You liked her as soon as you saw her on Scandal. Maybe it was because you instantly recognized the actress as Marla Gibbs, otherwise known as feisty maid Florence in your childhood favorite, The Jeffersons. She was the best part of that television show. And don’t forget her role on 227. She was so funny! But, she’s serious now. Now, she is Rose and she is looking for her friend, Lois.
You liked how she stubbornly refused to tell Quinn who she was or what she wanted when she showed up at Pope and Associates three episodes ago looking for the “black lady” who lived across the hall from her friend Lois. You liked that her showing up at OPA is what ultimately helped the gladiators find Olivia. And you felt bad for her because you knew, even if she didn’t, that her friend Lois was dead.
So you’re glad to see her outside of Olivia’s apartment, giving Lois’ landlord a hard time about changing the locks on the apartment. She hasn’t heard from her friend in three weeks, but she is not giving up on finding her. Olivia, who has been swigging booze from a bottle on the floor of her apartment for who knows how long, intervenes through the door of her apartment. Olivia knows that Lois is dead. She watched mercenaries shoot Lois in the heart in her own apartment where they took Olivia immediately after kidnapping her from across the hall.
Olivia knows Lois is dead because she was stuffed in a body bag with Lois’ corpse and driven away from their apartment building in an ambulance. Yet, she informs the landlord that by law, Lois’ apartment is still hers for five more days. Then she lets Rose in and makes her a cup of tea.
Rose is grateful for Olivia’s help. Lois, Olivia’s neighbor really liked Olivia. She always told Rose that if she were ever in trouble, she should go the to black lady across the hall. When Olivia asks if Rose and Lois were close, Rose explains just how much.
“Lo calls me every morning and tells me what she had for breakfast. We meet for lunch and power walk through the park. We take turns making dinner. We go way back. I know Lois like I know me.”
Rose tells Olivia that she has gone to the police but they suggested that maybe Lois went on vacation. But, Lois and Rose go on vacation in August. The police thought that maybe Lois needed some time alone. But Rose, who has a key to Lois’ apartment, found her wallet on the kitchen counter. What kind of alone time could she afford without her wallet? Rose wants to know.
Olivia isn’t back yet. Not Really. She is still traumatized by everything she went through during her kidnapping. I mean, the woman is walking around in her apartment brushing her teeth with a gun in her hand. She’s not ready. But like you, she feels bad for Rose, so she asks Quinn and Huck to find Lois’ body so that at least she can give her some closure.
There are a lot of other things going on:
The White House is trying to confirm Susan Ross as Vice President despite her lack of experience and her hilarious cackle during her first press conference. Leo tries to spin the blunder, and it works for the most part. But Leo is too hard on her and Susan quits.
Also, Jasika Nicole is back as Kim, Huck’s wife. She has read the B613 files that Huck gave her and she believes him now. Furthermore, she wants to fight for him. She goes to the attorney general, David Rosen, and tells him that her husband Diego Munoz gave her the files. David goes to OPA freaking out. Jake vow to hunt down this Diego Munoz guy and kill him. Finally, Huck confesses that he is Diego Munoz and that he’ll handle it.
But basically you’re just waiting to see what happens with Rose. You’ve got a feeling, and when Rose shows up at OPA with Lois’ medical records, that feeling is confirmed. Lois got a new hip last year. Titanium. There’s a serial number on it. Rose thinks it will help find her friend.
Rose is not naïve. “I know what we’re dealing with here, Ms. Pope. I know she didn’t just get lost. I know she’s gone. I can feel it. But I still need to know what happened,” she explains. You were right. She’s family.
Olivia says, “You have a key to her apartment. You’re her power of attorney. The two of you had a routine. An entire life together. But you were just friends…”
Rose smiles, “Well, maybe a bit more than that,” she admits.
“But you didn’t live together.”
“We met at 16. When her parents realized how we felt about each other, they picked up and moved her out of state. I couldn’t blame them. That was 60 years ago. It was hard enough being black, let alone black and gay.”
“I can only imagine,” Olivia says.
“But I never stopped loving her. Even when she got married and had a whole other life without me. When John died, she wrote me a letter. I was on a plane an hour later. But, no. No. I never moved in. She kept that damn place way too hot.”
“I’m going to do my very best to bring her back to you,” Olivia promises. “But Rose, if somehow I can’t, I don’t want you to be waiting forever.”
“I waited over 40 years for my Lois, Ms. Pope.” Rose says. ” Believe me, I think I can wait a bit longer.”
And this is when your heart just breaks for her. Your heart breaks for Lois and Rose and all the LGBTQ elders in real life that these characters are based on.
Other things get settled:
Abby fires Leo and convinces Olivia to come on board and prep Susan Ross. She performs perfectly at her confirmation hearing and yet, the democrats in the senate won’t confirm Susan because they are mad at the President for going to war in West Angola. In an intense face-to -face moment in the oval office, Olivia convinces Fitz to go to the hill and beg for the senate’s forgiveness. Susan is soon sworn into office.
Huck decides to give a false testimony regarding B613 at the Department of Justice. He knows that this means that Kim will never speak to him again, but he must do it to save both their lives and keep Olivia safe. Yet, when the time comes, Kim asks him to talk about the hole and he can’t help but tell the truth. Suddenly, he is back there, his eyes focusing on that other place as he describes in excruciating detail what it was like in the hole. Tears spring to your eyes. But they don’t fall. Not yet.
Not until you see Rose and Olivia standing in front of Lois’ coffin. They found her. When Rose asks what happened to her Lois, Olivia lies. Instead of recounting Lois’ gruesome end, she tells Rose that she died from an aneurism while sitting on a park bench in Georgetown near the river. Her face was tilted up toward the sun when she was very quickly and painlessly taken from Rose. It was like she just fell asleep with the sun on her face and listening to the sounds of the river.
Rose leans over the coffin. “It’s too soon. It’s still too soon.” She speaks to Lois. “You left way too soon. Why did you have to go and do that? Now, I’m alone. I’m all alone.”
Tears start running down your face as she bends over Rose’s coffin. “Things ain’t ever goin’ to be the same without you, Lo. Things ain’t ever going to be the same. Never be the same, Lo.” Rose cries over and over and over.
Olivia goes back to her apartment. She throws out the couch cushion with the wine stain. She places her gun on her coffee table next to a glass of wine and a huge bowl of popcorn. She takes a sip of wine. She’s trying to come back. But you know, and she knows, things ain’t ever going to be the same.
