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| Photo Credit: ABC |
It's on. Like Donkey Kong.
After focusing on Cyrus Bean's dysfunctional nuptial history in last week's
delightful distraction “Put A Ring On It,” this week's episode
“Honor Thy Father” focuses most of its attention on the
gladiators' quest to expose B6:13.
At first it looks as if Jake, who
started this ball rolling by giving the infamous files to David
Rosen, has gone AWOL. Or to use the popular slang of the day, cray
cray. After literally being strong-armed and threatened by Jake,
David Rosen enlists Quinn and Huck to rally the troops—the troops
being ex-B6:13 agents Max Butler, Margo and Simon—to testify and
use their confessions to put pressure on Jake. But Jake's two steps
ahead, hearing their whole plan via wiretap, and presumably using his
intel to murderous ends. Charlie bounds into the secret agent hideout
only to find his comrades in torture dead, and a wiry, unhinged Jake
lunging for him.
Convinced he's gone off the deep end,
Charlie says Jake's gotta go, and after Huck whisper-confirms via a
short soliloquy about Jake being in survival mode Quinn reluctantly
agrees. They track Jake to Olivia's place, when he's actually moved
across the hall; he tells Huck and Quinn Olivia is safe, before
insinuating bodily harm will come her way if they don't leave well
enough alone.
The big reveal is
Jake hasn't gone cray cray after all, but that Holly, David Rosen's
assistant, was secretly a B6:13 operative and responsible for all the
murdering and mayhem (Now that I think about it, you never did see
Holly and Jake or Huck in a room together. Smart Shonda. Very smart).
Jake pops a cap in her dome, and informs Rosen that he always on the
good side, but in this fight, knowing who's the good guy won't always
be easy to tell.
It's a clever ruse,
setting up Jake as a potential big bad to obscure the real monster
lurking in the shadows. An even better slight of hand is the camera
pulling from Jake eavesdropping on David to reveal Liv also listening
to his scheming. After which she reads Huck for filth over trying to
keep their Jake under wraps, reminding him of the number one rule
when dealing with Olivia Pope: don't lie.
After imparting
that lesson in being a boss biznatch, Olivia gets a knock at the
door, smiles and opens the door for Franklin. But—surprise!--Papa
Pope, the aforementioned monster, also come for a visit!Dayum, Olivia
can't even get some on the side without Eli destroying her bliss. He
appears behind Olivia Franklin when she answers the door in the
episode's final scene. He might as well be Jason Voorhies wearing a
hockey mask and carrying a machete, given her reaction.
But I
digress. Up until that point, Olivia was continuing her journey back
from the brink and returning to something a resembling a normal—well,
as normal an existence as one can hope to have when they operate in
this world. She's taken on a new client, Congressman Nick Reed
(whom Entourage fans may know
as Adam Davies), whose
father George Reed is on death row for confessing to murdering his
late daughter's teacher Dan Hoffman after the girl committed suicide
over their illicit (and might I add illegal) affair. George dismisses
Olivia and his son's belief he didn't do it, but Liv lets George know
she's proving his innocence whether he likes it or not.
OPA digs and finds other victims, and
suspects his wife Lisa may have pulled the trigger, but when Liv goes
to her home, her sister says she died a few weeks ago. Olivia asks
Quinn and Huck to go search Lisa's home for any clues that she may
have killed Dan. They find a gun, and decide to call in an anonymous
tip so the cops can put it into evidence and possibly prove George's
innocence. Though ballistics points the finger at Lisa, Olivia puts
the pieces together—the gun has no rust on it, even though it
supposedly sat in a basement for 15 years (Liv knows her
firearms)—and knows the congressman pulled the trigger, not his
father.
George points to his son's status as
proof taking the fall for him an making him lie about was worth it.
However, Olivia counters his son's
life is empty, despite his professional success. She could also be
talking about herself and the way her existence has been molded by
her own father's desire to protect her. Recent booty calls aside,
Liv has no real friends (aside from Abby), no significant other and
her life revolves around her job, one she is preternaturally good at.
The dilemma Olivia faces now is will she rid herself of Eli, or
continue to “honor” him despite the havoc he wreaks? It's a
question the show has asked before, but one Shonda and Co. now seem
ready to answer.
Mellie's run for Virginia senator
continues to plow ahead, though this week it encountered a major
roadblock in the form of Harmony (Holly from True Blood!
Hey girl!), Mellie's half-sister. From the time we first met her,
being vetted by Elizabeth, it's clear Harmony is not here
for her big sis, repeatedly telling Elizabeth to pass word to Mellie
that she's “got her back,” passive aggressiveness dripping on
every word. As you might have guessed, Mellie's not a big fan of
Harmony either, but Elizabeth talks sense into her by reminding her
Harmony's discontent could be a political disaster if she's doesn't
nip it in the bud. Cyrus practically creams at the thought of
watching Mellie squirm as she welcomes Holly into the White
House—Abby compares his glee to a tornado chaser pressing his face
up against a window watching a twister in action.
As Cyrus predicted,
Fitz is none too pleased with the effect Holly's presence is having
on Mellie, and reasonably wonders how she'll weather a presidential
campaign if she can't make it through a contentious family visit and
dinner. I guess after you've had to suffered under the craw of
borderline sociopath like Big Jerry, dealing with a half sister
whose mother you blame for breaking up your family is a cake walk.
One the episode's
more interesting exchanges take place after the dinner. In a
delicious role reversal, Fitz and Mellie try to hip the other to what
their responsibilities are. Fitz brings up the fact that being
Commander in Chief often involves deciding between a bad choice and
horrible, with everyone hating you as the end result, while Mellie
criticizes his lack of First Lady tact in working to deflate any
tension or uncomfortable moments between her and Harmony,
Fitz take the
advice to heart, and the next day tells Harmony the reason why Mellie
treats her like crap is because she's still hurting over her father
leaving her mother, and cites it as the reason for Mellie's
bottomless drive and ambition. He might be saying this primarily to
get Harmony off the warpath, but dammit if that's not true.
Eli's
back. Fitz and Mellie are united. And David Rosen's feeling so
righteous you'll have to pry the white hat from his cold dead hands.
Like I said, it's on.
Other Thoughts:
---Cyrus on Holly's
wardrobe: “You look....festive.”
--Love that Abby
and Liv dish the dirt over the phone, while Liv also mentions she's
about to make the administration look hella bad to exonerate George
Reed.
--Drunk Mellie made
a cameo appearance, telling Fitz after her disastrous Holly dinner
to“Go, let me enjoy my hooch.” Even in brief scenes, Drunk Mellie
rules.
--Turns
out Franklin (Brian White), the handsome stranger Liv picked up at
the bar back in “It's Good To Be Kink,” appears to be sticking
around, though Liv politely but assertively says their one night
stand is the extent of their relationship. Then again, Huck and Quinn
did find Franklin laid up in Liv's place, and there was that whole
business with Papa Pope, so you put it together.
--Holly's hobbies
include making soap out of dead animal fat. Just thought that should
be documented.
--LOL Moment: the
look of confusion and disappointment on Cyrus' face as Fitz and
Mellie commit to making her president. I swear I was waiting for Cy
to mumble “Curses!” under his breath.
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