‘Scandal’ Star Scott Foley Teases Jake’s Involvement in Vargas’s Assassination
White hat, or black hat — which one is Jake Ballard wearing this season on Scandal?
Every new episode this season has revealed new information about the various players’ involvement in the assassination of presidential election winner Francisco Vargas, and now it’s Jake’s turn.
As star Scott Foley pointed out to Yahoo TV, the vice presidential candidate went missing after the election results were announced. Did Jake shoot Vargas? Has he traded in his white hat and a spot in the sun for the brand of black hat worn by former boss and surrogate father, the nefarious Rowan Pope (Joe Morton)?
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Find out what Foley had to say about Jake’s role in the murder, the complicated marriage he’s in with wife Vanessa, and the even more complicated relationship he has with Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington).
This episode is Jake’s turn in the spotlight. What will we find out?
This season has been really interesting, and I wasn’t sure how it would play out. They’re following this assassination of Frankie Vargas and we’re looking at it from different points of view and finding out where everyone was and what they were doing in flashbacks. This episode is looking at it from Jake’s point of view and where he was.
A lot of viewers were paying close attention when the announcement of Frankie Vargas’s win came on the news and it seemed like Jake got a phone call and disappeared. We now find out where Jake went, and his involvement, if there was any, in Frankie’s murder. We’re going to find out a lot more about Jake’s backstory with regards to his wife Vanessa, played wonderfully by Jessalyn Gilsig.
Each week has been giving us an in-depth character study, so what did you really enjoy digging into with Jake?
I think it shows a lot of his struggles with the position that he’s found himself in, through no fault of his own, because of his commitment to Olivia Pope and his feelings for her. He’s done this, because she and her father want him to — not just joining onto the campaign, but in this marriage as well, because it would be good for the campaign and for his career politically. And in turn, good for Olivia.
The most interesting thing for me to dive into was that balance at home — how do you go home? How do you live a life with someone you don’t love, someone you are sort of being forced to be with? That was fun to play with and fun to work with Jessalyn doing that.
And he’s a man of many secrets, and can’t share any of them with his wife, who he was forced to marry as you say.
It’s a tough thing for him. When we see secrets come out, it’s between Jake and Olivia. That relationship they have allows him to open up and free himself a little bit.
So, where do Jake and Olivia stand now?
God, if I only knew! I think Jake believes that Olivia is the person that he’s meant to be with. And I think there’s an argument to be made that maybe Olivia feels the same way about Jake. But he’s doing the best he can with the information and the position that he’s in right now.
Olivia wants Jake to be in this marriage, to work with this campaign, to be the vice president, for the benefits it would be bring to everybody. He’s doing it to the best of his ability, and sometimes, his way is to pretend she doesn’t mean what she does to him.
But that can fade very quickly and they can fall back into old patterns. But I think there’s always hope! Hope with Pope!
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Is Jake going through with all of this just for Olivia, or is there a part of him that wants that power for himself, too?
Look, I think I’d be lying to say that there isn’t a part of Jake that would relish the power that comes with the Oval Office, even once removed as the vice president is. But the majority of it is he’s been working for so long with the military, but more importantly, with B-613 and with Rowan.
This notion of power and being in control and taking care of the Republic is so important — there’s definitely some of that there. The Rowan of it all cannot be dismissed. It’s a really important thread in Jake’s life. But it’s equally Olivia Pope in his ear. I think the two of them are leading him there.
Scandal airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on ABC. Watch clips and full episodes of Scandal for free on Yahoo View.
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