ABC/Eric McCandless(LOS ANGELES) — On Thursday night’s Scandal episode, “They All Bow Down,” Mellie Grant and Jake Ballard are seen in a flashback on a stage accepting the Republican presidential & vice presidential nominations.
As the flashback continues, Jake reveals to his wife Vanessa that he is at odds with campaign manager Olivia Pope because he feels like her puppet. Vanessa tries to console him, explaining that it will all be worth it because once he’s vice president – he’ll have the chance to be president and have all the “power.”
In present day, Jake and his wife are now at odds, but are scheduled to go on a conservative talk show. Unfortunately, Vanessa is missing. Quinn, who tells Liv she doesn’t believe Cyrus killed Frankie Vargas, later finds out Jake’s wife purposely got into a car accident.
When Jake learns that his wife’s drinking problem got her into a car accident, he tells Olivia that Vanessa’s messy behavior is now her problem to fix.
In a flashback, Jake tells Olivia he’s done with caring about her, but Olivia convinces him that he shouldn’t quit on them. Vanessa later confronts Jake about his renewed closeness to Liv and says she’ feels rejected by him. He refuses to answer her or come clean about his and Olivia’s past relationship, which leads Vanessa to start drinking excessively.
Back at Olivia’s office, Vanessa, now sober, accuses Liv of sleeping with Jake and being a political “mistress.” Vanessa goes too far with the insults and Liv threatens to “lay her out” until Huck intervenes. Vanessa says that Jake has been having an affair with someone because he was texting with the alleged woman on the night that Vargas died.
In a flashback, Jake turns up missing after Frankie dies and he is later seen meeting with Eli Pope who tells him to play his part so he can still be vice president.
After trying to get close to Jake and being rejected, Vanessa breaks down. Jake, attempts to comfort her, but says he cannot answer her questions.
Meanwhile, back at Olivia’s office the gladiators try to figure out where Jake was after Frankie died. In a flashback, Jake is seen killing Jennifer and then blowing up her cabin.
As Olivia’s team investigates Jake, Liv enlists Mellie to give Vanessa a much needed pep talk to get her back on board for the campaign interview. During the interview, the gladiators find there is no real evidence to connect Jake to Frankie’s murder.
As Liv hears the news that Jake did not leave any evidence behind, Jake tells Liv he knows what she’s up to and gives her a wire transfer notice that says she transferred money to Tom — making it look like she set up the hit on Frankie Vargas.
Olivia confronts Eli — who looks worried by the news.
Soon after Liv departs, Eli meets with an unidentified woman. The woman tells Eli that the wire transfer was her “insurance” to keep Olivia in line. The woman also puts Eli on notice explaining that he and his daughter could both be found unnecessary.
In the final minutes, Jake meets Liv at a parking garage and takes her to a remote location in the woods. On the way there, he throws out her phone. Jake then says he has a confession and admits he was hired to kill Jennifer by Eli. But when they get to a cabin, Jake shows Liv that Jennifer’s alive — and that he never planned on following Eli’s orders.
Scandal returns next Thursday night at 9 p.m. on ABC.
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