Tonight is the season 5 premiere episode of Scandal and we will be delivering a live recap as the show airs at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. When we left off at the end of last season, Olivia and Fitz were picking up their romance again. Now, they are still together as season 5 begins. The official synopsis of tonight’s episode, titled “Heavy Is the Head”, reads: Olivia and Fitz enjoy their time together, while Cyrus, Mellie and Huck live with the aftermath of aiding Command; Olivia helps the visiting Queen of Caldonia and her family when they experience a tragedy.
For all the best info on tonight’s premiere, cast details and spoilers from the upcoming season, read on below.
Rumors of Olivia and Fitz’s affair are swirling as the state dinner goes down. Mellie can’t attend the dinner because the press has been told she has the flu, which makes her very upset. The princess who was in attendance of the state dinner winds up in a car accident and dies, prompting Olivia to swoop in to the rescue. The now widowed prince tasks Olivia with getting the photos of his wife’s dead body back from the media.
In the meantime, Huck is MIA and Quinn refuses to tell Olivia what happened between her and Huck.
When trying to get back photos, Quinn and Olivia realize that someone had caused the fatal car crash, wanting Princess Emily dead.
While Mellie wants Fitz to attend her swearing in ceremony for senator, the President refuses to go to it … until Olivia convinces him how important going to such a public event is … Abby tells the press that Fitz isn’t attending and they end up correcting her as he does go. After the ceremony, Mellie pleads with Fitz and tells him how much she believes they are a good team. In return, Fitz serves her with divorce papers. When Olivia hears the news, she’s a bit concerned for Fitz’s career.
Olivia believes that the princess was having an affair with her bodyguard, which may have been motivation for their assassination. Fitz tells Olivia that if she goes to the Queen with that information, she will be endangering the security of the country and will be prosecuted. In the meantime, Huck has camped out at Olivia’s apartment. Huck cries and pleads with Olivia to “fix” him. Olivia tells him that she doesn’t know how to fix him and that he needs a better plan.
Mellie visits Cyrus and pleads with him to go back to the White House and beg for his job back. He initially says “no” to her.
In the autopsy report, it is revealed that the princess was pregnant. Olivia goes to the queen and tells her that she believes the prince had Princess Emily killed. The queen then reveals that her son was innocent and that she had her killed. The queen says Olivia is under contract with her and cannot disclose the truth, leaving it as a private matter. Olivia’s contract does not apply to the prince. At the princess’s funeral, the prince reveals to his mother that he knows what she did and he orders her to abdicate her thrown and leave.
Huck leaves Olivia’s apartment and goes to Jake for help.
Olivia tells Fitz that she doesn’t want to go public with their relationship just yet. The two agree and share a kiss, which is interrupted by Abby to watch the news. On the news, surveillance photos of Olivia and Fitz together are released to the public. Their secret is out and “all hell breaks loose.”