BWW Recap: SCANDAL; You Dropped a Tom on Me

One thing you can never accuse SCANDAL of is having a boring episode. There seriously is not a second you can look away from the screen without missing something. I reached down to get a drink of water and nearly missed Mellie overhearing Fitz's phone call with Olivia. I just need to learn to not eat, drink or breathe during these 45 minutes on Thursday nights.

Ever since Olivia told Fitz there may be hope for them, he's calling her nightly. Whether it's just for her to ask about Jake's condition or for him to dish out some dirty talk before bed. Either way, I think he's hanging a lot on her promise. He does tell her that Jake is being taken care of. She still begs David Rosen to get her into the supermax prison, but not to see Jake, to see Tom. Tom finally takes a good look at Olivia as he's never really seen her. Whenever she's been in the room, his eyes have been on watch protecting the President. Tom gives her an epic speech about how he can't protect the President from her and that Fitz even tried to take his own life when she left. He does not tell her the truth about Rowan.

When a disgraced Senator is forced to resign, Fitz endorses a new Democrat, Charles "Chip" Putney for the job. Abby is horrified as Chip is her ex-husband who used to beat her to a bloody pulp. Not wanting to compromise her professionalism, she holds it together, but soon calls for Olivia's help. Olivia takes up the case by helping Chip's opponent with her campaign. Chip catches on to the plan and threatens Abby, but she pulls a gun on him. Leo, the smarmy campaign manager, gloats his victory to Abby forcing her to confess what Chip was really like. In an uncharacteristic move, Leo sabotages the campaign and forces Chip to withdraw. Leo and Abby share an awkward kiss.

Olivia is more suspicious than ever when Rowan berates her for talking to Jake and Tom. She pays a guard to attack Tom to scare him. He survives and confesses that it was really Rowan who ordered the hit. And as we all suspected, now Fitz has to put his personal feelings aside and work with Jake to bring down Rowan.

In other news, Cyrus feeds Mike false information to see how Elizabeth uses it. He discovers it is through Mellie that Elizabeth is planting the seeds. Huck is still playing online video games with his son, Javi. Javi tracks him down by his IP address and recognizes him from pictures. Javi asks Huck why he left. Oh and that Winslow case is still going on, in case anyone is interested. Quinn confronts the Dad, he kills himself, there are photos of Olivia, blah, blah. blah. It's really not that interesting. not compared to the Jake/Fitz/Olivia drama. I'm hoping the Winslow case pays off at some point, otherwise, right now it feels like a waste of time.

Mellie still has my support for the MVP as she is trying her darndest to make a name for herself. Sure she's being fed false information, but she is sure not gonna sit back and pick out china patterns. You go, Mellie! You are a force when you are not wearing Uggs.

What I Know:

• Clever hashtag, ABC with #TGIT (Thank God It's Thursday). And they are correct, but it should be #TGFSR (Thank God for Shonda Rhimes) because she just owns this night now.

• I am NOT comfortable with Anders Michael Trucco playing a bad guy.

• It was oddly unsettling seeing Leo do the right thing, but very sweet at the same time.

What I Don't Know:

• Javi is one smart little dude. How in the world is Huck going to explain his life to this poor kid? (Also, are there still arcades like that?)

• Is there really hope for Olivia and Fitz or did she really just say that to save Jake's life? Because honestly, at this point, it could go either way.

• Was that the last of Chip Putney? I'm guessing he isn't going to go away quietly.

Lines I Love:

• Mellie - When a woman is President, they'll suddenly make First Lady an official paid position. They will hire someone to do it. The minute a man has to do it, it'll become a real job.

• David Rosen - It's a supermax prison. They added the word "Super" to the already quite clear Maximum Security. Dahmer was in supermax.That place holds people who eat people.

• Tom - I could protect him from everyone except you. I could never protect him from you, Ms. Pope.

Darby Stanchfield has got some serious acting chops. I'm so grateful after four seasons they finally showcased it as she was amazing in this episode. Are we headed for a Leo/Abby romance or was that just a grateful, one time kiss? I knew it was going to come down to Fitz and Jake having to work together. Will they be able to take on Rowan together? What will Cyrus' reaction be to Jake's "freedom?" I'm so relieved that Tom is alive, but Olivia is pretty brutal to get what she wants. I wonder who she gets that from?

Follow me on Twitter @eponineq and follow @BWWTVWorld for all the latest updates, scoops and recaps.

Here's a preview of next week's episode:

Photo Credit: ABC

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