Man, Cyrus Beene. There is literally no length to which the man will not go when it comes to getting himself into positions of power and keeping himself there.

In case we needed new evidence to this fact, Scandal Season 5 Episode 12 just provided it.

Cyrus Beene might be as bad as Rowan Pope.

Both men have murdered to stay in power, but at least there's some benefit that in Rowan's psychopathic brain he believes it's for the greater good of the country.

Cyrus? Meh. What's killing a couple of people if it can keep him in the Oval for another 8 years?

Literally. He just did that. Well, he had TOM do that because we all know Cyrus doesn't actually get his own hands dirty. There's always enough distance between him and whatever crime he's committing that he can deny his involvement for just a little bit.

It's always cute to see crazy Charlie act like a semi-normal human being, so seeing him and Quinn with the kid was great. Part of me thought that Wayne was Charlie's associate but I guess he was talking about Tom. The kid called him "Uncle Charlie" like they knew each other and that was weird to me, so I wonder if the dad was a former assassin or if Tom orchestrated the entire thing.

Either way, it was super nice of Charlie to keep the boy from discovering the truth about his father. He didn't have to do that, but deep down underneath the killing and torture, he really does have a heart.

The best part of that entire storyline might be the look Huck gave Quinn when she said Charlie would be an awesome dad some day. Fist bumps to Guillermo Diaz for conveying so much WTF with only his eyes.

Quick question...why was Tom in a towel when he first appeared? He'd presumably just gotten out of the shower, but was that gratuitous manflesh just for our benefit? If so, I counted four shirtless men in this episode, which has to be some kind of record for Scandal. Not that I'm complaining.

President Vargas? NICE ABS.

Of course there's more to know about him than just the fact that he has nice abs, but right now, that's really all there is to know. He's a good guy, people like him, and Cyrus wants him to be the next POTUS.

But he's up against a Mellie-Olivia juggernaut with an autobiography hitting shelves and Mellie has the power of Rowan behind her whether she knows/wants/likes it or not because that man is insane so of course he wants the woman he tricked into murdering 11 jurors in the Oval.

It's speculative to guess that Rowan wants Mellie to win, but that seems like the horse he'd pick. She's the most easily manipulated into doing evil for the "greater good." Plus, right now he thinks he has Olivia on his team and probably believes she's at her most oblivious to any of his behind-the-scenes string pulling.

Newsflash, Papa. She's learning to read you. Too much happiness is a dead giveaway that he's lying through his shiny white teeth. There's no way Rowan Pope is "retired" when he has the head of the NSA living under his roof.

Come on, Olivia! It shouldn't have taken Huck to spell that out, but man, am I glad he did.

Did a part of her seriously believe her father would walk away from his life of being the inside man who does god only knows what for "the Republic" to...knitting? Reading books? Cycling through the park and arranging flowers?

This is not a man who "retires" until he's dead. (Which he should've happened two seasons ago, but hey...we can't always get what we want.)

No, Rowan Pope is still definitely "in power" now that Jake is head of the NSA. This woman Jake's seeing might hold the key to whatever it is Jake and Rowan are cooking up together.

Part of me is still hoping that Jake is roping Rowan in with a long con, pretending to be a loyal "son" and then planning to turn on the man when he's gotten all he can get. Come on, Jake. Be THAT guy.

Finally, I'm not sure at all what to make of the Fitz and Lillian lovefest. (I'm trying to pretend the Susan/David/Liz thing doesn't exist at all except in completely professional capacities. My head is firmly in the sand on that topic.)

Fitz and Lillian can totally get it on, but Fitz, you have to follow the rules. Being President doesn't mean you don't have to follow the rules and that you get to yell at your Press Secretary and threaten to fire her all the time. That's not how this works. That's not how any of this works.

He signed on to do a job, whether or not he knew what he was getting himself into. It was great to see him come around at the end of the episode and agree that he'll make a plan so he can continue to be a single guy on the prowl while also being able to fulfill his obligations as President.

I could go on a huge Fitz-rant here, but I'll make it a little one instead.

Fitz is only capable of thinking with the head between his ears when he's forced to do so by Cyrus, Abby, or Olivia. Occasionally Mellie. He's way too impulsive and self-centered to think about the fact that he doesn't just get to gallivant around and cavort with the lady because he wants to.

It's sad to think about, but he really DOES need to put in a request before getting laid.

I'm not sure why only the Secret Service detail applied to Olivia and none of the questions about whether or not he was wearing a condom and did she have his DNA and such, but hey. Revisionist history is still sort of history, right?

Anyway. When Scandal returns in two weeks, Olivia and Fitz are coming face to face for the first time since their break-up, and she knows about his affair with Lillian. She has no room to say anything since she left him, but she'll have more than a few words to say, I'm sure.

What did you think of "Wild Card"? Does it seem ridiculous that Fitz has to jump through so many hoops to date? What are Jake and Rowan planning? Sound off in the comments below and don't forget to watch Scandal online to catch up on everything you may have missed!