Scandal Episode 1.07 Grant: For the People

Quinn comes back to the apartment to find Gideon fighting for his life. She pulls the scissors from his neck. Blood juts out everywhere. Quinn reaches for the phone to call for help. She begs Gideon to hang on. That's not going to happen. Gideon dies before Quinn's eyes. She stands shaking in the middle of the room as Olivia arrives. Quinn wants to call the police. Olivia knows that if they do that then they'll find out who she really is.

Olivia lets the team know that they need to scrub the crime scene clean for their new client. She's the woman they know as Quinn Perkins, though that's not her real name. All evidence that Quinn was in Gideon's place is removed from the premises. They snag the victim's cell phone from his pocket. Olivia realizes that Gideon figured out that someone sent Amanda Tanner in to sleep with the president.

Cyrus knows that Fitz went to Olivia's place during the night. The heated discussion that takes place the next morning is cut short by news that three ATF agents have been shot during a standoff with a cult in Georgia. In other news, Billy Chambers does his best to keep his composure as he heads into work at the White House. He hands his boss, V.P. Sally Langston, a note that she doesn't read right away. He then interrupts a press conference to announce his resignation.

Billy's resignation isn't the only shocker he has in store for the press corps. He reveals that he had an affair with Amanda. She was pregnant with his baby. Billy was shocked to learn that the president used his power to take advantage of Amanda. He says she killed herself only weeks after sleeping with him. He's in possession of an audio tape that proves that President Grant had an extramarital affair with this young White House aide. The president needs someone to do damage control. The president needs Olivia Pope.

Olivia and Cyrus work hard to save the presidency they helped create. Fitz doesn't want to lie about this thing, so Olivia sends him to Georgia to deal with the cult. Meanwhile, Billy is making the rounds on the talk show circuit with the audio tape. Later, he all but admits to Olivia that he killed Gideon. By the time he gets caught, Sally Langston will have replaced Fitz as President of the United States. That's all that matters to him now.

U.S. Attorney David knows that Olivia's team cleaned up the crime scene at Gideon's place. He calls the victim's cell phone, which rings in the office, to prove he's hip to their game. Quinn accompanies David to his office with her attorney, Harrison, by her side. Olivia shows up to give the full scoop on what's been happening. Surprisingly, David believes every word of her story. Unfortunately, he can't help Olivia because she broke the law. Quinn stays with him, as she's a material witness to a murder that will likely go unsolved since the crime scene was wiped clean.

Fitz believes his only course of action is to resign. It would be his chance to be a regular person. It would be his chance to be with Olivia. The two of them share a kiss in the Oval Office. Fitz doesn't care if they are caught on camera. Olivia can't let him go down like this. She knows she can't have him, as he belongs to the people. Olivia rallies the troops as everyone springs into action. Huck wants to know if she wants him to take care of Billy Chambers. Olivia makes him promise that he won't kill him. That's why Huck contacts his old torture victim, Charlie, to do his dirty work.

Olivia meets with Mellie, who blames her for the Amanda Tanner situation because she left the team. The two women figure out a counterattack in the media. Mellie will say the woman on the audio tape is her. She'll express her outrage at how this could happen during such a fragile time given that she's newly pregnant. They'll have to start trying right away to make sure that particular story sticks. Fitz is stunned. Mellie believes he could look a little happier since they did just save his presidency. As for Olivia, she turns in her security pass as she exits the White House.

Fitz still needs the vice president to throw him a show of support. Sally is reluctant to do this due to her moral beliefs. Her attitude changes the moment the president hands her a file Olivia had given him earlier. It contains proof that Sally's daughter had a secret abortion as a teen. Just like that, Sally is holding a press conference throwing her former right-hand man under the bus. Billy is devastated by this turn of events. He's unaware that things are about to get a lot worse as Charlie steps into the elevator with him. Speaking of Charlie, he had told Huck that Billy wasn't the one who hired him to kill Amanda Tanner. That honor apparently belongs to Cyrus Beene.

David tricks Quinn into giving up her fingerprints. He runs them himself. Later, he tells Olivia that he's breaking the law by bringing her back to her office. This is significant because David is not a person who breaks the law. With all of her colleagues surrounding her, Olivia stares at Quinn. She says, "Do you want to tell them who you are or should I?" It looks like we're going to have to wait awhile for the answer.