‘Scandal’ Season Finale Recap: Fitz’s Reelection Ends In Heartbreak – Hollywood Life

‘Scandal’ Finale Recap: Fitz’s Re-Election Ends In Heartbreak

Whoa, Gladiators. Have you caught your breath after that crazy 'Scandal' finale? The April 17 Season 3 ender dropped twist after twist, leading up to far too many cliffhangers. Now that's how you end a season. The April 17 finale of Scandal was pure craziness. In the midst of Fitz's (Tony Goldwyn) re-election, there was a devastating death, major revelations and one character of OPA left Washington for good!

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Scandal Season 3 Finale
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC

‘Scandal’ Recap: Boom Goes The Dynamite

The bomb had been planted and Sally (Kate Burton), Leo (Paul Adelstein) and Andrew (Jon Tenney) were all inside the church. Everyone was waiting on Fitz to give his big eulogy. However, Cyrus (Jeff Perry) had stalled Fitz in the Oval Office because he knew about the bomb.

Simultaneously, Rowan (Joe Morton) was being rushed to the hospital after being stabbed by Maya (Khandi Alexander). Adnan (Nazanin Boniadi) was freaking out because Fitz hadn’t shown up to the funeral and she had Harrison at gunpoint. Cyrus started to crack and tell Fitz about the bomb, but Jake burst into the Oval and told him first. Olivia (Kerry Washington) watched from the waiting room as everyone evacuated because of the bomb threat.

When the bomb didn’t immediately go off, Fitz began to question Jake (Scott Foley) and Cyrus. And then, boom. Fitz got presidential and wanted a sweep of the major tourist sites. Andrew, Leo and Sally all got out safely. However, Leo knew this was the perfect opportunity for Sally to win votes. He brushed her off, ripped her sleeve to make her look hurt and put her to work. “You go in there and be Jesus,” Leo told Sally.

‘Scandal’ Finale: Celebs & Fans Shocked By [Spoiler] Quitting

Sally went to work helping the injured and the press was eating it up. Fitz addressed the nation at the White House, but all eyes were on Sally. Olivia and Abby (Darby Stanchfield) were busy trying to get the news channels to keep Fitz on the air, but they all dropped Fitz — the President of the United States — for Mother Teresa aka Sally!

The nation rallied around Sally for being in the right place at the right time. Olivia told Fitz that he was going to lose the election and the rest of the crew was trying to figure out how to fix it. Mellie (Bellamy Young) was drowning her sorrows in a glass of hooch and wanted her money back from Olivia. “I thought we hired her to win,” Mellie spat.

Rowan made it out of the explosion okay. Olivia was grateful her father wasn’t dead, but she also wanted to talk about Fitz. She told Rowan about how Fitz was going to lose the election. Rowan said he wished he could help. Olivia thought that was funny because Rowan hated Fitz. Rowan assured her he was being honest and just wanted Olivia to get what she wanted.

‘Scandal’ Recap: Pure Shock & Awe

Harrison (Columbus Short) persuaded Adnan to let him go. He headed back to OPA and caught Abby walking through the doors only to discover Huck (Guillermo Díaz) and Quinn (Katie Lowes) getting it on! Charlie (George Newbern) found out about Huckleberry Quinn’s tryst and fled. He also handed her a file that contained information that would destroy any chance of happiness she could have with Huck.

‘Scandal’: Will Harrison Be Killed Off After Real-Life Trouble?

The information was about Huck’s family who we learned about in seasons prior. Quinn took Huck to see his long lost wife and son, and he flipped out. He didn’t want to see his family. Quinn said she loved Huck and only wanted to see him happy. Huck stormed off.

Fitz faced the fact that he was going to lose and prepared a speech to support Sally. However, there was a bright side. Fitz and Olivia could move to Vermont, have babies and actually be together. He was adamant about marrying Liv, after it was all over. Olivia knew this couldn’t happen without a clean slate so she revealed Mellie’s rape to Fitz. Fitz thought it was a lie, but as he slowly realized the truth, the look on his face was pure shock. He went to see Mellie and she was drinking. She realized he knew and told him about the paternity test. She told him that Jerry was his son and they sat there holding each other.

Fitz called Olivia before his speech and she said she wasn’t coming. They had one of their epic “one minutes” just waiting on the phone, and Olivia finally reciprocated an “I love you” to Fitz, after what seemed like ages. When Olivia walked back into Rowan’s room, Maya was waiting. And it was terrifying. Maya tried to explain that what she had done was only for Olivia and she wouldn’t understand until Olivia had kids of her own.

Fitz, Mellie, Karen (Madeline Carroll) and Jerry (Dylan Minnette) all walked out as a happy, perfect family for the big speech. However, while Fitz was speaking, Jerry suddenly sneezed blood and collapsed on stage. Jerry ended up dying at the hospital from a very rare strain of bacterial meningitis. Watching Fitz carry Jerry was absolutely heartbreaking. Cyrus and Olivia waited outside for Fitz and discussed the devastating turn of events. Olivia knew that now Fitz would win the election since he and Mellie lost their child.

Tom (Brian Letscher) brought more information about Jerry’s death to Fitz. The particular strain of meningitis Jerry died from was kept under lock and key and a vial had gone missing. Fitz realized his son was murdered and he knew it was Maya. “She killed my son and now I am going to kill her,” Fitz said. Rowan stopped by to offer help in taking down Maya. Olivia intervened and Fitz told her of Maya’s involvement. He said he wouldn’t hold it against her, but her mother did kill his son. Olivia was understandably distraught.

As Olivia predicted, the country rallied around Fitz. While Cyrus was discussing the inevitable reelection, Fitz was searching for Mellie. He found her in Jerry’s room holding one of Jerry’s shirts. She started blaming herself for keeping her distance from Jerry because of what Big Jerry had done to her. As much as they say they hate each other, Mellie and Fitz needed each other in this heartbreaking moment, and they were there for each other.

‘Scandal’ Recap: Over A Cliff

Huck was frantic over Quinn finding his family and went to Olivia. Olivia believed it would be best if he talked to his family. Huck thought that it was better if his family thought he was dead. They were safe and that’s all that mattered to him. But he couldn’t stay away. After pondering, he knocked on his former wife’s door who was shocked to see him.

Olivia wanted leads on Maya from Rowan. She also wondered if the plane and new life Rowan had offered her in the season premiere was still valid. Olivia told her Gladiators that she was leaving. Abby freaked over the news and said she couldn’t give up. Abby also told Olivia not to trust Rowan because he was a monster. However, nothing was going to change Olivia’s mind.

Jake made one attempt to stop Olivia from leaving. Olivia said that this was the only way to fix things. From her father to her mother to Fitz, she was the common denominator. Then, Jake asked Olivia to take him with her. Olivia admitted she was in love with Fitz, but Jake didn’t care. They agreed to stand in the sun together.

Rowan found Harrison and wanted to know everything about Maya. Adnan was dead and Rowan said Maya did it. Upon that revelation, Harrison told Rowan where Maya’s next stop was. Maya was arrested and Rowan told Fitz that the deed was done: she was dead.

Harrison was happy about Maya’s death, but Huck and Abby were there to kill his buzz with news about Olivia. Harrison went straight to Rowan and asked to get Olivia back. Rowan refused and was as happy as ever since Fitz had reinstated him as Command. Then, it all came together for Harrison.

Harrison realized that Rowan was behind everything.

Rowan had promised Olivia he wouldn’t hurt Fitz, but that didn’t mean his family wasn’t fair game. Olivia wanted Fitz to be President so Rowan made that happen. Rowan was the one who had Jerry killed, and by Tom’s hand. “He took my child, so I took his,” he said. He also killed Adnan. Harrison wanted to kill him, but Rowan said there was no killing Command. He called in Tom to take care of Harrison, and a gun was pointed right at him.

Everyone was happy about the reelection except Fitz. Fitz went into the Oval and began thinking about all the destruction and tragedy in his life. He started drinking and fell to his knees in the Oval. Before Jake left, he gave David (Joshua Malina) all the information to really take down B613. Rowan was back in his groove as head of Command and his first matter of business? Putting Maya in the hole! Yep, she’s still alive.

Mellie found Fitz in the Oval Office and ran to his side. He called out for Olivia and Mellie immediately tried to reach Olivia. Olivia was on the plane and saw the call, but she ignored it! Jake asked if she was okay with leaving and Olivia said yes. Olivia took off with Jake, leaving Fitz in the wind.

What did you think of the Scandal season finale, HollywoodLifers? What was the biggest OMG moment? Can you believe Rowan had Jerry killed? What will bring Olivia and Jack back to Washington. Sound off below!

— Avery Thompson

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  3. ‘Scandal’ Recap: Fitz & Mellie’s Kids Stir Up The Drama