‘Scandal’ Tweet-cap: So Close, Yet So Far

Warning: This recap for the “Fates Worse Than Death” episode of Scandal contains spoilers.

Cyrus Beene can almost taste it.

He can almost taste what it’s like to be president of the United States. He’s this close. But then it all starts to fall apart. Cyrus has always been one of the most fascinating characters on Scandal. He’s ruthless and manipulative, and sometimes downright evil. He’s also a patriot who genuinely wants to make the country better. He’s a bad person with good intentions.

The episode deploys more flashbacks to the campaign to show just why Cyrus and Frankie were arguing in that video found by the gladiators, and what role Cyrus had to play in Frankie’s death. As the flashbacks prove, Cyrus Beene sat on the presidential wall. And Cyrus Beene had a great fall.

Here’s a rundown of this week’s episode, including our live tweets:

A nervous but excited Cyrus prepares to head to the White House as sort-of president-elect, with Michael making breakfast and being sweet and supportive. But then Cyrus gets a call from Abby. She tells him to lawyer up and batten down the hatches.

That’s the result of Olivia showing Fitz the video taken by Jennifer Fields of Frankie yelling at Cyrus that once he’s president, he’ll make Cyrus go to prison. Now, David Rosen reopens the investigation into Frankie’s killing to include “anyone and everyone.”

The gladiators sift through evidence and video footage to try to figure out why Frankie and Cyrus were on the outs. By the way, Charlie and Quinn’s PDA is not cool. Get a room, guys. Huck can barely keep his lunch down.

They figure out that Jennifer Fields’s footage begins the day of the vice presidential debate, which Cyrus won handily over Jake. After the debate, Cyrus goes on high alert when he spots Frankie laughing and chumming around with Jennifer, the campaign’s new videographer. Uh oh, this could be bad.

Still, on the day of the debate, Cyrus runs into Olivia, who coolly compliments him on his performance. “Look at you, you’ve bloomed,” she says, rather condescendingly. He shoots back, saying that he ran things for Fitz while he was chasing after her. Olivia warns him that she will figure out how Cyrus blackmailed Frankie into putting him on the ticket.

In the present day, Abby is giving Fitz the silent treatment as he signs papers in the Oval Office. She thinks he made the wrong decision to open up the investigation. “You are being played,” she says, referring to Liv.

That spurs Fitz to meet with Cyrus at a secret rendezvous. Fitz offers him a choice: withdraw as president-elect, or go to trial and get convicted. But if Cyrus withdraws, Fitz will make the investigation disappear.

Cyrus is livid. He can’t believe Fitz would believe he killed Frankie. But he offers to step down — if Mellie does as well. Then the country could choose a new president. Fitz refuses, and Cyrus knows that Fitz is doing this because of Olivia, who only cares about winning.

Afterward, Cyrus gets a call from the last person he wants to hear from: his former lover, Tom, who accuses Cyrus of using him and throwing him away. Tom warns him that he can destroy Cyrus in an instant if he blabs, and Cyrus desperately promises to make it right. The gladiators have deduced that Frankie was having an affair with Jenny, so they track down one of Jenny’s friends to get the scoop. The friend reveals that Jenny left the campaign after getting beaten up.

In a flashback, we learn who her assailant is: Tom. Turns out Cyrus called him up to talk about the Jenny problem. When Tom offers to take care of her, at first Cyrus is coy. He doesn’t want to harm the girl. But when Tom presses him to give her name, Cyrus folds.

Later, Tom meets Cyrus in his hotel room and reports that he took care of Jenny. He “barely had to raise his voice.” Tom starts to seduce Cyrus, who definitely lets him. And then Tom starts whispering sweet somethings in his ear: Cyrus is amazing and brilliant. Shouldn’t he be the president? And Cyrus laps it up, and agrees. He does want to be the president.

But then Cyrus finds a severely bruised Jenny with Frankie. He realizes Tom did more than raise his voice. And Frankie knows that his VP was behind it all. This is the scene from the video where Frankie yells at Cyrus.

“You disgust me,” Frankie says. And it’s all caught on Jenny’s camera.

It’s all too much for Cyrus. This is crossing the line, finally, even for him. He meets Tom and ends their association for good. “You are dead to me,” Cyrus declares, breaking Tom’s heart.

In the present day, a scared and vulnerable Cyrus opens up to Michael. He says Tom has come back around and has the power to destroy everything. “I made a horrible mistake,” Cyrus moans. And he needs to fix it. Michael acts as a good husband and goes out to get the groceries. And a gun. Didn’t know the supermarket sold those!

Cyrus meets with Tom, and at first he tries to act like he wants to get back together. But Tom knows better. He begins to bark and notes that Cyrus considers him a dog — Tom will come when called for. “This is about putting me back on a leash,” he says. “I’m done being your bitch.”

Tom takes the gun easily and puts it in Cyrus’s mouth. But he doesn’t pull the trigger. Instead, he warns Cyrus that something worse than death is coming his way.

A broken, depressed Cyrus returns home to Michael. He mournfully talks about his plans for being president and how ridiculous they seem now. He had his first 100 days mapped out, tackling health care and energy reform. He was going to be looked up to by kids, and not just the gay ones.

He’s ready to take Fitz’s deal, but it’s too late. Tom has already turned himself in and ratted on Cyrus as the mastermind. Olivia informs a jubilant Mellie that she’ll be the next president. And David arrives at Cyrus’s home to arrest him.

In a final flashback, we see the moment when Frankie asks Cyrus to be his VP. Cyrus cries tears of joy. Yes, there is a fate worse than death — almost reaching the sun, only to plummet into the deepest, darkest abyss.

Scandal airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on ABC. Watch clips and full episodes of Scandal for free on Yahoo View.