‘Scandal,’ Season 7, Episode 5 Recap: ‘Adventures In Babysitting’

Picking up exactly where we last left off, Olivia explains to ex-Command the meaning of privilege and why he lacks it.

Scandal, Season 7, Episode 5 Recap

The message Olivia so ardently orders Rowan to deliver to Fitz is to go home. Rowan follows through with this.

In the Oval Office, Mellie grapples with the Bashran problem and reiterates that President Rashad should return to power. New-Sally-Langston-elect news anchor Curtis Pryce (Jay Hernandez), who is Olivia’s new beau, is bashing her for it.

Rashad’s niece is pulled from Dartmouth (Shonda Rhimes‘s alma mater) in the meantime.

Olivia and Jake reach a clean conclusion on Bashran. To run the country with a no-holds-barred approach. However, when Olivia shows up to the Oval prepared to solve conflicts with other nations, she finds Fitz to already be talking to Mellie, who is angry.

Liv approaches Fitz, who says he told Mellie “Everything.”

Things are really heating up now that Mellie knows Olivia killed Luna Vargas.

When Fitz sits down with Jake, Jake realizes Olivia is a lost cause. Pryce is attempting to help Rashad promote peace. Olivia convinces Pryce to take Rahad in. Cyrus, meanwhile, is doing some convincing of his own: trying to get Congress to vote for war. He tells Liv that she can release her B613 people on him, but nothing will likely come of that.

We then get two separate couples kissing: Mellie and Rashad, and Cyrus and Glackland. It doesn’t go further than kissing, however, as far as we’re concerned.

On the White House balcony, Olivia approaches Mellie and asks her what she wants. Mellie says she wants Rashad and the treaty.

Mellie says, “I’m the president.” Olivia responds in the coldest of ways, “Consider it handled, Madam President.”

Tune in next Thursday at 8 pm EST on ABC to see what crazy things happen next!