One episode before the mid-season finale of Scandal, episode 8 is a rather tantalizing game of cat and mouse.
There's also plenty of bickering between the men in Liv's life, surprise villains, quite a few gripping scenes leading up to Rowan's takedown -- and we come closer to figuring out just who is spying on Olivia.
("No hard feelings?" Fitz says to Jake at one point as he extends his hand. Ah, if only it were so easy.)
Jake and Fitz arguing over Liv and improper relationships, sounding like #Scandal pic.twitter.com/6XG7f9fBoZ— thisisyourconscience (@lincolnablades) November 14, 2014
We open to the bickering of three supposedly smart adults, one of whom runs an entire country. They are setting up a trap for a rather big rat: Rowan. Jake's first instinct is to kill him, but that won't let him stand in the light with Olivia; instead, he resigns to capturing Rowan and putting Papa Pope in front of a tribunal. All they need is good bait, "a shiny object," a.k.a. Olivia.
After all, Rowan's recent phone conversation with his daughter went something like this: "I will be here for you long after these boys have revealed themselves to be who they really are. You will always have a place at my table, whether we fight, whether you hate me -- whether you show up or not."
They meet for a father-daughter dinner, where Rowan launches into a seemingly emotional speech about how he had tried to be there for Liv but hasn't always done perfectly by her, as well as how much she means to him (it goes on). It's hard not to believe what he's saying. We were even starting to feel sad for him that his own daughter had turned her back on him. Olivia had hints of tears in her eyes.
Rowan...always one (or 20) steps ahead. @JOEtheMORTON #ScandaI OMG! "the bright white sun has blinded you." Gulp.— Linda Lowy (@lindalowy) November 14, 2014
But then comes the shocker. Not only was he aware of the trap that was so neatly set up for him, but he was also several steps ahead. The top-secret documents of evidence that Jake had handed over to Rosen were replaced with empty sheets of paper, and the snipers that were waiting outside the restaurant for Rowan were instead taken out individually by his own men.
Just like that, Rowan, ever the doting father, makes his last appearance in Liv's life. Or... does he?
"You think this world is so terrible with me in it, see what it’s like without me," he tells her.
It makes you wonder if she still has a seat at his table.
Over at OPA, they have a new client, Elizabeth. She thinks her phone is bugged and wants Olivia to find out who bugged it. ('Cause, like, there are no other tech people around?) It doesn't take Huck very long to crack the case. The culprit? Cyrus.
Cyrus confides in Olivia about how Elizabeth had set him up with Michael and makes her promise to choose friendship over a client. So, instead, Olivia blames the hack on a virus and begins to spy on Elizabeth. (You know, for someone who claims to wear the white hat, Olivia sure dabbles in some shady business practices.)
In trying to contain Cyrus' scandal, Olivia realizes that Michael actually had a significantly higher amount of intel he could leak to Lizzie but didn't, indicating that he actually cares for Cyrus.
"Ironic isnt it, it's always the ones closest to us, the ones who say they care, theyre the ones who do the most damage"- Cyrus #Scandal— Snow Muffin ❄️⛄️ (@GAFan8) November 14, 2014
Michael tips off OPA to Elizabeth's secret apartment, where the team stakes out. That's when we gasp as wee discover that Lizzie is having an affair with Vice President Andrew Nichols, the one seemingly nice politician.
Poor Mellie. Only moments before, she had opened up both her heart and body to him, pleading for him to give her a second chance. "When that bomb went off, I woke up, my body woke up."
Boom, indeed.
Other things of note:
Huck continues to bond with his son, and it almost feels normal, except that they're hanging out in a surveillance van. And just as things seem to be looking up for Huck, Kubiak has to go and break into the van. Huck squishes his head against a broken window, and his son returns from his ice cream run just in time to witness the whole thing. He runs and doesn't look back.
The Love Triangle Continues: At one point, Fitz hovers over Olivia in the bunker, telling her to kiss him and trying to convince her that no one will ever have to know. "Come on, you know you want to." I think Jake still has a chance.
"We stand in the sun, Jake, that's what we do," Olivia tells Jake. "That's one of our catchphrases," Jake gloats to Fitz, "It's from our time on the island." Later, Olivia tells Jake never to "talk about me and another man and the sun ever again."
What was with all the childish fighting? Like when Jake insists that Fitz calls him Captain Ballard: "Jake is what my friends call me, and you're not my friend, Mr. President."
Can't we all be friends, Jake? #Scandal pic.twitter.com/lV9xJhuRJ7— Scandal (@ScandalABC) November 14, 2014
What did you think of the 50 Shades of Grey trailer premiering right after Scandal? Sound off in the comments, below.