Olivia Pope is still in captivity. Fitz tries to mobilize the security agencies to launch a search for her but he is thwarted by VP Andrew who has mysteriously managed to turn almost the entire west wing and Presidential Secret Service detail to his side. One of the agents boldly goes where no agent has gone before by walking into the Oval room to tell Fitz that he and other White House staffers are watching his every move and that they have been instructed to serve as his “support group” while he gives in to VP Andrew’s demands to declare war on West Angola. Fitz soon realizes that he is being watched in his home. Mellie notices something different about him and when she confronts him on the balcony he leans in close to her and tells her that her boyfriend Andrew had kidnapped Olivia and that she would be killed if Fitz did not declare war on West Angola. Mellie tells him there is only one thing to do and that is to rescue Olivia; consider me mind blown!
In his quest to find a person to trust, Fitz visits Tom Larsen in prison. That would be the same Tom Larsen that killed his son but we are not going to be petty about that. He confides in Tom and asks him who can be trusted in his security detail. Tom tells him the only place he can speak privately is at Olivia’s apartment. Fitz and Jake put their differences aside to rendezvous at Olivia’s apartment. Fitz asks for proof that Olivia is alive from VP Andrew and he is shown a video of Olivia reading a hostage demand. She asks for water and we soon realize that this was done in order to capture a reflection of Ian in the glass. The gladiators notice this and they run a facial recognition but they can’t seem to match his face with a name. Huck decides to take matters into his own hands by visiting Lizzie bear at home as she is putting her young daughter to sleep. He threatens to “cut her open and make you watch” if Lizzie doesn’t find out what she can about Olivia’s kidnapping. When Lizzie confronts Andrew, he reminds her that she wanted the war too and since he is on the way to being the next President of the United States, she better get on board with his plans. Ever the power hungry politician, Lizzie ignores Huck’s warning and doesn’t find out any more information.
Meanwhile over at OPA, a lady by the name of Rose is searching for “the black lady. The one in charge”. She tells Quinn that her friend Lois is missing and since Lois gave a spare set of her apartment keys to Olivia, she was hoping Olivia would know her whereabouts. Lois is Olivia’s neighbor that was killed the same night she was kidnapped. We still don’t know what happened to poor Lois’s body. The gladiators head on to Lois’s apartment and they find the ring Olivia dropped. They also managed to trace the last person that logged into the Internet connection in the apartment. This leads them straight to Ian.
When Fitz declares war on West Angola, this angers Cyrus. He reacts in typical Cyrus fashion by yelling at Abby and throwing things. He confronts Fitz about this and is ordered to read a report. When he finally gets over his tantrum, he sees that Fitz left him a message in the report saying: “they have Olivia”. When Olivia is made aware of Fitz’s actions, she reverts back to gladiator mode. She tells Ian that any person that has possession of her has control of the President of the United States. She tells him right now he is just a babysitter but wouldn’t he rather be a boss?
The gladiators still don’t have a lead on Olivia’s location so Huck visits Lizzie again. The next day, Lizzie goes to Mellie to confess. She shows Mellie her back; Huck had played a very bad game of connect the dots on it. Horrified, Mellie visits Andrew and she seduces him. When he falls asleep, she steals his phones. She hands the phone to Lizzie who in turn gives them to the gladiators. They finally manage to trace Ian’s phone calls to Harrisburg, PA. Jake goes to David Rosen and requests a drug raid on the location. When they finally get there, Olivia and Ian are long gone. When we see them again, Olivia is in different clothes, her hair has been blown out and they are on a private jet heading to parts unknown where Olivia will be sold on the black market. The episode ends with Olivia looking out the jet window and giving us a smug smile. uh oh, what is she up to now?
Happy Black History month y’all.
Written by Lady Sith
picture from madamenoire.com