'Scandal' recap: Olivia loses more than her friends

Kelly Woo
·Writer, Yahoo Entertainment

Warning: This recap for the “The People v. Olivia Pope” episode of Scandal contains spoilers.

Olivia Pope can do no wrong — at least in her own mind.

But she has been doing wrong, a lot of wrong, and for quite a while. So, Fitz lures her to Vermont, not to make jam or even have sex, but to surprise her with a gladiator intervention. Everyone’s there (even David). But can Olivia listen, learn, and repent?

The short answer: No. Again, to Olivia, she’s always right, and she’ll take down anybody who says different (even Fitz).

Now, nearly everybody realizes that the Big Bad is Olivia (except for Jake). The question is, what can do they about it?

Here’s a rundown of what went down this week:

Olivia and Fitz wake up, all afterglow-y and lovey-dovey from their night together. He asks her to go to Vermont with him and she agrees. They jet there and she’s all set to make jam and make sweet, sweet love… until she sees Huck is there. And so is Abby and Marcus and David. They’re in Vermont to give Liv a stern talking to about her nefarious doings with B613. Gladiators, assemble!

Meanwhile, at Rowan’s house, he and Charlie are tussling in the baby’s room when Quinn arrives to break it up. Of course, Charlie is shocked that she’s alive. Shocked and mad — he almost killed a bunch of people thinking she was dead. Quinn soothes him by introducing him to their daughter, baby Robin.

More shocks occur at the White House, when Cyrus informs Mellie that Olivia was responsible for President Rashad’s death in the plane bombing. And she’s responsible for Quinn’s death (nobody knows she’s actually alive, but whatever). Mellie can hardly process it all.

Back to the intervention, Fitz gently tells Olivia they are all here to help her. Abby explains that they’re willing to forgive her and that David won’t prosecute her if she leaves the White House and B613.

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Liv is furious. “There is not a person in here who hasn’t had to get their hands a little bit dirty,” she yells. Then, she starts to call them out individually. After all, she knows their secrets. Huck’s past, what Abby did to Huck, many things about Fitz, etc.

When Fitz informs her that the Secret Service has been ordered not to let her leave, Olivia storms off.

Did you notice someone is not present at the intervention? Jake. He’s prowling the White House, looking for Liv. When he enters the B613 “office” in the pool, he finds Mellie waiting for him. She wants him to give Liv a message that she knows about Rashad and wants to know why he had to die.

Over at Rowan’s, baby Robin is wailing her head off. Charlie looks helpless, but Quinn and Rowan start singing Britney Spears to her and Robin totally quiets down. It’s Britney, bitch!

All of the gladiators take turns trying to talk to Liv, who remains silent behind her bedroom door. First up is Abby, who understands what it’s like to crave power so much you’ll do anything to keep it. Then, it’s David, who reads boring laws to her (yeah, as if that would work).

Abby and Huck commiserate. She’s sorry she didn’t believe him about Liv; he sighs that he misses the old Liv. Don’t we all?

After his unpleasant talk with Mellie, Jake confronts Cyrus in his office about not keeping his mouth shut. Jake wants Cyrus to get this whole thing shut down, but Cyrus won’t back down — even when Jake puts a pair of scissors to his neck.

“Fine, kill me,” Cyrus says, not batting an eye. He reminds Jake that this old dog has beaten much worse people… and Jake is the one to blink.

Cyrus immediately goes to Mellie and tells her they need to get rid of Jake and Olivia stat. But Mellie doesn’t want to make a move until she’s heard from Liv. He scoffs that Mellie is too dependent on Liv and scared of doing the job without her.

Back at Rowan’s house, Charlie and Rowan are folding teeny-tiny baby clothes (OMG, those itty-bitty socks!).

Charlie thanks his former boss for everything, but he’s ready to take care of his family. Rowan replies it’s impossible — everyone thinks Quinn is dead. Charlie’s mere presence at the house is a giveaway. It’d be safer for Quinn and the baby if Charlie leaves. Of course, Charlie doesn’t take this advice very well and stomps away.

He vents to Quinn about Rowan, but she responds that Papa Pope is right. When Charlie suggests killing Liv, Quinn shakes her head. She wants justice — she wants Olivia in prison. And to do that, they need to be smart and patient. So, Charlie has to go.

Up in Vermont, Huck takes a tray of food to Olivia. And for the first time, she speaks! She opens the door! She tells him that she needs him more than ever. They have such a special bond; she even started calling them gladiators because of Huck. And after all the times Liv has been there for him, forgiven him, helped him — now, she needs help. She wants him to help her get out of the house. She wants him to return with her to Washington and run B613.

Huck turns cold. “What you did is unforgivable,” he says, referring to Quinn’s death. He isn’t her toady. He isn’t there to serve her.

In D.C., Jake breaks into Liv’s apartment to look for clues to her whereabouts. Instead, he finds Mellie waiting for him to have another talk. She asks him honestly why Liv killed Rashad. Was it a just kill? He gives her the line about the rebel situation, but she doesn’t buy it.

Finally, Jake ‘fesses up. Rashad died “because you couldn’t keep your damn legs closed,” he snarks. He points out Mellie was ready to go to war for that man. Everything Olivia did was to protect Mellie’s presidency.

It’s Fitz’s turn to try to talk sense in Liv. He fondly talks about how she’s always right and it’s what he both loves and hates about her. But this time, she’s not right; she’s wrong. Dead wrong. He says he isn’t going anywhere and will be there for her whenever she opens the door.

Charlie prepares to say goodbye to baby Robin. But when he picks her up, she starts crying. Rowan comes by to give him some pointers. Support her back and head, Papa Pope advises. And just like that, Charlie gets initiated into fatherhood. #PapaCharlie.

Olivia emerges from her room with a handwritten note; it’s a letter of resignation. Abby reads it and says it’s good. Liv is ready to leave the White House and will turn over the dismantling of B613 to Jake. But she tearfully adds, “I’m not admitting I was wrong.” She’s listened, she’s tried to make sense of everything rationally. And she will resign, but she still can’t admit she’s wrong.

She only wishes she could apologize to the one person who needs to hear it most: Quinn.

Liv runs off crying and Fitz follows her. “I am doing the right thing?” she questions.

He hugs her. “You always do.” Then, he promises to order the jet to take her back to D.C. the next day to announce her resignation in a press conference.

In D.C., Olivia is in her apartment when Jake stops by. The gladiators are elsewhere, waiting for her press conference… which she is not attending. She muses that she’s about to lose every friend she has — except for Jake, whom she takes to bed. The next morning, she orders Jake to take their “kill folder” to Mellie and get her in line.

The gladiators meet to discuss their options now that Liv lied to them and didn’t resign. Huck wants to prosecute her, but there isn’t enough evidence. Marcus is worried about this blowing back on Mellie. And Fitz notes that exposing B613 will undermine their democracy and it’s not worth it. Seems like the gladiators’ hands are tied.

Jake delivers the kill folder to Mellie, which contains details about her faked miscarriage, the election rigging, and other scandals that could ruin her. He advises her that she needs B613; she needs someone she can trust to protect her.

The next day, Olivia strides down the hall like the boss she is. She may have lost all her friends, but she’s still the most powerful woman in the world.

But when she reaches what used to be her office, she finds Jake there… unpacking his things! He’s the new Chief of Staff.

Olivia storms into the Oval Office to confront Mellie. “What did you do?”

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

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