Hey Business Movers & Shakers! Its time for Episode 2!
So Episode 2 did not disappoint and came with the same amount of drama and intensity as Episode 1! We got a much needed recap of exactly what made Olivia and her Dad's relationship so strange and more backstory on how our favorite killer Huck and Olivia met. So here's what happened!
Episode Recap
- Olivia's Dad is CRAZY! but has a soft, scary side... - I know that was number 1 last week but it didn't change this episode either! We start off with a flashback of a very awkward dinner between Olivia and her father where their agreement is to have Sunday Dinners in exchange for him paying for her law school bills. Clearly Olivia does not want to be around her father because he sent her off to boarding school and he really wants to pretend that it doesn't matter.
- Olivia vs. the White House and the powers that be/B613 - So being the Gladiator that she is Olivia decided to help the poor White House aide Jeannine, that was accused of sleeping with the President (instead of it being Olivia - dodged that bullet), and defend her honor and the truth... well part of it. She slams the White House for slander and Pappy Pope threatens Cryus to make the President admit that it was Jeannine or ELSE! The strange thing is poor Jeannine doesn't know her greatest defender is the reason she is in all of this mess...
- Sooo you can kill people? - We flash back again to watching a younger Olivia be nice to a homeless Huck who would always be sitting at the D.C. Union Station train stop. They would joke and talk occasionally until one day two men try to mug her and he takes them down in a series of fast handed and lethal moves. So when she goes back and asked him how did he know how to do that he spills/rambles that he was part of a secret organization called B16 that trained him to be a cold blooded killer! So poor Olivia goes to her Dad whom she believes works at the "Smithsonian" (those who love Covert Affairs this was CIA Agent Annie Walkers cover story too! I'm starting to get suspicious) and asks him if he has heard of it. Unbeknownst, to her he definitely knows of it because he runs it!
- Between a Rock and a Hard Place - Back in the current day President Fitz tells Cyrus and Millie that he will not admit to having an affair with that poor girl and he's in charge. LOL! So cute! He thinks he runs things! So instead Mellie creates a plan to leak to the press a story about all of the dates that Jeannine could have had the oppotunity to sleep with the President which sends Olivia's team racing to find a way to prove the truth. To make matters worse Pappy Pope stops by the Pope office (which freaks everyone out to know Olivia has a Dad and that he lives in D.C. - nosey employees!) and tells Olivia she better let Jeannine burn or he'll kill Jake! (Side Note: The intense negotiations that Olivia and her Dad have while seemingly smiling through her glass windowed office is the best!) Now Olivia is left to decide who to burn?
- The Truth and Then Some! - So back in flashback time Olivia's homeless friend Huck has gone missing and she begins to pull together the clues that her Dad may have had something to do with it. When she confronts him he politely informs her that she better not ask any questions that will give her an answer she can't deal with! Whoops! So now in the present time we see Jeannine decides to fall on her sword and accepts a bribe from Mellie for $2 mil to admit the affair on national television. Looking like all is lost Olivia tries to negotiate one last time and tells evil Pappy Pope that she'll go back to having the Sunday Dinners with him if he releases Jake. Just when we think Pope & Associates have lost both battles President Fitz decided to really show who has the power and goes on national television and admits that he did have the affair with Jeannine thus cancelling Mellie's $2 million deal and securing Jake's safety.
- Bonus: Can't keep a beast on a leash forever - Just when we thought all was well Huck confronts Olivia in the parking lot about some of the discrepancies that Baby Huck aka Quinn had found in Olivia and her father's relationship. He puts it together that Olivia "made a deal," with her Dad for his release and that her father is "Commander!!!!!" He then proceeds to flip out and strangles her! He catches himself and lets her go but has created one of the most uncomfortable and memorable scenes of the show!
The Bizness of Pope & Associates- What all of us can learn....
- Leverage - So this episode gives a very clear lesson on the power of leverage. Everyone in this episode had some type of leverage and tried to use it (successfully or not). For example, Evil Pappy Pope - He tried to use Jake's life as leverage to get both the President & Olivia to do what he wanted them to do regarding admitting the affair. Olivia's leverage was knowing that her Dad wanted a relationship with her, thus using Sunday Dinners as a bargaining chip. Mellie had money and Huck had the threat of violence. Knowing what leverage you can yield in a situation can help keep you in a position of power. Knowing when and how to use that leverage will make you a great leader in your industry. As our former President said, "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far." - Theodore Roosevelt
- Know Your Price - One of the biggest reactions to the episode was what many determined as the low price Jeannine sold herself for to admit the affair. Olivia's price was a man's life in exchange for these tortuous Sunday Dinners. In business you often need to know the price of many of the important aspects of what you will consider success. The price that you are willing to sell your business for. The amount you need to make per month. The comparable price of your peers in your industry. Knowing your price will help you not leave the negotiation table empty handed!
- Do Good to Those That Do Go to You! - Considered one of the golden rules of business Olivia showed us that she was willing to go to the moon and back to save Jake's life. Even going as far to ask her former lover President Fitz to save her newer former lover Jake's life from her Evil Pappy Pope! Gutsy! Loyalty is hard to find and if you create a culture of loyalty and service in your business you'll receive exactly what you put out!
Until the next episode keep on your straight path to success!