If you would like to read my review of the last episode, click here.
Synopsis: As the clock ticks down to the inauguration of the first female President of the United States, Olivia takes a big risk to ensure Mellie’s safety; In the final days of his presidency, Fitz uses his power to make some unexpected changes. (IMDB)
Writers: Zahir McGhee and Michelle Lirtzman (Tick Tock); Matt Byrne and Mark Fish (Transfer of Power)
Directors: Salli Richardson-Whitfield (Tick Tock); Tony Goldwyn (Transfer of Power)
Rating: TV-14
Running Time: 43mins
The last episode ended with the reveal that Maya may very well be responsible for everything that had happened so this episode didn’t waste any time in apprehending her. Because of how easy it was to arrest her, this began to cast some doubt or maybe she just wanted to be captured. Either way, everyone started working on figuring out what her master plan was. This wasn’t easy as OPA had to get used to the new dynamic with Quinn in charge and Mellie wasn’t ready to give up her inauguration as it was very important to her.
Once Maya was captured, they chained her in a room and left her there. She desperately wanted to speak to Eli since she just knew that he was involved and would not take no for an answer but he wanted to wait until she tired herself out. Before that happened, she would spew what seemed to be nonsense to get under their skin, however, she eventually tired herself out and mentioning one of their family trips, leading Eli to finally visit her.
The scene between Eli and Maya was very powerful to watch. They made up for lost time. He wanted to know everything but she was adamant that she was there to protect Olivia. She wanted them to work together and he refused. She wanted to try and do something good for Olivia. He thought she was involved because he believed she told them about Sandra.
She couldn’t make him happy but she loved him and he deserved to be loved. He remembered the family trip she referenced and got emotional, remembering their time as a family. Olivia checked up on Eli afterwards since she wondered if Maya had gotten under his skin. He didn’t want to go back in. He urged her to stop which seemed like he believed her.
Women are gearing up for Mellie’s inauguration which made her very excited. OPA are trying to follow the money to find out who Maya hired although they can’t find anything. This led them to turn to Abby for help because she got payed by the conspiracy. Abby was adamant that she didn’t touch the money and she wanted to help. Quinn and Abby still had issues yet she brought up the idea that Maya wasn’t in charge. In another great scene, Huck told Olivia and she then visited Maya and went crazy on her but it didn’t work.
In another great scene, Mellie visited Fitz and wanted his advice on whether or not to cancel the inauguration. He thought she should because he didn’t want her to feel like he did when he got shot, describing it in great detail. Mellie had been dreaming about it her whole life. In yet again another great scene, Mellie confronted Olivia on what happened with Maya, Olivia thought that she should cancel the inauguration, however, Mellie was against it as she was beginning to see the significance of the event and she didn’t want to take it away from who this meant a lot to.
Olivia came up with a risky plan to let Maya go and use her as bait to lead them to her employer but Fitz was adamantly against it so you know how that ended. Jake agreed with her so they ended up letting her go anyway. Abby left OPA and as she was leaving, Quinn stopped her to tell her that she was pregnant which was weird timing. Quinn shared her concerns on whether a baby was the right thing for her.
Eli confronted Olivia about letting Maya go as Maya was being let go. Eli used this as an excuse to convince Fitz to bring back B613 to keep power in check, in this case Olivia, and get Fitz to run it, meanwhile, Olivia was explaining herself to Mellie who was fine with it.
Overall, this was a great episode with exciting twists and turns and featured a series of great scenes between Eli and Maya, Mellie and Fitz, Mellie and Olivia, and Olivia and Maya carried by the excellent performances of the whole cast. The season finale looks to be exciting and you can read my review of that episode below.
Score: 9/10
This was Fitz’s last day in the White House so the episode started off with Fitz finding Olivia in his bed. He was upset with her after letting Maya gbo but she believed she was right and Fitz gave up to her once again by going to bed with her.
Jake was busy tracking Maya but she managed to get away and cutting out her tracker. Today was inauguration day and Mellie decided to go ahead with it. Fitz signed an executive order to bring back B613. Cyrus was watching it all on TV at home as everyone else was there with Fitz, Luna Vargas, and Mellie being brought out.
OPA worked to track Maya as Eli and his team tried to do the same. As soon as that happened, Maya took over one of the sniper positions. While that was happening, OPA tracked a burner phone that was around the area where Maya escaped that was now at the inauguration. There was a lot going on in this sequence so as Mellie was being sworn in, Olivia got a call from Maya telling her to move over. It wasn’t clear who her target was but it wasn’t Mellie. OPA tracked the burner to the stage. Before Maya could get a shot off, she was taken out as Mellie got sworn in.
Olivia was upset that Maya got shot but Mellie had better things to do such as running the country. Abby delievered the inauguration chart to OPA when Quinn offered her control of OPA. She wanted to run away as she believed this life wasn’t for her.
Olivia confronted Fitz about the B613 executive order and warned him against it, how it ruined her and her father’s lives, however, this life wouldn’t have been different than the life he’s been living. Olivia wanted him to stay but not do this and he wasn’t anymore since she convinced him against it. He wanted to focus on his foundation instead. He then headed for his plane, not before Olivia stopped him so they could make out in front of the cameras.
They changed over the White House pretty fast and it definitely looked different now for Mellie. Olivia then figured out that Luna Vargas was really the one responsible for everything. She just wanted to know if Luna had a plan B for Mellie but she was plan B because she was too important to Mellie to get rid of and that pissed Olivia off.
Olivia’s visit with Maya confirmed that it was Luna Vargas responsible. It wasn’t over, however, as she couldn’t walk away. She resented Luna Vargas for taking something that she worked hard for, what she deserved. Maya reminded her that she was half her and half Eli (a pretty good combination).
Abby wasn’t going to take charge of OPA but she wanted to be the Chief of Staff at OPA and vowed to be there for Quinn. Quinn told Charlie that she was pregnant. Mellie spent time in her new Oval Office and asked Cyrus to be her date to the ball.
Olivia came up with a plan to get rid of Luna Vargas. She was going to die but she would have to kill herself or Jake would kill her. She confessed to killing Frankie Vargas because she didn’t want to be First Lady. She wanted much more than that, she wanted power for herself. To spare her kids from her shame, she eventually chose to kill herself. Ruthless Olivia is a fun Olivia.
This continued with her getting Mellie to sign an executive order bringing back B613. The episode ended with a meeting between Olivia and Eli where she put her foot down and became the new Eli. This was followed by Olivia and Cyrus drinking together where she told him that Luna Vargas was the culprit. He started to say the same things she did before he died which led Olivia to believe that Cyrus was the one responsible so he would ultimately become Vice President. Ultimately, they both got what they wanted with Olivia being the most powerful person in the world.
Overall, this was an amazing episode that wrapped up the season beautifully while giving us a new, ruthless Olivia to contend with in the final season. It was exciting and had twists and turns with one none bigger than Cyrus actually being the mastermind behind Luna Vargas but the best part of the episode was Kerry Washington’s excellent performance. Bring on next season!
Score: 9.5/10
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The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.