How do you bring a show back from it's natural conclusion? Remember the end of Season 3? Olivia and Jake flew off into the sunrise. Harrison was bye-bye. Quinn and Huck were getting together. Abby and David were together. Jake left David what he needed to expose B-613. Rowan got his old job back, and got the whole crazy-terrorist-wife situation under control. Fitz got his re-election (or, I should say, his election). Cyrus got his precious victory. Mellie got her husband back.
So, why are we doing this? Why are we watching the characters un-resolve all their plotlines? Or were the plotlines not so much resolved, but avoided, so the characters could try to have lives? And what exactly will they be fighting this season? B-613 has withstood every attempt to destroy it. Rowan is right back where he was before. Fitz doesn't have to win another election, ever. Mellie is officially done meddling. Cyrus is rocking a new haircut and enjoying bossing Abby around. Rowan has made it clear that investigating Harrison's death is just going to lead to dead ends. So, what are we doing?
Apparently, we're going to watch Jake and and a wonderfully curly Olivia have a lot more sex this season. Starting with beach sex, which it turns out Jake is really super good at. Poor Jake, though, as the supply plane brings only gourmet food, rare and exquisite red wine, but no beer. That's the deal- you get a beach on an uncharted island off Zanzibar, but no beer. Hey, at least it's not Gilligan's Island. But hey, they get mail! Addressed to Olivia's island alias, not her. So, someone's been doing some digging. And clipping. Specifically, clipping a newspaper story on the death of one Harrison Wright. Jake can't get her not to open the letter, and realizes the honeymoon is totally over, despite what Olivia tells him in the car when they arrive back at Dulles in D.C. But we know better. Her hair is now stick straight.
Her first stop is the office, or what's left of it. Did she expect it to still be running with its star gone? Because, she looks crestfallen when she sees sheet-covered furniture, and a deserted conference room. OPA's one remaining employee appears behind Olivia. Quinn, despite threatening to kill Olivia the last time they met, can't resist describing Olivia's trackable weakness- the best red wines. She's even saved receipts! And she's kept track of Huck.
Or, we should say, Randy. Randy has no customer service skills, which is unfortunate, as he works a support desk for some digital repair service. Turns out to be a plus for the customers, though, that he will dish on whatever info he's gleaned from other people's devices. Sometimes, it's your IT guy who has to tell you the wife is cheating. Quinn stands back while Olivia tries to chitchat with Huck, who simply refuses to engage.
On the other hand, engaging is now President Fitzgerald Grant Jr.'s middle name. He's spent the last months firing his entire cabinet, and working with Democrats on an equal pay law, which I'm assuming means there's no Ledbetter Law in Scandal-world. Juxtaposed with media images that make it clear the public can't really comprehend what's going on in the White House these days, is Abby giving rapid-fire answers to questions, standing at the White House Spokesperson's podium. That's right, Abby is now working directly for her old boss's married ex-lover. It's all the better considering that Cyrus considers her so much less than Olivia to the point where her name is just "Red" behind the cameras. Cyrus, all bouffed up, Fitz, and Abby are discussing strategy on the equal pay law, with Abby actually urging caution in pissing off Grant's Republican voters and colleagues.
Grant is determined, though, to make something of his second term that is for others, and not himself. Or rather, be the President Olivia wanted him to be. Grant is also awful determined to ignore Mellie's state, or let anyone else remark on it. With no re-election... ever, Mellie is officially done. She's just proud of herself for wearing clean underpants, and disappears when she realizes the Oval Office has no booze. Fitz, when she's gone, points out that she's washing her hair, and he's picking his battles. And hey, the White House bowling alley will finally get used.
Cyrus, happy that Mellie is just not involving herself in politics, and that Olivia isn't around to make Fitz forget his job, enjoys the grilling he gets from the RNC Chairwoman, somebody who's name I don't get, so I'll just use Cy's nickname for her: Lizzy Bear. She's clearly the replacement for VP Sally Langston, now out of a job and presumably back under the Southern rock she crawled out from. Lizzy Bear is angry and bitchy about everything Fitz has done. And not done. Cyrus simply waltzes her out of his office. Fitz never has to win an election again. Cy doesn't say it, but his confidence and happiness make it clear that's literally what he's thinking every minute of every day. The next 4 years are a victory lap, and he's not going to let anyone de-rail it.
Olivia isn't as smooth with Abby, when Quinn orchestrates their reunion. Abby is impatient and hostile from the moment she approaches while texting someone else. Abby already knows Harrison is dead, and expresses no interest in coming to the funeral. Of the gladiators, she's the only one who's landed a better job. And she has definitely moved on, and resents Olivia's attempt to draw her back to her old friends. She and Olivia blow up at each other over who was responsible for Harrison's death, and who's betrayed who. Olivia decides to cut her first mate loose, telling her to come or not to the funeral. Olivia tells Abby there's no forgiveness for her.
I get Abby's resentment. Abby never betrayed Olivia, not even unwittingly. If she didn't succeed on the day when she substituted for Olivia in Season 3, she's always been able to think quick when there wasn't a spotlight on her. Unlike Huck, who tortured Quinn, who killed a witness and joined B-613, or Harrison, who let Adnan Salif steal data, or David, who outright raided her safe, Abby was literally Red Faithful. And yet, it's Abby Olivia refuses to forgive. For what? Not keeping Olivia Pope and Associates going without Olivia Pope? Did Abby owe that to Olivia? Abby sure doesn't think so.
While Olivia and Abby duke it out in high-priced designer winter coats, Jake takes the chance to catch up with David Rosen, a.k.a. The Guy Who's Done Nothing With All Those Files. Which David points out is not true. Classifying the files by how deeply scary and evil the information is and then hiding the files away so he can sleep at night could count as doing something, I guess. Jake says either get to work or give the files back.
Olivia, spending dinner without Jake, decides to visit her and her father's favorite tense dinner spot on the off chance that he monitors the airports for her arrival, books dinner at their usual spot, shows up for dinner, and orders her a good red. Hey, sometimes having a super spy dad comes in handy. Especially when your mom is a terrorist for hire who makes your personal and professional life hell. Or rather, made. Rowan denies having anything to do with Harrison's death. Twice, and definitively, but it's not enough for Olivia to believe him. He is then a little vague about Maya Pope's fate, telling Olivia only that she's handled, and Olivia guesses her mom is dead. Which is also not true. Even though Olivia doesn't really want to know her mother's eventual fate, we all know she'll have to learn through some future plot point eventually. Maybe Olivia knows that, too. Olivia concedes to her dad that whatever he did to Maya was the right thing. And Rowan offers his daughter some sympathy over losing Harrison. They won't compare losses. You lose people. Whatever.
Rowan isn't the only one who gets flight info from D.C. airports. Abby sees Cyrus in his office, only to get her second scolding. This time for not alerting Cy that Olivia was back in town. Cyrus sees this only as a bad thing. Olivia makes Mellie uncooperative and nosy. Olivia distracts Fitz. Olivia is bad for Cyrus' victory lap. When Cyrus tries to warn Fitz to stay away from her, he reminds Fitz that we all know how any future affairs with her will go. Just like all the other affairs. Badly. Fitz has Cy figure out if Olivia is staying long enough that Fitz will have to tell Mellie she's back. Because he'd rather avoid that conversation. Mellie might stop washing her hair.
Jake, despite not wanting to come back, is not wasting an opportunity to have all the good, old-fashioned junk food and beer a man with his body really doesn't consume. When Olivia doesn't seem as interested in comfort food, they try to pick out Harrison's casket together, and successfully ignore the phone. The door bell isn't so easy, though, and Olivia realizes that all of D.C. must know she's returned, because at the door is a very pretty, young, female aide to Vaughn, Democratic Senator trying to help Fitz get the equal pay law passed. And, oh yay, Vaughn has a mess for Olivia to clean up.
Senator Vaughn's attempt to talk to fellow Senator Sterling didn't go as planned. Sterling, it seems, thinks feminists are for screwing, and when Vaughn fought him off, she accidentally sent him toppling from the balcony into the foyer below, where he made a bloody mess. Olivia is the first to realize he's alive, and calls 911 so at least Vaughn won't be looking at a manslaughter charge. Her next call is to Clark, a lawyer buddy who wishes Sterling would just die so there's only one story as he reluctantly takes the case and tells Olivia she has no business being anywhere boring. Olivia mentions that an island off the coast of Zanzibar is less lonely than D.C., where she's surrounded by people she doesn't trust or who won't speak to her.
David's evening is spent delving through the files he keeps in a storage facility. Or, at least will, until Rowan figures out they exist. We get to see his super duper color-coding system until David gets a phone call, bringing him to Cyrus' office. How would David Rosen, disgraced attorney when he found out about Cy's vote rigging, like to be Fitz's Attorney General? David can't believe he's actually being pulled deeper into the lion's den.
Speaking of people who won't speak to Olivia, she manages to get an appointment to see busy, important tech guy Randy. With a phone she breaks herself so she can get some of Huck's famous customer service, she tries to convince Huck to come to the funeral and at the same time tries to see if he's reconnected with his family. Randy shuts her down. Randy has his job, and his video games, and he's going to be satisfied with them. But don't get his hopes up for anything else. Hoping is bad for Randy, he tells Olivia. Olivia shakes as Huck tells her unless she's back for good, she should have nothing to do with him. Zanzibar is lookin' good right now. Even I'm hopeful she'll bury Harrison and fly away. I can tell she wants to.
Mellie is having another good day, and that bathrobe is awesome. Fitz is patient as Mellie lovingly places flowers on her oldest son's gravestone, lays down on the grass over the grave, and slowly caresses her son's final resting place. Mellie has found her truth.
Jake and Olivia are also having an awkward moment. Olivia brings work into bed, fuming that Sterling, a probable rapist, will be lionized while the woman he tried to rape has to hide in the shadows. Jake's attempts at keeping things simple fail, and he eventually complains that every second they spend in D.C., she slips away from him, and closer to Fitz's world. And it wasn't Fitz that ran away with her. It was Fitz she ran away from. Jake, for a change, decides sexy time is over.
Clark, the lawyer, grills Vaughn and is disgustedly unsatisfied with her vague and conflicting answers. Olivia smells a liar, and when Clark has vacated the room, unloads on Vaughn. She's angry because she's willing to go to the mattresses for a woman who's been raped, but it turns out that's not what happened. Olivia retreats to the reception area, with Vaughn's assistant Kate, dark-haired, pale and pretty at the reception desk. Olivia gets on the phone with Quinn, trying to figure out just how Vaughn could possibly come out of this without attempted murder charges. It's Quinn, peering up at their wall of pictures and information, who tells Olivia that Sterling has a type- or at least, his female aides do - young, dark-haired, and pale. Like Vaughn's aide, Kate, sitting right in front of Olivia. No wonder Kate couldn't be dissuaded from getting Olivia on board. It was Kate's ass on the line.
David and Abby discuss Cy's offer. Abby says the secret of the files is safe with her, even though she also resents David's files, blaming his obsession with them for ruining their relationship, which I guess is over. Abby then gives the ex-girlfriend version of a pep talk, reminding David that he's a ridiculously good lawyer who vigorously enforces the law (well, she tells him she'll say that to anyone who asks), even if she hates him because of those stupid files. Maybe as AG, he could actually use them. Abby pretty much tells him to do so, instructing him imperiously to get some power and use it.
Olivia sits down for truth and tea with Vaughn, who confesses that she knew about Sterling's tastes. The fact that she just happened to have an assistant who fit the type could not be wasted- she sent Kate to work on Sterling's vote. When Kate finds out that it wasn't an accident that she was in the home of her attempted rapist, she's livid and unloads on Vaughn, who deserves every bit of Kate's anger. For a woman working for equal pay for equal work, Vaughn doesn't have much loyalty to the actual women she knows.
It's funeral time. And Olivia, arriving with Jake, has done a great job. It's sunny, the grass is green (isn't it still winter?), and one by one, OPA shows up. First Quinn, then a silent Abby, then Huck, stand together to say bye now. Jake stands back, willing to let OPA have their grief together and to themselves. Olivia reveals that no one else will be coming, as Harrison had no family and grew up an orphan. Rose petals are dropped. Tears are stifled and wiped. Aretha Franklin covers Bridge Over Troubled Water. One by one, OPA leaves, so only Jake and Olivia are left. And he doesn't stay apart from her for long. Jake's only distraction from consoling Olivia is the sight of a man in a black car, watching the funeral from afar. So even Rowan attended. Jake realizes that if Olivia stays, someone's going to have to stick like glue to her.
Mellie is enjoying the sunshine at the White House, a little to close to the balcony edge for Fitz, who coaxes her back to one of the lounge chairs. Mellie reminds Fitz that he was the one who had the "accident", an accident Fitz wants to talk about even less than he wants to talk about Olivia. Mellie will add it to the list of things they've just decided aren't worth discussing. Which is when Fitz tells her: Olivia is back in town. Mellie looks unconcerned, and asks only that Fitz tell her when he's seen her again. Fitz bristles at having to report to her, but Mellie has decided that keeping tabs on Fitz herself would cut into her cereal-eating-from-the-box time. She needs to devote so much time to boozing and cereal that she can't even wax her pubic hair anymore. And I think the season has already had its best Mellie line: "It's 1976 down there." So... Fitz can just tell Mellie himself when he's seen her.
Although, why Mellie even wants to know is beyond me. Her behavior in this episode, after we left them with Fitz being the one who collapsed, indicates that she doesn't care. About Fitz's career. About her image. About any potential political career for herself when Fitz is done. She does it to protect herself from caring; caring brings you pain. So, what pain would another affair bring her? I think the deal between them is now: you keep me posted, and I'll wash my hair and wear clean underwear.
Back at Olivia's apartment, Jake has called the car to whisk them back to the airport. But Olivia is giving the camera her I-can't-leave-well-enough-alone look. Jake knows what's coming. Olivia reminds Jake that Harrison, in order to rally them, used to ask, are we gladiators, or are we bitches? The question was apt- OPA is a collection of misfits and castoffs, who Olivia found and gave a purpose in life. Working at OPA- sometimes for good people, sometimes for awful people, gave the gladiators victory after victory, for people who'd been losing too much before.
Lizzy Bear, with the weird Paris-Hilton type blonde hair is pissy when David Rosen, who's a Democrat, is nominated as the Attorney General. That woman is one unfortunate tattoo away from being a comic book villain. I hope she'll bring the deliciously self-righteous evil Sally provided.
Back at Gladiator HQ, Olivia and Quinn, together, are at work. And Hope walks in, in the form of Huck. Who, true to Randy's word, has fixed her broken phone in three days max. The implication is clear, both between the characters and the show and audience. Olivia is back for good. She can't leave again. Zanzibar, like Vermont, won't happen.
Senator Sterling, still presumably unconscious in the hospital, is going to find things a little different when he wakes up. Olivia may have been repulsed by Senator Vaughn, but she'll go to the mattresses for Kate, and she succeeds brilliantly, casting the whole thing as a trial by fire for Kate, and a victory for feminism. Oh, and the best way for everybody to show their support for Kate? Why, support equal pay, of course! Will "We know our worth" become a new feminist slogan in real life? Just making the suggestion.
Olivia, confident that she's back and her mojo is still unbeatable, strides through the capital next to Senator Vaughn, who's going to stride right into the Senate Chamber and get us all equal pay. It's crowded in the main rotunda, but one face sticks out: good ol' Tom, member of Fitz's personal Secret Service team. Unbeknownst to Olivia or Fitz, he's also Jerry Jr.'s killer. But his presence means one important thing, right here and now: Fitz is here. And there he is, striding himself, as he rides the wave of legislative victory Olivia made for him. Their eyes don't meet. Their hands, despite a stray flicker of fingers, don't meet. But, I think we all know that's not going to last.
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