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We open right where last season ended, with Liv's dad, Rowan, dressing her down for sleeping with the President. Actually, he's more disappointed that she aimed to be First Lady instead of a position with actual power. And he puts Olivia on a plane with a new identity and tells her she'll be hanging out on an island for eight months and then relocate somewhere overseas permanently.
Olivia gets on the plane, but borrows the flight attendant's phone and calls Cyrus to say goodbye. Cy convinces her to get off the plane, because otherwise Fitz will think Cyrus had Olivia killed and Cy won't have the access he needs to save the president from himself. So Fitz is still a child with no agency. Got it. Cyrus also promises that the White House isn't going to throw Liv under the bus on this. Anyway, Liv gets off and gets her mojo back, telling her dad off in the meantime.
Cyrus and the VP get in an argument when she refuses to take over all public appearances until the heat is off. The Veep refuses, due to her religious beliefs, and manages to throw in some homophobia and racism while she's at it. Fitz throws the handlers out and admits to Sally that he committed adultery and then asks her to help him buy some time to get his family ready. She agrees.
Liv makes it back to work to find that all of her clients are firing her. Mellie finds out that a tipsy Hal the Secret Service Agent is the one who admitted the President was screwing someone, although he didn't give a name. And then the news gets cell phone video of Fitz leaving Olivia's place, so the White House's original strategy of denial is out the window.
Cy orders his underlings to "start a kill folder on Olivia Pope." That means we get some backstory on Liv: her mom died in a plane crash when she was twelve, and she went to the best boarding schools and Ivy League schools. After her mom died, she never lived at home again. Her dad's cover story is that he works at the Smithsonian as a curator. And she had a series of relationships with older, powerful men, which Cy notes sadly (but kind of not sadly enough?) is enough to paint her as an ambitious slut.
Rowan returns to convince Liv to get on the plane, but she refuses and wants to know what happened to Jake. Dad will only say that Jake refused an order, so Liv calls a mysterious number that activates a flotilla of town cars to fool the paparazzi camped out on her doorstep, and Liv meets up with Fitz in some sort of bunker.
After Fitz is done yelling at Liv for "pulling the fire alarm" to get into the bunker, since it was a one-time-only deal and now she's screwed when the nukes fall or an asteroid hits or whatever, Mellie pops up because Liv invited her so that the three of them can figure out how to handle this publicly. Mellie is bitter, of course, and even more so when Fitz and Liv think they should handle this by telling the whole truth. Mellie is like, "Hell, no" and they seem to be at an impasse until Liv and Mellie negotiate how much truth they should tell and they all get their stories straight. Mellie leaves and Fitz hugs Liv and she finally cries for about ten seconds before rushing from the room… er, bunker.
Fitz tells the Veep that she should publicly condemn him so that she can be the moral center of the Republican party.
Mellie isn't really on board with the plan, and she gets Cy and the gladiators to work with her. What's their plan? They leak a video of a communications aide, Jeanine, (the redhead who's been acting as press secretary?) calling the President hot and then get multiple White House sources (Cy and Mellie, probably) to confirm that she's the one the President had "a brief fling" with. These are awful, terrible people. They just ruined that girl's life. I love this show.
Fitz is livid (heh) that Jeanine has to take the fall and is all set to clear her name, but Mellie stops him and snarkily says that she knows he leaked Olivia's name to the press via his Secret Service agent. And she's right. But what she's wrong about is how long the President had planned this; when he laid his head on her lap last season, it was all a charade to gain her trust so that he could leak Liv's name and keep Mellie from having that information in reserve to hurt him in the future. DAMN, SON! That's a long con.
Liv gets back to work after Harrison tries to assure her that she's free now, and her first client is Jeanine. Meanwhile, Cyrus has a secret meeting with Rowan. You know how Fitz and Jake Ballard are super tight buds from their Navy days? Turns out they flew a mission together, and something HAPPENED on that mission, and now Cyrus knows what it was, even if we don't. And it shocks even Cyrus.
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Want more? The full recap starts right below!We start up right where last season ended; Olivia's cover has been blown and the media is reporting that she's is Fitz's mistress. The story was broken by the Style reporter at the Washington Post, an unusual person to get such an important scoop. So who was her source? That's way too important a plot point to find out in the first minute of the episode, you guys! All the reporter will say is that there's only one source, but it's a good one, and very high up in the administration. I'm surprised her editors would let her go public with only one source. That's more like a blogger thing to do. As the reporter gives details, we see shots of how our various players are reacting to this news going public. Cyrus looks disappointed. The gladiators at OPA are busy SHUTTING IT DOWN. Fitz is pinching the bridge of his nose. Mellie is curled up with a phone, talking to someone. Was she the source? It's still the first minute of the show! They're not going to tell us yet!
And now we cut to the continuation of the last scene from the finale, with Liv and her dad in the town car. Apparently after saying, "Dad?," she didn't talk at all for twenty minutes, and then finally spoke up to ask why her father tried to have her killed. He claims Jake Ballard was the target. Well, I guess that's possible? Because the assassin came to Liv's apartment when Jake was hiding in there, "protecting" her. Liv looks like she doesn't quite buy it, but they've arrived at their destination.
Which is a private airplane hangar, filled with a private jet. Olivia sees it and immediately says no. Have I mentioned how amazing Liv looks, even in workout clothing? She's wearing black yoga pants and a white warm-up jacket (colors are important, y'all) and looks better than I have ever looked, even on my wedding day. And I looked great on my wedding day. Anyway, her father rattles off a big speech about how Olivia spread her legs and "gave it away" to a man with power, and now she thinks the White House will save her, but they will surely just throw her out like trash as soon as possible. Liv starts out defiant, all, "He would never!" but her father's words (and we see where Liv gets her gift for dramatic speeches) start to wear her down as she realizes that they may contain some truth. Plus, he's just a big dude who talks loud, and he's her dad, and Kerry Washington somehow reverts to a child the longer he talks. I mean the unmade up face and pulled-back hair help, but it's also some great acting.
Rowan growls that Fitz isn't in charge, because power is in charge, and Rowan knows way more about the situation than even Liv does. And then he gets personal, making Liv repeat what he told her often as a child, that she has to be twice as good to get half as much. I am a white lady, but many of the black women I follow on Twitter exclaimed at that line, since they were told the same thing as children. Rowan can't believe that Liv was willing to settle for First Lady when she could have aimed for Chief of Staff or Secretary of State. Liv is completely beaten down now, hugging herself and looking at her feet. The Olivia Pope we know is gone, for a moment.
Now that he's broken her spirit, Rowan touches her face and then escorts her by the arm to the plane as he explains that she'll be headed to an island in Tahiti, where she'll stay for eight months while her gladiators carry on the business. After that, he plans to settle Liv somewhere in Europe. Liv finally finds her words and asks tearfully, "And what if I don't want to go?" Rowan responds, "Olivia, you'll be getting on that plane, come hell or high water. And to be clear, I am the hell, and the high water." A word here about Joe Morton's performance. I think he's fantastic and obviously a skilled actor, but some of this was pitched just a tad too high for me, even for a soapy show like this one. The words themselves are so melodramatic that I think it's better when they're a little bit underplayed. That said, this is the first episode where he's had a big speech like that one, and it could improve as time goes on. But it took me out of the scene a bit and it was only on rewatching that I could really appreciate Kerry Washington's performance and transformation from high-powered but scared Liv into childlike and terrified Liv.
So Liv's on the plane, where she borrows the flight attendant's phone to tell Cyrus that she's going to disappear. Cyrus asks her to stay, but Liv gets angry and says that she knows Cyrus only wants her to stay so that he can have a scapegoat. Cyrus promises her that they're on the same side. Are they? Because I feel like Cyrus is mostly on his own side. Then we find out why Liv really called: "I just called to say goodbye. Tell him I said goodbye." Ugh, Liv. Really? Cyrus goes ballistic but does that Cyrus-forcing-himself-to-be-calm thing and explains that if Liv disappears, Fitz will think Cyrus had her killed, and he won't trust Cyrus to help or save him. How did this conversation go from, "What will happen to Liv?" to "What will happen to Fitz (and Cyrus)?" Because to be honest? I give zero fucks what happens to Fitz. And maybe half a fuck what happens to Cyrus. Cyrus admits that he's done dark things and yells, "I am a monster. But I'm YOUR monster" and promises that he will bury this mistress story, but he needs Liv to get off the plane to make that happen.
And Liv gets off the plane! And she's got the Liv Strut back, even in her running sneakers. Rowan starts yelling at her and she gives it right back. It's a great shot of the entire huge airplane hanger, with Liv strutting through it and Rowan following behind. She gets to the car and says that she's taking care of herself and headed to her office. Rowan leans in the window and says softly, "The White House will destroy you." Liv thinks for a split second, considering if she wants to use this ammunition, then nods and says, "That's what Mom used to tell me about you." OH NO! She went there. And then she rolls up the window as the car pulls out. I can't wait to find out more of Liv's backstory.
So all that happened before the credits. Buckle up! So this redheaded aide is talking to the press, serving as de facto press secretary, I guess? Have they hired a new press secretary since the last one was assassinated and Liv took the job temporarily? That seems like a pretty important job to leave up to random aides. Anyway, we find out later that her name is Jeanine so I'm just going to call her that now, even though her role in this scene is to reiterate endlessly that the White House has no comment on the story.
Cut to the Oval, where Cyrus, the Veep, and the Veep's Chief of Staff (I guess?) are facing off while Fitz stands silently in the background, as usual letting the grown-ups take charge. Have you noticed I'm not such a fan of Fitz? I'm not. Anyway, Cyrus wants the Veep to handle all public appearances until this mistress fire is out. The VP Chief of Staff is like, "Hell no" and the Veep is also like "Hell no" but for different reasons. The VP Chief of Staff doesn't want the Veep to be inundated with questions when she's not even involved in the scandal. The Veep "will not be aiding and abetting a man breaking his marriage vows and laying with another woman."
Cyrus goes on a rant about how the Lord has nothing to do with the Presidency (you know, separation of church and state and all that), but the Veep delivers a low blow as she refers to Cyrus's "Godless homosexuality" and his "poor, sweet brown baby." Whoa. She went there. Sometimes I want to object to the Veep's characterization, but then I turn on the news and realize that people like these exist, and they are elected. The Veep goes on to say that Cyrus has no respect for her or her supporters, the supporters Fitz needed to win the election (that he didn't really win). She promises to take the supporters with her when she goes and Cyrus explodes that she can only hope to go to Canada because she won't win an election against a sitting President from her own party. Eh, don't be so sure. Not with this latest tidbit. We don't have much information about Fitz's popularity with the public, though we know his margin of victory was small. Also, I think the Veep would have even less luck in Canada.
Fitz finally speaks up and says that he'd like to speak to the Veep alone. The Chiefs of Staff are dismissed. Fitz leads with asking the Veep if she drinks, because he would offer her a Scotch if she were a man. That's some bullshit right there. All of the fundraisers and dinners they've had to attend together and he doesn't know if she drinks? Or what she drinks? How about just offer her a drink like a person and let her decide. Ugh, he is the worst. Anyway, she drinks Scotch because she is a ballbuster.
Fitz gets to the business at hand. He admits that he slept with someone who is not his wife and he failed Sally. SomeONE? Do we know if he "slept with" Amanda Tanner or not? He had to, if she thought the baby was his, right? Anyway, that's all under the rug for now. Sally seems taken aback that Fitz is being honest with her as he apologizes for letting her down. That opens the door for an actual conversation, where Fitz tells Sally that he needs her to handle the public appearances, but only for a short while. He claims he's going to stand up and tell everyone what he did, and deal with the consequences, but he needs some time to "prepare the people in [his] life." Sally swallows and then says she'll help him. So is this truly Fitz's plan, or just another in a long line of Fitz claims that never come to fruition?
Liv's Town Car arrives at her office and she seems surprised that there is a gaggle of photographers and reporters there, ready to strike. Is Liv this much off her game? You'd think she would have had a plan for this. Instead, her plan seems to be to put her hair down so that she can hide her face. Then her driver gets out of the car, letting a photographer in. Finally, Huck and Harrison pull her out of the car and help her get to the door. Huck should have given her his hoodie so she could hide better, because putting her arms up as if she were trying to ward off karate chops wasn't all that effective.
Inside, Liv tries to put on her armor (aka designer suit) and get back to business, but her employees want to help her deal with her scandal, since that's what they do. Liv is also (typically) refusing to give them any information. The only thing that gets through is when Abby tells her that many of their clients have called to fire them. Cue the montage of Liv personally calling all of her clients to win them back, but failing. This is intercut with Harrison telling his co-workers that the White House is not the group they want handling this, and they have to handle it themselves, even if Liv won't do it with them. Wasn't it the finale last year where Liv told Fitz that she couldn't wait for him because she owed it to her gladiators to be with them? What happened to that resolution?
Cyrus sucks up to James in the White House hallway, looking for a favor. I don't know why James hasn't told Cyrus to fuck right off yet, because Cyrus treats him like shit. I like Cyrus as a character, even though he's maybe more evil than most, but he is a terrible husband. James is only partly to blame. Anyway, Cyrus wants to know how this lowly fashion writer found out the scoop of the century. James refuses to deal until Cyrus promises a really good scoop in return, and then gives Cyrus the name of a bar (Molloy's) where the Secret Service goes to drink. Cyrus kisses James and then sprints off without giving James the promised scoop, of course.
Some time later, in the same hallway, Mellie approaches Hal the Secret Service agent. She asks him if he knows how the rumors about Fitz and Olivia got started, and adds that she knows that they all drink about Molloy's. Flashback to Hal, already tipsy at Molloy's, saying something to the reporter about how Mellie found out that her husband was screwing one of his trusted advisors. Hal does deny giving the reporter a name, but with that information, how hard would it be to figure out? And let's face it, how many female trusted advisors does Fitz have? Mellie walks off and gives Cyrus an "I don't know" shrug, so we know that they are in cahoots.
That night, David Rosen comes into Olivia's office. Olivia says he shouldn't be there, and Rosen asks if it's because he might be called to investigate the President's affair with her. David says he doesn't want her to say much because he doesn't want to know, but wonders if she's going to admit everything up front (the "white hat" way) or deny it and take everyone she loves down with her. Olivia thinks he's making a lot of assumptions, but David counsels her that if there is proof of the affair, she won't have a choice. Abby bursts in and asks what David is doing there, though she doesn't seem unhappy to see him, and David asks her to return his calls, so we know they haven't been seeing each other throughout this whole scandal. Harrison bursts in and tells Liv to turn on her TV so that she can see the news airing a cell phone video that catches Fitz leaving her building.
Cut to Cyrus, watching the same video. Jeanine asks what their move is, and Cyrus responds: "Start a kill folder on Olivia Pope." In case you, like me, don't know what a kill folder is, it's all of the information they can gather on Liv's background with special emphasis on anything they can use to impugn her reputation and/or destroy her personally and professionally. You'd think Cyrus would already have all of that information. I actually figured Cyrus has a secret drawer containing kill files on anyone he's ever met.
Harrison is still trying to "fix" Olivia's problem, and his phase is to call Cyrus, who doesn't want to talk to him. Harrison does his fast talking thing to try to convince Cyrus that there are going to be hearings and subcommittees to investigate the affair, so they both know that the mistress can't be Liv. Cyrus basically says, "Prank caller! Prank caller!" and hangs up.
Cyrus meets with his shady underlings (Jeanine and some dude we've never seen before) to review Olivia Carolyn Pope's file. She went to Princeton and Georgetown Law (as did Cyrus, and apparently they met there, although I would have put Cyrus as much older than Liv so maybe he was a professor or went to law school late in life and I've officially thought too much about this). Liv's mom (Maya) died in a plane crash when Liv was twelve. Her father's job (as far as they know, his name is Eli) is at the Smithsonian, curating antiquities. He sent her to the best boarding schools, and she never lived in the family home again after her mother died. That's shady. The Unnamed Dude (I'm just going to call him Ryan, because he looks like a Ryan or maybe an Adam) snarks that must be where Liv got her daddy issues.
Jeanine explains further that Liv dated any manner of older, powerful men and got a reputation as a party girl. They have photos of her former paramours, and it's "a nice lineup of silver foxes" (and largely African-American). Ryan says she was working her way up the totem pole and Cyrus yells, "Enough!" Jeanine is surprised and Cyrus covers by saying it's enough to "play the ambitious slut card." As Jeanine gathers the papers, Cyrus seems to have tears in his eyes.
That night, Liv is sleeping on her couch when her phone chimes. Her father is waiting down in the parking garage. He says he's there to help her, and he knows her business is tanking. Liv just wants to know what happened to Jake Ballard, but Rowan won't answer except to growl, "No one refuses an order in my business." Then Rowan goes on a rant about how no one thinks about the shit he does to keep them safe and free, and I think Rowan might be seriously unhinged, you guys. He's definitely got a superiority complex. Liv walks away and her father orders her to get on the plane because she's running out of options. She turns back and spits, "I'm NEVER out of options."
Back in her apartment, Liv opens a cabinet and a safe and takes out a sealed folder. She breaks the seal and calls a number, reading the information inside over the phone. Then she goes down to a waiting Town Car. But not just one. A flotilla of Town Cars appears leaving her apartment, each driving in a different direction in order to confound the media waiting outside.
we see Liv being escorted down a corridor by a guy in military fatigues. Liv is wearing an amazing white belted trench. He lets her into a locked room, clearly underground, where Fitz is waiting for her. They exchange hellos and yearning stares as we cut to commercial.
Cyrus finds Tom the Secret Service agent and asks to see the President, but Tom says he's not available. In fact, Tom claims that Fitz and Mellie are off together taking "personal private time." The Secret Service on this show kind of suck at the SECRET part of their job.
Fitz berates Olivia for using her code, because it can't be used again and it was only supposed to be for an extreme emergency. Now if there's an asteroid or nuclear war or something, Olivia will have to stay on the outside. Fitz gets himself worked into a right lather until Olivia yells back that she's already on the outside, and they need to talk about how to fix this and make a plan. Fitz agrees, and Olivia says they have to wait until they're all there. Fitz can't believe she asked Cyrus to come. Liv says no as the door whirs open. Dunh dunh dunh. It's MELLIE! GASP!
Mellie doesn't see what all this cloak and dagger is about; she thinks that she and Fitz can just do an interview with Oprah or Diane Sawyer and the whole thing will blow over. Fitz says that would have worked before she went on national television and accused him of cheating. Mellie counters that she wouldn't have had to if he wasn't off screwing his whore every chance he got.
Liv, cool as a cucumber, doesn't even react to the fact that Mellie just called her a whore, and instead says (not without a little anger) that they have a job to do, and if they're going to figure this out, she needs Mellie to stop referring to her as a whore, "at least in front of [her] face." Mellie sniffs and assents.
Liv talks through the problem out loud and says that they need to change the narrative, since right now it's "Fitz cheated with Olivia the whore." Fitz suggests that they reclaim the narrative by telling the truth. Fitz and Mellie will stand up and admit that he cheated. Liv thinks it through and then rattles off a plan that involves a statement in the Rose Garden with the kids nearby, and then a sit-down with James the day, and Olivia releasing a statement about how she regrets her actions and she's apologized to Mellie. Liv thinks that, with this plan, the whole thing will blow over by the election. She sounds surprised that "the truth works." Liv and Fitz share a smile.
Mellie has to poop in the punch bowl, because she doesn't think it works. People are going to want details, especially if a special prosecutor is named. And Mellie doesn't want to stand up to Fitz as he says that he had a year-long affair with Olivia Pope that ended and then started up again. Mellie details all of the ways that Fitz has humiliated her and the concept of marriage: how he couldn't keep his hands off Olivia on the campaign trail, how he violated Secret Service protocol to visit Liv's apartment, and how he called Olivia's name out when he was shot. Fitz shoots a glance at Olivia to see how she's taking that last one, because he never told her that. The fucker. Now, you're going to flirt? When your wife, bitch on wheels though she may be, is baring her heart and soul? Anyway, Mellie can't even articulate what all of that means, and Fitz says it means that he's in love with another woman. AWKWARD. Mellie goes into her scary deep voice and says that if Fitz tries to sell his fractured fairy tale to the press, she will display all of their dirty laundry to the world, because she's tired. I know Mellie can be terrible, but when she and Fitz are at war, I'm pretty much always on Mellie's side. Because he MARRIED her. Even if it was a setup, even if they never loved each other (which I don't buy), even if she's awful. He married her.
Mellie turns and faces the wall and there's a long pause before Olivia asks how many times she and Fitz slept together. Mellie doesn't know what she's getting at, so Olivia asks what number would make it okay for her. Mellie looks at Fitz and then says two. Olivia agrees to that number, and then asks Mellie when the first time was. Fitz speaks up and says it was after he was elected, because they don't want people (and special prosecutors) to think Olivia got her job because they slept together. Mellie says it was the night of the inauguration and she remembers how she went to bed early that night but Fitz was too wired to sleep so he went downstairs where he met up with Olivia and one thing led to another. Mellie continues that it was just sex and didn't mean anything and it didn't happen again until after Fitz got shot, when he was feeling his mortality.
Mellie and Liv work out that those were the only two times. Fitz doesn't want to lie. Liv tells him that it's still the truth, just not the whole truth. Liv wants to know if they agree, and Fitz and Mellie both agree. Mellie leaves the room, and looks like she's fighting back tears, leaving Fitz and Olivia in the room alone.
Liv goes to grab her purse but Fitz wants to know how she's doing. Olivia keeps repeating, "I'm fine" as it becomes increasingly obvious that she's not at all fine. She gives a little speech about how she always tells her clients that the media mentions aren't personal and she concludes, "I'm fine!" And then the look on her face is so, so sad. Fitz walks towards her, taking off his jacket. Does he think they're going to do it in the bunker? She tells him not to, but as usual on this show, he ignores her protests, which bothers me more than a little. Anyway, he just hugs her and holds her and she loses it for the first time and lets herself cry on Fitz's shoulder. But only for like two minutes, and then she grabs her bag and leaves Fitz in the bunker. Maybe Fitz should just stay in the bunker. I feel like everyone on this show would be a lot happier if he weren't around.
The morning, the Veep visits Fitz in the Oval, where he tells her that she's given him time to write a speech taking full responsibility, which he will deliver at noon in the Rose Garden with Mellie by his side. Sally is surprised that Mellie is sticking around, but glad to hear it. She seems to almost confess that her own husband is screwing around on her but doesn't actually say that and before she and Fitz can really talk about anything, she snaps back into business mode. Fitz catches her cue and says that after his speech, there will be a window for her, and she should climb through it by condemning Fitz and taking the moral high ground. Sally knows she can do that but wonders why Fitz wants her to, and Fitz says he can be kind to her, because they're not married. Quid pro quo, I guess.
Mellie bursts into Cyrus's office, where he sits staring at Liv's kill folder. She doesn't want to do the press conference with Fitz as discussed, and she needs Cyrus's help to fix the problem. But it needs to come from the outside.
The outside would be OPA, I guess, because Harrison, Huck, Quinn, and Abby are standing around a DVD arguing over whether they should take action without Liv's approval. Harrison says yes, Huck says no, and Quinn suggests they just kill another intern. You know, one of the bad ones. Yikes. Anyway, Harrison will only take action if everyone has his back, and they all somewhat reluctantly agree to back him. Harrison runs outside and gives the DVD to Cyrus, who later passes it to James, who smiles.
Jeanine is in the press room, giving out the information about the upcoming press conference with Fitz when everyone stops paying attention to her and starts watching TV. And what they see on the TV, what Harrison provided to James via Cyrus, is a video taken during Fitz's campaign where a tipsy Jeanine says that Fitz will get elected because he's FREAKING HOT. Suddenly, all of the reporters turn and start peppering Jeanine with questions. So she said he's hot and all of a sudden, she's the mistress? That seems like quite a leap.
But I guess it's not a leap when you have two top White House officials (Cyrus and Mellie, probably) confirming that Jeanine is the mistress. Cue the montage of reporters telling the public this information. Jeanine goes to Cyrus and denies the whole thing, and he assures her she doesn't need a lawyer, because the White House will handle it. You'd think, given her job, she would know better than to believe that, but I guess she's desperate. Anyway, the segments ends with Sally watching the TV with squinty eyes and then James reporting that Olivia Pope is owed an apology. So yay, Olivia is off the hook! Except they all just knowing ruined an innocent woman's career, reputation, and maybe life. These are terrible, terrible people, not heroes. Just so we're clear. I still enjoy the show, but these are terrible people. And we cap it off with Olivia busting into the gladiator conference room and demanding of her employees: "What did you do?"
Fitz is storming around the Oval, yelling for Cyrus to get his ass in there. Mellie is already there, and Fitz rambles on about how he can't believe that Cyrus ruined a poor, innocent woman, and now they have to amend their statements for the press conference. Mellie says she doesn't think that's going to happen, and that Fitz can go out there and say Olivia was his mistress, but she won't be by his side, and neither will Cyrus, and Fitz will be investigated and probably impeached. Fitz wonders why she's so willing to jump on Cyrus's plan, and Mellie says it was her plan, actually, and she got the idea from Fitz. Because he's the one who leaked Olivia's name in the first place.
What? And then they stare at each other for like fifteen seconds and since Fitz doesn't deny it, you know it's true. Mellie gives a big speech about how she's super smart and educated, and being First Lady is really boring, so she has lots of time to think. She reminds Fitz that he called her "ornamental," and you knew that insult was going to come back to haunt him. Anyway, she tried to figure out who would benefit the most from leaking Olivia's name and realized that it was Fitz.
Flashback to Fitz asking Secret Service Tom for a favor, and then Secret Service Tom is also in Molloy's with Hal and the reporter, and he tells the reporter that Olivia Pope is the mistress. Back in present day, Mellie accuses Fitz of leaking Olivia's name but expecting her to stand by him so that he can control her and the country while still hopefully someday bringing Olivia (his "whore") into the White House. Mellie thinks that step one was leaking Liv's name.
Fitz gets ugly and says that step one was actually when he went to her and laid his head in her lap and asked forgiveness. Dude! A long con! Fitz was running a long con. Anyway, he spits at Mellie that they are at war, and this was just one battle, and he leaked Liv's name so that Mellie would no longer have that information to use as a weapon.
Back at OPA, Liv is just standing and staring into space, I guess? Funny how Fitz and Mellie keep using Liv as a pawn in their twister War of the Roses marriage and no one asks her what she wants. Like how did she feel about Fitz leaking her name? Maybe he should have asked her? Anyway, Harrison comes up and says that Liv is in the clear now, and a little self-preservation doesn't mean she can't still wear the white hat. As is her wont, Olivia doesn't actually respond to him, and instead says that they have a client and need to get to work.
Client? What client? I thought all their clients fired them? Olivia and Harrison walk into the conference room to meet with their client: Jeanine. Of course.
And just when you think the episode is over, Cyrus is in his apartment leaving a voicemail for Jeanine, except Charlie the Spook is in his bedroom, pointing a gun at him. And James is lying in the bed. Dead? Nope, just drugged. And he wants Cyrus to come with him.
So that Cyrus can have a secret meeting with Rowan. Charlie is working with Rowan again, because "the country is in danger." According to Rowan, of course. And he needs to raise Cyrus's security level so he can share some information about Operation Remington. Cyrus already knows that it was a classified mission that Fitz flew with Jake Ballard in Iran. Rowan wants to share with him what really happened on that mission. Cyrus starts reading, and Cyrus is stunned. Cyrus! Is stunned! What could it be? Did Fitz die and the Fitz they know is a cyborg? That's the only thing I can think of, but hopefully we'll find out in the episode. Or at least sometime this season.