We spend the episode going back and forth between D.C. and what will turn out to be a warehouse in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area. West Angola, which is so important Olivia had to be kidnapped over it, is barely shown and then only through a helmet-mounted camera so Fitz can stare in horror at what he's done.
Before I rag on Fitz for caving, I should point out that he did resist getting a ton of people killed to save his girlfriend. He was prepared to let her die. He was resigned to losing her. Three things convinced Fitz that VP Andrew was serious, and Olivia would really die if he doesn't invade West Angola.
The first is the fact that Andrew has prepared for this, and has boxed Fitz in, using the White House security system, bought and paid for White House Staff, and Secret Service Agent Fielding. Fielding's an awesome bad guy, simply waltzing right into the Oval Office and giving Fitz a beautiful, supportive speech full of veiled threats. Fitz goes through denial straight to anger at how VP Andrew has betrayed him and how Agent Field will make him miserable.
The second is that VP Andrew and Agent Fielding meet Fitz's demand for proof of life by making a very special movie starring Olivia Pope. She is a wreck inside and out as she's surrounded by Ian, still dressed really well for a kidnapper, and his video crew. They bicker about cue cards, but Olivia loses. All she does get is a glass of water, which she lovingly tips to drink from, almost playing with the glass as if it's the one nice thing she's seen for days.
This newspaper is forever ruined for Olivia...
The third is that VP Andrew can literally threaten Fitz in open meetings, with only the two of them knowing what's going on. Between Agent Fielding, the White House staff and security, Fitz can't even tell Cy what's going on, and Cy spends the episode becoming more and more frustrated at Fitz's un-understandable choices, until Fitz figures out that he can still write notes embedded in PR reports. Cy also returns to his normal practice of taking frustrations at his job out on Abby, who spends the episode desperately hoping Fitz's war doesn't turn into another Vietnam. Even by the end of the episode, Abby is the only character who still doesn't know that Olivia has been kidnapped. And then found. Sort of.
Did we just start the stupidest war ever?
Guess so
Fitz decides to finally pay attention to his administration when Rosen mentions that Tom the Murderous Betraying Secret Service Agent is asking for a pardon. Rosen easily dismisses even the idea that Fitz could do it, so Fitz shocks him by demanding to speak to Tom, who's managed to make an appearance despite being stuck in jail. Fitz immediately bursts his bubble, stating that he's only there for Tom's knowledge of the White House. Is there anyone Fitz can trust? Tom is sure there isn't. And Tom quickly puts together the reason for Fitz's visit. He repeats his comparison of Olivia to Helen of Troy, asking Fitz if he's really going to launch a thousand ships for his lover. When Fitz just wants to know if there's any safe place to have a truly private conversation, Tom declares that Fitz already knows the only place he can speak unheard.
Fitz ends up at Olivia's, where he hands over Agent Fielding's proof of life flash drive to Jake. Fielding, no doubt, thought that seeing Olivia scared over and over would help the war effort. Instead, Jake, Huck, and Quinn pore over every frame, every move, every light particle, hoping for clues. They come up empty until they realize why Olivia wanted a glass of water. Besides the water, she needed the glass. Her long sips aren't for strength, but for reflections. Olivia reflects a hazy image of her captor back at the camera. The Gladiators are on the trail.
I can't find her if she's not buying wine!
Jake, Huck and Quinn have been living in Gladiator HQ, trying everything they can think satellites can do to find Olivia, and tracking the man in the water glass. Their next break is one elderly black lady, who appears first with a cryptic request for Olivia's time. The Gladiators send her away, not willing to take on any new clients until Olivia is safe and sound and clean again. She makes an appearance, and Quinn tries, with the patience of a middle manager left to manage things for an absent boss, to find out what this lady wants. In the end, Rose doesn't want Olivia as a client; she wants Olivia's spare key to her neighbor's apartment, because Rose hasn't heard from Ms. Elderly Dead Lady in a while.
The Gladiators leap on this, immediately scouring the apartment. They find no dead lady, theorizing that her body must have been disposed of, but do find a wifi router, still blinking away. If the kidnappers were using the Internet connection for their surveillance, Huck should be able to find a signal whenever they communicated out. Rose the Visitor is quickly forgotten, and who knows what they tell her about her good friend, who is still going to be officially missing. Huck's attempt to track the wifi signal simply leads to a game of wandering pings, which quickly takes his cursor around the world. No dice through the router.
Whichever black lady you're talking about, we don't know where she is
VP Andrew's only weakness is women. Specifically, the two women he's fucking. Lizzy Bear didn't even know Olivia was kidnapped until Huck invades her home to threaten her and her adorable daughter. Lizzy realizes what we already know: Olivia has some messed up, but frighteningly effective people devoted to her. She tries storming VP Andrew, wondering how he could have carried out such a horrible plan. VP Andrew sends her away after guaranteeing that his actions will save their Party.
Mellie turns out to be far more dangerous to VP Andrew. From time to time, despite Mellie's deep hatred of her job, she turns out to be perfect for it. She starts the episode shamefully confessing to Fitz that she slept with Andrew recently again. It's a full, and heartfelt apology and as Fitz helps her zip and clasp, she reminds him that even if they're not in love, they still need to be partners. Fitz, who's already found out that every electronic and human ear and eye will root out every move and thought he makes, really super needs Mellie to stop, as he backs away from her with a horrified look.
Mellie's hurt at yet another rejection by someone she thought she could help, but Fitz makes it up to her later that evening on the Fried Chicken Balcony. Which, apparently, has no microphones. While pretending to be having some close intimate time with Mellie, he confesses to her that he's about to get Olivia killed. Because the thought of invading, and wasting the lives of American soldiers, is more than Fitz can do for anyone. It's Mellie who reminds Fitz that love means you bomb a small African country as ransom. Why she tells him this terrible advice is unknown; she hates Olivia, she hates Fitz for loving Olivia, and Olivia is about to die so that two countries don't have to go to war. Instead, she talks her husband into giving into VP Andrew.
Why not just let him run B-613 while we're at it?
Fitz declares war, and orders American military in West Angola; Cy fumes at Fitz's refusal to listen to Cy, and ruminates darkly on VP Andrew's new and total influence. Abby's not seeing the big picture, and Cy proves that her brief threesome with Fitz and Cy was probably just a one-night stand. Cy only loves Fitz. When he's not throwing mugs at the wall, he's growling at Abby to get out of his office as he admits to her that there's no coalition of allies for the United States in this war. Abby realizes that Fitz really did just invade on the fly, and scurries away before Cy can be pissed at her for Fitz's incomprehensible choices.
Olivia, despite being threatened with rape in the bathroom, has decided that she's fucking Olivia Pope and they will start feeding her accordingly. She demands beef stew and and an orange creamsicle. I'm not sure they're a good combination, but they'll do for Olivia to show Ian that she's not a helpless damsel. They'll help to gauge what kind of captor Ian is. He doesn't hurt her, only taunts her by blaming her for her own poor fare; Tyler, who she shot in the head, was the cook. She killed her own chances of getting anything good. Ian gives her a chuckle. He's not an emotional man. Violence is only a means to an end. Olivia's submission is just so Ian can collect a big ol' check. Money is his weakness.
When Huck makes good on some of his threats to Lizzy Bear, it's Mellie who takes pity on her and plays VP Andrew's scared lover. Andrew totally buys the act, reassuring Mellie that Lizzy Bear doesn't matter to him nearly as much as becoming the President after Fitz and ruling America with Mellie by his side. It results in some nice love-making, and Mellie wonderously gets left alone with VP Andrew's cell phones long enough to steal them and hand them over to Lizzy Bear. Who takes them straight to Gladiator HQ.
Problem-solving Mellie-style
Cy finally tries to have it out with Fitz in the Oval. Over a PR report on the invasion of West Angola that Cy refuses to read, declaring the war a lost cause and PR disaster no matter what the White House does. Fitz pulls rank, scaring Cy into reading the report anyway, so that Cy can eventually read Fitz's handwritten note buried in the report. Does he look flabbergasted because he remembers that Olivia is his friend?
When Fitz demands Olivia's return, VP Andrew disillusions Fitz. With Olivia already earning her keep, which isn't a lot anyway, there's no way he's releasing her. Olivia is going to guarantee whatever red meat VP Andrew wants to toss to the Party faithful, so he will be able to step right into Fitz's shoes in four years. While Fitz is confronted with American military deaths on helmet cams, Andrew explains that he's going to get everything he wants through making Olivia, Fitz's lover, suffer. Is Andrew mad that Fitz won't let Andrew sleep with Mellie? Or is Andrew just driven by naked ambition? He seemed happy enough in California, happy to help Fitz, until Fitz found out about his affair with Mellie.
Olivia's got her own plan. Tired of crappy rice, tired of her dirty bathroom, tired of her cell, and really needing a shower, she takes over Ian. She's been slowly piecing together Ian's part in her kidnapping, realizing that he answers to someone else, realizing that this is a long, three-year operation that will definitely end in her death no matter what Fitz does. Not waiting for her Gladiators, she decides to make Ian a deal that will give him more than what he's already bargained for. She offers to let him sell her captivity to anyone else who has a wishlist for the President of the United Status. Anyone. Ian gets even more money than VP Andrew has already paid him, and Olivia gets to hope that her next jailer will set her free. And a shower. And, maybe, a flat iron.
With Mellie coming through for the Gladiators, they quickly track Ian through his phone's area code to a warehouse in the Harrisburg area. As Mellie is joining Cy and Fitz on the balcony to tell them that VP Andrew is now the one in deep shit, Jake goes to Rosen to get the DEA as backup on their storming of the castle. Rosen can't believe, that once again, he's the one Olivia needs. He repeats it to himself as much as to Jake, with Jake wanting a little more hustle out of him. Rosen is happy to help, and Jake, Huck, and Quinn get a bunch of guys in DEA jackets breaking into what we can clearly see are those Red Doors, and that long hallway, and that grubby cell. Which are empty.
We find out why: Ian took Olivia up on her offer. He's arranged for Olivia to be cleaned and pressed and back in Head Gladiator Mode. She's certainly more sure of herself as she calls Fitz, briefly says hi, and passes the phone right over to Ian, who announces that while VP Andrew isn't going to be a problem anymore, every other enemy of the Fitz's will be. It's devastating news. Huck goes from hearing nothing about Olivia anywhere to hearing all about her, from everywhere. He's been around the block enough to realize that's bad news.
Private plan versus warehouse basement?
At no time, during this whole show, are any West Angolan casualties fretted over. Literally more time is spent with Olivia complaining about hygiene facilities in her prison, than on the civilians who die because of Fitz's choices. Only the lives of American military are cared for in the White House. Which is depressing, but sadly true to reality.
Does Fitz realize how weak he truly is? If Fitz resigns, VP Andrew will be President. So, that's not even an honorable option. Olivia doesn't want to die. We can tell. She wants to live, but she's negotiated away Fitz's duties to the rest of us to do so. Is she slowly becoming as awful as Fitz? As awful as Rowan? They're only hope, and ours, is if Olivia is really a chip off her Dad's block.
No comments:
Post a Comment