I see that Scandal opted to have me shooting a nail gun at my television instead of me waiting in anticipation for what’s coming up next season. This was a strong episode, but as a finale, it was underwhelming.
You remember the annihilation that came with episode 509 and how it made you want to burn down a city? How it may have even made you or someone you know quit watching the show altogether? Now that is how to do a finale. That was devastatingly epic. It took your emotions and rendered them asunder, and didn’t give a gatdamn if you survived the assault.
I cannot say that “That’s My Girl” did the same. Even though I did enjoy the episode, there were things that transpired in it (and in the entire back half of this season) that left me throwing up my hands. That said, there was one true surprise that I did not see coming until it was upon me. If it was a sociopathic murderer, I’d be dead.
Anyway, that’s enough of a preface. Let’s get into this.
Side Hoes and Hustlers: Choosing Partners
The episode starts off with Vanessa’s dad sharing a story about how he was enthralled by the birth of his daughter even though his father wanted a grandson. Jake is by the sideboard listening as he is pouring them both a drink. I sensed that no good was going to come out of this scene when Jake hands him a glass and then takes a seat across from him.
Mr. Moss takes a sip of his drink before he goes on to tell Jake that he shared his long-winded story all to say that Jake is the son that he never thought he wanted. In response, Jake gives him a tight lipped smile as he watches him take another sip. Within seconds, Mr. Moss is experiencing pain in his left arm. He’s having a heart attack and Jake is just sitting there. When Mr. Moss instructs Jake to call 911 and Jake remains unmoving, he asks why it is that Jake is doing nothing. In response, Jake tells him that while he is touched that Mr. Moss thinks of him as a son, there is another who considers him a son as well. That other man feels that it is in their best interest that Vanessa come into her inheritance early.
Mr. Moss is clutching his chest in anguish, his face a mask of pain and horror as he falls out of his chair and to the floor. As he lies there in agony, Jake assures him that he has only a few more seconds before it is all over. Once it is clear that Mr. Moss has taken his last breath, Jake checks his pulse and only then calls 911.
That’s one way to reward one’s father-in-law for his kindness.
The following morning, Cyrus is laughing it up in his living room at something that he is reading from the newspaper. He finds the media’s speculation of who would be chosen as Vargas’s running mate to be ridiculous. Soon Tom is seen coming into the room after having returned from a trip. When Cyrus finally pulls his eyes away from the paper, Tom hands him an envelope containing photos of Michael and Ella. Tom had been able to find that they were staying at an apartment that Michael’s aunt helped him secure.
Cyrus wants to know if Ella is at least going to school and Tom tells him that she isn’t but that Michael has hired her tutors. Cyrus tosses the photos on the table as Tom asks him what it is that he’d like to do, and Cyrus tells him that he’d like to finish his coffee and then pick out a VP for the Vargas ticket.
I guess knowing where Michael is and that Ella is safe is enough to keep Cyrus’s eye on the prize.
Flash over to a clip of Sally reporting from Baltimore where the Republican Convention is being held. The venue is the “Grant Arena”, which was named after President (and Army General) Ulysses S. Grant and not the “manchild who’s been soiling his pants at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for the last eight years.” Why the disrespect, Sally? LOL!
With the Republican and Democratic conventions being held within the same week, the question now shifts to who the two candidates are going to choose as their respective vice president. On the Democratic side, Cyrus pays David Rosen a visit at his office to ask him if he would be interested in being on the Vargas ticket. Dumbfounded by the offer, David skeptically repeats what Cyrus said, which leads Cyrus to say, “Well, now I’m not so sure. You seem kinda slow.” Hahahaha!
David assures him that he isn’t slow, but that he wonders what it is that Cyrus intends to gain from making him vice president. Cyrus tells him that what he’ll get is a bright, seasoned Democrat who has dutifully served a Republican president. He goes on to say that this is the kind of “reach across the aisle” person that is needed to support a charismatic leader in Vargas who is admittedly leftist.
Upon receiving this answer, David clarifies what he meant with his initial question, stating that he would like to know who it is that Cyrus expects him to kill or imprison in order for him to be on the ticket. Cyrus claims a seat in front of David’s desk then as he admits to having done dark needs in the past, but he says that things changed when he met Vargas. He tells David that Vargas is the real deal, once in a lifetime. Vargas, he says, wants to make the world better and could actually succeed in doing that. Cyrus caps this off by point out that Vargas and David are cut from the same cloth.
Over at OPA, Olivia and company have narrowed down three potential candidates that would suit as a running mate for Mellie. Olivia tells Mellie that these candidates have to be vetted, but that they are all solid choices that posses the three Ms. Mellie doesn’t know what this means and Quinn breaks it down for her: male, married, military.
Now tell me that the moment you heard this explanation that you didn’t roll your eyes because you realized that Jake Ballard fits this very profile. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Quinn with some help from Marcus presents what was found on each candidate while Olivia (wit Mellie present) interviews each man. The details that they provide (or don’t provide) is then looked into by Huck to see if they pass muster. It was learned that the first candidate used to give rich foreign men “scrubby tugs” at an after hours bath house. Just mosey on over to Urban Dictionary and look up “scrub and tubs” if you are curious.
The second candidate bites the dust because of a scheme he was a part of in his 20s where he sold expired condoms. The money made from his venture was never reported to the IRS. When Mellie wonders aloud at how it is that Huck is able to dig up this information, Quinn tells her that she doesn’t want to know. LOL!
The third candidate is Gov. Bill Wagner of Missouri. He was a senator for 8 years before becoming governor and is highly respected by the far right. His major ding is that he once dealt cocaine when he was in college. He explains to Olivia and Mellie that he had used the money to pay off his student loans, and that the stint didn’t last very long. Wagner tells them that only one person knows about this. He adds that he would love nothing more than to be Mellie’s running mate but he thought he would be open about his past before they make a decision.
Having gone through their three choices, the group congregates in the conference room to and ponders Wagner’s picture on the wall. Mellie remarks that Wagner would be excellent, but that the cocaine bit is a concern. Olivia says that aside from that, he is everything that they need. Olivia asks Huck if it possible to have Wagner “cleaned up” in time (aka have his dealing buried) and Huck says that he can try.
With class dismissed, everyone disperses and it is then that Edison walks into the conference room. Olivia asks Edison why he is there and when they are both in her office, he delivers the message that Jake asked him to pass along in the last episode. Huck is also present in the room, but he’s listening from the doorway that connects Olivia’s and Harrison’s former office as Edison is explaining to Olivia that Jake is a prisoner of Rowan’s just as he had been.
LOL! Edison, you were barely held hostage. Step to the side, sir.
Having taken in what Edison had to say, Olivia casts a glance in Huck’s direction before she proceeds to thank Edison for delivering the message. She stands up as he tells him that she unfortunately can’t be of assistance because she has a convention to prepare for. Perplexed by her response, Edison demands to know what it is that Olivia intends to do to help Jake. When she remains silent, Edison mistakes why she is choosing to keep out of the situation and leave her office in huff.
Once he is gone, Huck steps away from the door to tell Olivia that she may want to reconsider her decision while he shows her a report on his phone of the death of Vanessa’s father. It states that he died of a heart attack, but Huck says to her that they both know that this isn’t the true cause of death. He points out that Vanessa just inherited half a billion dollars with the death of her father, which means that Rowan is building for something big. Whatever the something is, he says, Jake is going to be dragged into it. When Huck tells her that she is going to have to save Jake, Olivia replies that she can’t because her trying would lead to Rowan killing him.
What is up with all of these people expecting Olivia to save Jake? And why is Huck particularly invested in this? He’s been like a broken record with regards to this and I can’t figure out why. Is he putting himself in Jake’s shoes and recalling how it was that Olivia’s saved him once upon a time from Rowan’s clutches?
Over at Vargas campaign headquarters, Cyrus is walking into Francisco’s office where he is meeting up with a guest. It is soon revealed that this guest is none other than Rowan. Oh, wait. Eli Pope. The two men pretend as if they do not know each other as they shake hands in introduction. Vargas informs Cyrus of Rowan’s proposal to throw his support behind their campaign to the tune of $30 million.
That’s a lot of blood money.
Cyrus is careful with his response to that, sure not to tip off the panic that was undoubtedly plaguing him at the moment. Rowan’s presence within his henhouse is never a good sign. Cyrus responds by calling the offer “generous” but adding that it sounds like something that is coming from a super PAC, which campaign finance laws forbid a candidate from being a part of. Vargas diplomatically tells Cyrus that he need not say more before he says to Rowan that it was nice to meet him. He silently instructs Cyrus to discuss further with Rowan and then he leaves the two men alone.
Once Vargas is gone, Cyrus shuts the door to the office and immediately informs Rowan that he isn’t welcome. Rowan quips that if he only went to places where he was welcome he’d never leave the house. (Heh.) Cyrus asks him to get right to the point of his visit and Rowan begins by posing to Cyrus a questions as to how he believes Frankie would feel if he found out about the truth about the shooting in Harrisburg.
What in the world doesn’t Rowan know? Is Tom still working for him?
With it being clear that Cyrus has his thumbs nailed metaphorically to the wall, Cyrus asks what it is that Rowan wants from him. Rowan wants the same thing that he had wanted from Edison and that is for Jake Ballard to be placed on the ticket.
Isn’t it something that Cyrus finds himself on the flip end of a meeting with the Dark Lord after having been accused of being a dark lord himself by David? Where David had anticipated blackmail and coercion when Cyrus visited with him, Cyrus is actually experiencing it.
What Rowan is proposing is a nightmare scenario for Cyrus who, despite the genesis of this campaign, believes that Vargas is indeed the man for the job. The exposure of his machinations would break Vargas’s spirit and kill his faith in Cyrus in a manner similar to how it affected Susan Ross and her faith in David, Fitz and his faith in Olivia. He would out on his ass and all he had done to set these things into motion would have been for naught.It was either he capitulates to Rowan or he kisses life as he knows it goodbye.
Later, Huck and Quinn are seen meeting up with Doug Morton, the one guy who knows about Gov. Wagner’s former coke dealing ways. He thinks that they are there to seek out his services, but he soon realizes that they are on another mission as he is presented with a folder contacting several documents and a driver’s license with his face on it.
Doug is confused as to who this “Anthony Musser” person is on the license until Quinn informs him that it is his new identity. He’s got a new passport and a deed to a 2-bedroom condo in Albuquerque where he is to move for his bad coke dealing ways. Doug tells them that he has no idea what they are talking about, but when Huck threateningly steps towards him, he admits to it being something that happened 35 years ago.
Doug then attempts to call the cops, but he is stopped by Huck who takes the phone from him and Quinn tells him that the cops won’t be joining their party. Doug still tries to protest their proposition, but Huck tells Anthony that he is definitely going to do as he’s been told or they will have to discuss his “retirement.”
You really don’t want to discuss retirement with Huck, Anthony.
Over at the White House, Abby informs Fitz of Mellie’s desire to know the status of his Convention speech. Fitz replies that he’ll have it ready first thing in the morning, and Abby immediately follows this up by telling him that Mellie would like approval of both its content and length. Fitz is amenable to whatever length Mellie wishes it to be. When Abby tells him that Mellie would prefer that it be over 30 minutes, Fitz again agrees before heading over to the Resolute Desk.
Abby follows him over as she adds that Mellie also wants him to speak on the first day of the Convention instead of the last because she wishes to have the last night to herself and thinks that it would be a way to demarcate the past and the future. Fitz finds some humor in himself being referred to as the past, but he says that he gets it.
Abby is surprised by his cooperation and thanks him for it. In response, Fitz says that he figures that he’s got nothing to lose. He’ll be out of the White House soon anyway. Abby remarks that he makes the White House sound like prison and he tells her that it is, but that in five months, he will be a free man who can go wherever and do whatever he wants. He then proceeds to imagine that he could write his memoirs in Paris or London, or how he may just return to Santa Barbara. He then adds that he may even end up in Vermont.
Gatdamn you, Fitzgerald!!! You are not allowed to mention Vermont!!
Abby’s expression at that last bit is priceless. It said, “Paris, London, Santa Barbara, Vermont. Something among these four does not fit.” She considered the first three locations to nice options, but is puzzled by his inclusion of Vermont. When she questions his Vermont option, Fitz has a smile on his face as he says to her that it is a possibility.
Ah, Fitzgerald. Ye who drinks of the fountain of never-ending hope. Here’s to you getting what you want.
Back over at the Vargas headquarters, Cyrus is sitting in contemplation when his candidate comes over to ask his opinion of Admiral Jake Ballard. (Dang, Jake got a promotion in rank and I didn’t even realize it. Welp.) Vargas says that Rowan was pushing Jake during their meeting, and from what he has been able to find, he believes that Jake would make a decent running mate. Looking for his take on it, Cyrus appears to be giving Vargas his honest opinion, but it is immediately apparent that Cyrus is having another one of those moments where everything that he is saying is actually occurring in his mind. (The first time Cyrus lapsed into one of this was when Fitz was adamant about the CIA following through on an extraction plan that had a 30% success rate in an attempt to rescue Olivia (epi. 412).)
Cyrus bares his teeth as he goes off about Jake, referring to him as the monster who killed the love of his life. He calls Jake a traitor to the nation that Cyrus has spent his life loving and serving, and references to a number of unfavorable entities that Jake is akin to (Moloch, Abaddon, Leviathan). He then adds that Jake is a “serpent coiled at the feet of his master Satan himself.”
Well then. Is that all you feel, Cyrus? LOL! The hate for Jake burns deep.
Of course, Cyrus couldn’t say any of this to Vargas. Once he is brought out of his head by Vargas calling him on his attention, Cyrus tells him that Jake would be fine.
Later that evening, Elizabeth is emerging from an elevator at the DOJ just as David happens to be walking by. She’s there because she had heard that Cyrus paid David a visit. Once they are within the confines of his office, David reveals the purpose of the visit and Elizabeth is ecstatic. She proclaims this to be news that it is definitely great for him, but not for the country.
David’s sarcastic response leads her to point out that as a Republican, she doesn’t believe in Vargas’s free college initiative. Matter of fact, she says that she doesn’t believe in free or even in college. For her, everything has a price. When David says that he doesn’t follow her logic, she remarks that it figures, insinuating that he doesn’t follow because he’s a Democrat. Or slow. Either way, I guffawed.
Elizabeth then shifts into seductress mode as she asks David of the price he’ll exact to place her on the campaign. David brushes her off and puts some distance between them as he tells her that there is no campaign and that he hasn’t even agreed to anything. He then adds that he probably won’t do it.
Elizabeth tells him that he will do it because if he does, he’ll be the next Vice President. David points out that she doesn’t know that for sure, but she assures him that she does because she will be voting for Vargas, and this is coming from a woman who has a dog at home named after Barry Goldwater. LOL!!
That’s a crying shame. Elizabeth is willing to forego her conservative leanings to vote for Vargas just so that David would become VP. She unapologetically has no scruples. She will hitch her wagon to just about anything to get herself a bit closer to the throne.
David tells her that should he decide to join the ticket, he would never bring Elizabeth onto the campaign because she ruined his life by taking away the one person that he truly loved. Elizabeth replies by telling him that he isn’t the only one who suffered in the ordeal, that she actually cried about it. She says, “I cried. Multiple times. With tears. In my eyes.” Hahahaha!
Her tears probably froze on her icy face.
Elizabeth encourages David to go for the position and then proceeds to use sex to get him off the fence about it. Before she can begin, David tells her that he doesn’t want to sleep with her and she tells him that she feels the same way, but if they are going to debase themselves, they may as well go all the way.
Okay then.
Elsewhere, Abby calls Olivia just as the latter is entering her apartment. (Hello, Liv’s dark cave dwelling! It’s been a minute.) When she tells Olivia that she spoke with Fitz about Mellie’s demands, Olivia sighs in anticipation of bad news, but Abby tells her that Fitz agreed to everything. Olivia is in disbelief.
He did indeed agree to everything without protest. Fitz is out here living life like it’s golden. He’s on a wavelength that no one can comprehend right now.
Abby is saying that she, too, was surprised by his easy acquiescence when she comes upon Fitz standing in her office with Olivia’s medical records in hand. Ah hell.
Abby quickly ends her call before proceeding into her office to try to handle the situation. The moment she alerts him to her presence, Fitz asks her where she got the file from. His eyes do not lift from what he is reading as Abby tells him that the records are confidential. Fitz states that they are Olivia’s medical records, and Abby acknowledges this and stresses that they are Olivia’s confidential medical records.
Impatient, Fitz finally looks at her and demands to know where she got the files from. Abby finally confesses that they were given to her by Rowan, who wanted to use them as a grenade against Mellie’s campaign. She tells Fitz that nobody knows about what’s in the file and it needs to stay that way, but Fitz is done listening. He is visibly upset as he proceeds out of Abby’s office with the files in hand, and proclaims that “this is a lie.”
Oh boy. I’m going to hazard a guess that he is disbelieving the bit about the abortion that he found detailed within those pages.
Clueless as to what has just transpired over at the White House, Olivia is in her apartment working. She has documents spread out all over her coffee table and is making notations when there is a knock at her door. For a moment, I was concerned that it was Fitzgerald coming to demand answers, but it turned out to be Cyrus. Crisis averted.
Cyrus barely asks if he can come in before he charges forward despite Olivia’s belated denial. He goes straight to the point and tells her that Rowan has hijacked his campaign. When Olivia guesses that he’s been asked to place Jake on the Vargas ticket, Cyrus says that he was close to asking David to do it, but now he must give the position to the man who killed his husband.
Olivia tells him that he’s a big boy and that all he has to do is say no, but Cyrus says that he can’t. This leads Olivia to ask him what it is that Rowan has on him, but Cyrus refuses to say. Olivia then tells him that she can’t help him and invites him to leave when he insists on not sharing what it is that Rowan has on him. She orders him out of her apartment and tells him that she has work to do.
Olivia heads for the door with his jacket and bids him goodbye when he blurts out what it is that Rowan is holding over him. Olivia is appalled as she heads back towards the living room and takes a seat. As Cyrus acknowledges that what he did wasn’t good but that it worked, Olivia reminds him that innocent people died that day. Cyrus reframes it as people being martyred for political Jesus.
Political Jesus, Cyrus?
Olivia tells him that he doesn’t get to joke about murder and then ask for her help. It is at this point that Cyrus launches into all the reasons why Vargas is amazing and worthy of the sacrifice. He states that all he did was clear the way for Vargas and lead him to the track, and that now that he is close to the finish line, Rowan doesn’t get to come in and lead Vargas the rest of the way. With this explanation, Olivia refuses to offer him her help, telling him that this is his mess and therefore his to fix. (If only she could apply this same thought to somebody else…)
Cyrus does not let up as he tells her that Vargas being under Rowan’s control not only means that he gets pushed out from the campaign, but that Olivia will lose. He goes on to say that the contest should be a battle between student (Olivia) and master (himself) and it ought to be a fair fight.
This is truly amazing. Because Cyrus can’t go after Rowan without bringing harm to himself, he enlists the child of his enemy to do it for him. Is there anybody who isn’t looking for Olivia to save them from Rowan’s clutches?
The genius in what Cyrus has done here was flip things when he realizes that Olivia has no intention of helping him unless he finds some way to frame his problem her problem. He does this by point out that Olivia will be an automatic loser should Rowan take the reins, and this is the last thing that Olivia wishes to be.
The next morning, Olivia is in her office where she is staring outside of the window deep in thought. Mellie charges in with Marcus following close behind and she asks Olivia if she has seen Fitz’s convention speech. Mellie describes it as an “8,000 word love letter to himself” where he doesn’t even bother to mention her. She goes on to say that they need to do something about this and asks Olivia what it is that they should do, but Olivia tells her that she doesn’t know.
This was definitely not the answer that Mellie was looking for. She is momentarily stunned but she is quick to recover as she snatches the copy of the speech from Olivia’s hands and says that she is going to go speak with Fitz herself. Olivia’s mind wasn’t even on Mellie’s predicament as she returns to staring out of the window as soon as Mellie departs with Marcus.
Mellie and Marcus are next seen at the venue of the Convention, and Marcus is advising Mellie not to poke at Fitz. Mellie responds that she was married to Fitz for 25 years, so she knows how to handle him, but Marcus points out that the marriage didn’t work, so his advice stands. She agrees not to poke Fitz, but the moment she is close enough for Fitz to hear her from where he stood on the stage, she bellows to him that his speech is an abomination.
Fitz looks at her a moment before remarking that she hasn’t yet heard it. Mellie says that she has read it, which leads Fitz to tell her that she ought to give weight to the performance of it. (LOL! What is wrong with this man?) At this point, Marcus makes himself ghost.
Marching up to the stage, Mellie is confused by Fitz’s belief that him speaking about himself during her convention would be of benefit to her. Fitz explains that the best thing he can do for her is to talk about himself because if he talks about her, the honesty of his words will be questioned. He points out that they had a messy, public relationship that ended in divorce, and to top it off, he had an affair with Mellie’s campaign manager and supported her opponent.
Yep. A lot of mess.
Fitz asks her what it is that she thinks that he can say that won’t be endlessly scrutinized and criticized and leave her lost in the mix. From his way of thinking, reminding the people of all the good that he has accomplished under his Administration and how he has successfully led the party would spruce up the Grant name and in the end help her. He tells her that she’s treating him like an unpopular first term mayor when he’s really the popular two-term Republican president who has massive political capital and who currently has a 59% approval rating. Fitz further says that he knows that Mellie won’t believe him, but people still like him, and that if it weren’t for the Constitution, he’d be the one accepting the nomination right now.
Okay, Fitzgerald. That’s enough out of you. LOL!
I knew the moment that he added that last bit that Mellie was going to sharpen her claws and go in. Oblivious bastard.
His reasoning on why he was choosing to speak about his accomplishments as a way to give the Grant name some luster is sensible. Much of what he said was sensible. In theory. Fitz has every right to be proud of what he has accomplished in office, but this moment isn’t about him. He doesn’t have to polish up “Grant” so that Mellie could fly. Regardless of what he does really, the press is going to say what they will, so why not keep the focus on the candidate instead of coming off like an asshole narcissist? I don’t believe that he meant it in that way, but that is how his actions would be read.
Of course, Mellie lets him have it as she tells him how he fails to see how presumptuous he is. She goes on about how this is all about Fitz using this opportunity to prove that he has beaten her (what?) and that no matter the scenario, he finds some way to make things about himself.
Mellie is accusing Fitzgerald of making things about himself. Ms. Me Me Me of all people.
She continues by saying that Fitz is rattling off all of his stats and chiseling himself upon Mount Rushmore as if he didn’t accomplish what he did without standing on her back, on Olivia’s, Cyrus’s, Big Jerry’s.
Pause. Sooo are we going to pretend as if Mellie, Cyrus and Olivia aren’t beneficiaries of the things that they did to get and keep Fitz in office? That they didn’t repeatedly toss themselves onto the floor so that he may step upon them? Does Mellie mean to tell me that she hasn’t required that Fitz bend over so that she may stand on his back so that she may get to where she is now? How did Mellie become Senator? Should I point out that she’s also relying on Olivia to propel her forward? What kind of hot hell hypocrisy is this?
Anyway, Mellie rails on about how she didn’t have a $100 million trust fund that Fitz did or go to the best boarding schools and she isn’t a white man. She says that she got to where she is on her own, stating that she is where she is at now because she managed to escape him.
Sigh. Should I even bother pointing out that it was he who divorced her or the fact that she fought to remain married to him because she thought staying married would bolster her ambitions? Or should I take her statement to mean that she has been mentally emancipated from him and is thus finally making due without him?
Mellie then tosses Olivia into the mix by pointing to her as someone else who had to escape Fitz. The music changes at this and there is a subtle shift in Fitz’s expression. Mellie has struck true with that and she digs in even deeper by reminding Fitz that for most of his presidency, he had been looking for a way out. She asks him if all the people that he says love him know how many times he tried to walk away from the job. She follows this up by questioning how entitled a must person be to consider the White House a prison.
If only the universe would align in way that would place Mellie in Fitz’s shoes so that she would know exactly what it is like to be president without her actually being president. Mellie may mock him now, but even Sally Langston during her brief stint at the helm had to admit that the job was difficult.
Mellie goes on to say that unlike him, she wants the presidency and that she has earned it.
Somebody come and take this woman away. How did she earn this? Did she earn it because she gave up her law career to support him as he ran for governor of California? Was it her remaining in an unhappy marriage for most of their 25 years together? Did she earn it by getting Fitz to consider Susan as his VP so that she can take slide in to replace Susan as Senator of Virginia? Or was it when she asked him not to prosecute Andrew so as to not risk having her affair with Andrew exposed? Or maybe she earned it when she participated in the rigging of the election that placed Fitz in office.
It was probably that filibuster that did it. I can’t be sure. I need receipts because Mellie is going to have to do more than tell me that she “earned” her spot. Her railing at Fitz for his privilege while failing to acknowledge her own has got to be the height of disconnection.
Everyone else on my timeline was like “Yaaasss!! Read him, Mellie!!!” and I was sitting there like, read him how? Much of what she said (as usual) was revisionist history. Forgive me for not going rah rah over her lamentations with her acting as if Fitz was the Rowan in her life. Maybe one of you dear readers who don’t quite dislike Mellie’s diatribes can explain to me in the comments her point of view.
The only things that I agreed with her on is the fact that the stage is indeed hers and that Fitz doesn’t get to use the time allotted to him to talk about his accomplishments.
The other thing she said that was true was that Fitz didn’t want the presidency once he got it and tried a number of times to give it up. What she doesn’t say, however, is that his every attempt to give it up had to do with him wanting to be with Olivia. It wasn’t because he didn’t want the job. He just didn’t want the job more than he wanted Olivia. If he couldn’t have the presidency with her, then he was going to have her without the presidency. (Foolish romantic.)
I’m all about context, people.
Advocating for the Weak
When we next see Olivia, she is ambushing Jake in a parking garage. She was there to let Jake know that she got his message and that she intended to help. When Jake asks her of her plan to break him free, Olivia doesn’t immediately give him one. Instead, she tries to explain the set down she delivered to him at the church, but Jake doesn’t wish to go back to that. He just wants to know what her plan is. Olivia makes another attempt to explain and she is again cut
off as Jake says to her that the only thing that he is interested in his her plan and nothing else. Olivia, however, is determined to speak her peace and she is finally able to tell him that she did what she did because it was the only way that she could keep Rowan from killing him.
Well, we figured that much, Livvie, but your words were still true though.
After receiving her explanation, Jake watches for a moment before again asking for a plan. (He sure did have to ask fiddy eleven times…) While staring at him like a deer caught in some lights, Olivia concedes that she has no plan of yet. Jake sighs and then turns to walk away, but Olivia stops him and promises to save him somehow. She tells him that if they are going to go up against her father, they have to do it united, which means that he’ll have to believe that whatever she says and does will be in his best interest.
Olivia asks him if he believes her when he does not give her an immediate reply and then he finally tells her that she does.
Sigh. I’m going to need for these men to figure out how to save their damn selves from Rowan.
Later at OPA, we see Huck telling Olivia that she will have to go through the front door and take Jake if she is serious about saving him. There can’t be any sneaking about to steal him. She has to be like a gangster and get him out clean and in the daytime.
Olivia tells Huck that what he is proposing is insane and then she follows this up by asking him where it is that he supposes she put Jake should she be successful in extracting him. (I’ve got an idea…) She point out to him that it was he who taught her that there is nowhere in the world to hide from Rowan. Addressing the room, she says that she promised to save Jake and they don’t even have a plan.
Girl, why would you make such promises when you don’t even know what the hell you’re going to do to fulfill it? How did that make sense to you? Now you’re here freaking out?
That evening, Olivia is in her office staring into middle space as she once again ponders the Jake situation. Quinn walks in then to tell her their plan to eliminate the threat to Wagner has been successful. Doug Morton is now Anthony Musser and all is well in the world.
Olivia is hardly paying attention to Quinn as she remarks that Quinn’s accomplishment is great and that they can now announce Wagner as Mellie’s VP. Quinn is like, yup. Wagner is now entirely 100% safe.
Quinn’s latter statement turns a light bulb on in Olivia’s head, and I knew exactly what came to her mind before it transpired thanks to that foreshadow at the beginning about the Ms. I desperately wanted to crush the bulb and sprinkle its shards into Jake’s corn flakes.
The very next morning, it is being reported that Wagner sold cocaine and covered his tracks by giving his associate a new identity.
Now was it necessary for Olivia to torpedo Wagner in this manner? She could have just given him a call and told him that Mellie had made a different decision. Why ruin the life of a man who is 35 years removed from what he did in college?
Olivia stands in front of her bank of televisions while Mellie is freaking out. They are so close to the Convention and she doesn’t have a running mate! Olivia is unbothered as she turns to Mellie to assure her that she has someone else in mind, a man who is everything that they have ever wanted in a running mate.
Man, this mess is predicable. And it’s also insensible. How many ways can this one character be shoehorned into the narrative in order to keep him around? Why can we just execute him? I don’t understand.
Now I’m advocating for Olivia to lose at all costs. Bump this. It’s one thing for me to have to sit through a potential Mellie Grant presidency and quite another to have to sit through one where it is both she AND Jake at the helm.
Later, Olivia is seen at the White House and Abby is quick on her tail. She has a worried expression on her face as she asks Olivia what it is that she has come to speak to the President about. Olivia explains that she wants to inform him of Mellie’s VP pick because she would like him to be on board with it before they make the announcement.
Abby tries to waylay Olivia by telling her that right then may not be the best time and that she doesn't believe that Fitz is in his office. When they make it to the Oval, they encounter Charlotte who Abby tries to get to say that Fitz was still in his meeting, but Charlotte instead answers honestly and tells them that Fitz is in his office. LOL!
Charlotte, you had one job.
When Olivia says that she would like to see him, Charlotte alerts Fitz to Olivia’s presence. Abby rushes ahead to say to the President that she was just telling Olivia about his busy schedule and how now many not be the best time for him to speak with her, but Fitz is like it’s cool. Hahahaha!!
Abby, you could have just given your friend a head’s up about Fitz finding her medical records. You know, those records that you failed to immediately destroy after you decided not to use them. Instead, you’re trying to derail a speeding train with a plastic spork.
When Fitz says that he is fine to meet, Olivia proceeds into the office. Once they are alone, Fitz asks Olivia what it is that he can do for her and she tells him that she came to let him know who Mellie’s choice for VP is. Fitz is perplexed by why she felt the need to inform him of that, but then she drops that the choice is Jake Ballard. He is surprised by this choice and Olivia goes on to list Jake’s positives, which includes his strengths on national security and foreign policy.
Foreign policy though? I’ma leave that alone.
Fitz watches Olivia for a moment before he invites her to have a seat as he moves to take one on the sofa opposite her, but Olivia says that she only came to tell him about Jake. Fitz then remarks that she came to inform him of her ex-boyfriend being on his ex-wife’s ticket and she won’t take a moment to sit with him. His statement was framed as a question that was meant to disarm.
With him staring up at her with a smile on his face, Olivia reluctantly agrees to sit for a moment and she carefully perches herself on the opposite sofa. Quick to fill in the silence, Olivia says to him that she knows that Jake on Mellie’s ticket was unexpected and then points out that Fitz respects Jake, but before she can ramble on any further, Fitz interrupts her to say that he thinks she made a good choice, and then he quips about his ability to choose vice presidents.
It takes Olivia a second, but she does snicker. She can’t bring herself to look at him. She managed fine when she was telling him about why she came and why Jake was chosen, but now everything else in the room seemed more appealing.
Fitz stares at her with a wistful expression on his face before he admits to her that he misses her. Olivia immediately tenses up at this as she says utters his name in warning, but Fitz is quick to disabuse her of what she believes he means by telling her that he misses talking and listening to her, of being with her in the way that they are right now.
He then asks her if she believes that he listens to her enough. She asks him of when it is that he is referring and he says that he means when they were still speaking. Olivia doesn’t answer but instead wants to know what has lead to this inquiry. Fitz tells her that Mellie told him that the way that he has handled the speech has been “controlling, manipulative and narcissistic.” Olivia then says that she doesn’t want to get in between him and Mellie, which elicits a look from him that leads her to add that he knows her meaning. (She has no intention of serving as referee between those two.)
Olivia’s eyes still refuse to remain on him. They may set on him briefly, but they soon shift away. Her behavior here isn’t at all in keeping with her interactions with him since their break up. It’s funny to observe really. It’s as if she is afraid to allow herself to consider him for fear that she is going to crumble or get sucked into the vortex.
Fitz goes on to apologize to her should it be that he had done all that Mellie accused him of doing to her to Olivia. This finally gets Olivia to look at him and her expression is one of surprised confusion. Fitz also apologizes for not having listened to her more.
Why do y’all do this?!
A long silence follows this as the two stare at one another. Fitz seems to be trying to connect with Olivia in some way, but she eventually breaks the eye contact. Sitting back in his seat, Fitz tells her that he will be changing the speech. Olivia says that that’s good, but then she asks him why. His answer is simple: because Mellie asked him to. Olivia doesn’t quite know what to make of this and so she gives him a smile before getting up to leave.
As she heads for the door, Fitz tells her that he supports her choice, adding that he says this even as he knows that she didn’t need it. Olivia is oblivious to the choice to which he refers and and Fitz doesn’t elaborate.
This scene reminded me of a moment during his blow up with Olivia in 509 when he recalled what Mellie had said to him about how her life would have meant something if it hadn’t been for him. Fitz had taken her words then to apply them to what Olivia was saying to him about feeling suffocated, and here he was again, placing Mellie’s words within the context of his relationship with Olivia. And then he apologizes.
I don’t know what kind of impact his moment will have downstream, but it certainly served to further show Fitz’s evolution as a person. Olivia had feared that he would be crushed when he found out about the abortion, and he had been (if his reaction to finding those files is any indication), but Mellie’s words to him about the speech seems to have given him some perspective on it and informed his response to it. Unfortunately, Olivia is unaware of any of this, and his words to her were more for the audience. It’ll be interesting to see if she’ll ever be enlightened.
Back at OPA, Olivia is walking past Huck’s office when he asks how things went with the President. She replies that things went fine but she appears to conflicted as Huck asks if the plan is moving forward. She says that it is, but Huck sees that she has doubts. Olivia shares her concern of Jake possibly not following through and Rowan being several steps ahead of her. Huck recalls her to Rowan’s favorite saying about how no one can take Command, so in order for her to handle Rowan, she has to become him.
Um, what in tarnation are you proposing, Huck?
What I interpreted him to mean was that Olivia is going to have to out command Command in order to pull this off. That’s a hell of an order, one that would require her to face her fear head on and do what she believes is necessary.
Later that evening, Cyrus is sitting in his bedroom and staring blankly out at nothing in particular when Tom emerges from the bathroom with a toothbrush in hand while saying to Cyrus that Michael is an easy target that he can take out and have Ella back home within an hour. This offer seems to mildly interest Cyrus as he asks if Michael would suffer. Tom tells him that it all depends on what he wants him to do to Michael. Cyrus then asks about Ella and Tom points out that Cyrus can hire a nanny to care for her, but Cyrus isn’t too keen on that. He says that what he needs is another Michael.
Tom then turns to Cyrus and asks about himself being the replacement, and shares that he once found a baby on a train that he cared for from one destination to the next.
Um, Tom? That doesn’t make you qualified to serve as Ella’s caregiver, mayne. Plus, weren’t you just talking about murdering Michael?
Cyrus says to him that his offer is a sweet one, but that he has read “Of Mice and Men” and knows how that story ends. LOL!
Upset that Cyrus would make light of his offer, Tom makes to leave, but Cyrus stays him with a grab of his arm. He then coaxes a dejected Tom to sit next to him on the bed. Cyrus tells Tom that their relationship is the most honest one that he ever has had. Their ability to talk murder without blinking is worth far more to him than a man who can pack a lunch box for his kid.
Tom is touched by Cyrus’s words, but he still wants to kill Michael. He says that he can make it look like an accident. Instead of answering, Cyrus pulls him towards him for an embrace.
Lawd, Tom is one avocado short of the guacamole. What in the world has Cyrus gotten himself into with this man?
Out Commanding Command
The next day, Jake is watching The Liberty Report when Rowan comes in and slaps him on the shoulder as he tells him that his coronation is soon to come with him being on the Vargas ticket. Just then, Olivia walks into the house and announces that she and Rowan need to talk. Rowan assumes that she is there because Cyrus couldn’t resist telling her the news about Jake, but Olivia tells him that she doesn’t know what he is talking about, that she is actually there for Jake.
Rowan remarks that he doesn’t know exactly what she means by that, but that her stance and tone alarms him and he asks if he should be alarmed. Olivia tells him that within twenty minutes, every news source will be reporting that Jake is going to be Mellie’s running mate because that is what she told them and it is what is going to happen. Rowan laughs at this while Jake sits stunned by this pronouncement.
Okay, so, Olivia….
...you made all of these moves to line Jake up as Mellie’s VP without sharing this plan with him? Sure, limiting communication would probably keep Rowan from figuring out what it was that you were planning (yeah, right), but this all seems a bit reckless. Do you even know if Jake wants to be VP? What if the fears you expressed to Huck transpired? Then what? You’d be stuck having to retract the announcement and then have to find a last minute replacement. To top it off, you burned your first choice! I am bewildered, Liv. Truly.
Olivia orders Jake to stand up, but he remains unmoving as Rowan calls this plan of hers stupid and asks her what her angle is. Olivia says that there is no angle and that Jake is coming with her. Rowan then asks if he needs to remind her of the threats that he made on the day of her “brother’s” wedding, but Olivia ignores him and once again instructs Jake to get up so that they may leave.
Why must Rowan insist on referring to them as brother and sister? How do we make all of this stop?
Looking down at a still sitting Jake, Olivia tries to encourage him to take that step forward. She tells him that it’s all very simple. All he must do is stand up and they can walk out together. The moment is tense as Jake turns away from Olivia to look back at Rowan. Jake then decides to stand and Rowan whips out a gun and holds it to Jake’s head. He tells Olivia to instruct Jake to sit his ass back down, but Olivia refuses. Rowan then says to her that it may look to her like he is the one holding the gun, but it’s all just an illusion. He tells her that it is really she who has the gun in her hand and that Jake’s life is in her hands.
A big part of me was BEGGING Rowan to pull the trigger and be done with it, but there was another part of me that wanted Olivia to walk away from this with Jake. Despite her foolhardy plan, Olivia coming into that house to do what she came to do took a lot of courage. It required her to stare down the devil and not back down. This carried with it the risk that Rowan would indeed follow through with his threat to kill Jake, but that threat alone no longer kept her from trying.
When Rowan brought out that gun, I held my breath as Pope vs Pope engaged in a stare down. Jake, meanwhile, stood there unmoving with a gun to his head. I’d have expected that since Jake is several inches taller and years younger than Rowan that he would attempt to disarm the man, but I recalled the thrashing Rowan gave Jake in those 518 flashbacks and just said nevermind. A disarming was not forthcoming.
Olivia looks from Rowan to Jake and back to Rowan again before she tells Rowan to go ahead and kill Jake. Now Jake is alarmed by this game of Russian roulette, but Olivia tells him that it’s fine and then she continues to encourage Rowan to go ahead and shoot his “son.” She tells him to do it, but Rowan instead asks Jake if this is how he imagined his death, it being at the hands of the woman that he has done nothing for but love and protect.
It is at this moment that Olivia chooses to speak directly to Jake. She pleads with him to come with her. When he won’t budge, she places her hand is his to give him encouragement. It may have been a way for her to encouage herself as well because this is some high stress situation.
Rowan notices her move, but she ignores him as she stares directly into Jake’s eyes and tells him that Rowan won’t hurt him because he is his “son.” She starts to pull him away from the gun and as he comes with her, Rowan frustratingly tells them to go before he changes his mind.
Lawd have mercy. Was I the only one who wasn’t convinced by Rowan during the final moments of the standoff?
When Olivia and Jake are on the other side of the red door, they stare at each other in disbelief before proceeding away from the door. Neither thought that that would have been possible. Olivia bluffed and it paid off.
Flashing over to the Vargas campaign, Cyrus and others have their eyes glued to the BNC as it is reported that Jake has been chosen as Mellie’s running mate. Cyrus smiles at this because that means that he is now in the clear of Rowan. Vargas comes up to Cyrus then to lament their loss and say that they now don’t have a VP, but Cyrus assures him that he has a guy in mind.
We next see David on the phone while Elizabeth has popped champagne. Once the call is over, Elizabeth asks if that was him receiving the call to join the Vargas ticket, but David says it was. It was the campaign calling to tell him that they decided to go with someone else. Elizabeth is annoyed by this and asks who it is that Vargas chose instead, but David hasn’t any clue.
Off to the Conventions!
Fitz is on stage and he’s hyping up the crowd. Mellie is back stage watching his performance on a screen. Marcus comes up to her and tells her that she better enjoy this moment and she happily says to him that she is.
Elsewhere on the Democratic side of things, Cyrus is seen walking down a hallway when Tom dashes out from a room (or another hallway) to say that he got Cyrus’s message. He goes on to remark that their present location isn’t the most convenient place to handle Michael, but that he can make it work. (Damn, Tom. Is murder all you think about?) Cyrus informs Tom that he and Michael are getting back together, so that means that he and Tom are no more.
Cyrus makes to walk away, but Tom holds him back as he wants to know what is going on. Tom begs to be given a chance to make whatever he did wrong right again, but Cyrus maintains that they are done. With tears in his eyes, Tom watches as Cyrus proceeds towards Michael and Ella who are waiting for him.
This is not going to end well.
Flashing back over to the Republican Convention, Olivia walks into the room where Jake is holed up and is surprised to find that he isn’t ready. She tells him that he has to hit the stage in five minutes. Jake uses the moment to instead thank her for standing up to Command. He tells her that she is the first person that he knows of who has been able to do that.
Olivia gives him a smile and says she either had to go big or go home. She then returns them to the matter at hand and tells him that he ought to start getting ready because Fitz is about to announce him. As Olivia goes over to retrieve his tie, Jake simply sits back in his seat and the expression on Olivia’s face changes.
Questioning his relaxed position, Jake tells her that he isn’t coming and that he’s taking himself off the ticket.
Olivia doesn’t at first believe that he is serious. Or maybe it was more like she refused to believe that he was serious. Jake asks her what is the point of all of it. He tells her that he’s been sitting there practicing his speech and wondering why he’s running for Vice President when he would “rather flip patties at Gettysburger.” LMAO!
Olivia points out that he would be the second most powerful person on the planet and Jake counters by saying that he would be that and also be completely miserable. He said that if he still feared Rowan, he would go through with it.
When Olivia reminds him that his name has already been put out there as Mellie’s running mate, Jake pulls up a picture of a house that is for sale that he drives by every day on his way to work. He describes it as the most unremarkable house he has every seen and that he desperately wants to live in it with Olivia.
Whew, chile. Did y’all see Olivia’s face in that moment? I truly feared for Jake’s life. Forget the gun that Rowan held to his head. That’s no match for the threatened hell that Olivia was set to unleash on his behind with his talk of sharing that unremarkable house with Olivia.
As he speaks, Olivia asks him if he has lost his mind. He goes on to detail the life of normal that he imagines, which also includes the two of them raising three unimpressive kids together. His image of normal isn’t much different from the one Olivia and Fitz dreamed of having one day.
Jake was longing for a simple life and I can’t even blame him. The high stakes political theater that Olivia is trying to cast upon him was for the birds. He wanted no part of it.
Unfortunately for him, Olivia didn’t want any part of his fantasy life. It makes me wonder if she has discarded all hope of ever having such a life after she set fire to what she had with Fitz. All that seems to motivate her right now is this need to win and nothing else. This drive for empty power.
She tells Jake that she is running a presidential race and she is flabbergasted when Jake asks her why. He tells her that if she is doing it to prove something to her father, that she has already done that with her successfully standing up to him. Jake then dares her to be normal, but she tells him to put on his tie. Jake points out that the world is theirs now that they are free and that they can do whatever they want.
Interestingly, Jake is presently in the place that Fitz is looking forward to at the end of his term. Jake is free and excited about what lies ahead in the next phase of his life. Olivia, however, has other plans. She’d rather remain on the rollercoaster that is her life than even think about whatever “normal” is supposed to be. The freedom that Jake can’t wait to explore isn’t at all something that is registering with Olivia at that moment.
Once again, she brings his tie to him and instructs him to put it on, but Jake continues to speak and tells her that real power is the ability to do as one pleases and not this business with the White House that masquerades as power. Olivia loses her patience with him then and tells him that she didn’t work twice as hard to get half as much and go through all that she did to live an unimpressive life.
Yikes! Now she’s sounding like Rowan. Do continue, Command Jr.
She tells Jake that mediocrity is not an option for her and that it isn’t something that either of them should want.
Oh, Olivia. Your father has seriously messed you up. You are now equating a life that most consider to be normal, one that you once dreamed of having yourself, as one that is less than? I assume then that in your present state, you consider happiness and love to be a weakness, too. That would explain a hell of a lot of your perplexing behavior in this back half of the season. It would also explain why you kept yourself from looking at the person who had been the embodiment of these things for you. It’s a damn shame what you have become. You’re not even a person anymore.
It is at this moment that the truth finally dawns on Jake. What Olivia did wasn’t about saving him at all. He concludes that it had more to do with Olivia saving her presidential ticket, and that’s the damn truth. Cyrus tapped into her desire to win when he warned of how leaving Rowan to his devices could thwart Olivia’s own goals. I don’t doubt that she had kicked into savior mode as she always does when it comes to Jake, but this save was more about her and less about him.
Damn. I actually feel bad for Jake. Don’t laugh. I’m being serious. Here he thought that he was about to have the life of his dreams with the woman he loves and it turns out that she hadn’t done all that she did for the reasons that he believed.
Jake stay taking them Ls, mayne. And it’s never not funny…even when I’m sympathetic or wishing death upon him. How many times must one allow himself to be shivved before they become tired of being placed on the transplant list?
When Jake says to her that he’s moved from being Rowan’s bitch to being hers, Olivia angrily throws his tie at him and instructs him once more to put it on. This time, Jake complies with her request.
This whole thing is rather sad.
Olivia and Jake eventually join up with Mellie just in time to have Fitz introduce Mellie and Jake to the crowd. As they make it up on stage, Abby comes over to Olivia and the crew and asks if they have heard about Vargas’s running mate. Olivia asks who it is, but she is hesitant to say.
We next see Cyrus walking down the hallway with Vargas when his phone rings. Vargas continues on as Cyrus answers the call. It’s Olivia and right out the gate, she states that Cyrus never had any real intention of placing David on the ticket.
Waaaaaaait! This was all a set up?! If Cyrus was never serious about placing David on the Vargas ticket, then he essentially used Olivia to clear the path for himself to become the VP candidate. What. The. Whoa.
Cyrus tells her that the outcome of her “saving” Jake ended up being mutually beneficial to them both with them ending up with the vice presidential candidates that they wanted. (Well, I’m not sure if Olivia would agree with you on this point..) Olivia says that she can still take him down with Harrisburg, but Cyrus counters that he can do the same of her with Andrew Nichols.
The hell….how did Cyrus know about Andrew?! No one could have told him that Olivia killed the man unless he got that information from Rowan.
Olivia had just been bested by the master. Lord have mercy. I’d put the Jordan cry face on her, but I’ll spare her the added humiliation. First she was about to lose her VP candidate to normalcy and now she must face off against Cyrus Beene. What an incredible mess.
Cyrus’s move was crazy brilliant. As a lifelong Republican who also happens to be openly gay with a black daughter, his presence on the Vargas ticket brings balance to Vargas who is far left of himself. This move could also potentially draw votes from those who are fiscally conservative, yet socially liberal. In other words, the Vargas-Beene ticket would be drawing from a good bit of Mellie’s targeted voters. Forget about Jake being friends with the President. Cyrus actually served under said President and has a long list of accomplishments that make both Mellie and Jake looking like amateurs.
This was the twist that I did not see coming at all. Even after rewatching, I caught no clues.
In presenting themselves to the world, the families of the two men are present for the photo op, which succeeds at painting them as the ticket of the future. On the Republican side, only Mellie and Jake are on the stage. Where are Karen and Teddy? What of the newly minted Mrs. Ballard? The poor thing was probably somewhere mourning her father. SMH.
Next we see Rowan watching the Republican Convention while enjoying a glass of wine. We then see Olivia at the Convention venue as she is walking back towards where her team is congregated. As the scene flips between her and Rown, there are flashbacks and voiceovers of times where Rowan (mostly) is telling Olivia of that he cleared the path for her to walk; how no matter how much she tries to deny it, she is just like him; how she needs to get 1600 Pennsylvania power; Jake saying to her that she is Rowan’s greatest achievement.
The whole thing is ominous for sure and doesn’t at all give me hope for an Olivia climb out of the darkness in which she has dwelled since walking away from Fitz. She has gone from denying that she is like he father to morphing into him to some extent. Olivia’s descent into this ugliness has left me in an nonclinical state of depression.
Why are you doing this to us, Shonda?
Once Olivia makes it back to her team, she tells them that she has spoken with Cyrus and relays to them what he said about how it was only one of them that was getting back into the White House. Olivia says that he’s right on that count and that person will be her.
Mellie and Jake are waving out at the crowd when red, white and blue balloons drop from above. I was expecting some explosion to suddenly go off or Jake to be shot while those balloons distracted the crowd from what was going on. Or, hell, Maya Pope popping up like a Jack in the Box to say what’s up. None of that happened though.
As Rowan watches the unfolding events, he is proud as he says, “That’s my girl.” Indeed. Without realizing it, Olivia did exactly what it was that Rowan wanted her to do. Now both of his children will live the life that he deems fit for them.
And just like that, the episode ends and I am left to figure out if I should purchase another TV because I shot the one that I had.
All kidding aside, I’m a tiny bit peeved that we are seemingly set to go into the 6th season with Olivia playing at being Little Rowan. I honestly do know how much more of this unrelenting darkness that I can take. It’s too much.
It took me a while (and some conversation with others) to realize that the back half of this season stood in sharp contrast to the first because it had lost its emotional center. For better or worse, Olivia and Fitz’s presence in each other’s lives balances the show in a way that no other pairing does, and I’m not even referring to their romance. Their connection serves as the show’s conscience, its soul, its heart. Without it, we are left to watch nothing but misery.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m over Olivia being miserable and doing things her father’s way in some vain attempt to reach nirvana, as some way to regain the power that she believes was taken from her when she was kidnapped. Can we please flip the script in S6? This girl has been chasing her own tail since S3.
The one thing that did give me some hope is the fact that Olivia faced Rowan down and was victorious. That is, from her point of view anyway. Who knows what Rowan will be up to next season, but she braved it and came out on the other side despite how scared she was. Could this be her first step in her cutting the tie that he has on her psychologically?
The one thing that did give me some hope is the fact that Olivia faced Rowan down and was victorious. That is, from her point of view anyway. Who knows what Rowan will be up to next season, but she braved it and came out on the other side despite how scared she was. Could this be her first step in her cutting the tie that he has on her psychologically?
Anyway, that’s it for me folks. I thank you all so much for joining me this season. It has been an honor and a pleasure. The recap/review for episode 521 is in the bag!!
As usual, share your comments below or tweet me your thoughts about what you liked, didn’t like and what you hope to see next season.
Thank you all again and enjoy the hiatus!!
