‘Scandal’ Recap: You Can’t Take Command
You can’t take command!
Rowan did not tell one lie. You surely cannot take command as our gladiators found out in Scandal’s season finale. While you can’t take down Rowan, head of B613, Elijah Pope on the other hand is a different matter.
WHAT I NEED
Mellie meets her donor, Rowan, aka Damascus Bainbridge who claims to be a friend of the campaign. Rowan even had a good ole’ Southern accent to match! Anyway they chit chatted and Rowan says that he would be happy to keep supporting the campaign but he has some concerns and wants to make sure they are taken care of. He hands her a file that contains pictures of her with Andrew and Fitz with Olivia ALONG WITH a file with information about Operation Remington. “You do not ask me who I am, Mrs. Grant. You ask me what I need.” This is what Rowan tells to a visibly stunned Mellie. Rowan needs a list of names and Mellie eventually enlists Liz to get those names to hand to Rowan.
The B613 trial has started and we see that Jake is on the stand. The nail in the coffin, according to David, is Jake spilling details about Remington. Jake is understandably a little concerned because that directly puts Fitz in the line of fire and he knows that isn’t necessarily what Olivia would want. However, Liv tells Jake that the goal is to take her father down by any means necessary. We don’t actually hear what Jake says in the courtroom as Liv isn’t in there but we can all assume that he tells the truth. Liv knows that this will break Fitz and calls him to warn him I guess or at the very least speak to him one last time. I got the sense that Liv knew once Fitz found out what was about to happen they would probably not speak again. I’m not going to lie to you, I was in my feelings during that phone call scene. It gave off a goodbye vibe and I panicked. Fitz was on his way to stand in the spot where Brandon Parker was shot as the Brandon Bill was happening. Olivia told Fitz she was proud of him, he told her he couldn’t do it without her.
As soon as she got off the phone, Huck came running to her. Something had happened, he said. We get to the parking garage where we see David stumbling out of the bus and vomiting. All 16 grand jurors were murdered! That is the list that Papa Pope wanted from Mellie. Every single juror was killed in a gruesome way and all court papers were destroyed. Every person who was in that courtroom was killed and there was no record of B613’s existence.
B613 IS NO MORE
After Papa Pope had those people killed, Olivia tried a different route. She and Jake went to the CIA and “exposed” the B613 secrets. The director ordered Rowan’s arrest. However, Cyrus was already onto Liv’s plans by now and paid a visit to the CIA director as well.He basically bullied her, called her honey because he couldn’t remember her first name, and arranged for Jake and Olivia to be arrested.
Let’s pause for a second as I have a question: who gave Olivia that pin to put up her hair while she was in custody?!
Let’s resume. Cyrus also blackmailed David, by threatening to kill Abby, into getting Jake and Olivia to recant their testimony. They had to sign an affidavit that agreed to never discuss B613 again. However, the true winner of this was Mama Pope. In exchange for her silence, Cyrus let her go. Yup! Cyrus gave her a get-out-of -jail free card which let’s all agree was a very, very bad idea.
Of course, Papa Pope had to call Liv and gloat about this. He let her know how he systematically destroyed every and any evidence of B613 and him ever being the head of it. He is no longer Command, there is nothing and no one to take down. He is simply Eli Pope, “an old, innocent, tottering Smithsonian paleontologist.” Olivia brought this back to Huck and Quinn and let them know they have been defeated. Quinn refused to believe this and pointed out that they still had the $2 billion Huck stole from B613 that can be used as evidence. Huck pointed out that the money could have come from anywhere. This gave Olivia had an idea. She framed her father for embezzlement. The cops arrested him and Olivia and Jake visited him while he was in holding. She admitted that he was right: they couldn’t take command BUT they could take down the man he was pretending to be, Eli Pope.
In the midst of this, Quinn stormed into Huck’s office with a gun. She recognized his handiwork when looking at the bodies in the morgue. He was the one that killed the jurors for Papa Pope. He didn’t want to do it, he insists, but he had to protect his family. For once though, Quinn was buying into that. She said she is done defending him and puts the pistol to his head. He begs her to shoot him.
Olivia and Jake get back to her apartment and she is ready to celebrate with wine and beer for Jake. However, Jake won’t go inside. He says he has completed his mission, from both her father and Fitz, to take care of her but he went too far. “I am in love with you, but you are in love with him,” he told her. “You want what’s yours? Go and take it.”
SENATOR MELLIE GRANT
Amidst the panic she has when she realized what she really gave to Rowan, Mellie still has a race to win. She confided in Cyrus, who after hearing about the Remington file, promised to take care of it but warned her not to tell Fitz. Stupid move number one. After Liz kept reiterating that she was in her corner and wanted to help, in a moment where the guilt was eating away at her – she told Liz. Stupid move number two.
Fitz threw Mellie an election day party the eve before voting and showed real love and respect for his wife in a way we haven’t seen in a long time. However, it was consistent of the relationship we have seen develop over the past year. “The past year has been a complete revelation for me,” he said. “As a team, we’ve never been stronger.” However, he spoke WAY TOO SOON. Mellie won the election and as she gave her victory speech the next day, Liz spilled all of the tea to Fitz. She let it slip about the donor and how Mellie was technically responsible for the jurors deaths. He was obviously troubled and disgusted but when his name was called, he walked out and supported his wife in public.
Mellie and Cyrus celebrated her win the Oval Office in a rare moment of camaraderie. It could be because of the things they had just covered up but that’s neither here nor there. Fitz was obviously not in the congratulatory mood. “You think I’d let you be president after what you did?” he yelled.
Oops!
He let her have it. He told her to pack her bags and get to stepping. She pleaded with him to see her side but he was not here for it. According to Fitz, Mellie didn’t even realized what she did wrong. She claimed that she sacrificed for him, the team and their family but Fitz still kicked her out of The White House. Mellie wasn’t the only one to catch Fitz’s wrath though. Cyrus was fired for his part in this and many other things I assume but this was definitely the final straw regardless of how much the friendship means to Fitz. Its obvious it doesn’t mean that much to Cyrus, or maybe it does but not in the same way.
Fitz’s next chief of staff? Liz. That damn woman. I never trusted her. She’s wanted a better position from the beginning. She has wanted to get rid of Cyrus and out from underneath his thumb for a long time.
Here Comes The Sun
After Jake leaves Liv and Cyrus and Mellie leave The White House, Fitz goes over to Olivia’s apartment. He knocks and waits but no one answers and the place is empty. He returns home and goes to the balcony where lo and behold Liv is waiting for him there with a glass of wine. He is genuinely surprised to see her and almost hesitant as he doesn’t know what this means for sure. Well that didn’t last too long because Liv was there and she chose her man!
Whew!! Bitch, you guessed it!
I AM IN MY GLEE!
If I could have, I would have done backflips and somersaults when I saw Olivia Carolyn Pope on that balcony. Let me tell you about favor! Be patient, be kind and what you need will come to light! Do you know how long I have been waiting on that moment? I have been President of the #Olitz fan club since season one and my dedication has been rewarded. Mind you, I have gotten my fill here and there but this episode? Shonda rewarded me handsomely! Now I know this won’t be easy and if I know anything about Shondaland this good feeling won’t last for several reasons. The main one being that Fitz can’t tell anyone that Olivia’s ass is even in The White House for anything other than business. And let us not forget that he has a wife who he just kicked out but we will deal with all of that fallout next season.
As of today, in this very moment, OLITZ IS BACK!!!! They are actually seeing the sun for the first time in a long time. Did you get that reference too? “Here Comes The Sun” is playing in the background. Olivia and Fitz are standing in the sun – the same thing she tried to do with Jake when she left Washington at the end of last season. Second place doesn’t get a prize and the person she wanted to stand in the sun with all along has been Fitz. It doesn’t matter how long it lasts and what happens after this for me, this confirms what I have always believed. In the end, its Fitz and Olivia. And you #Olake fans, don’t come for me! I can’t help it if things didn’t work out. In all honesty though, the past season and a half has been about Olivia taking care of herself and putting herself first and I think having Fitz is part of that. She wants that man. Always has, always will.
I have so many questions that I still need answered like what did Quinn do to Huck, where did Jake go, where is Mama Pope and what is Mellie going to do now? Let’s not even mention Cyrus or what Eli (I’ll stop referring to him as Rowan for the time being) is going to do or if we will even see him next season?
My inquiries will have to wait until next season and for once I am okay with that because Fitz and Liv got way more than #oneminute. Ha!
I will be skipping until this fall when Scandal returns!
Natalya is the author of All The Things I Never Said, a soul-stirring collection of short stories, prose and love letters for the soulful wanderers, the brokenhearted and the hopeless romantics.
You can follow her rantings and occasional sparks of brilliance on Twitter @NatalyaMuncuff.
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