'Scandal' recap: We're In This Together

Abby volunteers to steal the Cytron card from David’s, but then she discovers the truth about her relationship with him and why it failed. She realizes that he loved her, that Olivia manipulated her relationship, and that Harrison was complicit in it. Harrison defends himself in what might be the mission statement of Olivia’s whole organization: We fix things, we do what needs to be done, we don’t question, and we’re gladiators -- and gladiators don’t get to have feelings. And Harrison raises the problem with their line of work that even Olivia herself is having trouble reconciling -- do you do what is right, or do you do what the client wants?

The drastic lengths everyone goes to in this episode are astounding. Cyrus almost has his husband murdered! James commits perjury on behalf of his family! Quinn tries to pay Huck $5,000 to kill Hollis Doyle! Abby steals the card in spite of everything! Olivia says no to Edison and chooses Fitz! And then, there’s Fitz…

Verna, it turns out, did not remain silent. She called David Rosen. But before he could meet with her, Fitz pays her a visit in the hospital. Verna is a dying woman, and perhaps something Olivia said convinced her that the truth is more important than her legacy. She confesses everything to Fitz -- to arranging the assassination attempt, to rigging the election, to being singularly interested in preserving her legacy.  And Fitz has an epiphany. He realizes that he’s on his own. Everyone he’d ever trusted had lied to him -- Cyrus, Mellie, even Olivia -- and his presidency is a sham. And in this moment of truth, Fitz chooses self-preservation, not justice. He shuns Olivia. He re-devotes himself to Mellie. AND HE KILLS VERNA. He murders an elderly woman already on her death bed!

And now, Fitz is part of the conspiracy too. Our hero has fallen. He's suddenly as BAD as everyone else, and perhaps worse! Did he always have this impulse? Or did Olivia's betrayal (in his mind) push him over the edge? Politics is a dirty game, certainly, and Scandal has just taken it to a new level. No one can be trusted. No one’s motives are pure. Everything keeps escalating. Does anyone actually have any limits? In some ways, Fitz's goodness and purity seemed to provide a passable rationale for everyone's participation in the election cover up. That argument doesn't hold water anymore, and I wonder whether everyone will just continue following him because of his power, or if loyalties will start to waver.

So, dear Scandal-lovers, there is so much to talk about. Did anyone see the Verna revelation coming? Do you think we’ve seen the last of Quinn’s vendetta against Hollis? Would Cyrus have ever gone through with murdering James? Will David Rosen ever get another break? And Fitz! Why do YOU think he killed Verna? Do you think he actually trusts Mellie? Who are you rooting for? Talk to us!

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