It’s official. Scandal is over. Olivia Pope and her fly trench coats, strength, sassiness, and wit will no longer grace our television screens.
The day Gladiators across the globe, including myself, have been dreading since Shonda Rhimes announced season seven would be the last for her hit television series, Scandal, has come and gone. Rhimes gave fans a simplistic yet hopeful send off for the series finale. It made me cry, shout, and smile all at the same time. In the words of Olivia Pope, Rhimes “handled” the end of an amazing, gritty, and sexy era in #TGIT.
WARNING! SPOILER ALERT AHEAD! DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THE SERIES FINALE!
The final episode, “Over a Cliff” literally starts with a bang. Lonnie (Michael O’Neill) kills himself to ensure that Olivia (Kerry Washington) receives a closed-door hearing with Congress about the exposure of B613. Lonnie’s death forced attorney general, David Rosen (Josh Malina), to step in, which meant the Gladiators had the upper hand in taking down Cyrus (Jeff Perry) and Jake (Scott Foley).
In the midst of the Gladiators implementing their plan, Quinn (Katie Lowes) and Charlie (George Newbern) finally get married thanks to Huck (Guillermo Diaz) officiating the wedding and David stands up to Jake after Cyrus orders Jake to kill him. At first, viewers think David escapes death after standing up to Jake but Cyrus convinces David into thinking he will sign a confession and poisons him. David dies and Cyrus watches.
After David dies, the Gladiators think they are not going to win the battle and that Cyrus has won. At her home with Fitz (Tony Goldwyn), Olivia professes that the reason for everyone’s demise is because of her.
“I’m the problem!” Olivia says.
But it doesn’t stop Fitz from wanting to be with her. He says, “Take off your clothes” just like he did in season one and the two of them become Olitz for one last time!
Perhaps the most powerful parts of the series finale of Scandal involve Rowan (Joe Morton). At the beginning of the episode, Olivia summons Rowan and asks him to testify against Cyrus and Jake. Initially, he declines Olivia’s offer but by the end of the episode he has a change of her because in spite of his conniving demeanor and ruthless antics, he’s still a father who just wants to make his daughter proud and have a relationship with her.
When Rowan testifies before Congress he gives the most powerful and brutally honest monologue his character has EVER given.
“I want to see with my own eyes the face of every White, complacent, privileged man who believes that he is in a position of power when he hears the news that a Black man has been running this country for the past 30 years, that he only wields his power because my Black power allows him to,” Rowan said.
He continues the monologue in the best Rowan-like fashion that only true Scandal fans love and appreciate.
Despite his wrong doings, Cyrus is only asked to sign a letter of resignation while Jake goes to jail. After everything Cyrus has done to obtain the oval, truthfully, he should have been the one killed.
The series ends with Mellie (Bellamy Young) continuing her reign as President with Marcus (Cornelius Smith Jr.) by her side, Quinn and Charlie living happily ever after with their daughter, and although Abbey (Darby Stanchfield) does not receive hers with David, she still has the Gladiators by her side.
Olivia and Fitz meet outside the White House and exchange the last “Hi,” making Olitz fans hopeful that the two might just end up together finally.
In the final scene, viewers see two young Black girls staring up at a portrait of Olivia hanging in the National Portrait Gallery, leaving the ending of the series open-ended that Olivia does indeed make it into the White House as the POTUS or first-lady. I’m sure she was the POTUS and got there all by herself. The scene showcases how much representation matters and that women, specifically Black women, can too change the world.
Scandal changed the game for television with the storylines, ways of addressing political and social issues, and diverse casting. It’s a show that will resonate for years to come because it had its own uniqueness that most series do not have. The past seven years in television probably wouldn’t be the same without the show’s presence.
Shonda Rhimes, thank you for Scandal. Thank you for casting Kerry Washington as our Olivia Pope, making us invested in her world, and allowing us to follow her journey as a powerful Black woman.
I will forever be a Gladiator wearing my white hat.