05x21 - That's My Girl
Posted: 05/13/16 07:32
Richard: My father wanted a grandson.
And when I say "wanted," I mean he all but insisted.
[Chuckles]
As you know, biology doesn't work that way.
So out came Vanessa, a girl.
And I'll tell you, Jake old pal, when I saw that cute little face of hers, I didn't give a rat's ass what my father thought.
[Laughs]
[Chuckles] Thank you.
Anyhow, this is my long-winded way of saying that you're the son I never thought I wanted.
To have you here as part of our family, that just... just...
Ohh!
Ohh!
[Inhales sharply] Call 911!
Ohh.
[Panting]
What are you waiting for?
I'm sorry, sir.
I'm touched that you think of me as a son, but there's another man... who thinks of me as his son, too.
And he feels that Vanessa's inheritance will open some important doors for us.
[Groans]
[Body thuds]
[Groans]
♪
It's only a few more seconds.
[Panting]
[Groans]
Almost there.
♪
Operator, I have an emergency.
Oh, God.
I hope it's not too late.
[Camera shutter clicking]
[Camera shutter clicking]
[Door opens]
[Laughing]
Thomas! [Laughs]
The Trib is up its own ass again.
You should see who they think we're talking to for VP.
Like we'd go with Simmons?
The man looks like a troll.
What?
Is that...?
Tom: He's renting an apartment in Virginia.
It's under his aunt's name.
She signed the lease for him, did all the paperwork.
Is Ella going to school?
No, but he's hired her a tutor... a couple of them, actually.
One for all the academic stuff, and another one for art and music.
[Sighs]
What do you want to do?
Finish my coffee.
And then pick a VP.
[Camera shutter clicking]
All this week, the "Liberty Report" will be coming to you live from the Republican convention here in Baltimore.
Behind me, the splendid Grant Arena.
Named for the famous general, not the man-child that's been soiling his pants at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for the last eight years.
The question for both parties this week...
Who will the two candidates, Frankie Vargas and Mellie Grant, pick to be their respective vice presidents?
Cut.
[Camera shutter clicking]
Let's make this fast.
[Door closes]
I know it's hard for you to believe, but I have more important things to do than expunge your speeding tickets.
How would you like to be Frankie Vargas' running mate?
You said make it fast.
Vice President?
Vice president.
Of the United States of America?
Well, now I'm not so sure. You seem kind of slow.
Yeah, n... I'm not slow.
It's just... Come on. What's the hitch?
What do you get out of making me Vice President?
I get David Rosen, a bright, seasoned, Democrat who dutifully served a Republican President.
That's the kind of honest-across-the-aisle soldier we need in support of a charismatic but admittedly somewhat leftist leader in Frankie Vargas.
No, I mean, whom do I have to k*ll for you... or imprison for you?
What does the Dark Lord Master Cyrus Beene want in return for this?
I did dabble in darkness for the last decade or so.
I'll admit that.
But then I met Frankie.
Let me tell you, Rosen.
He's... once in a lifetime.
He wants to make the world a better place, actually make the world a better place.
You two are cut from the same cloth.
♪
We've narrowed it down to three VP candidates.
They still need to be vetted, but each of them are excellent options, all possessing the three M's.
The three M's?
Male, married, and m*llitary.
Alden McKay served two terms as governor of Nevada, a swing state.
He's pro-life, pro-g*ns, pro-all-things-Republican.
I know what you're getting at.
Besides a speeding ticket a few years ago, I'd say I'm squeaky clean.
He's squeaky clean, all right.
Before he joined the Marines, his side gig was giving late-night scrub and tugs to rich foreign dudes at an after-hours bath house.
"Scrub and tug?"
It's when a man gets his...
[Gasps] Never mind. I figured it out.
Quinn: Senator Joe Walton from Texas.
Ex-Navy SEAL, married to his high-school sweetheart, loved by his fellow conservatives because...
I believe taxes are way too high.
People should keep their money.
Nobody's better at keeping his money than the Senator.
When he was 26, he was a part of a scheme that involved selling expired condoms.
He made $475,000.
Never reported it to the IRS.
How'd you find that out?
You don't want to know.
Governor Bill Wagner of Missouri.
Governor Wagner graduated from Columbia, served in the Senate for eight years before becoming governor, highly respected by the far right.
I was a coke dealer.
Excuse me?
Back in college.
I used the money to pay off my student loans.
Even flew to Bogota a couple of times.
I didn't do it for very long, and only one person in the world knows about it.
But it happened.
I would love nothing more than to be your Vice President, and I would hate to be defined by the sins of my past.
That said, I think it's only fair you know everything about me before you make your decision...
The good and the bad.
He's perfect.
We couldn't even dream him up.
Even Democrats love him. But cocaine?
Cocaine aside, he has everything we need...
m*llitary experience, charisma, family man...
Don't forget felon.
He didn't lie about it. That says something.
Think we can clean him up in time?
We can try.
Good. Get on it.
[Door opens]
Edison, what are you doing here?
[Echoing] Tell Liv I need her help.
Tell her I want to escape.
Tell I'm chasing the sun.
[Sighs] Jake said that?
He's your father's prisoner, Liv... his puppet, just like I was.
Well, I appreciate you delivering the message, Edison.
It was very kind of you.
Unfortunately, though, I do have a convention to prepare for, so...
That's it? He's asking you for a life raft, Liv.
I understand that.
I'm not asking you if you understand.
I'm asking you what are you gonna do about it?
♪
I see.
It's not like that.
Sure it isn't.
[Sighs]
[Door opens]
Liv.
What?!
[Door closes]
You might want to reconsider.
♪
Vanessa's father?
It says he d*ed of a heart att*ck, but we both know that's a lie.
Vanessa just inherited half a billion dollars.
Your father's building a w*r chest.
He's planning something, and whatever it is, you know he's gonna drag Jake into it.
You need to save him.
I can't.
Liv!
I can't!
My father will k*ll him.
If he even thinks that I tried to help him, he'll k*ll him.
You know that.
♪
[Camera shutter clicking]
No doubt I can b*at Mellie Grant.
Her weaknesses are my strengths, and my campaign manager, Cyrus Beene, has a tremendous...
Speak of the devil.
Mr. Beene.
Eli Pope. Pleasure.
Indeed.
Eli was considering throwing his support behind us.
$30 million worth of support.
How generous.
That kind of cash screams super PAC, and campaign finance laws forbid the candidate from having any dealing.
Enough said.
It's nice to meet you, Eli.
You're not welcome here.
If I only went where I was welcome, I'd never leave the house.
Go on, get to it. Make your idle thr*at.
How would Frankie feel knowing that he was a paper champion, a puppet?
That the sh**ting in Harrisburg was nothing more than theater?
That his campaign manager engineered m*rder to make him a hero?
What do you want?
For your candidate to win.
Okay.
Put Jake Ballard on the ticket as VP.
[Camera shutter clicks]
Doug Morton?
Yeah.
Hi. That's me. What can I do you for?
Maybe you want to start a college fund, secure a loan, maybe start planning for retirement?
[Camera shutter clicking]
I'm sorry. Who's Anthony Musser?
He's you.
You're him.
No. See, I-I'm Doug.
Doug Morton.
Anthony Musser is your new identity.
Passport, driver's license, and a deed to a two-bedroom condo in Albuquerque.
Albuquerque?
You did a bad thing, Anthony.
Dealing cocaine with Bill Wagner.
Can't risk that getting out.
I have no idea what you're talking about.
[Quinn chuckles]
Well, look, that was like 35 years ago, okay?
A-And y-y-you people...
I'm gonna call the cops.
No, you're not, Anthony.
No, you're not calling the cops.
Th-This is insane.
My name is Doug... Doug Morton.
And I am not moving to Alb...
You are moving to Albuquerque, Anthony.
Or we do need to discuss retirement.
♪
[Camera shutter clicking]
Mellie's camp wants to know where we're at with your convention speech.
I'll have it first thing in the morning.
Mellie wants final approval over content and length.
It can be 20 minutes. It can be 40 minutes.
She'd like it no more that 30.
Done.
Mellie also wants you to speak opening night of the convention.
Not the final night?
She wants that night to herself.
She thinks it would better demarcate the past and the future.
I'm already the past?
In her mind.
I get that.
Thank you, sir, for being so amenable.
Figure what the hell?
I'm out of here soon, right?
You make the White House sound like prison.
It is.
But in five months...
I'll be a free man.
I'll be able to go anywhere in the world.
Maybe I'll write my memoirs in Paris or London... or head back to Santa Barbara.
All nice options, sir.
Who knows?
Maybe I'll even end up in Vermont.
Vermont?
It's a possibility.
Yes, sir.
Thank you, sir.
♪
So, what do you think about this Admiral Jake Ballard?
Eli Pope was pushing him at that donor meeting, and the more I look, the more I think he might actually be a decent Vice President.
Thought I'd run it by you, get your take.
My take?
You've always got one.
My take... my take... my take is that he's a soulless, dead-eyed monster who m*rder*d the love of my life in cold blood.
My take is that Jake Ballard is a traitor to the nation I've spent my life loving and serving.
My take is that Jake Ballard is Moloch, Abbedon, Leviathan, a serpent coiled at the feet of his master Satan himself.
Cyrus?
What do you think about Jake Ballard for VP?
I think he'd be great.
♪
[Camera shutter clicking]
[Elevator bell dings]
David.
I'm busy.
Doing what?
I'm working.
On what?
On a brief.
About what?
How does this end?
By you telling me the truth.
About what?
You met with Cyrus Beene.
How do you know about that?
What were you talking to Cyrus about?
[Sighs]
David?
He wants me to be Frankie Vargas' Vice President.
I knew it! This is great.
Is it?
Well, not for the country, but for you!
Well, when you put it that way...
I'm a Republican.
I don't believe in free college.
I don't believe in free, and I don't believe in college.
Everything should have a price, especially education, which is worthless.
I'm having trouble following that.
Hmm. Figures.
Anyway, what's yours?
What's my what?
Price.
What's your price to put me on the campaign?
First of all, there is no campaign.
I haven't said I was going to do it, and I'm probably not going to do it. Second of all...
You are going to do it because if you do it, you will be Vice President of the United States.
You know Frankie Vargas is gonna win this election.
I don't know that.
Oh, you do know that because I'm going to vote for Frankie Vargas, and I have a Golden Retriever at home named Barry Goldwater.
Second of all, I would never bring you on to the campaign.
Why not?
Because you ruined my life.
Because you took away the one person in my life I truly loved!
You think you're the only one who suffered in all that.
I cried. Multiple times.
Tears. In my eyes.
You did that to me.
Don't act like you're the only victim here.
You've made me a terrible person...
Deceitful and power-hungry and ambitious.
I can't even believe I'm considering this.
You weren't working out there.
No.
You were thinking about becoming Vice President of the United States.
Yes.
Do it.
[Inhales deeply]
If you're on the fence, maybe this will help.
No. I don't want to.
Well, I don't want to, either, but this is where we are.
We're debasing ourselves.
Let's go all the way.
[Scoffs]
Hey.
Olivia: Hey.
So, I talked to the President about everything Mellie wanted at the convention.
[Sighs] I'm not sitting down yet.
You don't have to. He was fine with it.
All of it?
All of it.
He's even okay speaking on opening night?
I'm saying... All of it.
He surprised me, too.
Got to go.
[Cellphone beeps]
Mr. President...
Where did you get this?
Those are confidential.
These are Liv's medical records.
Yes, sir!
Confidential medical...
Where did you get this file, Abby?
Olivia's father gave it to me.
He was trying to lob a grenade at Mellie's campaign, sir.
No one knows, and it needs to stay that way.
Sir!
This is a lie.
♪
[Knock on door]
May I?
No. Cyrus!
Your father just h*jacked my campaign.
Jake?
He's forcing him onto the ticket as Frankie's running mate.
I was this close to getting David Rosen the job, and now I'm giving it to the man who k*lled my husband.
You're a big boy, Cyrus.
Just say no.
I can't.
What do you mean you can't?
I mean I can't.
What does he have on you?
Doesn't matter.
I can't help you unless you tell me.
Yes, you can. What he has is irrelevant.
Get out of my apartment.
Liv!
I have work to do, and you're wasting my time.
Liv, don't do this.
Goodbye, Cy.
Harrisburg!
[Sighs]
That sh**ting in the Capitol.
You know, the hostage thing?
That was...
You set that up?
Pretty good, right?
[Chuckles]
[Scoffs]
Well, "good's" not the word, but it worked.
Took Vargas from obscurity to center stage overnight.
You're talking as if...
People d*ed.
Innocent people!
People were martyred. For Jesus! For political Jesus!
Don't joke about m*rder and then ask for my help.
Frankie Vargas isn't just good and just and smart and principled.
He's liked, Liv.
That level of greatness requires sacrifice.
That's all I did... Was help clear the path, lead him on to the trek, and now, as I'm in the home stretch in a two-horse race, your father takes my horse, rides him across the finish line.
No. No. That can't happen.
This one is all on you. You created this problem.
You fix it.
On me?!
Your father puts Jake on the ticket and runs Vargas, you know what happens.
He finds a way to push me out, then you lose the election.
This election should be you and me competing for the Oval...
Student versus master, a fair fight.
Don't you want that?
You sure as hell should because the alternative is you've already lost.
♪
[Camera shutter clicking]
[Footsteps approach]
Have you seen this?
Marcus: Mellie.
What?
Fitz's convention speech. It's an 8,000-word love letter to himself.
He never even mentions me, unless you count references to the American people.
We have to do something. What are we gonna do?
I don't know.
You don't know?
[Scoffs] That's it?
You don't kn... I know.
I'm gonna talk to Fitz.
Marcus: He's angry. Don't poke him.
I was married to the man for 25 years.
Yeah, well, that didn't work, so I'm just saying, don't poke him.
I'm not gonna poke him.
Your speech is an abomination!
You haven't heard it yet.
[Sighs] I've read it.
You should give some weight to the performance.
Sure. It'll be great.
Hopefully, nobody sees it.
I am trying to help you.
By taking precious time at my convention to talk about yourself?
This is you helping me?
Yes.
Yes?
Yes!
The best thing that I can do for you right now is to talk about me.
I know how that sounds, but if I talk about you, that becomes the story.
Am I being honest about you, unfair?
Did we strike a deal for me to say the things I say?
These are the questions they are going to ask.
We had a big, messy, complicated, very public relationship, and now we're divorced, for God sake.
I had an affair with your campaign manager.
I supported your opponent in the primaries.
What can I possibly say about you on this stage that won't be endlessly scrutinized and analyzed and criticized and that won't leave you lost in the process at the very moment when you're supposed to shine?
The best thing that I can do for you is to simply remind the American people how I've led this country, how I've led the party, to burnish the Grant name.
That's what I can do for you, so let me do that for you.
You're treating me like an unpopular first-term mayor of Cincinnati, Mellie.
I am the two-term Republican President with massive political capital and a 59% approval rating.
I know you don't get it, but they still love me after everything.
If it wasn't for the Constitution, I'd be up here accepting this nomination myself.
So let me help you.
You don't even see it, do you?
What?
How arrogant you are, how presumptuous.
What?
That you'd b*at me.
That wasn't the point.
That is the point.
Doesn't matter how you dress it up, how cleverly you disguise it, even from yourself.
This is all about you.
This is just one more opportunity for you to talk about how great you are.
When you're running, you talk about how great you are.
When I'm running for office, you talk about how great you are.
Is there a scenario where you don't talk about how great you are?
You are standing up here thumping your chest, reeling off your stats, chiseling yourself onto Mount Rushmore.
Like you didn't stand on my back to get there...
On Olivia's back, on Cyrus', and your daddy's.
I didn't have $100 million trust fund, a political legacy.
I didn't go to the best boarding schools on the planet, and I am not a white man.
I am here on my own.
I got here on my own.
I got here... because I managed to escape you.
Like Liv managed to escape you.
[Scoffs]
You talk about what a great president you are, and yet you whined and cried about how much you hate the job every chance you got.
Do those people out there who love you know how many times you tried to walk off the gig?
How privileged and entitled do you have to be to think of the most powerful office in the world as a prison?
Unlike you, Fitz, I want this.
Unlike you... I earned it.
And unlike you...
I will not squander it.
This stage is mine.
♪
Liv.
Olivia: Sorry.
This was the only way to meet you without alerting my father.
So Edison delivered my message.
You want out.
I want to help you.
Good. What's the plan?
First, I need you to know that what happened in the church at your wedding...
Please, no.
Just the plan to escape. What is it?
I had to say those things.
It was the only way to...
Don't!
I don't want anything from you.
Nothing.
Except the plan. A way out.
You owe me that much after...
I'm trying to tell you that it was the only way for me to keep my father from k*lling you.
Do you have a plan or don't you?
Not yet. [Scoffs]
I will save you.
Somehow.
But you're gonna have to trust me because we cannot do this, go against my father, divided.
I have to know that you trust me completely and believe me when I tell you that everything I say and everything I do is in your best interests to free you, to save you.
Do you believe me?
♪
Tell me you believe me.
♪
I cannot do this...
Fine. I believe you.
Now do whatever you have to do.
Just get me out.
[Camera shutter clicking]
Huck: You need to go and take him, Liv.
What?
If you want to save Jake, you're gonna have to go and take him.
You can't sneak around back in the dark and try and steal him.
You have to go in through the front door, lights on.
That's insane.
Like a gangster.
Even if I could go through the front door and take him, where would I put him, Huck?
Where does he go?!
There's nowhere in the world to hide from my father!
You taught me that!
Olivia: Jake is expecting me to save him.
He's waiting for me, and we don't have a plan.
[Sighs]
♪
[Camera shutter clicking]
[Footsteps approach, door opens]
Quinn: We're all good.
Doug Morton never existed.
Anthony Musser, however, is thriving in Albuquerque.
New passport, new driver's license...
Great. We can announce Wagner as VP now.
Oh, for sure. He's entirely 100% safe.
[Sighs]
♪
What?
Shh.
Oh, boy.
expl*sive allegations concerning Governor Bill Wagner's past emerged today.
[Indistinct shouting]
Did you sell dr*gs with Governor Wagner?
Did Wagner pay you to disappear?
[Camera shutters clicking]
Information has surfaced accusing him not only of dealing cocaine as a college student, but of attempting to cover up his actions by paying his former drug associate to disappear.
Mellie: everything's going to hell.
The convention's almost here, and I don't even have a running mate!
What if I told you I had the perfect person, somebody who has everything we've been looking for in a Vice President?
I'd say, "Great. Sign him up."
You want to talk to him about what?
Mellie's VP pick.
I need the President on board before we announce.
Right.
Well, I'm not sure that's the best idea right now.
In fact, I don't even think he's in his office.
Charlotte!
Uh, the meeting the President had in the Roosevelt Room...
He's still in there, right?
No, he's here. Did you want to see him?
Yes.
Sir?
Olivia Pope's here to see you.
I was just telling Olivia about your busy schedule and how this might not be the best time to talk to her.
It's fine.
[Door closes]
What can I do for you?
I wanted to let you know that Mellie has chosen a running mate.
Fine.
It's Jake.
Jake Ballard?
He's strong on national security and foreign policy.
He's good for her geographically, and he polls extremely well with both men and women.
You want to sit?
I really just came by to tell you this.
I figure I owe you that much.
You came by to tell me your ex-boyfriend's gonna be on my ex-wife's ticket, and you won't sit with me?
[Sighs]
I know this is unexpected, but I also know that you respect Jake.
It's a good choice. It is. I think.
I mean... what do I know about picking vice presidents?
[Chuckles]
[Sighs]
I miss you.
Fitz...
Not like that.
Like this...
Talking to you, listening to you.
Do you think I listened to you enough?
When? [Chuckles]
When you were talking?
[Chuckles]
Fitz, what's going on?
Mellie says the entire way I've handled this speech has been controlling, manipulative, and narcissistic.
I don't want to get in between you and Mellie.
♪
[Chuckles] You know what I mean.
I'm sorry if I was that way with you, too.
I'm sorry I didn't listen more.
I am sorry.
♪
[Inhales deeply]
I'm gonna change the speech.
Good.
Why?
Because she asked me to.
[Chuckles]
I support your choice, Liv.
[Sighs]
Not that you needed it.
[Chuckles]
Thank you.
[Door opens]
[Door closes]
[Camera shutter clicks]
How did it go with the President?
Olivia: Good.
Fine. It was fine.
So, it's still a go?
Still a go.
You don't sound convinced.
What if Jake doesn't come through?
What if my father is two steps ahead of me? What if...
He has a saying, your father, "You can't..."
"You can't take command."
I know.
And it's true. You can't.
You have to become command.
♪
[Camera shutter clicking]
He's an easy target, Cy.
I could leave right now and be back with Ella in an hour.
All you got to do is say the word.
Would he suffer?
Depends.
Is that something you want?
[Sighs]
[Water running]
What about Ella?
Well, you'll... hire a nanny.
And then what? nannies need instructions.
The last time I put Ella to bed...
I can't even tell you when that was.
What I need is a new Michael, if I could replace Michael with a new one.
What about me?
You?
I found a baby once, on a... on a train.
Cared for it from Prague to Vienna.
That's very sweet of you, Tom, but I've read "Of Mice and Men."
I know how that story ends.
Hey, hey, hey, hey.
[Sighs]
The fact that we can sit here and talk about m*rder and not blink our eyes?
I've never had that, not with anyone.
This the truest, most honest relationship...
I've ever had.
♪
And that's worth far more to me than a man who can pack a lunchbox.
I can make it look like an accident.
No one will be the wiser.
Michael will be punished, and you will have your daughter back.
♪
[Sniffles]
Sally: Pressure... Some wilt, some rise.
For others, like myself, it's a drug.
We enjoy it, need it to perform.
The magnitude of tonight's event cannot be undersold.
The pressure on these candidates and who they choose to stand beside them is crushing.
The coronation is soon to come.
I could not be more proud of you.
Frankie Vargas and Jake Ballard...
Now that's a winning ticket.
[Door closes]
We should talk.
Cyrus told you? [Sighs] I knew he couldn't resist.
What are you talking about?
Full of surprises.
I'm here for Jake.
Not sure what that means.
Those words are innocuous enough, but the stance, the tone I find alarming.
Should I be alarmed?
20 minutes from now, ever wire service, every news outlet in America will report that Jake Ballard is gonna take the stage tonight as Mellie Grant's vice Presidential candidate...
[Laughs]
Because that's what I told them and because that is what is going to happen.
What?
Stand up, Jake. Let's go.
What is your angle?
I mean, this is stupid.
Tell me, what is your angle?
No angle. Jake is coming with me.
Need I remind you of the words that we exchanged on the day of your brother's wedding?
Jake, let's go.
Jake, this is simple.
This is what we talked about.
♪
All you have to do is stand up, then you and I walk out of here.
♪
[g*n cocks]
Advise him, Olivia.
Advise him to plant his narrow ass in that chair.
♪
I can't do that.
It may look like it's my finger on the trigger.
It might look I'm holding the g*n.
It's an illusion.
You have your finger on this trigger.
You're in control.
His life is in your hands.
♪
Go ahead.
Liv.
It's fine.
Is it?
Go ahead.
k*ll your son.
sh**t him. Do it.
Liv.
Do it!
Is this how you pictured your death, Jake?
At the hands of a woman you've done nothing but love and protect?
Come with me.
♪
He won't hurt you. You're his son.
♪
Go! Before I change my mind!
[Breathing heavily]
Damn.
Damn.
BNC now confirming reports that Admiral Jake Ballard, head of the NSA and close friend of President Grant, is indeed Senator Mellie Grant's pick to be her vice president.
Olivia, you clever, clever girl.
Are you seeing this?
I know.
We vetted him!
I mean, he was set.
We're on the eve of the announcement, and now we have no VP.
That's okay.
Much-publicized society wedding.
I know the perfect guy.
No, of course.
Thank you.
So?
Is the call coming from Frankie Vargas?
Are you gonna be the next Vice President of the United States or what?
No. It wasn't the call.
What?
He decided to go another way.
Who calls saying you're not getting the call?
Who'd they dump you for?
No idea.
All they said was that it wasn't going to be me.
[Sighs]
How the hell did you mess this up?
[Cheers and applause]
Fitz: Thank you!
We're here to nominate a president... [Cheers and applause] and I've got one in mind.
[Cheers and applause continue]
Sounds like you've got someone in mind, too.
You better be enjoying this, Mellie Grant.
[Laughs] I am!
The next president of the United States.
Hey, hey, hey.
I got your call.
I mean, this isn't the ideal place to k*ll him, but I think I can make it work.
And don't worry, I won't do it in front of Ella.
Michael and I are getting back together, so that means you and I are done.
What is going on, Cyrus?
Between you and me, nothing anymore.
I'm sorry.
Don't.
Don't say that, all right?
Just tell me.
Whatever I did, I can make it up to you, I promise.
It's not gonna work out, Tom.
Hey!
You made it!
We did.
[Sighs]
Big night.
It is.
I'm so happy you're here.
Hey, come on.
Come on, come on!
Let's go. Let's go.
Mellie Grant will be a leader.
Mellie Grant will be a uniter.
And Mellie Grant...
Well, trust me, everyone, she was born to do this job.
[Cheers and applause]
[Crowd chanting "Mellie"]
Jake.
Hey.
What are you doing?
What does it look like I'm doing? I'm getting ready for the game.
[Chuckles]
You realize you're meant to be onstage in five minutes.
I forgot to thank you.
You stood up to Command, stared him down.
Far as I can tell, you're the first person who's ever done that.
Go big or go home, right?
Come on, put your tie on.
The President's about to announce you.
I don't want you looking like a gigolo.
[Chuckles]
[Sighs] Jake?
I'm not coming.
What are you talking about?
[Cheers and applause in distance]
I'm taking myself off the ticket.
You're joking.
There's no need for it, Liv.
I'm sitting here practicing my speech, and all I can think is "Why?"
Why run for Vice President when frankly, I'd rather flip patties at Gettysburger.
You'd be the second most powerful person on the planet.
And completely miserable.
I-If I still feared your father, yeah.
Your name is on the poster.
We announced you.
Check out this house that's for sale.
I drive by it every day on my way to the office.
It is the most normal, unremarkable house I've ever seen in my life, and I desperately want to live in it with you.
Have you lost your mind?
It's three blocks away from an equally unimpressive high school.
I can coach their JV baseball team, help them reach unimpressive heights while raising three unimpressive kids with you.
I'm running a presidential race.
Yeah, and why is that?
"Why is that?!"
If it's to prove something to your father, you've already done that.
Come on, Liv! Dare to be normal!
Put the tie on.
The world is our now.
We can literally do whatever the hell we want!
Put the tie on!
That's real power, Liv.
Not this other crap.
[Scoffs]
I have not gone through what I've gone through, worked twice as hard for half as much, only to end up living an unimpressive life!
Mediocrity is not an option for me!
I don't want that, and neither should you!
I see.
[Cheering in distance]
So, it wasn't about saving me at all, was it?
It was about saving your ticket.
[Cheers and applause in distance]
I've gone from being his bitch to yours.
Put the tie on.
[Cheers and applause in distance]
[Olivia sighs]
♪
Well, the time has come.
It is my distinct honor and privilege...
[Sighs] Thank God.
All set?
To introduce to you...
You betcha.
Your Republican presidential nominee, Senator Mellie Grant!
And the next Vice President of the United States, Jake Ballard!
[Cheers and applause]
♪
Have you heard?
Vargas just announced his running mate.
Who is it?
Abby, who is it?
[Cellphone rings]
You were never gonna put David Rosen on the ticket.
David Rosen? God, no. I'm trying to win, Liv.
You used me.
Oh, please.
This was a mutually beneficial arrangement.
We both got the vice presidents we wanted.
I can still take you down.
How would you do that?
One word... Harrisburg.
Two words... Andrew Nichols.
[Cheers and applause in distance]
Let's focus on the positives here instead.
One of us is getting back to the White House.
I got to run.
Rauch: And Vice President of the United States, Francisco Vargas and Cyrus Beene!
[Cheers and applause]
♪
[Camera shutter clicks]
[Cheers and applause]
♪
I have spent a lifetime keeping you safe from harm, a lifetime worrying about your fate, a lifetime making sure that the path in front of you was clear of debris.
You are Rowan's greatest achievement.
You've become exactly the woman he raised you to be.
You have to be what?
Twice as good.
You held power in your hands.
You were power.
You had the Oval.
My baby had the Oval.
You will look at all the possible outcomes.
You'll understand what needs to be done.
You will pick a side, and then you will handle this situation in the manner we both know it needs to be handled.
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue power.
You will burn it down and never look back.
The apple does not fall far from the tree, Olivia, poison though it may be.
[Cheers and applause]
♪
Did you talk to Cyrus?
Yes.
And?
He said, "One of us is getting back to the White House."
He's right... Me.
♪
[Cheers and applause]
♪
[Crowd chanting "Mellie!"]
♪
[Cheers and applause]
♪
And all it took was a little nudge from your father.
[Chanting continues]
♪
That's my girl.
[Crowd chanting "Mellie"]
And when I say "wanted," I mean he all but insisted.
[Chuckles]
As you know, biology doesn't work that way.
So out came Vanessa, a girl.
And I'll tell you, Jake old pal, when I saw that cute little face of hers, I didn't give a rat's ass what my father thought.
[Laughs]
[Chuckles] Thank you.
Anyhow, this is my long-winded way of saying that you're the son I never thought I wanted.
To have you here as part of our family, that just... just...
Ohh!
Ohh!
[Inhales sharply] Call 911!
Ohh.
[Panting]
What are you waiting for?
I'm sorry, sir.
I'm touched that you think of me as a son, but there's another man... who thinks of me as his son, too.
And he feels that Vanessa's inheritance will open some important doors for us.
[Groans]
[Body thuds]
[Groans]
♪
It's only a few more seconds.
[Panting]
[Groans]
Almost there.
♪
Operator, I have an emergency.
Oh, God.
I hope it's not too late.
[Camera shutter clicking]
[Camera shutter clicking]
[Door opens]
[Laughing]
Thomas! [Laughs]
The Trib is up its own ass again.
You should see who they think we're talking to for VP.
Like we'd go with Simmons?
The man looks like a troll.
What?
Is that...?
Tom: He's renting an apartment in Virginia.
It's under his aunt's name.
She signed the lease for him, did all the paperwork.
Is Ella going to school?
No, but he's hired her a tutor... a couple of them, actually.
One for all the academic stuff, and another one for art and music.
[Sighs]
What do you want to do?
Finish my coffee.
And then pick a VP.
[Camera shutter clicking]
All this week, the "Liberty Report" will be coming to you live from the Republican convention here in Baltimore.
Behind me, the splendid Grant Arena.
Named for the famous general, not the man-child that's been soiling his pants at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for the last eight years.
The question for both parties this week...
Who will the two candidates, Frankie Vargas and Mellie Grant, pick to be their respective vice presidents?
Cut.
[Camera shutter clicking]
Let's make this fast.
[Door closes]
I know it's hard for you to believe, but I have more important things to do than expunge your speeding tickets.
How would you like to be Frankie Vargas' running mate?
You said make it fast.
Vice President?
Vice president.
Of the United States of America?
Well, now I'm not so sure. You seem kind of slow.
Yeah, n... I'm not slow.
It's just... Come on. What's the hitch?
What do you get out of making me Vice President?
I get David Rosen, a bright, seasoned, Democrat who dutifully served a Republican President.
That's the kind of honest-across-the-aisle soldier we need in support of a charismatic but admittedly somewhat leftist leader in Frankie Vargas.
No, I mean, whom do I have to k*ll for you... or imprison for you?
What does the Dark Lord Master Cyrus Beene want in return for this?
I did dabble in darkness for the last decade or so.
I'll admit that.
But then I met Frankie.
Let me tell you, Rosen.
He's... once in a lifetime.
He wants to make the world a better place, actually make the world a better place.
You two are cut from the same cloth.
♪
We've narrowed it down to three VP candidates.
They still need to be vetted, but each of them are excellent options, all possessing the three M's.
The three M's?
Male, married, and m*llitary.
Alden McKay served two terms as governor of Nevada, a swing state.
He's pro-life, pro-g*ns, pro-all-things-Republican.
I know what you're getting at.
Besides a speeding ticket a few years ago, I'd say I'm squeaky clean.
He's squeaky clean, all right.
Before he joined the Marines, his side gig was giving late-night scrub and tugs to rich foreign dudes at an after-hours bath house.
"Scrub and tug?"
It's when a man gets his...
[Gasps] Never mind. I figured it out.
Quinn: Senator Joe Walton from Texas.
Ex-Navy SEAL, married to his high-school sweetheart, loved by his fellow conservatives because...
I believe taxes are way too high.
People should keep their money.
Nobody's better at keeping his money than the Senator.
When he was 26, he was a part of a scheme that involved selling expired condoms.
He made $475,000.
Never reported it to the IRS.
How'd you find that out?
You don't want to know.
Governor Bill Wagner of Missouri.
Governor Wagner graduated from Columbia, served in the Senate for eight years before becoming governor, highly respected by the far right.
I was a coke dealer.
Excuse me?
Back in college.
I used the money to pay off my student loans.
Even flew to Bogota a couple of times.
I didn't do it for very long, and only one person in the world knows about it.
But it happened.
I would love nothing more than to be your Vice President, and I would hate to be defined by the sins of my past.
That said, I think it's only fair you know everything about me before you make your decision...
The good and the bad.
He's perfect.
We couldn't even dream him up.
Even Democrats love him. But cocaine?
Cocaine aside, he has everything we need...
m*llitary experience, charisma, family man...
Don't forget felon.
He didn't lie about it. That says something.
Think we can clean him up in time?
We can try.
Good. Get on it.
[Door opens]
Edison, what are you doing here?
[Echoing] Tell Liv I need her help.
Tell her I want to escape.
Tell I'm chasing the sun.
[Sighs] Jake said that?
He's your father's prisoner, Liv... his puppet, just like I was.
Well, I appreciate you delivering the message, Edison.
It was very kind of you.
Unfortunately, though, I do have a convention to prepare for, so...
That's it? He's asking you for a life raft, Liv.
I understand that.
I'm not asking you if you understand.
I'm asking you what are you gonna do about it?
♪
I see.
It's not like that.
Sure it isn't.
[Sighs]
[Door opens]
Liv.
What?!
[Door closes]
You might want to reconsider.
♪
Vanessa's father?
It says he d*ed of a heart att*ck, but we both know that's a lie.
Vanessa just inherited half a billion dollars.
Your father's building a w*r chest.
He's planning something, and whatever it is, you know he's gonna drag Jake into it.
You need to save him.
I can't.
Liv!
I can't!
My father will k*ll him.
If he even thinks that I tried to help him, he'll k*ll him.
You know that.
♪
[Camera shutter clicking]
No doubt I can b*at Mellie Grant.
Her weaknesses are my strengths, and my campaign manager, Cyrus Beene, has a tremendous...
Speak of the devil.
Mr. Beene.
Eli Pope. Pleasure.
Indeed.
Eli was considering throwing his support behind us.
$30 million worth of support.
How generous.
That kind of cash screams super PAC, and campaign finance laws forbid the candidate from having any dealing.
Enough said.
It's nice to meet you, Eli.
You're not welcome here.
If I only went where I was welcome, I'd never leave the house.
Go on, get to it. Make your idle thr*at.
How would Frankie feel knowing that he was a paper champion, a puppet?
That the sh**ting in Harrisburg was nothing more than theater?
That his campaign manager engineered m*rder to make him a hero?
What do you want?
For your candidate to win.
Okay.
Put Jake Ballard on the ticket as VP.
[Camera shutter clicks]
Doug Morton?
Yeah.
Hi. That's me. What can I do you for?
Maybe you want to start a college fund, secure a loan, maybe start planning for retirement?
[Camera shutter clicking]
I'm sorry. Who's Anthony Musser?
He's you.
You're him.
No. See, I-I'm Doug.
Doug Morton.
Anthony Musser is your new identity.
Passport, driver's license, and a deed to a two-bedroom condo in Albuquerque.
Albuquerque?
You did a bad thing, Anthony.
Dealing cocaine with Bill Wagner.
Can't risk that getting out.
I have no idea what you're talking about.
[Quinn chuckles]
Well, look, that was like 35 years ago, okay?
A-And y-y-you people...
I'm gonna call the cops.
No, you're not, Anthony.
No, you're not calling the cops.
Th-This is insane.
My name is Doug... Doug Morton.
And I am not moving to Alb...
You are moving to Albuquerque, Anthony.
Or we do need to discuss retirement.
♪
[Camera shutter clicking]
Mellie's camp wants to know where we're at with your convention speech.
I'll have it first thing in the morning.
Mellie wants final approval over content and length.
It can be 20 minutes. It can be 40 minutes.
She'd like it no more that 30.
Done.
Mellie also wants you to speak opening night of the convention.
Not the final night?
She wants that night to herself.
She thinks it would better demarcate the past and the future.
I'm already the past?
In her mind.
I get that.
Thank you, sir, for being so amenable.
Figure what the hell?
I'm out of here soon, right?
You make the White House sound like prison.
It is.
But in five months...
I'll be a free man.
I'll be able to go anywhere in the world.
Maybe I'll write my memoirs in Paris or London... or head back to Santa Barbara.
All nice options, sir.
Who knows?
Maybe I'll even end up in Vermont.
Vermont?
It's a possibility.
Yes, sir.
Thank you, sir.
♪
So, what do you think about this Admiral Jake Ballard?
Eli Pope was pushing him at that donor meeting, and the more I look, the more I think he might actually be a decent Vice President.
Thought I'd run it by you, get your take.
My take?
You've always got one.
My take... my take... my take is that he's a soulless, dead-eyed monster who m*rder*d the love of my life in cold blood.
My take is that Jake Ballard is a traitor to the nation I've spent my life loving and serving.
My take is that Jake Ballard is Moloch, Abbedon, Leviathan, a serpent coiled at the feet of his master Satan himself.
Cyrus?
What do you think about Jake Ballard for VP?
I think he'd be great.
♪
[Camera shutter clicking]
[Elevator bell dings]
David.
I'm busy.
Doing what?
I'm working.
On what?
On a brief.
About what?
How does this end?
By you telling me the truth.
About what?
You met with Cyrus Beene.
How do you know about that?
What were you talking to Cyrus about?
[Sighs]
David?
He wants me to be Frankie Vargas' Vice President.
I knew it! This is great.
Is it?
Well, not for the country, but for you!
Well, when you put it that way...
I'm a Republican.
I don't believe in free college.
I don't believe in free, and I don't believe in college.
Everything should have a price, especially education, which is worthless.
I'm having trouble following that.
Hmm. Figures.
Anyway, what's yours?
What's my what?
Price.
What's your price to put me on the campaign?
First of all, there is no campaign.
I haven't said I was going to do it, and I'm probably not going to do it. Second of all...
You are going to do it because if you do it, you will be Vice President of the United States.
You know Frankie Vargas is gonna win this election.
I don't know that.
Oh, you do know that because I'm going to vote for Frankie Vargas, and I have a Golden Retriever at home named Barry Goldwater.
Second of all, I would never bring you on to the campaign.
Why not?
Because you ruined my life.
Because you took away the one person in my life I truly loved!
You think you're the only one who suffered in all that.
I cried. Multiple times.
Tears. In my eyes.
You did that to me.
Don't act like you're the only victim here.
You've made me a terrible person...
Deceitful and power-hungry and ambitious.
I can't even believe I'm considering this.
You weren't working out there.
No.
You were thinking about becoming Vice President of the United States.
Yes.
Do it.
[Inhales deeply]
If you're on the fence, maybe this will help.
No. I don't want to.
Well, I don't want to, either, but this is where we are.
We're debasing ourselves.
Let's go all the way.
[Scoffs]
Hey.
Olivia: Hey.
So, I talked to the President about everything Mellie wanted at the convention.
[Sighs] I'm not sitting down yet.
You don't have to. He was fine with it.
All of it?
All of it.
He's even okay speaking on opening night?
I'm saying... All of it.
He surprised me, too.
Got to go.
[Cellphone beeps]
Mr. President...
Where did you get this?
Those are confidential.
These are Liv's medical records.
Yes, sir!
Confidential medical...
Where did you get this file, Abby?
Olivia's father gave it to me.
He was trying to lob a grenade at Mellie's campaign, sir.
No one knows, and it needs to stay that way.
Sir!
This is a lie.
♪
[Knock on door]
May I?
No. Cyrus!
Your father just h*jacked my campaign.
Jake?
He's forcing him onto the ticket as Frankie's running mate.
I was this close to getting David Rosen the job, and now I'm giving it to the man who k*lled my husband.
You're a big boy, Cyrus.
Just say no.
I can't.
What do you mean you can't?
I mean I can't.
What does he have on you?
Doesn't matter.
I can't help you unless you tell me.
Yes, you can. What he has is irrelevant.
Get out of my apartment.
Liv!
I have work to do, and you're wasting my time.
Liv, don't do this.
Goodbye, Cy.
Harrisburg!
[Sighs]
That sh**ting in the Capitol.
You know, the hostage thing?
That was...
You set that up?
Pretty good, right?
[Chuckles]
[Scoffs]
Well, "good's" not the word, but it worked.
Took Vargas from obscurity to center stage overnight.
You're talking as if...
People d*ed.
Innocent people!
People were martyred. For Jesus! For political Jesus!
Don't joke about m*rder and then ask for my help.
Frankie Vargas isn't just good and just and smart and principled.
He's liked, Liv.
That level of greatness requires sacrifice.
That's all I did... Was help clear the path, lead him on to the trek, and now, as I'm in the home stretch in a two-horse race, your father takes my horse, rides him across the finish line.
No. No. That can't happen.
This one is all on you. You created this problem.
You fix it.
On me?!
Your father puts Jake on the ticket and runs Vargas, you know what happens.
He finds a way to push me out, then you lose the election.
This election should be you and me competing for the Oval...
Student versus master, a fair fight.
Don't you want that?
You sure as hell should because the alternative is you've already lost.
♪
[Camera shutter clicking]
[Footsteps approach]
Have you seen this?
Marcus: Mellie.
What?
Fitz's convention speech. It's an 8,000-word love letter to himself.
He never even mentions me, unless you count references to the American people.
We have to do something. What are we gonna do?
I don't know.
You don't know?
[Scoffs] That's it?
You don't kn... I know.
I'm gonna talk to Fitz.
Marcus: He's angry. Don't poke him.
I was married to the man for 25 years.
Yeah, well, that didn't work, so I'm just saying, don't poke him.
I'm not gonna poke him.
Your speech is an abomination!
You haven't heard it yet.
[Sighs] I've read it.
You should give some weight to the performance.
Sure. It'll be great.
Hopefully, nobody sees it.
I am trying to help you.
By taking precious time at my convention to talk about yourself?
This is you helping me?
Yes.
Yes?
Yes!
The best thing that I can do for you right now is to talk about me.
I know how that sounds, but if I talk about you, that becomes the story.
Am I being honest about you, unfair?
Did we strike a deal for me to say the things I say?
These are the questions they are going to ask.
We had a big, messy, complicated, very public relationship, and now we're divorced, for God sake.
I had an affair with your campaign manager.
I supported your opponent in the primaries.
What can I possibly say about you on this stage that won't be endlessly scrutinized and analyzed and criticized and that won't leave you lost in the process at the very moment when you're supposed to shine?
The best thing that I can do for you is to simply remind the American people how I've led this country, how I've led the party, to burnish the Grant name.
That's what I can do for you, so let me do that for you.
You're treating me like an unpopular first-term mayor of Cincinnati, Mellie.
I am the two-term Republican President with massive political capital and a 59% approval rating.
I know you don't get it, but they still love me after everything.
If it wasn't for the Constitution, I'd be up here accepting this nomination myself.
So let me help you.
You don't even see it, do you?
What?
How arrogant you are, how presumptuous.
What?
That you'd b*at me.
That wasn't the point.
That is the point.
Doesn't matter how you dress it up, how cleverly you disguise it, even from yourself.
This is all about you.
This is just one more opportunity for you to talk about how great you are.
When you're running, you talk about how great you are.
When I'm running for office, you talk about how great you are.
Is there a scenario where you don't talk about how great you are?
You are standing up here thumping your chest, reeling off your stats, chiseling yourself onto Mount Rushmore.
Like you didn't stand on my back to get there...
On Olivia's back, on Cyrus', and your daddy's.
I didn't have $100 million trust fund, a political legacy.
I didn't go to the best boarding schools on the planet, and I am not a white man.
I am here on my own.
I got here on my own.
I got here... because I managed to escape you.
Like Liv managed to escape you.
[Scoffs]
You talk about what a great president you are, and yet you whined and cried about how much you hate the job every chance you got.
Do those people out there who love you know how many times you tried to walk off the gig?
How privileged and entitled do you have to be to think of the most powerful office in the world as a prison?
Unlike you, Fitz, I want this.
Unlike you... I earned it.
And unlike you...
I will not squander it.
This stage is mine.
♪
Liv.
Olivia: Sorry.
This was the only way to meet you without alerting my father.
So Edison delivered my message.
You want out.
I want to help you.
Good. What's the plan?
First, I need you to know that what happened in the church at your wedding...
Please, no.
Just the plan to escape. What is it?
I had to say those things.
It was the only way to...
Don't!
I don't want anything from you.
Nothing.
Except the plan. A way out.
You owe me that much after...
I'm trying to tell you that it was the only way for me to keep my father from k*lling you.
Do you have a plan or don't you?
Not yet. [Scoffs]
I will save you.
Somehow.
But you're gonna have to trust me because we cannot do this, go against my father, divided.
I have to know that you trust me completely and believe me when I tell you that everything I say and everything I do is in your best interests to free you, to save you.
Do you believe me?
♪
Tell me you believe me.
♪
I cannot do this...
Fine. I believe you.
Now do whatever you have to do.
Just get me out.
[Camera shutter clicking]
Huck: You need to go and take him, Liv.
What?
If you want to save Jake, you're gonna have to go and take him.
You can't sneak around back in the dark and try and steal him.
You have to go in through the front door, lights on.
That's insane.
Like a gangster.
Even if I could go through the front door and take him, where would I put him, Huck?
Where does he go?!
There's nowhere in the world to hide from my father!
You taught me that!
Olivia: Jake is expecting me to save him.
He's waiting for me, and we don't have a plan.
[Sighs]
♪
[Camera shutter clicking]
[Footsteps approach, door opens]
Quinn: We're all good.
Doug Morton never existed.
Anthony Musser, however, is thriving in Albuquerque.
New passport, new driver's license...
Great. We can announce Wagner as VP now.
Oh, for sure. He's entirely 100% safe.
[Sighs]
♪
What?
Shh.
Oh, boy.
expl*sive allegations concerning Governor Bill Wagner's past emerged today.
[Indistinct shouting]
Did you sell dr*gs with Governor Wagner?
Did Wagner pay you to disappear?
[Camera shutters clicking]
Information has surfaced accusing him not only of dealing cocaine as a college student, but of attempting to cover up his actions by paying his former drug associate to disappear.
Mellie: everything's going to hell.
The convention's almost here, and I don't even have a running mate!
What if I told you I had the perfect person, somebody who has everything we've been looking for in a Vice President?
I'd say, "Great. Sign him up."
You want to talk to him about what?
Mellie's VP pick.
I need the President on board before we announce.
Right.
Well, I'm not sure that's the best idea right now.
In fact, I don't even think he's in his office.
Charlotte!
Uh, the meeting the President had in the Roosevelt Room...
He's still in there, right?
No, he's here. Did you want to see him?
Yes.
Sir?
Olivia Pope's here to see you.
I was just telling Olivia about your busy schedule and how this might not be the best time to talk to her.
It's fine.
[Door closes]
What can I do for you?
I wanted to let you know that Mellie has chosen a running mate.
Fine.
It's Jake.
Jake Ballard?
He's strong on national security and foreign policy.
He's good for her geographically, and he polls extremely well with both men and women.
You want to sit?
I really just came by to tell you this.
I figure I owe you that much.
You came by to tell me your ex-boyfriend's gonna be on my ex-wife's ticket, and you won't sit with me?
[Sighs]
I know this is unexpected, but I also know that you respect Jake.
It's a good choice. It is. I think.
I mean... what do I know about picking vice presidents?
[Chuckles]
[Sighs]
I miss you.
Fitz...
Not like that.
Like this...
Talking to you, listening to you.
Do you think I listened to you enough?
When? [Chuckles]
When you were talking?
[Chuckles]
Fitz, what's going on?
Mellie says the entire way I've handled this speech has been controlling, manipulative, and narcissistic.
I don't want to get in between you and Mellie.
♪
[Chuckles] You know what I mean.
I'm sorry if I was that way with you, too.
I'm sorry I didn't listen more.
I am sorry.
♪
[Inhales deeply]
I'm gonna change the speech.
Good.
Why?
Because she asked me to.
[Chuckles]
I support your choice, Liv.
[Sighs]
Not that you needed it.
[Chuckles]
Thank you.
[Door opens]
[Door closes]
[Camera shutter clicks]
How did it go with the President?
Olivia: Good.
Fine. It was fine.
So, it's still a go?
Still a go.
You don't sound convinced.
What if Jake doesn't come through?
What if my father is two steps ahead of me? What if...
He has a saying, your father, "You can't..."
"You can't take command."
I know.
And it's true. You can't.
You have to become command.
♪
[Camera shutter clicking]
He's an easy target, Cy.
I could leave right now and be back with Ella in an hour.
All you got to do is say the word.
Would he suffer?
Depends.
Is that something you want?
[Sighs]
[Water running]
What about Ella?
Well, you'll... hire a nanny.
And then what? nannies need instructions.
The last time I put Ella to bed...
I can't even tell you when that was.
What I need is a new Michael, if I could replace Michael with a new one.
What about me?
You?
I found a baby once, on a... on a train.
Cared for it from Prague to Vienna.
That's very sweet of you, Tom, but I've read "Of Mice and Men."
I know how that story ends.
Hey, hey, hey, hey.
[Sighs]
The fact that we can sit here and talk about m*rder and not blink our eyes?
I've never had that, not with anyone.
This the truest, most honest relationship...
I've ever had.
♪
And that's worth far more to me than a man who can pack a lunchbox.
I can make it look like an accident.
No one will be the wiser.
Michael will be punished, and you will have your daughter back.
♪
[Sniffles]
Sally: Pressure... Some wilt, some rise.
For others, like myself, it's a drug.
We enjoy it, need it to perform.
The magnitude of tonight's event cannot be undersold.
The pressure on these candidates and who they choose to stand beside them is crushing.
The coronation is soon to come.
I could not be more proud of you.
Frankie Vargas and Jake Ballard...
Now that's a winning ticket.
[Door closes]
We should talk.
Cyrus told you? [Sighs] I knew he couldn't resist.
What are you talking about?
Full of surprises.
I'm here for Jake.
Not sure what that means.
Those words are innocuous enough, but the stance, the tone I find alarming.
Should I be alarmed?
20 minutes from now, ever wire service, every news outlet in America will report that Jake Ballard is gonna take the stage tonight as Mellie Grant's vice Presidential candidate...
[Laughs]
Because that's what I told them and because that is what is going to happen.
What?
Stand up, Jake. Let's go.
What is your angle?
I mean, this is stupid.
Tell me, what is your angle?
No angle. Jake is coming with me.
Need I remind you of the words that we exchanged on the day of your brother's wedding?
Jake, let's go.
Jake, this is simple.
This is what we talked about.
♪
All you have to do is stand up, then you and I walk out of here.
♪
[g*n cocks]
Advise him, Olivia.
Advise him to plant his narrow ass in that chair.
♪
I can't do that.
It may look like it's my finger on the trigger.
It might look I'm holding the g*n.
It's an illusion.
You have your finger on this trigger.
You're in control.
His life is in your hands.
♪
Go ahead.
Liv.
It's fine.
Is it?
Go ahead.
k*ll your son.
sh**t him. Do it.
Liv.
Do it!
Is this how you pictured your death, Jake?
At the hands of a woman you've done nothing but love and protect?
Come with me.
♪
He won't hurt you. You're his son.
♪
Go! Before I change my mind!
[Breathing heavily]
Damn.
Damn.
BNC now confirming reports that Admiral Jake Ballard, head of the NSA and close friend of President Grant, is indeed Senator Mellie Grant's pick to be her vice president.
Olivia, you clever, clever girl.
Are you seeing this?
I know.
We vetted him!
I mean, he was set.
We're on the eve of the announcement, and now we have no VP.
That's okay.
Much-publicized society wedding.
I know the perfect guy.
No, of course.
Thank you.
So?
Is the call coming from Frankie Vargas?
Are you gonna be the next Vice President of the United States or what?
No. It wasn't the call.
What?
He decided to go another way.
Who calls saying you're not getting the call?
Who'd they dump you for?
No idea.
All they said was that it wasn't going to be me.
[Sighs]
How the hell did you mess this up?
[Cheers and applause]
Fitz: Thank you!
We're here to nominate a president... [Cheers and applause] and I've got one in mind.
[Cheers and applause continue]
Sounds like you've got someone in mind, too.
You better be enjoying this, Mellie Grant.
[Laughs] I am!
The next president of the United States.
Hey, hey, hey.
I got your call.
I mean, this isn't the ideal place to k*ll him, but I think I can make it work.
And don't worry, I won't do it in front of Ella.
Michael and I are getting back together, so that means you and I are done.
What is going on, Cyrus?
Between you and me, nothing anymore.
I'm sorry.
Don't.
Don't say that, all right?
Just tell me.
Whatever I did, I can make it up to you, I promise.
It's not gonna work out, Tom.
Hey!
You made it!
We did.
[Sighs]
Big night.
It is.
I'm so happy you're here.
Hey, come on.
Come on, come on!
Let's go. Let's go.
Mellie Grant will be a leader.
Mellie Grant will be a uniter.
And Mellie Grant...
Well, trust me, everyone, she was born to do this job.
[Cheers and applause]
[Crowd chanting "Mellie"]
Jake.
Hey.
What are you doing?
What does it look like I'm doing? I'm getting ready for the game.
[Chuckles]
You realize you're meant to be onstage in five minutes.
I forgot to thank you.
You stood up to Command, stared him down.
Far as I can tell, you're the first person who's ever done that.
Go big or go home, right?
Come on, put your tie on.
The President's about to announce you.
I don't want you looking like a gigolo.
[Chuckles]
[Sighs] Jake?
I'm not coming.
What are you talking about?
[Cheers and applause in distance]
I'm taking myself off the ticket.
You're joking.
There's no need for it, Liv.
I'm sitting here practicing my speech, and all I can think is "Why?"
Why run for Vice President when frankly, I'd rather flip patties at Gettysburger.
You'd be the second most powerful person on the planet.
And completely miserable.
I-If I still feared your father, yeah.
Your name is on the poster.
We announced you.
Check out this house that's for sale.
I drive by it every day on my way to the office.
It is the most normal, unremarkable house I've ever seen in my life, and I desperately want to live in it with you.
Have you lost your mind?
It's three blocks away from an equally unimpressive high school.
I can coach their JV baseball team, help them reach unimpressive heights while raising three unimpressive kids with you.
I'm running a presidential race.
Yeah, and why is that?
"Why is that?!"
If it's to prove something to your father, you've already done that.
Come on, Liv! Dare to be normal!
Put the tie on.
The world is our now.
We can literally do whatever the hell we want!
Put the tie on!
That's real power, Liv.
Not this other crap.
[Scoffs]
I have not gone through what I've gone through, worked twice as hard for half as much, only to end up living an unimpressive life!
Mediocrity is not an option for me!
I don't want that, and neither should you!
I see.
[Cheering in distance]
So, it wasn't about saving me at all, was it?
It was about saving your ticket.
[Cheers and applause in distance]
I've gone from being his bitch to yours.
Put the tie on.
[Cheers and applause in distance]
[Olivia sighs]
♪
Well, the time has come.
It is my distinct honor and privilege...
[Sighs] Thank God.
All set?
To introduce to you...
You betcha.
Your Republican presidential nominee, Senator Mellie Grant!
And the next Vice President of the United States, Jake Ballard!
[Cheers and applause]
♪
Have you heard?
Vargas just announced his running mate.
Who is it?
Abby, who is it?
[Cellphone rings]
You were never gonna put David Rosen on the ticket.
David Rosen? God, no. I'm trying to win, Liv.
You used me.
Oh, please.
This was a mutually beneficial arrangement.
We both got the vice presidents we wanted.
I can still take you down.
How would you do that?
One word... Harrisburg.
Two words... Andrew Nichols.
[Cheers and applause in distance]
Let's focus on the positives here instead.
One of us is getting back to the White House.
I got to run.
Rauch: And Vice President of the United States, Francisco Vargas and Cyrus Beene!
[Cheers and applause]
♪
[Camera shutter clicks]
[Cheers and applause]
♪
I have spent a lifetime keeping you safe from harm, a lifetime worrying about your fate, a lifetime making sure that the path in front of you was clear of debris.
You are Rowan's greatest achievement.
You've become exactly the woman he raised you to be.
You have to be what?
Twice as good.
You held power in your hands.
You were power.
You had the Oval.
My baby had the Oval.
You will look at all the possible outcomes.
You'll understand what needs to be done.
You will pick a side, and then you will handle this situation in the manner we both know it needs to be handled.
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue power.
You will burn it down and never look back.
The apple does not fall far from the tree, Olivia, poison though it may be.
[Cheers and applause]
♪
Did you talk to Cyrus?
Yes.
And?
He said, "One of us is getting back to the White House."
He's right... Me.
♪
[Cheers and applause]
♪
[Crowd chanting "Mellie!"]
♪
[Cheers and applause]
♪
And all it took was a little nudge from your father.
[Chanting continues]
♪
That's my girl.
[Crowd chanting "Mellie"]