Season 4 of “Scandal” premiered with a bang Thursday night. No one got shot, infected with bacterial meningitis or ended up in a deadly explosion – but episode 1, “Randy, Red, Superfreak and Julia,” definitely set fans up for a dramatic (and potentially dangerous) season.

It doesn’t look like things will be slowing down in episode 2, “State of the Union,” either. Next Thursday's episode will find Fitz (Tony Goldwyn) set to make his State of the Union address … without Olivia (Kerry Washington) by his side. But the president has bigger things to worry about than what his former mistress is doing. Fitz wants to make the biggest impact with his address on gun control, and Cyrus (Jeff Perry) has the solution. According to the episode 2 synopsis, the White House chief of staff "sets out to recruit a power couple (Mary McCormick and Josh Randall) who are influential on the subject."

Elsewhere, Mellie (Bellamy Young) will draw national attention – and not the good kind that RNC Chairwoman “Lizzie Bear” (Portia de Rossi) wanted from the grieving first lady. Based on the promo video for “State of the Union,” it appears the world will find Mellie to be acting more along the lines of crazy, rather than mourning the loss of her son.

To quickly recap, the Season 4 premiere began two months after the shocking Season 3 finale that resulted in Harrison (Columbus Short) dead, Jerry Jr. (Dylan Minnette) murdered by B613, Fitz winning the election and Olivia running away with Jake (Scott Foley). The episode started with Olivia and Jake embracing their new life while living 100 miles of the coast of Zanzibar. But a note addressed to Julia Baker, Olivia’s new identity, brought them back to reality – Harrison’s body turned up.

Olivia decided to return to Washington to bury her friend. And with Jake at her side, Olivia was certain that their trip would be a brief one. But a series of events resulted in the couple ultimately staying in D.C. and living their paradise life behind.

In her absence, Pope & Associates disbanded. The former office was shut down, mail thrown on a table and furniture covered with sheets. But one person was still doing work there – Quinn (Katie Lowes). It was Quinn who finally managed to track down Olivia and send her the letter about Harrison. But what Quinn didn’t initially tell Olivia was that the gang fell apart.

While Quinn – or “Superfreak” as Abby (Darby Stanchfield) called her – searched high and low for Olivia, Huck changed his name to “Randy” and took a job as a tech repair guy. Abby, on the other hand, ended things with David Rosen (Joshua Malina) after his obsession with Jake’s B613 files became too overwhelming. She ended up taking over as press secretary for the White House and left everyone else behind.

By the end of the “Scandal” premiere, Olivia, Huck, Quinn and Abby were able to put their differences and anger aside to say goodbye to Harrison. David Rosen was approached to become the attorney general, and took the offer after a little convincing from Abby to start working from the inside. Meanwhile, a new case drew Olivia back into the corrupt world of D.C., and Fitz promised Mellie that he would stay away from his ex-mistress.

Are you looking forward to episode 2 of “Scandal”? “The State of the Union” will air on ABC on Thursday, Oct. 2, at 9 p.m. EDT. Tweet your thoughts on the upcoming drama to @AmandaTVScoop.

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