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 four is in full swing, let’s break down the key moments from tonight’s episode.
**Spoilers below. Scroll down at your own risk**

1. Olivia and Jake return from paradise
If you recall, after the absolute chaos that was season three of ‘Scandal,’ Olivia and Jake decided they needed a permanant escape from the world that made their lives a living hell.
But, of course, ‘Scandal’ can’t be set in paradise because what is this show without problems that need fixing? 
While relaxing on a beautiful island, Olivia receives a letter saying that Harrison is dead, so she immediately heads back to Washington D.C.
Upon returning, Olivia finds that with Harrison dead, and Abby and Huck moving on to other jobs, Quinn is the only one left at Pope and Associates. While Huck downgraded to working in customer service, Abby moved way up to the position of White House Press Secretary. 
2. Harrison is dead
A gladiator has fallen. In case you were out of the loop all summer, actor Columbus Short got into some trouble with the law which ended in him getting fired from ‘Scandal.’ The show decided to deal with it in the cleanest way possible by simply killing his character off.
If you recall, one of the cliff hangers last season was when Rowan Pope had a gun pointed at Harrison. Despite his direct involvement in Harrison’s death, however, Rowan looked Olivia in the eyes multiple times in tonight’s episode telling her that he had nothing to do with it. Papa Pope is indeed the hell and the high water. 
The funeral scene was as sad as you would imagine it to be. Only the remaining gladiators were in attendance as Harrison’s casket was lowered into the ground.
“He didn’t have people, just us,” Olivia said as Aretha Franklin’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” played over the scene.   
3. Huck working for Geek Squad
Trying to live a normal life knowing that normal doesn’t exist when you’re associated with Olivia Pope, we find Huck working at a tech repair shop with a new moniker: “Randy The Smart Guy.” 
Olivia reaches out to Huck to have him return to Pope & Associates, but he refuses unless she is back for good.
One thing about Huck is, as scary and tortured as he can be, he loves hard. As hurt as he was by Olivia leaving, he will always be loyal to her and decides to return. 
4. Back to the case per episode format?
The first season of ‘Scandal’ featured a new case almost every episode where we would see the gladiators fearlessly fixing the lives of Washington D.C’s elite. As the series went into seasons two and three, however, the show began to focus on the gladiators trying to fix their own lives, and failing.  
In tonight’s premiere, Olivia gets a call from Senator Vaughn saying she accidentally pushed Senator Benjamin Sterling off of a balcony in his home, almost killing him. The senator claimed she pushed him after he attempted to sexually assault her.
In true ‘Scandal’ fashion, however, there’s always a twist. It turns out the senator was covering for her assistant, Kate, who was actually the person that pushed Senator Sterling off of the balcony.
Senator Vaughn sent Kate to Senator Sterling’s house as a sort of sexual pawn to get on his good side (and his vote) knowing that Kate was his type. Since Vaughn was technically the one at fault for sending her oblivious assistant to his house, she decides to take the blame. 
Olivia’s discussions in regards to this case included multiple monologues involving her mentioning random sexual assault stats from the top of her head, but it wasn’t as random as it may have seemed. Last season, the show received backlash after Mellie’s rape in the episode “Everything’s Coming Up Mellie,” aired without a trigger warning. Tonight’s episode proved that the ‘Scandal’ writers do have their viewers in mind when it comes to this sensitive issue. 
5. David Rosen is a double agent
David has been working with Jake trying to uncover the inner workings of B6-13’s relationship with the White House. To make things even more tense for David, Cyrus tells him that he is to be appointed Attorney General of the United States
Rosen has always claimed that he aims to wear the white hat when it comes to his job, but we have to wonder where his loyalties will lie this season.
6. Mellie and Fitz are still grieving the death of their son
In last season’s finale, Jerry Grant, Fitz and Mellie’s first born son was murdered in a plot orchestrated by Rowan Pope.
This season, we find that the usually polished First Lady is still grieving her son. While she has probably never been this vulnerable and hurt, Mellie’s tough spirit is still evident in scenes where she doesn’t hesitate to put Fitz in his place.
When Fitz tells Mellie that Olivia is back, she is less than enthused.
“When you see her, you will tell me. I’m going to need some warning,” Mellie says to Fitz. Yet Fitz counters with a less than believable “I won’t see her.”
Fitz and Olivia have gone up and down in the last three seasons and while they started out as one of the hottest couples on television, their yo-yo relationship became tiring really quickly.
I’m not a huge fan of Olivia’s relationship with Jake, but I definitely prefer that to her toxic relationship with the President. 
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Overall, tonight’s premiere was enjoyable. It will be interesting to see if the show continues with the case du jour format moving forward. 
What did you think of the season four premiere of ‘Scandal’?
Live-tweet next week’s episode with me at @AggiAshagre on Twitter.