Well that was a long two weeks! Thankfully the Thanksgiving break gave us time to assess and process everything that went on in the last episode of 'Scandal' - James cheating! Maya escaping! Quinn kidnapped by Huck! So much to handle. Anyway, let's bring you up to speed on the latest episode, the interestingly-monikered 'YOLO' (yes, that YOLO). As the episode opens, Huck is preparing to torture Quinn bringing a terrifying dialogue to a tied-up Quinn and even licks her face (which is disgusting). Despite her protests, he begins to rip her teeth out one by one. He's interrupted, however, when Olivia rings for help - her mother is with her in her apartment. Huck sends Liv to the 'safe house' and Olivia goes with Huck finding time to remove one of Quinn's teeth! Ouch! In flashbacks, a teenage Liv sees her mother out of the door for the last time as Maya races off out the door, with a later flashback revealing she knew about her mother's meeting. In the present day, everyone - sans Quinn - meets at the safe house where Abby questions Maya. Maya tells Abby and the others that she had discovered Eli/Rowan's true nature and was planning to hand stolen files over to a reporter in London; Eli faked her death and kept her secure for twenty years. Huck and Jake discover that Maya has a tracking chip in her back and they extract it, fleeing just in time before Charlie and the B613 squad race in. Exciting! Rowan/Eli orders Charlie to use all resources to try and find her, just as Olivia, Huck and the team do the same to get Maya out of the country. At the offices, Harrison and Abby's offices are raided just as a mysterious woman appears, a connection with Harrison apparent, but she tells him that Salif - his mysterious enemy - says hello. Harrison is worried.
Liv and Maya share breakfast at a backup safe house, Huck waiting outside. The exchange is awkward and enlightening; Liv describes her life to her mother but before too long, her mother is critiquing her life and Maya is regretful that Liv is more like her dad. Outside, Jake and Huck are worried about Liv and about running around with B613 on their heels. Jake goes to Fitz and asks Fitz to help take out Rowan - he's the only thing in the way - and he's soon berating Fitz for being narrow-minded, stubborn and a coward. Quinn awakens in her apartment, her tooth missing, and struggles to escape her bonds but to no avail. Maya and Liv fight over Maya refusing to turn in the British reporter she was going to leak the information to. Meanwhile Jake leads a mercenary team that ries to ambush B613 but it's a trap - just as Rowan and Charlie discuss Quinn who manages to smash a glass to try and slice her way to freedom. Huck finds her and re-ties her up and begins to torture her again. When B613 blocks Maya from leaving the country, Abby tries to get David to remove the block who doesn't manage to help but remains Abby's boyfriend (awww!). Liv gets her thinking hat on again but soon gets a call from Fitz who tells her that Jake told him about it. They share a romantic interlude in which Fitz promises to exercise all the influence he can.
Quinn is rescued by Charlie who comes looking for her, gives her a shower and vodka for her impromptu dental surgery. He gives her a brutal pep talk and they end sharing an emotionally charged kiss that soon becomes sex. Wow, get it Quinn! They end up teaming up, now a dark little power couple. Liv gets Maya on a private charter flight out of the country and under the radar. Abby commands Liv to go and hug her mother in case it's the last time and she does so, mother and daughter sharing an emotional hug. As the plane leaves, Liv remembers her mother being called 'Marie' during a phone call and puts the pieces together - Maya/Marie is the real terrorist and Eli/Rowan is the one who's been trying to protect Liv all this time! A horrified Huck remembers a conversation with a tortured Quinn where she promises to do something to stop the pleas. At the B613 base, Quinn bargains with Rowan for the tape of her killing the security guard, removing a syringe at the same time! Meanwhile, in the White House, VP Sally Langston meets with her strategist, the pair sharing banter as they outline her focus. Sally is angry when her advisor tells her to drop her beliefs and become pro-choice. She reluctantly agrees and practises her spiel, signing away her personal beliefs and is soon telling a disbelieving Daniel the truth and Fitz about her plans to run as an independent. He threatens to destroy her and she doesn't back down on iota.
Meanwhile Cyrus is devastated over the apparent tryst between James and Daniel and has a hard time dealing with it. Cyrus and Mellie argue over the photos, Cyrus wanting to hold on to them for a little longer. James later approaches Cyrus, telling him that he's bringing Daniel to their home while Cyrus is at a dinner. Daniel approaches him in the halls of the White House and threatens James to keep quiet about their 'tryst'. Later Cyrus tries to ambush James but James turns the tables, revealing that he's known all along about Cyrus' plans. A tearful James demands a divorce but Cyrus reveals that he has photographic evidence. He's called away by Fitz - but I guess James and Daniel really did have sex then. Huh. Cyrus is called out by an angry Fitz for not handling the Sally situation. Cyrus bursts into tears when he realises that their marriage is over and Mellie, while not comforting, offers some advice of dealing with the crumbling of their marriage. Cyrus shows Sally the photographs and she's quietly devastated, but turns it around by telling Cyrus he won't release them to try and save his marriage with James. He rings James who is in the middle of packing, and apologises. Sally rings Cyrus in the middle of the night, however, and reveals that she's gone and killed Daniel! A fantastic episode that, while a little heavy on certain parts of flashbacks, was a brilliant showcase for some of the main players - Katie Lowes in particular got to transform from a traitor to a victim to a dark antiheroine to a possibly redemptive figure and her on-screen chemistry with deranged and endearing Huck (Guillermo Diaz) is a real highlight in the episode, beaten only by Jeff Perry and Dan Bucatinsky in the devastating breakdown of Cyrus and James' marriage. The Pope family storyline is obviously the centre stage storyline here and it's plenty strong enough although Eli/Rowan (seriously someone has to decide on ONE name for this guy) is a little quiet this week. Ultimately it's full of twists and turns one good female character bad and another bad girl good, providing some great parallels. Next week is the midseason winter finale, 'A Door Marked Exit' with more cliffhangers and suspense than we've ever seen on 'Scandal', so if you've got any theories or thoughts leave them in the comments below!