James secretly heads off to Defiance County, Ohio to take a look at their voting machines. Unfortunately, all the memory cards that could have been used to reassign votes are missing. Well, almost all of them. There’s one voting machine on display at the local high school. The memory card inside that particular device proves that it was rigged to give Fitz some of his opponent’s votes in the final tally. This is huge. It’s a scandal that could change the fate of the entire country.

Quinn pesters Huck about all kinds of things a guy like him would know about. Things like the kind of drugs that can knock people out for 10 hours at a time. She also wants to know how to transport an unconscious individual from Point A to Point B. It’s all part of her secret research into her own kidnapping. She figures out that Huck may have been the one who brought her to Washington on a private plane registered to Verna Thornton, the Supreme Court Justice who happens to be one of Olivia’s clients.

A senator who slept with a young intern (it happens) reigns as Majority Leader upon advice from Olivia. Edison can now jockey for the majority leader position himself. That’s not something Hollis Doyle wants. You’d think Fitz would feel the same way especially after seeing surveillance photos of Edison getting chummy with Olivia. Nevertheless, the president makes a move that all but insures Edison gets the gig. A pleasantly surprised Cyrus believes this means Fitz is finally over Olivia, who now agrees to accompany Edison to the birthday gala.

Hollis is ticked that Edison is going to be the new Majority Leader. He makes a not-so-veiled threat to Cyrus. He assures him that he has no idea what he’s capable of. When the night of the president’s big birthday bash arrives, Olivia is dressed to kill as she and Edison head off to the party. Fitz arrives via presidential limo with Mellie, who tells her husband that she no longer wants to go. She seems nervous as she tries to convince Fitz to bail on the party. It’s too late for that though. Fitz steps out of the limo and waves to the cheering crowd. BANG! A gunshot rings out in the night. Fitz is jolted backwards. What just happened?! What just happened?!