6 'Scandal' Shockers We Did Not See Coming At All

Thursday's episode of Scandal was full of some pretty unexpected twists and turns, not the least of which being the fact that I might actually be willing to root for Fitz and Olivia’s relationship again. Despite being president, Fitz has been way too mopey and childish lately for me to deem him remotely worthy of Olivia Pope, but I still may be coming around.

But that’s not the only shocking plotline from Thursday's episode. From Huck and Jake to Mellie and Cyrus, our favorite schemers and power players all proved themselves highly unpredictable and gave us all plenty of OMG moments. So know that if you skipped Scandal to go out trick-or-treating, here’s why you clearly made the wrong Halloween move.

1. Pheobe for President! …Or Not

When we first learned that Lisa Kudrow would play a woman running for president, I was over the moon. Pheobe is running for president! Except after this episode, my enthusiasm has waned. The character, an army veteran and politician from Montana who asks Olivia to help her cover up a teenage pregnancy lest it hamper her dreams of clinching the Democratic nomination for President, is great, I guess, but there’s something off about her attitude to Olivia. If she seriously wants to work with D.C.’s best fixer, she had better learn fast that Olivia Pope is not someone you boss around like the help.

2. Gladiators do Okay in Montana

Though really, I suppose this shouldn’t be such a shock. Pope and Associates are excellent everywhere, even states with only three electoral votes. And this show is way to good to resort to the cheesy, “City slickers out of their element” trope. Moving on!

3. Sally Langston is Making a Move

The uber-religious vice president has long disapproved of Fitz, like, since before they were even elected. And she has tried taking the White House before, back in Season 2. But for some reason, I never figured she’d ever really try to unseat Fitz in an election. Regardless, she’s recruiting campaign managers — in the men’s restroom, no less — to help her run as an independent. We’ll see how it goes, but clearly Fitz should have included her more. But then again…

4. No One Ever Learns Anything About Shutting Women Out

In this episode we watched Fitz try to shut down Mellie’s interest in helping with his reelection campaign and Harrison shut out Quinn after finding out she trailed Huck. Harrison even used the words, “You’re grounded.” For trying to keep track of our favorite unstable ex-assassin. Okay. Hasn’t anyone ever learned anything about trying to shut out smart, ambitious women on this show? Ever? These things happen and it’s like the horror movie where you want to shout, “Don’t Go In There!” By the end of the episode, Quinn owns a gun and Mellie has, well:

5. Mellie Asks For Olivia’s Help

Around this time, I started to wonder if the show was renamed The Twilight Zone when I wasn't paying attention. After listening to Fitz and Olivia sneaking a conversation — the same conversation that has me root for them again — Mellie seemingly decides that if Fitz is going to have any hope of reelection, he has to have Olivia around, not just because she’s brilliant, but also because having her around makes him less tired and mopey and depressing as all hell. And maybe the American people will notice. This results in a shockingly heartfelt conversation behind the scenes at the White House Correspondents Dinner (where Liv is rocking her most amazing dress yet), and my guess that Olivia takes her offer to run Fitz’s campaign. Or I was thinking that, but then the last five minutes of the show happened.

6. Operation Remington Finally Revealed

We’ve waited what feels like years to find out what the hell the deal is with Operation Remington. And it seems like Huck and Jake have finally figured it out. Fitz was not in Iran at all. He was in Iceland. Where he shot down a plane. A passenger plane. With Olivia’s mother on board.

Mind. Blown.

Image: ABC