Courtesy of ABC
The B613 case might be dead, but Jake isn’t (#thereisagod).
Let’s bitch it out…
This episode answered a few burning questions:
- Who makes the coffee at OPA? Quinn (Katie Lowes), when she’s not stumbling over Jake’s (Scott Foley) mostly dead body.
- Is Liv (Kerry Washington) still as oblivious as she seems to be about her B613 lover? No (thank God).
- Do Scandal writers watch The Americans? Yes, judging from the inclusion of a cookie-baking, former KGB agent grandmother.
- Could Mellie’s (Bellamy Young) hair get any worse? No. Seriously, what is going on there?
But let’s back up and start from the beginning…
The fight against B613, AKA Jake’s Full o’ Holes:
After stabbing Jake repeatedly, Russell (Brian White) leaves him on the OPA conference table. As someone currently in the market for a table, I’m shuddering at how that blood is destroying what has to be a $10,000 expense. Since the team can’t take him to a hospital, Charlie (George Newbern) calls in a black market doctor. As Jake bleeds out, the doctor calmly negotiates with OPA. He’ll save Jake only if Liv helps his ex-KGB friend who, after living as an American for decades, is suddenly being summoned again to work for the Russians (oh, Putin!).
Liv meets with the Russian assassin-turned-grandmother and discovers who is trying to give her orders: Kostya, a spy/butcher on M Street who is an idealist. There’s no way he’s going to let grandma out of her obligation to her home country.
Meanwhile, Rowan (Joe Morton) knows Jake isn’t dead because he hasn’t gotten a raging phone call from Liv. When Russell has no luck trying to get to Liv to find Jake, Rowan shoots him in the arm so Liv thinks Rowan is taking out everyone in her life. Showing ridiculously poor decision-making skills, Liv takes Russell to her team’s secret lair and he almost murders Jake again.
To save everyone she loves, Liv decides on a win-win. She’ll give Kostya information about Rowan, because apparently everyone knows about B613 and killing Command would be a big win for Kostya’s annual review. In exchange, Kostya will let grandma live. Of course, Liv says this RIGHT IN FRONT OF RUSSELL in the secret lair. After Russell fills in Rowan, Rowan orders the murder of Kostya, the ex-KGB agent, and her grandkids. Liv realizes there’s no stopping Rowan and she needs to shut down the B613 grand jury before anyone else dies.
Just when we’re screaming at the screen at how dumb Liv is, she proves us wrong. She gets Russell on her bed, ready for some naughty time, as she puts a gun right to his forehead and orders him to tell her what Operation Foxtail is. It’s about time Liv proves she’s still got her wits about her!
Courtesy of ABC
Virginia is for (Mellie) Lovers
Meanwhile, Mellie’s run for the Virginia senate seat takes a turn for the worse thanks to Sally (Kate Burton), who uses her talk show to question whether it is unethical for the First Lady to run for senate when she’s already got a job.
This storyline is a bit of a dud for me, but it allows for an amazing head-to-head between Sally and Cyrus (Jeff Perry). You could see how badly Cyrus wanted to take Sally’s bait that he would make a better senator than Mellie, but ultimately he sticks to being a good boy and tows the party line.
In the end, the only way to address the criticism that Mellie has inappropriate access to the President as FLOTUS is to embrace it (thanks Liv). Mellie promises Virginia voters that she will talk to the President about their concerns every morning in bed. Unfortunately Cyrus now, perhaps rightly so, fears that Fitz’s (Tony Goldwyn) legacy is going to be that he’s whipped by his wife.
Other Observations:
- We all know Rowan’s horrible, but seeing him order the murder of those grandkids…what a visceral way to remind us.
- How did Russell miss ALL of Jake’s major organs with his million stab wounds? Worst. B613 Agent. Ever.
- David Rosen (Joshua Malina) trying to conduct media interviews while people are screaming about blood in the background = amazing.
Best Line:
- Charlie : “She was in B613 for like five minutes, she barely qualified for the health plan.”
What did you think? Are you glad Jake is still alive (for now)? What do you want to see happen with the B613 case? Sound off below!
Scandal is taking a week off (a two hour Grey’s airs next week) and returns Thursday, May 7 at 9pm EST on ABC. Here’s your preview