The question that has been on every Scandal fan’s minds since season 7 started has been answered: Where has Fitz been? And it turns out he seems pretty bored as he tries to be a regular citizen after eight years of running the country. Once Marcus arrives to work on the Grant Institute though, things get a little more interesting. But the real question is, what makes Fitz head back to D.C. and wait outside Olivia’s apartment.
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Doing Regular Things
Right after Fitz and Olivia shared that steamy kiss on the White House lawn, Fitz boarded a helicopter and headed up to Vermont to start life as a regular citizen. When he wakes up the next day, he finds a bunch of staff members in his house, including a new aide. Fitz immediately tells the aide to fire the staff and tells him to go back to his old job. While speaking with his Secret Service agent, he tells him that he wants to do regular things, including driving his own car. Even though the agent advises against it, Fitz does things his way.
Things get pretty repetitive and boring after a while, as Fitz does his own grocery shopping, cooking and running, every day. While watching TV, a story about a student protester staying out in the cold at his campus until the school takes down a statue of a slave owner catches his eye. He doesn’t really think much of it again until Marcus comes home from vacation.
Stage Two
Once Marcus arrives in Vermont, Fitz is eager to get to work on fundraising and building his library. At one point, Marcus asks Fitz how much of a role Olivia will play in his library, commenting that Olivia was a huge part of his career and life. Somewhere around Day 41 after regular life, Fitz gets antsy. He hears about Mellie and the free education bill, and asks Marcus if he should make a statement. Marcus advises him to stay out of the spotlight for Mellie’s first 100 days out of respect.
Fitz then suggests he and Marcus go to a bar and get a drink. Over drinks, the pair discusses the student protester, Steve, Mellie and Olivia. Eventually, Fitz tells Marcus that he needs to move on. He adds that Olivia was his communications director and ran his campaign, and that’s how she’ll be featured in his library.
Later in the week, Fitz and Marcus host a dinner at the house to get some donations for the library. With one man left, Fitz is about to get a check from him, but when he asks Marcus to get another bottle of scotch, Marcus tells him “no.” After the man leaves, Fitz finds Marcus packing and tells Fitz that he quits. The two dig deep with the insults, with Marcus telling Fitz that Olivia made him, while Fitz calls Marcus a coward. Eventually, they get into a fistfight and the Secret Service agent has to break it up.
Marcus leaves and calls Mellie from his car. He tells her he’s quitting, and then she explains that he’s just in phase two of a relationship with Fitz. She tells Marcus that during stage one, everyone falls far. Fitz is charming and everyone thinks they can do great things with him. Stage two is when Fitz’s true colors show, and he thinks he’s entitled. She adds that stage two is long and rough, but he needs to stick it out because stage three is when people realize that Fitz has something they don’t, magic. And that magic is the golden ticket to change the world.
A Father’s Plea
As Fitz nurses his wounds, he heads into his bedroom and finds Papa Pope sitting on the floor. Rowan tells Fitz that Olivia is now command of B613 and that she stole it right from Fitz. At first, Fitz doesn’t believe him. He tells Rowan that if Olivia is command, she’ll run it different. Rowan doesn’t want to hear it. He then reveals that it was Olivia who killed Vice President-elect Vargas. Rowan then tells Fitz to take care of the situation with Olivia.
Fitz turns the table on Rowan and says it’s his job to handle Olivia. Rowan says he has no power. He thought he was raising a champion, but Olivia is slipping away. He is teary-eyed as he begs Fitz to help him haul Olivia back before she’s gone.
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A Trip Home
Marcus comes back the house and apologizes. Fitz apologizes too. They both agree they need to get to know each other better. Then, Fitz asks Marcus if Olivia is everyone’s world or just his. Then informs Marcus that after the 100 days are up, he needs to go to D.C. for a while. Before they leave, though, Fitz and his team visit protester Steve to encourage him not to give up. Shortly after Fitz leaves, the mayor of the city takes down the statue thanks to the former president.
And now that the 100 days are up, we all know that Fitz heads to Olivia’s apartment only to find her not home. Eventually, she shows up with her new boy toy making out in the elevator.
I’m happy Scandal chronicled what Fitz has been up to. As much as I love Olivia and what she has going on, it was nice to put at least some closure to Fitz’s past. He wants to move on, and I think that’s a good move on his part. It should be interesting to see what Olivia will do now that Fitz is out. Will she be relieved? Or will it cause more strees.
Were you surprised that Rowan asked Fitz for help? Do you think Fitz will be the one to reign Olivia back home? Let us know in the comments below.
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Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
