Nothing is what is seems on the season finale of scandal. Although many of this seasons questions were answered, the last episode of the season left us with tons of questions. Last week we watched as Cyrus learned the news that a bomb was planted at a funeral Fitz was going to give a speech at, and withheld the information to kill Sally Langston.
Although this episode started with everyone at the funeral and 13 minutes on the bomb, Jake Ballard saves the day by alerting the president in the nick of time. However, this proves unfortunate for Fitz when Sally uses this as a shining moment to help the injured parties. With this move, and only a few days before election, the polls reveal a win for Sally.
Olivia and Cyrus for the first time ever admit defeat, “We’re going to lose the election on Tuesday,” Olivia tells Cyrus; who responds with, “Let’s be honest. We lost the election today.” Olivia then has the hard job of informing Fitz that he is about to lose his second term. Once the news of Fitz’s loss is fairly certain, Leo pays a visit to Cyrus to gloat. Cyrus who has already lost the love of his life, concedes to Leo’s bragging and offers him a drink. Leo reluctantly asks if Cyrus has any advice to offer him about the position to which he responds, “Try and protect your soul if you still have one. It’s futile, but you should still try.”
While attempting to console Fitz alone, he tells Olivia that they can soon be together, and that once he is no longer president he can leave his wife. While in the midst of explaining the reasons he deserves to leave his wife, Olivia tells him the secret we have all been dying to hear revealed: that his father raped Mellie when he was running for governor. This changes everything for Mellie and Fitz’s relationship, and we see them on the verge of once again connecting with each other. Fitz, of course, is supportive and encouraging, and there is a spark that hasn’t been felt between them in a long time.
However, years of neglect and mistrust can’t be repaired in a moment, and Fitz still professes his love for Olivia before going on stage for a speech, but admits to her that even if he loses, he can’t leave his wife now. Olivia understands, but won’t be at the speech because she is still at the hospital with her father. During the speech, however, the president’s son has a bloody nose, seizure, and passes out, he dies soon after he arrives at the hospital. The cause of his death is bacterial meningitis, however, Fitz is told that this disease was transmitted through a stolen vile, which Fitz attributes to Maya stealing from the government. He then asks Rowan, Olivia’s father, to kill Maya, Olivia’s mother, by any means possible.
Rowan tracks down Harrison and asks him critical information about Maya, by letting him know that Maya already killed Adnan. Olivia has a conversation with Cyrus where they discuss how far gone they have gotten, “How did we get like this? When did we stop being people?” Cyrus concludes that maybe they were always like this pretending to be something else, and serving at “the pleasure of the president,” has only allowed them to pull off the masks they are wearing and reveal the monsters within.
Speaking of monsters, Harrison discovers that Rowan was the one who murdered the President’s son, not Maya. He was also the one who murdered Adnan, and although he told the President he killed Maya, he really has her stuck in the B6-13 “hole.” Which he can do, because the president has reinstated him as B6-13; everyone else’s lives may be coming apart at the seams, but Rowan is on top.
With the death of his son, the President wins the election and earns another four years in the White House. Olivia, however, makes a startling decision and asks her father if his offer to whisk her out of the country to start new still stands and he says yes. She quits OPA, which coincidentally stands for Olivia Pope and Associates, and decides to make a new name for herself. When Jake finds out, he tries to dissuade her, but ends up asking to go with her. Olivia says yes and she and Jake hop on a plane to leave DC. Although she conveniently forgets to mention this to the president, who calls on her in his time of need. Olivia is gone for now, but hopefully not for good.