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Sally Langston has decided to run despite murdering her husband, but she's not resigning her office. Olivia has decided to run Fitz's campaign (and continue making out with him) despite Fitz being a doofus who's day drinking again and refusing to take advice from anyone… including Olivia.
David Rosen has the spy tape of Sally telling Cyrus she killed her husband. He tries to get James to work with him to expose the truth, but now that James has his sweet press secretary job, he's not interested.
OPA gets on board vetting Fitz's choice for VP, Andrew Nichols. No one else wants him, because he's another straight white dude from California and does nothing for the ticket. Meanwhile, Liv finds out that Jake is now in charge of B613 so she hunts down her father and tries to tell him that she feels sorry for him. Rowan isn't having her sympathy or pity, and vows revenge on Fitz, intending to use Olivia to get it.
Someone is anonymously texting White House reporters asking why Daniel Douglas's autopsy report wasn't released. Meanwhile, Sally's campaign manager Leo Bergen is bringing up Fitz and Liv's affair again in the media. Mellie and Olivia have a very public lunch together to quash the mistress rumors (again). Mellie orders Liv to find and publicly date an eligible bachelor.
Hey, it's time for the melodramatic Liv and Fitz scene of the week! Liv goes into the Oval and says she should resign because she's a distraction from the campaign, but Fitz makes out with her and tells her that she can't leave him. Liv wants to know why he made Jake the head of B613 and Fitz says that he killed a lot of innocent people because of B613 and Jake is the only one he trusts to protect his interests. Liv says she's resigning, Fitz yells at her some more, and she agrees not to resign. Well, that was certainly needlessly dramatic.
Over at B613, Jake tells Charlie that there's no way that Quinn can ever be part of B613, but also nothing can happen to her. Charlie ignores that, and under Cyrus's orders, uses Quinn to kidnap the medical examiner's son to blackmail her into lying to Huck and Abby about what really killed Daniel Douglas, when Olivia sends them digging.
Harrison finds out Adnan Salif is in the country and David Rosen tells him that Salif has powerful friends. Harrison borrows Abby's gun for his own safety. That lady who helped Harrison from last season shows up and Harrison almost shoots her, but then he has sex with her. That seems to happen a lot on this show.
James changes his mind AGAIN about helping David Rosen, because now he hates Cyrus, so he takes Rosen a recording from Cyrus's office. Rosen needs more because the secret recording is inadmissible and he also finds out that James is the one who has been leaking the secret information to reporters.
Jake shows up at Liv's apartment. She's not happy to see him. But she does talk him into being her (fake?) boyfriend to throw the press off the scent of her affair with Fitz.
We close with two revelations: Leo Bergen is meeting with Rowan and Andrew Nichols is in love with Mellie.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!We open with Mellie walk-running through the halls of the White House, trying to look like everything's cool. My favorite part is when she passes some underling and gives her the most fake smile of all time. I hope someone got a gif of that. Anyway, she finally reaches her destination, Cyrus's office, and she whisper-screams, "She's running."
This leads into a montage of Sally meeting with Leo, Cyrus barking orders at people, and an awesome shot of Mellie and Sally passing one another in the hall and giving serious side-eye. Throughout, we hear and see media reports about how they anticipate Sally's resignation and announcement of her campaign, and that Fitz's approval ratings are plummeting. Yeah, not just with the voters. Also with this recapper.
James, in his new position as Press Secretary, is badgering Cyrus to find out what their message should be. Cyrus wants to wait for polling numbers. Mellie strolls in and suggests that they paint Sally as crazy and delusional, and James adds that she's unstable too, since the death of her husband. Mellie quips, "Sexist. But effective. Leak that on deep background." Cyrus tells them to slow their roll until the polling numbers come in. Cyrus starts yelling at underlings to get him the polling numbers, and whipping boy Ethan steps up and stammers that the President wanted to review the numbers with "his new campaign manager."
Cut to Fitz and Liv having a full-on makeout sesh in the Oval. Ugh, these two. Get a room. That's not taxpayer funded. Mellie knocks and enters, stops short at what she sees, then steels herself and says that the rest of the team would like to see the campaign numbers. She exits. Fitz and Liv look not as guilty as they probably should.
Sally is about to go live with her announcement and Leo gives her some last-minute advice. He reminds her that, although Fitz's team will portray her as crazy, she's actually "standing up for the people against the tyranny of a decadent monarch." Monarch? Does he know what that word means? I mean, Fitz is hardly King George III. Leo reminds Sally that Jesus loves her and Sally agrees like an obedient child. I'm not real sure about Sally's mental state, you guys.
Meanwhile, Liv is prepping Fitz's rapid response team, explaining that the numbers do give them a fighting chance. Liv lays out the talking points: Sally is a selfish quitter, a loose cannon, and she's endangering their troops overseas. Everyone applauds Liv's speech, but they quickly hush up to listen to Sally's speech. As expected, Sally says that she can't stand by any longer and watch Fitz degrade her beloved country, so she'll be running as a third-party candidate. But she also can't abandon her post, so she's staying on as VP. Whoops. No one anticipated that second part. Cyrus and Mellie look like they might puke. Liv is calm, but upset. Fitz is useless, as usual.
Just in case anyone at home was doubting the accuracy of this particular plot twist, they throw in a montage of reporters telling us that this particular move has happened before in history, and that Fitz doesn't have the political capital to get her removed from office by Congress. It seems a bit silly that the writers felt it necessary to stave off objections this way; on this show, you just have to suspend disbelief with the opening credits and just go along for the ride, right?
Fitz is pouting in his office, poor baby, and he caps off his tantrum by throwing a glass of scotch at Cyrus and Mellie. Does anyone, anywhere feel bad for this character? He's an idiot who can't keep it in his pants. Wah wah wah. Anyway, Liv marches in and gets stern with Fitz, telling him to stop day-drinking and pick a vice president already, so they can start shoring up what little support they have left. Liv and Cyrus have made a list, but Fitz mopes that he's already chosen someone: Andrew Nichols, current governor of California. Cyrus starts to object, but Liv silences him and says that Nichols is another straight white dude from California, so he doesn't exactly show diversity or attract voters who wouldn't vote for Fitz otherwise. Fitz says that Nichols is loyal, he was Fitz's lieutenant governor in California, and they should call him today. Cyrus and Mellie filter out and Liv turns to continue the conversation, but Fitz shuts her down. Why is she working for him again? And why is she sleeping with him again? Fitz is so sucky that he's kind of making me hate everyone who takes him seriously as a candidate and a person, and that includes Liv. Especially because she looks sad, like she's upset that he's in pain, instead of pissed off that he's acting like an infant and being rude to her and everyone else.
James meets with David Rosen, and they listen to the recording of the Sally/Cyrus phone call from the night she killed her husband. Rosen apologizes to James, since he was right all along, but says that the recording is inadmissible. James takes that as his cue to leave; he's not interesting in helping now that he has a big White House job. Rosen is furious, but James points out that David kind of did the same thing when he took the job Cyrus got for him instead of going forward with the election fixing prosecution. I hate James, but he's kind of right. As James leaves, Harrison calls Rosen, panicked, and asks for a favor. Rosen refuses, but Harrison barrels ahead and says that an old friend named Adnan Salif just got a visa, and he wants Rosen to look into it. Rosen says he'll try. Look into it how? Like find out what exactly? If Salif got a visa? Who granted it? How is that going to be helpful? If this Harrison storyline doesn't start paying dividends soon, I'm going to be seriously annoyed.
Charlie meets with his new boss, Jake, as an introduction. Once Jake is sure that Charlie is on board with the new regime, he says that Quinn is not now and never will be part of B613, but he also doesn't want anything to happen to her. Charlie pretends he's totally fine leaving Quinn alone.
OPA is vetting Andrew Nichols, mostly so we can get his backstory. He's a successful governor of California in his first term, and he likes to date famous ladies in his own age group. Liv interviews him and basically asks why he's willing to hitch his wagon to Fitz, when everyone knows Fitz is a loser and Nichols has a shot at running for President someday. Nichols says that he's loyal to Fitz for getting him into the big time in the first place. Meanwhile, OPA hasn't been able to dig up any dirt on Nichols. So he's probably totally clean, right? That's how this show works.
Liv and Cyrus walk and talk about Nichols in the White House. Cyrus thinks Nichols is polling well, but Liv points out that his favorables are only among men because he reminds women of cheating husbands and boyfriends. Liv wants Cyrus to talk Fitz out of putting Nichols on the ticket. Cyrus says that Fitz is really into only having loyal people around lately; that's why he put Jake in charge of B613. This stops Liv short. She didn't know.
Liv finds her dad sitting on a bench by the US Marine Corps Memorial. She knew he'd be there because he used to take there after she thought her mom was dead. I bet that feels weird to say. They discuss the quote on the statue: "Uncommon valor was a common virtue." Liv says it used to remind her of her mother, but now it reminds of Rowan, because he let Liv hate him instead of hurting her with the truth about her mother.
Rowan isn't really interested in family memories, so Liv barges ahead: she knows Rowan is no longer Command and she knows he's probably upset about it. Rowan pretends he doesn't know what she's talking about, and then tells her that she has no idea what happened. Liv gets pissed that he won't accept her…what is she offering? Understanding? Sorrow? Empathy? Well, he's not having it, because he's still pissed. And then he launches into another classic Rowan speech, which I will reproduce here:
Rowan: "The married man you can't seem to stay away from had me abducted and locked me up in chains and talked to me about the way you taste while he allowed the TERRORIST who snaked her way into my marriage bed to clear US air space. What happened was the man you SCREWED betrayed me by freeing the woman who gave birth to you as a bargaining chip. What happened was the man who defiled you also defiled an organization that I gave my SOUL to build. That is what happened." Liv is near tears. Rowan goes on to tell her that Fitz is his enemy now, and he plans to use Liv to get back at Fitz. And if Liv were smart, she would run far and fast away from Fitz, because Rowan doesn't plan to let him make it to the end of his term. Is that a death threat? Is it bad if I kind of hope it is? Rowan gets up and tells Olivia that she should start grieving now, because it'll just save her time later.
A White House reporter gets a text from someone who claims to be Publius (Latin for Of the people and also one of the pseudonyms used by the authors of The Federalist Papers), asking why there was no autopsy on Daniel Douglas. She's intrigued.
Leo and Abby prepare to go on a political talk show panel together. Leo tries to get under Abby's skin by suggesting that she's nervous and her forehead is sweating. Once the show starts, Abby makes the point that Sally is being reckless by trashing Fitz outside the White House while pretending to work with him inside. Leo retorts that it's more reckless for Fitz to hire his mistress as his campaign manager. Yeah, he said it. He's not wrong. Abby feigns shock and says that those rumors were put to bed (so to speak) long ago. The show's host points out that Fitz admitted that Jeanine Locke was his mistress, but Leo says that he could have had more than one mistress.
Liv arrives in the West Wing as James deals with a raucous press corps demanding answers on Leo's claims. Liv slams into Cyrus's office and says that they need to hit back and leak some dirt on Sally. Cyrus says he has no dirt. As they watch, the White House reporter who got the text asks James why Daniel Douglas Langston's autopsy report wasn't released, since his medical records are government and public property. James says he'll "take" the question, meaning he'll get back to her when he finds out. Liv is psyched that they've got a way to change the conversation and tells Cyrus to fan the flames.
Leo is thrilled with how things are going, and gives all the good news to Sally. She's not so happy because she thinks their lies are catching up with them, and she thinks it's all going to shit because she went against her religious beliefs and condoned abortion. Leo points out that condoning abortion is the least of Sally's sins, and Sally says very seriously that she didn't murder her husband: "The devil murdered my husband when he snuck inside me. And the reason I was not vigilant, the reason I did not rise up and turn the devil away from my gate is that he distracted me." Leo's like "WHOA THERE CRAZY LADY." Sally adds that the devil snuck inside her and used her hand as a vessel of murder and sin. I don't know if Sally is going to make it through any sort of public appearance if this is where her mind's at. Leo looks nervous.
So Leo barges into Cyrus's office. Cyrus tells him to leave because there's no "electioneering" allowed in the White House, and Leo points out that Olivia is all over the West Wing. Cyrus can't respond to that, so he shuts the door and asks Leo what he wants. After they banter a bit about how Leo's going to have that office soon and how Sally can't win as a third-party candidate, Cyrus says that he's happy to expose Sally for the "pro-life homophobic raging bitch" that she really is. Leo counters that Cyrus is a "corpse-moving obstructer of justice." Leo's made his point – he know that Cyrus's hands are nearly as dirty as Sally's, so Cyrus can't play that card in the election.
Charlie and Quinn are shopping in a hardware store for killing people supplies. Charlie is lying to Quinn that Command is still mulling over whether or not she can join B613, as if Command doesn't just make snap decisions. I mean, once you know what B613 really is, don't you kind of have to be in or dead? Quinn says she'll have to get a regular-person job and Charlie says that they'll always have side work. An employee asks to help them and Charlie has a great time pretending to buy tools when he's really buying torture devices. Cyrus calls Charlie with "a mop-up job" and Charlie gleefully relays the news to Quinn.
Cut to Quinn convincing a little kid to get a ride home with her. This part of the episode made me queasy; I was worried they were going to have to harm a child and while I love the soapiness of this show, that's a bridge too far for me.
James is in Cyrus's office, begging for details on Daniel Douglas's autopsy so that he knows what not to say. All I know from watching The West Wing is that James is terrible at his job; the press secretary should only know the story that he or she is delivering so that he or she can be truthful to the best of his or her knowledge. Anyway, James makes Cyrus look at a digital photo frame of their daughter (who is…where exactly?), but Cyrus remains unmoved.
Liv walks into OPA and Abby immediately starts apologizing for her performance on the TV show. Liv doesn't care; she wants Abby and Huck to dig up everything they can on Daniel Douglas's death, because it seems like there's more to the story at the very least. Huck goes online and discovers that the coroner said DD died of natural causes and there was no autopsy, and the medical examiner never signed off. Abby and Liv exchange, "This is super fishy" looks.
Cut to Abby and Huck visiting the coroner at home, claiming to be reporters. She lets them in. What? Who would do that? I didn't do anything wrong, and I still wouldn't let a reporter into my house to ask me questions about anything. Anyway, the coroner claims that DDL had elevated levels of troponin, which indicates a heart attack. Abby wants to see the lab results, but the coroner hesitates and then says she destroyed the results because the VP didn't want the tests run. Huck slides a folder across the table and Abby explains that it's blackmail material; apparently the coroner has a drug arrest in her past. The coroner goes to her plan B, which is to claim that DDL was a heavy drinker, and he passed out and hit his head on the toilet and died. The camera pans into the room, where we see Quinn and Charlie holding the kid they kidnapped earlier, the coroner's son. Huck and Abby buy the story and leave; Charlie lets the kid go to his mom. Quinn doesn't look real happy with Charlie's tactics and she stares wistfully after Abby and Huck as they leave.
Harrison looks (sadly?) at a picture on his phone and then takes a call from David Rosen, who reports that Adnan Salif can't be deported, because he has friends in powerful places.
Mellie flits into Cyrus's office (which everyone seems to be doing lately – he should get a lock) and wants to know how they're handling the DDL situation. Cyrus assures her that it's handled. Mellie wants details, but Cyrus hands her a tabloid with a headline about Fitz and Olivia and tells her that she needs to get her husband under control. Mellie says it's not her fault that Fitz "makes googly eyes at Olivia in public," but Cyrus reminds her that she's the one who wanted Liv in charge of the campaign, so it is her fault, and she needs to fix it.
Cut to Mellie sitting in a restaurant as Olivia walks in to meet her for lunch. There's a lot of talking under their breath while smiling and laughing on the surface, because there are reporters outside and positioned at nearby tables, but apparently not close enough to hear what's being said? Apparently, they are dining in the Cone of Silence.
Mellie explains that she's saving Fitz's campaign by dining with Liv, because everyone knows she wouldn't embrace Fitz's whore. She adds that she's worked really hard to get Fitz where he is, and Liv will take him across the finish line, but she won't succeed if people know what kind of person she really is. Or what kind of person Mellie, Cyrus, Fitz, etc. really are, right? It's not like Liv is the only evil person on the campaign. Liv shows that she's no amateur by pointing out the various reporters and gossip bloggers stationed around the restaurant. Liv genuinely tells Mellie that this was a smart move, and Mellie says it's only the first step. She hands Liv a list of eligible bachelors and tells her to pick one to date publicly, to further squelch the affair rumors. Mellie's smart; Liv can't say no because it's a good idea and they have the same endgame – they want Fitz to win the election. Why they both want it so bad is another question. Mellie wants it, I guess, because she's given up her life and her dignity for it, so she can't back down now. Liv wants it because…Fitz wants it? Because she thinks he's a good man and good President? I get why she thought that ages ago, I guess, but I don't know why she still does.
That same reporter in the Press Corps gets another Publius text asking if she's still digging on the DDL autopsy. She replies that she needs more info and asks if he's got anything else. Has she done any actual journalism other than asking the question at the press briefing? Lazy.
Abby bursts into Harrison's office and accuses him of stealing her gun. He did. She reminds him that they're supposed to be the normal ones in the office, and he should have just asked. She wonders why he needs it. Harrison shows her the picture on his phone; Adnan sent it. It's Harrison and three former co-workers on a job for Salif. The other three are all dead now. Abby asks if it's a threat and Harrison replies that it's a promise. That's some bad writing. Come on, people. You can do better than that. This whole Harrison storyline is lame-o. Anyway, Harrison demonstrates that he knows how to load and unload the gun, and Abby sighs and tells him to be careful. I can't really read Harrison's expression in this scene. He looks like he's about to cry. Abby, on the other hand, has an amazing snake-print wrap dress on that she's maybe worn before? It looks fantastic.
Liv is doing a mock video interview with Nichols. He asks if she's testing his Q rating and Liv says they're trying to figure out how to help him to come off as less of a playboy. He denies being one, but Liv presents the evidence, including that he knows the difference between supermodel, swimsuit model, and runway model. Maybe he just likes to watch America's Top Model of a Friday.
Liv starts the interview by asking why he hasn't settled down. Nichols gives a really canned answer about how he loves his work and he dates women who do too, so it never works out. Liv tells him that's a fake answer, and she harangues him until he finally admits that he had a chance at love and he lost it. Gee, I wonder if that mysterious love will come up again. For once, I actually accurately predicted a storyline on this show – the second he said he had a lost love, I thought, "It's Mellie." Is that a spoiler? Do people really read these without having already watched the episode? Well, you would have found out in a minute anyway. Anyway, Nichols says he might get another chance at marriage in the future, but he's not going to marry someone he doesn't love.
Liv goes to see Fitz in the Oval. Liv and Fitz harass poor Lauren about whether she should leave the door open or closed and I don't know why she hasn't either murdered the two of them or run screaming from the room. I hope she's paid well. Anyway, Liv makes Fitz stand away from her, making it clear between that and the door open thing that this isn't a social call. She says that she can make Nichols work for the ticket but her gut tells her it's the wrong choice. And she should resign.
Ugh, then we have to get into the whole Liv wants to resign, Fitz doesn't want her to. Look, if she really wanted to resign, she'd walk in with her resignation letter. This is all just more bullshit between these two that I guess we're supposed to think is romantic but I'm SO TIRED of it. Liv doesn't think that the press will move on from the affair rumors as long as she's on the campaign. Since he has no response, he shuts the door and starts making out with her. GAH. Gross. Their relationship is a real problem on a show that wants to (and used to) feature a strong central female character. It undermines that when her boyfriend doesn't listen to her and shuts her up by kissing her and grabs her so she can't leave and tells her that he won't let her. I hope Rowan drowns Fitz. I mean, Liv isn't blameless here, but I feel like she could spring back to respectability if he died.
Anyway, Liv gets to the meat of the issue; she wants to know why Fitz put Jake in charge of B613, knowing what being Command will do to him. Fitz reminds her that he killed a planeload of innocent people, plus he let her mother go free, and he needs to be able to trust the person in charge of burying those secrets. Then they yell at each other some more about her resigning and Liv leaves, resigned to not resigning.
Harrison is working late at the office when he hears a noise. He takes out his gun but is still surprised by a sexy lady standing behind him. I guess SHE is Adnan. I totally missed that on first viewing. I thought she just worked for Adnan. Anyway, she says she missed him and starts kissing up on him. Harrison pushes her away but then succumbs and they do sex on his desk.
Cyrus finds Leo sitting in his office with his feet on Cyrus's desk. After some banter about how Leo's balls (look, I just report the facts), Leo says that they have a problem with the reporter questioning DDL's autopsy, and they must have a leak. Cyrus says he's handling it, but Leo says they're in it together. Cyrus finally agrees and they start talking about cleanup. Cut to James and David Rosen listening to the audio of this conversation in Rosen's office. Turns out the digital photo frame in Cyrus's office has a hidden recorder, placed there by James. Who has flip-flopped yet again and is now vowing to take down his husband, the monster. Rosen says this recording is a good start but it's inadmissible because at least one party needs to know they're being recorded. Rosen is also worried about the source of the leak, because Cyrus and Leo will probably kill him if they find out. James apparently never thought of that? Even though he knows his husband is a monster? Anyway, James is Publius. Duh. Who else could it have been?
Liv is at home, drinking wine, when Jake shows up. She lets him in and makes a crack about ruling the underworld. Jake explains that he was just following orders (heard it) and he thinks he can do a better job than Rowan did, and make the organization into something honorable. You know, honorable murderers and torturers who aren't under US jurisdiction. Liv wants Quinn back, but Jake doesn't have her. Liv isn't sure he's telling the truth. Jake adds that he wants to find Liv's mom and prosecute her, which Rowan would never do. Liv knows that her father started out just like Jake.
Jake says he serves at the pleasure of the President and Liv spits, "Don't we all." She goes on a rant about how she used to think serving the Republic was a calling, but now she thinks it just eats at you until you give all of yourself away in service of God and country. Couldn't Liv just…quit? Move away? Someone is feeling awfully sorry for herself. Jake asks her what's wrong and she says that Vermont is getting further and further away. He doesn't know what she's talking about and gets even more confused when she asks if he's a patriot.
Because she has a job for him; she's picked Jake to be her fake (?) boyfriend for the media. Fitz reads a story about the two of them canoodling in a public park as he waits for Mellie to finish introducing him at a fundraiser. As Mellie drones on, Liv walks up and Fitz has the fucking audacity to be jealous of Jake. Liv tells him to simmer down because this is the only way she can stay on the campaign and he knows it.
Fitz walks out on stage and prepares to announce his VP pick. Sally watches on television and phones Leo, demanding to know who Fitz has chosen. Leo's happy that Sally is back on her game (for now) and tells her not to worry, because he's on it. As Leo sits down, we see that he's having a clandestine nighttime bench meeting with Rowan. Well, it makes sense. They both hate Fitz and want to take him down. Hey! Maybe I could join their evil cabal!
Back to Fitz's announcement. And then a flashback to right before they went on stage, as Fitz and Nichols man-hugged in the green room. Then Nichols told Mellie she looked stunning, and as soon as Fitz walked away, said that he's dreamed of being near Mellie again every day of the last twelve years. Surprise! She's the one he's in love with! Mellie's the one who got away! Nichols jogs out on stage and Fitz, Mellie, and Nichols clasp hands and raise them overhead. Mellie's in the middle! I hope she has some really good sex with this Nichols dude. She deserves it.