So Papa Pope may or may not be trying to take back over, according to Jake. Apparently that's what Louvre Burning/Lazarus One means. Papa Pope neither confirmed nor denied it. He leaves it at, true power is never lost! He also gives us a refresher on Liv's background...he raised her to be a Black woman who knew she could own whatever a White man could own. Of course, the media gives their own spin on Liv's background throughout the show...arrogant, urban, articulate and so on...what Marcus Walker referred to as "dog-whistle politics" - terms used by the media that don't sound offensive to the general public, but Black women hear loud and clear what they are really saying. Marcus had Huck and Quinn going on tv using this buzz phrase in Liv's defense. How did this come about?
Well Quinn, feeling she and Huck were overwhelmed with trying to keep Liv's clients, tried to recruit Marcus to join the Gladiators (finally replacing Columbus - ehem Harrison). Initially he turned the offer down, due to their corner-cutting, bend the rules and laws ways. And when Liv found out Quinn asked for his help, she told Quinn and Huck they should be able to handle it on their own and shouldn't bring anyone else into the mix. But later, when Quinn and Huck get to the office, there's Marcus ready to get to work. Despite Huck bringing up what Liv said, Quinn decided they should let Marcus stay. He claimed he changed his mind for the money, but later says it's to help out a sister who helped him. So he went about calling out the media on how they were treating Liv.
And while Liv was getting ran through the mud by the media, Fitz was trying to avoid being ran through the mud on the Hill. The women of the Senate tried to recruit Mellie in their efforts to impeach Fitz, but she declined. Cyrus tried to convince her to do it, saying it was an opportunity for her to get the presidency. But Mellie stood by her decision, even sharing a later scene with Fitz and their baby boy where they agreed to stop hurting each other. But later she gets into it with Cyrus over who had a deeper connection with Fitz, after Mellie tells Cyrus to stop being so vindictive and let it go. Cyrus has the audacity to not only say Fitz was/is his son, but to also tell Mellie being unable to protect his son (Fitz) is worse than her having a son in the grave (who according to Cyrus has already seen the worse in life and is now safe in the ground). Really Cyrus?! Mellie told him to get out, and he quits.
But the women of the Senate aren't the only ones who want to impeach Fitz. His own party members in the Senate are threatening to impeach him if he doesn't get rid of the Brandon bill (Fitz' "legacy" according to Abby, otherwise known as the bill passed after the murder of an unarmed Black youth by a police officer on episode 19 of season 4 - "I'm Just a Bill").
Meanwhile, over in Paris, Jake and Charlie are trying to figure out who Papa Pope is working with. Charlie plans a meeting for the two of them with a female spy who supposedly has more murders under her belt than Jake and Charlie put together...and who is also supposedly very attractive. When she arrives, it is clear she and Jake know each other and that whatever they had didn't end well...because she declines to help them. In a later scene, Jake goes to see her and we learn they worked together as spies and were even married. The last time they worked together, Jake waited for her at the train station for an hour (35 minutes over protocol), but she said she came and he should have waited. They end up sharing a kiss and she agrees to help them, but things go wrong during the mission and she gets shot by the Russian she met with. Later at the hospital she admits she never came to the train station (because they are spies and their relationship couldn't last forever), and Jake asks her to come back to the States with him.
And back in the States, Fitz meets with Abby about the Brandon bill and possible impeachment. He also reminds her he wants to fire her for throwing Liv under the bus, but Liv won't let him because Abby did what Liv would have done. So he asks her...what would Liv do about the Brandon bill. Abby's answer...make the smart choice and kill the bill. But Fitz decides Liv's job as a fixer is to be smart, but he doesn't work for Liv. In his office it's not about doing the smart thing, it's about doing the right thing. And what's the right thing??
Fitz going to pick up Liv, his mistress, and taking her on a date. Now, I'm not team Olitz (is that how you all say it?), but I am for Fitz risking something for Liv instead of the other way around. And yea...about passing on the "smart" move to make the "right" move...definitely not a smart move. Because not only will Senator Gibson be seeking impeachment of the President, now so will Mellie and the women of the Senate!