Olivia is out of the Oval on Scandal. Or is she? In “Army of One,” Olivia literally has no friends left since Jake betrayed her to take her job as chief of staff and Command. But she isn’t going down without a fight as she does things to make Jake and Mellie’s lives miserable. Meanwhile, Quinn and Rowan have a difference of opinion on when the time is right to get back at Olivia.
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A Woman Scorned
Olivia goes directly to Mellie to find out what is going on. Mellie explains that she simply can’t trust Olivia anymore after she ordered the death of Rashad. Olivia tries to interject and spout out more lies about her reasons, but Mellie won’t have it. She tells Olivia that ultimately she knows it came down to Olivia not thinking Mellie is a good president. She asks for Olivia’s resignation by the end of the week, or she’ll announce her termination.
A visibility upset Olivia leaves the Oval Office, with wheels turning of how to get back in. She recruits a man named Hector, an old friend of her father’s, to help her. Phase one is sending a virus to all of the B613 computers to shut them down. Phase two is to release video to the public of Jake’s wife having an affair with an employee of the State Department, who she has framed as a Russian spy. Phase three involves Cyrus, who doesn’t really want anything to do with her, but eventually he comes around.
Evil Cyrus Is Back
After Olivia comes to see him, Cyrus heads to Mellie and Jake and tells them he has a solution to their problem of his wife’s affair with a Russian spy, since they can’t prove that Olivia is behind it. Soon, Jake’s wife is on television, denying her affair. She explains that she was at the hotel with the employee, but it was part of a CIA sting to get him to confess that he is a spy. Everyone seems to buy it, but Olivia isn’t happy.
Cyrus comes to Olivia the next day and hands her a signed memo from Mellie asking the CIA to corroborate her fake sting story. He wants Olivia to hold a press conference, and instead of resigning, he wants her to leak the memo and ask for Mellie’s resignation, leading the way for him to become president. Olivia doesn’t really feel comfortable with that solution, but she keeps the memo anyway.
Later that day, Olivia goes to see Mellie and tells her that she plans to out the fake CIA story to the public, and she’s not stepping down. She offers Mellie advice on how to resign gracefully, so she doesn’t close to the door to any other women who want to hold office. At a loss, Mellie tells Jake that it’s all over, and she’s going to have to resign.
Breaking Out
Over at Rowan’s house, Quinn sees a window to kick Olivia while she’s down. However, Rowan doesn’t want to make a move. When she asks him again later on, he explains that he won’t let anyone hurt Olivia, just as Quinn won’t let anyone hurt her baby.
Finally, Quinn makes a deal with Rowan. She tells him that if he lets her leave, she will call Charlie and they will go live happily ever after in a cabin somewhere. In return, she will stay far away from Olivia. He must have agreed, as when Charlie comes to see Quinn, Rowan informs him that she left an hour ago with him. So they both know that Quinn lied and must have gone to see Olivia.
Reeling from recent events, Olivia gets home to find Quinn and her baby in her apartment. Quinn pulls a gun on her, and asks her to confess to everything. If she agrees to confess, Quinn will spare her life, but she’ll head to prison. Olivia tells Quinn that there are B613 assassins outside her window, ready to shoot to protect her, since she’s still Command. Quinn thinks she’s lying, and soon a bullet flies through the apartment. Quinn is okay, but the bullet skims Olivia’s arm.
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A Resignation
Olivia goes to see her father so he can patch her up, and it’s clear he’s happy to have his daughter back. She tells him that Quinn hates her, and Rowan just hugs and comforts her.
The next day, Olivia grabs the Mellie memo and heads out to face the press. As she’s about to out Mellie, she changes her mind and she announces her own resignation as chief of staff instead. And as Jake prepares for his new role, the computers at B613 turn back on.
A Reunion
Meanwhile, Abby and Huck tell Charlie they are going to have to shut down the office, as they have no clients – their last was the State Department fake Russian spy. They tell him it just feels wrong without Quinn. So, he goes to get Quinn. After Olivia announces her resignation, Charlie brings Quinn and the baby back to the office for a happy, tearful reunion.
What the hell is Olivia’s end game? Just when I thought I had Scandal figured out, she goes and does the right thing. But for how long? She made a comment to Jake that he may be chief of staff, but he can’t take Command from her. Perhaps her and Papa Pope can take over B613 together? Maybe that’s Rowan’s end game too. To get back in the game and lead the group with his daughter. Or maybe I’m way off base. But we all know that Olivia will not go down without a fight. I just don’t know how much fight she has left in her.
Do you think Olivia will remain Command? What else do you think she has planned? Do you think Mellie will still seek her advice now that she’s possibly on her good side again? Do you think that Cyrus will still try and become president? Let us know in the comments below.
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(Image courtesy of ABC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
