WARNING:
The following article contains major Scandal spoilers in light of the shocking event that highlighted this show’s wildly anticipated return on Thursday night.
Do not read any further if you wish to remain in the dark about what went down on Scandal Season 6 Episode 1.
Okay? Ready? Warning heeded?
Good, let us start here in that case: HOLY MOTHEREFFIN CRAP!!!!!!!
On the first new episode of this beloved drama since last May, viewers learned early on that Mellie lost the Presidential election to Frankie Vargas by just a few thousand votes.
Yes, a controversial male candidate defeated a female candidate for President by a razor thin margin.
The episode was filmed about six months ago, so while the election storyline may have been inspired by Donald Trump taking on Hillary Clinton in the real life Oval Office race… the result was more prescient than reactive.
What happened next, however, is what left jaws around the country dropped to the ground and what has led to significant backlash against the Shonda Rhimes-created series:
Vargas was shot while giving a speech on national TV.
He was taken to the hospital, where he quickly flatlined and died.
As mentioned above, the premiere was filmed several months ago.
Nevertheless, Scandal is under a bit of fire at the moment for even daring to go here; for actually airing a plot that centers around a Presidential assassination during a political environment so fraught with tension and anger.
The episode was originally slated to air last Thursday night, a day before Trump was sworn as POTUS, until ABC moved it back at the last minute so the network could air a special about Trump’s family.
Was this postponement related to the delicate subject matter?
No, ABC entertainment president Channing Dungey tells TV Line.
“Here’s the thing: It is a fictional story about fictional characters in a fictional world, that very much builds off of everything we did in Season 5,” she explains.
Dungey does acknowledge a “weird similarity” to what happened in the actual election on November 8 between Trump an Hillary Clinton, but emphasizes that this storyline isn’t even about the late President-Elect himself.
It’s about Cyrus (who Fitz appointed as his successor!) and whether he actually planned the murder.
“That’s an inciting incident that’s about plot,” Dungey says, adding:
“Because what the episode is about is something completely different. It’s about Cyrus’ complicity, or not, [in his running mate’s murder]. So while I feel like, ‘Sure, there’s a tiny bit of an eerie something,’ the story we’re telling is a very different story.
“Again, it’s a fictional story in a fictional universe. And it’s a great story for Scandal.”
Star Kerry Washington was also asked about the parallel between this stunning turn of election events and the equally stunning result that has gobsmacked America.
“I think it’s important that people know that the episode was written a long time before the outcome of this past November. I think that’s important,” Washington tells Entertainment Weekly, adding in more detail:
“It doesn’t get lost on me every day that for years the culture of this show was that the things we say and do are outrageous and unfathomable, and now we’re having to change plot lines and reconsider air dates because it’s too close to what’s actually happening or could be misconstrued as such.
“That is a reality that I am consistently trying to wrap my head around.”
It’s true. Real life is even more bizarre and harder to predict that Scandal.
That sort of says it all, doesn’t it?
We’ve included a link below so that readers can watch Scandal online in order to put this premiere in perspective:
Does the series deserve any kind of criticism for killing off a Trump-like character?
Or are critics reading too much into what, at the end of the day, is merely a TV show?
And also: can you believe Donald Trump is President of the United States?!? Like, all of the United States?!?