An unnamed bunker under the White House is the most awkward place to be on the planet right now. There are two things they have to resolve; the really, truly, wretched mistakes Fitz made, and how they could ever bring Rowan to justice. Jake calls the Fitz/Jake bromance permanently off, telling him that he's Captain Ballard to Fitz. Because Fitz arrested Jake on a confession Rowan obtained from his own B-613 agent, then kept him secretly imprisoned, then tried to beat a confession out of him, then handed him over to Rowan, then locked him away in prison, and then hit on Olivia nightly while he was in prison. Jake also tells Fitz that he's going to un-friend him on Facebook, and stop following him on Twitter. To make amends, Fitz offers him a handshake if Jake will keep Fitz in his Google Plus Circle.
Sure, no hard feelings, hey can I borrow a gun?
Also, notice how Olivia would rather be anywhere else
Olivia and Fitz want to explose B-613 and Rowan. Jake says just kill Rowan ASAP, and he insists that only some guys somewhere that he trusts (didn't he get those guys killed last season trying to kill Rowan?) can do the job. Olivia has to take Jake aside, despite the fact that Fitz can still hear them, and remind Jake that standing in the sun means doing this as close to the Constitution as possible, and they need something on a paper trail to take Rowan down right. Jake looks at Fitz only to let him know that "standing in the sun" is their thing, something she doesn't say with Fitz, something he doesn't know about her. Fitz, sick of the guy who reminds him what a moron he is, makes to leave, when Jake brings up the files. The files that have been sitting in that storage locker for months, that Rosen has been consulting to get dirt on people in his way.
Back on the surface, Olivia's new client is none other than Lizzy Bear, rightly suspicious that there's something on her phone. She's spent the last couple decades of her life raising money and grooming candidates for the Republican Party, which means she's got so many enemies that friendship is a foreign concept to her. However, she's worked hard, and wants to keep her job and her privacy, so she's hiring Olivia and The Gladiators to find out who has messed with her data. Lizzy tries to guilt Olivia into telling her that Olivia likes her. Instead, Olivia reminds Lizzy of the flaws that can't be ignored, regardless of politics: Lizzy is mean to her staff; Lizzy takes credit for others' work; she cheats and lies. But hey, that's never stopped Olivia from working for someone and she accepts Lizzy's business.
Though, the less I know about you the happier I will be
VP Andrew Davis is enjoying the sunshine and greeting the staff at a restaurant where he just gave a speech related to West Angola. He's polite and kind and everyone's happy until his SUV explodes in a fireball. The West Angolan Liberation Front, not to be confused with the Judean People's Liberation Front but just as fictional, is the likely culprit, and Fitz wants confirmation before sending any more military in. Cy, until Fitz shows up, is nervously clutching his binder and fidgeting.
The day ends with Rowan calling Olivia, telling her he had to drink a bottle of expensive wine all by his lonesome when she didn't come for dinner. Olivia asks if fathers and daughters at war should really be dining together. Rowan says war is war. And dinner is dinner. He has two speeches this week, and this one clearly shows that he wants Olivia to choose him over the other men in her life. Maybe not right then, but eventually. Rowan tells her that he's the one who will be there to put her back together after Fitz and Jake tear her apart. Really, those two are going to tear each other apart, and make Olivia watch. Does she realize that yet? But Rowan isn't worried about the eventual fate of "those boys". Someday, he'll have Olivia all to himself. Someday, he'll be the only important person to her. But, for now, he'll settle for dinner.
With the attempted bombing of Andrew on the news, Mellie panics and appears in his office, gushing her concern. Like her husband, she has all the aides and medics clear the room so she and Andrew can stare longingly at each other before leaping right back into their affair.
Back at Gladiator HQ, Huck is working on Lizzy's phone, having already found a bug embedded in it. Quinn is sent to trail Kubiak, the man who killed two teenaged girls over pictures of Olivia.
With the existence of the files known now, Rosen is called to the Bunker housing Jake. Since Rosen only ever told Abby about the files, Jake helps Rosen play dumb about them. Jake looks a little regretful that "he" didn't use them, and Rosen tries to deflect Jake's judgement by asking if the files could be inflammatory. Fitz totally confirms that they could be, that they could ruin the public's trust in their government for generations. He and Olivia want Rosen to find a way to try Rowan secretly, and Rosen says something like a military tribunal hasn't been done in forever. Jake tells Rosen that "he'd" like to make up for sitting on them for so long by using them to put Rowan away now. Rosen, not fearing exposure but definitely annoyed that Jake is trying to guilt him, says he'll try to find something they can do.
Rosen leaves Jake in the Bunker right away, but Fitz and Olivia linger in the corridor so Fitz can tell Olivia that she's his after the downfall of Rowan is over. How is this his decision to make? After his truly horrendous mistake, he's still thinking that Olivia owes him "hope". He corners Olivia in the hallway, and she does take the opportunity to try to eat his lips, but she quickly pulls back, and insists that Fitz not accompany her back to the surface.
Oh, wait, I forgot- you're needy and grabby
While Quinn languishes in her stakeout on Kubiak, Huck has found out who bugged Lizzy's phone. Olivia meets with Cy, wanting an explanation. Her discovery of his snooping convinces him to sit down and explain how he fell for Michael's routine in the first place. His personal life is a series of failed relationships, culminating in the death of his own husband over a murder he himself wanted covered up. His daughter doesn't know him, and is looking like she'll grow up to have Olivia's abandonment issues. Cy throws himself on Olivia's mercy, asking her to betray her client for him.
Olivia can't believe Cy would ask such a thing. Cy reminds her of all the work it took to get Fitz where he is, and give him the chance to do what he's doing. He informs her that Lizzy wants to ruin this for them. The world has no shortage of clients who need Olivia. But Olivia has very few real friends. Olivia gives in to Cy, like she always does.
Olivia returns to Gladiator HQ, to find that it's Take Your Secret Son To Work Day. Olivia is a little curt, but tries to be polite as she sends Javi home. Olivia's big concern is that secretly seeing his son will blow up in his face. When she tells him they're helping Cy now, Huck is concerned that that will blow up in all their faces. But he helps, digging up all the pictures Michael has had taken of him and Cy, and going through all the information Michael had access to during his "relationship" with Cy. Olivia sits with Cy in her apartment, going through the pictures.
Olivia sees a potential scandal that's been caught in time. Cy sees it as a huge failure. He can't get over that he fell for the same scheme he's used numerous times. I don't think Cy actually invented this tactic, but he's used it enough times that he tears up as he savors the irony. He actually put relief for his own loneliness over Fitz's agenda and legacy. As if we needed yet another reminder of who the true love of Cy's life is.
Olivia covers for Cy, by blaming Lizzy's phone troubles on a virus from Lizzy's daughter's tablet. Lizzy is relieved, but Olivia hangs up and she and Cy immediately go over their next steps. Olivia sends him home, telling him he shouldn't see Michael, at least until her Gladiators have handled him. Cy is quiet, but is so angry at Michael he could kill the man, and takes Olivia's advice.
When Michael worries enough about Cy's silence to actually show up at Cy's place, Cy reluctantly lets him in. Michael plays the concerned boyfriend, and Cy is a little sickened at his act, maybe wondering how he could ever fall for it now that it's exposed. When Michael wants to have sex that night, at Cy's place, he reaches down and reminds Cy that his own penis is his frenemy. The look on Cy's face can make a woman feel sorry for men. But only for a moment. Because Cy decides to use his erection to hurt Michael, bending him over and having sad, creepy, degrading sex. The kind of sex where the one receiving thinks, "Should I do something? This isn't the sex I actually consented to."
Jake and Olivia are having their own creepy time in the Bunker. Jake hasn't turned it into his mancave yet, but he's threatening to if Olivia and Fitz decide to leave him there indefinitely. Olivia says that's not going to happen. She'll get him back to the surface. Back to the sun. She reassures him that he's the only man she wants to share the sunlight with. Is that true? Is her passion for Fitz now only physical, and she's emotionally tied to Jake?
I'm just sayin', I still haven't gotten a burger or a beer
Now that Cy has made Michael feel like a real whore, Huck can now announce that, despite having copious information to send Lizzy bear, Michael really just blabbed a couple things and left a lot of secrets secret. Olivia is intrigued enough to go to Michael first. He, at first, tries to deny being involved with Lizzy, but he's an amateur and Olivia quickly gets his full attention. She also gets a secret on Lizzy from him: Lizzy Bear keeps a secret apartment. The assumption is that she's using it for an affair, so Huck is sent over to the place to put some booties on and plant bugs and secret cameras everywhere.
The chance to share his work with Javi is too much temptation, and the kid is staking out Lizzy Bear's apartment from a nearby van with his dad, Javi can't believe that he's found his dad and his totally cool work, and Huck tries to agree with him. Javi is excited to hear that though they'll have to keep meeting a secret, they can definitely still see each other.
Back in the Bunker, Jake and Fitz are once again going at each other over Rowan's fate. Jake insists that storming B-613 will just get people killed, and his trusted guys, wherever they are, are the only people who should attempt it. Fitz won't let Jake out of the Bunker. Fitz says maybe Rowan can be taken down by getting him out of the B-613 office, into some neutral spot the can nab him at. Jake tells Fitz not to throw away soldiers' lives on schemes that won't actually capture Rowan. Fitz and Jake both basically accuse each other of trying to one up the other to impress Olivia. At first, she retreats from the discussion. But then, offers herself up as the bait for Fitz's idea. She plays the crying, heartbroken daughter well. It's the call Rowan has waited for, and he proposes they meet tomorrow evening.
As Mellie is trying to see if West Angola can give her any more ways into political influence, Andrew wanders in, and they are magically alone again. Andrew isn't angry with her, only confused over why she's decided to return to him. Mellie reminds Andrew that he gave her up to keep his spot on Fitz's ticket, and he looks guilty about that for a second. By the time Mellie was over the anger at Andrew's easy breakup with her, her son was dead and her world collapsed. The bombing attack on Andrew, though, brought her back to wanting someone to love her the way he did. She wants to be loved by someone while they're still alive, not hold herself back and be left with regrets. Andrew is all too happy to get right back to their affair.
Olivia tells Cy that Michael really is the worst political spy ever, and actually helped them discover something about Lizzy. She advises Cy that Michael might actually care about him, and Cy realizes that he's been awful to someone who chose not to ruin him. Cy and Olivia muse for a moment over how the people who claim to love you most can do the most damage. In this case, someone who cares did as little damage as he could. Will Cy decide to go back to the loneliness in which he and Fitz are politically safe? Or will he take a chance that Michael can be loyal to him?
With Huck's stakeout as boring as Quinn's, Javi decides to ask where his dad has been, and why did he leave? Huck tells Javi, with total confidence so the kid will believe him, that it's neither Javi's fault nor his mom's. He doesn't get a chance to even give Javi a kid-friendly version of disappearing from B-613, because Lizzy takes that chance to arrive at her apartment. With a man whose face Huck can't see. But he can guess what they're going to do, and he manages to get Javi out of the van, sending him for ice cream, so Javi doesn't see them have sex. Instead of getting a view of Lizzy's sex life, he gets a knock on the door, and tries to shoo Javi away again only to find Quinn there wondering why he's at Kubiak's newest location. Together, they meld their stakeouts to hear Lizzy Bear trying to get info on Winslow's suicide from Kubiak.
Before Lizzy Bear and Kubiak can provide the explanation for the obsession with Olivia, VP Andrew Davis arrives at the not-so-secret apartment. Remember their meaningful looks in the season premiere? Well, they're more than just political allies. They're even more than co-conspirators in some grand scheme. Andrew informs them that his latest affair gives him the chance to get a little space from the Secret Service. He and Lizzy Bear send Kubiak out for ice cream so he doesn't see Lizzy and Andrew's steamy kiss.
Quinn and Huck are about to marvel at this twist when their van window is smashed, and Kubiak appears, grabbing Huck by the neck through the window opening and choking him. Quinn picks up a gun, but it's stupidly unloaded. So, she picks up a screwdriver and immediately starts plunging it into Kubiak's arm. He shoves her away with his other arm, somehow keeping his death grip on Huck's neck. But, Huck's not done, and he squirms enough to maneuver Kubiak around so, his neck can be plunged into a glass shard along the window edge. Kubiak realizes he's dying too late, once the glass is actually stabbing his neck.
Huck and Quinn can only be relieved for a moment. Because Javi has picked that time to return to the van and see everything. Despite Huck calling to him, Javi drops the ice cream and takes off into the night.
Fitz and Olivia have set the trap for Rowan, and the father-daughter dinner is pleasant. Soldiers take up positions in surrounding buildings, with sightlines into the restaurant. With the file boxes seized from the storage locker, Rosen is marching his DOJ minions into a room, telling him that he has "found out" that the files are already organized and color-coded, making it easy to find Rowan's worst deeds. The file boxes are laid out, ready for Rosen's minions to open and start writing indictments.
Everyone's ready to make justice for Rowan swift and sure. So, when he launches into this evening's speech, Rowan at first sounds like he wants to make sure that Olivia knows he always loved her. Always sought to take the best care of her. Always sought to make her a powerful woman. He tells her that he's made every decision, every move, for her. She's always been his first priority. Remember two seasons ago, when he was declaring to Cyrus and Fitz that this nation's security and stability was behind every decision? Is he telling the truth now?
Rowan wants Olivia to know that he's done everything for her, because he has a few last things he's done for her. He's foiled Fitz's entire plan and killed his soldiers... for her. He's found the files and replaced them with blank pages.. for her. Fitz's soldiers go down from quick bullets. Rosen and his minions discover the evidence is gone. And Rowan castigates Olivia for conspiring with her lovers to bring him down. He tells her that the bright sunlight she wants to stand in blinded her, so she didn't see who she should really be loyal to. He tells her that she still doesn't understand the men she's chosen over him. And she has no idea how difficult her life will be without her daddy pulling strings from B-613. Olivia is crestfallen. Maybe because her dad saw through her. Maybe because Fitz's soldiers are dead for nothing. Maybe because Rowan's scoldings always have that effect.
Why can't I be evil and still be your dad?
Whatever the reason, Rowan gets in his car, and is driven by his totally not arrested driver away, sliding into the night for places unknown. Is he really leaving, like he said he was? Is he going to abandon B-613 and Command? Or will he stick around, to fight his own war with Olivia, Fitz and Jake? Will he take both of them away from Olivia in his own special way, and then tell Olivia that that was for her, too?
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