Olivia's Switched To The Dark Side On 'Scandal'

I've always admired Olivia Pope because she possesses the rare ability to be a total badass and uphold a code of ethics all at the same time, but lately, it seems like that might be changing. Now that the presidential race is in full swing, there's nothing Olivia won't do to undercut Mellie's competitors, especially Edison, who is in cahoots with her father. But on this week's episode of Scandal , Olivia tries to take down Susan Ross, and it's obvious she's no longer worried about running a fair, clean campaign.

During the first republican debate, Susan talks about her husband, who died in the military. It's a really touching story and helps her win the debate, except for one problem: It's not true. Immediately, Olivia gets to the bottom of this. Susan was never married to this man; instead, the father of her daughter, Casey, is a guy named Ronnie who's currently in jail. Nobody knows this, not even Casey, so Olivia pays Ronnie a visit and offers to get him out early if he participates and takes a paternity test to prove that Susan's been lying.

That's all well and good, of course... until Ronnie refuses to comply because he thinks that once Susan's president, she'll come back for him instead, so why would he jeopardize their relationship by helping to expose her secret? Olivia's not about to lose this one, though, so she threatens to plant drugs in his bunk to get him in trouble. Wait, why is Olivia suddenly as scary as her dad?!

Quinn tries to talk her off the Evil Genius ledge, but Liv's not having it. And since Olivia won't listen to Quinn, she ends up calling in the big guns: Fitz. After Abbey hears what's up, Fitz meets Olivia at OPA and wants to offer her some advice. Usually, Surprise, surprise, Fitz got ahold of Ronnie's DNA test, and asks her, "how are you not sick of playing this game?" For once, the Scandal POTUS and I agree on something! He wants her to head up Mellie's campaign in an honest way, not like the way she ran Fitz's, and even though it's unclear if Olivia thinks he's right, he definitely managed to strike a chord with her.

Being that the episode ends with Olivia and Fitz sharing a drink with a little friendly smack talk, I'd say their relationship is definitely making some progress. Is it actually possible for them to be friends and competitors, without all that messy drama? I guess we'll find out!

Image: Richard Cartwright/ABC