What Olivia Pope Can't Fix: Scandal's Patriarchal Problem

 “Olivia Pope fixes things. That's who she is. You need fixing. I don't need to know your story. We all have a story. Everyone in this office needs fixing. You're a stray dog and Olivia took you in. Don't question it.”

She swoops in with her hair perfectly coiffed, white coat floating around her knees, ready to clean up any messes thrown her way. She is Olivia Pope and though at times she can wield enough power to bring those around her tumbling down, she is a fixer and is primarily there to clean up other people’s messes. “Television is decidedly a media that must by definition express dominant cultural expressions to be successful” and in doing so we expect the themes expressed by programming to be truthful and a reflection of society’s ideologies.[1] As a piece of popular culture, Scandal is lauded as ground breaking in the way it comments on and embraces current American politics as well as hot button issues like race and women’s rights.[2],[3]. Yet, as ground breaking as Scandal is, the show also presents women who, though multifaceted in their characterizations, are deeply rooted in many of society’s gender assumptions.  Now if you have read any of my blog posts before you would know how obsessed I am with Shonda Rhimes and the work she produces. However, today I wanted to take a different perspective on one of my favourite television shows, exploring its place in society’s understanding of how women should behave.  It is important to me as a growing academic and writer that I am able to view and create different opinions and criticisms, even if it is on a topic I hold dearly.

 Scandal’s main character Olivia Pope, as well as the supporting characters of Mellie Grant and Abby Whelan, can be seen as generalized depictions of women’s roles both domestically and in the political sphere.  Through its soap opera styled episodes Scandal perpetuates the idea that a woman’s life revolves around men and motherhood. As well a critical look at the idealized First Lady and the negative portrayal of women in politics both on screen and in reality.  As a piece of popular culture, Scandal highlights the cultural perspectives towards the role of women in society and conforms to what Ariane Lange in a recent Buzzfeed article defined as a ‘funny effect where film (and television) will feature a women but nearly everything in her life exclusively revolves around men’. Lange says, ‘Women are driven into weird relationships with their boyfriends, husbands, bosses and fathers etc’ and appear completely under their control.[4] The three female characters of Scandal that this post will be looking at can all be seen to fit into this definition somehow, therefore fitting into the ‘patriarchal logic of society’.[5]

When Scandal entered the already crowded arena of network programming in 2012, many saw it as presenting a new perspective on politics (a more ‘amoral approach’), while also giving network television its first African American leading lady in almost 40 years.[6] As it reaches its sixth season, Scandal has leant its hand to presenting current discussions of women’s and race rights.  In its most recent season the episode ‘The Lawn Chair” dealt with the animosity and attitudes of America in its depiction of multiple events of young African American men (and women) facing police brutality against the backdrop of the activist movement Black Lives Matters.[7] The episode managed to capture the feelings of many who didn’t have a voice, and amplified awareness of the mood cast across many American communities.  Scandal also makes attempts to highlight both ideas of sexism and feminism in its episodes. Throughout the series, creator Shonda Rhimes and her writers have given many of Scandal’s characters’ moments to address ideas of bias against women. For example, in “An Innocent Man”, Olivia Pope breaks down the biased idea of a woman as a bitch in the workplace after the President calls Abby, his press secretary, a bitch when she confront him on the whereabouts of Jake Ballard. [8] The overall idea being that if Abby was a man asserting his dominance and coming up with staunch ideas, they would be called “formidable, bold or right” for speaking their mind, instead of having their actions cut down by being called a bitch.[9] It’s the age old dilemma of women in the workplace: the sexism placed upon them that expects them to remain quiet and in agreement to everything that happens, so instead of being a ‘girl boss’ or a ‘badass’ for speaking their mind, women are seen as bitches for going against the grain. Evidentially the best way to sum up this flawed societal belief is through the infamous Nicki Minaj ‘Pickle Juice’ speech.

“When I’m assertive I’m a bitch. When a man is assertive he’s a boss…No negative connotation behind bossed up. But lots of negative connotation behind being a bitch. Donald Trump can say, "You're fired." Let Martha Stewart run her company the same way and be the same way. (bleep) Oh, evil (bleep). But Donald Trump, he gets to hang out with young (bleep). And have 50 different wives, and just be cool. Oh, Donald, we love ya. Donald Trump.  But when you're a girl, you have to be, like, everything. You have to be dope at what you do, but you have to be super sweet. And you have to sexy, and you have to be this, and you have to be that, and you have to be nice, and you have to...it's like, I can't be all those things at once.”
-Nicki Minaj, 2014 [10]

 The way Scandal addresses these ideas comes from the top down, via it’s creator and producer Shonda Rhimes. A woman who has ‘achieved an unprecedented level of success for a black woman in an industry full of bleak statistics of white and men dominated productions’.[11] At this point in time, Shonda Rhimes is one of the most powerful and successful women in the television industry and sets the standards as to what her shows present to its audience. Just as Rhimes breaks down industry’s gender roles, Scandal itself has often been at the forefront of highlighting women’s and race issues. However, when you dig deeper into the characterization of its women, you realize how stereotyped and rooted in traditional gender roles they actually are, due to overtly forced but hidden standards of society.

 

Kerry Washington’s Olivia Pope has been hailed as one the most powerful and in control characters that women have ever seen on television. She is the epitome of a strong woman in politics; ruthless and feminine.  Classified as a ‘fixer’, Olivia is trusted with what Filoteo describes as ‘protecting and defending the public images of the nation’s elite by ensuring their secrets remain hidden’, she fixes and cleans up the messes of those around her.[12] The way Olivia takes care of those around her, both those she works for and those she works with, makes her appear as mother figure towards many of the other characters. She is credited with rescuing her ‘gladiators’ from their previous lives and nurturing them to success. She cleans up the messes and solves the problems of her employers in order to make all seem right in the world. For someone who is supposed to be a heavy weight in the public sphere, Olivia seems stuck in her private life. 

Seeing Olivia as a mother figure to all those around her not only places her in a particular gendered role for women, but also aligns her with the role mothers have conventionally held in soap opera television programmes. Modleski describes the ideal soap opera mother as ‘a person who possesses greater wisdom than all her children and has enough sympathy to encompass any conflict while having no demands of her own’.[13]  Olivia displays this idealism to an extent; she always has a plan to fix anything, even if anyone else is in panic and mostly puts her needs to the bottom of the pile in order to let others find success. Olivia’s motherly ideal is demonstrated when she puts her own reputation on the line in order to protect the President when their affair comes to light, or when she allows Justice Verna Thorton to use her name for cancer treatment so that nobody knows she is sick.

There is also an element of racial stereotyping to Olivia’s fixing role. Springer identifies the figure of the mammy, ‘a loyal black servant who sits on a delicate balance between aggressiveness and subordination’.[14] The way Olivia aggressively defends her clients but is also subordinate to their beck and call aligns her with this mammy complex. She is only there to fix the problems and clean up the messes of those more powerful then her (often the white majority).  In “Mama Said Knock You Out’”, Olivia’s own mother is angered by the way Olivia is viewed by those around her,[15] saying: “I'd rather be a traitor than what you are, Livvie. Cleaning up those people's messes, fixing up their lives. You think you're family, but you're nothing but the help.” Not only is Olivia a mother, nurturing and caring, but she is also a maid, cleaning up others messes. These are two roles that are seen by society as gendered towards women.

Not only does Olivia’s occupation as a fixer feed into society’s gender assumptions of women but the way she is controlled and submissive to the men in her life also plays into society’s gendered ideology and the idea of hegemonic masculinity. There are three men in Olivia’s life who all seemingly have control over her. President Grant (Fitz), her married lover, Jake Ballard, her sometimes lover and B613 agent sent to watch her, and her father Rowan Pope who is also in command of B613. For a woman who strives for power and control in her public life, she lacks it acutely in her personal one.  Both love and family impact Olivia’s reasoning, leading to her making questionable decisions.  Olivia is at the beck and call of Fitz, and her love for him drives her to make choices that impact her everyday life. Olivia aids in rigging an election, breaks off her engagement with an unattached man to be with him, and allows the media to scrutinize her whole life when their affair is revealed. Her commitment to Fitz mean she is prepared to give up her career and reputation to be with him. In “Paris is Burning”, Mellie, the President’s wife, tells Olivia all that she has to give up and prepare for now that she is to be Fitz’s First Lady: “You don’t get to say what you don’t want. Not in here. Your wants, your needs, nobody cares anymore. All that matters from now on is him. You will make so many sacrifices and compromises. You won’t even feel like a real person anymore.”[16] In order to be with Fitz, Olivia allows herself to be viewed only in relation to Fitz. This links to an ideology of women only being defined by the men in their lives, which Holtzman suggests is embedded in our society.[17]

Both Rowan and Jake hold a different type of masculine power over Olivia. Rowan, as both Olivia’s father and Command, has a huge amount of control over Olivia’s life, shaping the way she views the world and the action of world around her. Whenever Olivia comes close to disobeying or not following him, Rowan uses his power and control to manipulate his daughter. In flashbacks in “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” we see that when Olivia gets too close to seeing her father’s true identity, Rowan sets out to have her then fiancé brutally injured to prove a point and warn Olivia.[18] As both a man and a father, Rowan displays hegemonic masculinity on television, which Aulette and Wittner describe as images of ‘authority, aggression and the subordination of women’.[19] Rowan has a gendered and patriarchal hold over Olivia, the idea that as a women and a daughter she should be subordinate to the man who is her father. Jake on the other hand acts as an informant about Olivia to both Rowan and Fitz. However, Jake is still able to control and hold power over Olivia, especially when he tries to take her attention away from Fitz. The rivalry between Fitz and Jake over who has the love of Olivia tends to make her a pawn, an object to be won.  Jake tries to control the way Olivia lives in order to keep her away from Fitz, under the guise of protecting her. “Randy, Red, Superfreak and Julia” shows how Jake pushes Olivia into returning to the island they escaped to and ignores any urges she had to stay and return to his idea of normality.[20] Jake does not hold control over Olivia because of his authority and aggression, but through emotional manipulation, trying to convince her that she is better off with him. Holtzman suggests that ‘television and gender interact in two critical ways, to both reflect cultural values and serve as a trusted conveyor of information and images’, meaning that the presentation of these three men in Scandal reflects the idea of hegemonic masculinity in society while providing traditional gender ideas and images to be consumed.[21]

The presentation of Scandal’s First Lady, Mellie Grant (Bellamy Young), reflects a gendered perspective towards the idealism of the First Lady and women in politics.  Mellie Grant as a character has two sides to her, the idealistic First Lady and the ambitious, driven politician.  The transition of Mellie Grant from First Lady to Senator in Seasons 4 and 5 of Scandal highlights the animosity society feels about women stepping outside the private sphere and into the public sphere.  For a First Lady Mellie seems ideal, she gave up her own thriving law career to allow Fitz to have his political career, allows her father in-law to take advantage of her if it means he will support his son’s political dreams, makes herself a fool whilst defending her marriage when rumors of Fitz’s affair spread, and fakes a miscarriage to gain Fitz the women’s vote. Even if her personal life and marriage is not perfect, to the public she is the perfect wife and mother and is applauded for doing so. Borrelli suggests this act aligns with society’s idea of gender roles and that First Ladies who do not conform to this idealism are highly criticized for disrupting the traditions of the First Lady.[22]

Mellie views her role as First Lady as a stepping stone to her own political career, a way of putting out her policy and face to the public. This has echoes of Hillary Clinton, who was criticized for her outspoken political activity when she was an American First Lady, opposed to being ‘the silent and devoted presence made visible by her husband’s masculine leadership qualities’, and received misogynist attacks during her campaign for president.[23] Mellie’s rise into the political world, to become Senator, which she refers to as her pathway to the presidency, is plagued with untraditional and rogue means. In “You Can’t Take Command” Mellie hands over the names of the B613 Jurors to Rowan, which results in their execution in order to stop him blackmailing her, so she will win the election.[24]  The struggle and deception Mellie must commit in order to make it into a political position reflects what Vaughn and Michaelson discuss about how women politicians are shown on television. They are often seen to struggle more, have more barriers or take untraditional routes. They use Commander in Chief as an example where Mackenzie Allen only becomes President after her predecessor dies of a stroke and she defies his orders to resign. Whereas Presidents who are men, such as on The West Wing, have a more assertive and steady power. If not even our imaginary communities can positively accept women in politics, how will our actual communities accept them? [25] Scandal’s Mellie Grant can be seen as just another gendered assumed view on how both a First Lady should behave, as well as the opinion society holds about women entering politics.

 The newest member of Scandal’s White House is Press Secretary Abby Whelan (Darby Stanchfield), whose outspoken and emotional behavior makes her another gendered assumed idea of women in politics. Vaughn and Michaelson discuss the idea that women are seen as being inappropriately emotional when it comes to political matters, using the image from the 2011 Osama bin Laden assassination where Hillary Clinton appears overtly more emotional than President Obama or Vice-President Biden. The idea being that women cannot deal with the hardship and high anxiety situation of politics without becoming overly emotion.[26] Abby Whelan as the White House Press Secretary is the bridge between the world of politics, the press, and the public. Abby represents the traditional gendered view of women in politics: a woman in politics who cannot handle the pressure and turns to her traditional feminine traits. Vaughn and Michaelson suggest that the portrayal of women in politics show them as ‘inappropriately emotional, frequently incompetent, primarily concerned with secondary gender-related issues and are subjected to narrative and dialogue developments that reinforce traditionally feminine characteristics.’[27]

Abby fits into these categories; she is seen as inappropriately emotional whether it’s anger or sadness. In “Heavy is the Head”, when Abby is caught off guard by the press over information she had on whether the President will be attending his wife’s swearing-in ceremony, she goes after Liz North, his Chief of Staff, for keeping her out of the loop, angered at the way she was treated.[28] This not only shows Abby flying off the handle in anger but also as incompetent at her job because she did not have the correct information for the press, making her look like a fool. As Press Secretary, Abby is characterized as the previously mentioned bossy bitch stereotype due to her driven nature. Because she holds her own beliefs and knows what she wants, she is seen as interference the patriarchal workplace system and is therefore labeled as such.  Abby also fits the stereotype of women in the work place being overly emotional and attached. 

In “Boom Goes the Dynamite”, when she worked with Olivia at Pope & Associates. Abby sabotages the arranged marriage they were assisting on due to her own feelings on the matter, another call against her professionalism.[29] The narratives that Abby’s involved with surrounds the men in her life, romantic or professional; her abusive ex-husband, David Rosen, Leo Bergen, President Grant and Cyrus Beene. When not involved in a narrative belonging to one of these men, Abby is often not fully in an episode or just in the background. This means her narratives reinforce her feminine traits of being a girlfriend or a submissive partner, not the fully dominant focus.  The way Abby fits into Vaughn and Michaelson’s portrayal of political women on television reflects the negative gendered assumptions society makes about women in politics.

Scandal allows itself to be a piece of popular television that expresses its own politics towards race and women’s rights, an attitude implemented by its own creator Shonda Rhimes, a woman with a mission to break down gendered assumptions in the television industry. However, though Rhimes attempts to set a feminist or women aimed tone to her drama, many of her characters, particularly the women, are still centered in gender assumed roles. Olivia Pope, Mellie Grant and Abby Whelan are anchored in society’s views of women both generalized as motherly and subordinate to men, as well as political as idealized First Ladies and the perceived notion that they are too emotional or incompetent to be involved in the political world. The show takes on a hegemonic masculine ideology of both politics and women. Though it is not surface level, the presentation of these women in Scandal shows how popular culture and society are deeply rooted in traditional gender roles that have dominated for decades.

Works Cited

Primary Sources:

Rhimes Shonda, Beers Betsy,Wilding Mark.Scandal.Television program.Los Angeles,CA: ABC,2012.

Episodes:

Scandal. “Boom Goes the Dynamite”022.Directed by Randy Zisk.Written by Jenna Bans.American Broadcasting Casting,February 21, 2013.

Scandal. “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”031.Directed by Allison Liddi-Brown.Written by Heather Mitchell,American Broadcasting Casting,October 10,2013.

“Mama Said Knock You Out”044.Directed by Tony Goldwyn.Written by Zahir McGhee, American Broadcasting Company,March 27,2014.

“Randy,Red,Superfreak and Julia”048,Directed by Tom Verica. Written by Shonda Rhimes,American Broadcasting Company,September 25,2014.

“An Innocent Man”053,Directed by Jeannot Szwarc.Written by Zahir McGhee,American Broadcasting Company,October 20,2014.

“The Lawn Chair”061,Directed by Tom Verica,Written by Zahi McGhee, American Broadcasting Company,March 5,2015.

“You Can’t Take Command”069,Directed by Tom Verica.Written by Shonda Rhimes & Mark Wilding,American Broadcasting Company,May 14,2015.

“Heavy is the Head”070,Directed by Tom Verica.Written by Shonda Rhimes,American Broadcasting Company,September 24,2015.

“Paris is Burning”072,Directed by Jann Turner,Written by Matt Byrne,American Broadcasting Company,October 8,2015.

Secondary Sources:

Aulette, Judy Root, and Judith G. Wittner. Gendered Worlds. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.

Giles, Trevor, and Shawn J. Giles. The Prime-time Presidency The West Wing and U.S. Nationalism. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2006.

Erigha, Maryann. "Shonda Rhimes, Scandal and Politics of Crossing Over." The Black Scholar 45, no. 1 (2015): 10-15. doi:10.1080/00064246.2014.997598.

Filoteo, J. "ABC's Scandal." Humanity & Society 38, no. 2 (2014): 212-15. doi:10.1177/0160597614532191.

Giles, Trevor, and Shawn J. Giles. The Prime-time Presidency The West Wing and U.S. Nationalism. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2006.

Gray, Emma. "Olivia Pope Just Broke DownThe Double-Standard Of The Word ‘Bitch’ on ‘Scandal’." Huffington Post, October 31, 2014.

Hoffman, Karen S., Justin S. Vaughn, and Lilly J. Goren. "The Presidential Partnership: A Gender SeeSaw." In Women and the White House:Gender,Popular Culture and Presidential Politics ,. Lexington KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2012.

Holtzman, Linda. Media Messages: What Film, Television, and Popular Music Teach Us about Race, Class, Gender, and Sexual Orientation. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 2000.

Lange, Ariane. “8 Female Movie Characters Who Were Defined By Their Relationships To Men In 2016.”  Buzzfeed,

https://www.buzzfeed.com/arianelange/what-are-moms-even?utm_term=.iiEVVYR927#.ogWvvpd3bQ. Accessed 31 December 2016.

Modleski, Tania. "The Search for Tomorrow in Today’s Soap Operas: Notes on a Feminine Narrative Form." In Feminist Television Criticism, edited by Charlotte Brunsdon, Julie D'Acci, and Lynn Spigel. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997.

Schure, Kimberly. "Review:ABC Scandal Premiere ‘Sweet Baby’." Examiner.com, April 5, 2012.

Springer, Kimberly. "Divas,Evil Black Bitches and Bitter Black Women: African American Women in Postfeminist and Post-Civil Rights Popular Culture." In Interrogating Post-Feminism: Gender and the Politics of Popular Culture, edited by Diane Negra and Yvonne Tasker. Durham N.C: Duke University Press, 2007.

Vaughn, Justin S., and Stacy Michaelson. "It’s a Man’s World: Masculinity in Pop Culture Portrayals of the President." In Women and the White House:Gender,Popular Culture and Presidential Politics ,, edited by Justin S. Vaughn and Lilly J. Goren. Lexington KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2012.

Warren, Rossalyn. “Hear The Epic Speech Nicki Minaj Gives About Sexism In her Industry (And Donald Trump).UpWorthy. http://www.upworthy.com/hear-the-epic-speech-nicki-minaj-gives-about-sexism-in-her-industry-and-donald-trump. Accessed 31 December 2016.

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[1] Trevor Parry-Giles & Shawn Parry-Giles,The Prime-Time Presidency: The West Wings and U.S nationalism (Urbana: University of Illinos Press,2006),6.

[2] Shonda Rhimes,Betsy Beers, Mark Wilding:Scandal, television program, Los Angeles, CA:ABC,2012.

[3] Janie Filoteo,“ABC’s Scandal,”Humanity & Society 38,no 2(2014),212, doi 10.1177/0160597614532191.

[4] Ariane Lange. “8 Female Movie Characters Who Were Defined By Their Relationships To Men In 2016.” Buzzfeed , 31 Dec.2016, https://www.buzzfeed.com/arianelange/what-are-moms-even?utm_term=.iiEVVYR927#.ogWvvpd3bQ

[5] Ibid.

[6] Kimberly Schure, “Review:ABC Scandal premiere ‘Sweet Baby’”,examiner.com,accessed October 13,2015,

http://www.examiner.com/review/review-abc-scandal-premiere-sweet-baby-1-01.

[7] “The Lawn Chair,”Scandal, first broadcast March 12,2015 by American Broadcasting Company,Directed by Tom Verica and Written by Zahir McGhee.

[8] “An Innocent Man,”Scandal, first broadcast October 20,2014 by American Broadcasting Company,Directed by Jeannot Szwarc and Written by Zahir McGhee.

[9] Emma Gray,”Olivia Pope Just Broke DownThe Double-Standard Of The Word ‘Bitch’ on ‘Scandal’”,accessed Octiber 13,2015, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/31/olivia-pope-bitch-scandal_n_6082686.html.

[10] Rossalyn Warren. “Hear The Epic Speech Nicki Minaj Gives About Sexism In her Industry (And Donald Trump).UpWorthy. http://www.upworthy.com/hear-the-epic-speech-nicki-minaj-gives-about-sexism-in-her-industry-and-donald-trump 31 Dec. 2016.

[11] Maryann Erigha,”Shonda Rhimes, Scandal and Politics of Crossing Over,” The Black Scholar 45, no 1(2015),10, doi: 10.1080/00064246.2014.997598

[12] “ABC’s Scandal”,212.

[13]  Tania Modleski,”The Search for Tomorrow in Today’s Soap Operas: Notes on a Feminine Narrative Form.” in Feminist Television Criticism,ed.Charlotte Brunsdon,Julie D’Acci & Lynn Spigel (Oxford:Claredon Press,1997),39.

[14] Kimberly Springer,“Divas,Evil Black Bitches and Bitter Black Women: African American Women in Postfeminist and Post-Civil Rights Popular Culture.”in Interrogating Post-Feminism: Gender and the Politics of Popular Culture,ed Yvonne Tasker & Diane Negra (Durham N.C:Duke University Pres,2007),259.

[15] “Mama Said Knock You Out,”Scandal,first broadcast March 27,2014 by American Broadcasting Company,Directed by Tony Goldwyn and Written by Zahir McGhee.

[16] “Paris is Burning,”Scandal,first broadcast October 8,2015 by American Broadcasting Company,Directed by Jann Turner and Written by Matt Byrne.

[17] Linda Holtzman,Media Messages: What Film, Television, and Popular Music teach us about Race ,Class, Gender and Sexual Orientation (Armonk N.Y:M.E Sharpe,2000),64.

[18] “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,”Scandal,first broadcast October 10,2013 by American Broadcasting Company,Directed by Allison Liddi-Brown and Written by Heather Mitchell.

[19] Judy Root Aulette& Judith G.Wittner, Gendered World, (New York:Oxford University Press,2015),413.

[20] “Randy,Red,Superfreak and Julia,”Scandal,first broadcast September 25,2014 by American Broadcasting Company,Directed by Tom Verica and Written by Shonda Rhimes.

[21] Holtzman,Media Messages,76.

[22] “MaryAnne Borrelli,”High Culture, Popular Culture and the Modern First Ladies,” in Women and the White House:Gender,Popular Culture and Presidential Politics ,ed.Justin S. Vaughn & Lilly J.Goren (Lexington:The University Press of Kentucky,2012) ,230.

[23] Karen S. Hoffman,“The Presidential Partnership: A Gender SeeSaw,” in Women and the White House:Gender,Popular Culture and Presidential Politics ,,ed.Justin S. Vaughn & Lilly J.Goren (Lexington:The University Press of Kentucky,2012),274

[24] “You Can’t Take Command,”Scandal,first broadcastMay 14,2015 by American Broadcasting Company, Directed by Tom Verica and Written by Shonda Rhimes & Mark Wilding

[25] Justin S. Vaughn & Stacy Michaelson “It’s a Man’s World: Masculinity in Pop Culture Portrayals of the President,” in Women and the White House:Gender,Popular Culture and Presidential Politics ,,ed.Justin S. Vaughn & Lilly J.Goren (Lexington:The University Press of Kentucky,2012),140.

[26]Ibid,135,136.

[27] Ibid,139.

[28] “Heavy is the Head,”Scandal,first broadcast September 24,2015 by American Broadcasting Company,,Directed by Tom Verica and Written by Shonda Rhimes.

[29] “Boom Goes the Dynamite,”Scandal,first broadcast February 21,2013 by American Broadcasting Company,Directed by Randy Zisk and Written by Jenna Bans.