6 Things You Need to Know Before Scandal Returns

As with any show in Shondaland, watching Scandal can sometimes feel like an emotional roller coaster, and with such a fast paced show it can be difficult to remember everything that happened in a season before the next one starts.

Scandal returns next month for Season 5, and we have six things you need to know before it comes back!

1. Olitz is on again.

Love them or hate them, the on again/off again relationship between Olivia Pope and President Fitzgerald Grant is one of the pillars of Scandal. In Season 4, we nearly saw the end of Olitz when, after returning home from being abducted by terrorists in “No More Blood,” Olivia throws her ring at him after a rather heated discussion, in which she tells him how she feels about his actions.

Olivia: You didn’t save me. I’m on my own!

But Olivia and Fitz simply can’t stay away from each other. In “Put a Ring On It,” Olivia comes to Cyrus’ wedding wearing the ring he’d given her. And at the end of the Season 4 finale, “You Can’t Take Command” we see these two kissing on the Truman Balcony, appearing to have finally found their piece of happiness. But if history has told us anything, their solace may be short lived.

2. You can’t take command, but you can put him in jail.

Rowan Pope, Olivia’s evil mastermind of a father and “Command” of the secret government agency B613, has wreaked more than his fair share of havoc on just about everyone. In “Where the Sun Don’t Shine,” we see Olivia pull the trigger of an empty handgun at her father, letting us know she’d do just about anything to be rid of him.

Then, in “You Can’t take Command,” Olivia struggles to bring her father to justice multiple times to no avail, including calling a secret grand jury to formally address the crimes of his organization. She finally brings him down by using two million dollars of B613 money to make it look as if he’d been embezzling from his day job at the Smithsonian. Season 4 left this bad guy behind bars, but do you think that will stop him from coming after Olivia?

3. Mellie’s in the running, but out of The White House.

Mellie’s arc through Season 4 has a little bit of everything, beginning literally at rock bottom. After the death of her son, Mellie falls into depression and spends much of the first half of the season walking around the White House in her pajamas eating fried chicken. Mellie doesn’t stay down for long, though, midway through the season she picks herself up and sets her sights on a new goal: becoming President. When a Senate seat becomes available in Virginia, Mellie seizes the opportunity and finally gets her chance to run for office.

In “You can’t take command,” before she wins her campaign, Mellie becomes another victim of the manipulations of Rowan Pope, as she’s blackmailed into giving him a list of names that results in the murder of the sixteen grand jurors involved in the case against B613.

Of course, Mellie didn’t know what would happen, nor does she know that he’s responsible for the death of her son. However, none of that seems to matter to Fitz when he kicks her out of the white house and withdraws his support for her quest for the presidency. Though her personal life seems to be falling apart, Mellie’s career is taking off.

4. Cyrus is also out. 

For four seasons, Cyrus has been Fitz’s chief-of-staff and right hand man. We’ve seen Cyrus get his hands dirty where Fitz can’t on more than one occasion. In fact, he’s been doing it both with and without the president’s permission since season one (Amanda Tanner, anyone?). But it seems even Fitz has a limit on how much dirty work he’s complicit in. Immediately after kicking Mellie out, Fitz fires Cyrus for working with Rowan.

5. Elizabeth North is in.

As Cyrus leaves with his dignity barely intact, he sees the Republican party leader and Mellie’s campaign manager, Elizabeth North, taking his place. Elizabeth plays a mean game of chess to get her way. Playing innocent, ever helpful, and dedicated to Mellie and her campaign, gaining just the right amount of trust and information to throw Mellie and Cyrus under the bus. With Portia De Rossi’s promotion to series regular for Season 5, we can expect to see more from Elizabeth North.

6. The gladiators are still standing, for now.

When we last saw Scandal’s murder twins Quinn had a gun to Huck’s head. She reveals that it wasn’t just another B613 goon that killed the grand jurors in the trial against Rowan, but Huck himself. It seems that Huck just can’t stop killing, even after working alongside Olivia for so long and testifying against Rowan and B613.

Though she’s left Olivia Pope and Associates, Abby Whelan is still a gladiator. Abby’s role may fall to the shadows from time to time, but she still plays a crucial role in both Olivia’s life and DC politics. While many try and fail, Abby is the only one to succeed in helping Olivia escape after she was taken.

Calling in the help of an old friend, season one gladiator, Stephen Finch, Abby brings Olivia home, narrowly saving her from being blown up by Cyrus and the CIA.  And though threats were made against her life this season by both Cyrus and her violent ex-husband, Abby is safe and sound within the walls of the White House, still rocking her position as Press Secretary.

Originally a B613 member, Jake Ballard has come to be sort of an honorary gladiator. His romance with Olivia seemed twisted at first, but Jake’s love for her has proven to be genuine. He sees that Olivia doesn’t feel the same about him and encourages her to go after Fitz.

Do you think there’s hope for Olitz in season five, and can they really have whatever they want? Will jail keep Rowan Pope from coming after Olivia? How will Mellie’s quest for presidency fair without support from Fitz and the White House? Will Cyrus join forces with Mellie or take his particular skill set elsewhere? Will Quinn spare Huck or will we lose another gladiator? Has Jake walked out of the running for Olivia’s heart for good?

Let us know your predictions in the comments below, then tune in Thursdays this fall to find out for certain!

Scandal returns Thursday, September 24th at 9/8c on ABC.