OMG! Most shocking moments from 'Scandal' season 5
Gladiators, if you're not caught up on Scandal, be warned. "Major spoilers ahead" is an understatement here.
As Olivia and the gang prepare for yet another emotional rollercoaster of a season to come to an end, let's take a look back at five moments over the past year that made it pretty hard to pick our jaws up off the floor.
5. Fitz and Mellie finally get divorced (and it's not pretty)
Episode 6, "Get Out of Jail, Free"
After years of a tumultuous marriage, the president and first lady finally split this season. Trust Fitz and Mellie, though, to leave no hurtful words unsaid. Fitz tells Mellie there is nothing left for her to take away from him, and Mellie details all the ways her life would have been better if they had never gotten married.
"My life would have meant something," she says, "if it wasn't for you."
Episode 17, "Thwack!"
Through all of their respective romantic ups and downs, Abby and Olivia have always been there for each other. Imagine Olivia's surprise, then, when she discovers Abby has thrown Mellie -- Olivia's candidate -- under the bus to salvage Fitz's reputation and Abby's own.
Olivia repeats Abby's name, clearly hurt, but Abby is playing hardball and has no sympathy.
"I run the Oval now," she tells her best friend. "I don't work for you. You work for me."
3. Olivia breaks Jake's heart -- to save his life
Episode 18, "Till Death Do Us Part"
Shonda Rhimes and company did a pretty convincing job making it seem like Olivia had finally chosen Jake over Fitz. But count on Papa Pope to complicate things with his threats. If Olivia and Jake run away together and ruin Jake's marriage, Liv's dad warns her during Jake's wedding, Eli will slit Jake's throat.
So Liv does what she thinks she has to. She rips Jake to shreds.
"I'm in love with Fitz," she tells him. "You are just a lesser version of him, a sad reminder of the man I truly deserve."
Then, instead of Jake leaving his bride at the altar, it's Olivia who walks out on Jake.
2. Olivia leaves the White House after a massive fight
Episode 9, "Baby, It's Cold Outside"
In the dramatic mid-season finale, Olivia and Fitz's brief time living together in the White House comes to a breaking point. Olivia misses an important dinner and goes to get an abortion. Fitz, not knowing where she was, is upset that she missed the dinner, but Olivia feels suffocated by life at the White House. Soon they are in the middle of one of the biggest shouting matches in the history of Scandal.
"There is no us!" Olivia tells Fitz as she leaves the room. "There is no future. Not anymore."
Goodbye, Olitz. Hello, new Olivia.
1. Olivia gets her revenge and kills Andrew Nichols
Episode 17, "Thwack!"
The effects of the former vice president's kidnapping plot run deep with Olivia, and she has been experiencing horrific flashbacks left and right. Even so, Liv faces her fears and goes to negotiate with Andrew. Instead of considering Olivia's deal, Andrew spits disgusting insults at her, threatening to have her kidnapped again.
"I've already got everything I wanted," he says. "Everything I needed and deserve. Revenge. I got revenge."
In a rage, Olivia grabs a chair and strikes Andrew, screaming, "You think you get revenge? You don't get revenge. That's mine!"
Andrew's body is now a bloody mess on the floor. Olivia strikes it one more time.
Watch the season finale of Scandal May 12 at 9 p.m. ET | 8 p.m. CT on ABC.
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