This is deemed the "winter finale," whatever that means. So you expect someone will die.
But amazingly, nobody did. This was a brisk, fun episode and should leave "Scandal" fans hungry for more into 2015. You had a horny Quinn, a distraught Huck, a dancing Liv and a pontificating Rowan.
Here are the storylines:
Murder by numbers: B613 is supposedly killing off "loose ends" using the incredibly cheesy prop of a "kill card" with a photo of the person they want to kill. Jake, for instance is King of Spades. He of course kills the would-be assassin before he is killed and finds the card.
Comedy relief: Quinn warns former beau Charlie that Command is trying to kill off agents. He is flattered she cares so much to tell him and is goofy hilarious the way he tries to kiss Quinn. Of course, she eventually relents in her usual aggressive way. When she finds out he's supposed to kill her (by finding her "kill card" in his man bag), she beats the stuffing out of him - and vice versa. But nobody dies because, they like each other too much. Yes, this whole sequence is absurd but even a show like "Scandal" needs (intentional) humor. And the use of the song "Endless Love"? Brilliant!
Helping out Huck: Charlie helps out Quinn by giving Huck papers to prove he's a spy and not some crazy person to his ex wife Kim, who has been keeping Javi away from Huck (and doing a miserable job of it.) Javi, right now, is traumatized after watching his father kill Kubiak last week. Poor kid will need plenty of therapy, won't he?
Don't mess with the bear: Lizzie Bear realizes that Cyrus is tracking her phone so she leaks out the photos of Cyrus cavorting with his prostitute boy toy Michael. A big D.C. style scandal ensues and Cyrus feels he has to resign. Liv's idea that he marry the boy toy would besmirch the memory of his true love, the late not-so-great James Novak. He hands in his resignation letter to Fitz and skulks away.
The bitch is back: Liv reminds Cyrus that this weak version of him is not the one she knows. She convinces him to bring back his inner "bitch baby." I run this country," he growls. "I'm nobody's bitch baby!" Yes, that phrase "bitch baby" came up several times, a signature Shonda Rhimes phrase. Cyrus decides to "marry" Michael now and gets back into the White House.
Red's dalliance revealed: With Cyrus'"scandal" blowing up, David Rosen is required to investigate it. So he interviewed Abby and finds out she had spent the night with Leo Bergen. Oops. But really - she and Rosen were never meant for each other, were they?
Mincing Mellie: Betrayed by Vice President Andrew Nichols, she bites Lizzie Bear a bit by saying she is no longer on the Lizzie Train. So when Mellie screws Lizzie, she warned, "I'm not nearly as gentle as Andrew. From me, it will hurt!" That's metaphorical, by the way.
War, what is it good for? Nichols is part of a cabal that involves a crew that wants war with West Angola. The Gladiators figure this out. They also realized last week that Nichols is romantically involved with Lizzie Bear. Quinn also learns (after sneaking into a law firm by using the finger of a dead employee) that Nichols knew the bombing was going to happen that nearly killed him. She sees in video that Nichols even positioned himself before the bomb went off to ensure he would only be mildly injured. The Gladiators are not sure why they were tracking Liv. But we learn why, by episode's end that for Nichols to get Fitz to agree to war, he had to kidnap the one person Fitz really cares about: Liv.
Ingrate! Daddy Dearest breaks into Liv's apartment for the 200th time. Should she be less surprised? He holds Stevie Wonder's classic 1976 album "Songs in the Key of Life," which he played to calm Liv's nerves when she was about to enter kindergarten. He knows sentimentality is a weakness but he can't let go of the good memories. She says her dad is not normal, that he lives a "sad, twisted life" and is a "sick, lonely man who only knows how to lie and call it love." This leads to a patented Rowan explosion:
Can you be any more ungrateful? You're my flesh! There would be no Olivia Pope if not for me! As difficult as it is to admit, I have failed as a father. It saddens me. I bled and toiled... I protected you so you could believe you were truly special. But instead of gratitude, I get scorn, ridicule, mockery and worst of all, a daughter who sends her good ol' boys to kill me... It is your life that is at stake. It is you who cannot be normal. You have no comprehension of love... Your stomach churns every time you look at me. You are simply looking in the mirror!
Liv whips out a gun and pulls the trigger to kill Daddy Dearest. But there is no bullet in the chamber! Rowan is always a step ahead of her. How did he do that? Does it matter? He leaves.
Mama don't dance: Fitz and Co. find Maya in the hole Rowan kept her in. But Liv wants her dead anyway. After Rowan disappears, she goes to Maya and asks if she knows anything that might help her track down Rowan. Then Maya sagely observes that Liv is just like Rowan and they are equally obsessed with each other, her and "the boys of B613." "Look in the mirror," she says. Liv leaves, realizing Mommy got it just right.
Don't worry, be... happy? Liv decides to pull a "Frozen" and "let it go." That means she has to stop worrying so much about Daddy Dearest. She invites Jake over for some fun on the grand piano while playing Stevie's "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing," which came from a 1973 album "Innervisions." Jake is game but when he returns from the bedroom with pillows and a blanket, she is gone, red wine spilled off the couch. She has been taken! Where is she?
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
“We can close Pandora’s box, go back to the sun,” – Jake.
“The sun went down a long time and it’s not coming back up.” – Liv
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