Scandal's Katie Lowes on Quinn's surprising fate

Warning: This story contains major spoilers from Thursday's episode of Scandal. Read at your own risk!

Scandal finally revealed the fate of Quinn Perkins during Thursday's episode—and though she's actually alive, the future is still looking bleak.

The hour flashed back to Quinn (Katie Lowes) and Charlie's (George Newbern) wedding day, where Rowan (Joe Morton) abducted her from QPA's elevator and locked her in his basement. He only planned to have her for a few hours, using Quinn as currency to get his freedom, but when Olivia (Kerry Washington) called his bluff, Rowan only pretended to kill Quinn in order to obtain his freedom.

However, Rowan wasn't necessarily working with Quinn, as many viewers suspected. Instead, he planned to keep Quinn and the baby hostage, even amassing baby clothes that would basically last for years to come. Really, he's doing it to keep Quinn safe… possibly. Maybe. How will Quinn handle her somewhat willing captivity? EW turned to Lowes to get the scoop.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: I'm happy that Quinn is still alive!

KATIE LOWES: So am I!

I mean, I figured she wasn't dead, but still!

Yeah, you didn't see a body, but I have to say I was so psyched to get last week's episode. It was cool to have that funeral scene, and go through all those flashbacks of Quinn through the years and how much she's grown and changed, and then I got to tweet with all the fans who loved her, and I couldn't say anything. I was trying to be cryptic, and it was horrible. But it was so emotional. I was crying, because we have to say goodbye to these characters very soon. It was really nice to get an episode like that, a tribute to Quinn, this character that I love so much.

What is Rowan's ultimate plan with Quinn?

I don't think he knows. It went so horribly awry. It really didn't go according to his plan. I think Papa Pope was convinced that by kidnapping Quinn he would be free. I really think he's so out of his element now. I also think he's pretty confused because until now, we've only really seen that Papa Pope only has one weakness, and that's Olivia, and now he kind of has two because he didn't kill her. Joe and I tried to find some moments in the episode—there was just a lot of intensity, violence, and physicality, but there was also moments when we worked on how part of Papa Pope loves to be bad, part of him would love to be a grandpa, and Quinn really hasn't had a father figure in her life either, so there's this weird connection between them going on, which I think nicely juxtaposes all the really crazy stuff going on between the two of them. By the end of tonight's episode, they're in this really weird alliance.

Initially Quinn wanted to go free, but by hour's end, she seems to understand that—

That this is the only place she can be. It's crazy to think, but she's safest underneath Papa Pope's protection, and she's safest with him, so it's really weird, and really great for me as an actress, because I get to work with Joe Morton, who I've not had much time with.

How will Quinn handle this captivity moving forward?

You're going to see very quickly how well or not well she handles this life, but I think Quinn is very, very fierce, and she's very loyal, and very tough, as we see in tonight's episode yet again, and now she's a mom so there's a whole other level—and I can speak from now having my own kid—of mama bear that comes out when you have to protect your kid. I really feel you're going to see the strongest, toughest Quinn we've known.

Do both Quinn and Rowan hope to teach Olivia a lesson or bring her back from the dark?

They have such a common enemy now. Honestly, I'm not that far ahead of you, and I don't know what the ending is yet, but I don't know if Quinn and Olivia ever come back from this. Personally, I just don't really think it's possible. Of course, anything is possible in Shondaland, but come on, Olivia Pope was not a very good friend.

Do you think Quinn could ever forgive Olivia for letting her die?

At the moment, no, I don't think so. Again, it's about Quinn, but it's more about her baby, I think. There probably would've been a time where Quinn would've been like, "Sure, if the Republic is more important…" but when you're nine and a half months pregnant, you're like, "Hold up a second, you are really heartless if you're not only going to kill a woman, but kill a woman with child."

We know Charlie finds the baby, so is it only a matter of time before he finds out Quinn is actually alive?

That will all unfold. You will see some variation of that.

Should we be worried that Rowan could still kill her?

Yeah, because the crappy part about Rowan is you really cannot trust him, you cannot—and that's what so great about what Joe Morton, Shonda Rhimes, and the writers have created in these characters. It's similar to Cyrus in a way, and I find myself falling for it all the time in table reads. I'll be like, "Yes, he's good now! He's on their team, he's on her side," or whatever, and then literally the next page, it'll be like, "Oh my God, terrible. No! No!" So I think Quinn does trust him, but I don't know. Personally, I'm like, "Oh, she shouldn't."

Is there anything you hope to see for Quinn before the end of the series?

I'm such an optimist and a glass-half-full-person that of course I just want her gladiating awesome cases in the office with all the people in the office helping her raise her baby with some awesome recurring character who is a nanny who signs crazy NDAs. [Laughs] But I don't know. Shonda is a great protector of story and I don't know if she believes in or wants happy endings for these characters, but I'm so game for whatever she comes up with. I love that I've gotten through this like, "Yes, Quinn is alive right now, but who knows?" I don't know if she's going to be alive at the end of this thing. I have no idea.

Scandal airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.