Where is the line between reality and fantasy? Scandal season 5, episode 14, “I See You,” blurred the boundary between primetime entertainment and primetime American politics.

The dog and pony show of the 2016 electoral season is in full swing. In the Scandal universe, Mellie Grant, Susan Ross, and now newcomer/old alley Hollis Doyle are running for President. But did Hollis Doyle look a bit too familiar when he took the stage to announce his candidacy? The creators, especially Shonda Rhimes, are not shy about the parallels to the current Republican presidential race. “We did have some moments where I’d run back to the writers’ room the next day, and go, ‘There’s some dialogue we need to cross out, because it’s kind of already happened,'” said EP Rhimes at the Scandal Paley Fest panel. But beyond Doyle trumping Mellie’s campaign and stealing her thunder, “I See You,” saw plenty of characters breaking out the big guns and making some impressive power moves.

What we are watching for:

Abby “The Tolerator” Whelan is tolerating the political backstabbing no longer. The Ides of March must have gotten Abby in the spirit this week because she picked up a knife of her own and got ready to point it in Cyrus’ direction. When she catches wind of Cyrus working on Vargas’ campaign, she not only confronts the sitting Chief of Staff with visual, concrete evidence, she decides to sit on the information and present it to Fitz. While Fitz is not exactly the type of person I’d like to see Abby champion, it is far better than watching her take his mistresses coats and deliver press releases. A little under a year in service to the highest office in the country does not seem like a concrete commitment, but as we’ve seen, this office is littered with land mines threatening to go off at any moment.

Does she want it? Yes, she does. Red takes Fitz’s blessing to fire Cyrus and finally gains access to always be in “The Room Where It Happens.”

The second storyline keeping the Scandal dream alive is Quinn confronting Olivia about the future of OPA. Quinn is not afraid to get her hands dirty, she does the work that needs to be done, and is the only person willing to call Olivia out on her nonsense. She begrudgingly participates in Olivia’s game of spy-and-seek, still hanging onto that debt of gratitude for taking her and Huck under her wing all those years ago. But when is it time to call it quits on the woman who gave you the dream job and respectfully step away from her personal games? Granted, uncovering the motives of the former B613 agent in one of Homeland Security’s top ranking positions is not entirely Olivia-specific, but this mission is seemingly dictated by the whims of Olivia’s mood.

It’s about time someone laid the cards out on the table. Olivia wants OPA to keep Marcus in the loop, but the lead Gladiator cannot keep her own team in sync. Quinn finally shatters the tainted glass between them by asking Olivia flat-out, “Why do you hate us?” Turns out she does not hate them so much as she is taking a bit of time to sort through her own trauma after being kidnapped and nearly auctioned off to the highest bidder. Olivia’s detours have not been easy, nor are they fun to watch, but they are part of how Olivia is coping with a return to “normalcy.” Besides, as Olivia points out, Quinn is the best person to run OPA when she is not around.

I cannot agree with that statement more, but I also think that returning to OPA with a few “Scandals of the Week” is not only good for the show, but possibly the best boost for Olivia’s recovery.

What we’re over:

All of that said, it’s finally time for the will-she-won’t-she with Jake storyline to fade away. The leading heroine of Scandal, the woman audiences rooted for, the person I personally thought was the best badass woman in Washington, DC since Claudia Jean Cregg has slowly taken a backseat to literally every single other female character on Scandal in the last year. The relationship drama between Olivia and Fitz and Olivia and Jake is nothing more than fodder to keeping the show from telling the more compelling stories of Quinn, Abby, Mellie, etc. Even Jake and Fitz’s stories, especially Jake’s way into the NSA job, are better off without Olivia playing a part in them.

Olivia’s wardrobe may have livened up, but her storyline is lacking the same flair. It took the country’s greatest fixer until the conclusion of “I See You” to recognize that Jake was conning that poor woman? It’s far too late in the series to run a storyline about redeeming trust in Jake or anyone in her inner circle. Hopefully, in the coming weeks, we will return to Olivia storming into the room with either laser focus on Mellie’s campaign or a plan to bring Jake and her father down.

Some stray moments of note:

?? Havi and his mom are going to be alright. Huck kidnapping his son’s future stepfather was a bit radical, but when has anything with Huck been rational? The ex-assassin does seem to have gained some closure and for that I am grateful.

?? Mellie, oh Mellie. Your day will come.

?? While Olivia had a point about letting Marcus in on the secrets of the inner circle, I like him being in the dark. He provides some much needed humor that we are not going to get from Susan once she starts revving up her campaign.

Watch Scandal season 5, episode 15, “Pencils Down,” Thursday, March 24 at 9:00 p.m. ET on ABC.