Now in its fifth season, Scandal is still full of surprises, and Olivia’s bank of tricks is plentiful as ever. Unfortunately, Olitz (Olivia and Fitz) and Olake (Olivia and Jake) fans faced some disappointments.

Now that Mellie and Fitz are divorced, Olivia finally moves into the White House. However, it is not what she expected it to be. Thus, she soon moves out and breaks things off with Fitz, much to his dismay.

Fitz also starts dating other people for once, and Mellie is now Senator Grant.

All the while, it’s election season on Scandal which means that Fitz will be out of the White House very soon. The candidates of this race on the Republican side are Mellie, Susan Ross and of course, Hollis Doyle (who slightly reminds you of Donald Trump). On the Democratic side, Olivia’s ex-husband Edison and a new player, Frankie Vargas battle for the party’s nomination.

The candidates do everything possible to win. However, the real drama lies with their campaign managers. Liv is running Mellie’s campaign (they are on good terms again) while Elizabeth North is controlling Vice President Ross’s with the help of Abby Whelan and David Rosen. Despite being a Republican, Cyrus tries to get back into the game (and does some sketchy things) by running Frankie Vargas’s campaign.

Cyrus also has not lost his knack for running campaigns and still has plenty of tricks – ones he uses to eventually get rid of Frankie Vargas’s brother and long time political adviser, Alex Vargas.

Moreover, David Rosen faces some issues with his love life with Elizabeth North. He also pretends to date Susan Ross. But soon he realizes he actually really likes Vice President Ross. Do I hear wedding bells?

Yet the emerging superstar is our favorite sassy redhead and gladiator, Abby Whelan who rises from being the White House Press Secretary to Fitz’s Chief of Staff (go her!).

Meanwhile, Rowan, Olivia’s dad is still causing havoc throughout all of Washington. Olivia’s relationship with her father is still rocky. However, Jake’s relationship with Rowan seems to be much closer; he even calls Jake his own son. It seems that Rowan is controlling Jake and going as far as to make him marry Washington socialite and attorney Vanessa Chandler in order to channel money into Edison’s campaign. A Republican and a Democratic nominee are eventually chosen, yet the election is not even close to being over.

Jake and Olivia still have feeling for each other, but the season ends with viewers wondering the status of their relationship (as always). Jake seems to want to lead an ordinary life with Olivia, but Olivia does not wish to be mediocre.

It seems that she can never make up her mind when it comes to Jake and Fitz.

Furthermore, the typical format of a Scandal episode (where someone has a problem and comes to Olivia and her Gladiators for a solution) seemed to be less predominant this season. Perhaps this is due to the fact that a lot of emphasis was placed on the campaigns.

The focus of the fifth season of Scandal was a little different than past years, yet nevertheless continued to keep me anxious for the next episode.