Scandal's Scott Foley Explains Jake's Explosive Reveal, Rowan's New Enemy
Do I need to adjust my TV’s settings, or did Jake’s hat look a little less black than usual on Thursday’s Scandal?
After a harrowing look into Jake’s wedded life with Vanessa — more on that marital train wreck later, I promise — it was revealed that, while Jake did blow up the cabin in the season premiere on Rowan’s order, Jennifer Fields was left unharmed. Even better, her fate is now in Olivia Pope’s capable hands.
“I’m always excited when Jake gets an interesting part to play, this time especially,” Scott Foley tells TVLine. “They made it look as if Jake was really the bad guy, sort of creepy, freaking Olivia out. Then the fact that he ended up doing what seems to be the right thing — not taking out Jennifer, then returning her Olivia — I loved it. You think he’s wearing the black hat, but oh my God! Now he’s got the white one on!” (Let’s agree to a compromise: the hat is gray.)
Foley also has some insight on Jake’s somewhat self-deprecating speech to Olivia, in which he reinforced his need to follow others:
“He spent his life in the military, and as such, he’s used to taking orders,” Foley says. “He’s very comfortable in that place. We all want to be the leader, regardless of the comfort level, and I think Jake would love to be in that place. He’s taking steps to do so. But he serves three masters: There’s Rowan, always in his ear, he’s got Olivia, who he still considers the one for him — I don’t know if Olivia feels that way, but I think he sees a possibility there — and then there’s himself. I think Jake really believes that what he’s doing is for the greater good.”
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OK, now let’s talk about that marriage. More specifically, was Jake actually considering killing Vanessa, as many feared he would during a particularly uncomfortable moment on the couch?
“Would he like to kill her? I mean, she is in the way,” Foley says with a laugh. “But would he do it? I think after seeing this episode, and seeing that Jake does know right from wrong, I don’t think he’d just kill her. I think she’d have to do something really wrong.”
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Lastly, don’t feel bad about not recognizing the mysterious red-dressed woman who seemingly put Rowan in his place this week. Foley assures us this was the first time we’ve seen her, referring to the character as a “new development — and a really interesting one.”
“It shows there are deeper levels of treason and espionage, deeper factions,” he explains. “We thought B-613 was the be-all and end-all. So to find out that Rowan now has this fear that he’s never had before is really interesting. That’s going to play out much more in future episodes — who these people are, what they’re capable of and what they have on Rowan.”
Your thoughts on this week’s eye-opening hour? Drop ’em in a comment below.
Launch Gallery: <i>Scandal</i> Season 6 Photos
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