As any O.G (Original Gladiator) knows, it can be difficult to keep up with the fast-paced world of Pope & Associates. So, now that season three is in full swing, let’s break down the top 5 key moments from tonight’s episode to help us prepare for next week.
**Spoilers below. Scroll down at your own risk**

1. Mama Pope + Rowan = ? 
The episode starts with Rowan telling Mama Pope that he plans on shipping her off to a different country because Olivia is digging too deep into his lie. Mama Pope then begs Rowan to let her see Olivia, but he refuses. From this scene, we pretty much gather that Rowan has kept Mama Pope hidden in some prison cell for 20 years. However, it’s not clear why yet.
Apparently upset that Rowan refuses to let her see her daughter, we cut to a scene where Mama Pope is sitting on the floor of her cell in a pool of blood, literally chewing her wrists until she reached an artery. Yes, it was just as disturbing as it sounds.
Luckily, the prison has a doctor and a make-shift hospital, so Mama Pope is able to get the medical care she needs to recover. While she’s in the “hospital,” Rowan brings her pictures of Olivia, who she hasn’t seen in 20 years. It’s so bizarre because as they’re looking at the photos of Olivia, they look like a completely normal, loving couple.
But Rowan immediately turns on her and says something along the lines of “you know who’s fault that is,” in regards to the reason why she’s locked up and didn’t have a hand in raising Olivia. Is Rowan holding her to torture her or is he holding her because she’s actually crazy? I mean, she did almost bleed to death after chewing into her own wrists, so… 
In a ridiculous twist at the end of the episode, when Mama Pope’s doctor comes in to give her a sedative, she somehow sticks him with it and manages to escape the prison. She then goes and finds Olivia, who is obviously shocked to see her mom alive.
In the preview, it looks like Liv takes her mom in and tries to figure out what she should do with her. We also hear Huck saying that Command is coming to hunt down her mom. Family reunion!? 
Mama Pope’s rogue actions lead me to thinking that she’s definitely not the only spy/secret agent in the Pope family. Her actions scarily remind me of things Huck would do. My new theory is that Mama Pope is actually a bigger bad guy than Rowan and that he held her against her in prison to protect Olivia. 

2. Quinn is a double agent
As expected, Charlie is blackmailing Quinn. Now that he has complete control over her, he sends her to Pope & Associates as if everything is normal, but she has to report all of their internal info back to him. And, of course, Charlie will then relay the information to Rowan. Essentially, Quinn is now a bonafide spy for B6-13.
When Quinn walks into Pope & Associates for the day, the crew is digging deep into who killed the security guard, their last hope in finding out what happened to “Omar Dresden” on the day of the plane crash. Quinn even has to join in and pretend that she’s looking for the killer aka herself.
You can’t get ANYTHING past Huck, though. After reviewing the security footage, he’s finally able to zoom into the face of the killer, and finds out it’s Quinn. So, when Quinn returns home after work, she finds Huck sitting in her apartment with all of his torture tools laid out on her floor.
Obviously next week Big Huck is going to torture Baby Huck to find out who else she’s working for. However, Rowan has given Charlie direct orders to kill Quinn if any of the Associates find out she’s their spy. This is going to be an all-out war between Huck and Charlie and I’m so here for it!

3. Cyrus whores out James to Sally Langston’s Husband
James is down and out after being fired as White House Coorespondant, so Cyrus decided to swoop in and take advantage. He manages to get James an interview with Daniel Douglas, Sally Langston’s maybe-closeted-gay husband. Cyrus hopes that by getting the two together, Daniel will make a move, and James will then have enough proof to “out” Daniel. All of this is part of Cyrus’ agenda to sabotage Sally’s presidential campaign.
Mellie is even in on the plan and drops a hint to Daniel by lying to him and saying that Cyrus and James have and open marriage. So, when James goes to Daniel’s house for the interview (Sally is away), Daniel kisses James. James is shocked by this because he obviously didn’t know that Daniel was gay.
James is completely disgusted, but when Daniel tells him what Mellie said, he realizes that this was a dirty plot orchestrated by Cyrus. He then returns home and doesn’t mention anything about what happened to Cyrus, but it’s obviously tense between the two.
In the end, Cyrus receives a text message filled with photos of James and Daniel sleeping together. Cyrus then has the nerve to CRY while looking at the pictures. I’m glad he realizes how dirty he is.
Is there anything these characters won’t do to get their way? 

4. Reston-gate
For some reason, we’re still following Josie Marcus’ campaign. I get Olivia is representing her and all, but her storylines are so hard to sit through when there’s about 10 other stories that I’m far more interested in.
Anyways, someone supposedly breaks into Josie’s house and steals documents and a laptop full of her political strategies, so of course she freaks out and calls Olivia. Candy (Josie’s sister/daughter) believes that someone from Governor Reston’s campaign broke in, but they have no proof.  However, Quinn is able to locate the laptop with the Associates’ fancy geo-locating software, and it shows up at the address of Governor Reston’s campaign headquarters.
But, the story doesn’t end there. We end up finding out that Candy actually planted the laptop at Reston’s headquarters to frame his campaign. In a press conference, however, Josie takes the hit and tells the world that she was the one that staged the fraud.
I’m assuming this is the end of the Josie Marcus storyline and I’m elated because I’ve been bored with it since it began.
To add fuel to the fire, Candy and Harrison started sleeping together (before her plan was foiled)! Brolivia seriously needs to raise his standards.

5. Fitz summons Olivia…again
Fitz spends the whole first half of the episode calling Liv, but she’s done with him, and doesn’t answer. She even resorts to smashing her Fitz phone (hallelujah!). But, that doesn’t stop the leader of the free world. Fitz just sends one of his secret service agents to Liv’s house, and lures her to meeting him by sending the agent with a picture of Liv and her father. Basically, he was sending her the message that he knows her father is Command.
She then goes with the secret agent on a helicopter to a beautiful house in Vermont, and Fitz is standing on the porch to welcome her. After Liv goes off on a tangent on how she ruined him and they can’t be together, he interrupts her and tells her that he had the house built for her. He mentions that this is the house he wanted them to live in, fill with kids, blah blah blah…And he called her so she could see it before he sells it.
Being the Fitz-magnet that she is, Liv swoons, forgets everything that she said earlier, and they make love all night. In the morning, Fitz tells Liv that he wants to go after her father and take him down, and she tells him to do what he has to do. She also tells him not to sell the house which means she’s officially back IN with this relationship. UGH! WHY LIV WHY?!
What made this rendezvous even more sad/infuriating is when we cut to the White House where Mellie asks Fitz’s secretary to call her husband. When he doesn’t answer, Mellie then asks her to call Olivia Pope, and she doesn’t answer either. Mellie is absolutely heartbroken to find out that Olitz are together again, but at the end of the episode, she still approaches Fitz about rehiring Olivia to run their campaign now that Josie Marcus is out of the race.
I really can’t stand the yo-yo-ing that this couple does! Olivia and Fitz are absolutely toxic to each other. Mark my words: their relationship will only lead to a tragic end.

Main points to remember: 

• Olivia now knows her mom is alive
• Olivia and Fitz are back together and are planning to take down Rowan
• Huck is going to torture the Huck out of  Quinn in the next episode
• Josie Marcus dropped out of the campaign
• There are photos of James sleeping with Sally Langston’s husband, which will most likely get into the wrong hands

Sadly, the next episode, also the winter finale, won’t be airing until two weeks from now:

How intense is the trailer! The episode title is “YOLO,” which is very telling, right? Someone we’re not expecting is definitely going to pull yet another game-changer, I’m sure. I’m also positive that the episode will end with a terrible cliff-hanger that won’t be resolved until the show returns in LATE JANUARY. This is terrible for my health, I’m telling you.
Anyways, I hope you have a happy Thanksgiving, gladiators! At least you’ll be able to stuff your face with Turkey and pies to drown your sorrows about Scandal being on hiatus.