ABC/Ron TomLet it be known that Scott Foley is a man of many words and very few teases. And for good reason.
The Scandal star, who plays former B613 assassin and Olivia's (Kerry Washington) suitor Jake Ballard, loves his job and his show. A lot. Which means he wants to keep said job, but he also wants the audience to be completely surprised when they sit in front of the TV tonight, with a glass of red wine on the coffee table and a handful of popcorn. "You want to enjoy your Thursday, you want sit down and watch the show and have a great time doing so," he tells us. "But if you know what's going to happen beforehand, it just sort of ruins the experience, which is why I'm not going to tell you anything. Absolutely nothing."
Well played, Mr. Foley. Well played. Of course, we are professionals and were able to wrangle some juicy teases out of him about tonight's episode, including Jake's "odd" new partnership with Huck (Giullermo Diaz), whether or not he'll face off with B613 head of command and Liv's father Rowan (Joe Morton) and why he and Liv won't be playing "house" much longer...
Out of the hole and free of facial hair once again, Jake has two goals in mind at the moment: Taking out B613 and being with Olivia, in that order.
"Both are very important to him, but I think he knows that the sooner he gets revenge on B613, the sooner he takes out Command, which unfortunately is Olivia's father, the sooner he's going to be able to sit down and have that glass of wine with Olivia and not have to look over his shoulder."
Too bad Olivia isn't exactly OK with goal numero uno: "There's a real struggle between him and Olivia as to him sort of saying, ‘I need to take out B613,' and her saying, ‘I just can't do it, I can't be a part of it, I can't have anything to do with it, and that includes you.' And there's a possibility that Jake might not be staying at Olivia's apartment anymore." (Foley is more than OK moving back into Jake's apartment, which he calls "f--king dope. "Anytime anyone comes into it for the first time they're like, "Oh my God!' he says. "Like I've thought about leaving my wife and moving onto that set. It's amazing.")
Though Olivia won't team up with Jake, he will find a partner in former B613 agent Huck as Foley reveals the men will "strike up an odd partnership with the same agenda" of "freeing themselves."
While fans got to see Huck come face-to-face with Rowan for the first time since learning the truth about his B613 involvement and ties to Olivia, Foley says, "You will not see Jake come face-to-face with Rowan, but there will be another Rowan showdown, another face-to-face Rowan showdown, with someone who you don't expect."
So just how mindblowing will the Operation Remington reveal be? "From Defiance to who killed Verna, I think this is as big or bigger a mystery, and the sort of ball of twine that unravels and what we find at the end is amazing," Foley previews. "I think it's going to be the ‘Dad' moment of the first thirteen episodes of this season.
"We're going to learn a lot more about Operation Remington and not just Jake's involvement in it, but how it relates to Rowan and to Fitz, and ultimately to Olivia," he continues. "It's a big mess of this tangled web that they have woven over there. It's so good. It's going to blow your mind."
Scandal airs tonight at 10 p.m. on ABC.
Check back with us tomorrow for some juicy Scandal love triangle scoop from Mr. Foley!