Tom Could Be Dead On 'Scandal'

Last season, Scandal was focused on the show's version of the 2016 presidential election, and this season, it's already obvious that the explosive way it ended is what it's all about. After Frankie Vargas was killed as he was announced the winner, an investigation seemed to prove that Tom was responsible as way to frame Cyrus and get revenge on him for breaking his heart, but what if there's more to the story? On Thursday night's episode of Scandal, Cyrus tried to prove his innocence, and it turned into a horrifying situation.

At the beginning of the episode, Cyrus was taken to solitary confinement after his arrest, where he tried to cook up a plan to free himself. Unfortunately, nothing he tried helped, and after forming what he thought was an alliance with one of the prison guards, Cyrus ended up getting badly beaten within an inch of his life by fellow prisoners whose families voted for Frankie as the guard turned a blind eye. And after Olivia refused to help him prove that he didn't order Tom to kill him, he was basically hopeless — especially since Fitz wanted to leave the death penalty on the table.

So his solution? He tricked the guard into giving him his belt, and with the help of another inmate, strangled him until he brought Tom into the cell.

From there, things went from bad to worse — and then, Tom finally told the truth about what happened. Not only had he not shot Frankie, but he'd also only said he did so that he would punish Cyrus. But Cyrus will not be punished, and by the end of the episode, it was unclear whether or not Tom (and the prison guard for that matter) would survive.

You know those moments on Scandal where you can't even believe what you're seeing play out on screen? Yeah, this was definitely one of those, and if you screamed at your TV while it was happening, don't worry, because I totally did it, too.

If Tom didn't kill Frankie, who did? Will Cyrus get released from prison, or will what he did to Tom give him different charges? I have so many questions! Ugh, time to wait 'til next week. Shonda Rhimes, why do you do this to us?!