'Scandal' Tweet-cap: Like Father, Like Daughter

Warning: This recap for the “Thwack!” episode of Scandal contains spoilers.

Guess the apple really doesn’t fall from the tree.

In case you thought Scandal had forgotten about Olivia’s kidnapping from a year ago — nope! That terrible experience came back this week and came back in a brutal way. Former VP Andrew (you know, the guy who engineered her kidnapping and auction) reappears, threatening to expose the kidnapping and Fitz’s subsequent war-mongering.

Liv starts PTSD-ing bad — having flashbacks to her prison, hearing Stevie Wonder in her nightmares — and it all came to a head when Andrew begins taunting her about how much she would go for now in the auction, since she isn’t the president’s mistress anymore.

Enraged, she picks up a chair and… well, the episode title says it all. As ABC’s promos suggested, Liv crosses a line — now she’s a killer. Just like dear old Daddy.

Here’s a rundown of this week’s episode.

Blast from the past

Remember Lillian Forrest, the reporter that Fitz was hooking up with earlier this season? Well, she’s apparently visiting a doctor’s office, a lot, and Abby thinks she’s pregnant. That’s not good.

Except Lillian isn’t pregnant. It’s worse than that.

Turns out, Lillian wasn’t just looking to get laid by the president — she was looking for a scoop. And she found it in former VP Andrew Nichols, who’s recovered enough to speak, though with a severe impediment. When Olivia questions him, he reveals that he’s spilled the beans on how Liv was kidnapped and Fitz went to war for his mistress. Yeah, that is worse. Way worse.

The principals come together in the White House kitchen to discuss their problem. They are: Olivia, Fitz, Mellie, Lizzy, David, and Abby. Talk about a power meeting!

They decide that Mellie needs to use her former relationship with Andrew to talk him down. When she goes to visit him, she’s all honey and smiles, intimating that they could have another chance now that he’s mostly recovered. But he sees right through her — he knows she’s just there to butter him up enough to recant his quotes to Lillian.

She accuses him of blowing up their relationship. He chose Fitz over her, Mellie says, and broke her heart. Mellie storms off, without any solution to the Kitchen Crew’s problem.

Liv realizes she needs to go to DEFCON 4… and heads to her father’s house. Well, let’s face it — the man knows how to handle problematic situations. Plus, Jake, the head of the NSA, is living there. She asks them to spy on Lillian’s conversations to get a jump on her, as they figure out the Andrew thing. They agree, as they chow down on their meal. Seriously, Jake seems to be eating very well at Casa de Pope.

Deal or no deal

Meanwhile, in non-Andrew news, Alex Vargas shows his brother, Frankie, a potential ad playing up his heroic actions in the shootout at the state capitol, but Frankie doesn’t want to use it. Cyrus agrees, to Alex’s annoyance, and then Alex spots an unfamiliar face in the footage. It’s Tom. Who the hell is he, and what was he doing there?

Then, there’s Marcus. Poor Marcus. Just when it seemed like he was starting to be a real Gladiator — now he’s completely shut out. Liv assigns him the busywork of making nice to a cardinal so that he’ll meet with Mellie and endorse her.

Related: ‘Scandal’ Star Cornelius Smith Jr. Previews Marcus’s Evolution as a Gladiator

Back to the Andrew sitch — Huck sticks another needle in his neck! They take him to the underground bunker, where Andrew accuses them of trying to kill him. Not the case, Liv assures him.

But there are other people who want to make Andrew disappear, so he might as well make a deal with them to get some money out of this. He demands $10 million. Yikes!

Liv takes it back to the Kitchen Crew, but they bicker about how to get him the money. Lizzy can throw in $5 mil (she’s a Republican), but neither Abby nor David can chip in a cent (they’re Democrats). Finally, Fitz throws up his hands and agrees to cover the rest.

But after they wire Andrew the money, he reneges on the deal (duh!), asking for $20 billion and a warm apple pie (gross). Fitz decides he needs to take matters into his own hands. He tells Abby that he plans to say he coordinated the assassination attempt on Andrew to justify going to war. Then, Liv’s kidnapping won’t be part of the story.

Abby is stunned, but when she tells her friend, Liv is thrilled. Finally, Fitz is doing the right thing! He’s being a real leader! He’s taking responsibility! But Abby wonders what will happen to her career. Liv, pretty condescendingly, tells her she can come back to OPA to work for her.

Abby’s face in that moment is priceless. She does NOT want to go back to working for Olivia. She’s a big dog now. She’s the White House chief of staff! So, she goes to Andrew with her own offer.

Liv finds out, via Jake and Rowan’s surveillance, that Lillian is changing her story to take down Mellie — it’ll be an expose on Mellie and Andrew’s affair. But when Olivia tries to brainstorm with Abby on how to fix it, she realizes that it was Abby who made it happen.

Blood calls to blood

Stunned, Olivia returns to the office, where Marcus once again tries to get past her walls. Nope, ain’t happening. “I’m not looking for a therapist, Marcus,” she says, even as tears run down her cheeks. Her best friend has just betrayed her, and there’s not a damn soul in the world she can turn to for comfort.

Instead, she’s going to Pope the hell out of the situation. She returns to the bunker to threaten Andrew. “You think you can take Mellie down with me burning everything to the ground?” Olivia asks.

But Andrew doesn’t care! He’s gotten his revenge. And then he starts taunting her about her kidnapping and auction. He calls her a slut. He wonders how much she’d be worth now that she’s no longer the president’s mistress.

Flashes of her imprisonment come over Liv. She starts to break down. And then, she grabs a chair and starts bashing Andrew with it… until he’s dead. “You don’t get revenge! That’s mine! That’s mine!”

A concerned Fitz finds her in the bunker and reassures her that they’ll make it OK. A shocked Abby enters, and a cold-eyed Liv looks at her former friend. Abby WILL make a statement that Andrew died of natural causes, and then she WILL kill Lillian’s story about Mellie. There’s not even an “or else.”

Huck and Quinn pick her up, bringing a change of clothes, and then drop her off at… her father’s house. Of course. Olivia Pope is a murderer now. Where else would she go?

Scandal airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on ABC.