Quinn, David, Huck and Charlie desperately tried to salvage their case against B-613 after Jake refused to testify against Command in Scandal’s “Honor Thy Father.”

Scandal 4×18 Recap

Liv (Kerry Washington) was focused on her case of the week – a Congressman trying to clear his father of murdering the math teacher who preyed on his teenage sister, leading to her suicide. Long story short: it was the Congressman who killed the math teacher 15 years ago, when he was still a teenager, and his father confessed to the crime and has been threatening to kill himself if the Congressman confessed. Liv is able to convince him to accept that his son wants to take responsibility for his actions, and promises that she will personally make sure he gets the best lawyers and is able to salvage his public image after he serves his time. When Liv isn’t dealing with the case, she’s cuddling up to her new man, Franklin/Russell (Brian White), the man she picked up at a bar for a not-so-one night stand.

Mellie’s Sister Comes To Town

Over at the White House, Mellie (Bellamy Young) invites her half-sister, Harmony (Lauren Bowles), to DC in the hopes of charming her enough that she won’t spill all of Mellie’s dirty little secrets and ruin her campaign. To say that Harmony and Mellie don’t get along would be an understatement: they were clearly raised to hate each other thanks to their father who cheated, it seems, on both their mothers to create this awkward family tree. Mellie considers Harmony trash, while Harmony resents Mellie’s condescending nature.

Harmony’s first day at the White House doesn’t go well, but Fitz (Tony Goldwyn) is able to smooth things over, and reassures Mellie that he will support her just as she has supported him to ensure she wins the Senate seat in Virginia.

Huck, Quinn And Charlie Set Out To Kill Jake

Meanwhile, when David Rosen (Joshua Malina) fails to convince Jake (Scott Foley) to testify for him against B-613, he goes to plan B. He tasks Quinn (Katie Lowes), Huck (Guillermo Díaz) and Charlie (George Newbern) with tracking down three former B-613 agents and convincing them to testify for David. Once David has three agents who can testify against Jake, Jake will have no choice but to join them. He gathers all three agents and sets them up in a safe house and promises them full immunity in exchange for their cooperation. Of course, David plans all of this at the Pope & Associates offices, where Jake has When Charlie shows up with a handful of supplies, he finds them all dead, and standing amid the bloody bodies is Jake Ballard.

Charlie fights Jake off and leaves to get Quinn, Huck and David. While taking care of the bodies, Charlie brings up the idea of killing Jake, but David shuts him down. He refuses to believe Jake has really turned on them, and so does Quinn. After David leaves, Charlie turns to Huck and Quinn to, once again, implore them to kill Jake. Quinn flat out refuses, and expects Huck to do the same. But Huck surprises her, agreeing with Charlie. Either they kill Jake, or Jake kills them. “Jake isn’t Jake anymore,” Huck tells Quinn.

In between investigating Liv’s case with the Congressman, Huck and Quinn track down Jake’s whereabouts using his cell phone and are distraught when they find him holed up in Liv’s apartment building. Jake has set up shop in the empty apartment across the hall from Liv, and he not so subtly implies that he’s watching Olivia – something Huck and Quinn take as a threat to Liv’s lfie. If they go forward with the B-613 prosecution, then Jake will kill Olivia.

Just like that, Huck and Quinn declare their fight against B-613 over. They can’t put Liv at risk, no matter what she might think about it. David tries one last time to convince them to fight, saying that they could tell Liv the truth about Jake and B-613 and Huck’s testimony. She would want them to keep fighting, but Huck says it’s too dangerous. Liv’s his family, and he’ll do anything to protect his family.

David isn’t ready to admit defeat, and he calls Huck with one last play. He can testify against Jake and B-613. He was there when Jake killed James, he’s the witness they need. Jake leaves his declaration on Huck’s voicemail, but Huck doesn’t get the message. Jake does. David is leaving his office for the night with his assistant when Jake appears, gun drawn, but, to David’s surprise, Jake isn’t pointing the gun at him, he’s pointing it at his assistant. David’s assistant is B-613. She killed the three B-613 agents, not Jake. Jake shoots her in the parking lot. He has just been refusing to help David to protect them all from any hidden B-613 agents that have been implanted into their lives.

Not only has Jake been trying to protect David, he’s also been protecting Liv and keeping her in the loop. Everything Jake heard through wiretaps and super spy devices, he’s been sharing with Liv, and she is not happy with Huck’s decision to lie to her.

All of the B-613 agents coming out of the woodwork can only mean one thing: Rowan (Joe Morton) is back back, and he’s not alone. Remember Liv’s sexy booty call, Russell? He shows up at Liv’s apartment late at night, with Rowan standing by his side…

Scandal airs Thursdays at 9 pm on ABC.