‘Scandal’ Tweet-cap: Something to Talk About

Warning: This recap for the “They All Bow Down” episode of Scandal contains spoilers.

Standing in the sun isn’t easy, as Jake Ballard has discovered. The unrelenting glare can prove to be too much to bear. On the surface, Jake has a great life — a beautiful, wealthy new wife; a position of power as head of the NSA; and the possibility of becoming the next vice president of the United States. The only catch is that he didn’t want any of that.

Related: Scandal Postmortem: Scott Foley on Jake’s Big Secret

So, is it any wonder that he may just throw in the white hat? As the episode delves into his whereabouts on the night of Francisco Vargas’ assassination, it looks like Jake is tired of trying to fight for what’s right. Maybe it’s just time to let go and accept being maneuvered.

Keep standing in the harsh sun, or take the easy road into the darkness? Your choice, Jake.

Here’s a rundown of this week’s episode, including our live tweets:

Flashback to the crowning of a new political golden couple has been crowned: Meet Jake and Vanessa Ballard. Everything seems so rosy and perfect just after the convention, and Vanessa is brimming with excitement at ushering in a new Camelot.

But Jake isn’t excited, at all. He’s frustrated at being Olivia’s puppet. He’s only Mellie’s Vice Presidential candidate because he had Rowan on one side, and Olivia on the other, and now he’s found himself in a position he didn’t ask for. Vanessa doesn’t get it — this is an amazing opportunity, not a life sentence. And soon, he’ll have the power, not Olivia.

In the present day, Olivia is prepping a resigned Jake for an interview with Sally Langston. Vanessa is supposed to be there, too, and she’s a key figure, since her family are Democratic party bigwigs. She can help unite everybody behind Mellie. Unfortunately, Vanessa is MIA, and Liv gets a worrying call. She asks Sally to postpone the interview, due to Vanessa having the “flu” — when in fact, a drunk Vanessa drove her car into a tree.

Olivia finds her hammered and in the company of a bartender who thinks Vanessa is crazy, man. But Vanessa doesn’t care!

When they haul Vanessa back to OPA, Jake is furious at her, at Secret Service, at Olivia. The gladiators erase all evidence of Vanessa leaving with the bartender, the drunk driving, and the crash. Meanwhile, Vanessa is incredibly bitter toward her husband and Liv. How did this poor woman go from giddy potential VP wife to a Smelly Mellie-level drunk?

Flashback to the campaign: Jake lovingly bids his wife goodnight, while Olivia rolls her eyes. He asks her what the next item on the agenda is — and snidely calls her “boss.” He’s become a pod person and it’s scary. Liv asks him to stop treating her like a villain, but Jake just shrugs.

“You feel like a villain, you joined the family business, went Team Pope,” he points out.

With tears in her eyes, Olivia argues she has to win this election — cleanly, for redemption. And to justify what she’s done to herself and to him. When he goes home to Vanessa, she starts nagging him with a million questions. Why is he suddenly back on Olivia’s side? What is their relationship? What has happened in this past? Who is he, really?

Jake rebuffs her, and pours her more wine. Vanessa continues to beg him to talk to her, but he just leaves. And she chugs the bottle.

In the present day, Olivia offers to bring a hungover Vanessa some coffee. But Vanessa wants nothing to do with her — she accuses Liv of sleeping with Jake. After all, once a mistress, right? Vanessa calls her a whore, then pleads with Olivia to leave them alone. “He just quit on me, on us, because of you,” she says.

When Olivia denies having an affair with Jake, Vanessa bitterly reveals that he’s got another woman on the side. She noticed him texting with someone the night of the election, but it wasn’t with Olivia. And then he left and went missing for hours. Uh oh … Olivia’s fixer antennae go up.

Flashback to that night: Jake leaves Mellie’s election (pity) party, and meets Rowan downstairs. No, no, nooooo, Jake, no! When Rowan taunts him about this failure, Jake vows to take him down. But Rowan knows that won’t happen. Instead, he’s there to give Jake another chance at the White House. “It’s time to take what’s yours, son,” he says, handing over a file. A file on how to get near Francisco Vargas and shoot him?

In the present day, Olivia takes Vanessa home and confronts Jake. But she doesn’t outright ask him if he killed Vargas. Instead, she asks if there’s anything he wants to tell her. Nope! Then he turns it around on her: Is Liv up to anything? Nope! So many secrets and lies.

Meanwhile, Vanessa is still desperate to get some answers and interrupts Jake spying on Olivia’s phone records. She wants to work on their marriage; he just wants her to shut up. “When did you start hating me? Did I do something?” Vanessa cries. Then, she admits that she purposely crashed the car, just to get a reaction. This finally gets through to Jake, and he comforts her. Sort of. Because he also seems to be contemplating killing her!

He holds off, then tells her that he can’t reveal his secrets to her. If she’s already drinking herself to sleep every night, there’s no telling what she’ll do after receiving sensitive information. Vanessa storms off, ready to quit this lie of a marriage.

At OPA, the gladiators are hard at work tracking Jake’s movements the night of the assassination. They trace his phone to Springfield, Virginia — near the cabin owned by Jennifer Fields.

A flashback shows Jake tying up Jennifer and rigging the cabin with explosives. And then walking away as the cabin explodes, a little smile on his face.

Meanwhile, Olivia still has an election to win, so she enlists Mellie’s help in getting Vanessa back in line. Mellie berates Vanessa for not knowing what she wants, and thus not achieving anything. “Your job is America,” Mellie says. Look at how far Mellie has come! She started out as the good wife, now she’s about to be the POTUS. “Suck it up and run the world,” she advises Vanessa.

It works, since Vanessa is right beside Jake during their interview with Sally. In the meantime, Quinn and Charlie are scoping out a motel room that they discovered Jake’s been using. It’s completely clean.

After the interview, Jake tells Olivia that he totally knows what she’s been up to — her tracking efforts were amateurish. Then, he hands over a piece of paper and cryptically taunts her. “So much for making the president honestly.” Turns out, that paper is a bank transaction linking Olivia to Tom! Enraged, she confronts her father for the deed. He warns her not to ask questions she doesn’t want the answers to, and yet, even he seems surprised.

It turns out he did not set up the money transfer. When a mysterious woman visits Rowan’s office, he demands to know why they framed his daughter. Mystery Woman laughs and says Olivia’s purpose was to deliver Mellie, which she’s done, and now she is a liability. This is a means of keeping Liv in check; they could’ve just gotten rid of her. “Show some gratitude,” Mystery Woman says, floating away.

Later, Jake asks Olivia to go for a drive with him. He takes them deep into the country. Then, he tosses her phone. She nervously asks where they are going, and he doesn’t answer. He looks eerily calm. She panics and tells him she did not give Tom that money to kill Vargas. OMG, is Jake going to kill Olivia?

He takes her to a remote cabin, and Liv looks super scared. Jake notes that he’s been trained to complete the missions he’s given, and Rowan gave him a mission to get rid of Jennifer Fields. And Jake did just that. But he didn’t kill her. As he flicks on the cabin lights, Jennifer emerges from another room. She’s alive! The white hat is still on… for now.

Scandal airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on ABC. Watch clips and full episodes ofScandal for free on Yahoo View.

Read More from Yahoo TV:
‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ 20th Anniversary: 20 Genre Show Producers Pay Tribute
‘The Vampire Diaries’ Co-Creator Julie Plec on Loss and Redemption
‘Once Upon a Time’ First Look: David Really Needs a Nap