In classic Scandal fashion, the mid-season finale ends in a huge cliffhanger. Everyone is on the hunt for Quinn in “Something Borrowed.” But as expected, Rowan is the one behind her kidnapping. He tells Olivia it’s Quinn’s life for his freedom. Which leaves Olivia with a very, very tough decision and seeking advice from a familiar face.
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Missing People and Found Body Parts
In an effort to cover all of their bases, the associates of QPA are scouring case files of missing persons, found bodies and even found body parts, in the hope that Quinn won’t end up dead. Charlie has a lot of doubt that she’s alive, as he goes to look at another pregnant Jane Doe.
David Rosen even gets in on the action, pulling his weight as attorney general to find more case files. But it seems none of the bodies are Quinn, which is a good thing, but also frustrating.
Who Took Quinn?
Olivia tells Jake she wants the entire government to work together to find Quinn and the monster who took her. Then, she wants that monster eliminated. And as expected, Rowan calls Olivia to get a drink, and then tells her that he has Quinn.
Rowan knows that Quinn knows about Rashad’s assassination, so he’s using her as leverage to get his dinosaur bones and his freedom back. He says that he wins, and she loses and gives her a time limit to decide what her decision is. Of course, Olivia puts on her “big girl, I’m in charge,” face and says not to touch Quinn until he hears from her. Rowan says that he’s not bluffing and that he will kill Quinn and her baby.
Back with Jake, Olivia tells him they are going to wait it out. Jake, on the other hand thinks they should take Rowan out, but Olivia is confident Rowan will return Quinn. Jake goes to see Rowan to tell him that he won’t win. He tells Rowan that he doesn’t know what Olivia is capable of and everyone will die if he doesn’t give in. Rowan tells Jake that Olivia can do her worst, as he’ll be ready for her.
Olivia is pretty upset that Jake went to see Rowan, saying all the advantages are gone now. Jake tells her he thinks Rowan is the one in control and she needs to figure out what she’s doing before time runs out.
Mommy’s Advice
At a real loss of what to do, Olivia seeks advice from her mother, who is locked away in a secret location only Olivia knows about. She tells her mother what is going on, and asks for help in deciding. After her mother tries to get something, she eventually tells Olivia she’s going to have to let Quinn die so that her father doesn’t win and she stays Command.
Meanwhile, Jake, who thinks Curtis Pryce is a threat, orders what I’m assuming is a hit on him. He has Olivia’s assistant lure Curtis to a hotel room with information on Rashad’s death. Later, she calls Jake and says it’s done, and Curtis is laying on the hotel floor. News reports say he’s missing and presumed dead.
Who’s Bluffing?
Jake goes to see Olivia, who is having panic attacks about what she needs to do. She knows that letting Quinn die would solve a lot of her problems, but she knows she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she let that happen. She also knows that if she gives Rowan his bones back, he will slowly begin to assert himself and start to control her, and the empire she’s built will fall.
Jake says the simple solution is to just kill Rowan, adding that she doesn’t get to have it all.
The next day, Olivia goes to Rowan’s house. He pulls a gun on her, and she urges him to kill her, as that’s what he’s always taught her – cut off the head of the snake to destroy it. However, she knows he won’t kill her.
In an effort to save Quinn and call Rowan’s bluff, she calls in a kill order for Rowan. She warns him that in 20 minutes, he will die if he doesn’t let Quinn go. She tells Rowan that he made her who she is today. She again tells him either let Quinn go or kill her, as his time is running out.
Rowan thinks that Olivia is bluffing, but she assures him she’s not. He then heads to the room where Quinn is being held. A few seconds later, Olivia hears a gunshot, Quinn screaming and another gunshot. She almost gets ill at the thought of Quinn dying, so she tries to gain her composure when Rowan returns and asks if she’d like to see the body.
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Peace Treaty
While everyone is wrapped up with finding Quinn, Mellie is off changing history by signing the peace treaty she’s worked hard to get. As she prepares, Marcus comes to see her with some proposals for he and Fitz’s criminal justice reform. He thinks with her power and capital, they could do good things at Fitz’s institute. At first, she doesn’t want to hear about it and asks Marcus to leave. However, he leaves behind he files, which she reads. A few days later, Mellie sits down with Fitz to try and work on something together.
I’m not too happy with this cliffhanger. I question whether Rowan actually killed Quinn. Old Rowan wouldn’t hesitate, so I’m curious if he actually followed through to call Olivia’s bluff. Perhaps if he did kill Quinn, he knows that it will break Olivia. If he didn’t kill Quinn, he knows that Olivia’s true feelings will show when he reveals Quinn is alive. Either way, I think Jake is right. I think Rowan is the one in charge. I think it’s too late, and his plans to take back Command are already in motion.
I find it interesting that Jake doesn’t seem to take orders very well from Olivia. First, he goes to see Rowan. Then, he orders some sort of hit on Curtis. Poor Curtis. He was just trying to do a good job on his show, and getting mixed up with Olivia Pope could have lost him his life.
Scandal airs Thursdays at 9/8c on ABC and will return on January 18, 2018. Want more news? Like BuddyTV’s Scandal Facebook page.
(Image courtesy of ABC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
