Let me make this recap quick so I can get to what I feel is the most important point of tonight's episode.
Liv cleverly talks her way out of being sold to Iran and is put back up for auction. Behind Fitz' back, Cyrus plots to kill her if she is auctioned off. Abby figures this out, thanks to David thinking out loud, but Cyrus keeps her from being able to tell Fitz.
Meanwhile, Andrew gets amnesty, but Mellie tells him he'll never be president. To which Andrew says she'll never be president, b/c he can always whisper things about their affair in a journalist's ear. So Mellie tells Lizzie Bear it's time for her to pay up for her getting Huck off her back (ouch...maybe "back" was a poor choice of words, but you know what I mean). So Lizzie Bear decides to go to Huck and ask him, without saying it, to kill Andrew.
But moments before, after finding out Liz wasn't sold to Iran and was back on the auction board, Quinn got Huck to promise not to kill anymore. So Huck declines to help Lizzie Bear with Andrew. He later changes his mind...somewhat. He injects Andrew with something that gives him a serious stroke. He's now in the hospital unable to talk or move.
The auction comes down to Russia and the Gladiators who are using Olivia's mom's pseudonym. Olivia of course recognizes the name. Now for the life of me, I can't figure out why Olivia in that moment wasn't smart enough to realize her kidnappers would go with whichever one she didn't suggest! When asked who she thought was the better choice to go with, she made up some reason about why they'd get more money with Margaret (Mama Pope's name). The kidnapper of course waited for her to give this look of hope indicating she thought she could still get away, and the moment he saw it he decided to go with the Russians!
Lucky for Liz, Abby reached out to Steven, a former Gladiator in St. Petersburg, and he was the Russian who won the auction! So Liz is safe and sound. Thanks to Abby! And this leads into the most important point of tonight's episode...best exemplified by scenes between Liv and Fitz and Jake and Papa Pope...
Out of desperation, after the Russians won the auction, Jake returned to Mama Pope to see if she had any Russian connections that could help. She gave him a location, and who was there...Papa Pope. Who essentially laughed in Jake's face and made two points... 1) You lost, no allowed Liv to be taken, and it's only been like a week since I left and now have to come to me for help, and 2) I have no daughter. I'm team Papa Pope all day...he is my favorite character on the show...and Liv was dead wrong for pulling that trigger on Papa Pope...DEAD WRONG!
Then there's the last scene of the show. Fitz comes to see Liv, and to both me and Fitz' surprise, she goes off on him! I honestly thought she declined Jake's offer to stay the night b/c she knew Fitz was coming. Boy was I wrong! The gist of what she told him was...she and so many others sacrificed for him to be one of the greatest leaders of the country in history and when she was taken...one life...he allowed himself to be pushed into an unnecessary war...and at the end of the day...even if it was to save her...he DIDN'T SAVE HER!
So what is it I think is the most important point of tonight's episode...Papa Pope has more power than Jake and Fitz put together! Please believe, if Liv hadn't pulled that trigger on Papa Pope, he would have saved her. And even if you don't believe that, we know for sure Jake and Fitz, even working together, couldn't save Liv!! #TeamPapaPope