Abby is so blithely ignorant of Olivia's captivity that she thinks their morning coffee date is still on, sitting happily, then hopefully, then worriedly, on that bench. When she uses her obligatory check-on-Olivia apartment key, the wine stain on her white couch is like an air horn blowing a danger signal.
And she is off to Gladiator HQ first, rushing in and like the neighbor an episode ago, demanding to know where the black lady is. The Gladiators are just downright rude to her. She's no longer one of them. Not even being Olivia's friend is enough to convince them to tell her anything. She's on the White House staff, which means VP Andrew could have gotten to her. It's a shitty thing to do to someone so close to Olivia she has an apartment key, but Jake, Quinn and Huck are unanimous in shutting her out.
It's only later in the day, when Abby is briefing the President on how media relations for the war, that she just can't let go of all she suspects and fears. She timidly recaps what she's found to Fitz, who face freezes in horror that no one has told her. For once, he does the decent thing and sits her down and treats her like a fucking adult. Which sends her, almost immediately, to Rosen, demanding to know with angry tears why he didn't tell her. Rosen tries to pull the need-to-know card, but Abby throws it back, reminding Rosen that she's Olivia's best friend, and Olivia is her oldest friend.
So, everyone really just wants to treat me like shit?
Rosen placates her with his office hooch stash, and some nonsense about having more friends than just Olivia. Which is why no one thought to tell her jack shit. Was Abby supposed to file a missing person report and wait for the cops to get back to her? The more I think about it, the more I think going public with her disappearance was the way to go for Abby. Don't wait until someone takes pity on you, force some fucking hands.
Jake, Huck and Quinn finally get out of Gladiator HQ once they realize that the auction for Olivia can't be hacked into. They need a violent criminal with lots of street cred, connections, and some reason to want Olivia home safe and sound. Maya Pope, or Marie Wallace, is happy to help, once she gives up on the impossible dreams of getting out of jail, getting out to the jail yard, or even access to the prison library. It's Quinn who suggests a remote that controls a TV mounted outside her cell. Once Rosen establishes that she's limited to basic cable, the new team is off and killing. Literally. Marie Wallace has a buddy, Gustavo, who can score an invite to the Olivia auction, but the price is to kill some drug dealing rivals.
Try to make it look like an accident
Quinn, Rosen, and even Jake are disgusted, but Huck is more than happy to do the job. When Jake checks on him, he finds that Huck must've wanted to keep his hand in, because the place is a bloody mess. Bodies, blood, and even some entrails are scattered on every surface of the room. Huck, ever the B-613 agent, has determined that Gustavo will need proof of death. And, apparently, neither he nor Jake have cameras on their phones, because even Jake starts cutting off heads to display for Gustavo, who will keep his deal and get them into the auction, even if it's late.
Cy and Fitz have also finagled an invite to the Olivia Pope auction, through the CIA Director's old Shining Path connections, using Peruvian drug money to purchase a ticket in. Fitz shows some momentary disgust, despite the fact that the CIA is dealing with the fallout from his extramarital affair. The CIA Director keeps her voice neutral, despite the fact that the President has put her in a terrible position that will end her whole career if publicly revealed.
Cy is happy in the morning, buzzing around Fitz early in the day for signatures firing every single Secret Service agent and installing Navy SEALS in the White House instead. Goodbye, Agent Fielding, we hardly knew ye or how efficient your evil could be. Included in the papers is the paperwork for VP Andrew to resign and go home. Fitz bristles that Andrew won't spend a day in jail; Cy reminds Fitz that Andrew's VP job is his leverage, as well as the fact that a trial will reveal the real reason Fitz ordered West Angola invaded.
West Angola is Andrew's other leverage, and it turns out to be a pretty effective one. Cy is brutal but efficient when spreading the paperwork in front of Andrew to sign, and he's almost resigned to losing, but puts the pen down anyway. Sure, put him in jail for treason, just remember to keep the cell next to him open for Fitz. Cy takes this bad news to Fitz, who decides that they really just have to prove VP Andrew's fake assassination attempt was, indeed fake, and they can slap him into prison. Fitz will be able to hang the disastrous war on Andrew and Olivia Pope's name never need be mentioned.
Cy launches one of his famous offensives, now against Lizzy Bear, who is packing for a trip that appears to be for ever. Cy triumphantly announces that Lizzy Bear will never be allowed to leave the country, but cooperating fully with Cy's investigation of Andrew might keep her out of jail and with her daughter. Cy couldn't destroy Andrew today, so he'll settle for the one loose end Andrew left dangling. And Cy has fun making sure Lizzy and Andrew will never meet again, rubbing Andrew's eventual downfall in his face.
Andrew is left throwing himself on Mellie's mercy, only to find out she has none for him. He's damaged goods and she won't be pinning her hopes for future greatness on him anymore. So, Andrew threatens to end all her future hopes, with him or no, by warning that he'll announce their affair to the public. All of it. Every titillating detail. Mellie's brave face doesn't hide how much Andrew has fucked over both Fitz and Mellie. She muses on the scarcity of loyalty; he says she owes him hers.
Meanwhile, in some anonymous living room somewhere, Ian has set up his "Dark Internet" auction with the help of Gus, who is the cheerful guy who almost killed Olivia two episodes ago, and two techies. Ziggy, which is my name for him, has a mop of curly hair while Pete would look all business if he didn't look sixteen years old. Gus is fuming that Olivia is allowed to recline on a couch while she's sold, comfortable and dictating that she will not accept any bid under a billion dollars. Ian wonders, a little awestruck, at her confidence, even in the worst situation she could be in, while Gus fumes that Ian is getting weak.
Kidnappings are really when I do my best work
Gus proves he's right during the auction, just as Ian and Olivia are coming to an agreement that could really save her; he'll collect the five highest bids, and Olivia gets to pick the winner. She's about to agree, sincerely believing that Ian has warmed to her, when Gus has had enough and just shoots Ian in the chest right there. Blood spatters all over Olivia. Ian's body falls to the floor, and just lays there as a dead reminder that Gus is in charge now.
The techies give Ian's murder a horrified stare, but get back to work, hoping Gus won't kill them, too. Olivia freezes in shock and fear. She spends a while shaking. But she recovers and gets back to work, waiting until Gus has taken a breather out of the room to work on Ziggy and Pete. Olivia, at first, tries convincing the techies that they're not really bad people. That gets nothing. But hinting that Gus will kill them next gets a reaction, and Olivia uses it to softly coo reassuring promises that she'll get immunity for them if they'll fake a sale and send her home.
Pete, especially, looks like he might take the deal. But the long, aching looks he's been giving her aren't from wavering; they're from Olivia not knowing what these guys really wanted. She's been telling them that she can make their dreams of power come true. Olivia made the wrong guess. It's money that these two dirt poor guys have been dreaming of. They want a billion dollars, and if they have to sell her and kill Gus to collect, that's what they'll do. Olivia gives up, crushed that her talents are failing her now.
Gus ambles over to her couch, supposedly to get all buddy buddy now, but succeeds only in smearing the blood all over her face even worse. He also succeeds in convincing Olivia that he's even worse of a person than she knew.
Quinn and Jake, now with little to do while Huck bids on Olivia using the B-613 money he blocked and stole last season, ruminate together in Harrison's old office. It served for Harrison's predecessor, leading Quinn to think it's haunted, which is probably why she and Huck still share his little office and the conference room. She tries to calm Jake, who is still fuming at how horribly Huck lost control. Quinn is certain that once Olivia is safe and sound, Huck will return to his normal creepy self. Jake seriously doubts this. When is Huck ever harmless?
Fitz and Mellie try to update each other on the balcony, night and the end of the auction coming. Fitz wants to proceed with nailing Andrew to a wall; Mellie interjects that he'll ruin her tenure as First Lady and any Presidential hopes she had. When she asks Fitz for his deepest wish, and he replies that he wants their son back, she tells him, like Rosen with Maya Pope, that he needs to stick to the possible. She gives Fitz a desperate smile, full of her own hopes and Fitz's supposed backing of them. Fitz caves. They'll let Andrew keep his job, and stay out of jail. But someone, probably Cy, will have to figure out how to keep him away from any lever of power. And any potential future Presidential campaign.
Gee, honey, thanks for subverting justice for me!
Fitz gets more bad news in the middle of the night. It seems Gus went behind everyone's backs, or that a bidder did. As if the Dark Internet wasn't private enough, somebody went to Gus directly with cash. Even more cash than is on the auction board. Gus congratulates Olivia on her upcoming trip to Iran. Hope she has a hijab.
Fitz is pissed beyond belief. First, by the news. Second, by the CIA Director just trying to do the job Fitz has dumped in her lap. Fitz wants Olivia rescued before Iran can take possession; the CIA Director points out that success at that is unlikely, and that the threat Olivia poses can only be terminated by terminating her. Fitz fumes around the Situation Room that it's not acceptable before storming off to the Oval.
Huck, Quinn and Jake now have nothing. Well, they still have the B-613 stash of cash. But, they have no Olivia and no idea where she's being taken. Jake has nothing to say. Neither does Quinn, until Huck opens his yap and starts detailing how Olivia's captivity is going to go. The captor will make a demand, Fitz will balk. Olivia's body parts will start showing up. The routine will go on, Olivia kept alive as pieces of her are cut off, until so much of Olivia is cut up that Fitz decides she's either better off dead or not worth saving. At which point, her captors will just starve her. Huck is dead certain this is Olivia's fate. Quinn is certain, after just telling Jake the opposite, that Huck is officially a fucking psycho, and can't shut him up with enough blows.
Cy follows Fitz to the Oval Office, where he soothes Fitz with talk about doing the right thing. For whom? Olivia? As Huck has detailed, her best option now might be a quick, painless death by her fellow Americans. Instead, nobody's going to win and American military members are losing, not to mention the people of West Angola, whose home country will probably never be the same.
Is Olivia more important than everything else? You bet!
To Fitz, it's all got meaning. Because when bodies arrive at Dover, Mellie is there. To stand in the background, dressed solemnly in black, until the families need a hug from someone famous. And loving. And there for them. Mellie meets every plane, hugs every kid. And Fitz has decided that those troops have died, and will keep dying, so that Olivia can come home safe. Seeing as how Andrew no longer has leverage, the least Fitz could do now is stop a war even he knew was a senseless waste of life. But that war is giving Mellie lots of time with people who will do free TV ads for her in three years. And this is why Mellie and Fitz, despite the fact that they don't love each other and have done numerous hurtful things to each other, repeatedly, are made for each other. There's nothing they're not willing to throw away on the road to their own happy ever afters.
We can only see that Olivia is in some desolate, sunny locale. Who knows where they are, and who knows who it is that Olivia sees when her hood is removed. My guess, is that she will eventually see Daddy Pope. I mean, come on, who will use leverage over Fitz better, and with more diabolical effectiveness, than Rowan? Also, we haven't seen him in a while, and I need a speech by him.
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