How Well Do You Know Scandal?
- by Jessi Jordan
- – on
- in Movies and TV
"Scandal" is a hit TV show created by the extremely successful Grey’s Anatomy writer, creator and Executive Producer, Shonda Rhimes. Scandal premiered on April 5, 2012 and has been growing in popularity ever since. One look at trending Twitter hashtags at primetime on Thursday nights and you will understand the cult-like following and impact this show has on its fans.
Scandal centers around Olivia Pope, a media consultant to the President of United States: Fitzgerald Grant II. Olivia, played by Kerry Washington, is partially based on former George H.W. Bush administration press aide Judy Smith, who also serves as a co-executive producer.
For very personal reasons, including an affair with the president, Olivia decides to leave the White House and become a crisis manager who specializes in saving the reputation of celebrities and politicians when they get themselves into the kind of trouble they can’t get themselves out of. Her stellar reputation as a “fixer” proceeds her and she’s the first number people call when they need something “fixed.” She wrote the book on how to survive and even thrive past life-altering scandal.
With a loyal group of misfits, deemed “Gladiators in Suits,” whose lives she has personally saved, she runs her crisis management firm OPA (Olivia Pope and Associates) with an iron fist in a velvet glove.
Think you know all there is to know about Scandal? Prove it. Let’s see if you have what it takes to be a gladiator in a suit.
Before starting Pope and Associates, Olivia worked in the White House as the Defense Secretary. True or False?
Olivia Pope always dreamed of working in the White House. She studied hard in school and excelled quickly. One day her dream came true and she did get the call to serve her country working at the White House. Olivia and Fitz started their extramarital affair while Fitz was on the campaign trail, however, she always intended on ending it when he was elected into the White House. Unfortunately, that did not happen and their affair continued. Subsequently, his wife, First Lady Mellie Grant found out about the affair and feeling guilty, Olivia decided to leave the White House for good and to start her own company Pope and Associates.
Pope and Associates is a law firm specializing in public relations and crisis management. True or False?
In the first episode of the show, we meet a peppy girl named Quinn Perkins on her way to meet someone at a DC local bar. Once there, she quickly discovers that she has been tricked into coming by a man named Harrison, who works for her idol Olivia Pope. Quinn is first annoyed then in awe as Harrison explains that is a once in a lifetime opportunity for her to become one of them—a gladiator in a suit. Upon meeting Olivia, she is introduced to the whole team at Pope and Associates and told exactly what they do there.
President Grant is the father of Amanda Tanner's baby. True or False?
After Olivia Pope ended her affair with the president and she left the White House for good, Fitz began another affair with another young woman he worked with by the name of Amanda Tanner. (Seriously, what is it with this guy?) Amanda had been a campaign worker for Sally Langston when she was running for president and continued on after Sally accepted the vice presidency on Fitz's presidential ticket. There was a lot of speculation as to whether or not Fitz was Amanda's baby daddy. Is he or isn't he? Who else feels like they are watching an episode of The Maury Povich Show?
Olivia Pope is a murderer. True or False?
Andrew Nichols is being held in a secret bunker under the White House after recovering from a near-death experience and vegetative state, induced upon him by Huck for good reasons. Andrew is blackmailing Mellie and being the fixer that Olivia is, she goes to visit Andrew in attempt to find a way to get him not to reveal any of Mellie's secrets. Andrew begins to goat Olivia, taunting her and calling her God awful names, including a whore. Everyone has a breaking point, right?
Lindsay Dwyer is Quinn Perkins and a suspected terrorist wanted or executing a terrorist attack known as The Cytron Explosion. True or False?
Authorities have been looking to locate Lindsay Dwyer for committing a suspected terrorist attack known as The Cytron Explosion. Lindsey left a threatening voicemail for her boyfriend Jesse Taylor, when she found out he cheated on her. Shortly after, a package was delivered to his office. The package contained a bomb that killed him and six other people in that office. Lindsay became the prime suspect because she could not be located. As it turned out, she ran away to a hotel and when she woke up, she was in Washington DC with the new name and a new identity.
President Grant reveals to the press that Olivia is his mistress. True or False?
Outside of murder, a sex scandal is just about the worst thing to happen to a politician. When the news of an affair between her husband, the President of these United States and Olivia Pope hits the media circuit, it does not sit well with Mellie, the first lady and his wife. Nor is Olivia Pope happy about all the attention it brings her. She would prefer to stay out of the limelight and just do her job but the source of the leak hits close to home.
Before his time at Pope and Associates, Huck was employed by a government agency known as B-613. True or False?
Is Huck just a simple hacker with crazy government conspiracy theories or is he more than meets the eye? When Olivia found Huck he was just a homeless guy sitting on the floor of a subway platform muttering incoherent but repetitive phrases. Olivia would see him every Sunday on the way to meet her father for dinner and she would bring him back her leftovers every Sunday night. They developed a friendship and eventually Olivia helped him get off the streets and gave him a job.
Olivia Pope's mother died early in her life in a terrible plane crash. True or False?
Can you imagine the day that 12 year old Olivia Pope was told by her father that her mother died and was never coming home? That had to be truly heartbreaking. From that day on, Olivia was raised by her single father but just for a little while. Wanting the best for his only daughter, he sent Olivia to one of the best boarding schools in Europe that money can buy. While she loves her dad dearly, not having a mother growing up has always bothered Olivia.
Damascus Bainbridge is also known as Rowan and Eli and is in charge of a very secret agency known as B613. True or False?
This man has so many names and monikers, it is hard to keep them straight. But all of them have one thing in common: they belong to a terrifying man known to his subordinates as “Command," the commanding officer for the CIA division of B613. All CIA off the book operatives on US Soil report to him and he simply is the most terrifying of all characters in the show. He only has one weakness and that is the love he has for one woman.
Jeannine Locke, the Communications Aide, is accused of having an affair with Fitz. True or False?
Jeannine Locke was a Communications Aide working on Fitz's campaign. After a video was leaked of her calling the President, “Hot" she was labeled the worst of the worst. The media hounded her every move and that video was blasted across every TV in America. It became the prime piece of news and stayed in the 24 news cycle. But Jeannine is no dummy and uses the situation to her benefit on more than one occasion and makes a handsome profit in the process.
“Foxtail” is a code name given to an election-rigging conspiracy. True or False?
Foxtail is the code name given and used by the parties involved in a the election rigging scene carried out on voter machines in Ohio that resulted in President Fitzgerald Grant winning the Presidential election. Had "Foxtail" not been executed, Fitz would have definitely lost the election. Foxtail all but guaranteed Fitz his first term as president, although he was completely unaware of it at the time. The parties involved included his wife and soon-to-be First Lady Mellie Grant, Olivia Pope, Cyrus Beene, Verna Thornton and Hollis Doyle.
Quinn accidentally kills a security guard. True or False?
Quinn may look like a sweet innocent girl and once upon a time she really was, but after going through all she's been through and having not one but two boyfriends murdered, she has gone over to the dark side. Huck had become her torture mentor, but then tried to heal himself by going to AA leaving Quinn on her own to satisfy her need for that adrenaline rush. Charlie is all too eager to step in and provide a way to help quench her blood lusty thirst.
Olivia broke up with Senator Edison Davis because she fell in love with Fitz. True or False?
Edison Davis is the Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate and Senator for Florida. He is a Democrat, a stark contrast to Fitz who is a Republican. Edison is also an ex-boyfriend and former fiancé of Olivia's. They lived together for four years and in all that time, he never met her family. After much debate about it, Olivia finally took Edison home to meet her father. Shortly after that, Olivia broke up with him. We find out later that Edison never got over Olivia and some leftover feelings for our leading lady come bubbling to the surface when they see each other again.
In the beginning of their relationship, Olivia would bring Huck leftovers from her Sunday night dinners with her father. True or False?
Huck at the time was homeless and not used to any of life's pleasantries such as bathing or eating home cooked meals or being treated well at all. Olivia would pass him as he laid on the subway platform. She saw through his rough image and exterior and befriended him and would bring him dinner every Sunday evening after seeing her father. Her kindness to him at that time made him loyal to her forever. He would literally do anything and kill anyone to protect her because he feels like she treated him like a person and gave him back a life worth living.
Huck tortures Quinn by burning her with hot irons. True or False?
We never thought we would ever see the day when anyone from Pope and Associates would have to turn on one of their own, least of all, innocent-looking perky Quinn Perkins. We literally watched with our hands and fingers covering our eyes as Huck sets up to torture Quinn. There is already plastic on the floor as he begins to tie her up with duct tape. Then he proceeded to lay out an array of super rusty tools. Poor Quinn!5
When Olivia Pope discovers that her mother is alive, she helps her mother escape by putting her on a plane to Russia. True or False?
Imagine thinking your mother was dead for the last 23 years and then one day seeing her again. This is what happened to Olivia and then she also learns that her father is to blame. Olivia's father put her mother in a prison and she was held captive for all this time for terrible crimes. Olivia believes deeply that her mother had been framed and she uses her powerful connections to help her mother escape. She soon finds out that her mother played her and was guilty the whole time. And you thought your family was messed up!
Sally Langston's husband is murdered by Huck as a favor. True or False?
We all know that Sally Langston is a very conservative and very religious woman. She takes pride in her stellar reputation of fervently representing the Christian values of her most conservative and Bible-believing constituents. So when her husband rubs it in her face that he has been having extramarital affairs with several men, she loses it. Murder for hire is just one of the many scandalous things that do down in DC. Hell hath no wrath like a woman scorned.
The cover up of Douglas Langston's murder is spearheaded by Charley. True or False?
Sally called for help as her beloved husband Daniel Douglas' body lay lifeless at her feet. She didn't call 911 and she didn't call for the White House doctor. She called the one man she knew who would be able to handle this discreetly and help her cover up what she had just done. He persuades the White House doctor to claim that Daniel's death was the result of a heart attack and also gets him not to perform an autopsy on the body. After hearing the claims about the heart attack Cyrus' husband James becomes suspicious .
Congresswoman Josephine Marcus' big secret is that she had an abortion earlier in life. True or False?
Congresswoman Josephine Marcus played by Friends star, Lisa Kudrow, got pregnant when she was very young and rather than have her bring shame to the whole family, her mother sent her away. Congressman Marcus was outraged that Olivia was not able to keep her secret from coming out. After all, she has a stellar reputation as a crisis manager and surely this should have not been that hard to do. Is this not what we pay her for? This information ruined congresswoman Marcus' political chances and her career never recovered.
Olivia's father had Fitz's son Jerry killed. True or False?
Jerry Grant Jr. , the son of First Lady Mellie and President Fitzgerald Grant was killed by Secret Service Agent and undercover B613 agent Tom Larsen on orders from B613 Commander. Fitz's son was killed for revenge. His death was meant to punish Fitz for taking his child away from him, which is beyond ridiculous because Olivia is very much still alive. She just was not talking to her father at the time. And with a crazy evil father like him, can you really blame her?
Gideon Wallace was killed with a tweezer. True or False?
Quinn's new boyfriend, Gideon Wallace, was a reporter for a tabloid newspaper trying to dig up dirt on powerful people in DC. Unfortunately for him, he pissed off the wrong people and one day when Quinn was out getting bagels for the two of them after a night spent together, Billy Chambers— someone working for VP Sally Langston—snuck into his apartment and killed him with a pair of tweezers. Quinn was devastated to return and find her boyfriend stabbed and bleeding on the floor. Unfortunately, she pulled the tweezers out of his neck and he died in her arms.
Vice President Andrew Nichols had Olivia Pope kidnapped. True or False?
Andrew Nichols is an old friend of President Fitzgerald Grant. He became the lieutenant governor of California and then the Vice President after Sally Langston made her untimely exit. Unknown to Fitz, Andrew was always jealous of him and began an affair with his wife, Mellie. Mellie confided in Andrew about her rape one night after he found her nearly dead of an overdose of pills and forced her to vomit them up. He stayed with her and they began an affair.
Olivia's father is just a simple well-regarded Curator at the Smithsonian. True or False?
When we first meet Olivia's father, Eli Pope, he is purported to be a very important man in a very important position at the Smithsonian. He presents himself as a simple humble paleontologist with excellent taste in expensive wine and great food. He prides himself on having Sunday dinners with Olivia every week without fail so that he may stay active in her life. His love of all things dinosaurs, fossils and bones only pales in comparison to his love for his one and only daughter.
Jake Ballard served in the Army with President Grant. True or False?
One day, Olivia is just minding her own business while standing in line waiting to get her coffee at a nearby coffee shop. A man bumps into her and knocks her cell phone out of her hand. We are led to believe this is a chance meeting, but it is nothing of this sort. This man is Jake Ballard and we soon learn that he was sent to keep an eye on Olivia for Fitz. Fitz and Jake are old friends that go back a long way.
Cyrus Beene had his husband James Novak murdered. True or False?
For James Novack, getting hired to be in the White House as a press reporter was a dream come true. He was a very skilled reporter and overtime had begun to uncover secrets that his husband Cyrus and the rest of those with vested interest in the success of the Grant administration, wanted to keep buried. Cyrus gave James a child to get him to stop looking into scandals and cover ups like Defiance, but it really did not deter him.
Rowan kills James Novak and threatens to expose the Defiance conspiracy. True or False?
Rowan is a very, very very bad bad man. On this particular night, James is killed along with two innocent women. This scene was truly heartbreaking. After watching the murder of the two women in cold blood, James takes off running for his life only to be shot dead in the street like a dog. Sadly, the shots fired into his body didn't kill him right away. We, the viewers watched helplessly over James as he takes his very last breath.
Frankie Vargas' wife Luna had him murdered. True or False?
After effectively getting former First Lady Mellie Grant chosen and confirmed as the next leader of the free world, Olivia at long last solved the mystery of who was behind Frankie Vargas' death. The guilty party was non other than Frankie's wife, Luna Vargas. Luna listened to some really awful advice and believed she would be more powerful in the White House if she were the widowed Vice President of the United States instead of just the lady married to the President.
Stephen was killed off the show after season one. True or False?
Stephen Finch was an original member of Olivia Pope's consulting team at her crisis management firm Olivia Pope & Associates. He was Olivia's right hand man all throughout Season 1. After his sudden departure, his office remains untouched for a while. And then suddenly the other members of OPA just seemed to move on. They began to fight over who would get his office. Olivia, however could not just move on. She wanted things to be as they were before.
Jake, Quinn and Huck used leverage from Olivia's mom to bid for her return after being kidnapped. True or False?
During the most dangerously scary part of her kidnapping ordeal, Olivia was being auctioned off to the highest bidder for many billions of dollars. Those participating in the black market closed auction bidding included some extremely evil people from countries where women are seen as property. Even with all of Huck's best tricks and hacking skills, Jake, Huck and Quinn still needed the help of someone familiar in that world so no one would know that this was actually a rescue mission.
President Fitzgerald Grant has had three different Vice Presidents during his two terms in office. True or False?
We know that in 'Scandal,' Washington DC is a revolving door of politicians, but really this is ridiculous. There have been three different people asked to serve as Vice Presidents during the two terms of the Grant Administration. The first was Sally Langston who murdered her husband with a letter opener. The second was former Lieutenant governor of California and Fitz's his friend, Andrew Nichols who became incapacitated at the hand of our friend Huck. And last but not least, Susan Ross who was chosen because of her off the wall and non-threatening demeanor.
Huck had $2 billion stashed away. True or False?
Things are getting very scary for Olivia Pope during her kidnapping. Her team was desperate to get her back and they knew they needed to operate outside the confines of the law especially since the United States government has a policy of not negotiating with terrorists. The first problem was access to the auction, the second problem was the money. The bidding was going to be millions if not billions of dollars and it wasn't like Hope and Associate had any reserves stashed away with the exception of Huck who saves the day!
Mellie filibustered to save Planned Parenthood. True or False?
In an insanely controversial episode, the writers and producers of 'Scandal' tackled the issue of the defunding of Planned Parenthood. In this episode, Mellie is a new newly elected junior senator who decides to filibuster and save Planned Parenthood's funding. All the other senators are pissed because her filibuster will delay their travel plans for the holidays. Mellie stands on her feet for hours, unable to even use the bathroom, until an unlikely ally comes to her rescue—Vice President Susan Ross to whom she yields the floor just long enough to run to the bathroom before exploding. Mellie was a true hero that day.
Harrison and Marcus are brothers. True or False?
Harrison Wright was one of Olivia's original Gladiators in a Suit. He was the one who made Quinn Perkins the job offer she could not refuse—to work for OPA. Fans were first introduced to Marcus as the activist at the center of a Ferguson, scenario in which an African American male teenager was shot and killed by a white police officer. In a fun twist, Marcus is later offered an opportunity to become a Gladiator in a Suit by Quinn.
Cyrus Beene married a prostitute. True or False?
Cyrus Beene is a complicated man, but one thing was for sure, he did love his husband James Novak, although he treated him like dirt and once almost had him killed (but changed his mind at the last second). After James's murder, Cyrus began seeing a man he met in a bar named Michael, who was secretly sent to flirt with him by Elizabeth North to get secret information. He soon found out he was a male prostitute. But Michael had started to fall in love with Cyrus and this made Elizabeth retaliate by leaking pictures of Michael and Cyrus together. Ever the fixer, Olivia pushes Cyrus to marry Michael to change the narrative and avoid a career ending scandal.
The first season of scandal was just 11 episodes. True or False?
The first season of 'Scandal' was a very short season. The first episode premiered April 5, 2012 and made an immediate impact on its viewing audience. The season finale aired May 17, 2012 and the ratings for the show in its post 'Grey's Anatomy' time slot were so off the charts that the show got renewed for a second season. Shonda Rhimes was thrilled and announced it on her own Twitter page because it was the fans immediate and overwhelmingly positive response that made it happen.