How much is Olivia Pope worth? Preview Scandal season 4, episode 12 “Gladiators Don’t Run” with video sneak peeks. The new show airs tonight at 9:00pm ET|PT on ABC.
I’m going to be completely honest—after watching Scandal‘s mid-season finale and seeing how Olivia (Kerry Washington) was manipulated by this Ian (Jason Butler Harner) guy, I was so sure she was out of options. How was she supposed to escape, especially since we didn’t know who was holding her, for what purpose, and for how long? Well, I should have known better. Olivia Pope is Olivia Pope and if anyone can #SaveOlivia, it’ll be herself. And this is exactly what she demonstrated at the end of “Where is the Black Lady?”
It was so incredible how the Secret Service and various White House staff members had totally bought into VP Nichols’ (Jon Tenney) plan. Fitz (Tony Goldwyn) was definitely backed into a corner. I mean, he was so isolated and so desperate for help that he even reached out to former Secret Service Agent/B613 operative Tom (Brian Letscher)! Fortunately Tom (still the creepiest ever) was able to provide some insight into how Fitz could communicate with Jake (Scott Foley). Similarly, Fitz turned to Mellie (Bellamy Young) for advice about what he should do…could he declare war to save the woman he loves?
Once the OPA got ahold of the video, they saw that Liv gave them a clue. When she asked for a drink of water, I was so distraught. But Liv (always thinking on her feet) used that opportunity to capture a reflection of Ian. Unfortunately, Huck’s (Guillermo Diaz) database search wasn’t successful. The real break came when Rose (Marla Gibbs), a friend of Liv’s neighbor, came to OPA demanding to know “where’s the black lady?” Quinn (Katie Lowes) was eventually able to determine that Liv was held in her neighbor’s apartment and that Ian was involved. I have to say that I was a little annoyed with Miss Rose! If she would have been just a little bit more explicit, wasn’t it possible that Huck, Quinn, and Jake could have connected the dots a day sooner???
And speaking of Huck, I’m not a big fan of Lizzie (Portia de Rossi), especially since it seems she’s the one that gave VP Nichols this big idea. But the way Huck terrorized her, threatened her daughter, and beat her…that was a bit too much, no? As usual, Mellie took one for the team, sleeping with Andrew in order to access his cell phones. And the OPA found out that Liv was in Pennsylvania!
However, Liv wasn’t waiting around to be saved…at the end of the episode, she made an incredible deal with Ian. “Do you want to be a babysitter or do you want to be a boss?” Ian clearly wanted to be a boss because he agreed to auction Liv (the woman the U.S. President loves) to the highest bidder. HAVE MERCY.
In tonight’s episode “Gladiators Don’t Run,” written by Paul William Davies, directed by Randy Zisk, and quest starring Portia De Rossi, Jon Tenney, and Khandi Alexander:
As the gladiators watch from a far, countries around the world begin to bid on Olivia Pope. Meanwhile, Andrew and Fitz go toe to toe. (via ABC)
Take a look at these two clips from the upcoming show. In the first video, Andrew Nichols calls Ian for an update. Apparently, Nichols really does intend to return Liv unharmed. But he doesn’t know that plans have changed. And in the second clip, Ian and his people are launching the auction and speculating how much Liv will go for:
ONE BILLION DOLLARS?! That’s insane…but probably true. What do you think?
Remember to tune into ABC at 9:00pm ET|PT for “Gladiators Don’t Run,” and join me over on twitter to live tweet as we watch!
