Mellie’s in the White House. Rowan is talking to his dinosaur. Cyrus, who has killed his way to the vice presidency, is perched like a vulture waiting to take a seat behind a desk in the Oval Office.
Jake has just lost his mind.
If the names are not familiar to you, we’re guessing being a gladiator is not on your bucket list.
The ABC series “Scandal” comes to an end Thursday after seven years of chronicling the rise and fall of Olivia Pope (played by Kerry Washington). Pope is a “fixer” in Washington, D.C., jumping in to make “awkward situations” come out right – or go away, as the case may be.
Shondra Rhimes created the show that quickly became a hit, and viewers were often surprised at the twists and turns the series took – from killing off favorite characters to revealing a black-ops group that runs the government.
In last week’s episode, Oliva is set up for a final reckoning as she is called to testify about her deeds and misdeeds of the past years. From a trailer released by ABC, it appears she will have some company in the end, as most all of the show’s major characters are seated at a table in front of a group of congressmen ready to talk.
"She started out as the character that we knew who very much believed in this power and how important this particular kind of power was, and molding it and being a part of it," Rhimes told Variety. "We watched her, like everybody else, become completely corrupted by it and make all the same mistakes that everybody else makes to get what she wants from it. Then we watched her hopefully fight her way back from it."
Or, as Olivia put it: “This is bigger than us,” Olivia said. “This is about the country. This is about patriotism: the end of politics, the beginning of leadership. It all has to come down, no matter the cost . . . We are not the heroes of this story. We are the villains. This is your chance to be a hero. This is positive change.”
Rhimes, when asked about any "cultural risks involved with a black female antihero," told The New York Times, "I'm smiling because I wasn't thinking of her that way. For me, writing Olivia Pope as the lead meant she got to be the lead and the lead is everything. She's the love interest, she's mean, she's kind, she's flawed, she's brilliant at her job. She makes mistakes. Equality is getting to be as screwed up and as messed up as all of the other leads on television."
Will the Olivia get her comeuppance, or come out on the other side unscathed? You’ll have to tune in.
“Scandal” finale
What time: The episode airs at 10 p.m. ET
What channel: "Scandal" airs on ABC.
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