Scandal was back with a bang (literally and figuratively), and it’s going to take a lot of red wine, popcorn and a solid record collection to get through this whole season without succumbing to the stress. Read below to find out what happened to Olivia (Kerry Washington) and her team in the Thursday, February 2, episode.
Forbidden Flashback Love
The episode kicked off with the flashback of Mellie (Bellamy Young) formally announcing her bid to run for president (ah, simpler times), followed by the post-announcement celebration party. Marcus (Cornelius Smith Jr.) got busted by the gladiator gang for crying, which Olivia quickly picked up on as more than reacting to a moving speech. She warned Mellie to stay away from Marcus, as she can see the way he looks at Mellie. Mellie reminded Olivia “she’s not her or Fitz, so there is nothing to worry about.”
An Offer One Can Refuse
Olivia played the anonymous-tip recording, which supposedly incriminates Cyrus (Jeff Perry) in the assassination of Frankie Vargas (Ricardo Chavira) and is her only tiny piece of solid evidence against him. But Abby (Darby Stanchfield) and Fitz (Tony Goldwyn) weren’t going for it.
Meanwhile, at the White House, Fitz decided to call in Mellie to join Cyrus for a surprise meeting. Fitz asked for the two candidates to discuss “ways to avoid the implosion of the USA.” (We may be a little late for that at this point, guys.) After Fitz left them alone, Mellie jumped at the opportunity to ask Cyrus if his plan was to kill her: “You’re gonna kill me, right? I’m assuming that’s your plan.”
Cyrus blankly stared at Mellie, and not only denied having anything to do with the assassination (while pinning the whole conspiracy theory on Olivia) but followed up by asking Mellie to join him as his vice president on a “unity ticket.” Subtle conversation shift, dude. Cyrus let Mellie know he understands it’s not the job she wanted, but it’s not the job he wanted either. Yet because Mellie is Mellie, the offer isn’t enough for her.
Confessions All Around
After flashbacks to Mellie and Marcus, Abby met with Jake (Scott Foley) about the complications of getting a confession from the assassination suspect. Abby knew the job was meant for the NSA but needed Jake and his *special* skill set to solve the “situation.” At the same time, Mellie had an awkward run-in with Marcus in the halls. He only asked if she was doing OK, to which she quickly retreated and told him not to be concerned with her anymore. Under her breath, she tells Marcus. “You didn’t choose me — nobody does.”
Abby arranged a secret interrogation between Jake and the assassination suspect in custody behind the backs of Webster (Saycon Sengbloh) and Rosen (Joshua Malina). Jake left the room with a confession, naturally, leaving Webster and Rosen confused. On cue, Olivia grilled Abby, who revealed that the suspect confessed to everything. Olivia threatened Abby to “get on the ride side” before Cyrus heads to prison and Mellie is president.
“My Skin Is Warm, and I Feel Generous!”
After a flashback of Mellie reacting to Marcus’ promotion, Olivia lectured Quinn for not wanting to make a decision on marrying Charlie. Liv accused her of being scared and told Quinn to absolutely share her life, because she can.
Put It to Rest
Finally, everyone gathered at the funeral for Frankie Vargas. The funeral ended, and Mellie asked Fitz’s secretary for a last-minute meeting with Fitz (and Marcus!). While she waited, she snuck into the Oval and took a walk around the room. Mellie showed up at Liv’s office, Liv poured her a glass and suddenly Huck barged in, having found something from the footage!
Olivia caught Fitz in the middle of a date (oops) with Webster. Olivia, Fitz, Abby, Rosen and Webster all gathered around to watch whatever video Olivia has on her tablet. There was a
static-y video of Frankie Vargas and Cyrus having a heated (very heated) fight. Frankie accused Cyrus of doing something vile and told Cyrus, “Over my dead body will you get away with what you did.” Liv said it best: It’s time for the justice department to investigate the murder of Frankie Vargas.
Tell Us: What do you think Cyrus did to upset Vargas?
Scandal airs on ABC Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET.
