Olivia Pope has some humanity left.

That was the big takeaway from Scandal Season 7 Episode 5, and our panelists have a lot to discuss.

TV Fanatics Christine Orlando, Lizzy Buczak and Paul Dailly discuss the explosion, Fitz turning on Olivia and so much more!

Who is responsible for the plane blowing up?

Christine: I was assuming the coup leaders from Bashran, although Olivia could have some master plan and have had B-613 do it…but I hope it’s my first guess.

Lizzy: I think it would be too obvious to have Rashad's own people behind it, so I'm going with Olivia. Since it wasn't her plan to go to war for him/save him, I think this new version of her would be capable of something so heartless.

Paul: Olivia being behind it would be quite the twist, and I definitely think it’s something she would do to get what she wants.

What are your thoughts on Fitz dishing the dirt to Mellie?

Christine: No one ever plays nice on Scandal, so this didn’t strike me as such a big deal. I wish Fitz had done it because he hated having secrets kept from him and respected Mellie enough to want her to know the truth, but it appeared he only did it to get Olivia’s attention, which is kind of sad.

Lizzy: I was actually quite surprised by this. I never took Fitz for someone who would tattle to his wife just to get Liv's attention. Maybe some part of him actually wanted Mellie to be looped in because he knows what it feels like to be left in the dark as President? Hopefully.

Paul: I loved it, but I was surprised. Fitz has never struck me as this type of character, but he had to find a way to get to Liv, and this was the best way to do it.

Was Jake right to shut Fitz down?

Christine: I love how straight forward Jake can be. He cut right through all the bull and got to the point. Was Olivia destined to be Command? Given how Rowan raised her perhaps it was inevitable, but I’m sure Fitz still feels that he can save her from herself.

Lizzy: What else could he do? He's seen Liv's transformation and knows she's her father's daughter. Jake really believes there's no redeeming her, so he's not going to go against Command.

Paul: Yes. He and Fitz have not exactly been the best of friends recently, so it seemed a bit much for Fitz to think he could strong-arm Jake into getting what he wanted.

Did this episode prove there was some humanity left in Olivia?

Christine: Let’s face it, Olivia Pope can be scary and mean. We’ve seen brief glimpses of humanity in Olivia, but they are few and far between. She really has turned into her father. As a matter of fact, the only time all season I've enjoyed Curtis was when he told Liv, "I’m not scared of you, I just don’t like you."

Lizzy: Everything about Liv seems forced to me this season. But, the fact that she'll go back to Fitz in moments of weakness or offer up her services to QPA means that there's still some old Liv left. I think Curtis's comments will really resonate with her and maybe even force her to rethink who she has become.

Paul: I agree with Lizzy. The writing transition for Liv to the dark side was not really there. Her most recent trip to the dark side seems to have happened over the course of a few scenes, and it’s hard to watch. I also agree about her going back to Fitz.

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What will Mellie do now that Rashad is likely dead?

Christine: I’m not sure there’s a point in going to war if they can’t assure there is a sane leader to take over in Bashran. My guess is that Jake will be tasked with finding out who planted that bomb and that answer will determine what Mellie (or Olivia and B-613) does next.

Lizzy: There's not much for them to do in Bashran without a cooperative leader so she'll probably focus her efforts of finding out who was responsible for the bombing and bringing them to justice. But if it is B-613's doing, she might never find out the truth.

Paul: Yeah, the war will probably be halted before it even begins, but I’m not sure Rashad is really dead. This could all be some elaborate plan from one of the characters to get the upper hand.

Over to you, Scandal Fanatics. What did you think of all the developments? Hit the comments below.

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