Scandal Season 2 Fall Finale Preview: Blown Away

Were you blown away by last night's episode of Scandal? Next Thursday's fall finale is literally titled "Blown Away," which may be an indication that there's more to come for the series before we're left hanging until the drama resumes next year. The preview for "Blown Away" follows up on the big reveal from last night's episode. There's got to be an explanation… right?

After "Defiance" ended with Fitz getting shot, we were left to wonder whether or not he'd survive. Well, of course he'd survive. He has to pull through this! But promotions for the series were pushing the "Who shot Fitz?" mystery, which felt like a step ahead of this situation from a viewer's perspective, and maybe even a vague spoiler that the shooter's identity would be especially relevant. Even with that in mind, I didn't really take much time to consider who the shooter might be. But if I had, Huck would've obviously been at the top of the list. Of everyone we know in the show, he's probably the most likely (trained, occasionally unstable) to pull this kind of thing off, even if we don't want to believe he'd do something like this.

After an episode of steamy, soapy Fitz/Olivia flashbacks leading to Olivia's resignation (and an unsurprising explanation as to why she left the White House), the president was in critical but somewhat stable condition, unconscious and lucky to be alive. From there, the series swirled back in time to the assassination attempt and up to the hotel room where Huck was scrambling to pack up his hitman-kit and take off. Here's the promo for next week's episode, which shows us the aftermath of that.

So, they have pictures of Huck and they know who he is or at the very least, what he looks like (and possibly that he's associated with Olivia, since there was a photo with both of them on that wall). Does anyone else feel like there has to be an explanation for this? Beyond just that he's a trained killer and someone presumably hired him to do this? If things are as they seem, there's probably no coming back for Huck in all of this, which I'm not sure I'm ready to accept.

Also, is there any chance this is all tied in with the wonky election results in Defiance? That story arc needled its way into last night's flashbacks and we know blood has already been spilled over that, so what if that's all tied together somehow? And what if Britta's death wasn't just collateral damage? What if she was taken out because she knew something? Just some random speculation.

The series goes on hiatus after Scandal's "Blown Away," which airs next Thursday at 10:00 p.m. ET on ABC.