Scandal Season 7 Episode 17

Source: Bob D’Amico / Getty

There are only two episodes of Scandal left. EEEEEEK! All the creative minds over at Shondaland are working overtime to work our nerves! We start with Mellie facing her interrogation about whether she ordered Cyrus Beene’s “assassination” and Olivia is right by her side. Olivia tells her that the best thing she can do is tell the truth because it’s her armor. You remember that revelation she made during her time working with Annalise Keating, right?

Now we’re at Mellie’s deposition and Olivia is by her side and then they get hit with the bombshell. They have footage of Mellie and Olivia discussing how to “handle” President Rashad. Basically, the story is that Cyrus “found out” about Rashad’s assassination, disapproved, and Mellie’s solution was to kill Cyrus too. Mencken demands to know what Mellie has to say about that and she pleads the 5th. Then Olivia Pope gets hit with a subpoena.

id="wpcom-iframe-63c264b1e3a877a97c99cb1f0c2985f1-32316310-6254256"
width="480"
height="326"
src="https://embeds.go.ione.nyc/protected-iframe/63c264b1e3a877a97c99cb1f0c2985f1-32316310-6254256"
scrolling=""
frameborder="0"
class="giphy-embed"
>

via GIPHY

Now Olivia, Marcus, Mellie, Rosen, and Fitz are trying to figure out what to do. Olivia points out that they are definitely backed into a corner and there’s no real solution at the moment.

Meanwhile, Mencken is doing the devil’s work, but there seems to be an oz of sense left. He makes it clear to Cyrus that he doesn’t trust Jake.

Olivia comes home to find Jake in her living room. He hands her a vile of sand. It’s a “piece of their sun” from when they were frolicking on the beach in Tanzania, all happy and in love. Olivia denies his gift, but let’s cut to the chase. Jake wants Olivia to say that she killed Rashad at Mellie’s request. If she does so then she gets pardoned. Olivia tries to convince him not to do this and he tells her what we’ve long known, “If you starve a dog long enough, it will tear you to pieces.”

No lies were detected.

id="wpcom-iframe-990bf3ec4f3bd5e51728c805533085d5-32316310-6254256"
width="480"
height="270"
src="https://embeds.go.ione.nyc/protected-iframe/990bf3ec4f3bd5e51728c805533085d5-32316310-6254256"
scrolling=""
frameborder="0"
class="giphy-embed"
>

We care about your data. See our privacy policy.

// Autosize iframe
var funcSizeResponse = function( e ) {

var origin = document.createElement( 'a' );
origin.href = e.origin;

// Verify message origin
if ( 'embeds.go.ione.nyc' !== origin.host )
return;

// Verify message is in a format we expect
if ( 'object' !== typeof e.data || undefined === e.data.msg_type )
return;

switch ( e.data.msg_type ) {
case 'poll_size:response':
var iframe = document.getElementById( e.data._request.frame_id );

if ( iframe && '' === iframe.width )
iframe.width = '100%';
if ( iframe && '' === iframe.height )
iframe.height = parseInt( e.data.height );

return;
default:
return;
}
}

if ( 'function' === typeof window.addEventListener ) {
window.addEventListener( 'message', funcSizeResponse, false );
} else if ( 'function' === typeof window.attachEvent ) {
window.attachEvent( 'onmessage', funcSizeResponse );
}
}
if (document.readyState === 'complete') { func.apply(); /* compat for infinite scroll */ }
else if ( document.addEventListener ) { document.addEventListener( 'DOMContentLoaded', func, false ); }
else if ( document.attachEvent ) { document.attachEvent( 'onreadystatechange', func ); }
} )();

via GIPHY

The gladiators plus Fitz, Mellie, and Rosen meet again, and it’s clear that they don’t know what to do for the first time ever. They can’t use Cyrus shady past against him because his crimes— including rigging Fitz’s election—would still blowback on all of them, especially Mallie.

Now we’re at Olivia’s hearing and Mencken cuts to the chase. He asks her if she assassinated Rashad for Mellie and Olivia goes ovaries to the wall. She admits that she killed Rashad, but not at Mellie’s order. It was all about B613, which is run by Jake Ballard. Do you realize what just happened? Olivia blew the whistle on B613. She spills all the tea about the deep state intelligence agency that controls the White House. Everyone in the interrogation room and Jake, who was spying from B613’s hideout, as usual, was shocked.

They looked like:

id="wpcom-iframe-c4b484890ecf0d1d16fd5ab862673183-32316310-6254256"
width="480"
height="289"
src="https://embeds.go.ione.nyc/protected-iframe/c4b484890ecf0d1d16fd5ab862673183-32316310-6254256"
scrolling=""
frameborder="0"
class="giphy-embed"
>

via GIPHY

Even the people on Olivia’s side want the know wtf! Olivia feels like it’s the only way they can win, but just when she gets a one up, Jake gets the best of her. He made sure to wipe all the evidence clean so that Mencken’s investigators turn up nothing.Jake then tells Mencken that he needs to make Olivia Pope’s testimony disappear and that the gut feeling he has in his stomach that something isn’t right is right, but he should just walk away if he knows what’s good for him. Mencken decides to do as he is told and buries Olivia’s testimony, which means the gladiators are back at square one.

Mellie is freaking out because this still falls back on her. Olivia is convinced that Mellie has to tell the truth. They all do. Olivia sums it up well when she says that they are the villains of this story. They’ve all done something shady and the lid is about to come off. When it blows, Olivia can’t protect their legacies so it’s time for them to stand before the world, admit their sins and hope that the next generation of leaders decides to be better than they were.

Everyone, including the gladiators, thinks Liv is nuts for this and make another move. They want to convince Mencken to do the right thing. Quinn visits Sally Langston to tell her about B613, but Sally Langston won’t bite without proof (there is no proof because B613 is obviously that good). Obviously, Sally’s curiosity is going to get the best of her because that’s who she is.

Meanwhile, Papa Pope is playing with bones, doing his paleontologist thing and Jake strolls in to apologize for dragging Olivia into this. Rowan then reads Jake for filth. He tells him that if he were really at the top then he wouldn’t be there seeking validation from Papa Bear. Rowan then says that he is the definition of power and that Jake and Olivia were foolish to think they could take command. Jake pulls out a gun and points it at him but doesn’t shoot because Rowan is right. He still owns him. Rowan tells Jake that he will be there for him when he falls and Jake storms out.

Finally, Abby, Quinn and Huck are confident that Olivia is the old Liv again because she’s willing to go down to make things right. That’s when they decide that they will be witnesses to testify about the existence of B613. Olivia doesn’t want them to do this because she wants to protect them from the consequences, but they declare that they want to be by her side as she drives over that cliff.

Next Olivia tells Mellie that she’ll lie and say that Mellie had no knowledge of B613 if that’s what she wants, but Mellie is down to ride with her too. #TeamMellivia for the win!

Sally Langston for the win too! She took the bait like we knew she would!

id="wpcom-iframe-7b4ea1323e4dd51446d746b44d73ba3c-32316310-6254256"
width="480"
height="384"
src="https://embeds.go.ione.nyc/protected-iframe/7b4ea1323e4dd51446d746b44d73ba3c-32316310-6254256"
scrolling=""
frameborder="0"
class="giphy-embed"
>

via GIPHY

The episode concludes with Miss Langston giving one of her epic commentaries about the courage of some brave individuals who have provided proof that the country has been run by a spy organization for the last 34 years. She makes it clear that “these are the traitors who have tried to take down Air Force 1 and drag down Mellie Grant.” She also drops Mencken’s name as a co-conspirator as she encourages her batshit viewers to take back their country.

Jake and Cyrus look at each other like:

id="wpcom-iframe-294e5e0ee1eb64b433814103ddf198e2-32316310-6254256"
width="480"
height="269"
src="https://embeds.go.ione.nyc/protected-iframe/294e5e0ee1eb64b433814103ddf198e2-32316310-6254256"
scrolling=""
frameborder="0"
class="giphy-embed"
>

via GIPHY

There’s only one episode left. See you next week.

RELATED POSTS

‘Scandal’ Recap: Team Mellivia Is Back In Action

‘Scandal’ Recap: Cyrus Sets His Treacherous Gaze On The Gladiators