'Scandal' Tweet-cap: Too Dark to See

Scandal’s Olivia Pope is back. But nothing will ever be the same for her, for her friends, for her love interest(s), or even for us ever again.

Last week was a kind of outlier episode. Olivia had just returned home from her kidnapping ordeal, but she faced a situation completely outside her norm. It was also outside the norm for us, as viewers.

This week, though, she’s back in the office, back to work, but it’s all a little off-kilter. Look, when Huck of all people is treating you like a baby chick, things are bad. Very bad. Liv is clearly still reeling from her ordeal, and the fact that her first real case back is to find the missing corpse of her nice neighbor lady (you know, the one she shared a body bag with) can’t be easy.

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And witness how she acts when she’s pulled into a more typical case — to fix Susan Ross’s disaster of a vice-presidential bid. Olivia looks ready to bolt out of the Oval Office at any second (she hovers near the door), and can barely look Fitz (the love of her life) in the eye.

Liv might be “back” in the physical sense, but it’s clear that she’s not back emotionally or psychologically. And yet, life goes on. Everyone around her is moving forward in their own storylines, even as she remains still.

A rundown of this week’s episode…

A heartbeat away…

Well, it seems Fitz and Mellie weren’t having a drug-induced delusion last week when they asked Susan Ross to be his next VP. They’re preparing to announce her bid, which has to be confirmed by the Senate.

Except, this is SUSAN ROSS. Do you remember how raw, how unprepared, how naive she was when Liv first sought her out last season? Well, she’s a little better, but not much. Her first press conference is a total disaster. It might rank a notch or two above the Titanic, honestly.

Meanwhile, Olivia is at home, sitting in her hallway – because her couch has the tell-tale red wine stain, reminding her of What Happened — drinking her cares away, when Cyrus calls. He wants her help, but she’s in no condition to do so. Instead, she overhears her neighbor’s friend, Rose, ranting to the landlord about prematurely evicting her friend. Of course, Liv knows what happened to Lois, but she wants to at least get some kind of peace/closure for Rose, and decides to take on the case.

But when she gets to the office, Huck and Quinn treat her like a newborn baby chick — are you OK? Should you be back so soon? Can we get you some warm milk? No, no, no! Liv charges them with recovering Lois’s body without revealing too many secrets. They’re astonished that this is the first project she wants to work on after the whole kidnapping thing.

At the Attorney General’s office, David is getting a rundown from his assistant, who mentions that there’s a woman waiting to speak with him about this thing called, like, “B-613”? Oh… pooh. It turns out to be Kim, Huck’s ex! And she has actual, physical files to prove how down and dirty B-613 is!

Back to Susan Ross — her unpolished behavior and that world-class snort have made her the darling/target of the media. Cyrus and Abby need help, and they call on… Leo, one-time advisor to former VP Sally Langston! He vows to get Susan through the senatorial confirmation, hell or high water — and it starts to work! Susan is actually kind of charming! And man, does the fact that Leo is good at his job turn Abby on!

Taking one for the team

After Kim’s appointment, an agitated David goes to see Jake and Huck at OPA. Jake’s all “let’s take that person out,” but David has standards — you know, the “let’s not murder people” kind of standards. Then, Huck drops the bombshell that Kim is his ex-wife, and that the “Diego Munoz” she referred to is actually him!

This isn’t good. B-613 may be evil, but has enough ties to the White House and OPA to take them both down. So, Huck goes to talk to Kim, who innocently believes David is on their side for justice (HA!). And after having a blissful family dinner with Kim and Javi, Huck seems to be wavering on his loyalties.

At the White House, Leo is mercilessly drilling Susan on foreign affairs and gas prices, and the poor thing can’t keep up. She decides this whole vice presidency thing is not worth it, and quits!

Later that evening, in Abby’s apartment, she and Leo are getting ready for bed — because they’re still a thing, apparently — when she unleashes the full force of her fury. How could he let her quit? Why did he have to push her so hard? “Maybe she’s not the right person for the job,” he shrugs.

Fine, maybe he’s not the right person for this job, either. And Abby FIRES him.

At the office, Olivia has to field another meeting with Rose, who babbles on about her friend’s hip surgery and the serial number on that hip joint. OK, a lead, great. Except that Liv knows where that lead will lead to. The outcome was always going to be the same: Rose’s dead body.

Abby stops by OPA with a salad. She tells Olivia that she needs Susan Ross to want to be VP, and Liv is the only one who can help. Olivia is hesitant; she doesn’t want to be involved with Fitz, personally or professionally, anymore. But Abby won’t give up. “You’re not doing this for him. You’re doing it for me, and for Susan Ross. And for you.”

First, Liv talks Susan back into the gig. Then, she basically orders Fitz to charm senators (most of whom don’t like him) to vote the right way in the confirmation hearing. At first, he’s stubborn, but… hey, when Liv asks something, usually Fitz gives it to her.

White hats

It’s the day before Huck’s deposition. He’s having dinner with Kim and Javi, and everything seems too… normal. So un-Huck-like. Even Quinn notices. He seems genuinely happy.

But when his deposition rolls around, Huck takes the “I don’t recall” stance at first. Who’s in charge? Where is B-613 located? What was his first mission?

“I don’t remember,” he says, as an aghast Kim watches.

But when David asks about The Hole, Huck breaks down. He describes, anguish written over his face, how small the hole was. How he dreamed of eating lunch, when there was no food to be had. How he wrote “letters” to Kim, that he stored on a “bookshelf.” It’s devastatingly sad. Even David can barely keep in the tears.

Meanwhile, Susan is on the verge of getting confirmed. Fitz’s charm offensive worked, and Mellie is loving the whole thing, as it sets her up nicely for her own presidential bid down the road. And when Abby comes home in the evening, she finds Leo waiting for her — and not to just find his mouthguard. “If dating one of the big guys is too much for you…” Abby starts to say. Well, let’s just say that sentence ended in bed!

Maybe Huck went off script. Maybe what he said will damage Olivia and/or the White House. Maybe it’ll get him killed. But he had to speak some truth, with Kim there watching him. After the deposition, he takes Kim home… and she kisses him. Things really are changing!

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And that’s the message that Rose imparts to Olivia. She might be living in the same apartment, doing the same job, interacting with the same people — but she is not the same person she was. And she never will be, ever again. Who is she now? That’s the big question.

Somewhere not too far away, in David’s office, Jake is incredulous as he reads Huck’s testimony. And even more so when David says he plans to move forward with it.

“I’m going to get the bad guys,” he says.

Jake frowns. “We ARE the bad guys.”

If only David could pull out a big white cowboy hat from behind his desk at this moment! He doesn’t, but his words still ring true. “Not anymore.”

Stand in the sun, guys. Stand in the sun.

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