It seems that Shonda Rhimes has heard her audience's pleas and taken note. After complaints that the first half of Scandal season 4 wasn't quite up to par, she came back in 2015 and killed it.

Scandal Season 4 Episode 10 my friends, is how it is DONE. Wow. I am still processing.

Where do I even start?

Watch Scandal Season 4 Episode 10 Online

This was no amateur kidnapping, that's for damn sure. What's scary is that I saw both Rowan and Maya Pope come out of Olivia while she was captured.

So what do we know from the get-go? Olivia is smart as hell. They took her across the hall and when it was evident she did not have the strength to fight anyone off, she observed. She figured out who was in charge. She left her ring wedged under the rug as evidence that she was there. That's what makes her an awesome fixer.

I only negotiate with people who have the power to say yes or no. You don’t have that. You're not in charge. No one in this ambulance is in charge. The guy back at the apartment who had his hand on my mouth, he is in charge. He never said a word, but you all looked at him every time you spoke. You were checking for approval. He was in charge. He says yes or no. So me begging and bargaining here with you is a waste of my breath and you can't kill me unless he says you can. So no I don't have a death wish because he’s not here to be afraid of.
Olivia

Permalink: I only negotiate with people who have the power to say yes or no. You don’t have that. You're...

Talking back to your kidnappers is probably never the best idea, but you do what you gotta do. She took that observation to the next level when she woke up in a foreign place. Olivia listened to the sounds, she tried to get a peek outside, she spoke to Ian (which we later found out was a moot point).

Olivia is strong, despite the people who think she always relies on a man. That fact may be true but, more importantly, she does has it in her to rely on herself. I think the moment where she chose herself in Scandal Season 4 Episode 9 was far more meaningful than fans realized.

To fans, it was a temporary stalemate to the raging shipper war between Olitz and Olake fans. It was a moment of everyone pausing and saying "Is she really gonna choose herself? Or is this just another way she can keep being with both of them?"

Essentially, what does Olivia choosing herself "mean"?

Honestly, I don't know what it meant before the kidnapping. But now, especially after the subtext of her dream with Abby, it means that Olivia is going to need to redefine what it means to be a gladiator. She is a hostage. She is in a B613, Huck-style situation.

How is she going to survive? Well, like I said above, and like Miranda stated in her last review, Olivia has Rowan Pope in her blood for better or worse. She's also got a little crazy Maya in her, too. This journey is going to change her and the only person she can truly rely on to get out of it is herself.

Jake and Fitz can't help you. There is no man to rescue you. Do you hear me? No one. No one is going to help you. You are the only gladiator in the place. You are all you've got. You have to rescue yourself.
Abby

Permalink: Jake and Fitz can't help you. There is no man to rescue you. Do you hear me? No one. No one...

I knew she would pull the trigger. After she pulled it on her dad, I knew she could pull it on one of the guys keeping her hostage. And, damn girl, for not much practice with a gun that was an on-the-money kill shot.

While I knew Olivia would be capable of puling the trigger, pretty much every other part of this episode had me gasping and yelling at the TV. I had zero idea that she would be in a warehouse, less than a clue about Ian, and don't get me started on the apartment across the hall!

I took it at face value. And one thing all fans of Shonda shows should probably have learned over the years is that that woman will mess with you in a twisty way. Expect the unexpected.

For now, I leave you with a few other random thoughts:

Where can I buy White Hat Jams?
Why was Tom in the dream?
Seriously, can someone build me that Vermont house?
Olivia never said Fitz loved her, just that he would look for her.
The entire way this episode was filmed between the flashbacks, slow motion scenes, voice-overs with quotes, and the dream sequence was just PERFECT.

Until next week, watch Scandal online to relive probably the best episode I've seen in a long time!