State of their Union (Scandal 220): This Time...in this Place...It will be Different
Remember this State of the Union speech from Happy Birthday, Mr. President (208)?
A Woman Scorned’s major theme was time—both its passage, and its future possibilities. In fact, the entire episode took place within a thirty-six hour time frame (roughly). Equally important was where things happened, as much as when things happened. As I mulled over the episode for a few days, instinctively knowing which scenes I would focus on, I kept coming back to the phrase, “This time. In this place, it will be different,” from the State of the Union speech in Happy Birthday, Mr. President (208). The scene was inter-cut with images of Olivia making her decision to leave the White House. Allowing Fitz to be a better man, the man she voted for was just one of the justifications for her departure. Because, as ever, when Olivia does something to protect Fitz, it is invariably done to protect herself. In any case, what has always struck me about that speech is Fitz promising America that he’ll put an end to the rancour, and finally do better. I see America as analogous to Olivia for Fitz: He wants, loves and feels a deep responsibility to both of them; and is defined by them (see A Treasonous Act: The Violation of Olivia Pope for more obvious example). If the idea of America and Olivia are analagous, then Fitz’s actions and decisions in A Woman Scorned (220) represent a fruition of the promise he made in that SOTU speech. This time the promise was explicitly to Olivia. I thought it would be fun to talk about some of my favorite scenes in 220 in the context of the 208 SOTU speech. This may be a train wreck, but let’s explore. Even when it’s not about Olitz, it’s about Olitz.
“We gather this evening with a new mandate for America. The American people have made it clear that they want an end to partisan rancour. And every new president stands here vowing that things will be different, and nothing changes…”
In 220, Fitz was a man on a mission. A man with a new mandate for Olivia. Once he confirmed from her own luscious lips, in Seven Fifty-Two (219), that she was in fact still in love with him, his determination was renewed. But Olivia, like America, made it clear to him that she is done with the partisan rancour:
Olivia: “Please stop. Please stop getting my hopes up…Just. STOP!
Fitz: “I can’t stop. I won’t.”
Olivia: “I am not a toy you can play with when you are bored, or lonely, or horny. I am NOT the girl the guy gets at the end of the movie. I am not a fantasy. If you want me, EARN me! Until then, we are done.”
The partisan rancour means that it’s been about what Fitz wants all this time. We’ve seen Fitz in pursuit, never Olivia, which makes sense with the America analogy. He makes promises, and up until now, nothing really changes. In fact, after reneging on his last promise asking Olivia to wait for him, things actually got worse. Obviously, the situation was complicated because the man felt betrayed by the only person he truly loves. This is the first time we hear Olivia clearly enunciate what it is that she wants: to be earned; to feel that he actually sees her this time (“I did see you. I do see you (219)”). Whereas Fitz did not technically earn America (his Presidency)—something he’s had a difficult time dealing with for nearly a year— this time will be different. He will earn Olivia.
What’s also striking about this scene is the time, place and dynamic of this rancorous argument. Last episode Fitz demanded another chance. This episode he tries to make good on that demand by summoning Olivia to the White House. And he really should have known better (*cough* Treegate *cough*). It’s not as exciting for her as it is for Mellie (“How exciting to be summoned” (215)).
Olivia: “You do not summon me!”
But I love that Fitz was purposely playing hardball with her, not out of some Edison-style machismo, but because he knows he has to push back hard with her to get her to communicate. “You do not walk away from me.” Fitz said that line as a man, not as the President.
Olivia walks into the Oval Office with purpose. She walks in like she’s going to a show-down or a duel, whipping off her gloves and holding them in one hand, saying “what,” which is her business mode greeting. It’s a far cry from “hi”. She’s all business. She’s walking into Fitz’s territory at maybe high noon. And they proceeded to have a showdown, like in a classic American Western. She’s in his place and in his face. The President’s office is symbolically the most powerful office in the world, but she was in charge in that room, despite Fitz’s demands and pleas.
“So listen to me carefully now: this time will be different. I dedicate this presidency to bringing integrity back; responsibility back; governing back…”
As the episode goes by, the stakes get higher and higher for everyone: Jake, Mellie, Cyrus, and of course, Fitz. We see Fitz in the Oval, the embodiment of his political future. He’s bathed in the beautiful golden light of the setting sun. Time is tick, tick ticking away. The sun is literally setting on his future. It’s D-Day. Fitz is not standing there figuring out whether he was going to choose his marriage/America over his other America, Olivia. No, he’s there trying to figure out how to bring integrity, responsibility and governing back to his relationship with Olivia before it’s too late; before night falls.
“And I will remind both my own party as well as those across the aisle every day that we have the sworn duty—the sacred obligation—to not just pay lip service, but to actually, finally and definitively do better…”
Someone from Fitz’ party, Cyrus, comes in to try and handle the Mellie situation for Fitz (again):
Cyrus: “Mr. President. I have tried everything, exhausted every approach. We have less than two hours before the First Lady’s clock runs out.”
Fitz: “I’m through discussing Mellie’s political maneuvers.”
Cyrus: “No, Sir, you’re not. You are NOT!…[sic] The thing about Mellie right now—the thing you don’t seem to realize—is that she’s very dangerous right now. She’s a walking suitcase nuke waiting to go ‘boom’. Because she’s not thinking like the First Lady. She’s not thinking like the political animal I know she can be. Right now, she’s thinking like a wife. She’s thinking like a woman scorned. She’s thinking like someone whose heart has been broken one-too-many times. She’s a credible threat right now, Sir, which is why there’s a BNC news truck parked in front of Blair House as we speak. Time to fold, Sir, and give her what she wants. Give her. Whatever. She wants. You love this job? You love being President? You give for what you love. Give her the damn moon. Go to her. Save your presidency, Sir, because time is running out.”
Cyrus tells him that in order to win this high stakes poker game of presidency, he’s “got to give for what he loves. Give her the damn moon. Save your presidency, sir, because time is running out.” Cyrus is doing his job. But by capitulating to Cyrus (and Mellie’s demands), Fitz would just continue to pay lip service to Olivia. But this time will be different. You can see when Fitz reaches that aha moment in the Oval Office, as Cyrus is waxing on. The reality washes over him as his resolve steels. Before you know it, he’s outchea, going to Olivia’s apartment, to her turf before night falls so that he can finally and definitively do better.
Fitz: “I want it, Liv. It’s mine.”
Fitz said that line in A Criminal, A Whore, An Idiot and A Liar (211) after resolving that he did indeed want the presidency; that he wanted America. Back then it was the death of his father, and now it is the impending death of his marriage. If America is the thing that Fitz did not honestly win in the election, then Olivia, as an analogy for America, is the ‘prize’ he will garner for himself, by himself.
“And so I leave you with this pledge, that this time, in this place, with this presidency it…will…be…different.”
Fitz literally leaves Cyrus standing there to go to Olivia’s apartment to pledge his everything to her. The sun has set, but twenty two minutes remain when Fitz arrives on Olivia’s doorstep. He’s there to pledge that this time, in this place, it will be different…if it’s not too late. The day before, she confidently and purposefully told Fitz that if he wants her, he has to earn her. Fitz knows what he wants, but he needs to know if Olivia wants the same thing. Will she allow him to earn her? In typical Olivia fashion, Fitz has to keep pushing in order to get her to be vulnerable and open with him, instead of going into fixer mode. She tries three times to emphasize how time is running out on his presidency and on his marriage. But Fitz is not focused on the countdown to the end of his marriage, or his presidency. He’s fixated on the countdown to a new beginning with Olivia.
Fitz: “I’m here to find out what do you want. Do you want me? Or don’t you?”
I’d like to make a grammatical point here about the impact of asking a question and providing the choice between ‘yes’ and ‘no’. By adding “Or don’t you,” Fitz is forcing her into a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ corner. He did this in the hospital scene in Seven Fifty-Two (219) when he asked her, “Do you still love me?…It’s a yes or no question.” He’s got to do this with her because she makes excuses. Credible excuses, but excuses nonetheless.
I said in my last piece, The Fitz and Olivia Project, that in order for them to progress, Olivia has to let herself be completely vulnerable with Fitz because only then can he give her what she wants. She does that in this scene in her apartment. This is in contrast to anger and frustration in the Oval Office—an appropriate place to exert that kind of power—where Olivia exercised her voice by laying out her ground rules: want me, earn me. Now the tables are turned because Fitz has come to her, in her home to make emotional demands of her in order that he may prove himself worthy. Olivia’s home is the place where she can be most vulnerable. In fact, with few exceptions, we have seen Olivia have most of her vulnerable moments in her home. This is where she can drop Oliva Pope™ and be Livvie. But it’s still her home, so she has the final say. Fitz is there to make the supplication, but Olivia has to decide if she will grant him that wish.
Fitz: “Hang up the damn phone. You can’t fix the fact that I love you. That I love you more than being the President. I have told you that I’d give it all up for you again and again. You know what I think? I think you don’t believe me. I think you believe that I will never choose you…So this time, I’m fixing things. We are gonna sit here for the next twenty-one minutes. We’re gonna run it out together. You’re gonna watch me run out this clock. You’re gonna sit here with me and watch me choose you.”
Fitz: “ Oh, I would. I will. I’m going to…”
I love the way he said this because it mirrors what he said in 208: “I love you. I’m in love with you. You’re the love of my life.” He says it every which way possible so that there is no reason for her to be unclear about his pledge to her.
Fitz: “Sit with me. Sit with me, Liv. Sit with me and watch me choose you. Watch me earn you.”
I’m sorry, my eyeballs were sweating a little bit. I’m aiiiight. Note that this time Fitz’s request for Olivia to sit isn’t a demand—like earlier in the Oval Office—it’s a plea. Fitz wants her to sit with him in the truth of not just what he feels for her, but what she feels for him. He’s telling her “This isn’t pretend any more. This is real. Wait for me” (213). But this time, it’s wait with me. And they wait. They wait and they watch each other. This time, unlike earlier in the Oval, it’s not a face-off, but a face-to-face. Fitz is mostly steadfast and confident, his pillar of strength presence is a contrast to Olivia’s mix of anxiety, scepticism and hopefulness. They watch until they see each other.
What’s interesting about time in this scene is that it’s set in two different locations, with two different women watching two different clocks, counting down to two different truths. Mellie is surrounded by tradition at Blair House with all its showiness. Look at that fancy pants clock for goodness sake. She doesn’t realize that the truth of what she is counting down to is the end of her marriage. Her face when she realizes this is a sight to behold, and I don’t mean that in a spiteful way. She really did believe Fitz would choose head over heart. Olivia, on the other hand, in more modern surroundings, with an understatedly elegant white clock (how very Olivia Pope), is counting down to face the absolute truth of the future she’s always wanted with Fitz but felt she could never have.
It’s not that Fitz chose Olivia. With the exception of the clusterfuck fall-out after Nobody Likes Babies (213), Fitz chose Olivia a long time ago. What he did this time was earn Olivia. He put himself in a position worthy of being chosen. He backed up his talk with action by letting that clock run out on his marriage, thereby potentially sacrificing everything for his one truth: Olivia. She allowed him to do that, so in the end, Olivia chose him. When the clock runs out of time, Fitz says, “Times up. It’s done. Unless you don’t want me?” Again, on her territory, he puts the ball in her court. It is Olivia who has to take action at that point by getting up, going to Fitz and showing him that yes, she chooses him. Because though All Roads Lead to Fitz (205), Scandal is ultimately about Olivia Pope and the choices she makes. With arms open wide, she throws away her pride. And so the guy gets the girl at the end of the episode, but only after hard work and determination.
Before I go, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the utter beauty, poignancy and significance of the shower scene. More gorgeous than the kissing, banging into walls, the ballet lift, and Fitz’s sex face (yes gawwwd!), it was the shower scene that I loved the most. Notice that the episode begins and ends with water (as did Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (214)). In the beginning Olivia is swimming, trying to work out her demons and frustrations. Water is supposed to cleanse and renew. But that renewal doesn’t come until the end of the episode when Fitz and Olivia are completely stripped back, naked in shower. What Olivia feels in her post-orgasmic bliss (Let’s get real. When we happen upon them, you can surmise that shower sex just happened. Their mouths are hanging open for a reason), is probably the opposite of what she felt swimming in that pool: playful, open, innocent, adored.
That exchange was so breath-taking, I cried real tears when Olivia said those two letters. True story. That was a moment of truthfulness right there. So the end of the episode is really a beginning because “hi,” is what you say at the start. It’s a fresh start for these two, and this time it. Will. Be. Different.
