6 Awesomely Shocking Moments from the Scandal Season 1 Finale “Grant: For the People” 

Warning: Spoilers for Scandal‘s first season finale so don’t read if you haven’t watched yet.

The Scandal Season 1 finale was intense, engrossing, well acted and simply glorious. It was one of those episodes where I didn’t budge an inch from where I was sitting because I didn’t want to miss a beat. If there were holes in the story or any annoyances, don’t tell me about them. I don’t care. I liked this episode and I like this show that much. I’m not usually into Shonda Rhimes shows but I am completely on board with this one. Let’s break down some of the awesomeness we witnessed from this finale, shall we?

Olivia Pope and associates clean up the murder scene to protect Quinn Perkins

First of all, Gideon the reporter has a pair of scissors sticking out of his jugular. What does Quinn do? She takes it out causing Gideon to bleed out. He may have actually had a chance to live had she called the police. But she couldn’t, could she? She called the only person she could: Olivia Pope. Olivia and the team have to do the very thing they don’t really want to do in order to protect Quinn’s identity. They have to clean up the murder scene and remove all trace of Quinn from ever being there. And in doing so, they inevitably have to remove all trace of Billy Chambers being there. This is all because of Quinn’s mysterious past. Her real name isn’t Quinn Perkins. If she were booked and arrested her true identity would come to light. And for some reason we didn’t end up finding out in this finale, that can’t happen. According to David Rosen, if her identity were made known there would be half a dozen agencies looking for her. Who is she? We’re going to have to contemplate that little ditty for the entire summer. What else was a bit shocking was that Olivia told Rosen about all of it. She came clean. And he seems to be helping them out. After all, he did bring Quinn to Olivia and didn’t turn her into any of those half a dozen agencies. I like that he’s kinda sorta an ally.

Billy Chambers tells the whole world about the President’s affair with Amanda Tanner

Well, after Billy Chambers offed Gideon, I wasn’t sure what he’d do. I sure as hell didn’t think he’d resign and then hold a press conference telling the whole world about him and Amanda Tanner — and more importantly — the POTUS and Amanda Tanner. Chambers unleashed a little bit of hell on the presidency and it was fascinating to see how everyone reacted in the wake of this sudden scandal. True colors were shown.

Olivia and Fitz make out in the Oval Office

They are just standing there in the center of the Oval Office, right on top of that presidential seal. As we know from the sixth episode of Scandal, all Fitz and Olivia have to do is stand near each other and the sparks fly. Fitz is contemplating resigning from office. He’s already thinking about having a future with Olivia — the one that he’s wanted for so long. And even though there are cameras above them, Fitz says he doesn’t care. They start kissing. This was such a hot and sexy moment. These two share this incredibly passionate chemistry that’s undeniable. It’s a shame that they’re not allowed to just be together.

The Olivia Pope/First Lady Smackdown

We knew this particular scene had to happen, right? It’s no surprise that the First Lady was absolutely privy to her husband’s affair with Olivia. In fact, she seemed to sanction it. She seemed to think it was part of Olivia’s job description. Still, it was pretty epic to be witness to the First Lady’s anger over Olivia abandoning her post thereby giving the opportunity for Amanda Tanner to seduce and sleep with the president. Wow, this scene was just crackling with so much goodness. That First Lady is one cold-hearted woman and she’s also a cunning liar. She’s decided to take the reins back from Olivia and clean up her hubby’s mess in quick and dirty fashion. She’d just tell the whole world it was her voice on that sex tape. And not only that she’d tell the media and anyone who would listen that she’s preggers. Even though she’s not. She seems to think she’ll be able to get pregnant quickly, however. That that’s what is needed to stop the focus from being on Amanda Tanner and to stop her husband from resigning his POTUS position. Kudos to Bellamy Young. Her First Lady is an icy, ambitious, bitchy, complicated woman. I was shocked when she lied about having a miscarriage to the media. That was small potatoes. Can’t wait to see what she has up her sleeve next season. She’s taken back her husband from Olivia. We saw Olivia removing her claim on the president and walking away from the White House. The Mellie/Olivia confrontation may have been my favorite moment of the entire episode.

President helps clean up his own mess

While Olivia and the First Lady were cooking up a scheme to get their man out of this mess, they couldn’t do it alone. Olivia got her hands on some top secret information that was Cyrus-approved. And just when you think that the women in his life really rule the world, Fitz steps up and cleans up the rest of his awkward situation. This involves using the vice-president to discredit her Chief of Staff, none other than Billy Chambers. In this scene you see why Fitz is the leader of the free world. He’s commanding and sneaky and smug and all the things you need to be to navigate the jungle that is Washington D.C. He had to help save his own bacon and so that means having to resort to blackmail to get his V.P. to publicly denounce her boy, Chambers. It turns out her daughter had an abortion, which as we all know, goes completely against her super sister Christian beliefs. She can’t have something like that known so next thing we know, she’s on TV calling Billy a nut. Go President. I do feel bad for him, however. It’s clear he’s completely and utterly in love with Olivia Pope. So much so he started thinking resigning might be a good thing. That way he can be normal and live the life he wants with Olivia. But Cyrus said something mighty interesting that I think Olivia has taken to heart: “Some men aren’t meant to be happy. They’re meant to be great.” By the end of this finale, Fitz wasn’t happy. He wasn’t happy at all. He had lost Olivia. For now, anyway.

Cyrus was behind the death of Amanda Tanner

I knew something was up after seeing how Chambers reacted to killing Gideon the reporter. He was shaken. He was stirred. He was scared. I thought it a little odd because he hadn’t behaved in the same manner after Amanda’s death. He couldn’t have been the one to kill the intern. And he wasn’t. Cyrus was the one to order the hit. He’s the president’s closest adviser. And he had someone killed to protect Fitz’s job as well as his job. He truly believes that Fitz is the man to lead the world and it’s obvious he’s going to do anything to keep him in the Oval Office. When the hitman that killed Amanda (the one that Huck tortured), showed up at Cyrus’ house, we found out that the president’s chief of staff is willing to resort to murder. After this whirlwind season and having learned more and more about Cyrus and how he reacts to these pressure-filled situations, finding out he put a hit out on Amanda shouldn’t be shocking. But it was.

Scandal returns to ABC this fall for what’s sure to be a powerhouse second season.