[Warning: This story contains spoilers from the "Say Hello to My Little Friend" episode of Scandal.]
ABC's Scandal created another unlikely alliance Thursday when Jake (Scott Foley) took a major step toward bringing down B613 and, rather than teaming with Olivia (Kerry Washington), found a kindred spirit in one of her Gladiators.
After Jake moves out of Olivia's place, she opts to ignore his warning that B613 baddie Rowan (Joe Morton) will do anything to anyone -- including his own daughter. When Huck (Guillermo Diaz) initially declines to help Jake bring him down, he later relents after the latest "hole" survivor finds mysterious evidence that prompts the recovering killer to change his mind.
During the hour, Huck also realizes that Pete Foster, the guy he killed in last week's episode -- under Rowan's orders! -- was connected to the season's newest mystery, Operation Remington, and is connected to the president. It creates a new trifecta of awesome, pairing Jake with both Huck and Olivia against her father to uncover a conspiracy that shockingly involves the president (Tony Goldwyn). Rowan, meanwhile, in the closing moments of the episode, is revealed to have a history with Fitz, who is far from being happy with the black ops boss -- as is chief of staff Cyrus (Jeff Perry).
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The Hollywood Reporter caught up with Foley to break down the events of the hour and preview what's ahead.
Can Rowan be taken down?
Jake believes that to be the case. That's his only hope of ridding himself of this B613 disease or stain that he has on him. It's his job to pull Huck into that belief and make Huck see that Rowan is the problem -- the only problem -- they have in their lives at that moment. Jake says to Huck, "We can take him out," and Huck says, "We can't. It's impossible," and Jake insists, "Well, no one has ever tried before." That is really what gets the wheels turning in Huck's head and gets Huck on board.
What did Jake find that instantly convinced Olivia and Huck to join the crusade?
It all has to do with Operation Remington, a military operation that Jake was part of. There were five guys on the ground and one person flying air support, and the guy that Huck killed last week was supposedly the one flying air support. But we learn that the guy flying air support was supposed to be the president, but in actuality it was Pete, the guy Huck killed last week. Pete is the one who had gone to the president -- last week we saw him get taken down and we saw Rowan have a conversation with him and then Huck kill him. He is the lynch pin in all this and gets the ball rolling. We find out some major news about Fitz.
And Jake knows everything about this other mission?
Jake and Huck figure out that Pete has these tattoos that are the actual flight plan that government has covered up. They do some digging based on the tattoos on his body and find that it's a flight plan.
How will Jake, Huck and Olivia team to bring down Rowan?
Huck, Jake and Olivia are all working toward figuring out Operation Remington and what actually happened -- why there was this cover-up and why Fitz never said anything about it. All of this is ultimately to get rid of Rowan so that Jake and Huck can never have to worry about B613 again.
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How will Huck and Jake work together? Are their styles similar or different?
Jake and Huck have this B613 bond, but they are very different agents in their style. Huck is more of a specialist with regards to technology and hacking, while Jake is the super-spy running around doing the physical labor or it all.
Olivia's knowledge that Fitz was involved in Operation Remington opens the door for Jake romantically.
It seems that way. Then, of course, Fitz calls and gets in the middle of everything. (Laughs).
How long can that romance last considering Jake is working to bring down her father?
We see her saying to him, "That's it. I'm done. I never knew you. I never knew who B613 was. I don't want any part of this," and I don't think it is because her father is Rowan, the head of B613. She just wants to not have to deal with this anymore. She's told her father to f--- off. But she comes back around at the end of the episode based on all the information Jake is giving her about the help he needs from her and about how bad B613 is and about everything they did -- and that he's got Huck backing him up opened that door for Jake into Olivia's heart.
How might Huck's latest attempt at "sobriety" help or hinder their efforts?
I don't know if Jake knows that Huck struggles with his "sobriety," but Jake knows that Rowan had Huck kill Pete, and that's what allows Jake to hook Huck into getting rid of Rowan. Jake says to Huck, "He still has his hooks in you. He owns you. He owns us both. You thought you were free of him, but he just had you kill a guy! This is why we have to take him out because you're never free from B613 unless we take the man down."
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Could Huck and Jake bring Quinn (Katie Lowes) into the fold?
I don't think that they'll directly bring her in. She knows she's working on a certain project, but I don't think she knows exactly why. Jake is a little nervous to let the scope expand beyond a "who needs to" know basis. It's the old story of the less people who know, the less of a chance of anything getting f---ed up. So no, he hasn't brought Quinn in in that regard.
Fitz was in the Navy with the guy Huck killed -- and has a history with Rowan. Considering Jake's Navy history with Fitz, how much does Jake know about Fitz's connection with Rowan?
I don't think he does; even where I am now, we haven't learned that Jake is aware of Fitz's relationship with Rowan or he hasn't put it together yet. There's the great scene at the end of the episode where Fitz storms down the hall toward Rowan's office. No one can believe Fitz is there, so that they can plead ignorance. The president is not supposed to know about B613, and the fact that Fitz does is a huge reveal. The fact that they had this face-to-face showdown is a huge thing for the audience to see. It's such a powerful scene between these two guys.
Will we see more of Olivia's childhood as she teams with Jake and Huck to bring down her father?
We'll definitely see a bunch of flashbacks to her when she was a little girl. She remembers the way she was around her father and their relationship together. It's really cool the way they flash back.
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Can Jake and Huck trust that Olivia will follow-through when the time comes to bring down her dad and not protect him?
They trust that she can follow through. Jake, Huck and Olivia know that her relationship with her father has been strained for so long. She's been lied to and tricked. Jake is not looking to kill the man; he is looking to show that Rowan killed a guy. That will stand up in a court of law and Jake believes that will work. Olivia is on board for that.
Jake still doesn't know why he survived the hole and was let go from B613. Could we see him look into that?
In later episodes, we'll find out more, but he doesn't know why he's still alive. That fact that he's still alive is a big question.
What do you think Jake has that convinced Huck and Olivia to help bring down Rowan and B613? What do you think this means for Fitz and Olivia? Hit the comments below with your thoughts.
Scandal airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. on ABC.
E-mail: Lesley.Goldberg@THR.com
Twitter: @Snoodit
