‘Scandal’ Finale Recap: Olivia Finally Chooses Between Fitz & Jake

The season 4 finale of ‘Scandal’ was riveting from beginning to end. The fates of many characters were left unknown, and Olivia finally made her choice between Jake and Fitz once and for all.

Raise your hand if you’re still catching your breath from the Scandal season finale? Everyone? OK, cool. On the May 14 finale, Olivia (Kerry Washington) and the Gladiators took one last chance at taking down Command, someone major got fired, Huck (Guillermo Diaz) and Quinn (Katie Lowes) had an intense showdown and Olivia decided who she wanted to be with forever. Was it Jake (Scott Foley) or Fitz (Tony Goldwyn)?

‘Scandal’ Season Finale: The List

We picked up right where we left off. Mellie (Bellamy Young) was Foxtail, and Rowan (or Damascus, rather) was ready to sink his teeth into her. Before Mellie got a few words in, Rowan (Joe Morton) handed over photos of Mellie and Andrew (Jon Tenney) getting it on and Fitz’s Remington file. Needless to say, Mellie was shocked.

“Who are you?” Mellie asked. “You do not ask me who I am. Ask me what I need,” Rowan replied.

He needed a list of names.

‘Scandal’: Olivia Finally Got The Happy Ending She Deserved

Meanwhile, Olivia was waiting for Jake to testify in David’s B613 trial. Their only goal was to bring down Rowan and B613 for good, which meant Jake had to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Well, Jake did just that, and the jurors were very sympathetic. While Olivia was waiting, she put in a call to Fitz. It was one of those phone calls. The one where “The Light” plays and both Fitz and Olivia look like they’d rather die than not be with each other. She told Fitz “goodbye,” almost like she knew something bad was about to happen.

She was right. Huck ran to her with awful news. The entire grand jury in the B613 hearing were dead! Not just dead — SLAUGHTERED. That was the list Mellie handed over. When she realized what she had done, Mellie ran straight to Cyrus (Jeff Perry). She claimed she handed over the names for the administration. She didn’t have a choice. She mentioned Remington, and Cyrus knew exactly who had threatened Mellie.

‘Scandal’ Season Finale: Desperate Times, Desperate Measures

Despite this awful turn of events, Olivia didn’t want everyone to give up just yet. David (Josh Malina) was done. Everyone in the courtroom was six feet under except David and Jake. David wanted justice, but he wasn’t willing to die for it.

Well, Olivia seemed like she was ready to die for it. She was fed up with being her father’s victim. It was time he felt like the “scared kid.” She wanted to be Command for once. Jake assured her that she could pick anywhere in the world, and he would follow. Wherever they went, Rowan would follow them. If Olivia didn’t take down her father now, in this moment, she would be his prisoner forever.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. She went to Mama Pope (Khandi Alexander). She was the only one who had truly beat Rowan at his own game. Olivia wanted to know how momma did it. “You’re so vain,” Mama Pope scoffed. “It’s always about you, isn’t it?”

Before Olivia left, Mama Pope left her with a juicy tidbit. No one even knew Rowan existed. Maybe revealing his identity was the key to bringing him down!

‘Scandal’ Season Finale: Go, Mellie, Go!

Olivia and Jake headed to the CIA. They revealed B613 was ready, but the head lady already knew what was up. Practically simultaneously, Cyrus went straight to Rowan. Command warned Cyrus that he owed him. Never one to question Command, Cyrus had Olivia and Jake arrested!

Cyrus also went for David’s pressure point. If David didn’t get Olivia and Jake to recant everything about B613, he would have Abby (Darby Stanchfield) killed. David threatened Jake and Olivia. They really didn’t have much choice in the matter. They both recanted.

On the eve of Mellie’s election, Fitz and Mellie were celebrating. He applauded Mellie for everything she’d done for him. “Her love, her friendship, means everything to me,” Fitz said, “As a team, we’ve never been stronger.” Aw, Fitz. You’re making me blush!

‘Scandal’ Season Finale: Up In Flames

After her latest Rowan failure, Olivia was numbing her senses with a tall glass of wine. Rowan put in a call to simply taunt her. He had obliterated all traces of B613 now. There was nothing she could do. God, he’s so terrible.

But wait… there was one last thing they could do. They couldn’t take down Rowan/Command, but they could take down Eli Pope. They used the $2 billion ransom from Olivia’s kidnapping to make it look like Rowan embezzled money from the museum. He was arrested. LOL, good one.

Mellie was now Virginia’s new senator! Unfortunately for her, it was all about to crumble down. Liz (Portia de Rossi) spilled the beans about Rowan straight to Fitz. What Mellie had done infuriated Fitz. It was basically Defiance 2.0. He told Mellie to pack her bags and get out of the White House! The same went for Cyrus, too. He was F-I-R-E-D. Liz was new Chief of Staff.

But Mellie’s part in the slaughter of the grand jury wasn’t even the most shocking part. Quinn realized that HUCK had killed the grand jury. She pulled a gun on him and threatened to take him out. Huck actually wanted her to. He told her to pull the trigger. Our final Huckleberry Quinn left Huck and Quinn’s fate in question.

‘Scandal’ Season Finale: Taking What You Want

Jake dropped Olivia off at her apartment, and she was ready to hang out over wine. Jake said this is where the ride ended. Yet again, he proclaimed how much he loved her. He was never going to stop loving her.

“But you are in love him,” Jake said, regarding Olivia and Fitz.

In a selfless act, Jake let Olivia go. He told her to take what she wanted, which has been Fitz all along.

Fitz showed up to Olivia’s apartment, but she didn’t answer the door. My heart broke as I watched him walking alone in the White House after tossing Mellie and Cyrus out. He went out onto the balcony for some fresh air.

“Nice view,” Olivia said.

THIS. IS. EVERYTHING. SHE TOOK WHAT SHE WANTED. OLITZ LIVES.

“You’re here,” Fitz said, in disbelief. “I’m here,” Olivia replied.

Fitz wondered what happened next. “Whatever we want,” Olivia said. Olivia and Fitz shared a passionate kiss on the balcony of the White House. They were finally not afraid to be together out in the open.

I’ll leave you with this for the summer:

HollywoodLifers, what did you think of the Scandal finale? Let me know!

— Avery Thompson
Follow @avery__thompson