SCANDAL: TRANSFER OF POWER {SIXTH SEASON FINALE} (TV)
Summary
The sixth season finale in this drama/political thriller about the Pope & Associates crisis management firm in Washington D.C. In the second episode of this two-part conclusion, Olivia informs an angry Fitz that they cannot spend their last night together fighting and invites him into her bed, but Maya soon removes her tracking device and disappears. Mellie, aware that she is in serious danger, decides to go ahead with the public inauguration, but with increased security and with the children kept safely away. On Fitz's orders, Rosen drafts an executive order to set aside money for "defense" in a blind trust, and as the morning of the inauguration dawns, Cyrus bitterly watches the crowds gather from home. The team continues desperately searching for Maya's employer and learns from her phone records that "the call is coming from inside the house" and there is a mole within the administration. Maya arrives and kills one of the snipers, taking over his position, and she calls her daughter and coolly asks her to move aside so that she can complete her kill. Olivia begs her not to go through with it, and Maya implies that Mellie is not her real target at all – but she is shot by Eli just in time.
Mellie's inauguration goes off without a hitch as Maya is rushed off to surgery, and Olivia angrily tells Mellie and Fitz that they have just possibly killed their one lead to uncovering the conspiracy. Quinn tells Abby that she is planning to depart OPA and start her life over elsewhere, admitting that she has not told Charlie about the baby, and when Olivia learns of Fitz's final executive order, she realizes that Eli has convinced him to restart B-613. He swears that he can "make a real difference" with the program and can now stay by her side rather than moving to Vermont, but she declares that she does not wish him to stay in D.C. "like this." Realizing the error of his ways, he rescinds the order and tells Olivia that she has "saved" him, and as he prepares to depart Washington, the two share a passionate kiss in front of the astonished pressed, openly confirming their relationship for the first time.
Olivia scrambles to determine Maya's real target before the inaugural ball, and when she views the footage of Frankie's assassination, she realizes that Luna is behind it all. She confronts the new VP, demanding to know if there is a "Plan B," but Luna boasts that she is necessary to Mellie's administration and cannot be disposed of. Olivia, furious to realize that this is true, visits Maya in the hospital and admits that she has no ideas left, but Maya reminds her that the White House is "her baby" and urges her to fight for it. Abby refuses to take over Quinn's job and offers to help raise the baby with her, and Charlie is stunned and delighted by the good news. Mellie surprises Cyrus and asks him to be her date to the ball, and Olivia finally comes up with a plan and calmly instructs Luna to take some deadly pills that will bring on a heart attack, allowing her to die with dignity and spare her children the shame of learning of her treachery. Luna frantically explains that she had Frankie killed in order to make him a martyr, comparing herself to Jackie Kennedy and stating that she can now enact his plans as his noble widow, but Olivia reminds her that she is not "pure evil" and has no other choice. Trapped, Luna takes the pills and dies shortly thereafter, and Olivia quickly arranges for an unaware Mellie to sign the B-613 executive order and informs Eli that she herself will run it and that he is now "retired." Stunned by her tricks, Eli tells her that she is now "the predator," and when Olivia updates Cyrus, he offers some very familiar comments about Jackie, revealing that he was behind the entire plot to kill Frankie and Mellie, intending to make himself Vice-President – and Olivia, realizing that she now holds all of the power, agrees to nominate him. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: November 30, 1999 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:43:03
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 129867
- GENRE: Drama, mystery/suspense
- SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection - Drama; Drama, mystery/suspense; Politics
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 2012-2018
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Betsy Beers … Executive Producer
- Tom Verica … Executive Producer
- Shonda Rhimes … Executive Producer, Created by
- Mark Fish … Executive Producer, Writer
- Merri D. Howard … Co-Executive Producer
- Judy Smith … Co-Executive Producer
- Austin Guzman … Co-Executive Producer
- Zahir McGhee … Co-Executive Producer
- Matt Byrne … Co-Executive Producer, Writer
- Scott Collins … Supervising Producer
- Chris Van Dusen … Supervising Producer
- Paul William Davies … Producer
- Raamla Mohamed … Producer
- Brad Yacobian … Co-Producer
- Holden Chang … Co-Producer
- Sarah Rissmiller … Co-Producer
- Abby Chambers … Associate Producer
- Akua Murphy … Associate Producer
- Tony Goldwyn … 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, Diego "Huck" Muñoz
- Jeff Perry … Cast, Cyrus Beene
- Joshua Malina … Cast, David Rosen
- Bellamy Young … Cast, Mellie Grant
- Joe Morton … Cast, Rowan Pope
- Cornelius Smith Jr. … Cast, Marcus Walker
- Tony Goldwyn … Cast, President Fitzgerald Grant III
- George Newbern … Cast, Charlie
- Khandi Alexander … Cast, Maya Pope
- Tessie Santiago … Cast, Luna Vargas
- Mackenzie Astin … Cast, Noah Baker
- Laila Ayad … Cast, Charlotte Reid
- Jesse D. Goins … Cast, Chief Justice
- June Carryl … Cast, Plainclothes NSA Agent
- Jackie Houston … Cast, Inaugural Committee Chairman
- John Lee Ames … Cast, Creepy Dude
- Jonathan S. Grady … Cast, Sniper #1
- Jennifer May … Cast, Sniper #2
- Yarett Harper … Cast, Sniper #3