‘Scandal’ Reveals Quinn’s Fate in Winter Premiere… Sort of

Scandal came back from its winter break with an explosion, a funeral and another shocking ending.

Eli Pope blows up a car in the winter premiere’s opening minutes, with a body in the trunk that, according to a partial dental match, was Quinn Perkins (Katie Lowes).

As previously seen in the winter finale, Eli and Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) were in a standoff where Eli promised to kill Quinn, who he had kidnapped earlier in the episode, if Olivia didn’t return his precious dinosaur bones. Olivia, thinking he was bluffing, told him to go ahead.

Eli then went in the next room and all viewers could hear was the sound of a gunshot, much to Olivia’s dismay.

As funeral preparations for Quinn were underway, some of the characters were struck with grief — Olivia spends the episode struggling to write a euology for her friend — but Huck (Guillermo DiazDiaz) was out for blood.

Digging into Quinn’s kidnapping, Huck found out that Olivia Pope was behind it, then quickly came to the conclusion that Olivia must have killed Quinn.

Broken by the guilt, a drunk Olivia stumbles into the office where she finds Huck, who is holding back his desire to torture the truth out of her.

“We were supposed to protect her. That’s what we do. It’s who we are. We are gladiators,” Olivia says to Huck.

“They got eaten you know,” she continued. “Lions ate them… and they didn’t get eulogies. They were just entertainment… and food.”

The team puts Quinn’s ashes into bullets, which fiancee Charlie says would be a good way to honor her.

During Quinn’s memorial, Olivia says her death makes no sense.

“Quinn’s death is awful. That’s all I can think of to say, it’s just awful.”

The team then shoots the bullets into the ground, honoring their departed friend and colleague.

In the final moments of the episode, Abby (Darby Stanchfield) and David (Joshua Malina) are dismantling Quinn’s baby’s play pen when they find a USB drive.

The scene cuts to Charlie (George Newbern) coming to Eli Pope to ask to be back on his murder squad after Quinn’s death. Eli tells him to go home, get some rest and reconsider his request.

As Charlie starts to walk away, a crying baby can be heard from the inside of the house. Charlie rushes in and finds a baby girl.

“Whose baby is that?”

Eli and Charlie then fight, with Charlie putting Eli in a chokehold. And the episode comes to end.

What’s in the USB drive? If Quinn had her baby, does that mean she’s still alive? Where is Quinn? Why did Eli keep the baby alive? Will Charlie kill Eli or will someone stop him before he does?

The final season of Scandal airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.

Photo: ABC/Mitch Haaseth