Scandal Season 5, Episode 8
“Rasputin”
Posted by Sage
I love it when Scandal makes up countries. It makes it feel even more like an AU version of our own international relationships. The AO3 tags for this episode would include “hat porn,” “closet sex,” “secret gay affair,” and of course, “bondage.” (HI ROWAN.) This is the last episode before the much touted winter finale, so let’s get to the gifs.
“Tell me it’s not true, Liv.” The episode kicks off with an obvious flash-forward: Olivia in a cold interrogation cell and Fitz hoping that her being there is all one big misunderstanding. It never is though, is it?
“A disarmament deal between the United States and the Republic of Bandar.” Fitz DOES do some running of the country between bitching and moaning sessions. His administration is about to end years of sanctions against a middle eastern nation. It would be a feather in the cap of the whole Grant team.
“The biggest push for peace since the toppling of the Berlin Wall.” Hyperbole is the BEST.
“I’m always happy for a chance to see Miss Pope.” Cyrus worries that the Bandarians(?) will shun Olivia as a whore, but they already love her because guess what, she’s handled some things for them.
“The president gets all the credit while we do all the work.” Susan’s dropping some truth bombs and it’s delicious.
“Kill me now. Do not translate that.” LizzieBear clearly thinks that working with Susan is below her.
“But I need your help…I would like to defect, can you help me?” The interpreter for the minister of energy slips in some cries for help when he’s translating for Olivia. She takes the Minister to meet the chef (also from Bandar) and the translator tells her that he will give her the location of a secret nuclear facility if she can get him asylum.
“He didn’t looked smitten, he looked scared.” Navid isn’t dazzled by the “blue jeans and the mini skirts” as Cy suggests. Fitz okays it for OPA to handle digging into Navid and his claim.
“I’m okay, Red. We’re living in a new world, Red. A world where Olivia Pope is judge, jury, and executioner.”
“If you go back on the deal, I’m going to tell Fitz what we did. What you did.” Mellie pops into the episode to threaten Liv about their misguided girl plan to free Rowan.
“Helen of Troy…hello.” Oh, TOM. Get some new jokes.
“I’m being hunted, Olivia…Ballard is the least of my concerns.” Look who’s back, with his old-school soul soundtrack.
“You should be afraid.” “Why?” “Because I am afraid.” Rowan claims that if the people who’re looking to take him out succeed, Olivia loses her protection. And she’ll just be ceding control to an organization worse than B6-13.
“Oh, Olivia. I take tremendous pride in who you have become.”
Huck has never heard of Lazarus One. But he likes their mission statement: kill Rowan Pope.
“FASTER.” NOT MY TEMPO, Marcus.
“Any chance this guy’s a spy?” Huck finds “no chatter” indicating that Navid’s intentions are anything but pure.
Navid gets sick at a meeting, and ends up safe in a hospital bed. Olivia had given him a pill, like some haute couture Friar Lawrence.
“If this checks out, you’ll have your asylum.” America! Fuck yeah!
“You want me to put my foot in my mouth.” “Yes, Susan, I do.” “Well why didn’t you say so?”
“But what do I know, I’m just a woman.” The President of Bandar steps away from the negotiation, just as Grant hoped he would. Bless Susan Ross for never, ever putting her own ego over serving the country.
“Whatever you think is best, Rowan.”
“The president wanted to see me.” LIV IS THE PRESIDENT, as far as anyone is concerned.
“I looked into my father’s eyes and I saw something I have never seen before.” A soul?
“Have you ever looked someone in the eye and made them believe that you loved them? That you really truly loved them? So you could take what you needed from them?” Jake is going in on Olivia still, and she knows she deserves it.
“What did you think? That I’d come here and spoon you?”
“That train has left the station and you do not get to ride this anymore.” NO MORE RIDING, PLEASE DISEMBARK.
“You were supposed to be too good for me. It never crossed my mind that I would be too good for you.” Oh my goddddddd.
“Once I tell him, that’s it. He will not forgive this. It’s over. We’re done. I’m not ready to be done.” Olivia tells Abby that Fitz won’t be able to forgive her for releasing the man who killed his son. I would have thought the public version of Olitz would last longer than Haylor, but maybe not.
“His intel is bogus.” Huck learns from satellite maps that the location Navid gave them is an old soda factory. Liv denies his asylum, and also yells at him a lot.
“Your guy is out.” Huck doesn’t want to be a part of Jake’s hunt for Rowan. He believes that if he loses control again, “the beast” will take over for good.
“Got a minute?” “No.” “Got 10?” Lizzie and David are still bonin’, but WHAT ABOUT ABBY AND LEO?
“Now I’m an overpaid babysitter for the queen of the nerds.” Whatever Lizzie, you don’t deserve her.
“You could literally buy the whole world a Coke if they were actually making soda in there.” The Bandarians (I feel like Cher Horowitz) are cooling something in the soda factory, and it’s super suspicious.
Susan apologized to the President and the agreement is to be signed that afternoon. Please run for office again, Susan.
“Stop the signing…you can do this. Do it, now.” Olivia calls Abby and has her stall the signing of the agreement, just as Fitz is picking up his fancy pen. No pressure.
Olivia comes to his hospital room and finds Navid in the bathroom, bleeding out.
“I told you, I don’t have anyone.” They were able to save him, and now he tells Olivia that he has no family to alert. She knowingly points to several cell phone calls to a man named Amir. And suddenly Navid’s desperation makes a lot more sense.
“Being born different is a crime punishable by death.” And it’s a shame that human rights violations aren’t as important to Fitz as WMDs.
“You should never apologize for being you.” Susan has got it BAD for David Rosen and my heart aches for her.
“Who’s the mastermind?” “Olivia Pope.” That was quick. The FBI investigation into Rowan’s release was authorized by David, and already yielded concrete results. David himself signed the warrant for Liv’s arrest.
“You wouldn’t do that…I know it wasn’t. You wouldn’t do that to me. You aren’t Mellie.”
Olivia tells Fitz what she did. He recoils from her. There’s a montage of them speaking and crying, we can’t hear the words.
“Liv’s pulled her fair share of stunts, we all have. But this…” Isn’t really worse than any of those other things, kthxbye.
“I want her released on some technicality.” Fitz remains Olivia Trash.
“They’re not cooling uranium there, they’re cooling servers…her gut was right.” The Bandar government had been launching CYBER attacks against the US, not explosive ones. So that’s what’s going on in the comments section of every YouTube video.
“Who’s to say she’s not right about her father?” “History and common sense.”
“I forgave you, didn’t I?” Oh Cy, this tea is so hot.
“In 7 minutes, an N-Q1 predator is gonna blow that little soda factory of yours off the map.” Fitz still signs the agreement, which, okay. What about those death threats against the gays? No1curr?
“Let me know when it’s done.” Fitz sends Jake to kill Rowan.
Tom’s already dead. At least one can hope.
“Mellie, I already told him.”
Rowan is cuffed to a chair in a rando warehouse.
“Fitz, what’s going on, these are my clothes.” Instead of tossing Olivia out of his life, Fitz moves her into the White House without asking her first. Where I’m from, we call that “kidnapping.”
“This is your home.” “I have a home.” Liv stares at her white hat, which is quite literally spotlit. This show is not subtle.
“I have some questions for you.” Huck is about to take command. Or: SIT DOWN ROWAN, YOU FAT MOTHERFUCKER!
Sorry for all the Hamilton, except no, the opposite.
What did you think of Rasputin, Gladiators? Is there a major character death coming our way in the winter finale? Feel your feelings in the comments.
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