WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD! Do NOT continue reading unless you watched the midseason finale of “Scandal”

“Scandal” aired its midseason finale on Thursday, Dec. 12, and in true fashion, it left Gladiators with their jaws on the floor. After an explosive episode 9 with torture, murder and operation Momma Pope freedom, the ABC drama somehow managed to one-up “YOLO” and deliver one of the most heart-stopping episodes of the season. We’re breaking down the top “OMG” moments from episode 10, “A Door Marked Exit”:

The Daniel Douglas vs. Sally Langston Showdown

Thanks to the previous week, “Scandal” viewers know that Daniel Douglas ended up dead -- but how did it happen? Episode 10 exposed the horrific fight that Vice President Sally Langston had with her husband that resulted in his murder.

“Nobody knows,” Daniel says while trying to calm his wife after being confronted about the affair with James. “No one is going to know.”

But unfortunately for Daniel, his wife is livid, and in turn Daniel counters her verbal attacks with his own cruel words. Calling her “Shrill Sally” who no one wanted in college, Daniel tells his wife that he only married her because he needed his family to not disown him.

“I cannot wait until you meet your maker,” she fires back. “Until you are judged for your lies.”

Things get even uglier when Daniel tells Sally that he’s “done” with their relationship and is going to go off and “find a nice boy somewhere” … or “maybe I’ll go on '60 Minutes' and tell them the Sally Langston story.”

With her husband’s threat being the last straw, Sally grabbed a letter opener off her desk and stabbed him in the back … repeatedly.

The Game Plan

After calling Cyrus, Sally Langston needs a fixer more than ever. But the pair don’t call Olivia Pope -- they call Charlie. Charlie comes with Quinn in tow and the pair stitch up Daniel Douglas and clean up the crime scene.

Dressing Daniel’s body in his pajamas and putting him in bed, Cyrus comes up with a plan.

“Let me lie,” Cyrus tells a shocked Sally Langston. “Let me clean this up.”

So, what’s the “clean up plan”? To claim that Daniel Douglas died of a heart attack and that Sally Langston found him dead next to her when she woke.

Who Is Momma Pope Really?

With Olivia’s mom’s plane set to land in 12 hours, Olivia gets her gladiators to quickly work on getting everything they can on Marie Wallace, Maya Pope’s real identity.

Thanks to David, the gang discovers that Marie had a bunch of different identities all over the world before moving to the United States in the 1970s and becoming Maya. Marie was in the business of stealing government secrets and stole from Rowan. When the plane went down, she was on her way to sell something to terrorists in London.

Rowan vs. Fitz

Not realizing that Rowan isn’t the bad guy in the situation, Fitz kidnaps Rowan and hides him in a bunker at the Pentagon. And while the situation was initially Fitz trying to get answers about the plane and why Olivia’s mother was kept captive, things quickly get heated when Fitz decides to rile up Rowan with talk about Olivia.

Saying nasty things like he loves how Olivia tastes, Rowan completely rips Fitz a new one.

“You love that she is your way out,” he bellows at Fitz. “If you are with Olivia you no longer have to be your father’s son … you disappoint me as a suitor for my daughter’s hand.”

James’ Suspicions

After learning of Daniel Douglas’ murder, James becomes suspicious that Cyrus or Sally Langston played a role in his death. Not believing the heart attack claim, James goes to David. But unfortunately for James, David is not willing to risk his career to help James again after the voting fiasco.

That all changes for David later when a NSA worker shows up at his office with a recording of Sally Langston calling Cyrus the night of Daniel Douglas’ death and stating that she “committed a sin.”

Quinn Chooses Sides

After her rough torture session with Huck last week, Quinn is definitely in a fragile state. Initially about to broker a deal with Rowan (and in the process kill him with a needle) that gets her all the incriminating tapes, the deal falls through when a lead gets Rowan all the information he needs.

If that wasn’t bad enough, Huck inserted a tracking chip where her tooth used to be in case she tried to run. Removing the device using a piece of a bathroom paper towel dispenser, Quinn heads back to Charlie’s place and later makes an escape to the Pope & Associate’s office. And while Quinn thinks Huck will be happy that she returned, he instead tells her that he’s not sorry for what he did to her.

“If it wasn’t for Olivia I would have peeled off all your skin,” Huck tells Quinn. “You’re not a Gladiator anymore.”

Hurt by Huck’s words and nowhere left to go, Quinn returns to Charlie.

Olivia Confronts Rowan

Discovering that Fitz has her father, Olivia heads to the Pentagon to question him about her mother’s terrorist record. Initially coming up with the theory that her mother had planted a bomb on the plane and that Rowan shot it down to save thousands of lives, Olivia quickly realizes that wasn’t the case. Instead she tells Rowan what she thinks happened -- her mom lied about a bomb being on the plane.

“There never was a bomb was there?” she asks her dad. “She got you to kill hundreds of people for nothing. She fooled you like she fooled me. Didn’t she?”

But Rowan won’t answer Olivia.

“Have her arrested the second she gets off that plane,” Olivia yells at Fitz as she walks out. “You get her.”

Forced to set Rowan free, Rowan warns Fitz that B6-13 isn’t an individual. “Cut off a snake's head and another one will come up,” he tells the President before leaving.

The James/ Cyrus Deal

Disgusted by Cyrus, James was ready to leave with their daughter. But after Cyrus threatens to take their daughter away, James is forced to find a new outlet.

“I still love you,” Cyrus tries to coax James. “You’re still the love of my life … you just never noticed the 666 on my forehead before. But now you see it.”

Thinking over his options, James comes up with a suitable deal that would suffice for the time being -- have Cyrus appoint him Press Secretary and he won’t leave.

Jake’s Goodbye

After working closely with Olivia for the past couple of weeks, Jakes tells her that he has to leave.

“I loved you,” Jakes says before walking out. “Whatever happens next I want to make sure you know I loved you. I love you.”

So, where is Jakes going? To the B6-13 headquarters.

Rowan’s comment about the snake head got Fitz thinking, and the President somehow managed to get Jake to replace Rowan as Command. Needless to say, Rowan is not pleased … especially after Jake’s parting words are “Cut off a snakes head and another will grow.”

Where In The World Is Momma Pope?

Olivia gets a call that the plane holding her mother never made it to Japan and that it landed in Mongolia … with her mother missing and everyone on board dead.

But Maya/Marie isn’t completely gone like Olivia thinks. Episode 10, “A Door Marked Exit,” ended with Olivia getting a call from her mother. “Where are you?” Olivia demands.

“I just wanted to hear your voice,” her mother tells her. “Don’t worry sweetheart, I’ll see you real soon.”

The midseason finale of “Scandal” concludes with her mother standing in front of the White House and throwing out the cellphone she just used.

“Scandal” returns to ABC on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 10 p.m. Let us know what you thought of the midseason finale in the comments section or send a tweet to @AmandaTVScoop.

For more “Scandal” scoop and spoilers follow Amanda Remling on Twitter - @AmandaTVScoop.

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