Guillermo Diaz does truly haunting work, with semi-reformed killer Huck dominating large stretches of narrative, making the once mysterious character the most fleshed-out and intriguing of all the gladiators.

Young mesmerizes as Mellie, spewing out breakneck monologues packed with twisted one-liners. Even Goldwyn gets his chance to wax poetic in the finale, explaining to Mellie exactly how things will work now that she has told the American public about his affair. Cyrus knows Fitz never could have come up with something so genius himself and asks if Olivia is behind the masterplan … of course she is, Cyrus. There’s no problem Olivia can’t fix, even when it’s her own.

And yet, in the finale’s final moments, Olivia Pope is caught — for possibly the first time in her life — completely and totally off-guard, with a twist that could very well prove to be premise-altering.

Yes, network television indeed needs Olivia Pope. It needs Shonda Rhimes. And it needs “Scandal” showing other dramas how it’s done.