This episode weaves the stories of Mary Peterson, Olivia, and Mellie together. Jake's bloody body leads to the Russian doctor who will get Olivia to help Mary. Olivia will give Mellie her campaign strategy, through Fitz. All three women will try to ease out of the shadow of a past life, a father, a husband. Olivia and Mellie make it. Poor Mary doesn't.
It all starts innocently enough, with Quinn starting her day at Gladiator HQ, where she picks up the newspapers Olivia will read, the mail, gets some coffee going, opens up the conference room, finds Jake's bloody mess of a body sprawled on the conference room table...
You know, just a regular day at the office
Huck uses a combination of Karate and CPR to revive Jake. Huck and Quinn go to Charlie, who always knows the most interesting people. As well as every creepy and empty warehouse in the D.C. area. Olivia and Rosen meet the B-613 contingent there, where Olivia announces that this was her father's doing. Jake is alive, but Rowan doesn't yet know that. So, they decide to keep him out of the hospital and pester Charlie on when his black market Russian doctor friend will show up.
He does, and he actually doesn't want money. Once he realizes who Olivia is, and that she can understand Russian, his payment is a favor; go to a former KGB agent he knows nearby, and help her out of a jam. He's cagey on the jam, and Olivia is horrified that she might help a Russian harm her country to save Jake, but she's that desperate. While Olivia and Huck leave to help someone code-named Black Sable, Dr. Russian demands that Rosen help him.
Mellie, now in the thick of her Senate campaign, faces her fiercest opponent. Not the Democrat running. No, Sally Langston. Once again her Eagle Freedom Flag show has to highlight Sally practically hissing out her contempt that the First Lady would decide to do anything besides stand at Fitz's side. She insists that it's a huge conflict of interest for someone representing a State to be sleeping at the White House. She questions whether it's even legal. She also dares to use the word "opportunist", which, after her display after the funeral bombing, is rich.
Fitz and Mellie are panicking after Sally's tirade. Especially when Abby and Lizzy look dazed when Fitz wants to know if anyone checked on whether it's legal. So, now Rosen will be involved in both Olivia and Mellie's stories tonight.
Rosen, on the phone from Warehouse Hospital, confirms to Abby that Mellie would be breaking no law. Sure, it would be a conflict of interest, and maybe someone should have made a law to keep it from happening. It just never occurred to any lawmaker that a First Lady would ever want to do something else. Abby's indignant at that explanation, and Rosen realizes that he better come up with a better soundbite, or he'll have more than rocks from his feminist sisters to worry about.
He ends up doing a phone interview, once again from Warehouse Hospital, running through the constitutional requirements to run for President. Which, pretty much should be tipping all of Washington off as to Mellie's eventual intentions. Since this isn't the TV World, his TMI moment goes unnoticed. The country has gotten over the legality of what Mellie's doing. They just hate the conflict of interest. One could mention that Fitz doesn't set spending; Congress does that. But, Fitz's administration does write the budget. One can assume that everyone not from Virginia would be scrutinizing every single penny going to that state.
Mellie decides that she should confront Sally and her ugly condemnations personally; Fitz and Lizzy shake their heads. Cy texts from the couch, completely uninterested. Abby ends up suggesting that a man should face Sally. She hates suggesting it, and we hate hearing it, but she's right to point out that when a man stands up for women and their independence, people listen. And, what better man to go at Sally than her arch-nemesis, and fellow widower, Cy. Their spouses died from the fallout of their affair; wouldn't Cy love the payback?
No, he would not. Fitz's yes-man bellows out that whatever Lizzy has on Fitz, Cy will deal with it. The irony here is that Cy will be sent out to defend Mellie's right to a Senate career, but he can't see why Fitz would ever be helping this along. He's shocked that Fitz just wants to be a good husband. Fitz wants to make good on the deal he made her. And Fitz bellows right back at Cy to do the interview.
It turns out, that Cy almost enjoys himself. Sally devotes a whole segment to interviewing him, trying to get his goat in a few ways. She says that Mellie's marriage vows preclude her doing anything but being First Lady. Oh, Sally, don't make Cy remind you that you were VP while married. She invents a term, "Mother of the Nation", as Mellie's job. Cy, who hates bullshit behind closed doors, swats that away. "Mother" is something one is; it's not a job. The Nation doesn't need Mothering. Virginia needs a Senator. Sally tries to goad Cy by reminding him of his own, past wishes for elected office; Cy looks wistful for a moment. But, he's made his peace with the fact that his place is as the enforcer everyone's afraid of. With Sally's needling survived, he simply brings up dead Daniel Douglas. This ends the interview right away, and Sally's attacks.
Olivia and Huck, anxious to meet Black Sable, former KGB Killer Extraordinaire, can't believe that it turns out she's a middle aged grandma. Black Sable calls herself Mary Peterson, tells people she's from Wisconsin, and bakes cookies for her grandchildren, who she raises since her husband and daughter died in a drunk driver accident.
Olivia and Huck sit rapt as Mary describes how poor she was as a child in Russia; it involves a starved brother and no shoes. Apparently, the KGB lured her with the promise of footwear and an education. And, a life in America. The only catch is that she had to kill people. And she was good at it. Her fellow Russians, despite Huck's advice that they're dead inside, still managed to fear her. But, when the Cold War ended the kill orders stopped coming, and Mary assumed she'd been retired. She got a life.
Now, that life is threatened. Literally. By someone who knows who she was and where to leave her a kill order. Olivia is almost relieved; Mary doesn't want to go back to killing. She hardly could at her age, I might add. And, Olivia and Huck are happy to help.
Huck tracks Mary's would-be handler down; he's one Costia Pastanak. He pretends to be a butcher, which gives him a chance to slice up meat with an impressive cleaver while Olivia tries to negotiate with him. But, Costia's firm. He grew up just as poor as Mary. His town was so awful that the Communists sent their enemies there to die of cold. Costia is a Russian patriot; and he's got no sympathy for anyone who won't serve. Mary will serve Mother Russia or die.
Rowan, meanwhile, meets with Russell, who tells him Jake is dead. Rowan knows this isn't true, because there was no angry phone call from Olivia about it. When Russell can't get Olivia to meet him, or even talk long enough on the phone to track her, Rowan gets the bright idea to simply shoot Russell in the arm. Russell looks hurt that Rowan thinks he's more use shot that hunting Jake. But, like most of Rowan's plans, it works.
What part of, "You're just a pawn to me" don't you understand?
Olivia and Huck take a quick break from saving Mary to charge into Russell's hospital room. Russell's got just the story to convince Olivia to destroy Russell's phone and have Huck drug Russell so they can bring him to the last place he should be; laying right next to a barely alive Jake Ballard.
While Russell is enjoying Warehouse Hospital, Olivia tries to convince Mary to simply kill Costia herself. First, it wouldn't solve the problem; Russia might just send another handler. Second, Mary's had time to reflect, since a drunk crashed into her husband and daughter years ago. Murder doesn't just kill someone; it crushes their loved ones. Maybe she had a good reason to take the job- would any of us refuse it? But, she can't go back to it now. All she can do is pray to a god she only kind of believes in, desperately hoping she's forgiven for how many lives she ruined.
Olivia needs Rowan and Costia off her back. So, she decides to solve both her day's problems. It's a great plan; she offers Costia her father, giving him the burner phone Rowan gave her days ago, and tells him that Rowan's a much better kill than anyone else. Costia gets the kill of his career; and he gets Russia to forget all about Mary. It's almost like a breakthrough in American/Russian relations that will never be in the history books.
Olivia's only mistake is informing her team of what she's done in Russell's presence. When he turns over, he realizes that he knows Olivia's next move, and his target is right next to him. Russell doesn't get to kill Jake, as Jake moves around, setting off alarms on his medical equipment that bring everyone running. But, Russell does manage to sneak away in the excitement, find a phone, and tell Rowan. Bad boy!
The Gladiators are sitting tight, including, for now, Dr. Russian. They're waiting for Huck to confirm that Costia killed Rowan. And while they wait, Olivia takes her really unwanted phone call from Fitz. The affair's been over, she's totally disappointed in him as a person, but she's the only person who knows how to turn Mellie's candidacy around. She tells Fitz to play up the conflict of interest. Who wouldn't want a Senator who literally talks to the President every day, alone? Keep in mind, Lizzy's idea was to leak that Mellie and Fitz are practically separated. So, Mellie would have to campaign as damaged goods. Lizzy's in a box; she doesn't know yet how to turn a problem upside down like Olivia does.
Fitz asks her if she's okay. Olivia could have used this chance to tell him about B-613's eventual grand jury; she doesn't. Fitz tells her he's trying to crawl out of the hole he dug in his marriage. He may not love Mellie, but he can at least keep his promises to her.
It works; Abby, Fitz, and Mellie are ecstatic. Lizzy's going to have a successful candidate. Only Cy is disappointed. He moans to Abby that this is the end of Fitz's presidency. Who's going to take seriously a man who's wife can needle stuff for her Senate seat out of him? Fitz and Mellie are about to find out that sexism can ruin men. too.
Olivia, still waiting for the news that her father is dead, sits between Russell and Jake. Which, is awkward. Especially, considering that Russell is fake-sleeping and can hear Olivia's tender words to Jake about she feels so useless to him right now, when he's been able to move heaven and earth to save her. And, she finally agrees with him: they should never have left that island. Will they ever go back? Find another B-613 slush fund to support them in tropical bliss?
When Huck has no info, Olivia gets spooked, and decides the best idea is to go right into danger all alone. She gets there to see Mary Peterson and her grandkids shot in the heads. Her case turned into a disaster. But, just to show her who called the shots, she hears a phone ringing as she's about to get in her car and drive away. A phone ringing from her trunk. Costia is dead, too. Just so Olivia will know it was Rowan. She picks up the phone, worried that Rowan is right behind her; but that's not Rowan's style. He'll kill everyone around her, not her. He'll isolate her until he's all she's got. Which, he basically tells her before she hangs up on him and dashes back to Warehouse Hospital.
Why does my dad have to suck so much????
There, everyone can hear, including Russell, that Olivia is forcing them all to give up on B-613. There will be no grand jury. Rosen tries to fight her on it. But without Jake, the case is weak. And Jake is in no condition to testify. Especially not with Dr. Russian leaving in a snitfit over dead Mary Peterson. Jake still won't last without medical care; they need to take him to a hospital. Once Jake is there, the whole thing needs to be called off so Jake will be safe in a real hospital. Olivia verbally beats down everybody, even Rosen, over this. She's angry that her father won; but Rowan confirms to Russell later that she made the call. She handled it for him.
Rowan's quite pleased with the whole thing, but tells Russell that he's not done. There's a big shindig coming up, something called "Foxtail", and Rowan wants to make sure that Olivia doesn't change her mind on anything. For now, Russell's going to move in with Olivia, at Olivia's request, and be her lover. It's all very creepy when Olivia meets Russell in her bed later in a beautiful silk/lace negligee, ready to make him forget all about his arm. No one wants her to spend a night pleasing Russell.
So, it's great that that's not her plan. While Russell has closed his eyes, imagining something as per Olivia's sexy request, Olivia pulls out a nasty-looking gun, probably the same one Jake gave her a half-season ago, and points it hard at Russell's forehead. She wasn't as scared and helpless after that phone call from Rowan as B-613 thinks. She realized that the only person who overheard her plan and would have gone to Rowan was Russell. Doh! Never be the only one who could have snitched!
And now, she's heard about Foxtail. And she wants Russell to know that his life is about to get painful.
It's Fifty Shades of Turning the Tables!
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