Scandal isn’t looking to end its run on ABC any time soon, but that doesn’t mean the show and its behind the scenes team isn’t always thinking about the show’s future — and its history as well. The upcoming 100th episode of the hit Shondaland show will flash back to the beginning of the show and Fitz’s election, but with a twist. Instead of seeing the story as fans know it, the episode will center around an alternate reality where Olivia Pope and the team never rigged the election and instead played it straight.
At Paleyfest in Los Angeles, the entire cast got together to reminisce about how far they’ve come since the beginning and what is in store for the out-of-the-box episode. President Fitz himself said of the curious episode,
“The 100th episode is insane. This is a ‘what if?’ episode. You’re seeing an alternate reality if things had not gone the way they went. It’s not a standalone. It actually informs your understanding [of these characters] when we get back to our normal Scandal reality.”
That “normal” Scandal reality of course involves Papa Pope in danger, Olivia under a constant threat by Rowan’s blackmailers, and Huck lying on a hotel room floor bleeding out after being double crossed by a secret agent masquerading as his new girlfriend. All of that, of course, is either being orchestrated by Darby Stanchfield’s Abby or she at least knows the full extent of the craziness. So it’s not exactly smooth sailing for Olivia Pope and associates at the moment.
Even though the show is taking a break from it’s major storylines to look at a warped version of the same world, that doesn’t mean there won’t be some answers given during the 100th episode. Joshua Malina, who plays David on the show, revealed “We have some fantasy fulfillment, there’s some dread fulfillment” which doesn’t sound too comforting but does sound exciting.Stanchfield added, “Where it’s placed in our season, with the Huck storyline getting really heavy, it’s oxygen to this fire and you laugh because you need to.” She certainly has that right!
The major episode will air on April 13th at 9pm on ABC.