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It's debate time! Leo is freaking, because Sally has gone off the deep end and instead of prepping, she's preaching and talking about the Devil. Meanwhile, Fitz's prep is going great, except Liv's not there because she's busy being filled in about Daniel Douglas's murder by David Rosen. Liv confronts Cyrus about the cover-up, and after they have a good disbelieving giggle over all of the candidates being murderers, Cyrus tries to convince Liv to keep the murder from Fitz. Liv vows to stay out of the whole thing, which should totally work out.
Jake hires Quinn, but sticks her in the receptionist seat. Later, Liv visits his apartment to decompress from all she's learned, and Jake asks her to run away with him because he's kind of freaked out by being the head of B613. They do it instead.
Rowan pressures Leo to get Sally back on track, since he's backing that horse. Leo gets Sally's preacher to counsel her, and Sally decides that she has to confess her murder to the world to get back in the Lord's good graces. Leo asks Cyrus to call off the debate or their involvement will be revealed. Cyrus decides to ask Jake to have B613 kill Sally Langston, and Jake says no.
Cyrus asks Liv to visit Sally and see what they're dealing with. After the visit, Liv calls Fitz and tells him everything, and then asks him to throw the debate. Later when Jake asks her to share their secrets, he realizes that she's already aligned with Fitz. Jake then goes and offers Quinn a promotion, and asks her to break into OPA and find all the details on DD's murder.
And so, the debate. Before he goes on, Fitz tells Liv that he won't throw the debate and, in fact, he seemingly taunts Sally, letting her know that he knows what she did. Jake dispatches Tom of Secret Service to assassinate Sally if she seems about to confess. He nearly pulls the trigger, but Fitz purposely tanks an answer and Sally takes that as her sign from God and gets back on track. The day, Liv visits Fitz to make out with him some more, which, gross.
Cyrus finds the bug in his digital photo frame and figures out that James is Publius. Cyrus cries and apologizes and James is like, "Okay?" He heads out to meet with David Rosen, Vanessa the journalist and the chick from NSA who gave them the tape in the first place. James tells everyone that he's decided to bail, but before they can discuss further, Jake shows up and shoots the two women, and then pulls the trigger as the episode ends, shooting one of the two men (unless they were, like, right behind one another and he killed both with one bullet). I'm guessing James is dead and maybe David Rosen is going to join B613, which sounds crazy, but look what show we're talking about.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!We open with Jake, in his office, delivering a speech or maybe talking to himself – we don't see who he's talking to, if anyone. He talks about how people in B613 aren't allowed to have family connections; Jake is from Indiana where his mother was a shopping channel addict, his father was a drug addict pedophile, and his sister is dead. Well, that's a cheery origin story. He goes on to say that B613 finds clay that is ready to be molded and people who have "no sun on the horizon" and no one to miss them and trains them into stone cold killers who can't imagine any other life. I don't like this Jake. I'm guessing the show is trying to show us how Rowan changed from a normal person into a monster, and how being Command changes a person, but I don't like it. And who was he talking to? Quinn? Someone else?
Flashback to Leo welcoming a reverend to Sally's house, where they are working on debate prep (Grant vs. Langston vs. Reston). The preacher isn't sure why he's there, but Leo says he needs to help Sally and reminds him that anything he's told is confidential. The preacher is still confused as to why Sally needs HIS help to prepare, and Leo doesn't really answer. He asks if the reverend is actually Sally's spiritual advisor, or if she just attends church once in a while for the photo op. Leo makes sure to get a dig in at the reverend for refusing to fly coach when Sally was paying for his plane ticket. The reverend assures Leo that he's a man of God who can influence Sally, and Leo opens a door and welcomes him to debate prep.
Inside, Sally is fake debating two underlings standing in for her opponents. Well, debating is probably the wrong word. She's excoriating Fake Fitz for being a "cloven beast" that fornicates with anything that slithers by, and has the sign of the devil burned into his flesh. She concludes her tirade by yelling, "Yum, yum, crispy piggy! Yum, yum!" So Leo doesn't think that will go over well with the American public? I wouldn't vote for her, but I would absolutely watch that debate. Anyway, Leo pats the reverend on the back and asks him to fix her.
Meanwhile, Fitz is also undergoing debate prep, with Mellie standing in for Sally (and doing a really good version of Sally's accent) and Nichols standing in for Reston. Fitz interrupts an attack on his character by "Sally" to defend himself and does a really nice pivot into his talking points. It's well done; in an actual debate, his opponent would have interrupted him by now, not allowed him to filibuster for five minutes. Fitz goes on to say that he's not proud of his personal failings – keep that in mind, because it comes up later. Regardless, Cyrus is thrilled, and he calls Liv and leaves a voice mail saying that Fitz is killing it and wonders why she's not there.
Liv isn't at debate prep, because she's in her apartment, listening to the tape of Cyrus and Sally on the night DDL was murdered. Huck, Abby, and David Rosen are there. Where's Harrison? Did Adnan Salif kill him? Is he shacking up with Liv's mom? Anyway, Liv is shocked and asks why they told her that DDL was drunk and hit his head; Huck says that the coroner lied to them. Liv doesn't understand why Cyrus would help Sally cover it up, since getting her out of the running would be good for Fitz. David explains how Cyrus pimped out DDL, which led to the fight. I kind of love how DDL's secret gayness is not even mentioned in all this, like whatever, the husband of the Vice President was secretly gay, who cares? Liv still doesn't want to believe that Cyrus was involved, but David says that they have a recording of Cyrus talking to Leo about it too, and a rushed autopsy.
Liv yells that if Cyrus had to cover up a murder, he'd come to Liv. Abby agrees, deadpan, that they are the best. Heh. David supposes that Cyrus was worried that Liv would do the right thing, and this is her chance to be on the side of good and bring a murderer to justice.
Cut to Cyrus's office, with a close-up on the digital picture frame of secret recording devices. I'm more curious about all the pictures of Cyrus, James, and their kid. When were those taken? I think we've seen Cyrus with his kid once, ever? Liv walks into Cyrus's office and says she knows everything about DDL, but Cyrus assures her that he has it under control. Liv starts crying, but then starts hysterically laughing, that kind of gallows humor laugh that's out of your control and is just your body weirdly processing your emotions. Cyrus is a little concerned, but between guffaws, Liv squeaks out that all three of the candidates are murderers. Sure hope that was picked up by the recording device, since I don't know how many people know about Fitz.
Liv sobers up and tells Cyrus that they promised Fitz a chance to run a clean race and win on his own merits, and now that's gone, since Cyrus set off this chain of events by pimping out his husband. Cyrus insists that Fitz has returned to being the candidate they loved, and he never needs to know about DDL. Liv points out that Fitz can't win if Mellie and Cyrus are in jail with Sally, and Cyrus says that Liv just has to keep the secret. Liv doesn't want to be dragged "back into the dark" (ugh, always playing the victim). Cyrus begs her to keep the secret, and Liv says she can't do this again. You know, she's acting like Cyrus is the only one who did something that would prevent Fitz from getting elected; Liv's the one who's been screwing him, and if that ever got out, I don't think his favorability numbers would increase. I'm not saying Cyrus is a good person, just that Liv isn't as good as she's pretending to be in this particular argument. Anyway, Liv says that she wants to "walk into the light and feel the sun on [her] face" so Cyrus is on his own. Well, Liv could still charged with being an accessory after the fact or obstructing justice, so I don't know why she's acting like she can walk away.
It's Quinn's first day at B613! Jake has her working the front desk, answering the phone, and selling paper for their front company, ACME Ltd. I kind of wish the front company was called Dunder-Mifflin, but I supposed that's trademarked. Quinn, the little asshole, is annoyed that she has to pay her dues and that she doesn't get to go out and shoot people immediately. Jake should just kick her out and ban Charlie from seeing her and then she would never be on this show again. I'm so tired of her and her attitude.
Rowan and Leo ride in the back of a car as Rowan chews Leo out for letting Sally skip campaign stops and avoid debate prep. Leo seems amused by Rowan claiming he's going to fire Leo, since Leo doesn't work for him. Rowan says it was a metaphor, and promises that if Sally wins, Leo will get power beyond his imagining (Leo's interested) but if Sally loses, Leo is fired (Leo is scared because clearly in this situation, fired means either thrown in a hole or dead). So in case you were wondering why Leo doesn't just quit crazy Sally's campaign, there you are.
Abby hands Liv a file with all the information they've gathered on DDL's murder. Liv thanks her and puts it in a safe. Abby wants to know how they're going to help David, and Liv says they're not getting involved, even though David may be in danger. Abby doesn't like that answer.
Liv shows up at Jake's apartment, all fake cheer, and carrying Gettysburgers. She's also breathing heavy which I'm guessing is a side effect of Kerry Washington's pregnancy and not a character choice. I know when I was pregnant, at a certain point the babies compressed my lung capacity and I felt short of breath if I walked more than like five steps. Anyway, Jake is surprised to see her, but Liv doesn't want to talk about what's wrong; she just wants to hang out with her fake boyfriend like a normal person. Jake pauses and then launches into a spiel about how he sold 1500 reams of paper and he's going to be employee of the month.
Liv realizes that pretending isn't really going to work so she downs a glass of wine. Jake lowers his voice and admits to Liv that being Command is freaking him out, due to the knowledge he has and the secrets he has to keep, and some days, he wishes he just sold paper. Liv wonders how they ended up there, and Jake says they could run away together. Do it! Jake and Liv on the road! Instead, Liv refills her wine glass and Jake says if she gets drunk, he'll take advantage of her. Liv smiles and says he won't, and Jake agrees.
Jake thinks for a moment and then blurts out, "Run away with me, Liv. Save me." Liv looks at him fearfully and then gulps her wine. She polishes it off, sets down the glass, and says, "Take advantage of me, Jake." I know these two don't have as much raw chemistry as Liv and Fitz but I still like them together. Also, while they are busy making out, those burgers aren't going to eat themselves, and the cheese on the double cheese fries is congealing. That's just irresponsible.
Sally's reverend is finished with Sally and tells Leo that his work is done. Leo thanks him and enters the study to find Sally looking in a daze. She snaps to and tells Leo that she confessed. He's irked, but then realizes that confession means something different in religion than it does in the legal system, and hopes it will help her feel better and get back to business. Sally says she'll feel better after she does her penance, which is to tell the world what she did so the Lord will hear.
Leo, slightly alarmed, points out that the Lord can hear her at all times and Sally yells that "HE STOPPED! SPEAKING TO ME!" Whoa. I don't want to denigrate anyone's faith but if you think the Lord is speaking directly to you, like a voice in your head? You may have larger problems than losing the Presidential debate. Sally is insistent that she must confess to the world that she broke a commandment, so that she can hear the Lord again. I think there are plenty of other commandments that Sally broke, starting with worshipping a power other than God (politics), keeping the Sabbath holy (I'm sure Sally worked a few Sundays), and coveting her neighbor's house (the White House), but I'm no man of faith. Anyway, Leo just has a face like, "Ummmmmmmmm, Rowan is going to murder me."
Leo scurries into Cyrus's office and insists that they delay the debate. Cyrus says it's not possible and pretends like he's sad that Leo's candidate is imploding. Leo says that they need to cancel it, then, and Cyrus is even more smug about it until Leo tells him, "If this debate happens, you are going to jail." So I guess they'll be canceling the debate?
Quinn is doing a terrible job dealing with customers, like, yelling at them. Charlie appears and acts surprised that they actually sell paper to people, so I guess he never had to pay dues. Cyrus calls Charlie and says he has a job for him, but Charlie says he can't do it because Command has put the kibosh on freelance work. Quinn looks interested.
Abby and David lie in bed, trying to figure out what to do with their information. David says they could go public, but the media would probably screw it up, or they could go the legal route, but Cyrus would probably call in some favors with the Justice Department. He wonders what Olivia Pope would do, and suggests someone put that on a bracelet. Yeah, maybe two seasons ago. All she would do now is make out with Fitz and then feel bad about it but not stop. Abby says that David could do nothing, and admits that she's scared for his safety, and she wishes David would take that seriously.
James finds Cyrus drinking in his office and asks what's wrong and how he can help. Cyrus says that whatever happens, the best part of him loves James. Then he tells James to go home and kiss the baby goodnight. James is like, "Oh shit, he knows that I know or something equally bad."
James and David have a clandestine meeting. James wants to set up a meeting with the two of them, along with Vanessa the reporter and Shelby the NSA agent who discovered the recording in the first place. David thinks it's too early to take any action (although we know he's really respecting Abby's wishes), and James says that Cyrus said he loved him, which either means he wants something or something bad is about to happen. And Cyrus didn't ask for anything, so James assumes something bad is about to happen. Well, that's a healthy relationship. Imagine dreading hearing that your partner loves you? Anyway, James thinks David's getting cold feet, and reminds him that they want James dead. David points out that they want all of them dead, which to me gives even more reason to NOT all get together in one place. Why make it easy? James thinks the four of them could convince the government to exhume Daniel Douglas, which will give them the smoking gun they need. I don't know why Vanessa and Shelby need to be involved; they don't have any more information than James and David have.
Cyrus meets Jake and says that he needs B613 to kill Sally Langston. That part actually happened before the James/David scene, but then the rest of it continues here so I thought I'd put it all together. You're welcome. Jake wants to know if Olivia is involved, and Cyrus says no, but she knows about it, and so does Publius. Cyrus just wants Charlie to take care of this problem. How will killing Sally solve the problem? A lot of people will still know what happened; as far as Cyrus knows, Publius isn't interested in preventing Sally from being President. Publius wants justice to be done. All killing Sally does is prevent Cyrus from being outed FOR NOW, but with all those people knowing the truth, it's only a matter of time. Anyway, Jake says no, because it's not B613's job to keep the President or his staff out of jail. Cyrus gives a big long speech about "murd-er-ers" and how people will stop paying taxes. Jake tells Cyrus that he's just a mouse on a wheel and the world is much bigger than he realizes. In other words, I don't have time for your petty problems, little man. Go eat some cheese.
Quinn stops Jake as he walks into the building and says that she's figured out that no one besides her had to pay dues, and Jake just put her on desk duty because he thinks that's what Olivia wants. She gives a big speech about how Jake thinks he's part of Olivia's family, and Olivia probably said that Quinn is too, but she lost her way. Quinn isn't buying that bullshit anymore, and Jake shouldn't either. Why Jake doesn't just have her thrown in a hole, I do not know. How dare she talk to Command like that? Jake tells her to be nicer to clients because they're losing fake business. I don't know who I dislike more: Quinn the Wide-Eyed Naif or Quinn the Bratty Teenager.
Liv sits in her office, looking sad. Cyrus bursts in and says they need to cancel the debate, or Sally's going to confess on live television. Liv doesn't want to be involved. Cyrus tells her that he knows that he screwed up, and he would take it back if he could, but now someone else is going to pay for it. He begs Liv to come and see what they're dealing with.
So Liv goes to visit Sally. Liv starts by saying she knows what happened, and she knows that Sally wants to confess. Sally says that she must confess. Liv tells Sally not to punish herself, and Sally says that people said the same thing to Jesus just before his crucifixion, when Jesus begged for a sign from God, and God did not answer. Sally also feels that "cold silence", and she thinks it's a fate worse than death. Kate Burton is an amazing actor because even if you think Sally is crazy-pants, her logic is rock solid. Although I guess the part where she considers herself analogous to Jesus might be a little suspect.
Liv sits in her living room with an enormous glass of wine. I know she always has a big glass, but this one is like the size of her head. It's taking on Big Carl proportions (shout out to all the Cougar Town fans!). Anyway, she calls Fitz and reminds him that in Vermont, they decided not to lie to one another anymore. So Liv spits it out: "Sally Langston killed Daniel Douglas. Cyrus and Mellie covered it up." Before Fitz can even spit out his drink, Liv asks him to throw the debate.
After hanging up the phone, Liv downs another giant glass of wine before Jake arrives with Chinese food. I'm glad Liv isn't pregnant like Kerry Washington; that baby would be pickled. Liv tries to pretend like everything's fine, but Jake wants to talk about Sally's crime, now that he knows, and he knows that she knows. That sentence suddenly turned into an episode of Friends. Anyway, Liv doesn't want to talk about it, even though Jake promises to keep her secrets.
Liv says that she's done terrible things, and Jake says that he has too, and he'd like to stop. He wants Liv to, and she fills in, "stand in the sun." Jake agrees with that phrase, and says plaintively, "Stand in the sun with me." Liv takes a deep breath and Jake realizes that she's already chosen Fitz over him. Again. Some more. Liv tries to apologize, but Jake leaves as he says that she's doing her job, and he should be doing his. I really feel for Jake. His background sucks. This job that he didn't really want or understand before he took it sucks. His fake girlfriend sucks. His best bro Fitz sucks. His life just kind of sucks, and unlike Quinn, he doesn't complain and whine about it, and there's really nothing he can do except maybe run away, and even then, B613 would probably track him down because he knows too much.
Quinn enters Jake's office to apologize, as well she should. Jake tells her she's done paying dues, and he's got a job for her.
It's the night of the debate. I still don't really understand why they couldn't cancel or postpone it. Between Leo and Cyrus, they couldn't figure something out? I mean, if I were Leo, I'd pay some doctor off to claim Sally had appendicitis and pull out. Anyway, Sally is literally on her knees backstage praying while Leo tries to give her a pep talk slash convince her not to confess to murder on live television.
Meanwhile, Liv is backstage trying to convince Fitz to throw the debate to serve as Sally's sign that she's back in God's graces. Fitz thinks she's nuts. So…he doesn't care that Cyrus and Mellie will go to jail? He hasn't really mentioned that.
Hey, Carla Steele is moderating the debate! Glad to see she's back on top after her interview with the oxy doctor got kiboshed. She welcomes Fitz, Sally, and Governor Reston (who you may remember from the season two episode where he killed his wife's lover then tried to cover it up by pretending she was being raped, then let his wife go to jail in his place). Leo, Liv, and Cyrus stand backstage and looks worried; Liv advises Cyrus to call his lawyer.
Meanwhile, Quinn has broken into OPA. Where is Huck? Where is Harrison? Why does Liv have so little security in her office when she has privileged and potentially criminal information around? Anyway, Quinn breaks into Liv's safe (the second person to do that in the show's history – get a better safe, Liv) and finds the file on Sally and DDL. Later, Quinn hands everything off to Jake, who goes through it and learns everything about the case that we already know.
At the debate, Fitz talks about the deficit and when asked by the moderator, Sally says she's more concerned about the moral deficit. Everyone sucks in their breath, waiting for the bomb to go off. The moderator asks if Sally is referring to the President's moral failings. Um, LEADING QUESTION MUCH CARLA STEELE? What the eff? Just because Sally can't seem to do anything but stammer and gulp water, the moderator doesn't get to prompt her. Anyway, Sally agrees and Fitz says that he's happy to discuss his marriage, but then Sally would have to discuss her, and it might be in bad taste in light of DDL's "heart attack." I mean, he practically makes air quotes around the words heart attack. Oh, Fitz. That almost made me like you again.
As the debate continues, we see scenes of Fitz and Reston arguing intercut with scenes of Jake telling Tom that his job tonight is to take out Sally if she seems about to confess. And then there are also scenes of Tom heading up to the balcony and setting up a sniper rifle. Are they really going to blow Sally's head off on live television?
Reston finishes an answer and Carla Steele asks Sally to respond. Sally just stares into space blankly, then appears to be gathering her courage. Then she swallows and says, "Ladies and gentlemen: I have a confession to make." Oh, shit. What she can't see is Tom, up on a catwalk above the audience, sniper rifle trained at her head. This is intense.
Fitz sees what's about to happen (in terms of Sally, not the gun pointed at her head) and jumps in and jokes that Sally forgot a Bible verse. He then goes on to say, "I'm proud of this country, and I'm proud of my personal failings." Whoops. I mean, he did it on purpose, but there's Sally's sign. Sally jumps in with Reston making fun of Fitz's misstatement, and then smoothly pivots and suddenly becomes the Sally we've known and love/hated all along. Unrealistic? Sure. But that sure was dramatic. Tom puts his gun away.
Leo is once again in Cyrus's office. Do I sense an upcoming buddy comedy with these two or what? Anyway, Leo loves that Cyrus tanked his own candidate to save his own ass. Cyrus says that's the end of his generosity. Leo says he's excited to renovate the office when he takes it over in a few months, and adds that the first thing he'll get rid of is the buzzing sound.
Leo leaves, and Cyrus hears the high-pitched buzzing sound he was reference. He starts looking around his office, searching for the source. He checks the lamp, then picks up his phone and notices that there's interference when he puts the phone near the digital picture frame. Exasperated, he unplugs the frame, but the buzzing doesn't stop. So he picks up the picture frame and finds the bug that James planted. Oh, shit, indeed.
Liv enters the Oval to find Fitz pouting at his desk. Fitz asks if he was good in the debate and if it's what she wanted. Liv tells him to grow up. That's a start. Keep going, Liv. She chastises Fitz for thinking he's above all the shit his handlers have to do for him so that he can sit in the castle and dream about Vermont. Okay, now we're getting somewhere. Fitz says that Liv keeps thing from him, and Liv says that she has to keep the dirt from him to protect him, and she won't apologize for it, or be punished when she does tell him the truth. Liv yells, "This is how it works. This is how it's always worked. There is no clean! Just like there is no Vermont." Fitz's face breaks and he pulls away, so Liv grabs him and says this isn't what either of them want, but it's what it is, so they have to stop pretending. Then she tells him, "Be here!" and they start making out. Aw, Liv. You were telling Fitz some shit that he needed to hear and then you go and kiss him? This fucking show.
James is at home when he gets a text from David Rosen, specifying a meeting time and place that night. Cyrus enters the house and calls James Publius, showing him the picture frame. Before James can make up an excuse, Cyrus says that it's his own fault, and James was right to lie to him. Cyrus is near tears, looking very upset. James cries too and says that Cyrus broke their family, and Cyrus agrees and gives James permission to do whatever he wants with their relationship. Cyrus concludes, "Just know that I'm so…very sorry. And I love you. I love you James. More than anything." Well, remember what James said: if Cyrus says he loves him, it either means he wants something, or something bad is about to happen. And he didn't ask for anything. So I'm guessing James is a dead man walking.
David, Vanessa, and Shelby stand on a street corner, waiting for James. Just as they think he's not coming, he shows up and says that he's bailing on them, because he's going to forgive Cyrus, because he loves the bastard. This scene is intercut with the same scene we saw in the opening, with Jake giving instructions to an unseen new recruit, explaining that the person is now the property of B613, and everything that entails. Meanwhile, David tells James that he can't bury this story like he's buried them in the past, and James is surprised, because he thought David called this meeting begrudgingly. David is like, "I didn't call this meeting" as we see anonymous feet walking. Everyone at home simultaneously goes, "OH SHIT! DUCK!" Vanessa and Shelby are quickly taken out by silenced shots to the head. The shooter is Jake (I guess – he walks up and faces David and James, but he also pulls a gun out from his waistband, like wouldn't his gun have already been out from shooting the two women?). He looks at David and James, swallows, and fires.
So here's my guess on what just happened. I think someone else took out the two women. I think Jake came up on the scene, and took out the shooter, which was probably some nobody hired by Cyrus. And then he recruited both David and James into B613. That's who he was giving the speech to in the opening and closing. My other thought is that he killed James and recruited David, but that was before I noticed that his gun wasn't out when he walked up, so I don't think he's the one who shot the two women. Anyway, we'll find out week.