Scandal recap: 'Vampires and Bloodsuckers'

Boom.

In a season of explosions, both figurative and literal, it’s hard to imagine that everything is going to be okay when the dust settles. But it seems that every week is leading us a bit closer to Olivia’s redemption, if that’s even possible at this point. To step into the sun, she’s got to have a reason, and this week, the reason is Quinn, who is gone — all because of, in this case, a literal explosion. Like I said…boom.

That was the result of last week’s episode, and while Quinn watched a plane with Bashrani President Rashad and his niece Yasmin blow apart, Olivia delivered the news to Mellie, who immediately hops into action. And just like we assumed last week, it’s Olivia who’s behind it. Yeah, y’all. She had the president of Bashran and his niece killed. Does this darkness have a name? Oh, you know it does. Olivia.

Meanwhile, Glackland and Cyrus are having naked brunch. Well, Glackland is having naked brunch. Cyrus has to leave because of that whole bomb situation. As he starts to make his exit, Glackland wants to know what’s going on that’s pulling him away, but Cyrus won’t budge. He’ll flirt adorably, but budge? Absolutely not.

And amid all that, Quinn is preparing for her wedding the next day and trying to get ahold of Olivia. Olivia gifts Quinn with Harry Truman’s wife’s pearl hair clip (something borrowed FROM THE SMITHSONIAN), but that’s not what Quinn wants to talk to Olivia about. The plane, the bomb, the Bashrani carnage…she knows that Olivia is behind it. And when Quinn goes full conscience on Olivia, claiming that she isn’t the woman she once aspired to be, Olivia and Quinn go head to head. At the end of the day, Quinn says that OPA was never about justice. QPA will be though.

At Andrews Air Force Base the next day, Mellie shows up to bid her farewell to Rashad and Yasmin. Quinn is brokenhearted about all of it, but at Olivia and Jake’s camp, they discuss how this was the only option. When Jake asks Olivia if she thinks Quinn will talk, Olivia insists she won’t.

If anyone is crushing it this episode, it’s Huck. He’s both Best Man and Maid of Honor and is in total wedding-planning panic mode. But the biggest issue isn’t Huck’s search for the macarons (though, let’s be honest…where are the macarons?). It’s that Quinn hasn’t shown up for her wedding day.

Back in the Oval, the ambassador is here to try to make peace in the Middle East in the wake of the plane explosion, but after he gives his spiel, Mellie gets real honest and says the rebels should run. Why? She’s going to drop every last American bomb on their heads because no president is ever going to be level headed again. She’s just a couple tweets away from calling out Rocket Man.

In Olivia’s world, there are bigger fish to fry: Quinn is gone. It looks like she left her ring behind and ran, and that’s a bummer for Huck and Abby and Charlie, of course, but for Olivia? It could spell absolute tragedy.

With the core of O/QPA all back together, they try to figure out exactly where Quinn has gone because Charlie insists this is not a case of cold feet. And Huck must be in same boat because when the team turns around, Huck is gone too. He heads to Quinn’s apartment, finding only her laptop, and when he opens up the “Vows” folder, he finds a series of pictures investigating the plane bombing. Olivia runs to Jake, who says that this disappearance has to be a ruse, but things aren’t looking great for Quinn. Remember last time we were all wondering what happened to Quinn/who Quinn was? LOL, man, this girl. Yeah, Olivia is nuts. Sure, Fitz is a little self-involved. But Quinn…our girl has seen some things.

And now her happily ever after is right there on the horizon. I had doubted that for a bit. But the vows Charlie didn’t have prepared? Well, they’re perfect because they’re from the heart. They’re the things he’d say to her when she’s asleep because he’s weird. But so is she. Two weird people in love.

Their search for Quinn is interrupted when Pryce stops by to talk to Quinn, who left him a message last night. And that message was that the Bashranis didn’t kill Rashad…it was someone on the inside. Olivia insists that he can’t pursue this story because it could put Quinn in jeopardy, but Pryce is a Journalist with a capital J and there is a story here. He has a DUTY. (Recap continues on page 2)

While Olivia calls Mellie to tell her to cool her jets on angrily bombing Bahsranis, it seems that the team has discovered some crucial information. Sergeant Ladd, an Air Force officer, saw what happened on the tarmac. Problem is, Olivia and Jake are going to have to do some work to change the story and place the blame on Ladd. Ultimately, their plan is to pin it on Glackland, whom Ladd worked for, but the bigger issue is that when Abby goes to Cyrus to set this plan into motion (and hopefully find Quinn), Cyrus is not going to be convinced of this insanity. But when he thinks a bit more about it, he considers that maybe Glackland is using him. It’s unfortunate because we know Glackland isn’t the one to blame, but it’s too late. He’s all plastic wrapped and in Charlie’s custody because no one is going to take Quinn from Charlie. You know, like the good ol’ days of B613.

Things aren’t looking great for the bride-to-be because it turns out Sergeant Ladd is dead. And David is feeling pretty bummed about that, and bummed about the world at large (preaching to the choir, Rosen). But what he’s specifically bummed about is all this death and tomfoolery. Speaking of tomfoolery, Mellie calls in the head of tomfoolery to speak with him about some potential B613 business she wants done, but Head of NSA/Tomfoolery Jake informs her that she can’t just give him orders because she doesn’t have that authority. With that option exhausted (personally, if I were Mellie, I’d be a little more concerned), she calls in Marcus for his opinion on what she should do in Bashran.

Back at QPA, the second call Quinn made is revealed. It was to Pryce, which gives them a very specific window to work in. Cyrus is able to prove that he was with Glackland at that time, which clears Glackland’s name, but that puts Olivia all the more at risk. The team pinpoints Quinn being at the monument the night before, so they decide set off to retrieve that security footage. Of course, that sends Liv into a tailspin, begging Jake to get the footage before anyone else can. And in the meantime, Huck (just in time) chases down Charlie, who is beating the bejesus out of Glackland. They launch into action to really find Quinn.

Mellie calls the ambassador back in to tell him America and the new regime in Bashran can strike a deal. Mellie will set the terms of the new nuclear agreement, they will sign it, and she will recognize them as the new leaders. So it seems that situation in Bashran is taken care of, but Quinn is definitely still missing. Even when David brings in the park footage revealing Quinn’s whereabouts the night before, the part that would have shown Olivia arriving is erased. Charlie absolutely loses his mind and demands that all the wedding stuff is removed. But as the night comes to an end, it would seem that everyone has someone to pair off with, even under the worst of circumstances. David and Abby finally reunite. Cyrus and Glackland tend to his bag-of-oranges bruises. Huck and Charlie share a drink. And Olivia and Jake review footage together revealing that Quinn actually was on her way to her wedding. The theory that she’s trying to build a case against Olivia? Fake news.

But that does mean someone kidnapped her. Who took Quinn?