Who Survived the 'Scandal' Season Finale?

Whew! This week on the Scandal Season 4 finale things got pretty intense. Empires tumbled, upstarts rose from the ashes, Mellie won her senate race, and the season ended with an epic White House make out session. So which Scandal cast members will be back for Season 5 and what will the political landscape look like? Here's the way things seem to be shaping up.

The biggest and most stunning news, of course, is that Eli Pope aka Rowan aka Command has at last fallen. Or so it seems. After purging all connections between himself and B6-13, Rowan looked to be unstoppable; there was no one who could identify him as Command. But it seems he was too smart for his own good — purging any trace of who he really is just made it that much easier for Olivia to set him up for embezzlement charges. He might not answer for all his real crimes, but he is going to jail. At least, so long as he doesn't use some of those devious brains to get out. My prediction is that nothing will Eli Pope behind bars forever.

Almost as shocking as Eli Pope finally getting taken down is Cyrus getting fired. After Fitz found out about Mellie giving Eli the names of the grand jurors in the B6-13 case, which then led to their execution, and about Cyrus working with Eli to cover up B6-13's existence, he threw both of them out of the White House. Mellie and Fitz's relationship troubles, of course, are nothing new, but Cyrus getting fired was totally unexpected. He practically runs the country! How is anyone going to function without him? Whatever is next for Cyrus, I hope he still comes back in season 5. Cyrus Bean is an institution!

Speaking of characters with uncertain futures, it looks as though Huck might finally get himself killed — by Quinn, no less. After realizing Huck is responsible for the massacre of the grand jurors and that he has gone totally off the rails, Quinn puts a gun to his head. Will she pull the trigger? Who knows. Huck's storylines have gotten a little strained as of late, and he has gotten way too kill-happy, but given the choice between keeping Huck and keeping Quinn, I'd take Quinn. After all, at least Huck has storylines (besides boning Charlie, that is).

But the biggest question mark of the night is the future of Olivia and Fitz's relationship. After taking down Rowan once and for all (they think), Jake tells Olivia that it's time for him to leave because she is still in love with Fitz. So Olivia goes straight over to the White House where Fitz is hanging out alone now that he's kicked his now-senator wife out. And the two waste no time before engaging in full-on lip lock.

So what is the future of Olitz? Will Jake Ballard return next season? Will Fitz finally divorce Mellie? Is that even possible without killing both their political careers?

Only season 5 will tell.

Image: Nicole Wilder/ABC