Scandal: Sex, Lies and Duct Tape (and a Moment With Olivia Pope)

This season it’s been really hard to pull out an Olivia Pope Moment of the Week. And this week it’s even harder to justify an Olivia Pope Moment of the Week because Sally Langston and James Novak stole the show.

The speech campaign consultant Leo Bergen delivered to VP Sally Langston — who wants to run against Fitz and be the first female president — was so incredibly on-point. “You will become pro-choice or you won’t win,” he explained. “You cannot win women, and so you will lose, lose lose. Unless you drop your allegiance to Jesus and pledge it to politics.” Hey, it’s just like real life! GOP, are you listening? Of course, Sally wants to be in charge so badly it only takes her a few seconds to come up with a pro-choice soundbite. The woman is a pro.

Unfortunately, Sally got… emotional when she saw the pictures of her husband in a lively homosexual sex romp. Will voters accept a woman who literally stabs a man in the back? Probably not. Will Sally become Olivia Pope’s next client?

Even better: The epic showcase showdown between Cyrus and James. This scene was some truly delectable next-level Telenovela shit. Have you ever seen a scripted televised gay marriage implode so spectacularly? Is there an Emmy Award category for this kind of monumentally entertaining teardown in which someone gets READ TO FILTH? Get ready, the library is open.

Important moments:

• “You had sex with him you had sex with him”
• “Rentboy”
• “I can’t figure out why you just wouldn’t hire a hooker” (He did! She was the wrong kind.)
• “You used me like a cheap whore!”
• “You’re the devil. The devil is in front of me right now!”
• “You are a gay man going out of his way to shame another gay man for being in the closet!”
• “I WANT A DIVORCE I WANT A DIVORCE I WANT A DIVORCE”

Is it wrong that I never wanted it to end?

Oh yeah: Huck duct-taped Quinn and tortured her, but she quickly recovered and got laid. We’re supposed to believe Mama Pope is actually a baddie, making Papa Pope look like the hero. And some other stuff happened with Jake, I couldn’t concentrate on the words coming out of his mouth because he looks so good in uniform.

Finally, here is your Olivia Pope moment of the week. I know this season is all about her Buffy the Vampire Slayer-style exhaustion; who do the strong turn to when they need to be weak, etc, BUT. Questions for Olivia: WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

(By the by, Deadline is reporting that since Kerry Washington is pregnant, this season, which is supposed to have 22 episodes, will only have 18. Savor every drop!)