Scandal Season 6, Episode 5
“They All Bow Down”
Posted by Sage
Hello again, Lovers of Liberty! It’s SO good to be with you again, since the gif-cap took a bye week on episode 4. To sum up “The Belt”: prison is NO place for a former Chief of Staff, and Tom admitted that he was paid by someone to say that Cyrus ordered the hit on Frankie Vargas. Our assassin is still out there and the country still doesn’t have an incoming president. So, shall we see what Jake Ballard’s been up to this whole time?
“Not since Christ stood among the lepers has there been such excitement.” InDecision 2016 is Sally Langston’s domain, and she is currently living. (When isn’t she?) She seems to be a proponent of Mellie and Jake, but we all know she’s a fickle bitch.
Vanessa: “I feel like Jackie O. or something.”
Jake: *rolls eyes*
“America is not electing Olivia Pope. They are electing Mellie Grant and Jake Ballard.” Vanessa tells Jake not to get so grumpy about his “sister” (yikes) telling him what to do and instead to keep his eye on the prize. (Kim: “Every woman on this show is Lady Macbeth.”)
“He is after all…a murderer.” Sally is reveling in Cyrus’s bad luck.
She’s also teasing a sit-down interview with picture-perfect patriot couple, Jake and Vanessa. Who hate each other.
“That’s political money.” “It’s a political lie.” Jake is so done with this campaign and his fake marriage.
Quinn wants to help Cyrus, but Liv does not want to hear it right now.
“Huck found Vanessa.” Olivia spins some yarn to Sally about Vanessa having a vicious flu and being unable to make it out of bed for the interview.
“Lady, you are nuts.” “Maybe, but I ain’t sorry.” In reality, Vanessa is drunk and disorderly and just crashed her car into a tree with a himbo bartender in the front seat. She’s also defiant af.
“Did you wake up this morning knowing you were going to ruin our lives?” “Like you give a damn what I woke up thinking.” While the Gladiators erase all evidence that Vanessa’s little “accident” ever happened, Vanessa and Jake perform a modern revival of Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?
“You say dance, the monkey dances.” Jake’s version of “playing nice” is being faux-deferential to Olivia, insisting on calling her “boss” and “m’am” until she’s about to either slap him or do him on the desk. (Pick the second one, please, it’s been so long since we’ve had Jake/Olivia hate-sex!)
“Let’s get this over with because I am late for getting away from you.” Get Liv some ointment for that burn.
“I don’t want to win, I have to win. There has to be a point.” Olivia needs to win a “clean” election to redeem her shady dealings in Defiance during Fitz’s first run. She’s a good person, that’s her thing…
“Are you sleeping with her?” Vanessa isn’t an idiot. She senses the intensity between Jake and Liv and totally calls it. So, of course, Jake tells her she’s crazy. Then he fills up her glass, because no one will take a drunk, jilted woman seriously.
“There are places we can send you, nice places.” EVERYONE IS GASLIGHTING HER, THIS POOR WOMAN.
“Give me one more reason to LAY YOU OUT, RIGHT HERE, Vanessa…I am not here for it, not today.” Wow, Liv is only a champion for other women when it suits her, huh?
“I remember because it was when the redhead took my champagne away.” Someone was texting Jake on election night who wasn’t Olivia, according to V.
“It’s time to come home.” Papa Pope shows up to haunt the election night watch party. He hands Jake a folder and tells him to “take” what’s his.
“Anything you’ve been up to that I need to know about?”
“My dad died and you were leaving all the time.” Because he MURDERED HIM, girl. RUN.
Vanessa lays in Jake’s lap and he VERY SERIOUSLY considers strangling her.
“If you have to drink yourself to sleep at night because you don’t think you know me, I can’t imagine what you’d do to yourself if you really did.” Jake calls Vanessa’s bluff on wanting to really know her husband. She finally gets the hell up outta there.
Quinn and Huck start looking into Jake’s movements the night of the election. He left DC and ended up near Jennifer Fields’s cabin. Cool guys don’t look at explosions.
Jake’s been to a roach motel in the middle of nowhere eleven times since the election.
“He’s draining me. This is draining me.” Liv brings Mellie to Vanessa’s parents’ house to give her a pep talk about standing by your man.
“Standing beside a man you know you are smarter than, propping him up.” It’s a brilliant move. If anyone knows about biding her time, it’s Mellie Grant.
“Honey, you are asleep at the damn wheel.” Mellie tells her young padawan to figure out what it is that she wants when this is all over. It won’t just be her husband seizing power.
“I am free. So my advice to you is suck it up. Suck it up and run the world.” Vanessa does the interview with Jake and Sally. She kills it.
Charlie and Quinn go to Jake’s motel room, but it’s been wiped clean.
Her dad sets up a payment to her account to make it look like Olivia set up Cyrus. She got what she wanted, he says. He tells her to leave.
Some stranger bitch walks into Eli’s workroom after Liv leaves and basically calls her a liability.
“Olivia Pope has served her purpose.” She’s expendable, says random lady. Eli seems afraid of her. And if Eli’s afraid of her, we’re all gonna die.
Jake and Olivia meet up in “their” parking garage. Aw, just like old times.
Jake lures Olivia into his car. He won’t tell her way they’re going. He throws her phone out the window.
“I have a confession.” Jake reminds Olivia that beginner self-defense says to NEVER get in the car with your attacker. Yes, Eli asked him to kill Jennifer. And it felt good. He was tired of denying his true nature.
“Confession first: I obeyed your father’s order to the letter.” He leads Olivia into ANOTHER cabin in the middle of nowhere. (So many cabins.) And he introduces her to Jennifer Fields, who – per Eli’s request – no longer exists.
It’s been long enough. It’s time for this videographer to finally spill what she knows about Frankie’s assassination. But will what she knows sway the electoral college? And if Mellie makes it to the White House, will Jake be going there with her? Tell us your predictions in the comments!
Top notch Veep gif/all gifs! Also, “If Eli’s afraid of her, we’re all gonna die.” LOLOLSO True.