Tonight on ABC Scandal starring Kerry Washington continues with another exciting episode in an all new Thursday November 20, season 4 episode 9 Winter Finale called, “Where the Sun Don’t Shine,” and we have the recap for you below. On tonight’s episode danger looms for those close to Olivia because Command can’t be outwitted. Meanwhile, Cyrus feels the ramifications of his actions; and Huck [Guillermo Díaz] and Quinn [Katie Lowes] finally deduce what Elizabeth’s been planning, but time is not on their side. This episode Olivia Pope is kidnapped by the VP, how’s that for a spoiler!
On the last episode, Fitz and Jake continued to fight over Olivia, but Olivia needs them to focus on the real prize, taking down Command. Meanwhile, Huck longed to connect with his family and Quinn continued tracking Kubiak. Back at the White House, Cyrus’ exploited finally catching up to him, but Elizabeth North’s plan was much bigger than anyone ever expected. Did you watch the last episode? If you missed it, we have a full and detailed recap right here for you.
On tonight’s episode as per the ABC synopsis, “command is always two steps ahead and everyone in Olivia’s life is in danger. Meanwhile, Cyrus is forced to face the consequences of his behavior, and Huck and Quinn finally figure out just what Elizabeth North has been planning, but they might be too late to stop it, on the winter finale.”
Tonight’s episode of SCANDAL is going to be absolutely incredible and you won’t want to miss even a minute. We’ll be recapping it for you here live.
Tonight’s episode begins now – Refresh Page for Updates
Olivia sits in the Oval while Jake and Fitz talk about the difficulty tracking Rowan. Soldiers storm Rowan’s offices at the Smithsonian and Wonderland. They discover the hole where B613 keeps problems and find Maya. She thanks Olivia for getting her out of there and they ask Maya where Rowan is. She says they have no leverage on her and says if they touch her, Livvie will sue. She tells Olivia to handle them. She says they need to charge her and tells them to start with murder, terrorism and treason and lock her up. She also says to hunt down and kill her father. She walks out.
Huck goes to talk to Kim and says Javi must be upset. She’s outraged that he’s been in contact with their son and he says he traced his line and found him. Huck thinks back to Javi seeing the man dead. Kim asks if he lied to Javi about being a spy. She tells him it’s crap and slams the door in his face. Quinn waits in the car and sees it all.
The West Angolan Ambassador comes to plead with Fitz and he promises her help. She leaves and he tells Cyrus they have to retaliate for the attack. Cyrus agrees and says he knows. Fitz tells him to go make a plan and come back when he has one. At home, Olivia takes a call from Quinn who tells her she left messages. She says Kubiak is dead and that he attacked them when they were watching Lizzie. She says the VP is screwing North.
Lizzie shows up to Olivia’s office and she says she got a second opinion on her phone bugging and says she found out it was Cyrus that bugger her. She tells Olivia there’s a special place in hell for women that don’t support other women. Olivia lets her know she knows about the VP and Lizzie tells her she has more dirt on Cyrus. Olivia goes to warn Cyrus when Abby rushes in and says she got a lead on sexy photos of Cyrus and a man.
Olivia tells Fitz and Mellie about this and also about the VP shagging Lizzie. Mellie thinks back on how recently the VP was just screwing her and she’s feeling, I’m sure, screwed all over again. The story breaks and the news reports explicit gay sex rumors between Cyrus and a male prostitute. Cyrus apologizes to Fitz and Olivia says they need to stall. Abby holds a press conference and defers it all.
David calls Abby and says he has to investigate. Cyrus says when he found out Michael worked for Lizzie, he cleared all the texts off his phone. Abby plays the denial game with the press. Olivia asks Fitz if they want to fight it. Olivia sits Michael and Cyrus down to work out a marriage agreement where Michael will get money to keep his mouth shut and it will legitimize what they are doing.
Michael agrees and Cyrus looks at him and says he’s now the most famous gay hooker in history and asks why he would pick this option. Michael says he knows him better than this and Cyrus says he doesn’t know him at all. Cyrus tells Olivia he was closeted for 40 years and slept with women even though it didn’t do anything for him. He says he’s slept with two men – the love of his life and a prostitute. He says he won’t do that to James’ memory and says he won’t marry this person. He stomps out.
Jake shoots a guy that was sneaking up on him when he met with a contact to discuss Rowan. He searches the guy and finds a King of Clubs playing card with his photo on them. (Note* This was big over in the Gulf War and other encounters when they would put the most wanted opposing military leaders/terrorists on playing cards to signify how important of a target they were). Jack is a big fish for the assassin.
Jake goes to OPA and tosses the card on the table. He says Rowan is cleaning house and Huck recognizes it. Jake says anyone who worked with B613 is now on a kill list. He gives Huck some info on Rowan and Quinn is shocked that Jake is going after Rowan himself but he says he’s coming after him so he has to. Quinn leaves and goes to meet with Charlie to warn her. He laughs and says she likes him and that it’s life affirming.
She says she doesn’t and he asks if she wants to get busy since they may die at any moment. She shoves him off but then they go at it anyway. She gets back to the office for an update from Huck on Lizzie and Kubiak. They last met the night the girl was murdered. Quinn says they need to get into the law office where they met and Huck says it’s too secure – they need a fingerprint.
She says they have a finger and goes to cut off Kubiak’s. She uses it to access the firm and the guard is none the wiser. She heads up in the elevator cool as a cucumber. She looks at the security camera she knows is there because of the footage of Caitlin. She thinks Caitlin says the VP with the Kubiak and Lizzie and that’s why she died. She rifles their materials and calls Huck with what she found.
He finds a client name of Waco Ink and they wonder what that is. Jake brings Olivia a gun and shows her the kill card. He says she’s a threat and her dad might hurt her. She says she knows how to shoot a gun but chooses not to. She says her dad won’t kill her and Jake says he’s sure Rowan thinks the same of her. He basically tells her to kill her dad if she gets the chance and reminds her how to shoot.
He stands behind her and holds her hands in his. He tells her heart, hips, head. He says that’s a stop shot. She asks about a kill shot. He offers to take her away from all this and go back to the sun and shut Pandora’s Box. She says the sun went down a long time ago and is not coming back up. She cocks the gun so she’s ready for her dad, just in case.
Lizzie goes to see the VP at his office. They kiss and he asks if she’s heard from Kubiak. She says he’s MIA, Olivia is on her ass and the President still hasn’t declared war. They do it on his desk. News breaks on pressure on Cyrus to resign. He waits in the Oval with his resignation letter and asks Fitz if he ever read Nixon’s resignation letter and says it was the most important document of his career, but it was artless.
He tells Fitz he’s going to hand him his letter and then a man needs to take his badge and office credentials. He says then Fitz need to call Abby to make a statement. He tells Fitz to prop himself up by knocking him down. He says he’s a joke now and is of no help to him. Fitz refuses to accept the resignation and Cyrus tells him to thank him for his service so he can go. He asks Fitz to please say it.
Fitz stares long and hard and finally takes the letter from him. He tells Cyrus – thank you for your service, it’s been an honor. Cyrus nods and says – the honor sir, was mine. He walks out to go end his career. Abby tells the press that Fitz is dealing with the terrorist attack and they ask if she’s been subpoenaed by the AG. She makes no comment.
David formally interrogates Abby about Cyrus’ actions in deleting his texts and other info. He asks Abby if she has an alibi for March 25th. She says she was with Leo Bergen. He asks where she was with Leo Bergen. He insists she answers and Abby tells him she was at Leo’s house. He asks if she was there all night and she says yes. He ends the interview and walks away hurt and angry.
Quinn tells Charlie to get his call when it rings. She’s in his bed. He tells her to turn it off and when she goes to get it, she sees the kill card with her photo in it was in his bag. He comes out of the bathroom and she holds it out. He says – oh crap – and she asks if he came to kill her. He says no, then yes, then maybe. He says if he doesn’t kill her someone will kill him.
They fight and beat on each other. He asks if self-defense meant nothing to her. She tells him the worst part is he wanted to screw her before he killed her. They fight brutally. Jake calls Huck and they discuss where Rowan could be going. Huck says he’s outside Roanoke and they wonder if he’s headed for a safe house in either Mansfield or Knoxville.
Rowan opens a bottle of wine and sniffs the cork. Jake picks the lock at a door. The door opens and he heads in, gun drawn. The place is empty. He chose the wrong place. Olivia comes home and find her dad at her kitchen table. She asks why he’s there and he shows her a record and asks if she remembers when he first played it for her. He says he’s usually not sentimental, but he is now.
He says no matter how hard you try, you can’t erase the positive memories. She tells him to leave and he tells her to sit. He has a gun. She looks very sad and sits down across from him. It’s #PopeVSPope. He reminds her he said he would leave her alone but says apparently that wasn’t enough for her. He says she won’t be happy until he’s dead. She says he was never leaving and says he can’t leave her alone because he has nowhere to go.
She says all he has is his sad, twisted life he’s created here where he pretends the world can’t live without him. She says he’s not normal – he’s sick, lonely and only knows how to lie and call it love. He screams at her that she’s ungrateful. He says there would be no Olivia Pope if not for him. He lays the gun down and stands. He says he has failed as a father.
He says everything he did was to make her know she was special. He yells and says she sent her clan of good old boys to kill him every chance she gets. He tells her she’s the sad abnormal one who has no comprehension of love. He says even if her stomach turns when she looks at him, she’s looking in the mirror. He rants and she goes for the gun and holds it on him. She’s shaky and upset.
He tells her to watch herself. She hesitates, finger on the trigger, then pulls it. It clicks – there is no ammo. It was a cruel test. He screams in mental agony and then tells her she just shot her own father. He says never in a million years did he think she would be willing to pull the trigger. He snatches the gun away from her and tucks it in his waist band.
He looks at the album he brought and says it was the night before her first day of kindergarten. He says she was so anxious she couldn’t sleep. He brought the record player in her room to play Stevie Wonder and she was asleep in minutes. He puts his jacket on while he talks. He says no matter how hard she tries to deny it, she will miss him when he’s gone. He walks out of her apartment.
Charlie and Quinn are both battered, bruise and bloody. They sit on the floor side by side talking in the aftermath of their fight stalemate. He says he wouldn’t have killed her and she says she doesn’t believe her. She says he hurt her and he says she hurt him first. He tells her his Granny died and she says she’s sorry for not calling more often. She says he ruined everything – Huck’s whole life.
He says okay and that he could unruin it. She asks how and he says he has B613 files he stole that he replaced with blanks. He says he kept the files instead of giving them back to command. He asks if they’ll help. Olivia goes to see her mom and asks where he was. She says she knows her dad kept her in that hole and Maya says he visited her every day.
Olivia says she has a PhD in his crazy and she wants answers now. Maya tells her – girl, you need to move on. She tells Olivia she’s just like Rowan and they only focus on each other. Maya tells her she put her in a cage just like Rowan did and asks if she’ll come see her every day like Rowan did. She tells Olivia that Rowan ruined her. Olivia starts crying and her mom shows zero sympathy.
She says – cry me a river Livvie, whatever. Olivia tells her mom good bye and Maya says she’ll see her tomorrow. After Olivia leaves, she looks very sad. Olivia goes to see Cyrus and she asks where he’s going. He says he’s going to Europe since they embrace disgrace there. He says he was called a gay stereotype on the news today. He says he doesn’t even know who he is anymore.
Olivia tells him to listen. She says she’s going to talk to him like Cyrus would. She asks when he decided to let the mean girls in the press ruin him. She says life is hard. He lost someone he loved and says grow the hell up, that’s how it is. She says the Cyrus she knows doesn’t wet his pants like a little bitch baby and tells him he’s pathetic shell of who he was. She asks who he is.
She asks who he is and he says he’s one of the most powerful men in this world. She asks if that’s who he is or if he’s a bitch baby. He gets mad and says he runs this country. He says he’s nobody’s bitch baby and she says he still sounds like one. He yells that he’s not and she tells him to show her who he is. We next see Cyrus and Michael being interviewed. They talk about their Spring wedding.
The reporter asks if this is convenient. Cyrus says the photos coming out make it clear that he needed to come clean. He says he won’t apologize for falling in love. The press is torn calling them soul mates or criminals. They call it a romantic gay Pretty Woman deal and the polls are loving it. Fitz comes in and says he’s impressed. Cyrus says he’s marrying a whore but at least he knows what he’s buying.
Fitz tells Cyrus he’ll buy him a Scotch if he’ll tell him what to do about West Angola. They don’t send troops to West Angola. Lizzie goes to rant to Mellie about Fitz not going to war. Mellie tells her that’s Mr President to you and Lizzie says he’s lost the party. Lizzie says she thought she and Mellie were on the same page and asks if she offended him.
Mellie says them both screwing Andrew doesn’t make them friends, she says it just makes them most likely to catch the same STD. She tells Lizzie she gets it – that Andrew is very generous in bed but he’s to a presidential contender. She threatens to screw Lizzie herself and says she won’t be as gentle as Andrew – she says it will hurt.
Olivia sees Abby, Cyrus and Fitz laughing and sharing a drink. Charlotte tells her she can go in but Olivia leaves them to it and goes. Huck takes the B613 files to Kim. He tells her to hear him out and she threatens to call 911. He tells her he needs her to know why he’s like this. He says if she’ll read them, he’ll never ask her to do anything again. He leaves her with the boxes.
Kim opens them up and looks. Later, Huck finds Quinn at the office and is horrified that she’s been beaten. She says WACO is an acronym for the West Angolan Commercial Organization. She says Winslow’s firm manages their assets. The VP goes to see Fitz about West Angola. He says he’s not surprised that he was attacked but was surprised he didn’t hit them back.
Quinn points out the security footage that clearly shows the VP knew about the explosion and repositioned himself enough to avoid being seriously injured. Andrew tells Fitz he doesn’t care enough about his own VP to go to bat for the attack on him. Huck asks why the photos of Olivia but Quinn hasn’t figured that out.
Jake comes to Olivia’s and she has beer and wine. He tells her he lost Rowan. She says she has food for them and doesn’t want to talk about Rowan. She tells him to let it go and puts on a record from her collection. It’s the Stevie Wonder album her dad had left her. She says Rowan is gone and they need to let it go. She tells him to shut up and dance. She dances around and he’s finally charmed.
He takes off his jacket and starts dancing. It’s pretty silly. They cut quite the rug to Don’t You Worry Bout a Thing. He stops and tells her – man, do I love you. She says she wants Vermont with Fitz. He says okay. She says she also wants the sun with him. She says she’s not choosing either of them, but is choosing Olivia. She says right now, Olivia is dancing and free.
She tells him to dance with her or get off her dance floor and says she’s fine dancing alone. He kisses her and they peel off each others clothes. She says she’s never had sex on top of the piano. He tells her he’ll get a blanket and tells her not to move. He pulls off his pants and grabs a pillow and a blanket.
He comes back into the living room and she’s gone. Andrew asks Fitz what’s the one thing he couldn’t live without – the one thing he would do anything in his power to get back. Jack sees Olivia’s wine glass lying on the sofa and a puddle of red wine seeping into her cushions. Fitz asks Andrew what he did to her. He grabs him up and demands an answer. Andrew asks him what he thinks now about going to war.
THE END!