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S05.E20: Trump Card


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Olivia and Abby have to put their differences aside and work together to try and take Hollis Doyle down. Meanwhile, Edison realizes he may have made a deal with the devil as Rowan and Jake continue to try and pull the strings behind his campaign.

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Can't believe I actually liked Pudding Pop (Edison) this episode and nice to see Liv get one over on both her father and on Hollis.

And she is not embarrassed about her abortion.

Praise god, I actually liked this episode. Will wonders never cease?

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I was really hoping that Cyrus's meeting with Liv at the beginning of the episode would be him enlisting her assistance in getting his daughter back. But, no, it appears he's completely forgotten that happened.

As much as I enjoyed her drop-kicking David, that better not be the end of Susan Ross on my television.

I don't understand why Edison's statement on Hollis Doyle automatically ruined his candidacy. He thought it was a good idea before discussing it with Rowan, and although Rowan strongly disagreed with him, Rowan has also murdered actual busloads of innocent people to protect his own power. Those aren't really related, but it does make it difficult for me to fully comprehend why anything Rowan says should be believed. We're obviously supposed to agree with Edison's actual statement, because it's true of Doyle and it is true of Trump, which makes it even stranger to me that it's presented as his big driving off a cliff moment.

Also, I have to say that I did not really enjoy the Doyle/Trump storyline at all. I am sure that it was very satisfying for everyone involved to have a platform to expound on all of the many horrifying things about Trump, and the truly ugly side of the American people that his candidacy has exposed. And while the Doyle storyline is probably the only time I've actively rooted for Huck's "guy" to come out and kill someone, it hewed too close to reality to be interesting. There was no spin, no twist, no shocking revelations or even humor mined from the situation. It was just a rehash of upsetting real-life events that are, unfortunately, still going on and are not going to be tied up so neatly.

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3 hours ago, swimmyfish said:

I don't understand why Edison's statement on Hollis Doyle automatically ruined his candidacy. He thought it was a good idea before discussing it with Rowan, and although Rowan strongly disagreed with him, Rowan has also murdered actual busloads of innocent people to protect his own power. Those aren't really related, but it does make it difficult for me to fully comprehend why anything Rowan says should be believed. We're obviously supposed to agree with Edison's actual statement, because it's true of Doyle and it is true of Trump, which makes it even stranger to me that it's presented as his big driving off a cliff moment.

 

The speech Edison ended up giving was a lot harsher than the speech he was going to give before Rowan talked him out of it.  He basically said Hollis is a racist bigot and anyone who supports him is a racist bigot as well.  That's not going to go over well in white America.  They immediately get defensive.  

It is the reason why the Obama's have rarely addressed race during his presidential term.  Because when they do it immediately draws negative attention and accusations from white america that he is dividing the country based on race.  (Think Trayvon Martin remarks, or Skip Gates).   Even President Obama's great "race" speech during the whole Rev. Wright debacle made sure to focus attention on so called Black racism as well as white.  

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(edited)

The thing I don't understand is, how is Rowan able to exert any power? Previously he had the full might of B613 to back him up. But that organization is dead. Rowan himself dismantled the apparatus, leaving many operatives dead. The only person seemingly on his side is Jake, and we know his loyalty is not set in stone. Also, Rowan can't possibly have any money, certainly not the amount he would need to be such a player. Even if OPA hadn't hacked into B613's finances and drained them dry, Rowan was put away for embezzlement. Any money he could have had on his own is likely gone.

So again, why is everyone in DC afraid of a broke, old man? Granted, we've seen Rowan throw down before, so he can be a physical threat, but he isn't Bane for fucks sake. Jake does the heavy lifting when it comes to intimidation. But that just brings up more questions. Like why doesn't Jake just kill the old bastard already?

Edited by reggiejax
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(edited)
2 hours ago, After7Only said:

The speech Edison ended up giving was a lot harsher than the speech he was going to give before Rowan talked him out of it.  He basically said Hollis is a racist bigot and anyone who supports him is a racist bigot as well.  That's not going to go over well in white America.  They immediately get defensive.  

It is the reason why the Obama's have rarely addressed race during his presidential term.  Because when they do it immediately draws negative attention and accusations from white america that he is dividing the country based on race.  (Think Trayvon Martin remarks, or Skip Gates).   Even President Obama's great "race" speech during the whole Rev. Wright debacle made sure to focus attention on so called Black racism as well as white.  

There's an amazing book called Americanah, and in it the protagonist, a Nigerian immigrant, is hired to do corporate workshops about race. She initially speaks very candidly about race, and she's met with complete silence. She learns that what white people really want to hear is how racist other white people USED to be, and how racism is over now ... which is very often how Civil Rights is taught in this country, if it's taught at all. Some white people far far away that no current white people know were mean (were pure evil, because people don't want to believe that racists have any nuance. It's why you hear so much "I'm not racist BUT [racist as fuck comment]" because racism is bad, and no one wants to believe they're a bad person), and then MLK gave his speech and we got our rights and racism ended. If you are a POC in this country, or a white person who makes a concerted effort to see racism, you know that it is everywhere in a trillion different ways, big (likelihood of being murdered by law enforcement) and small (when people in a predominantly white environment mistake you for the other black person who works there; this has happened to me every single place I have worked), but most white people don't want to hear that. So while Edison was 100% dead-on right, the reporter who said he'd lost the presidency was right too - which Edison, having been a black man in this country for 40-some years, knew. I'm still confused about how Edison was going to be Rowan's rise to power, but I was HERE for that speech.

I don't care about Jake at all. All his "let's stand in the sun" foolishness ... don't care.

I have watched that "I KNOW I'm amazing!" speech like 6 times on YouTube. I have a habit of selling myself short, and I am going to remember that speech when I feel like I'm less than amazing. I was like "PREACH" when Susan was letting David have it.

Edited by Empress1
Grammar mistake
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"........because that's like walking into my daddy's funeral and asking why I'm not crying for your daddy because he's dead too."

Shonda you can sledgehammer my ass over the head anytime you want to.  That is THE singular best explanation I've ever heard about why BLM is not an anti anything else movement.

Poor David.   And stay down!  lo.

5 minutes ago, Empress1 said:

There's an amazing book called Americanah, and in it the protagonist, a Nigerian immigrant, is hired to do corporate workshops about race. She initially speaks very candidly about race, and she's met with complete silence. She learns that what white people really want to hear is how racist other white people USED to be, and how racism is over now ... which is very often how Civil Rights is taught in this country, if it's taught at all. Some white people far far away that no current white people know were mean (were pure evil, because people don't want to believe that racists have any nuance. It's why you hear so much "I'm not racist BUT [racist as fuck comment]" because racism is bad, and no one wants to believe they're a bad person), and then MLK gave his speech and we got our rights and racism ended. If you are a POC person in this country, or a white person who makes a concerted effort to see racism, you know that it is everywhere in a trillion different ways, big (likelihood of being murdered by law enforcement) and small (when people in a predominantly white environment mistake you for the other black person who works there; this has happened to me every single place I have worked), but most white people don't want to hear that. So while Edison was 100% dead-on right, the reporter who said he'd lost the presidency was right too - which Edison, having been a black man in this country for 40-some years, knew. I'm still confused about how Edison was going to be Rowan's rise to power, but I was HERE for that speech.

I don't care about Jake at all. All his "let's stand in the sun" foolishness ... don't care.

I have watched that "I KNOW I'm amazing!" speech like 6 times on YouTube. I have a habit of selling myself short, and I am going to remember that speech when I feel like I'm less than amazing. I was like "PREACH" when Susan was letting David have it.

{{JillScottarmspan}}  Girl.   With. your. whole. chest.

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3 hours ago, After7Only said:

The speech Edison ended up giving was a lot harsher than the speech he was going to give before Rowan talked him out of it.  He basically said Hollis is a racist bigot and anyone who supports him is a racist bigot as well.  That's not going to go over well in white America.  They immediately get defensive.  

 

I guess I just didn't find it to be that incendiary. I suppose if he had said anything truly offensive, ABC wouldn't have allowed it to air.

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(edited)
5 hours ago, swimmyfish said:

I guess I just didn't find it to be that incendiary. I suppose if he had said anything truly offensive, ABC wouldn't have allowed it to air.

I didn't find it that incendiary either.

7 hours ago, reggiejax said:

 

The thing I don't understand is, how is Rowan able to exert any power? Previously he had the full might of B613 to back him up. But that organization is dead. Rowan himself dismantled the apparatus, leaving many operatives dead. The only person seemingly on his side is Jake, and we know his loyalty is not set in stone. Also, Rowan can't possibly have any money, certainly not the amount he would need to be such a player. Even if OPA hadn't hacked into B613's finances and drained them dry, Rowan was put away for embezzlement. Any money he could have had on his own is likely gone.

So again, why is everyone in DC afraid of a broke, old man? Granted, we've seen Rowan throw down before, so he can be a physical threat, but he isn't Bane for fucks sake. Jake does the heavy lifting when it comes to intimidation. But that just brings up more questions. Like why doesn't Jake just kill the old bastard already?

 

I don't get this either. It's like the writers all just forget he's no longer in control of B613 and act like he's still powerful. I was also annoyed when Liv said something about how no one can beat Rowan. Because she did beat him last year and get him sent to prison, only to let him out to cover for her and Fitz.  She doesn't get to complain about him after letting him out.

Edited by KaveDweller
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The episode made no sense because we were asked to believe that Mellie or Susan might be tempted to become Hollis's VP. That's the only way the storyline works. But we all know that would never happen, for the same reason none of the serious GOP candidates in real life want to be Trump's VP. It's a step down. Susan's VP already. She's running for President because she wants the real job. Same with Mellie. And attaching yourself to Trump Hollis would kill your career forever. So no one on their teams would even consider it. Especially not Lizzie. Even though she's the designated villain, the whole reason she's helping Susan is so Lizzie can be the power behind the throne in a Susan administration. Lizzie complained about being Chief of Staff for the VP; there's no way she'd want to do it again. There was no tension. 

Also, why does anyone listen to Rowan or take him seriously? I was thinking during his condescending speech to Edison: what has Rowan, most powerful man in the world, man who can do whatever he wants with unlimited money and no oversight, ever done to lessen racism in America? He can pick the President and get powerful world leaders and secret international terrorists to do his bidding, but not dumb Trump Hollis voters? He gives all these snotty little speeches about how everyone who isn't him is a soft weak baby who doesn't know what it's like to fight or be in charge but he has all this alleged power, can murder whatever world leaders he wants and can't get cops to stop shooting at unarmed black teenagers like in "The Lawn Chair"? And when Fitz was trying to get the body camera bill passed, where was Rowan to threaten/murder opposing Senators or whatever. Has he actually ever done anything useful?

I still liked it because it was actually about politics. 

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Like why doesn't Jake just kill the old bastard already?

Because the love of his life, Olivia, would never forgive him. That said, I hope Olivia doesn't fall for this latest secret "rescue me" maneuver from Jake because Rowan is probably behind it. I'm thinking Rowan is now going to try to attach himself to Mellie's campaign and Mellie's gonna end up either dead or somehow moved aside. Seems SR's been watching her some House of Cards.

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(edited)

I got a kick out of the moment when Susan was looking around wildly for someplace else to sit, and Mellie immediately made room for her beside her. Hee!

Also laughed when Liv imitated Sally's "lov-ah of liberty." I continue to love how they use Sally now on this show.

Edited by Black Knight
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