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SCANDAL: THE STATE OF THE UNION (TV)

Summary

One in this drama/political thriller about the Pope & Associates crisis management firm in Washington D.C.

Cyrus attempts to coerce and blackmail Olivia into doing a favor for him: a “hero couple,” James and Lisa Elliot, are slated to attend the upcoming State of the Union Address, but cannot be located, and Olivia is called in to recover them. She refuses until Cyrus threatens to tell President Grant that she is “pining for him.” James Elliot is a popular war hero noted for his daring escape from a POW camp while on tour of duty in the Middle East, and Lisa, an elementary school teacher, was paralyzed in a school shooting while rescuing her class, although dozens still perished. Their wedding received worldwide coverage and they used the publicity to voice their vehement anti-gun sentiments. Olivia travels to New Mexico to see them in person and finds them in the middle of a violent argument about their various attempts to elicit sympathy. Olivia interrupts them and tries to convince them that their presence at the State of the Union is vital to garnering support for gun control legislation, and that this must take precedence over their squabble.

In Washington, Elizabeth and Vice President Nichols are upset that President Grant has decided to make gun control the centerpiece of his State of the Union Address. Mellie continues to grieve over the death of her son, although tabloid newspapers get photographs of her eating potato chips in front of his grave and claim that she has lost her mind. Abby attempts to placate reporters when they question her about this at a press conference. Meanwhile, Jake speaks to David to get information about Salif and Harrison’s deaths, although David is unable to uncover any information. Jake believes that Rowan was responsible, but David has an upcoming Senate confirmation hearing for the office of Attorney General and is unwilling to be associated with Jake. Relations between Quinn and Huck are strained due to their history together. Olivia handles the press for the Elliots in order to avoid putting them together. When Abby hears her use a phrase on television identical to one that Cyrus told her about her press conference, Abby becomes incensed and tells Olivia off for apparently trying to tell her how to do her job. She also informs Olivia of the prior sexual relationship between Quinn and Huck; she had not heard of it before and is quite surprised.

President Grant informs Mellie of the media attention surrounding her and apologizes to her, wishing to respect her desire for privacy. He asks her to attend the State of the Union, believing that her absence would only fuel further media speculation. Mellie laughs at him and says she no longer cares what anyone thinks about her, and says he is only asking her to attend to satisfy his own ego. Cyrus speaks to Mellie alone, voicing his resentment that she views the loss of her child as more significant than he loss of his husband. Abby coaches David for his Senate confirmation hearing and he follows her advice closely. James and Lisa stay in separate rooms, watched by Huck and Quinn respectively. Olivia tries to call over Jake to her apartment, but they have an argument about their respective roles in their relationship. Elizabeth uncovers evidence of the domestic abuse accusation against David and brings it to Cyrus, who tells her that it is largely unimportant despite her protests otherwise. Cyrus brings this to David and Abby’s attention, although they are all aware that the evidence was fabricated. Despite this, Cyrus believes that there is nothing they can do and that this will ruin his chance to become Attorney General. Later, a stranger hits on Cyrus at a bar and he declines, although he is unable to put his reasons into words.

Quinn discovers that Huck and James have gotten drunk together. She pulls him aside into the bathroom and they have an argument about their past relationship, including Quinn’s efforts to reunite Huck with his family and Huck torturing Quinn. During their argument Lisa apparently stabs James in the thigh with a corkscrew. Olivia arrives and tries to resolve the situation, although James and Lisa no longer care about the State of the Union Address and will not listen to her. She gets Huck to admit his relationship with Quinn, although he says very little about it. David manages to extricate himself from his own predicament by digging through his files and discovering evidence of massive bribes taken by one of the Senators on his confirmation panel, thus blackmailing him into ignoring the evidence of the domestic abuse. James and Lisa refuse to attend the State of the Union, and Olivia advises them to get a divorce, promising to use her influence to get them “a way out” and a means of getting recognition and pay for individual speaking engagements.

Abby goes to confront Mellie on her own and gives her a speech trying to get her back to her “job” as First Lady, and pointing out that most Americans do not have the privilege of taking as much time as she has to grieve for her dead son. Olivia delivers the Elliots to the White House on the night of the State of the Union, and while there she encounters President Grant and Abby. He requests that he be left alone with Olivia briefly and asks her to look over the closing remarks of his speech. She reluctantly does so and suggests that he discuss Mellie and his son’s death in the speech. He takes her advice and goes off-script to speak honestly about his feelings and those of his family. Mellie is in attendance as well, and is clearly affected by President Grant’s remarks. He manages to spin these remarks in such a way as to support his gun control policies. After the Address, Mellie wanders the halls of the White House before suffering an emotional breakdown and collapsing to the floor, crying. President Grant tries to apologize and comfort her. Jake’s investigation into Harrison’s death leads to evidence that Charlie was involved. Olivia comes to visit him and they end up having sex. Cyrus locates the stranger at the bar from earlier and they go to a hotel room to have sex, although Cyrus’s mood changes when he discovers that the man is a prostitute named Michael. He gets ready to leave, apologizing to Michael, but ends up staying with him. Unbeknownst to Cyrus, Michael was hired to sleep with him by Elizabeth for some nefarious unknown purpose. Includes commercials.

Details

  • NETWORK: ABC
  • DATE: November 30, 1999 9:00 PM
  • RUNNING TIME: 0:59:58
  • COLOR/B&W: Color
  • CATALOG ID: 117107
  • GENRE: Drama, mystery/suspense
  • SUBJECT HEADING: LGBT Collection - Drama; African-American Collection - Drama; Drama, mystery/suspense; Politics
  • SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 2012-2018
  • COMMERCIALS:
    • TV – Commercials – Aleve pain relief
    • TV – Commercials – Apple smartphones
    • TV – Commercials – Chevrolet automobiles
    • TV – Commercials – Coca-Cola soft drinks
    • TV – Commercials – Cottonelle toilet paper
    • TV – Commercials – Enterprise car rental service
    • TV – Commercials – Exxon-Mobil oil
    • TV – Commercials – Fage Greek yogurt
    • TV – Commercials – Google app
    • TV – Commercials – Hulu video streaming service
    • TV – Commercials – JCPenney department stores
    • TV – Commercials – Latuda antidepressant
    • TV – Commercials – Liberty Mutual insurance
    • TV – Commercials – Linzess constipation medicine
    • TV – Commercials – Lyrica diabetic nerve pain medicine
    • TV – Commercials – Nivea body lotion
    • TV – Commercials – TJ Maxx apparel
    • TV – Commercials – Tidy Cats cat litter
    • TV – Commercials – Ziploc plastic bags
    • TV – Commercials – “Annabelle” motion picture
    • TV – Commercials – “Gone Girl” motion picture
    • TV – Commercials – “The Book of Life” motion picture
    • TV – Promos – “Blackish”
    • TV – Promos – “Cristela”
    • TV – Promos – “Dancing with the Stars”
    • TV – Promos – “Forever”
    • TV – Promos – “How to Get Away With Murder”
    • TV – Promos – “Last Man Standing”
    • TV – Promos – “Once Upon a Time”
    • TV – Promos – “Resurrection”
    • TV – Promos – “Revenge”
    • TV – Promos – “Scandal”
    • TV – Promos – “Selfie”
    • TV – Promos – “Shark Tank”

CREDITS

  • Mark Wilding … Executive Producer
  • Betsy Beers … Executive Producer
  • Shonda Rhimes … Executive Producer, Created by
  • Tom Verica … Co-Executive Producer
  • Merri D. Howard … Co-Executive Producer
  • Allan Heinberg … Co-Executive Producer
  • Mark Fish … Co-Executive Producer
  • Judy Smith … Co-Executive Producer
  • Heather Mitchell … Co-Executive Producer, Writer
  • Scott Collins … Producer
  • Matt Byrne … Producer
  • Zahir McGhee … Co-Producer
  • Noah Esvlin … Co-Producer
  • Holden Chang … Associate Producer
  • Jenna Bans … Consulting Producer
  • Allison Liddi-Brown … Director
  • Chad Fischer … Music by
  • Kerry Washington … Cast, Olivia Pope
  • Scott Foley … Cast, Jake Ballard
  • Darby Stanchfield … Cast, Abby Whelan
  • Katie Lowes … Cast, Quinn Perkins
  • Guillermo Diaz … Cast, Huck
  • Jeff Perry … Cast, Cyrus Beene
  • Joshua Malina … Cast, David Rosen
  • Bellamy Young … Cast, Mellie Grant
  • Tony Goldwyn … Cast, President Fitzgerald Grant III
  • Portia de Rossi … Cast, Elizabeth North
  • Mary McCormack … Cast, Lisa Elliot
  • Jon Tenney … Cast, Vice President Andrew Nichols
  • George Newbern … Cast, Charlie
  • Matthew Del Negro … Cast, Michael
  • Josh Randall … Cast, James Elliot
  • Michael Bofshever … Cast, Senator Watson
  • Rick Fitts … Cast, Senator Bryan Rich
  • Kimrie Lewis-Davis … Cast, TV Reporter
  • Dinora Walcott … Cast, Reporter Carol
  • Chris Wolfe … Cast, Reporter Jim
  • Liana Mendoza … Cast, Secret Service Agent
  • Jack Guzman … Cast, Secret Service Agent Dave
  • Seth Laird … Cast, Secret Service Agent #2
  • Matthew Bohrer … Cast, Male Staffer
  • Sara Amini … Cast, Female Staffer
  • Amrapali Ambegaokar … Cast, Reporter #1
  • Asante Jones … Cast, Reporter #2
  • Jewel Greenburg … Cast, Reporter #3