Scandal Finale Scoop: What's the Fallout From Fitz's Decision?

If you haven't yet watched Thursday's Scandal, you missed one heck of a bombshell when Fitz, the President of the United States, decided to choose his mistress over the First Lady. That's right, Olivia (Kerry Washington) and Fitz (Tony Goldwyn) are finally together, but will that actually last?

"Those two characters believe that they can actually be together," executive producer Shonda Rhimes tells TVGuide.com. "Whether or not the forces around them are actually going to let that happen is an entirely different story. Whether Olivia's responsible fixer side is going to allow that to happen is an entirely different story."

Scandal Postmortem: Will Olivia and Fitz finally get together?

Unfortunately, viewers already know there are several large bombshells that can be dropped that could potentially drive a wedge between the duo, especially one that they both have a connection to in Jake (Scott Foley), Olivia's part-time lover and Fitz's army pal. "There's a lot they don't know about one another," Rhimes says. "She still doesn't know that he killed Verna [Debra Mooney]. He still doesn't know that she slept with Jake. There's stuff out there that hasn't been told, so they've got some challenges, but it's hopeful."

But one major secret was revealed Thursday night when First Lady Mellie (Bellamy Young) went on national TV and made Fitz's infidelity public. The weight of this scandal will fall on Cyrus' (Jeff Perry) shoulders as he's sent scrambling to put out all the fires springing up in response.

"When we come into the next episode, we're immediately with Cyrus who is fighting on the ropes; he's basically fighting a battle from the moment we see him until the moment the episode closes," Rhimes says. "He's fighting with every ounce of strength that he is to hold everything together. We're really going to see the struggle that he's undertaking."

But Mellie may not be done with her revelations and has at least one more dangerous card to play. "Why didn't she reveal the name of the mistress? That's the million dollar question. We're going to explain that in the next episode."

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Since the White House is dealing with one of its biggest political scandals to date, it should come as no surprise that John Barrowman's as-yet unrevealed character will somehow be connected. "He plays a fixer," Rhimes reveals. "He has a very interesting client."

Be sure to check back for more Scandal scoop from Rhimes, including the possible identity of the mole and more!

Scandal airs Thursdays at 10/9c on ABC.