'Scandal' Tweet-cap: Liv Plays Dirty

Warning: This recap for “Pencil’s Down” episode of Scandal contains spoilers.

Think you can play games on Olivia Pope’s level? Think again.

Liv isn’t perfect. She’s not omniscient. She makes mistakes. But when she puts her game face on — that isn’t something to trifle with.

You know who else you shouldn’t mess with? Susan Ross. Crazy, right! When she was first introduced, she was the ultimate goat — a super nice, too-good-for-Washington type who would be the Fitz Administration’s sacrificial lamb. Instead, she’s turned out to be a strong, determined player in her own right.

This week, Olivia figures out what Jake is really up to, and Susan ends her relationship with David, and in both cases, it’s all about these women standing up to the men in their lives and saying: Enough is enough.

You go, girls.

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

Red flag

The reps for all three Republican primary candidates — Mellie, Susan, and Hollis Doyle — meet to discuss terms for the first debate, which will be hosted by none other than Sally Langston on “The Liberty Report.”

Liv is adamant that they keep to a strict time period, to be noted by a red light and a buzzer. She’s even ready to pull Mellie from the debate if she needs to. Of course, they get their way.

But Liv and Mellie have bigger problems: Senator Edison Davis has declared that he’s running for president. If you recall, Edison is Liv’s ex-boyfriend. They meet, and he asks if she’s going to bring up something called “Meridian Terrace.” Oh no, did HE also shoot down a plane full of civilians? Yikes. In any case, she promises not to leak that info. He says it’s about time the country had a black president. She says it’s about time they had a woman president. Wow, Shondaland needs to catch up with the times!

Mellie has bigger problems than Edison Davis running against her. A focus group calls her unlikable, unapproachable, and… gasp, too intelligent. It doesn’t help that Mellie says stuff like, “I’m fighting their fight. I’m just fighting it as a Rhodes Scholar.”

She’s not the only one having issues. Susan is flying through debate prep, and she’s super happy that David will join her on stage after the debate as her acknowledged boyfriend. But then everything gets ruined when Abby inadvertently dishes that David is juggling two women at the same time. Susan’s face at that moment is heartbreaking.

Oh, brother

All is not peaceful on the Democrats’ side, BTW. Cyrus looks pretty gleeful as Vargas’s campaign manager, until some nobody shows up to rally the troops. Turns out that nobody is his brother, who ran all of his (successful) campaigns before this one. But we all know Cyrus: He hates when he’s not puppeteering everyone around him. This brother (Alex) must be stopped.

Then again, Alex has a bit of Cyrus Beene in him — he goes to Olivia with an offer to trade some dirt. He’s got some on Susan, and he wants some in return on Edison. She vacillates, not wanting to break her promise to her ex.

But she rethinks that when Mellie has a bad outing at Gettysburger, in her attempt to be “one of the normals.” She chomps down on some fries, but doesn’t realize the chain doesn’t open on Sundays. Cue #BurgerGate.

Now, Liv is considering releasing the dirt on Edison. And so she goes to her father for advice. HER FATHER. You know, Papa Pope. Evil Incarnate. Why on Earth is she asking HIM for advice?

Papa Pope reminds her that Edison backed her up during the Fitz media brouhaha and “has been nothing but nice to you.” Which is true, but the fact that he’s saying it makes us doubt it.

So, in non-presidential campaign news, Quinn is still spying on Jake for Olivia, but still has no good info as to why on Earth he’s in love with a basic like Vanessa. Quinn adopts a new identity and befriends Vanessa to dig up more dirt, and her sorority girl demeanor might be the most disturbing thing we’ve seen from her, ever.

Lizzy goes to David’s office for a little nookie, but he rebuffs her. Susan asked him point-black if he was cheating on her, and he lied and said those were just rumors, then told her he loved her. Now, he’s going to stick to that, and that means no Lizzy Bear action. She’s livid, and talks smack about Susan.

Smoke and mirrors

Quinn has finally figured out the whole Jake/Vanessa relationship. He’s using her to funnel money into a Super PAC. For which candidate? EDISON DAVIS. Whaaaaa?

Liv goes to see Edison to warn him about aligning with her father. But Edison is fully aware of what he’s doing. Like, he was on the Senate Intelligence Committee, you know.

“You’re getting into bed with a monster,” she says.

“Correction: I’m getting into bed with a monster’s father,” he replies. Oh snap!

Susan is still shaken up about the David Rosen revelation. Should she believe that he loves her? That it was all just a rumor? She has a heart-to-heart with Fitz, of all people. Then again, a cheater would know, right? He tells her that if she feels in her gut that her guy is cheating, then he is.

Olivia then sneaks a meeting with Jake during his date with Vanessa, cornering him in the bathroom and doing some naughty things to him. She knows what he’s up to (in more ways than one). And now that she’s clued in, he should tell her father that “whatever game this is, I will win.” And then she takes her hand and leaves.

Debate night is upon us, and Susan still looks nervous as hell. It turns out that she’s not uneasy about the actual debate, but she wants to break up with David. He promises that he ended things with the other woman and that he loves her, but she’s not having it. Later, she cries on Lizzy’s shoulder about it, as her campaign manager tries to pretend like she’s shocked.

And after giving Mellie a somewhat half-hearted pep talk, Olivia meets with Alex Vargas to exchange dirt-filled envelopes. She’s giving him the info about Edison — turns out “Meridian Terrace” isn’t some codename, but a rehab facility. And he gives her info about Susan, and whatever it is — it’s enough to surprise Olivia Pope. Susan Ross, what did you do?!

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