Scandal Season 6, Episode 1
“Survival of the Fittest”
Posted by Kim
Aaaaaaaaaaand we’re back. GOD IT HAS BEEN SO LONG.
When we last saw Scandal, Mellie had just won the Republican Nomination for President. Cyrus had pulled a fast one and gotten on the VP Ticket with Frankie Vargas. We were ready for a Battle Royale, where our fictional President would be either a woman or a Latino. It was a DREAM. And then Kerry Washington had to go and get pregnant again (CONGRATS) and our beloved Scandal was pushed to midseason, after the ACTUAL election that turned the world upside down. How will Scandal play out in this new reality we’re all living in? Let’s get to the gifs and see.
We open with Huckleberry Quinn traipsing through the woods on some sort of mission. Remember when they used to have hate sex? If I have to, so do you.
“He could have gotten to her.” How much time have we jumped? Who is he? WHO IS HER? GOD I MISSED THIS SHOW.
In typical Scandal fashion, the Cabin in the Woods explodes.
We flash back 24 hours and it’s Election Night. Team Mellie is gathered around the TV watching the returns come in. The map is an equal distribution between red and blue. Suddenly, Scandal has become a documentary and it’s TOO REAL. (Except Frankie Vargas has a moral compass.)
“I want ‘I voted’ stickers on everyone!!!”
It all comes down to California, which is hilarious because California hasn’t gone Republican since 1988. But it IS Mellie’s home state, so making it a battleground makes total sense. PS I always forget Mellie is a Republican.
“Olivia’s Business Walk is my favorite thing.” – Sage
Olivia shoots back some whiskey after talking to Charlie who apparently works here now. She knows.
Frankie wins. I get that this makes better television, but DAMN SHONDA IF I DIDN’T NEED THIS. Why why why why.
“Obviously there has been voter tampering!” Mellie goes straight to denial.
“And make sure that the entire campaign staff is aware that this race is far from over.”
“Mellie needs you.” At least Fitz recognizes this is the most important relationship on the show.
“I NEED A MINUTE.” What Fitz isn’t getting is that this loss means as much, if not more, to Olivia as it does for Mellie. And she needs a minute to deal with that before she has to be the bastion of strength for her candidate.
DON’T SEEK COMFORT FROM HIM OLIVIA.
I forgot Will’s wife from Glee was here. She’s drowning her sorrows in booze, so she can stay.
“NO WE ARE STILL IN THIS!!!” WHY IS THIS HAPPENING.
“You have to make the call now, Mellie, before too much time goes by! You wait too long, the press out there is gonna say you’re ungracious. They’re gonna label you a sore loser.” I mean that’s actually what happened IRL, like I said, this show is now a documentary.
“And because you’re a woman, half of them are gonna call you a bitch, and half of them are gonna report that you cried.” AIN’T THAT THE TRUTH THOUGH.
“You don’t go down like that. We don’t go down like that.”
“Make the damn call.”
Olivia can’t even deal with this.
Mellie, my sad queen. Bellamy Young is SO GOOD, y’all. The way she lowers her voice as she speaks to Frankie is so brilliant. WHERE ARE HER EMMY NOMINATIONS?
Olivia giving Mellie prompts for the phone call.
Mellie drinking the victory champagne in the bathtub. Gurl, same.
Mellie and Liv passing the bottle back and forth. PLEASE BE BEST FRIENDS FOREVER.
“You know what gets me? Cyrus. Cyrus Beene was on the winning team. Cyrus Beene gets to hold public office. Can you believe?”
The way they laugh when they say “Vice President Beene” though.
“I will be gracious…out there. In here, I am spiteful and petty.”
“I’m sorry I lost.” Olivia is DEVASTATED that she let Mellie down. All my tears.
Mellie and Liv hold hands and commiserate together and it’s everything.
FRANKIE IS SHOT WHILST GIVING HIS ACCEPTANCE SPEECH. Sage called this happening 5 minutes before it did. We should always watch Scandal together cause it’s the most fun.
Me as I watch the rest of the principle cast make their first appearances: “Marcus, you’re so fine! Hi David Rosen! I MISSED EVERYONE.”
“I’m the last person to go through those doors.” BAMF Abby gets her OWN “I missed you” gif.
“We are an island until I say otherwise. Is that clear?” BOSS BITCH ABBY.
“Guess who my boss is? I’ll give you a hint: his office is a big oval.” God, I missed her.
Where is Sally Langston in all of this? I need to know what the Lovers of Liberty think.
Huck voted for Frankie. “He would have been the first Latino President.” Yes, let it be known, as much as we wanted Mellie to win, that Frankie meant so much.
“Are you bending the truth?” No one is being fully honest about how dire Frankie’s condition because really know one knows what the fuck to do.
Frankie IS romancing Xiomara on Jane the Virgin this season, so it’s no surprise that he’s not waking up.
“How is she?” Marcus asks Olivia about Mellie and the SS Mellicus LIVES ON.
“I mean…what happens now?” Frankie never took office, so WHO IS PRESIDENT?
This whole electoral college debate about who is President now is TOO REAL.
“We’re in the Twilight Zone.” AREN’T WE THOUGH?
“It makes an enormous difference what you do.” As sitting President, basically Fitz gets to choose because the people will accept what he says.
Oh hey, Papa Pope! Liv asks if the shooting was his doing because LBR this has him written all over it.
His evil cackle though. “You made it clear you did not want my help.”
“I am your father. I am not a predator.” HAHAHAHA
“Think like them.” Naturally, Papa Pope is implicating Cyrus. It makes sense. He has the most to gain here.
“Cyrus loves Frankie!” “Cyrus Beene loves Cyrus Beene.” This IS true.
“Survival of the fittest, Olivia.” Hey, that’s the episode title.
Olivia tells Mellie that she thinks Cyrus did it. *Heavy Sigh* “Of course he did.”
“This place is cursed. I don’t want it.” Run, Mellie, run as far away as you can.
“I am DONE running for President!” “Well I’m not!!” Reminder that Liv is running just as much as Mellie is cause you can’t tell me that she wasn’t going to be Chief of Staff.
Mrs. Vargas being all Jackie Kennedy in her suit. PS have you seen Jackie? You need to.
For once, Fitz is acting Presidential, even if it’s maddening that he won’t make a move. “Abby, this is not just about announcing Frankie’s death. This is about reassuring the American people that there is a clear path forward, that there will be continuity in our government, stability in our democracy, a leader they can follow.”
“How do either of those choices make any sense?” Mellie lost the election. The people didn’t VOTE for Cyrus Beene to be the President, they voted for Frankie. It’s an impossible choice.
“He isn’t dead until I say he is.” I miss The Newsroom.
“Let me guess…Team Mellie.” Of COURSE Olivia is #TeamMellie, Fitz, she ran her fucking campaign.
“You have to choose Mellie.” “Because she’s your candidate?” “Because the other choice just tried to kill his way into the Oval.”
“What proof do you have?” Honestly, Fitz, do you need more proof than the fact that you KNOW Cyrus?
“150 million people made their choice. They voted for their next President, and it wasn’t Mellie.”
“And guess what? None of that matters now. The King is dead, Fitz. Long live the King.”
Side note: I love how we have yet to actually SEE Cyrus in this episode.
The Gladiators desperately search for ANYTHING to tie Cyrus to the man who shot Frankie. Charlie just wants to throw in the towel and whisk Quinn off to the Caribbean.
Fitz finds Mellie on the balcony and honestly, I’m surprised she doesn’t have a bucket of fried chicken.
“I used to lie in bed next to you and listen to you breathe in and out, and I would loathe the sound. I would resent your right to air. You were sucking up all the presidential oxygen, the rare air, the air I would’ve done anything to breathe. And you didn’t even appreciate it.” GOD THIS WOMAN IS SAVAGE.
“I thought…’How weak. How spoiled.'”
“You aren’t weak, you just aren’t power hungry.”
“Let’s not pretend I’m a good person.” Don’t worry, Fitz, we won’t.
“This will be my legacy. Can you believe that?”
“If you don’t want it, now is the time to say so.” Don’t play me this way, Fitz.
“The crown, the rare air…I do want it.” YAS GIRL.
Thus far, Cyrus is coming up clean, but Olivia is having none of that. “We’re not looking hard enough.”
“Cyrus Beene MURDERED Frankie Vargas. He did this to make himself President.”
“He murdered his way into the White House and we are doing nothing to stop him!” OLIVIA I MISSED YOU.
We FINALLY get our first glance of Cyrus and he appears to be catatonic. Sage: “I still think he’s faking, I can’t believe he’s not.”
“I am so sorry for wasting your time.” NO OLIVIA DON’T GIVE UP.
“I don’t want to fix another election.” “Then you know what you have to do.” SIGH.
Fitz goes to Cyrus (who is still “catatonic”) and gives him the whole spiel about upholding Frankie and that he needs to be better than all of them and THIS IS HAPPENING.
“I am handing you America. Take care of it.” Cyrus Beene, still a better President than Donald Trump.
We get but a brief Mellie and Marcus scene and just do it already.
Back at the office, Charlie appears to be on to something at LAST but he’s still yammering on about taking Quinn to the Caribbean.
Huck has had it. “Charlie wants to take you to the Caribbean to propose.” Sage: GET MARRIED, WEIRDOS.
“Do you want to murder her or do you want to marry her?”
BUT WAIT. There was an extra call on the tip line that they didn’t notice!
A volunteer from the Vargas campaign called it in and SHE IMPLICATES CYRUS.
And that was HER cabin that exploded.
Armed with knowledge, but no proof, Olivia goes to see Cyrus. She acts all friendly and hugs him. “I mean, I knew you could pretend to grieve for one day, but two days in a row? Who knew you had the acting chops?”

“You son of a bitch. I know you killed him and I’m going to prove it.”
And that’s our premiere! Will Olivia get concrete proof before Cyrus is sworn in? How weird will Quinn and Charlie’s wedding be? WHEN WILL MELLIE AND MARCUS HAVE “SORRY YOU LOST” SEX? Buckle up, Gladiators. It’s gonna be one hell of a ride.
I believe Cyrus would have had Frankie shot because I believe that was his plan from the moment he became his running mate in the season finale. That’s exactly what Papa Pope was going to have happen to whoever Jake’s running mate was going to be before Olivia took control and took Jake. But here is the thing, Cyrus would have known that it is a tricky situation with the electoral college. He wouldn’t have taken a risk like that. He would have waited until Frankie had the vote for sure, and then had him killed before he took office. Maybe even soon after just to be sure. Hell, Cyrus might have even waited a couple of years so he could do his best to secure the end of Frankie’s first term, plus a try for 8 years of his own term. Either way, Cyrus would make sure there was no question that he had the power of being president. He wouldn’t leave it up to that much chance. But Jake didn’t have any chance in that moment. Jake who went missing before the shot, and they’ve planted seeds to show that. Plus, I think it would be devastating for Olivia to be chasing this lead sure it was Cyrus only to find out it was Jake. Possibly find out too late if she has managed to actually get Mellie & thereby Jake into power. Or it could be someone entirely different, but that wouldn’t be half as much fun. I’ve just learned from Scandal and television in general that if they are chasing one suspect, it’s clearly the other.
OOOOOH ME LIKEY
OMG this was my favorite recap. I don’t even watch this show and this recap with all the gifs, it was wonderful! I loved it, it made me laugh and piked my interest in the show. I am def going to add it to my to watch list.
The gif-caps are our favorite, we’ve done this for Scandal since S3 🙂