Uh-oh, Mellie.
We opened Scandal Season 5 Episode 6 with Mellie in serious trouble, having been caught lying about her knowledge of Olitz in front of Senate judiciary committee.
So, with Sally Langston practically drooling, the White House changed course and went with the Executive Privilege defense.
Cyrus had a different plan of attack, however.
Also nearly drooling over his return to the staff, he said Fitz simply had to put a ring on it. A wedding would made it illegal for Olivia to testify at the impeachment hearing.
Still, it’s safe to say the lead Gladiator was not down with this idea. At all.
Later on, Olivia admitted to Abby that she loves Fitz “too much” to let him be impeached, saying she would rather perjure herself.
She only sees marriage as a “last-minute get out of jail free card,” rejecting Fitz’s romantic proposal by saying they aren’t ready.
“You’re not ready and you never will be,” he counters.
As for Rowan’s return: Elise dropped by to visit Papa Pope, with the two planning a prison break because of course they are.
Jake then confronts his wife about this meeting, getting her to confess that she’s in town on behalf of Lazarus One; i.e. to kill Rowan.
The world is better off without him in it, she argues.
After hanging up on her father, though, Olivia is convinced by Abby to visit him in jail (where he’s faking arrhythmias to avoid going back to jail).
Once there, Roward tries to strike a deal, telling Olivia to get him out of prison and he’ll blackmail committee members with those B613 files in his memory bank.
Can anyone really argue against this?
Back to Mellie: she rejects Olivia’s idea of springing Eli Pope to get them all off the hook… and then is told by her nemesis that Rowan was responsible for her son’s death.
She later meets with Fitz to finalize their divorce, both sides getting in some major (verbal) punches in a all-out fight.
Elsewhere, David tried to talk Susan Ross into running for President, while Jake goes to the train station to find Elise for his Lazarus One. And he does find her, with a bullet hole in her back.
To close out the episode, Olivia changes her mind about a last-minute wedding and meets up instead with an excited Mellie. The Senate has dropped its investigation and Mellie tells Olivia he will make her President.
Rowan then walks in, a glint in his eye and the following words out of his mouth: “Hello, Olivia.”
Hello, indeed! Return next week for a rundown of Scandal Season 5 Episode 7 and watch Scandal online via TV Fanatic if you need to catch up before then.