TW(s): Body shown post-murder & Act of Violence against a woman
After Liv coming to the realization, once again, that she is not, nor will ever be, Fitz wife, it seems she is trying to take all the pleasure out of her business relationship with him. Naturally this makes Fitz very irritable, and Mellie the one to suffer. But, while Liv has her own drama, so do her gladiators.
Topic 1: The Campaign
To begin, after the sit-down interview with the Fitzgerald clan, and Fitz giving Andrew a black eye after finding out he was sleeping with Mellie, things are awkward as the three sit in a room together the next day. To make things worse, Abby comes in substituting for Liv who wants to devote her attention to taking down B613. However, with the girl who took the blame for Liv and Fitz's affair, Jeannine Locke, having a book deal, Liv is forced to come back into the White House.
With her arrival though, we see her try to be strictly professional with the president, and it almost seems he has no respect for her when she isn't a love interest. I say this because, he wants to get rid of Andrew, she advises against that, and Fitz decides to vet someone anyway. Then Cyrus, who seemingly has mostly recovered from James' death, decides to put her in her place, reminding her that while she maybe Fitz's campaign manager, as Leo and Langston throw dirt on Fitz's name, he isn't going to wear the White Hat, but instead sling mud back. Letting her know, at that moment, no one gives a damn about Olivia's opinion.
And perhaps it is because no one gives a damn about anyone at this point. However, with Langston and Leo bringing Locke from out of the dark, and Cyrus exposing Langston's daughter Cassidy for having an abortion, Liv orchestrates a deal so instead of going after each other, they go after Restin. How you may ask? Well, with a wife in prison, and not the cleanest record himself, Abby and Leo go visit the devoted wife and deliver the type of news which rocks her and Restin's relationship. However, being that Restin is a powerful man, who believes he is soon to be president, he threatens his wife and basically informs her that the stuff he could do to her would make her damn near disappear. Making me think not one man on this show has a happy marriage. What matters most though is the fact Abby had the conversation recorded, and with the campaign focusing on the women's vote, Restin has likely knocked himself out and now it is Langston vs. Fitzgerald all the way.
Topic 2: A Woman is Dying
But, while all this political drama is happening, Mellie remains the long suffering. Once again, Mellie was given some beacon of hope as, I thought, she and Fitz worked on their issues once more. It seems it was all for the camera however. Now, Mellie is back to looking like an idiot trying to scramble some meaning to her relationship besides appearances. Then, to make things worse, Liv goes to Andrew, on Fitz's request, and gives him the ultimatum of pursuing Mellie or becoming Vice President. Mind you, if he picks Mellie she has vowed to destroy him, though says it would remain an admirable choice. And being that just about no man on the show is above putting friends and lovers aside in the pursuit of power, he picks the vice presidency. With this, Mellie has lost one of her last hopes. But, knowing Fitz did this, she decides to smack the hell out of Fitz and says everything but "I want a divorce!"
Topic 3: White Hat Tainted
Being as determined as Olivia is, there has been occasions when people have lost their physical, or metaphorical, lives due to her decision. In this episode, Harrison's friend Claire ends up dying by trying to aid OPA in taking down Maya. But, being that Maya's network is as good as B613, she finds out what Claire is trying to do, and kills her.
And with the topic of B613 comes Jake. As said before, Jake is a man who has nothing, and has consistently sought out Olivia to correct this issue. But, with being rejected time and time again, and this time while he was at his lowest, it seems he may have given up. However, with Jake still being the head of B613, Olivia needs him to gain access to the B613 network. So, as her sacrifice for the cause, she has sex with Jake to leave him vulnerable enough to hack his phone. Said sacrifice, though not the sex part, was pushed by Huck since just coming into six degrees of separation from current or former command, much less B613, seems to almost be a trigger for him. He even mentions his family in terms of why he doesn't like how Rowan is now involved with their taking down of B613. However, Rowan states he'd rather euthanize the program than let Jake ruin it.
Their plan, and execution, though couldn't have worse timing. You see, Maya now has a bomb and just before the ever jealous Charlie and Quinn could get the signal from Jake to move in, Huck shuts down their network. Leaving Jake unable to know what Maya's plans are, and being that he isn't stupid he goes straight to Liv, more so her throat, and seemingly is ready to kill the woman who made him fail at his job. Now all we know is Maya has a very powerful bomb and the president is likely a target. Perhaps the most interesting bit is though, with what Olivia, Huck, Abby, Harrison, and David did, technically they just aided a terrorist, making you wonder if this may come back to bite them all in a big way.
After Liv coming to the realization, once again, that she is not, nor will ever be, Fitz wife, it seems she is trying to take all the pleasure out of her business relationship with him. Naturally this makes Fitz very irritable, and Mellie the one to suffer. But, while Liv has her own drama, so do her gladiators.
Topic 1: The Campaign
To begin, after the sit-down interview with the Fitzgerald clan, and Fitz giving Andrew a black eye after finding out he was sleeping with Mellie, things are awkward as the three sit in a room together the next day. To make things worse, Abby comes in substituting for Liv who wants to devote her attention to taking down B613. However, with the girl who took the blame for Liv and Fitz's affair, Jeannine Locke, having a book deal, Liv is forced to come back into the White House.
With her arrival though, we see her try to be strictly professional with the president, and it almost seems he has no respect for her when she isn't a love interest. I say this because, he wants to get rid of Andrew, she advises against that, and Fitz decides to vet someone anyway. Then Cyrus, who seemingly has mostly recovered from James' death, decides to put her in her place, reminding her that while she maybe Fitz's campaign manager, as Leo and Langston throw dirt on Fitz's name, he isn't going to wear the White Hat, but instead sling mud back. Letting her know, at that moment, no one gives a damn about Olivia's opinion.
And perhaps it is because no one gives a damn about anyone at this point. However, with Langston and Leo bringing Locke from out of the dark, and Cyrus exposing Langston's daughter Cassidy for having an abortion, Liv orchestrates a deal so instead of going after each other, they go after Restin. How you may ask? Well, with a wife in prison, and not the cleanest record himself, Abby and Leo go visit the devoted wife and deliver the type of news which rocks her and Restin's relationship. However, being that Restin is a powerful man, who believes he is soon to be president, he threatens his wife and basically informs her that the stuff he could do to her would make her damn near disappear. Making me think not one man on this show has a happy marriage. What matters most though is the fact Abby had the conversation recorded, and with the campaign focusing on the women's vote, Restin has likely knocked himself out and now it is Langston vs. Fitzgerald all the way.
Topic 2: A Woman is Dying
But, while all this political drama is happening, Mellie remains the long suffering. Once again, Mellie was given some beacon of hope as, I thought, she and Fitz worked on their issues once more. It seems it was all for the camera however. Now, Mellie is back to looking like an idiot trying to scramble some meaning to her relationship besides appearances. Then, to make things worse, Liv goes to Andrew, on Fitz's request, and gives him the ultimatum of pursuing Mellie or becoming Vice President. Mind you, if he picks Mellie she has vowed to destroy him, though says it would remain an admirable choice. And being that just about no man on the show is above putting friends and lovers aside in the pursuit of power, he picks the vice presidency. With this, Mellie has lost one of her last hopes. But, knowing Fitz did this, she decides to smack the hell out of Fitz and says everything but "I want a divorce!"
Topic 3: White Hat Tainted
Being as determined as Olivia is, there has been occasions when people have lost their physical, or metaphorical, lives due to her decision. In this episode, Harrison's friend Claire ends up dying by trying to aid OPA in taking down Maya. But, being that Maya's network is as good as B613, she finds out what Claire is trying to do, and kills her.
And with the topic of B613 comes Jake. As said before, Jake is a man who has nothing, and has consistently sought out Olivia to correct this issue. But, with being rejected time and time again, and this time while he was at his lowest, it seems he may have given up. However, with Jake still being the head of B613, Olivia needs him to gain access to the B613 network. So, as her sacrifice for the cause, she has sex with Jake to leave him vulnerable enough to hack his phone. Said sacrifice, though not the sex part, was pushed by Huck since just coming into six degrees of separation from current or former command, much less B613, seems to almost be a trigger for him. He even mentions his family in terms of why he doesn't like how Rowan is now involved with their taking down of B613. However, Rowan states he'd rather euthanize the program than let Jake ruin it.
Their plan, and execution, though couldn't have worse timing. You see, Maya now has a bomb and just before the ever jealous Charlie and Quinn could get the signal from Jake to move in, Huck shuts down their network. Leaving Jake unable to know what Maya's plans are, and being that he isn't stupid he goes straight to Liv, more so her throat, and seemingly is ready to kill the woman who made him fail at his job. Now all we know is Maya has a very powerful bomb and the president is likely a target. Perhaps the most interesting bit is though, with what Olivia, Huck, Abby, Harrison, and David did, technically they just aided a terrorist, making you wonder if this may come back to bite them all in a big way.
