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Oh, y'all. I just watched this episode and then started trying to mentally reconstruct it in my head in order to write this recaplet, and Lord… it's so complicated. But I will do my best.
Via flashbacks, we learn that Liv's relationship with her father was always contentious, even when she still thought he worked at the Smithsonian. But around the time she used to give Huck change in the Metro station -- and around the time she lived with Edison -- she used to have Sunday dinners with her dad in exchange for him paying off her law school loans. Despite herself, Liv started growing closer to her father and she confided in him about Huck, and how he saved her life after she was attacked one night, and then claimed he was part of a secret spy organization called B613. Liv asks her dad to check into Huck's story.
Then Huck disappears and Liv tries to find him. She manages to put together the information Huck gave her with the clues left by her dad and figures out that her dad is in charge of B613. She confronts him, he goes into scary dad mode and she walks out. Later, Liv brings Edison -- now her fiancé -- to meet her dad, making sure to drop the fact that Edison is on the Senate Intel Committee, and she uses that fact to insist that her dad give her Huck. He does, but he also orchestrates an accident for Edison and tells Liv that she needs to break up with him, the threat being that he'll kill Edison otherwise. Liv tells him that they're done, and Rowan says that they're family and they're never done. So apparently all that happened right before she went to work on Fitz's campaign.
In the present day, Liv is working with Jeannine, trying to help her fend off the smear campaign by the White House (with Fitz's blessing). Rowan/Eli also wants Jeannine to take the fall for the affair, and he wants the President to confirm it himself. Cyrus and Mellie are working overtime to make sure Jeannine's name is mud, and their tactics include leaking Jeannine's work logs and Mellie's travel logs to show that Jeannine was alone in the Oval with Fitz plenty of times. (Even though her friend Evan was there too, but he's Cyrus's minion, so he won't back Jeannine up).
Rowan visits Liv at OPA and Huck doesn't show any signs of recognition. Privately, Rowan tells Liv that she needs to make sure Jeannine confesses to having an affair with the President if she wants Jake Ballard to live. Liv gets Huck to tell her about the hole -- since she's sure that's where Jake is -- and then asks Fitz to get Jake out of there. Fitz learns that he has no say over what B613 does.
Liv books Jeannine on a live morning show interview to set the record straight, thanks to the IM records that Abby bullies Evan into handing over. But before Jeannine can do the interview, Mellie gets to her and offers a cool two million in an offshore account if Jeannine claims the affair, which she decides to do. Before Jeannine can go on the air, Liv calls Fitz and learns that he can't save Jake, so she yells at him to be Presidential. Then she calls Rowan and asks him to save Jake, offering up Sunday dinners again. Then she tells Jeannine that admitting to the affair is a terrible idea.
But before the cameras can roll, Fitz decides to be Presidential by funding education and pardoning innocent people. HA! As if. Actually, he calls a press conference. As he walks to the briefing room, he tells Cyrus he will either tell the press the truth like he wanted to all along or he will claim that Jeannine was the mistress if Cyrus gets Jake released. Cyrus doesn't answer, and Fitz tells the press that Jeannine was his mistress. Sally (remember her?) confronts him because she knows he's lying, and Fitz sort of sexually harasses her and remember last week when they were friends? That was weird.
Quinn digs through Liv's email to find out more about Liv's mysterious dad, and the information she finds sparks some memories for Huck. He confronts Liv in the parking garage, asking her what deal she made with her dad so Huck could be free, and then he SLAMS her against a car and CHOKES her, demanding to know if her father is the head of B613. Liv admits that he is. Then Liv's at home drinking wine in her PJs and her father calls and tells her to open the door, where she finds a badly beaten Jake.
Whew! This show burns through plot at a madcap pace.
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Want more? The full recap starts right below!We open with Liv With Bangs (aka Flashback Liv) getting off the Metro at Huck's station. You know, the station where Huck sits behind a pillar and, I guess, begs for money? I'm not sure exactly what he's doing there other than rocking a giant beard and Afro and being homeless. Anyway, a chyron informs viewers that this took place five years ago. As Liv walks by, Huck asks if she's having dinner with her dad. Liv smiles and reminds him that she does so every Sunday, and promises to bring him a doggie bag. As Liv walks away, she looks anxious about the upcoming dinner, as viewers wonder what happened between five years ago and now to estrange Liv from her father. Well, we're about to find out.
Cut to Liv in a restaurant with her dad. He tries to make conversation but she sits there silently. Through his questions, we find out that five years ago, Liv was working for Cyrus in a "shop" (a PR firm? A lobbying firm? A political consulting firm?), and that Cyrus turned down "running Harvard" to open his business. I'm never sure if I should call Liv's dad Eli or Rowan. I guess I'll go with Eli in the flashbacks and Rowan in the present day. Eli throws down his napkin in frustration with her silence, which has gone on now for five weeks worth of dinners, and Liv asks what he wants. She agreed to have dinner with him in exchange for him paying off her law school loans, but I guess her perception of dinner didn't include, you know, syllables. Given the clothes she's wearing, it seems like Liv has a lot of disposable income, so I'm not sure why she needs so much financial help. Maybe that's why she can afford fancy clothes and a nice apartment: no loan payment.
Anyway, Eli gives a big speech about how he's trying, and he's sorry that he sent Liv away to school after her mother died, but he was grieving and he made mistakes. He seems pretty sincere. If I didn't know what a terrible person he is, I would probably believe him. Anyway, he begs Liv to give him just an inch, because he's really trying to make amends. Liv considers for a long pause and then says haltingly, that she's good and she has a boyfriend. Eli wants to know more about that, but Liv has given all she's going to give at the moment, and turns the conversation to how he's doing at the Smithsonian. He conjures up a work dilemma about adding a new species of mastodon to their exhibit, one that is "solitary" with "sharper teeth" who is "more dangerous." Hmm, is he talking about a mastodon or himself? Liv smiles for the first time that evening and asks him to explain more.
After dinner, Liv waits for her train while talking to Edison, who was then just her boyfriend, on the phone. She reports that her father is trying, and Edison says he'd love to meet her dad. Liv is hesitant, but Edison reminds her that they're living together and he has proposed, although she hasn't answered him yet. Liv says she loves him but she's not ready yet, and asks him not to push, but Edison is frustrated with her reluctance. Because you definitely want to marry someone that you had to bully into saying yes. She's just not that into you, dude. They both say I love you and Liv hangs up the phone. Liv, have you never taken a safety class? Never hang up the phone when you're the only person in the train station. Talk to the person on the other end until you get on the train. Jeez. Of course, as soon as she hangs up, two male attackers appear out of nowhere and grab her purse. Before she can escape, Huck quickly issues a beatdown on both men, tossing Liv her purse and telling her to run. She does, and Huck continues beating the men with military-trained efficiency, to Liv's surprise.
And we're back in Present Day. Liv jogs in a park. As she runs, we see a montage of news clips reviewing what we know about the Jeannine Locke scandal; they know the President had an affair, they know Jeannine Locke thought he was hot, they know she sent e-mails saying that too, and a senior White House Official confirmed that it was Jeannine. As Liv jogs, Tom the Secret Service Agent jogs up to her and surreptitiously hands her a cell phone. She answers it, and Fitz is on the other end. She doesn't seem surprised, so this must have been arranged ahead of time.
Fitz confirms that he and Olivia can't come clean as they had planned and Olivia agrees, and they're both upset about Jeannine taking the fall. Then Fitz goes on a romantic reverie about how much he misses Liv, just talking to her, and how he played basketball with the Dalai Lama. Oh-kay. Liv tells him that clearing Jeannine's name means that she'll have to go after the White House and it will make things more difficult for him. Fitz tells her to bring it, because Jeannine is an innocent kid. Then he goes on another romantic reverie where they are married, and living in Vermont, and he's the mayor and she makes jam. Jam? Seriously? Has Liv ever cooked anything a day in her life? I mean, other than popcorn. And cooking up schemes doesn't count either. I don't see her as the jam-making type, unless you mean like Diane Keaton in Baby Boom where she turns it into a lucrative business. Anyway, they also have four kids in this fantasy and I hope they also have a nanny because otherwise neither of them would have time for jam. Also, I just realized that Fitz sent his kids away just like Liv's dad sent her away, and she doesn't hold it against Fitz. This show kind of likes to forget about Fitz and Mellie's kids; I would assume they are holding them in reserve for future season storylines. Liv concludes that she's going to go for blood with this story, and Fitz tells her to go for the jugular.
In Cyrus's office, Mellie is yelling at Cyrus because they don't know where Jeannine is, and now they've got "a bimbo on the loose." Cyrus reminds her that they made up the fact that Jeannine is a bimbo. Mellie just snaps at Cyrus to find her and leaves. Mellie is sporting some serious '70s hair in this scene. After she's gone, Cyrus gets a call from Rowan, who reminds him that Jeannine is a gift and the White House needs to confirm the affair before things go south. The President needs to confirm the affair. Cyrus responds that he can't make the President do anything, and if he pushes, the President will shut him out. They can't afford that, especially in light of the mysterious information that Rowan gave Cyrus about Fitz's classified mission with Jake. I'm confused as to why Rowan is sitting in the back of a Town Car with the window down partway, talking on the phone. Does he want people to see him? Does he just like fresh air? Was he smoking? Anyway, Rowan concludes, "You do what you have to do, and I'll do the same." Cyrus snaps, "You know, some people just say goodbye." Heh. Score a point for Cyrus.
Some poor admin walks in and asks Cyrus if the President is still going to Italy and Cyrus crabbily yells at her for even asking. Ethan (the dudebro who was in on the Liv kill file folder meeting) walks in and Cyrus snaps at him, but he recovers enough to say that he found Jeannine.
It's not like he's Columbo because Jeannine is currently giving a press conference in front of the White House with Olivia. Well, Liv is speaking; Jeannine is just standing there. Liv runs down Jeannine's credentials: she graduated summa cum laude from Berkeley, she's got family and friends, she is a hard worker, and she "absolutely, positively did not have sex with the President of the United States of America." As Cyrus and other White House employees watch on TV, Olivia says that the White House has committed slander by leaking Jeannine's name so she is representing her pro bono, because she was also a victim of the White House's underhanded tricks. Fitz walks into the room and watches the TV, amused, and asks Cyrus, "What'd you expect, Cy? It's Olivia." I don't know why it's bugging me so much that Fitz is acting so passive in this whole enterprise, like, "See what happens when you let the idiots handle the country?" Because he is the President, and he's a grown man with agency, and it seems like there is probably something he could do.
In the five years ago scenario, Liv gets off her train and asks Huck how he knew how to disable her attackers. Huck says he must have taken karate in high school. Liv promises that Huck can trust her. Huck looks sad and pained, and blurts out that he was a trained assassin for a secret division of the CIA called B613, and it's run by a man named Command, and it's housed in the Acme Company which is actually Wonderland. Huck adds that they put him in the hole, and then they let him out, and he can kill a man with "very little effort and a lot of joy" but he tries not to. Well, that's good. Liv looks at him with concern and asks if he should be taking medication or if there's someone she can call for him. Huck realizes that he sounds crazy, so he asks Liv if she and her dad could eat somewhere with cheeseburgers, because he really wants one.
You may have guessed that Liv and her dad are not going to Five Guys or anything; in fact, she's having dinner at his house. He cooked dinner, which is a new hobby for him, and he's also into wine. Liv says that she doesn't really like wine (everyone who has ever watched this show before chuckles) and her father says it's because she's never had fine wine. He bullies her into trying it, but when she does, she loves it. He happily writes her a note with the name of the wine shop where he buys his booze, and she takes the note and the pen (the pen is important) and thanks him.
And now Eli wants to hear about Liv's near attack in the Metro, as he scolds her for telling him in an e-mail and not by phone. Liv says that Huck saved her, and he's sweet, but he was different when fighting. Eli is very interested, although probably not for the reasons Liv thinks. She confides what Huck told her about his past, and when she utters the word "B613," Eli's face changes. Great acting by Joe Morton as he goes from laughing that Liv listened to the rantings of a homeless man to "Oh shit what did he tell her" and back to laughing in like a split second. He wonders why Liv is listening to a probably mentally ill man on this issue, and Liv says that she understands, but she wants him to check into it if he can, reminding him that he mentioned he has a friend in the FBI. Heh. Liv asks her father to look into it, please, and he's clearly both freaked out at how close she is to his secret identity but also touched that she came to him for help of the non-financial variety, and he agrees to do it.
In the present, Fitz is being yelled at by Cyrus and Mellie in the Oval. Cyrus tells Fitz he can save his presidency if he "grows some Presidential-sized balls" and confirms the Jeannine affair. Mellie chimes in that she will confirm it as well and then it will be behind them. Fitz reminds them that he's the President, so he calls the shots (he does?) and that Liv is going to fix this. He advises them to tell the media that Jeannine was not his mistress and they owe her an apology. Mellie asks what will happen if they don't follow his orders, and Fitz just says, "Try me." That didn't really answer the question, sir. Can I have a follow-up?
Once Fitz stomps outta the Oval, Mellie tells Cyrus that an aide will be giving him a folder containing all the dates Mellie was out of town last year and the log for the West Wing. So they just need to match up the dates to find all the times that Jeannine could have slept with the President. That still proves nothing. Will anyone actually be surprised that there were times that Mellie, the First Lady, was on a trip and Jeannine, who probably works eighty hours a week, was also at work? Cyrus thinks it's a grand plan, and mumbles to Mellie, "You're evil." Mellie doesn't look shocked and just retorts, "You're welcome." A commenter last week was wondering how I can like Mellie over the other characters, since they're pretty much all made of garbage, morality-wise. I think it's because Mellie owns it and doesn't expect that anyone who really knows her will think she's a good person. She doesn't see herself as a hero or a champion. She puts herself first, then maybe her family (if it benefits her), and then maybe the Republican party (if it benefits her) and then finally the country. She would claim God is in there somewhere, but I doubt it. At least she's consistent, and the show doesn't ask me to think she's a hero of any sort, unlike Fitz or Olivia or even Cyrus at times.
Cut to Mellie's plan working as the media reports that Jeannine and Fitz were alone in the White House many times, and Jeannine found out when Mellie would be out of town so that she could seduce the President. Jeannine, watching these reports in a hotel room, yells at the television that she was never alone with the President, and Abby reports same to Olivia, who asks for an alibi. Jeannine says that Ethan was there with her, and he can confirm her story. So that should wrap up this Jeannine mistress business, because Ethan will definitely back her up, right? Glad we got that sorted. Olivia tells Abby to work on getting the instant message archives that will prove that Jeannine and Ethan were both at work.
Olivia can't handle it herself, since she's just arrived at OPA with Huck, only to find Harrison and Quinn yukking it up with…her father. He greets Olivia with a kiss and shakes Huck's hand. Huck doesn't show even a twitch of recognition and Liv has a fake smile plastered all over her face.
Five years ago, Liv walked into the Metro station but Huck wasn't behind his usual pillar. In a nice bit of foreshadowing, she walks in front of a blown-up magazine cover asking if Governor Fitzgerald Grant could be the President.
Time for another Sunday night dinner with Dad! Liv and her dad are now eating at the breakfast bar, a sign of their growing intimacy. Eli reports that he did have someone look into Huck's background, and it turns out that Huck was just arrested the other day for attacking some commuters, and he's got a long rap sheet. Liv doesn't think it sounds like Huck, but her father says that some people just can't be helped. Liv keeps pushing at his story, asking questions, until Eli snaps and yells, "OLIVIA!" Liv gets the message loud and clear, and softly says, "Yes, Dad."
Back in the present, Harrison and Huck are trying to work while Quinn wanders around the conference room and wonders aloud why they've never heard of Olivia's father before, since he works right in town. Harrison and Huck are basically like, "We are on a need-to-know basis about Olivia's personal life," but Quinn is still curious. I find this version of Quinn mildly annoying, but that's an upgrade from Season One Quinn who just ran around looking scared or shocked all of the time.
As the gladiators work in the conference room, Liv meets with Rowan in her office. Since there's a huge window between the conference room and the office, Liv and Rowan speak everything with huge smiles on their faces for the benefit of their audience, but they are arguing. Olivia warns Rowan that he was supposed to stay away from her office, and Rowan says he's there to talk about Jeannine Locke. He tells Liv that if she ever wants to see Jake Ballard again, she needs to confirm that Jeannine was the President's mistress. Liv has trouble keeping up the fake happy façade as she asks how she knows that Jake isn't already dead. In a truly disturbing move, Rowan pinches Liv's cheek and squeaks happily, "You don't!" Olivia wants to know what they did to Jake, and Rowan chuckles, "Ask your friend Huck."
Cut to Liv visiting the morgue to see if some dead John Doe is Jake Ballard. It's not. The coroner (Joe the Bartender from Grey's!) tells her that she could just give him a photo of Jake and then she wouldn't have to come down every time someone matching his description comes in. Olivia says that she prefers to come down every time.
Olivia goes into Huck's office and says that she has to ask him a question about B613. Huck steels himself and nods his assent. Olivia says that she knows that B613 took Jake Ballard, and she wants to know if not following an order means he's been killed. Huck says that they won't kill you because they don't want to lose their investment. Instead, they will throw you in the hole and offer up pain, darkness, and isolation, and if they can't break you, they'll make you wish you were dead. It takes a lot for Huck to call up these memories, and he's shaken.
Liv pulls her trump card (she thinks) and calls Fitz on their secret cell phone. She says that B613 has Jake Ballard. Fitz is unmoved, since he's mad that Jake and Liv did it behind his back, I guess? I feel like a married dude has no right to get mad when his girlfriend gets some strange. Anyway, Liv says that he saved her life, and she wants Fitz to find out if B613 has Jake, and if he's alive, and to get Jake out of there. Fitz just hangs up the phone. I really hate, both on TV and in real life, when people don't say goodbye on the phone.
Flashback time again. Five years ago, David Rosen had a TERRIBLE goatee. I mean, he literally looks like that toy where you use a magnet to put metal shavings on a face? Anyway, he's presumably a low-level prosecutor dealing with prostitutes. Liv has asked him to run the fingerprints on her purse, as they have a professor friend in common. He did, and Huck is not in the system, and has no priors. Liv can't understand how that could be, since her dad told her Huck had been arrested. David apologizes but says whoever told her that is lying, then returns Liv's pen, which he had borrowed.
Liv runs through everything Huck told her in her head: that B613 was run by a man named Command, and that it was in the Acme building, but it was really Wonderland. That night, she drives out to the Acme Limited building, which is located on Wonderland Avenue. As the truth dawns on her, she digs through her purse for the pen her father gave her, tossing shit on the ground as she goes. All I could think was, "I hope her wallet didn't get dirty." Anyway, she finds the pen, which has the Acme Limited logo on it. I know they had to figure out a way for Liv to put the puzzle pieces together, but would her father really go around using pens from his secret company? Why would they even have pens? I guess without Huck's information, Liv would never have even questioned the pen.
So then Liv goes to Sunday dinner with her dad, and they're back in a restaurant this time. Eli is going on and on about the dinner specials until he notices that Liv looks upset. She sets the pen down on the table and asks shakily, "What's Acme Limited? What do you do for a living?" She admonishes him not to lie and then leans forward and Olivia Popes, "What. Do you do. For a living?" Eli doesn't answer but just stares at Olivia very sternly. Olivia starts crying, horrified at her realization and asks, "Dad? Do you teach people how to kill? Do you throw them in a hole until they go insane? Do you work at Wonderland?"
Eli tries to take Liv's hand but she pulls away. He says softly but fiercely that he's her father and there are ways she should behave in his presence. He says that she shouldn't ask questions when she can't handle the answers, and she doesn't know him that way. If she pushes to know him that way, it will break his heart, presumably because she'll be killed. He orders her in a low voice to open her menu and order her food. Liv just stares at him, horrified, then slowly gets up from the table and leaves without a word.
In the present, Liv goes to the coroner to see another potential Jake corpse. It's not him.
Huck walks in on Quinn in, I think Olivia's office? I can't imagine Quinn has an office this nice. Anyway, she tells Huck that Liv and her father used to have a standing Sunday dinner date. Quinn knows this because she hacked into Liv's e-mail. Huck asks why she would do that, and Quinn says with a scoff, "Because I can." I find it hard to believe that, when Huck showed her how to torture someone, Quinn just abandoned all sense of morality completely. It seems like a bit of a fast turn for her. Anyway, Quinn finds it curious that at some point, Olivia and her father just stopped all forms of communication, and she wonders what happened. Huck slams a paper down to get Quinn's attention and advises her to be less like Huck and more like Olivia.
Fitz walks into Cyrus's office and says that B613 has Jake Ballard. Cyrus pretends to not know what he's talking about, but then Fitz calls his bluff, and Cyrus says he didn't know that the President knew. Shouldn't the President have higher security clearance than the Chief of Staff? Anyway, Cyrus says that they can't ask B613 to do anything, because they don't report to the Executive Branch, to ensure that Fitz has plausible deniability of their actions. So who do they report to? And why isn't that the first question that Fitz asks? Instead, he keeps insisting that he's the Commander in Chief, so they have to follow his orders. Cyrus argues that they won't do it, so Fitz tells Cyrus to find out if Jake Ballard is still alive.
Abby catches up with Ethan as he's getting Cyrus's lunch and asks him to hand over the instant messages that will give Jeannine an alibi. Ethan tries to dodge her until Abby says he's obviously computer savvy, since he used BitTorrent to download movies, including lots of porn, to his government-issued computer. What a dummy.
"Disco Inferno" kicks in at OPA as Olivia says that now that they have an alibi, Jeannine will be giving a live interview to a morning show, and she needs help with wardrobe. Jeannine looks down dubiously at her button-down Oxford and man-tailored vest. She does need serious help.
Fashion show! Fashion show! Fashion show at lunch! Quinn and Liv help Jeannine picks out a suit in a montage with Abby prepping her for the interview. This goes swimmingly until Jeannine starts crying and Liv asks everyone to clear the room. She sits with Jeannine, who whimpers that she should be negotiating over legislation that she helped author and push through Congress right now. Olivia agrees that this whole thing is insane. Jeannine says calmly that everyone knew that Fitz was having an affair, but no one knew who the woman was. Olivia grabs Jeannine's hands and says firmly, "You are going to get through this. I am going. To get you through this. Your life is not over. Your career? Is not over. I promise you." I can see why Liv gets the big bucks. She's very convincing.
Mellie watches some cable news talking head show where they are discussing what Jeannine is going to talk about in her interview. One of the pundits wonders who Mellie was talking about, and calls her "a woman of a certain age" who may have gotten "jealous for no reason." Mellie puts down her teacup and the look on her face is very, "Oh, no he didn't just say that."
That night, Liv whispers to someone on the phone that she'll be right there, then grabs her keys and leaves her apartment, where Jeannine is sleeping on the couch. Why would you leave her alone? With all of the surveillance and the murdering of interns and whatnot that's happened in the past year? Anyway, it turns out Liv was going to look at another corpse, which is also not Jake. Once she's gone, Jeannine answers her buzzing phone and then heads outside and into a Town Car where she finds Mellie waiting. Jeannine stammers an apology and says that she would never and she didn't…Mellie interrupts and says, "I know you didn't, dear. But let's talk about your future." By the time Liv gets back home, Jeannine is back sleeping on the couch. Or at least pretending to sleep.
Five years ago. Liv shows up at her dad's house for Sunday dinner. He clearly wasn't expecting her to show up this week, after how last week's dinner ended in threats and tears. Liv is all false cheer and her father follows suit, offering to whip something up for the two of them. Liv corrects him; there will be three people dining, because she's brought along her fiancé, Senator Edison Davis. Edison pops up and says that he's been asking and asking Liv to marry him and she finally said yes. Liv smiles up at him and slyly adds that Edison was recently appointed to the Senate Intel Committee, where he will make sure that spies behave themselves and don't do things like make innocent civilians disappear. Olivia sends Edison into the kitchen that opens the wine, and then as her father takes her coat, she drops the jolly pretense and hisses at him, "Give Huck back to me." So Olivia only agreed to marry Edison so she could stick it to Dad? That's nice. I mean, she clearly had some feelings for him, but she didn't want to marry him until she realized she could use him as a tool against Daddy.
Present day. Abby stops Ethan as he's walking through the White House security gate and insists that he hand over the IM records. Ethan looks scared and stammers that he can't. Abby calls Olivia, who's prepping Jeannine for her live morning TV interview, which is happening at OPA. Abby says that Jeannine told Ethan to destroy the IMs, and Olivia realizes that Jeannine is going to cop to the affair on live TV because someone from the White House got to her.
As Olivia stomps over to ask Jeannine what the fudge is going on, a phone rings. Liv, Harrison, and Quinn all check their cells, but the phone is in Olivia's office. She heads off to answer it, warning Harrison and Quinn not to let the interview start until she gives the okay. The phone call is from Fitz, who says that Jake is alive, but Fitz can't get him released. Olivia yells at him for a while about that, and finally yells that the reason they aren't living their Vermont jam fantasy is so that Fitz can be President, and if he's President, he has the power to resolve these situations. She concludes, "YOU BRING HIM BACK!" and hangs up. Harrison comes in to say that they're ready for the interview. Liv turns and snaps, "Just GIVE! ME! A MINUTE!" and then runs through her dilemma: if she saves Jeannine, then Jake dies, and if she lets Jeannine burn, then Jake lives. Harrison looks pretty pissed. I wonder how much more of Liv's yelling and snapping and subterfuge he's going to take. Quinn, not helping, peeks in and says that the network wants to start. Liv whispers, "Stall them."
Then she makes one more phone call. To Rowan. She asks him to spare Jake's life. Rowan says what happens is up to her. Olivia says that she'll put Sunday dinners back on the table, and Rowan says he'll take it into consideration. It's totally bizarre that a man's life, a woman's reputation, and a Presidency could hinge on whether Liv can stomach having dinner with her dad, right?
Olivia walks into the conference room, asking for a moment with Jeannine. She removes Jeannine's mic and hides it in her hand, then tells Jeannine that she's not going to go on television and admit to the affair, no matter who in the White House got to her. Jeannine tries to lie but then admits that they're giving her two million in an offshore account. Liv gives her a speech about how you can't lie, because it will eat away at her and eventually she'll look in the mirror and hate what she sees. I don't think Liv is talking about Jeannine anymore.
The interview is ready to begin but then a producer interrupts and says that they're being pre-empted. I totally love the day player who got this part. She gives, "Hold up, we're being pre-empted" her all and I dig that. Anyway, the President is about to speak live from the Briefing Room.
Fitz struts down the hallways as Cyrus scuttles after him, asking what is going on. Fitz says that he and Cyrus are going to make a deal. Choice one is Fitz telling the press that Cyrus orchestrated a cover-up regarding Jeannine, and Fitz was actually having an affair with Olivia. Choice two is Fitz admitting to the affair with Jeannine in return for Cyrus getting Jake released. Cyrus hisses that he can't control B613. Fitz asks again what Cyrus wants him to do, concluding, "How Presidential are my balls now, Cy?" I'm sure that was supposed to be a great line, a fuck yeah line, but due to my growing distaste for Fitz, it just made me think of old man balls. Gross.
Five years ago. Olivia walks sadly into her Metro station, and then finds Huck sitting behind his usual pillar, looking beat up and sad. Her phone rings and she yells at Eli, "What do you want?" Eli is all sweetness so Liv repeats, "What. Do you want?" Eli makes a reference to Edison and Olivia asks what happened to him. Apparently he got in a terrible accident, and he will live but he's in rough shape. Eli asks her to let him down easy when she gives the ring back. DUDE! He is a bad guy. I mean, I knew he was a bad guy in general, but he is also a bad person and a bad dad. Poor innocent Edison got roughed up just to send a message to Olivia? It's kind of like her dad was saying, "Oh, you think you can use innocent people to send messages? Let me show you how that's actually done." Which I almost admire in a way, but whoa. Anyway, Liv starts crying and says that she'll stay away from him and what he does, but she concludes, "This? Is over. We? Are done." I just love the way Liv talks in half-sentences for emphasis. Anyway, Eli retorts, "We are family, sweetie. We're never done." He is scary.
Present day. Fitz stands at the podium and gives his remarks, where he opens simply by admitting that he's been having an affair with Jeannine. As everyone else watches, stunned, Liv stomps back into her office. Harrison says, "Okay, people, let's wrap it up" and makes the "start the helicopters" gesture with his finger. Thank you! That is the universal sign for "wrap it up," right? Because I made that signal to my husband the other day when we were at the YMCA pool with our kids, and he acted like I was a crazy person. I feel like we need to review our military hand signals.
Anyway, as Fitz swaggers back to the Oval, giant Presidential balls swinging, Sally sidles up and tells him that she doesn't think he's telling any kind of truth, and he's doing it to get out of his promise to her. Fitz says he's not lying, and then gets really, really close to Sally and says he had Jeannine "six ways to Sunday all over this White House." Fucking gross. I get that Sally is a villain, such as it is, on this show, but Fitz is trying to intimidate her sexually, sort of? Like he's trying to offend her but also getting all up in her bubble. Put it this way: he wouldn't behave this way with another man, not even Cyrus. And I find it gross, even if I'm supposed to hate Sally.
Jeannine walks into Olivia's office and asks why Fitz would say that they slept together when they didn't. Olivia doesn't even answer, just grabs her really expensive bag and walks out, too tired to point out that Jeannine was like five minutes away from saying that she slept with Fitz when she didn't. Abby assures Jeannine that they will set up some press and interviews and make sure she gets a book deal that she can retire on. Are we sure Abby wasn't planning on going on television? Because she is wearing more makeup than anyone else in the room.
Quinn is an idiot who wouldn't stop digging, and she discovered that shortly before Liv and her dad stopped talking, Liv kept asking him about a homeless guy who lived in Union Station who saved her from a mugging. Huck flashes back to the time that Charlie said that he wanted the same deal that Liv got for Huck, and Liv assured him that there was no deal. So Liv lied, and now Huck knows it.
Olivia walks through the dark parking garage to her car. For someone who makes a living pissing off really powerful people, Olivia has terrible personal security habits. She needs to read Gift of Fear. Anyway, Huck sneaks up on her and says that he has two questions. He asks why she lied to him, and Olivia denies it. Huck lays out what Quinn told him, including that B613 has never tried to find him, and right after they brought him back, Olivia stopped talking to her father. Olivia has no explanation, and then Huck grabs her by the face and slams her into her car, demanding to know, "How high up is your father in B613?" I mean, I knew Huck wasn't going to kill Olivia, but this was still pretty scary. Huck is like the definition of a loose cannons. Huck's hands shake uncontrollably and he lets Olivia go, but whispers, "Is your father Command?" and she admits that he is. Huck just walks away, and Olivia is left there, unsure of what she set in motion.
Later that night, Olivia sits on her couch in her fabulous pajamas with her giant glass of wine. Her phone rings; it's her father. She says she never wants to speak to him again and he tells her to open her front door. Olivia tells him to go to hell and he tells her to open her front door. She finally does, and her father tells her that he'll see her for dinner on Sunday. Outside her door is a badly beaten Jake, who says hi and then collapses in Olivia's doorway.