Scandal season 4, episode 13 saw an unlikely hero step in to save Olivia while the Vice President faced what’s been coming to him.

There were two major events on tonight’s episode which made the hour an exciting one. The biggest surprise was the return of Stephen, a Gladiator who fans haven’t seen in years, who saved Olivia from her captors.

To the recap!

The start of Scandal season 4, episode 13 found Olivia meeting a woman representing her new Iranian buyer. Will Olivia be handed over to the new person so easily? Of course not – we’re only one minute into the episode! She uses her knowledge of Farsi to play both sides of the exchange to make each party believe they’re about to ambush the other. Scared by the supposed threat, Olivia is whisked back into Gus’ vehicle because the deal is off.

While the White House is aware that the deal fell through, the CIA only believes there’s a 30% chance of rescuing Olivia. Those aren’t good odds, so the CIA tries to prepare Fitz for the 70% chance that Olivia gets picked up by another country.

The President refuses to hear this plan. He simply will not accept anything but a successful extraction and doesn’t care to plan for what would happen if they can’t save her.

Fitz and Cyrus head back to the Oval Office after the CIA meeting and the Chief of Staff begins to daydream about leaving this lame President. “You moron, you child, when are you going to learn the finest minds have told you what needs to happen,” he dreams of yelling at Fitz. “I built you from the ground up. The ground up!”

You should’ve quit, Cy. You’re right in thinking he’s a baby! Instead of leaving the gig, he secretly asks the CIA to eliminate Olivia so Fitz can begin to move on.

With the Iranian deal now over, Olivia is back on the market. While Huck logs into the dark internet, Jake tells him to keep his bad side from the B613 days under control, and Quinn asks Huck to promise not to kill anyone if Olivia dies. Both of these warnings play into what he does to the Vice President which we’ll discuss in a bit.

The new round of bidding ends in a tie for $2 billion between Marie Wallace (Mama Pope) and the Russians. (In what world do bidding systems allow ties? That’s the whole point of bidding – you can’t tie, you always bid higher than the previous bid). Anyway, Olivia suggests to Gus that they take Marie’s bid, but ask for more money at the exchange – it’s a win-win for both sides.

Sadly, Gus sees through Olivia’s thinking – he senses Olivia wants to go to Marie. So they decide she’s going to the Russians. OP&A are horrified that they’ve lost. Olivia’s dead! Huck’s horrific prediction has come true!

After overhearing Cyrus speak to the CIA about killing Olivia, Abby rushes into OP&A to warn of the White House’s plan and request a hail mary. She then rushes back to the White House (Damn, she gets around) to inform the President of the plan, but Cyrus stops her.

Jake’s hail mary is to speak to Mama Pope for help. She finally reveals where Papa Pope is: Prescott Lake. Jake gets there super quick and asks dad for help. After another trademark Papa Pope rant (this time about fishing – an activity that is unpredictable, unlike his troubles with Olivia), Jake replies with a three word response: “She’s your daughter.” Papa Pope says he doesn’t have a daughter anymore. So much for that option!

As Gus and his men pack the house up to prepare for Olivia’s sale to the Russians, Ms. Pope looks for an escape. She tries to make a run for it (Really? It’d never be that easy), but she predictably gets slapped down before she reaches the door.

At the exchange, the CIA prepares to fire at the target from the sky. The CIA orders the attack, but Cyrus stops them when he recognizes the person who’s making the purchase for the Russians: Stephen (played by Henry Ian Cusick), Olivia’s right-hand man at Olivia Pope & Associates in season 1!

Flashback:

That’s a twist no one saw coming.

Luckily Cyrus noticed it was Stephen just in the knick of time. It turns out we have Abby to thank – she got in touch with him as her hail mary. “Once a gladiator, always a gladiator,” she reminds Cyrus. It helps that Steven and Abby used to hook up.

Speaking after his rescue, Stephen apologizes for not calling after they lost Harrison. Olivia invites him to return to OP&A, but he turns the gig down. For now?

“You saved me. I never thought I’d have the chance to return the favor,” Stephen tells her.

Olivia returns home after a debriefing which triggers some flashbacks. Once safely at home, Huck puts four locks and two deadbolts on her door – will these finally keep unwelcome guests away once and for all?

Just as she locks her door, someone else comes knocking: Fitz. The two get in an argument over everything they’ve worked towards. Fitz wants to leave the White House, but Olivia doesn’t want all of her work in helping him become President to go to waste.

To make matters worse, Olivia doesn’t think Fitz saved her. “I’m on my own,” she screams as she throws a ring at him. This relationship certainly seems off for a while.

The Vice President

Another big aspect of tonight’s Scandal was the fate of Vice President Nichols. Andrew once again threatened to tell the world about Mellie’s infidelities, which led the First Lady to ask Lizzie for help in getting him under control. Lizzie then went to Huck to ask for a favor (which he owed her after his bonkers appearance in her home next to her sleeping child).

Fresh off his talks from Quinn and Jake about no longer doing crazy things to people, Huck decides to do Lizzie the favor. He strips the Vice President, wraps his crotch up in cellophane, and injects him with something to make him suffer a stroke (Bizarrely, Lizzie watches the whole thing). At the end of the episode, Lizzie and Mellie exchange purposeful acknowledgements as they pass each other in the hallway. We love these two together.

Now a new question arises: Will Fitz pick up a new VP? Or will Andrew recover?

What did you think of ‘Scandal’ season 4, episode 13?

Bad news! There will not be a new episode of Scandal season 4 next week due to How to Get Away with Murder’s two-hour season finale! The next episode will air Thursday, March 5 at 9 p.m. eastern/pacific on ABC.