culturally significant wedding” since that of John F. Kennedy, Jr. and Carolyn Bessette.
Ha! John-John and Carolyn? Stop. With the way these people are going on, you’d think that Olivia orchestrated their PR campaign herself.
Huck managed to track down the guest list and Quinn is expecting there to be 200-300 people on it, but there are actually a staggering 600! Only 90 of these 600 are friends and family. The rest is comprised of high profile guests, which include politicians, big time Democratic donors, members of royalty and celebrities.
Quinn wonders aloud as to why Vanessa would want such a big wedding and Huck realizes that the person who wants the big wedding is Rowan. He, after all, is the one who moved up the wedding date, changed the guest list with the caterer and apparently hired two separate powerful publicists. All of this is being paid for via the super PAC that was set up for Edison.
Huck and Quinn return to the park to share with Olivia what they had found and Olivia can’t make sense of any of it. Jake having a high profile wedding doesn’t help Edison become president, so what is the point of all of this? None of them have an answer, so Olivia decides that she is going to take her con to the next level and exploit Jake’s weakness to get the information that they are looking for. When Huck asks her what that weakness is, Olivia resignedly replies that his weakness is her. Oh boy.
Later that evening, Jake and Vanessa are standing in the foyer of Rowan’s home and they are both dressed for the party that is being thrown in their honor at the White House. Vanessa is quizzing him on her uncle’s name (which he gets wrong) when Rowan comes through to say that they ought to get going. He asks about Olivia’s whereabouts for she has yet to come down from upstairs and Jake turns to glance up the stairs. No one knows what the holdup is.
Vanessa asks Rowan why it is that he isn’t coming and he says that he “technically” wasn’t invited (LMAO! I can’t begin to imagine why) and that he’s been to the White House before, so she need not worry about him. They should all go and have a good time.
Jake tries another stab at the uncle’s name (still wrong) and Vanessa tells him that they really ought to get going. Jake turns for the stairs and says that he’ll go up to get Olivia. When he reaches to her room, he finds her sitting on her bed. She’s still in her bathrobe and her hair is wet. As he steps in, he asks if she is okay and she looks at him with reddened eyes before looking away and not immediately offering him a response. The little actress...
Concerned, Jake closes the door and takes a seat next to her. When prompted, Olivia tells him that she can’t go to the party because of the White House is where she had killed Andrew. (Technically, it was underneath the White House, but…)
Girlfriend has got the nose running and the damp eyes working. Voice is cracking. Face is a mask of distress. Jake takes her hand and assures her that everything is going to be okay. Olivia looks at him with her sad doe eyes then like he’s just saved her life, and he tells her to forget about the party.
The moment is interrupted when Vanessa knocks on the door. Sighing (and clearly having forgotten that he left his fiancee waiting), Jake emerges from Olivia’s room to say to Vanessa that she should go on ahead and that he’ll try to meet her there.
Try to meet her there? Jake, come on, man. Are you serious?
Vanessa is like, hell nah, it’s not okay! She demands to know what is going on and Jake tells her that Olivia is having some trouble and says that he can’t get into what it is with Vanessa. Vanessa, however isn’t letting this go. She wants to know what it is that Jake means and with some impatience, Jake raises his voice to tell her that it means that she should go ahead to the party.
Vanessa is certainly NOT having that. She tells Jake that he is not allowed to speak to her in the manner. She then demands to know why he’s speaking to her that way at all. Olivia meanwhile is listening to all of this from within her room.
Vanessa stresses to Jake that this is their wedding (which obviously takes priority) and Jake counters by saying that this matter concerns a friend. Vanessa is skeptical of his use of “friend” to refer to Olivia and Jake says to her that he doesn’t have time for their argument.
Jake’s just out here showing his ass. He doesn’t even hear himself as he’s speaking. His behavior is suspicious and Vanessa is calling him out on it. She then wants to know know why it is that Olivia is even there, stating that Olivia has been there for weeks. Now here Jake was, trying to back out of an engagement part that he wanted all because Olivia was having “a little trouble.” Oop.
Vanessa can sense a disturbance in the force, but she is asking the wrong questions. Why is Olivia there? That’s her daddy’s house. She spent her childhood within those walls. The question you need to be asking is why your NSA director husband is living there. You ever think of that?
Anyway, not only is Vanessa sensing the shift, Rowan is now also aware of it thanks to this argument. He comes around the corner to inquire as to what is happening and when Vanessa walks away in anger, Jake says to Rowan that maybe moving up the wedding wasn’t a great idea and that they should maybe slow things down.
Rowan says in response than he did not ask for his opinion and that the timing of the wedding isn’t up for discussion. Slowing down is not an option. He is to follow through on his commitment. Jake snaps back into formation then and tells Rowan that he will fix things with Vanessa.
Olivia still listening from the other side of the door and she is taken aback by what she overhears. As Jake goes off the catch up with Vanessa, Rowan tosses a glance at Olivia’s closed door. If he wasn’t thinking it before, he definitely was thinking this now: Olivia’s presence in that house was trouble.
Over at the White House, Fitz and Jake are hanging out on the Truman Balcony. Each man has a glass of liquor in his hand as they lean against the railing and stare out at the landscape in front of them. Music and voices can be heard coming from somewhere nearby.
Jake starts off the conversation by stating the obvious, which is that he is about to get married. Fitz acknowledges this and then asks him why he’s doing it. He admits to being surprised to hear about it. His surprise isn’t due to the quickness of it (as Jake assumes that he is) but over the fact that Jake isn’t with Olivia. He thought that once he was out of the picture that Jake and Olivia would take up with each other.
Ha! If only you were aware of the messy nature by which they have, Fitzgerald.
Jake responds by saying that it would seem that it was not meant to be for either man to be with Olivia. Fitz asks Jake if he loves “her”, but Jake needs clarification as to which “her” Fitz is referring to. Fitz was speaking of Vanessa. Jake is like, sure, yeah. Totes love her. She’s great! (Uh huh.) Vanessa is easy and is the type of woman that he’s supposed to want. Jake looks for confirmation from Fitz on this point, but Fitz says that he doesn’t know about easy since he’s never had it. Heh.
Jake then pivots to Fitz dating and asks him what that’s like for him, and Fitz says that dating has been good and that “it is good to be free.” After a moment, Jake asks Fitz if he misses Olivia and in response, Fitz repeats what he said about his dating life: It is good to be free. Eek!.
I can only imagine how it must feel for him to be unburdened of all the drama that was associated with Olivia. He may not have given Jake a straight answer on that question, but there is a lot about Olivia that he undoubtedly must not miss. There’s the back and forth, the mixed messages, the constant running. There are the behind the scenes machinations, the daddy issues, her need to control everything. The uncertainty of what it is that she wants.
If I were him, I wouldn’t miss her either. It’s just all so much. The price required of him to be with her just kept rising with no cap in sight. At some point, you’ve got to be wise enough to pull the plug and move on. Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is the epitome of stupid. (Yeah, I just remix that saying.) Unfortunately, Olivia doesn’t yet seem to have learned that lesson.
Later that evening, Jake is back home. He turns on the light in the foyer only to be told to turn it back off by an Olivia who is sitting on the floor in the living room with a bottle of bourbon in hand. Jake remarks that Olivia has been drinking and she confirms that she has been drinking a lot. She appears to be drunk. Jake says to her that he’s heading up to bed, but Olivia wants him to tell her all about the party.
Jake says that Vanessa had fun and that he played his part. He then asks her where Rowan is and she tells him that he’s out somewhere. She doesn’t know where. Olivia then works to coax Jake into staying with her in the living room by asking if he’s going to save her from drinking that whole bottle of bourbon by herself. Jake briefly hesitates, but then comes into the room and takes the bottle from her.
When he claims a seat on the sofa opposite her, Olivia says to him that she really hates sitting by and watching him suffer the way that he is and she says that she knows that Rowan is making him marry Vanessa, adding that doing this can’t be something that he wants for himself. Jake denies her assertion that he’s suffering, which leads Olivia to ask if she’s a crazy person. Jake gives her this gesture that says “if the shoe fits.”
LOL! What I wanted to do was pass Olivia some chicken grease to rub on them lips. Looking like she’s been kissing up on some powdered donuts.
Olivia continues on by stating her belief that Jake doesn’t really love Vanessa and that he doesn’t truly want to spend the rest of his life with her. She then switches it up and says that unless it is what he really wants. If Vanessa is who and what he actually does want, then her ramblings saying otherwise does prove that she is indeed a crazy person, a completely plausible actuality given the fact that she just recently killed somebody. She adds that good instincts and rash judgements aren’t exactly her strong suit at the moment. (LOL! This girl is doing too much.)
When Jake refuses to bite the bait, Olivia demands to have her bourbon back. She snatches it from the table before he has the chance to keep it from her and then tries once more to get him to admit that there is something more to this than Rowan having access to Vanessa’s money. At this point, Jake has had enough of Olivia’s antics and decides that he is going to go to bed.
As he is heading out of the room, Olivia grows desperate. She pleads with Jake to just admit that he isn’t in love with Vanessa and Jake finally bends to the pressure and admits just that. Upon this admission, Olivia drops her drunk act and Jake comes to realize that he’s been had. He shakes his head at her act, remarking on the games that she and Rowan play.
Their games aren’t to your liking, Jake? Explain to me then why it is that you allow yourself to be played by them. I’ll wait.
Actually, no, I won’t.
Jake eventually confesses that Rowan’s plan is to place him on Edison’s ticket in the hopes of making him Vice President. Marrying Vanessa is all part of trying to create name recognition and raise his profile. Olivia adds that Vanessa is the perfect political wife and Jake says that she’s perfect for somebody. Olivia tells Jake that he can say no to Rowan and that Rowan only has power over him if he allows him to.
Does Olivia hear herself when she says these things? Rowan only has power over Jake if he allows it? What evidence has she got to show that she has managed to keep Rowan from having power over her? She’s been on this merry-go-round with him for years now with there being no sign of her getting off. Olivia has time and again forgiven his various forms of abuse as she indulges in the fantasy of her father having real love for her. Now she wants to tell Jake that all he must do is be strong?
Girl, bye.
Jake says to her that no matter the many times that he has hated Rowan and tried to distance himself from him, there is a reason why he always ends up back on Rowan’s doorstep. He then adds that despite all that Rowan has done, all that he has ever wanted was what was best for the two of them.
Olivia reacts to this statement as if Jake had lost his mind and again says to him that he doesn’t have to go through with the marriage. It is at this point that Jake says to Olivia that she knows that he’s not in love with Vanessa, that he will never love anyone else as much as he loves Olivia. (Zzzzz….) He points out how it is that Olivia has never chosen him and despite the fact that they have both done such horrible things to each other, he still ends up right where he is in front of her.
Sigh. So is Olivia your second Command, Jake? No matter how far you run from either of the Popes, you can’t help but to come back for more? Talmbout how he stay wanting her. Seriously, boy, I’ma pray for you.
As for Olivia, the con has taken an unexpected left turn. Here Jake is pouring out his heart (as he is wont to do) and Olivia doesn’t know what to say. She is clearly conflicted by what she is hearing from him. If I’m gonna keep it one hunnid, she almost looks constipated as she stares up at poor wounded Jake. Oh, the unshed tears in his eyes and the pain in his voice!
The expected messy emotions shifts Olivia into retreat mode. She tells him that he can’t marry Vanessa and then starts for the stairs. Jake asks her what it is that he’s supposed to do and she has no answer for him. She merely repeats again that he can’t marry Vanessa. When he demands that she tell him what he’s supposed to do, she bids him good night and heads upstairs.
In her room, Olivia tosses and turns in her bed. She’s obviously trying to make her mind up about something. At this point, her con is more or less shot to hell. It’s now dawning on her that Jake isn’t an accomplice. He’s a trapped victim!! A sad, sad victim who she must rescue from the clutches of her father. There is also the added bonus that he’s in love with her. Now that he’s no longer the bad guy, she can totes make something happen with him!
So Olivia gets out of bed and opens up her bedroom door to find Jake standing at some distance away. They stare at each other for what feels like a painful eternity as “Midnight Train to Georgia” plays. Given the song choice, I’d say that Olivia has decided that this time, she was going to choose Jake (even though she had already obliterated her relationship with her main boo, so this isn’t really her choosing him over anyone else, but I digress again…).
There is kissing blah blah and Olivia tries to push him off as has been their play of late, but Jake is up for those games anymore. Dude was like, nah bih. We ain’t about that rough sex bidness tonight. We’re making love. And then Olivia gave in to his unspoken message while I felt the bile rising in my throat.
All I can say is thank the good Lord that they decided to not show them hooking up because I just can’t continue to do this. There is a limit to my tolerance and when it comes to these two, my limit is at -10.
The next morning, Olivia joins Rowan and Jake in the kitchen where they are already having breakfast. She greets both men, her disposition clearly sunny. I suppose surrogate brother dick works as well as milk at doing the body good.
Jokes aside, is anyone besides me bothered by the closeness of what happened in Jake’s past to what has been happening between he and Olivia? Is it just me?
Anyway, the breakfast offered to Olivia is only comprised of eggs since Vanessa has Jake on a paleo diet. Rowan rambles on about the benefits of the diet and while he’s talking, Olivia and Jake are failing at hiding the fact that something has shifted between them. Their eyes are glued to one another and my eyes are rolling back in my head.
When Rowan departs to go get fitted for his tux, Olivia and Jake sit staring at each other for a moment as the Nolake theme starts to play, and I feel my hand instinctively reaching for the gun that I don’t have so that I may figuratively end my life. I hate that cheesy ass music with a hardcore passion. It’s as weak sauce as whatever it is that Olivia believes she is doing with Jake right now.
Asking Jake if he still intends to marry Vanessa, Olivia doesn’t get a yes or no in response. Instead, Jake asks her if she wants him to get married.
Olivia is going to tell you what you should do with your life, Jake? She already told you that you shouldn’t get married if you don’t love the woman and yet here you are asking her if she wants you to get married? I peep your game though. You want her to admit something that she never has with you. I don’t know what to tell ya buddy, but I don’t think that confession is coming.
What Olivia does say is that she doesn’t know how he will be able to escape from Rowan nor does she have any idea how to protect Jake from him. Jake says he doesn’t know either (no shit!), but tells her that that they should just eat. He wants her to sit there with him and pretend like last night never ended.
Hole up. Is this Jake attempting to have a “one minute” moment with Olivia?
Later that evening, Olivia is seen in her room and her things are packed. It is time to leave. She has gotten the answers that she was looking for, but she has no solution to the newly unearthed problem. She is zipping up her back when Jake comes bounding in to tell her that he wants to be with Olivia and that he won’t be marrying Vanessa. He asks her if she, too, wants to be with him, and in response, Olivia runs up to him and kisses him.
Cue the tiny fireworks for the minuscule group of folks cheering to the far left.
I swear. Olivia just loves doing the same shit over and over again, even when the past has proven that these things just don’t work. She’s choosing to be with Jake, ey? Is that what she thinks she’s doing? Didn’t she detest him just five minutes ago?
Olivia’s shift in how she perceives Jake should surprise no one, especially since she plucked him out of the accomplice column and placed him into that of victim. Olivia has never been one to turn away from a Jake in need of saving. He’s ever so always the damsel in distress. And since his distress happens to be one that Olivia shares (Rowan), his rescue is imperative.
Now at OPA, Olivia and Jake are trying to figure a way out of this situation with Quinn and Huck’s assistance. Jake proposes going over to Vanessa’s to call of the wedding in the morning, but Olivia says that that would leave ample time for Rowan to blackmail Jake down the aisle. Quinn offers that they could just run and Huck says that Rowan likely has their phone tapped and accounts tagged. He’ll find them soon enough.
Olivia eventually figures that the best way to get Jake off of Rowan’s hook is to jilt Vanessa at the altar. Jake questions the tactic, calling it cruel and Olivia agrees. She says that doing such a thing would be perceived far and wide as so terrible that it would kill any future political prospects that Jake may have.
While this conversation is going on, I’m sitting here and thinking: this chick really is about to run off with Jake. Just pack up and disappear because running from her problems before worked out so well. How is this any different from her running off with Jake for the island?
Once Jake is gone, Olivia steps into her office with a look of satisfaction on her face. She’s looking forward to standing in the sun again. Huck soon joins her and he asks if she is sure that this is something that she wants to do. Olivia’s response is that she is ready to be happy.
Pause.
What?
You’re ready to be happy? With Jake? How Sway? Have you somehow found a magical potion that erases all the issues you still haven’t dealt with? You know, the trauma upon trauma upon trauma. Has Jake? Now you’re here talking about once again living the Julia Baker life all because you want to “save” Jake and be happy.
You’re ready to be happy? With Jake? How Sway? Have you somehow found a magical potion that erases all the issues you still haven’t dealt with? You know, the trauma upon trauma upon trauma. Has Jake? Now you’re here talking about once again living the Julia Baker life all because you want to “save” Jake and be happy.
Girl, we’re gonna need to chat because I need you to work on getting your mind right.
Olivia cannot find happy if she is unwilling to do the work to get herself to where she needs to be. Pretending that all is well just isn’t going to cut it, and another person cannot make her (or any of us) happy. They can only intensify what is already present within. One would think that Olivia would have gleaned this much from her first attempt at happy with Fitzgerald, but introspection isn’t her strong suit.
Much like herself, Jake is broken and he has much work to do on himself as she does on herself. The two of them are cellmates in a prison erected by Rowan Pope. How is it that the one is trying to spring the other from the same cell? How would that work exactly? That’s like an alcoholic trying to guide another alcoholic into sobriety. You can’t give another person that of which you don’t have to offer.
Huck is clearly concerned by this shift in the plan but Olivia assures him that she knows what she is doing. Ha!
The following day is the big wedding day! Like many of the other guests, Olivia is already at the church. She is sitting somewhere near the back when Rowan comes to join her. They give each other smiles before facing away from each other. After a moment, Rowan leans in to tell Olivia that when she breaks the news to Jake that he is still going to marry Vanessa, she is to tell him that she has changed her mind. He then informs her that he is aware of what she is planning.
Olivia stay taking these Ls. If this girl’s head was screwed on straight, she would have anticipated this. Did she think that Rowan was above bugging his own house?
Once Olivia collected herself, she says to Rowan that Jake is throwing his life away on his behalf and this gets a chuckle out of Rowan. He turns to her to say that this endeavor isn’t about what she believes it to be about. It isn’t about him acquiring power. He tells her that unlike herself, he has actually had power and achieved greatness. (What’s with the shade though?) What he’s trying to do now is to get Jake to finally step forward and accept his own greatness.
Olivia interjects then to say that Jake doesn’t want any of this, and it is at this moment that Rowan casually takes a hold of Olivia’s hand. As he progressively intensifies the squeeze that he has on it, he warns her as to the consequences should Jake not follow through with the wedding.
ROWAN: If this wedding does not go forward, I will slit Jake’s throat. If he learns that I was the one that made you break his heart, that, too, will force me to slit his throat. I will do that not because he’s failed me. I will do that because I love him. Because he is the talent in this family and I would rather he be dead than mediocre. I’ve already lost a daughter. To hell if I will let what happened to you happen to my son.
Say what? He would rather see Jake dead than to see him be mediocre? He kill him because he loves him? What in the…
Hide your lives, y’all. Rowan is not about this business of having anybody come between he and his “son.”
I don’t even know why Olivia keeps trying to make fetch happen with this twisted idea of a family that Rowan likes to peddle. One minute he’s calling her trash, the next he’s exalting her shrewdness and now he’s back to calling her worthless. So much for the love she’s been saying that daddy has for her (509, 512). As Huck tried to warn her before, the person she’s referring to as dad is actually a monster who will eat her up and spit her out.
Look at how he’s traded her in for a person who isn’t even related to him by blood. Jake is his favored son and she’s his excommunicated disappointment of a daughter. How is it that she still can’t see how deranged the whole son-father-daughter triangle is? How is it that she still can’t see how deranged this whole son-father-daughter thing is? Granted she and Jake aren’t kin, but the constant reference to them as such by Rowan introduces all kinds of ick into the mix. And when you factor in Jake’s unfortunate childhood, it really makes you wonder at the kind of sick shit Rowan must have thought up as he sent his “son” to sleep with his daughter.
The whole time that Rowan is clutching at her hand, Olivia struggles to keep from exclaiming in pain. Remember when she used to say that her father would never physically hurt her (303)? I think it’s safe to say that she has just gotten a reality check.
Before getting up to leave her side, Rowan tells Olivia that the choice of there being a wedding or a funeral up to her. Matter of fact, Rowan is telling her in no uncertain terms that Jake will never be hers to have. He can be alive and not hers or he can be dead and also not be hers. Either way, Jake is to remain his.
Once Rowan unhands her and leaves, Olivia is left shaking like a leaf. Poor thing just got a lesson in what happens when you underestimate your opponent and attribute qualities to him that are nothing but fairytales.
Some time later, Olivia is leaning up against a wall in an area of that church that is adjacent to the main sactuary where the ceremony is set to take place. She looks like she may have been standing there a while, trying to shore up the strength she needs to do what is required of her. Jake soon emerges from the entryway and when Olivia sights him, she steps away from the wall to get his attention.
Jake asks her if she’s there to wish him luck before he commits the heinous act of jilting Vanessa, but Olivia cuts him off to inform him that she cannot be with him. Jake merely sighs and asks her what happened and if Rowan had gotten to her. She says no, but Jake doesn’t believe her, so he goes on to ask about what it is that Rowan said to have her killing their plan.
Olivia tells Jake that what she is doing in that moment is herself doing it and not Rowan, but he doesn’t buy it. It is at this point that Olivia becomes a bit more deliberate with her words for it is clear that she is failing to convince Jake as to the sincerity of her words. When Jake says to her that they can fix whatever the situation is, Olivia insists that they cannot. Now Jake shows frustration and wants ot know what happened to have her change her mind not even 24 hours after they agreed to this plan.
What happens next is just some cold-hearted mess. It’s one hell of a edge snatch that I don’t even know how Jake was able to stand after it was over.
As Olivia is trying to answer what has changed by telling him that what is happening now is what has always happened with them, Jake cuts her off twice to declare that she loves him but Olivia never gives him the confirmation that he’s looking for.
Instead, she forcefully tells him that it isn’t only that she can’t be with him. It is that she doesn’t want to be with him. She tells him that he should just go be with Vanessa. After a shocked pause, Jake wants to know what has happened to her and what is really going on.
This man does not want to let go. He sees his freedom right in front of him. Unlike the past when he chose sacrifice, he desperately wants freedom and happy with Olivia. Too bad it will never be. I tried to warn him that this bitch was crazy, but he ain’t try to hear me.
In response to his question, Olivia digs into her arsenal and unloads.
OLIVIA: You’re not good enough for me. You’re weak. You need me too much. Need me to tell you what to do and how to feel and-- You were never an option for me. You’re an escape. Someone to toy with. You’re a yo-yo. A booty call. A sidepiece. And frankly, it’s embarrassing that you still haven’t realized, after all this time, that if we were together, actually together, I would tear right through you. Destroy you.
Lawd have mercy. Olivia, why?? Girl is just spilling all kinds of tea and I ain’t even know she had my favorite brand!
Despite what Olivia just said, Jake is still unwilling to let go. He says to her that she’s just scared of what they have and of having something that is real, but Olivia scoffs at this and is like nah.
OLIVIA: No. You’re wrong. I’m not scared. I may be horrible because I’m abandoning you, because I always abandon you, but I’m not scared. Not the least bit. You’re wrong. And pathetic. I could tell you five minutes from now that I want to be with you, that I want to save you. You would crawl back to me, forgive me every single time.
Gatdamn. WHERE. IS. THE. LIE. THOUGH? Should I list the many times that Olivia has swooped in to save this man versus the times that he supposedly saved her? Or the times that he has begged her to stand with him in the sun? Or the times that he has whined (including in this episode) about how he is never the one chosen by her?
Now it seems like Olivia’s words are starting to penetrate as the Jake’s happy place starts to experience a lunar eclipse. He wants to know why it is that she is doing this to him. I kinda sorta feel bad.
Okay, not really.
OLIVIA: Do you honestly not know by now? I’m in love with Fitz. I don’t love you, Jake. I love him. When I’m with you, all I think about is him. Fitz is who I choose. He’s who I will always choose. You are just a lesser version of him. A sad reminder of the man I truly deserve. If I couldn’t make it work with him, why the hell would you think I could make it work with you?
Good luck becoming Vice President, Jake. You’ll need it.
Oh my damn. Olivia, you are your father’s daughter because this mess right here was brutal. You told Jake that you think about Fitz when you’re sexing him?! It doesn’t even matter if you were lying or telling the truth because that was a cold-cock right there, bitch.
After breaking off the knife in Jake's side with that last bit, Olivia turns to walk away from him and her face cracks. The verbal beatdown she just delivered was the worst thing that she has ever done to him. Good gawd almighty, she eviscerated him. I’m not sure which was bringing out the emotions: hurting Jake to save his life or finally voicing aloud what she has always known to be true about her relationship with Jake. Maybe it was both.
I peep those of you saying that you believe it is because she is truly in love with him, but uh, 99% of what she said to Jake can be supported by the narrative. Hell, this was the first time that she ever outright said I DON’T LUH YOU! If she was lying, I don’t curr. She hasn’t ever said the opposite, so I ain’t gonna assume otherwise.
I said Olivia say getting them Ls, but nobody stay losing quite like Jake Ballard. Man got jilted by the one he wishes was his main boo just as he was about to jilt the one who is set to be his main boo. Life sure does come at you fast. Po thang. The sun is definitely not on the horizon.
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| Via @hoosyourdaddy99 |
As Olivia is making a hasty retreat, Fitz catches sight of her and excuses himself from the person is he speaking to to ask her if everything is okay. She continues past him without stopping as she says to him that all is well. Lies, but she couldn’t very well have a breakdown over the loss of her side boo in front of the man she just claimed to still be in love with now, can she?
When we next see Jake, he is coming to take his place up at the altar and Fitz is his best man. (I see that the writes have got jokes.) Jake is looking out at the people present and he makes eye contact with Rowan. There is a flashback at this point. When we get back to the present, we see the flower girls coming down the aisle with petals falling softly from their little hands. The girls and then followed by Vanessa and her father.
Once Vanessa is handed off to Jake, he lifts her veil and the officiant begins. As Jake is being asked if he takes Vanessa to be his wedded wife, his eyes drifts over to Rowan who is looking on proudly. When it is time for him to offer his answer, there is a pregnant pause that causes everyone to shift in their seat. Jake does offer his commitment to Vanessa and Rowan is seen to be letting out a sigh of relief.
Just as ws the case with him all those twenty years ago, Jake once again devotes his life to Rowan. He may have married Vanessa, but his commitment was to Rowan and the path to greatness. Once Jake has his wife are presented as the Mr. and Mrs., Rowan is seen clapping harder than anyone else in that crowd. He couldn’t have been prouder if he tried.
The song places over these last scenes (“The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face” by Roberta Flack) started when Olivia was cutting ties with Jake and continued well beyond the point of that moment to feature prominently over the Rowan and Jake scenes of both the past and the present. The song seems to speak more to the relationship of the two men than it is the one that existed between Olivia and Jake.
Jake could have gone ahead and jilted Vanessa, but he chose not to. He ended up doing what Olivia instructed him to do, what he knew Rowan wanted him to do. Unlike his options 20 years ago, there was no choice between freedom and sacrifice. Not now. Not when Olivia set fire to the rickety bridge that they stood on together. Freedom for him at this point would be death. His choice was therefore either death or greatness. Loneliness or family. He chose to remain with Rowan.
Till death do them part.
So. Should I even bother asking what y'all thought of the episode? LOL! Alright, what did y'all think of the episode? Did you find anything in it useful to the narrative? Was this a real end to Olivia and Jake or will they be back before the end of the season? What did you make of what Olivia said to him in that last scene? Was she lying? Where does Olivia go from here? Where does Jake go from here?
Three more episodes till the end of the season!! See you all next week!
