May 30, 2024 • 51 mins
The one-and-only Shonda Rhimes joins the podcast this week to talk about her favorite moments of Season 3, the season she lovingly calls “The Hell Or High Water” season. Plus, did Shonda and the writers know where the series was headed? And then Katie and Guillermo break down the most horrific episode of Scandal yet!
What do you think, Gladiators? Email us at UTT@Shondaland.com or leave us a voicemail at 805-298-1474 to share your thoughts about the show, about food, about life, but mostly about the show. We would love to hear from you!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Unpacking the Toolbox is a production of Shondaland Audio in
partnership with iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
The sand Watch, Yaz and Katie Wells.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
We do this stream of consciousness thing sometimes randomly for
episodes of Unpacking the Toolbox. We learned it from the
lovely Hanna Simone because we did a crossover episode on
her New Girl podcast and she did ours, and she
did this freaking fun ass thing where she just she
was like, I did a stream of consciouness consciousness while
(00:52):
I was watching the episode, and she just wrote down
what popped into her head while she was watching the episode,
and me and Katie fell in love with it. And
this is the first time I'm doing it about a
person and not an episode. So but also like reading
it back Katie, I was like, this is giving me poem.
Also like I did stream of consciousness. But then there's like,
are you a poem?
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Who?
Speaker 1 (01:14):
I was like, what am I doing? You're upsella Alan Ginsberg? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (01:18):
Look at all right?
Speaker 1 (01:20):
So here goes Shonda Rhimes. A collector, an observer, a
watcher of lives, of minds, of things good and bad,
A quiet human, a quiet soul. I have never met
a more quiet woman with the loudest mind and the
loudest brain, and with the bestest skill to weave those
collections she collects into stories that mesmerize us, that move us,
(01:41):
that make us stand by the coolers at work and
chatter with our friends and even foes about what we
watched the night before and what we'll watch on Thursday
at night after four That Thursday stuff changed my life.
She took a chance on me and shined the light
on my quietness, on my weirdness, and turned it into
a character. Or rather, she created this character and then
chose me to play it, and I melted into him. Shonda,
(02:04):
I have never felt more intimidated by someone in my life.
But that is only because I want to do good
by you, by your brilliance, your words, from miks see
Me and McDreamy to Olitz and o'lake and finally, with
the win of Huckleberry Quinn, from you, so much more
to come out there for the take.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
That's it, my godde hotter.
Speaker 5 (02:27):
As if you couldn't be cooler or hotter, or more
interesting or more just the best human I've ever known.
You're also a brilliant poet. Is everyone losing their minds.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
I'm losing my mind right now.
Speaker 5 (02:39):
Also, Seawanna is definitely listening to this episode and you
will definitely hear it.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Yeah, so good, good, good good.
Speaker 5 (02:44):
That was so beautiful. I mean, our listeners are Yesterday.
Is the one and only Shonda Rhymes.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
The queen, the one and only, and she is.
Speaker 5 (02:53):
The creator of Huckleberry Quinn, the creator of Our Baby
or Hawk like the Hook is one of the best
care in all of television history.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
In my opinion, I'm so lucky. We're so lucky to
play these characters. She's also the queen of like all
these stands right like oh late golits like mc steemy, McDreamy,
all like all these like oh my nicknames that we've
given these characters because people deeply fall in love with them.
This is the woman that created these people, like these
these stories.
Speaker 5 (03:22):
And these relationships that people are just like obsessed with.
It's just so and season three, you know, I'm so
glad she's coming on because season three was so pivotal.
I feel like this was where scandal is scandal, you
know what I mean. Like one was one two we
were like kind of getting out to the races and
by season three, we were just like a fucking winning horse.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
Just do you like my horse metaphor? Right now? I
don't know where working, but you know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Yeah, this is this is the season where you felt like,
oh shit, one of us is gonna get struck by lightning,
one of us is gonna be off, and one of
us was a few of.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
Us were dead.
Speaker 5 (04:00):
Jerry Graham dead, fucking James Novak dead dead. Oh that
hot girl that looks like Marika dead dead?
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Also dead, like, oh oh.
Speaker 5 (04:12):
The guy I killed at the beginning dead, Sanhan dead?
Speaker 1 (04:17):
That's right? Yo? Did we We should have asked got
about that, but we had him on the podcast before
we did that episode.
Speaker 5 (04:23):
Next time him on again. We have to be like,
remember that hot B six thirteen girl? She looked just
like Marika?
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Was that intentional?
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Supposed to be?
Speaker 4 (04:32):
They could be sisters or something?
Speaker 5 (04:34):
Yeah, okay, everyone, this episode is so great. But before
G and I break down episode three eight, which is
a personal fave of mine, we have an amazing, amazing guest.
She's Bridgerton, She's Queen Charlotte, she is Gray's Anatomy, she's
private practice, she's how to get and she's Scandal.
Speaker 4 (04:56):
You guys know who it is the one to know.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
That Shonda wh our Queen Bee.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
It's seander Ess.
Speaker 5 (05:04):
But we are at the time of this recording talking
to her the day of the Bridgerton season three release.
How is it feeling? Are we excited talk to us
about Bridgerton?
Speaker 3 (05:14):
It's feeling good, you know what I was thinking, like,
this is the season three release and I'm here to
talk about season three Scandal.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Oh that's right, yes, yes, So.
Speaker 5 (05:22):
Shaanna doesn't do short shows like just so everyone knows,
even though it's funny, like Queen Charlotte was obviously a
mini series. Inventing Anna was a miniseriies that I got
to be on, and I remember when you walked in,
you were like, this is really weird, Like I only
do shows that laughed like forever.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Seven years yeah, or more.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
So Bridgerton in season three? Does it feel new still?
Speaker 1 (05:48):
You know?
Speaker 3 (05:48):
It does feel new because we have Jess Brown l
now from Scandal when our Scandal writer's running the show,
and so it's got like a fresh take and it's
been really fun.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
That's so exciting.
Speaker 5 (05:57):
What can we can you tease anything as a massive
step from you, I'm a freaking massive Bridgerton fan.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
I could see nothing except you're really gonna love it.
It's a very sexy season and Lady Whistledown gets her due.
I love Lady whistle Down.
Speaker 5 (06:09):
Oh you know what I'll be doing all weekend, We'll
just be not leaving my house and just watching that. Okay,
So take us through season three of Scandal. Gladiators was
the Juggernaut season.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
It was like, I know because I went back to
look at all the episode names, so like refresh myself,
and I was like, oh my god, this is the season.
This happened, and that happened, and this happened was my
favorite seasons. Really me too.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
It's such a great season. I mean, major characters die,
major characters murder. I mean it's a wild, wild season.
And we were sort of we were in our groove, right.
I think people really started to scan yeah and the characters,
and it was such an exciting time.
Speaker 5 (06:55):
Do you remember, Seana, Like, what did your days at
this point? Like, okay, Gray's is obviously the Juggernaut. Now
you've got two oh my massive juggernauts happening at one time.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Well, we also had we also had had to get
away with Murder.
Speaker 4 (07:11):
Oh my god, that was all this, I think.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Yeah, yeah, it was like the very beginning of it.
Speaker 5 (07:16):
I think, right, yeah, my gosh, what was your day
to day like at this point? Are you sitting in
the Scandal writer's room all day? Or are you like
hiding in your office? Like what was a day to
day like in Shonda Rhime's life at this moment in time.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
I feel like I was running around, like running around
like a crazy person because I was popping in the
Scandal's writer's room to talk about what we're going to
do next and to hear all their ideas and pitches.
I was in my office rewriting whatever script was coming up.
I was also in my office editing whichever the next
cut was to get on the air in like four days,
and then I was going to like prep meetings and
(07:54):
talking to Tom like it was crazy.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
It was.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
You always wonder why I was never like sitting on set.
I was like, do you I didn't have time for
that because I was also editing every episode to Gray's
Anatomy at that point too.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Oh my god, I remember you. You sat on set
with Betsy Beers during the pilot and that was probably
the only time that you had time to eat that
I was.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Until me did the finale, until he did the final episode.
Speaker 5 (08:17):
You came down a few times and we would be like,
which is the right move? I think also like you
came down, I think for our seven fifty two monologues
in season yes, like there were a cop like a
handful in seven or eight years that you came down.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
I wanted to see in person myself, you know what
I mean?
Speaker 5 (08:35):
Yes, yes, And also I think what you're what I've
picked up on is there is this sort of at
this point, which was already happening, there's like a real
Shonda effect, which is people can't really and I love
you so much, you know, I love you, but people
can't do their jobs when Shonda comes to set because
everyone is literally shaking in their shoes. I want to
(08:57):
meet you and scared and intimidated and all this stuff.
Speaker 4 (08:59):
So it's better, Yeah, you know, it's better.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
I learned that, and I got to tell you like
I learned it early on. I mean like maybe season
six on grades, I would go to set and everything
would stop and I'd go down to scandal and everybody.
By then it was even worse because I had three nights,
you know, three whole episodes of TG I T and
people would be so nervous and like and I would comment.
I would say like, oh nice wall, and they'd be
(09:24):
like you hate them all, Like oh my god, We've
got to you know, you know what I mean. They
were trying so hard to please, and I was like,
I'm basically messing up work here, so I'm not coming.
Speaker 5 (09:32):
Yes, yes, I remember you came down to inventing Anna
one day and everyone was like, oh my god.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
Everyone who'd worked on the show with.
Speaker 5 (09:41):
You and at exchange a million emails on like clothing
choices and.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
Were like, do you think I can get a photo?
Speaker 5 (09:47):
Like production stopped because everyone needed to get their picture
for their family.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
It was nerve wracking, and I always feel so bad
because honestly, I feel like I'm interrupting people having been
able to do their creative process their way. So I'm like,
I'm not going down there unless it's an emergency.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
You need to go through like special effects like make
up before you go to chests again and just go
incognitiugno so people don't know what's you yeah, and they'll
be there. I might try that, Yeah, you should seandy,
didn't you You were also you were working on these shows,
and then you were also raising kids at this time, right,
did you already have your daughter?
Speaker 3 (10:21):
No, I was working on these shows. Emerson was two
in season three, Beckett was one in season three. Yeah,
Harper was like a like, it's starting to be a teenager.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
It was crazy, which is not an easy phase for kids.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
I would bring you know what, Emmy was amazing because
I could tuck Emmy under my arm bring her to
the office because she was was this like silent observant baby,
and we would sit in the writer's room. She could
sit in the writer's room like all.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Day really and be perfectly fine and not make a peep.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
Right.
Speaker 5 (10:50):
I remember her being at a table read, like you know,
at the beginning of one and she just was so
observiing and like.
Speaker 4 (10:56):
She would come to disablery and start of Buddha feeling.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
I remember remember one day I took her from a
Gray's Anatomy table read in the car straight to a
Scandal table read and she just sat there the whole time,
was like, this is so interesting. Beckett, on the other hand,
was like I got a scream right now, So she
didn't get to jump much.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Beer. I was just gonna say, those kids hearing Betsy
Beers do the the stage directions probably low them into asleep. Right,
It was like a lullab them.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
Yeah we should have. It was one of my most
favorite thing ever, Betsy doing this the stage directions.
Speaker 5 (11:31):
I love that stage directions. Oh, she's the most. I've
done so many table reads in my life, and there
is nothing like a table.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
Okay. So I called season three the come hell or
high Water season because it starts with saying that, and
it basically ends with Papa Pope saying that.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 5 (11:54):
And season three is where Carrie also was pregnant. In
this season, Carrie was pregnant, Yeah, and I mean, bless
her and completely different than me. I feel like I
watched this season and I mean, you can you know
she's in some lovely, incredible jackets with some incredible purses
and stuff like that.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Handbags in the world, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (12:14):
The biggest handbags in the world.
Speaker 5 (12:15):
And she's behind a lamp or she's behind it whatever,
which I mean only Kerrie Washington, like Quinn, you could
have never hidden a freaking day of my pregnancy. But
what what was like, do you remember making a decision.
I'm just curious, like where Olivia like was not going
to be pregnant, Like how did that?
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Well?
Speaker 3 (12:34):
I knew from the beginning that Olivia Pope was not
a person who wanted to have kids, do you know
what I mean? I feel like she had been so
traumatized by her childhood, and I was like, we certainly
can't be doing the season with Papa Pope and her pregnant,
Like it was just two. It didn't make sense psychologically,
and so I was like, we got to hide it.
I was thrilled she was pregnant, celebrated it every time
anybody got pregnant.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
But I was like, I know you did, and I
was like, I don't.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
Care if she kind of looks like we just don't
figure out how high and Tom Barica was amazing and
hiding that pregnancy.
Speaker 5 (13:04):
Wow, I remember that that Olivia Pope, even in her creation,
was someone that was that was not going to be
That's not a character trait of her. She was not
going to have a kid, which like, thankfully for Quinn,
that was not the case for you.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
Quinn was very normal, which is so funny considering who
Quinn sort of turns into but Quinn was very normal.
Speaker 5 (13:21):
But white picket fence kids the whole and this crazy
job of pencil skirts. Okay, also in season three, I
think for me it is the greatest guest starring cast.
Like we have Leo Bergen in full effect, we have
the Daniel Douglas murder. We have Lisaudre Andrew, we have Lisa,
(13:48):
we have Sally Langston, we have Hollis Doyle back. Like
it is like which guest star could get an Emmy
because they were all just bringing their a game and
were written the most credible characters. This is the season
where James dies. Can you tell us anything about this
(14:08):
was where we all realized, oh shit, none of us
are safe and this is.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
The greatest job.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
But also he died in I mean he got the Emmy, right,
maybe you want to get killed off?
Speaker 3 (14:19):
Yes? Yeah? No?
Speaker 5 (14:19):
Never How do you know, like, how do you know
that this is something that happens? I remember you saying
something like I'm the protector of the story and the
keeper of like the characters, Like how do you know
when something like that is gonna is the right move?
Speaker 3 (14:35):
I just know, I mean I don't know how to
tell you why I know, I just know. Like I
would go into the room and be like, okay, so
James is going to die, and they the room was
like what is wrong with you? Like Cyrus and James
and Lovelah and they were going on, and I was like,
it's the story, Like we're there now, like that's where
we are in the story. Also, you know, I was
actually with Dan Bukatinski this weekend.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Oh yeah, right, I saw a picture on Instagram.
Speaker 4 (15:00):
Yes, the world is crazy, okay, But we were.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
Talking, like Dan was talking to me and we ended
up talking about the episode where he dies, and he
talked about how emotional it made him just listening to
Scott Fuley's speech, the whole thing, you know, where he
sits next to him. It was it was great.
Speaker 5 (15:15):
Oh that ending is I mean, there are so many
this season between Sally Langston's like yum yum, Piggy Yum yum. Chris,
She's losing her mind, like the devil has taken over her.
She feels like God isn't talking to her anymore because
she's a murderer. Scott Jake Ballard is next to next
(15:36):
to James as he's gurgling these last gurgles and he's like,
I'm so sorry, this had to be so painful, but
we had to make it look like it was, you know,
a murder, and then I wasn't involved. I mean, it
was just like yeah, oh h.
Speaker 4 (15:50):
But you just know when you know.
Speaker 5 (15:51):
You're like, nope, James is gonna die. That's it. It's
the way that it has to go. And I and
you have to how hard that is as your job
that you have to make it not personal like you're
friends with Dan.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
But that's why I'm the keeper of the story. Like
I'm like, I can't like, I can't take any of
that in account because the world I'm protecting is the
story world and I'm the only one protecting at one.
That's my job. So I feel like you make these
decisions and you make them completely outside of what you're doing.
It's really hard. Let me tell you.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
It's cutthroat. It's it's savage.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
It feels savage, but you have.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
To do it. But but you know, it makes the show.
It made the show so much more exciting when that happened.
I love when Dan was telling us the story that
he was trying to pitch to you. A world where
James would come back. He was like, well, if you
don't see the.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Body like we see it, it all happens, our life
go out. It's bad.
Speaker 5 (16:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
He did a beautiful job with that. He did a
beautiful job with that.
Speaker 5 (16:53):
He made me sob and it also gave you such
juice to be like, you know, the following episode, we
get to go back in time and we see why
James and Cyrus fell in love and in all of
these things.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
I love that episode.
Speaker 4 (17:06):
Yeah, it's beautiful.
Speaker 5 (17:07):
Yeah, we will be back with more after the break.
When you are working on a season, for your process,
is it the kind of thing where, like the beginning
of the season, you mapped out the season three arc,
or you're still completely open to taking a total left
(17:28):
turn when we're in episode nine, like.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
Okay, I want to tell you we never knew anything,
but but I mean, you never knew to But one
of the things was is I when I wrote and
I'm literally like when I wrote the speech for Papa
Pope in that first episode where he's like you will
get on that plane come hell and eye water and
I'm the hell and high water. I wrote that and
I knew in my head from that moment. I was like,
(17:53):
so at the end of the season, she's getting on
that plane, Like that was the one thing. I was like,
that is the point of the season, So.
Speaker 5 (17:58):
You might have an end mark you had like an
end I knew everything in.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
The Middlening too, Yeah, but like I didn't know we
were gonna kill Jerry. I didn't know. I didn't know
any of that stuff till till I knew it, you
know what I mean. I was like, what's going to
get him elected? And it was that stuff, you.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
Know, savage, sad, brilliage, child, savage.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
But the room was so great because they by this
time they had learned that, like that's what we were doing,
like we were there was nothing too special, and so
they would come in. I'd come in and they would
pitch me like amazing crap, Like I don't remember who
wrote Yung Young Chrispy Piggy Young Mum, but it's still
one of the favorite things that someone wrote, and it
was amazing.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
So good.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
It's so amazing. But that's how I think it also, Lend,
And I'm.
Speaker 5 (18:42):
Not sure if that's how your process has been with
your other shows and the stories you tell, but I
feel like you can feel that in Scandal, I think,
what what lends itself to the to the OMG and
the oh my god, and there is no there's no
too far you can go in there and it is
because you all, it wasn't so premeditated, you know what
(19:03):
I mean.
Speaker 4 (19:03):
It wasn't so pre planned that.
Speaker 5 (19:05):
You feel the like like this stress you feel it.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
But also I feel like it's so important to say
a lot of that came from like you guys. I
would write it. We would write it. You guys would
perform it. Then I would watch it and I would
go to the room and go, Okay, so here's what's
going to happen next based on what I watched, not
necessarily from anything else. It was how like I remember
episode one, three oh one, he Joe Morton gives that
(19:30):
amazing pop up Pope speech, you know where he talks
about you know, being twice as good in that whole thing,
and I didn't know how it was going to play
the first time I saw it was on film, and
I remember like one of the writers coming to the
room and being like he just overacted that whole thing
like you should. It's just crazy. It's like so overacted
and then you see it on film and you're like, no,
this is perfect, Like that's who that man is, and
(19:51):
that he performed so much the rest of the season
because that's the first time we saw him as a dad.
Speaker 5 (19:57):
When the first time I saw Joe Morton do that speech,
I was like, what the hell, because it is you're
not used to in TV. You're so used to like
make everything really small. Yeah, and the camera is a
the camera is a microscope, so everything needs to be
subtle and like nuanced, and it's just behind the eyes.
And then you see Joe Morton, one of the greatest
(20:18):
actors in American history, just do a television scene like
he's reaching a three thousand seat Broadway house and you're like,
the writing could hold it, Like it was.
Speaker 4 (20:30):
That was what you could do it. It was like what, like,
we're breaking all the rules that I was taught right
exactly to do a television drama. Like it was like,
let's just.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Let everybody monologue. Yeah, we stuff.
Speaker 5 (20:43):
Yeah, having monologues at all is not a traditional television thing.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
Like I even seen that. It was crazy.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
I loved it. I was having so much fun. Season
three is one of my favorites. It just it is.
It's absolutely one of my favorite seasons.
Speaker 4 (20:56):
How did you know to kill a kid?
Speaker 5 (20:59):
Like what wasn't happening like the killing of Jerry When
we get to the end of this season, I am like,
what this is un incredible. It was incredible and it
was the only thing that would work to get him elected.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
That was how he started. Like in my head, the
thing I thought about that season was like that that
amazing scene where Olivia and Cyrus are sitting on that
bench in the hospital and Olivia says, he's gonna win now,
He's absolutely gonna win, and Cyrus is like, I thought
that too, and I was like, that to me was
the ultimate political animal moment and really started from that,
(21:35):
and also getting to have the kids on in the
first place and seeing like what they meant in the
world in their lives. It was it was cool.
Speaker 4 (21:40):
Oh, it was so so cool.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
You do something, which I love, Shonda, You'll let the
actor know, like, oh my god, one else knows that
you're going to kill them off.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
Whole thing to like just have some come to a table. Raad.
We tried to trick Josh Moline into thinking he was
going to die, but that that was the only time.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
Yes, and he freaking so fast. He caught it, right,
he even get spooked. Yeah, he caught it. He's annoying,
so annoying.
Speaker 5 (22:03):
And I love him, which brings me to one of
our first questions. Of course, Ronia Diles wrote, my question
is will there ever be a scandal movie or reboot
of some sort. Many of us, myself included, feel like
we need closure on olitz.
Speaker 4 (22:20):
Ah.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
This is a question that everyone asks, Like I'm constantly
being asked. I'm like, asked, Sean, I don't know.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
I know the story's over, but I would reboot this
show in a minute, because we had so much fun
and it was so much fun to work with everybody,
just to get the band back together. Like, I would
reboot the show. But I don't know. I don't know
if you're ever going to get closure on Olitz, Like
what kind of closure do you think you want? I know,
because there's no fairy tale happy ending. We made that
very clear from the very beginning, and I think people
(22:49):
want their fairy tale. It's part of why I thought
about Bridgton. I was like, in Bridgerston, everybody gets a
happy ending, Like let's let's say it's all wonderful. But
in Scandal, I was like, no, this is not that world.
Speaker 4 (22:59):
No, it's a tragedy. I mean, Scandal really is like
it's it's tough, but it is what it is.
Speaker 5 (23:05):
Speaking of getting their happy ending in season three is
where we get the Vermont House.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Yeah, it's such a beautiful house.
Speaker 5 (23:12):
That house was so beautiful and that scene was so hot.
I'm so uncomfortable. The only time I'm uncomfortable watching this
show is like how close we all are and how
I'll be watching the show and I'm like, damn, this
is the hottest shit I've ever seen in my entire life.
Like there's Fits and Olivia just going at it on
the rug of this beautiful violin and the fireplace is
(23:34):
going and how does Fitz's body look like that? And
how does look And then I'm like, these are my friends.
I'm like, this is Irry and this is Tony. These
are people I know very well and I know their
significant others, and this is like weird.
Speaker 4 (23:46):
Weird, so bizarre.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
Episode. That's the episode that Avid Verney directed.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
Oh that's right. She was amazing.
Speaker 4 (23:54):
She did an amazing job.
Speaker 5 (23:56):
And before she had I remember sitting with her and
talking to her Selma.
Speaker 3 (24:01):
It was before anything, it was before anything. No, they
wouldn't let her, No, they would let her direct an
episode of television. She'd want all these film festivals. A
guy would have gotten one hundred million dollar picture off
of it, but they were like, we don't know, we
don't know. And scandal. We had this thing where we
hired the directors we wanted to, and I was like,
Tom's here. If there's anything goes around, Tom's here. And
so they wouldn't tell us and we couldn't, could't, coudn't hire,
(24:23):
which is how we got a lot of women directors
on that show.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
Oh it was the best.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
Love, that was the best. I'm the proudest of that.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
I wish I would have gotten to work with her more.
I think we worked with her just a couple of days, right,
Katie like it.
Speaker 5 (24:35):
Yeah, we didn't have big storylines during her episode, but
I'll never forget sitting there she was and her being like.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
Yeah, I was a publicist for a while.
Speaker 5 (24:43):
And then I made this movie and it did really
well at sun Dance, and I'm a filmmaker and da
da da dah.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
But this is the first time I ever done TV.
And I'm going to do this movie called.
Speaker 5 (24:50):
Selma, And I was like, I am catching this woman
on the upswing of of changing the world.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
Like she is going to.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
She's incredible.
Speaker 4 (25:02):
Yeah, incredible.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
So there's another We have another question, a question from Mariah, Yes,
a burning from Mariah Smith, and she says, what was
your thought process in bringing in a character that most
believe was supposed to come in between O lists?
Speaker 3 (25:16):
He was we're talking about Scott right, Yeah, yeah, I
was gonna say, yeah, yeah. My thought process was simple,
like I we needed somebody like that, you know, we
needed that sort of spookiness, and I thought that that
was powerful and important to have, Like you wanted this
guy who the audience was like, no, yes, no, is
(25:37):
he evil? Is he not evil? And I remember scoffing,
like everybody hates me. Everybody hates my character.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Because it's good.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
It's really good. And then just if you skip back,
I wrote a monologue for him in season four which
we sat together and watched while live tweeting, and I
was like, just watch the tweets because once this monologue
is over, the audience is going to turn. And we
literally watched the audience turn from hating him to loving
it in like a monologue.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
Yeah, no way, no way.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
It was the one where he thought he was going
to die and he's sitting in that prison he's been
beaten up by Fits.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
Yeah, so good.
Speaker 4 (26:10):
Oh my god, I guess.
Speaker 5 (26:12):
I guess the audience was like, how how dare you
bring in somebody that would ever come between Olivia.
Speaker 4 (26:18):
Well, they were guys.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
They were very loyal, and I love that they were
very loyal to Fits in Olivia. But I was like,
we have taken time to deconstruct Fits in Olivia for you.
You got to fall in love with him the way
she did, and then you got to learn the realities
of him, and yeah, you know, he's a complicated personal love.
But I also just wanted her to have some choice
and I wanted Fits. I wanted Fits to have like
somebody to be up against too.
Speaker 4 (26:39):
Oh hell yeah, oh we all do.
Speaker 5 (26:42):
I does love that, right, Like, yeah, I love love triangle.
Speaker 4 (26:46):
When there's one woman and two men, I.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
Think it keeps everybody.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
It was this weird expansion of Papa Pope's family because
you know, you know, Jake was one of his sons. Yeah,
his sons, and so we needed this weird it was
a weird brother sister relationship too.
Speaker 5 (27:04):
Before we get to our last question, and then I
know you have to go because we've got bridgert In
coming out and there's a lot of press to be done.
When did you guys decide? Because it's in this season
also that Huck and Quinn romantically get involved.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
They weren't interesting. I mean, like I talked about you
like you're not here, but those characters were so interesting
to watch yolo is that episode with the with the
teeth pulling and all that. I just I just loved
it so much and I and getting those characters together
was this weird function of that dysfunction, you know what
(27:38):
I mean. Like it was also how they became sort
of equals because before that Quinn had been like his puppy,
right yeah, and after that they they were really unequal
footing so much the time, so much that Quinn could
challenge Hawk, which I thought was great.
Speaker 5 (27:53):
Yeah, who is nasty enough in the writer's room. You
don't have to doubt them to be like this is
when he licks her cheek and this is when she
licks his face, Like what is even going on? I'm
watching it and I and I don't really remember doing it.
Speaker 4 (28:07):
I'm so into it and I'm just like, wow.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Well, I remember, I remember the day you licked me.
I remember that because we were shooting at Hollywood Cemetery.
Speaker 4 (28:16):
Remember that.
Speaker 5 (28:17):
Yeah, yeah, we just watched that and we had Debbie Allen.
Debbie Allen, she directed the episode where we have sex
on a car.
Speaker 4 (28:23):
Oh yeah, and I was so complimented.
Speaker 5 (28:27):
She is one of my all time favorite directors of
all time. But I just she made me feel so
comfortable and confident because Quinn has to be really sexy,
and I'm that's probably the one thing I am as
an actress. Just like, oh god, oh god, I want
to crawl on my skin.
Speaker 4 (28:42):
I'm suf ear those scenes.
Speaker 3 (28:43):
Those scenes were so sexy. And here's the deal, Like,
I remember the one sex scene I wrote other you know,
like between characters who weren't fits and live. The one
sex scene I wrote was the one where Abby sticks
her fingers and oh so good and I and I
wrote it. I was like, I just wrote it because
it felt weird and it felt like what Abby would do.
I don't know who wrote the licking. I don't, but
(29:06):
I loved it and I was like, let's let's see
and you know me, I'm never gonna be like the
characters have to band clothed, like you guys could have
done that scene fully clothed. And the licking itself, what's
the sexy part? That's what was interesting. He didn't require
any nudity, It didn't require any anything.
Speaker 5 (29:20):
No, no, he just we were fully closed, which we
were very appreciative about. We also had long conversation Shanda,
which the people know about we've talked about it before
in the podcast, but G and I had long conversations
where we were like, we will not make out like
fits and Olivia. We are not movie stars. We are weirdos.
(29:44):
And the pain and pleasure threshold is very confused. Yes,
and so you know, there weren't intimacy coordinators at the time,
but it would have been like, Okay, there's probably gonna
be like tongue, which is like not really allowed in Hollywood.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
And god, we were like best It helped that you
guys were best friends and it made it okay. But yeah, coordinators.
Intimacy coordinators came later, and then once we had them,
that's when I started being like I remember Carrie saying,
like can can Scott and I just choreographed this this
sex scene ourselves with the intimacy coordinator. I was like, great,
(30:19):
Like here's what I want from it, knock yourselves out.
And so that's when we started letting you guys choreograph
your own sex scenes with the coordinator. So that I
was like, this is perfect because then everybody really feels comfortable, right.
Speaker 5 (30:31):
Right, Yeah, we felt so taken care of it.
Speaker 4 (30:33):
Again. I mean, Debbie was She's like, yeah, she's the best.
Speaker 5 (30:37):
And she just made me feel like she was just
like you look good, Like she just was like really complimentary,
and I was like, oh my god, I feel kind
of cute, Like, thank god for Debbie Allen Lucky.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
You are cute.
Speaker 4 (30:47):
Okay, Gene, thank you Okay gee. Last question?
Speaker 3 (30:52):
Is this really?
Speaker 2 (30:52):
It?
Speaker 3 (30:53):
Is this really it? We're like, this is a fast conversation. Wow,
I know.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
This is go go g This is a question. This
is from Denise Steine. Another burning question. She says, I've
been curious for years who was the funniest to write
dialogue for? Sally or Hollis. Both such interesting characters in
their own ways and have great one line.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
You know, Hollis was really fun to write for, but
for me, Uh, it was Sally. And the reason why
it was Sally was she took herself so seriously, like
Hollis was always like in on the joke, you know
what I mean, But she took herself so seriously, and
then to give her these lines like it's not in
God's plan that I lose Ohio, like those kinds of things.
(31:33):
She was so serious. I mean even when she was
spitting young young Chrispy Piking like she's She was so
much fun to write for because she was deeply committed
and shook everything. Like her idea of politics was that
it was like the foundation of life. So she took
it all so so seriously was great.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
Which is so scary.
Speaker 5 (31:50):
It was almost like she was like God had told her,
you know, like she was supposed to be there like
a king or queen, you know, like really right.
Speaker 3 (31:57):
She played it that way, like literally like I am
here because God says this is where I'm supposed to be.
And so she played it so brilliantly crazy.
Speaker 4 (32:06):
Oh she did.
Speaker 5 (32:07):
And Leo Bergen is one of my all time favorite characters.
Speaker 4 (32:09):
Oh my god, the entire.
Speaker 5 (32:11):
Scandal verse, and this is the season where the church
blows up and he rips Sally's shirt off and rubs
some dirt.
Speaker 4 (32:21):
Go go.
Speaker 3 (32:22):
He's like, be Jesus, Sally, go be Jesus. That he
was also great to write for, but you know, he
was from private practice, so I've been writing for him
forever and love working with him. So but it was
really fun to see him come in as this like
totally different guy, and he played it so hard and
like so seriously. It was fantastic.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
He's so good.
Speaker 5 (32:39):
Oh, Shanda, you are the Is there anything else we
have not talked about?
Speaker 4 (32:44):
In season three? Before you have to go to your bridge,
you didn't.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
Talk about the fact that this is the this is
the episode. This is the season where you introduced to
his family.
Speaker 4 (32:54):
At the end, Oh, Quinn, do that you were so mad?
Speaker 3 (33:00):
Yep? That season was also that final episode is also
Columbus shorts last episode, remember, because he was the one
who figured it all out. He was the one who
went to po and figured it all out. So it
was there were a lot of big things that happened
this season. That season was filled with these very very
big moments.
Speaker 5 (33:16):
And speaking of Harrison, right, I think this is actually
a really good time to share some very special news
with the listeners. Yeah, g and I, we had a
beautiful reunion with Columbus Short and we recorded an entire
episode together.
Speaker 4 (33:31):
That really just it covers a lot.
Speaker 5 (33:35):
Of ground about his time on the show, and we're
going to be dropping that conversation in a few weeks,
So definitely, gladiators and listeners keep an eye out on
our socials for the official release date of that episode.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
So Seanda, of course, you know that we had Columbus
on the podcast. How what did you think? How was it?
Speaker 3 (33:52):
I absolutely loved hearing it. I mean, honestly, you guys
spend a lot more time talking about Britney spirits than
you should have, but it was amazing.
Speaker 1 (34:01):
Well, that's something we all have in common.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
Yeah, it is. He's something we all have in common.
But what I really loved was just hearing him be
so open and brutally honest about that period of time
in his life. It was really beautiful to hear. And
I always have a special love for Columbus, you know,
because he's such a talented actor and it hurts so much,
but it was so brilliant. His time on the show
(34:26):
is so brilliant.
Speaker 4 (34:27):
Oh my god, Harrison is unforgettable.
Speaker 5 (34:30):
He's unforgettable, and he's like always how I feel when
I watch the show back. I'm like, he's like the gladiator,
Like that's how I feel, like a gladiator in a suit.
Speaker 4 (34:38):
He's that.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
He was that, he was the gladiator in a suit
who taught everybody else, like you know, he's teaching Quinn
the ropes. It was he was great and I thought,
like his his podcast, it's one to listen to because
it's just amazing.
Speaker 1 (34:49):
Good yeah, good good.
Speaker 2 (34:51):
It was Yeah.
Speaker 5 (34:52):
Yeah, your support means the world, and I mean we
were really happy to have the platform to do it
and that he was game and.
Speaker 3 (34:59):
That was an amazing and I'm really proud of him circle. Yeah,
I'm proud of him for taking that opportunity to me too.
You guys are bold, but he was brave, yes, yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
And he came in with humility, yes, Like he was
open and it was just lovely. Yeah. It was really
nice to see him like that.
Speaker 4 (35:17):
Season three was gonna bug you. For season four, we are.
Speaker 3 (35:23):
Whenever you want to. I love talking about the show
and I love talking to you guys. Seriously, you can
just be like something I'm happy to do.
Speaker 4 (35:29):
Oh, thank you so much. I love you so much.
Best of luck.
Speaker 5 (35:33):
I will I know what I'm doing this weekend, and
at the time that this airs, everyone will have already
seen Bridgerton and is obsessed with it, and the Bridgerton
fandom will continue on. But we love you and thank
you so much for coming on.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
To the podcast. We'll be right back, guys.
Speaker 4 (35:55):
So it was awesome to have Shonda.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
On so great.
Speaker 4 (35:58):
We love you, Shonda, We you Shonda Rhimes.
Speaker 5 (36:01):
And now we're gonna break break break down this episode
three oh eight, Vermon Is for Lovers Too.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
You better tell somebody, you.
Speaker 4 (36:08):
Better tell somebody, you better don't tell you. I love
this episode.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
It is a.
Speaker 5 (36:13):
Steamy, steamy, steamy episode. Yes, sex o rama. Okay, this
episode really was special for me. It's episode three oh
eight called Vermont Is for Lovers Too. It aired on
November twenty first, twenty thirteen, and it.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
Was written by Mark Wilding and directed by the wonderful
Ava DuVernay.
Speaker 5 (36:33):
Guest starring Candy Alexander Asmya Lewis, Lisa Kudro is Congresswoman
Josie Marcus, Jack Coleman is, Daniel Douglas Langston.
Speaker 1 (36:40):
Brian Lesher is Tom Sally Pressman as Candace Marcus, Sharmila
Davar is Lauren Wellman, and Ivar Broger as Doctor.
Speaker 5 (36:48):
The synopsis to remind you, the OPA team gets closer
to nailing down the security guard killer as Fits and
Olivia do a little nailing of their own.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
Meanwhile, Cyrus has a plan to take down Sally Langston.
All it involves is pimping out his own husband to
Daniel Douglass. Things comes to an epic climax after Maya
Pope escapes from her cell and shows up at Olivia's doorstep.
Speaker 5 (37:10):
Okay, so many things in this episode. First, you're all
gonna remember this, Maya choose her own fucking risk.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
That's my fist disgusting, disgusting, even for me, who is
a huge horror fan. Disgusting and savage, Who the fuck
she chewed her wrists off?
Speaker 3 (37:34):
Who wrote this?
Speaker 1 (37:35):
Mark Wilding?
Speaker 5 (37:36):
She's been in jail for twenty years and it's on
her back, thank god. And you just hear blood and
gnawing and bone and snapping blood and snapping of ligaments
and disgusting sounds, and you realize what she's doing is
that she's chewing her own wrist off. So that she
can essentially try to commit suicide to get her out
(37:58):
of the cell, and the doctor so grossly says, yeah,
this girl's.
Speaker 4 (38:03):
Out of her mind.
Speaker 5 (38:04):
Because we've had people be able to make it to
like level one on your own wrists off and pass out.
Speaker 4 (38:09):
She'd made it all the way through to the most
major arteries, Like this bitch is correct.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
She is a Maya pope.
Speaker 4 (38:18):
That was disgusting.
Speaker 5 (38:20):
The other huge, huge, like winning scenes of this episode,
I mean the biggest. I must have written one thousand
notes about Tony Goldwin's.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
But I know, listen and one of the I feel
like there's a character that is not a human in
this episode that is such a standout and so beautiful
and so epic, And it's the Vermont Home. Oh when
we see this episode is.
Speaker 5 (38:46):
Where Fits says, please, I needed time, and she gets
in this private plane and I guess it takes one second.
Speaker 4 (38:54):
To fly from DC to Vermont. And he walks into
this house and there's like, you know, sheets.
Speaker 6 (39:01):
On furniture, furniture, but the fires going into the most
beautiful laid stonework fireplace in these vaulted wooden ceilings and
it looks like they're in the most bucolic landscape scene,
and he says, I bought it for us.
Speaker 4 (39:15):
I wanted you to see it one time before I
sell it.
Speaker 1 (39:17):
I kind of broke down in that part when he
says that and that love scene, the way that love
scene was shot beautiful killed that ava.
Speaker 5 (39:31):
The sex scene and Tony Goldwin's bad, that's unheard of.
I don't understand his watch the man thick placement of
the manscaping.
Speaker 1 (39:42):
Hand, yes, and just the waist and that that sort
of like V shape down such.
Speaker 5 (39:49):
A V shape that is something genetic. And he's eating
baby's blood.
Speaker 1 (39:54):
Vampire ship in the middles blood. I think that's what
it is.
Speaker 4 (40:00):
It's the most epic sex scene. It's so beautiful.
Speaker 5 (40:03):
They're just like on the floor. They're all over this
Vermont house. And where did you hear where this house
was shot? Because I loved like where in La Ladies?
And how much does it come?
Speaker 1 (40:12):
I've shot in this house. I have a scene in
front of that fireplace with Darby, and I have a
scene on the chair. You weren't there for that.
Speaker 4 (40:20):
I don't think.
Speaker 1 (40:21):
Yeah, it's a watch.
Speaker 4 (40:22):
Let's get to that season.
Speaker 1 (40:23):
In that episode, Yeah, there was a I remember Carrie
telling me that, oh my god, Jamie Fox lived like
right up the hill, and there was a day that
they were shooting in the house and Jamie was having
like a big old party and Carrie called Jamie to
be like, Jamie, can you just turn down music a
little bit because we're filming? And he totally did. Isn't
(40:45):
that creepy? Oh my ye.
Speaker 4 (40:47):
A good yes, that is absolutely hilarious, And so Hollywood.
Speaker 1 (40:51):
I was just gonna say that Candy Alexander is is
very much in this episode, and obviously she has that
crazy scene chewing off at risk. She has the wonderful
scenes with in the hospital where Eli Pope is showing
her pictures of Olivia because she, again, like Katie said,
she's been in prison for twenty years, right, so she
doesn't even know what her daughter looks like when she
was a teenager and as an adult. But a fun
(41:13):
fact about Candy Alexander is that she was a choreographer
and she choreographed Whitney Houston's world tours from like nineteen
eighty eight to nineteen ninety two. Gosh, which I had
no idea. I didn't know that about her.
Speaker 4 (41:29):
Are you like I need to YouTube videos of Candy Alexander.
Speaker 1 (41:32):
Dance like, I'm sure you can. I'm sure you can.
Oh man.
Speaker 5 (41:37):
Somebody definitely says QR five facial recognition software in this
episode it's Jake, and I love it so much, Like
what is QR five facial recognition software? And how many
times did you say it on Scandal? Because I think
I said it seventy five hundred times.
Speaker 1 (41:50):
I'm sure, I'm sure I've said it a ton. Something
else that's stuck out for me in this episode is
when James mentions Ella's Ella's poop law and I was like,
is this laz, That's some straight hell bullshit. Y'all keep
flogs of your babies.
Speaker 4 (42:06):
That's poop blog?
Speaker 1 (42:07):
Is that a real thing? Just to be like her
poop today was like solid and sort of like brown.
Speaker 4 (42:13):
Yeah, you right down.
Speaker 5 (42:14):
Well, because if the baby is really little, when you
go to the pediatrician, they ask you like how many
times have they pooped impede in the day, because it's
the only way to tell are they getting enough calories?
Speaker 4 (42:26):
Are they hating weight?
Speaker 5 (42:26):
And are they not like dehydrated? And is their body
like up online? Also, I used to have a pooplog
because yourself.
Speaker 2 (42:34):
Not for Adam.
Speaker 1 (42:37):
Adam, you had a pooplog for Adam.
Speaker 4 (42:40):
Could you imagine Adam.
Speaker 5 (42:42):
No for my baby, because if you had child's care,
you would keep a log so that she could, like,
when I got home from the end of the day,
it would be written down if the kid went to
the bathroom, because I could get home. She might have left,
and the baby could be super cranky and you might
not know why. You like, look at the poop log
and you're like, oh my god, she hasn't gone to
the bathroom, but all today she might have a really
(43:02):
bad gas and maybe she needs medicine or like whatever.
So that's that straight ass poop blog bullshit.
Speaker 4 (43:10):
I wrote that down to you though.
Speaker 5 (43:12):
This is also the episode where Cyrus sets has been
setting up, setting up, setting up for Daniel Douglas and
James to have an affair. Yes, Cyrus is so convinced
that when it when push comes to shove, James won't
do it because he's not like fits, and it ends
up happening. He goes to Daniel Douglas's house and he
(43:33):
starts to realize and put together that Cyrus has set
this whole thing up, and he's so upset and James,
Oh my god, Dan m does such an amazing job,
and they end up hooking up and having sex, and
then Cyrus is waiting at home for them, and and
then James has all these lines that are like, you know,
innuendos that he did it on the.
Speaker 1 (43:53):
Saddle, Well, I'm just back on the saddle again to
this ally it does.
Speaker 4 (44:01):
And then he said something like yeah, you really opened
me up.
Speaker 1 (44:03):
Yes, I really opened him up.
Speaker 4 (44:06):
Or something like that.
Speaker 5 (44:06):
And then he's like, Okay, come to bed, honey, and
he's like, no, I'm going to take a shower. Don't wait,
and he says, I love don't wait up for you,
and he says, I love you. And then we see
Cyrus open up his cell phone and he gets the document,
like the actual proof of photos of them.
Speaker 4 (44:21):
He's mortifies and hooking up.
Speaker 3 (44:24):
Yes.
Speaker 5 (44:25):
And what's so crazy is that at this time when
we were making this episode, I didn't know, none of
us knew that this was going to be the thing
that leads James.
Speaker 1 (44:34):
To his death. Oh my god, yeah, and Daniel Douglas and.
Speaker 5 (44:39):
Daniel Douglas, everybody dies, Cyrus fall so good, so good.
Speaker 1 (44:46):
I love I love the moment where between Quinn and
Huck were Huck and this I love that this In
this episode, Quinn is trying to hide the fact that
she killed that security guard. Right, Oh, yeah, she killed
the security guard, but she's trying to hide that end.
Speaker 5 (45:02):
This is the episode where she's trying to get the
information before you do.
Speaker 1 (45:07):
Yes, Yes, and the whole Opia team is like working
hard to get the picture of that woman with that
pencil and killed the security guard.
Speaker 5 (45:15):
And Quinn's like shit happy says that shitty pencils, skirt
and those dumpy heels.
Speaker 1 (45:21):
But there's a moment where Quinn goes into Huck's office
and Huck is like, hey, you do a really good job.
You do a really good job at what you do,
or something like that, and I don't tell you enough
and I love that. I love that. But then Quinn
is like then.
Speaker 5 (45:35):
The episode is and Quinn comes into her apartment and
she has her spiding senses up and she's like Huck
and he's waiting, Oh, there's a folder on the floor,
and she picks up the folder and it's a close
up shot of her in the building that killed the
security office and Huck is waiting there with the tarp
and the tool.
Speaker 1 (45:53):
And the tool.
Speaker 4 (45:55):
Row.
Speaker 1 (45:57):
I remember shooting in that, in that in Quinn's apartment.
Whenever we shot in Quinn's apartment, it was always like
a really intense scene, like a really good, juicy, intense
dark scene. It was always exciting shooting there. And it
was on the stages at Centic Hour.
Speaker 4 (46:12):
Yeah, it was on the stages. Okay, Giirmo. Six Degrees
of Horror?
Speaker 5 (46:16):
Was there anything in this app If you look on
your notes, I don't know these movies.
Speaker 1 (46:21):
Well listen, Yeah, there was a lot of horror, and
it was in the beginning of the episode.
Speaker 5 (46:24):
Yeah, Kenny Alexander was in Firstborn in two thousand and seven.
A pregnant couple buys a mansion and moves out of NYC.
Strange things start happening to the c sectioned anxious new moment.
Speaker 3 (46:35):
Have you ever seen Firstborn?
Speaker 1 (46:36):
I have not seen that. Can you believe it?
Speaker 5 (46:39):
Now?
Speaker 4 (46:39):
A horror movie exists that Giermo Diaz has not seen?
Speaker 1 (46:42):
And then Terminal.
Speaker 4 (46:43):
Also I will never.
Speaker 5 (46:44):
Watch these movies, but also I kind of love it.
And also this episode was a horror thing in and
of its own. We had to watch a woman eat
her own wrist off, which was absolutely yeah, okay.
Speaker 4 (46:52):
Fun fact for this episode, it's like, this is a lot.
Speaker 5 (46:55):
But the compound that's in Quinn's syringe, which they name,
it's called bachelor and toxin, the effective dose that actually
would kill someone around that dude's weight would have had
to have been three pounds of liquid shit. So there's
no way that that that they named in the episode
could have killed that guy. But like whatever, oh my god,
(47:19):
Scandal tweets at the time, this one's.
Speaker 4 (47:21):
Away at Luck.
Speaker 5 (47:22):
You mean it, wrote Quinn, You dumb bitch. Why would
you ever trust Charlie?
Speaker 1 (47:28):
Hashtags game, love it go dogs tweeted back at back
at Mo. Miriam She tweeted, oh my god, just saw
last night's Scandal episode. Quinn finally about to die? Get
her ass, Huck? Oh shit, what all this drama with Quinn?
Speaker 2 (47:42):
All this?
Speaker 1 (47:42):
Like all this Quinn?
Speaker 5 (47:44):
I love it at far dus of ninety two tweeted,
you believe he's killed your mother, but you forgive him
because he got you a house.
Speaker 4 (47:50):
Olivia is something else so true?
Speaker 1 (47:55):
Tait potait Ho tweeted, are you a side chick if
you get picked up by a helicopter to stay in
a posh mansion. Hashtag scandal. Olivia Pope got me wanting
to be a side chick.
Speaker 4 (48:08):
I agree, I agree.
Speaker 5 (48:11):
At Angel Rene thirteen tweeted, Melly is the side chick
and she knows it hashtag scandal.
Speaker 4 (48:17):
I'm not true.
Speaker 1 (48:18):
Scandal Possessed tweeted hashtag scandal. A Scandal crew can have
just one well lit, oh litz love scene before the
show is over. It's hard out here for a fangirl
editing pics. Oh my god, so she's saying she wants
to flighting to be brighter so she could edit a
good fucking picture.
Speaker 4 (48:36):
Just really focus on Tony Goldwin's yes. Oh look at
this shot.
Speaker 5 (48:41):
This is with a picture at ohso brand New tweeted,
Olivia Pope be like, oh, I thought you said throw
it back Thursday hashtag scandal. And it's definitely a very
saucy photo of Fitzgerald Grant behind Olivia Pope without their
clothing on.
Speaker 1 (48:57):
And it looks like there's some on panky panky.
Speaker 4 (49:00):
Hanky panky back position going okay.
Speaker 1 (49:04):
Felicia tweeted, why y'all ain't warm me about this lady
eating her arms on Scandal. I was eating sorry about that, Felicia, I.
Speaker 5 (49:13):
Know same at Smiley Stylist tweeted, I just had a
whole body shaking flashback to last night's hashtag scandal at
ave et cetera. Plus shonder rhymes have me shook. I
still hear the chewy And guess what next episode is?
All y'all who our Quinn haters are going to get
what you need because the next episode is three o
(49:35):
nine and it's called Yola Yolo Yolo.
Speaker 4 (49:38):
Quinn's about to Quin's about tua.
Speaker 1 (49:41):
Quinn's about to go to the dentist. She about to
go to the dentist.
Speaker 2 (49:46):
Y'all.
Speaker 5 (49:47):
So, if you guys want to hear all about how
much you hated Quinn and make sure that she gets
her shit tortured real bad, come listen to next week's
episode of Unpacking the Toolbox, a Scanalal rewatch podcast for
episode three oh nine titled.
Speaker 1 (50:01):
Yo Quinn's gonna check her yuck mouth. Maybe she just
got a yuck mouth.
Speaker 4 (50:07):
Thank you guys so much for listening. We love you.
Speaker 5 (50:10):
Tell your friends, Hey, if you like the scandal Rewatch podcast,
tell a friend to subscribe to it.
Speaker 1 (50:16):
Yes, we need you guys. Listen if you guys want
to show this podcast to continue on. We need your
help and we need your love. So please, yeah, find
another Scandal obsessed friend or someone on social media and
just send them a link to the podcast because it
would help us a lot, and we would love to
keep doing this for you, guys and for us.
Speaker 4 (50:35):
Bye.
Speaker 1 (50:36):
We love you, Thank you, bye everybody. Thank you, Thank
you guys for joining us on Unpacking the Toolbox. If
you enjoyed the show, please subscribe, share with your friends, rate,
or leave us a review.
Speaker 5 (50:51):
Scandal is executive produced by Sandy Bailey, Alex Alce, Lauren Homan,
Tyler Klang, and Gabrielle Collins. Our producer and editor is
Vince Johnny, with music by Chad Fisher.
Speaker 1 (51:02):
Scandal is a production of ABC Signature, and you can
follow along by rewatching Scandal on Hulu.
Speaker 5 (51:08):
Unpacking the Toolbox is a production of Shondaland Audio in
partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from Shondaland Audio, visit
the iHeartRadio app or anywhere you subscribe to your favorite shows.
Unpacking the Toolbox is a production of Shondaland Audio in
partnership with iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
The sand Watch, Yaz and Katie Wells.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
We do this stream of consciousness thing sometimes randomly for
episodes of Unpacking the Toolbox. We learned it from the
lovely Hanna Simone because we did a crossover episode on
her New Girl podcast and she did ours, and she
did this freaking fun ass thing where she just she
was like, I did a stream of consciouness consciousness while
(00:52):
I was watching the episode, and she just wrote down
what popped into her head while she was watching the episode,
and me and Katie fell in love with it. And
this is the first time I'm doing it about a
person and not an episode. So but also like reading
it back Katie, I was like, this is giving me poem.
Also like I did stream of consciousness. But then there's like,
are you a poem?
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Who?
Speaker 1 (01:14):
I was like, what am I doing? You're upsella Alan Ginsberg? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (01:18):
Look at all right?
Speaker 1 (01:20):
So here goes Shonda Rhimes. A collector, an observer, a
watcher of lives, of minds, of things good and bad,
A quiet human, a quiet soul. I have never met
a more quiet woman with the loudest mind and the
loudest brain, and with the bestest skill to weave those
collections she collects into stories that mesmerize us, that move us,
(01:41):
that make us stand by the coolers at work and
chatter with our friends and even foes about what we
watched the night before and what we'll watch on Thursday
at night after four That Thursday stuff changed my life.
She took a chance on me and shined the light
on my quietness, on my weirdness, and turned it into
a character. Or rather, she created this character and then
chose me to play it, and I melted into him. Shonda,
(02:04):
I have never felt more intimidated by someone in my life.
But that is only because I want to do good
by you, by your brilliance, your words, from miks see
Me and McDreamy to Olitz and o'lake and finally, with
the win of Huckleberry Quinn, from you, so much more
to come out there for the take.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
That's it, my godde hotter.
Speaker 5 (02:27):
As if you couldn't be cooler or hotter, or more
interesting or more just the best human I've ever known.
You're also a brilliant poet. Is everyone losing their minds.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
I'm losing my mind right now.
Speaker 5 (02:39):
Also, Seawanna is definitely listening to this episode and you
will definitely hear it.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Yeah, so good, good, good good.
Speaker 5 (02:44):
That was so beautiful. I mean, our listeners are Yesterday.
Is the one and only Shonda Rhymes.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
The queen, the one and only, and she is.
Speaker 5 (02:53):
The creator of Huckleberry Quinn, the creator of Our Baby
or Hawk like the Hook is one of the best
care in all of television history.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
In my opinion, I'm so lucky. We're so lucky to
play these characters. She's also the queen of like all
these stands right like oh late golits like mc steemy, McDreamy,
all like all these like oh my nicknames that we've
given these characters because people deeply fall in love with them.
This is the woman that created these people, like these
these stories.
Speaker 5 (03:22):
And these relationships that people are just like obsessed with.
It's just so and season three, you know, I'm so
glad she's coming on because season three was so pivotal.
I feel like this was where scandal is scandal, you
know what I mean. Like one was one two we
were like kind of getting out to the races and
by season three, we were just like a fucking winning horse.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
Just do you like my horse metaphor? Right now? I
don't know where working, but you know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Yeah, this is this is the season where you felt like,
oh shit, one of us is gonna get struck by lightning,
one of us is gonna be off, and one of
us was a few of.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
Us were dead.
Speaker 5 (04:00):
Jerry Graham dead, fucking James Novak dead dead. Oh that
hot girl that looks like Marika dead dead?
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Also dead, like, oh oh.
Speaker 5 (04:12):
The guy I killed at the beginning dead, Sanhan dead?
Speaker 1 (04:17):
That's right? Yo? Did we We should have asked got
about that, but we had him on the podcast before
we did that episode.
Speaker 5 (04:23):
Next time him on again. We have to be like,
remember that hot B six thirteen girl? She looked just
like Marika?
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Was that intentional?
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Supposed to be?
Speaker 4 (04:32):
They could be sisters or something?
Speaker 5 (04:34):
Yeah, okay, everyone, this episode is so great. But before
G and I break down episode three eight, which is
a personal fave of mine, we have an amazing, amazing guest.
She's Bridgerton, She's Queen Charlotte, she is Gray's Anatomy, she's
private practice, she's how to get and she's Scandal.
Speaker 4 (04:56):
You guys know who it is the one to know.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
That Shonda wh our Queen Bee.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
It's seander Ess.
Speaker 5 (05:04):
But we are at the time of this recording talking
to her the day of the Bridgerton season three release.
How is it feeling? Are we excited talk to us
about Bridgerton?
Speaker 3 (05:14):
It's feeling good, you know what I was thinking, like,
this is the season three release and I'm here to
talk about season three Scandal.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Oh that's right, yes, yes, So.
Speaker 5 (05:22):
Shaanna doesn't do short shows like just so everyone knows,
even though it's funny, like Queen Charlotte was obviously a
mini series. Inventing Anna was a miniseriies that I got
to be on, and I remember when you walked in,
you were like, this is really weird, Like I only
do shows that laughed like forever.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Seven years yeah, or more.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
So Bridgerton in season three? Does it feel new still?
Speaker 1 (05:48):
You know?
Speaker 3 (05:48):
It does feel new because we have Jess Brown l
now from Scandal when our Scandal writer's running the show,
and so it's got like a fresh take and it's
been really fun.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
That's so exciting.
Speaker 5 (05:57):
What can we can you tease anything as a massive
step from you, I'm a freaking massive Bridgerton fan.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
I could see nothing except you're really gonna love it.
It's a very sexy season and Lady Whistledown gets her due.
I love Lady whistle Down.
Speaker 5 (06:09):
Oh you know what I'll be doing all weekend, We'll
just be not leaving my house and just watching that. Okay,
So take us through season three of Scandal. Gladiators was
the Juggernaut season.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
It was like, I know because I went back to
look at all the episode names, so like refresh myself,
and I was like, oh my god, this is the season.
This happened, and that happened, and this happened was my
favorite seasons. Really me too.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
It's such a great season. I mean, major characters die,
major characters murder. I mean it's a wild, wild season.
And we were sort of we were in our groove, right.
I think people really started to scan yeah and the characters,
and it was such an exciting time.
Speaker 5 (06:55):
Do you remember, Seana, Like, what did your days at
this point? Like, okay, Gray's is obviously the Juggernaut. Now
you've got two oh my massive juggernauts happening at one time.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Well, we also had we also had had to get
away with Murder.
Speaker 4 (07:11):
Oh my god, that was all this, I think.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Yeah, yeah, it was like the very beginning of it.
Speaker 5 (07:16):
I think, right, yeah, my gosh, what was your day
to day like at this point? Are you sitting in
the Scandal writer's room all day? Or are you like
hiding in your office? Like what was a day to
day like in Shonda Rhime's life at this moment in time.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
I feel like I was running around, like running around
like a crazy person because I was popping in the
Scandal's writer's room to talk about what we're going to
do next and to hear all their ideas and pitches.
I was in my office rewriting whatever script was coming up.
I was also in my office editing whichever the next
cut was to get on the air in like four days,
and then I was going to like prep meetings and
(07:54):
talking to Tom like it was crazy.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
It was.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
You always wonder why I was never like sitting on set.
I was like, do you I didn't have time for
that because I was also editing every episode to Gray's
Anatomy at that point too.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Oh my god, I remember you. You sat on set
with Betsy Beers during the pilot and that was probably
the only time that you had time to eat that
I was.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Until me did the finale, until he did the final episode.
Speaker 5 (08:17):
You came down a few times and we would be like,
which is the right move? I think also like you
came down, I think for our seven fifty two monologues
in season yes, like there were a cop like a
handful in seven or eight years that you came down.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
I wanted to see in person myself, you know what
I mean?
Speaker 5 (08:35):
Yes, yes, And also I think what you're what I've
picked up on is there is this sort of at
this point, which was already happening, there's like a real
Shonda effect, which is people can't really and I love
you so much, you know, I love you, but people
can't do their jobs when Shonda comes to set because
everyone is literally shaking in their shoes. I want to
(08:57):
meet you and scared and intimidated and all this stuff.
Speaker 4 (08:59):
So it's better, Yeah, you know, it's better.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
I learned that, and I got to tell you like
I learned it early on. I mean like maybe season
six on grades, I would go to set and everything
would stop and I'd go down to scandal and everybody.
By then it was even worse because I had three nights,
you know, three whole episodes of TG I T and
people would be so nervous and like and I would comment.
I would say like, oh nice wall, and they'd be
(09:24):
like you hate them all, Like oh my god, We've
got to you know, you know what I mean. They
were trying so hard to please, and I was like,
I'm basically messing up work here, so I'm not coming.
Speaker 5 (09:32):
Yes, yes, I remember you came down to inventing Anna
one day and everyone was like, oh my god.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
Everyone who'd worked on the show with.
Speaker 5 (09:41):
You and at exchange a million emails on like clothing
choices and.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
Were like, do you think I can get a photo?
Speaker 5 (09:47):
Like production stopped because everyone needed to get their picture
for their family.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
It was nerve wracking, and I always feel so bad
because honestly, I feel like I'm interrupting people having been
able to do their creative process their way. So I'm like,
I'm not going down there unless it's an emergency.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
You need to go through like special effects like make
up before you go to chests again and just go
incognitiugno so people don't know what's you yeah, and they'll
be there. I might try that, Yeah, you should seandy,
didn't you You were also you were working on these shows,
and then you were also raising kids at this time, right,
did you already have your daughter?
Speaker 3 (10:21):
No, I was working on these shows. Emerson was two
in season three, Beckett was one in season three. Yeah,
Harper was like a like, it's starting to be a teenager.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
It was crazy, which is not an easy phase for kids.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
I would bring you know what, Emmy was amazing because
I could tuck Emmy under my arm bring her to
the office because she was was this like silent observant baby,
and we would sit in the writer's room. She could
sit in the writer's room like all.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Day really and be perfectly fine and not make a peep.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
Right.
Speaker 5 (10:50):
I remember her being at a table read, like you know,
at the beginning of one and she just was so
observiing and like.
Speaker 4 (10:56):
She would come to disablery and start of Buddha feeling.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
I remember remember one day I took her from a
Gray's Anatomy table read in the car straight to a
Scandal table read and she just sat there the whole time,
was like, this is so interesting. Beckett, on the other hand,
was like I got a scream right now, So she
didn't get to jump much.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Beer. I was just gonna say, those kids hearing Betsy
Beers do the the stage directions probably low them into asleep. Right,
It was like a lullab them.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
Yeah we should have. It was one of my most
favorite thing ever, Betsy doing this the stage directions.
Speaker 5 (11:31):
I love that stage directions. Oh, she's the most. I've
done so many table reads in my life, and there
is nothing like a table.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
Okay. So I called season three the come hell or
high Water season because it starts with saying that, and
it basically ends with Papa Pope saying that.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 5 (11:54):
And season three is where Carrie also was pregnant. In
this season, Carrie was pregnant, Yeah, and I mean, bless
her and completely different than me. I feel like I
watched this season and I mean, you can you know
she's in some lovely, incredible jackets with some incredible purses
and stuff like that.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Handbags in the world, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (12:14):
The biggest handbags in the world.
Speaker 5 (12:15):
And she's behind a lamp or she's behind it whatever,
which I mean only Kerrie Washington, like Quinn, you could
have never hidden a freaking day of my pregnancy. But
what what was like, do you remember making a decision.
I'm just curious, like where Olivia like was not going
to be pregnant, Like how did that?
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Well?
Speaker 3 (12:34):
I knew from the beginning that Olivia Pope was not
a person who wanted to have kids, do you know
what I mean? I feel like she had been so
traumatized by her childhood, and I was like, we certainly
can't be doing the season with Papa Pope and her pregnant,
Like it was just two. It didn't make sense psychologically,
and so I was like, we got to hide it.
I was thrilled she was pregnant, celebrated it every time
anybody got pregnant.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
But I was like, I know you did, and I
was like, I don't.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
Care if she kind of looks like we just don't
figure out how high and Tom Barica was amazing and
hiding that pregnancy.
Speaker 5 (13:04):
Wow, I remember that that Olivia Pope, even in her creation,
was someone that was that was not going to be
That's not a character trait of her. She was not
going to have a kid, which like, thankfully for Quinn,
that was not the case for you.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
Quinn was very normal, which is so funny considering who
Quinn sort of turns into but Quinn was very normal.
Speaker 5 (13:21):
But white picket fence kids the whole and this crazy
job of pencil skirts. Okay, also in season three, I
think for me it is the greatest guest starring cast.
Like we have Leo Bergen in full effect, we have
the Daniel Douglas murder. We have Lisaudre Andrew, we have Lisa,
(13:48):
we have Sally Langston, we have Hollis Doyle back. Like
it is like which guest star could get an Emmy
because they were all just bringing their a game and
were written the most credible characters. This is the season
where James dies. Can you tell us anything about this
(14:08):
was where we all realized, oh shit, none of us
are safe and this is.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
The greatest job.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
But also he died in I mean he got the Emmy, right,
maybe you want to get killed off?
Speaker 3 (14:19):
Yes? Yeah? No?
Speaker 5 (14:19):
Never How do you know, like, how do you know
that this is something that happens? I remember you saying
something like I'm the protector of the story and the
keeper of like the characters, Like how do you know
when something like that is gonna is the right move?
Speaker 3 (14:35):
I just know, I mean I don't know how to
tell you why I know, I just know. Like I
would go into the room and be like, okay, so
James is going to die, and they the room was
like what is wrong with you? Like Cyrus and James
and Lovelah and they were going on, and I was like,
it's the story, Like we're there now, like that's where
we are in the story. Also, you know, I was
actually with Dan Bukatinski this weekend.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Oh yeah, right, I saw a picture on Instagram.
Speaker 4 (15:00):
Yes, the world is crazy, okay, But we were.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
Talking, like Dan was talking to me and we ended
up talking about the episode where he dies, and he
talked about how emotional it made him just listening to
Scott Fuley's speech, the whole thing, you know, where he
sits next to him. It was it was great.
Speaker 5 (15:15):
Oh that ending is I mean, there are so many
this season between Sally Langston's like yum yum, Piggy Yum yum. Chris,
She's losing her mind, like the devil has taken over her.
She feels like God isn't talking to her anymore because
she's a murderer. Scott Jake Ballard is next to next
(15:36):
to James as he's gurgling these last gurgles and he's like,
I'm so sorry, this had to be so painful, but
we had to make it look like it was, you know,
a murder, and then I wasn't involved. I mean, it
was just like yeah, oh h.
Speaker 4 (15:50):
But you just know when you know.
Speaker 5 (15:51):
You're like, nope, James is gonna die. That's it. It's
the way that it has to go. And I and
you have to how hard that is as your job
that you have to make it not personal like you're
friends with Dan.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
But that's why I'm the keeper of the story. Like
I'm like, I can't like, I can't take any of
that in account because the world I'm protecting is the
story world and I'm the only one protecting at one.
That's my job. So I feel like you make these
decisions and you make them completely outside of what you're doing.
It's really hard. Let me tell you.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
It's cutthroat. It's it's savage.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
It feels savage, but you have.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
To do it. But but you know, it makes the show.
It made the show so much more exciting when that happened.
I love when Dan was telling us the story that
he was trying to pitch to you. A world where
James would come back. He was like, well, if you
don't see the.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Body like we see it, it all happens, our life
go out. It's bad.
Speaker 5 (16:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
He did a beautiful job with that. He did a
beautiful job with that.
Speaker 5 (16:53):
He made me sob and it also gave you such
juice to be like, you know, the following episode, we
get to go back in time and we see why
James and Cyrus fell in love and in all of
these things.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
I love that episode.
Speaker 4 (17:06):
Yeah, it's beautiful.
Speaker 5 (17:07):
Yeah, we will be back with more after the break.
When you are working on a season, for your process,
is it the kind of thing where, like the beginning
of the season, you mapped out the season three arc,
or you're still completely open to taking a total left
(17:28):
turn when we're in episode nine, like.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
Okay, I want to tell you we never knew anything,
but but I mean, you never knew to But one
of the things was is I when I wrote and
I'm literally like when I wrote the speech for Papa
Pope in that first episode where he's like you will
get on that plane come hell and eye water and
I'm the hell and high water. I wrote that and
I knew in my head from that moment. I was like,
(17:53):
so at the end of the season, she's getting on
that plane, Like that was the one thing. I was like,
that is the point of the season, So.
Speaker 5 (17:58):
You might have an end mark you had like an
end I knew everything in.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
The Middlening too, Yeah, but like I didn't know we
were gonna kill Jerry. I didn't know. I didn't know
any of that stuff till till I knew it, you
know what I mean. I was like, what's going to
get him elected? And it was that stuff, you.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
Know, savage, sad, brilliage, child, savage.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
But the room was so great because they by this
time they had learned that, like that's what we were doing,
like we were there was nothing too special, and so
they would come in. I'd come in and they would
pitch me like amazing crap, Like I don't remember who
wrote Yung Young Chrispy Piggy Young Mum, but it's still
one of the favorite things that someone wrote, and it
was amazing.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
So good.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
It's so amazing. But that's how I think it also, Lend,
And I'm.
Speaker 5 (18:42):
Not sure if that's how your process has been with
your other shows and the stories you tell, but I
feel like you can feel that in Scandal, I think,
what what lends itself to the to the OMG and
the oh my god, and there is no there's no
too far you can go in there and it is
because you all, it wasn't so premeditated, you know what
(19:03):
I mean.
Speaker 4 (19:03):
It wasn't so pre planned that.
Speaker 5 (19:05):
You feel the like like this stress you feel it.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
But also I feel like it's so important to say
a lot of that came from like you guys. I
would write it. We would write it. You guys would
perform it. Then I would watch it and I would
go to the room and go, Okay, so here's what's
going to happen next based on what I watched, not
necessarily from anything else. It was how like I remember
episode one, three oh one, he Joe Morton gives that
(19:30):
amazing pop up Pope speech, you know where he talks
about you know, being twice as good in that whole thing,
and I didn't know how it was going to play
the first time I saw it was on film, and
I remember like one of the writers coming to the
room and being like he just overacted that whole thing
like you should. It's just crazy. It's like so overacted
and then you see it on film and you're like, no,
this is perfect, Like that's who that man is, and
(19:51):
that he performed so much the rest of the season
because that's the first time we saw him as a dad.
Speaker 5 (19:57):
When the first time I saw Joe Morton do that speech,
I was like, what the hell, because it is you're
not used to in TV. You're so used to like
make everything really small. Yeah, and the camera is a
the camera is a microscope, so everything needs to be
subtle and like nuanced, and it's just behind the eyes.
And then you see Joe Morton, one of the greatest
(20:18):
actors in American history, just do a television scene like
he's reaching a three thousand seat Broadway house and you're like,
the writing could hold it, Like it was.
Speaker 4 (20:30):
That was what you could do it. It was like what, like,
we're breaking all the rules that I was taught right
exactly to do a television drama. Like it was like,
let's just.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Let everybody monologue. Yeah, we stuff.
Speaker 5 (20:43):
Yeah, having monologues at all is not a traditional television thing.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
Like I even seen that. It was crazy.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
I loved it. I was having so much fun. Season
three is one of my favorites. It just it is.
It's absolutely one of my favorite seasons.
Speaker 4 (20:56):
How did you know to kill a kid?
Speaker 5 (20:59):
Like what wasn't happening like the killing of Jerry When
we get to the end of this season, I am like,
what this is un incredible. It was incredible and it
was the only thing that would work to get him elected.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
That was how he started. Like in my head, the
thing I thought about that season was like that that
amazing scene where Olivia and Cyrus are sitting on that
bench in the hospital and Olivia says, he's gonna win now,
He's absolutely gonna win, and Cyrus is like, I thought
that too, and I was like, that to me was
the ultimate political animal moment and really started from that,
(21:35):
and also getting to have the kids on in the
first place and seeing like what they meant in the
world in their lives. It was it was cool.
Speaker 4 (21:40):
Oh, it was so so cool.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
You do something, which I love, Shonda, You'll let the
actor know, like, oh my god, one else knows that
you're going to kill them off.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
Whole thing to like just have some come to a table. Raad.
We tried to trick Josh Moline into thinking he was
going to die, but that that was the only time.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
Yes, and he freaking so fast. He caught it, right,
he even get spooked. Yeah, he caught it. He's annoying,
so annoying.
Speaker 5 (22:03):
And I love him, which brings me to one of
our first questions. Of course, Ronia Diles wrote, my question
is will there ever be a scandal movie or reboot
of some sort. Many of us, myself included, feel like
we need closure on olitz.
Speaker 4 (22:20):
Ah.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
This is a question that everyone asks, Like I'm constantly
being asked. I'm like, asked, Sean, I don't know.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
I know the story's over, but I would reboot this
show in a minute, because we had so much fun
and it was so much fun to work with everybody,
just to get the band back together. Like, I would
reboot the show. But I don't know. I don't know
if you're ever going to get closure on Olitz, Like
what kind of closure do you think you want? I know,
because there's no fairy tale happy ending. We made that
very clear from the very beginning, and I think people
(22:49):
want their fairy tale. It's part of why I thought
about Bridgton. I was like, in Bridgerston, everybody gets a
happy ending, Like let's let's say it's all wonderful. But
in Scandal, I was like, no, this is not that world.
Speaker 4 (22:59):
No, it's a tragedy. I mean, Scandal really is like
it's it's tough, but it is what it is.
Speaker 5 (23:05):
Speaking of getting their happy ending in season three is
where we get the Vermont House.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Yeah, it's such a beautiful house.
Speaker 5 (23:12):
That house was so beautiful and that scene was so hot.
I'm so uncomfortable. The only time I'm uncomfortable watching this
show is like how close we all are and how
I'll be watching the show and I'm like, damn, this
is the hottest shit I've ever seen in my entire life.
Like there's Fits and Olivia just going at it on
the rug of this beautiful violin and the fireplace is
(23:34):
going and how does Fitz's body look like that? And
how does look And then I'm like, these are my friends.
I'm like, this is Irry and this is Tony. These
are people I know very well and I know their
significant others, and this is like weird.
Speaker 4 (23:46):
Weird, so bizarre.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
Episode. That's the episode that Avid Verney directed.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
Oh that's right. She was amazing.
Speaker 4 (23:54):
She did an amazing job.
Speaker 5 (23:56):
And before she had I remember sitting with her and
talking to her Selma.
Speaker 3 (24:01):
It was before anything, it was before anything. No, they
wouldn't let her, No, they would let her direct an
episode of television. She'd want all these film festivals. A
guy would have gotten one hundred million dollar picture off
of it, but they were like, we don't know, we
don't know. And scandal. We had this thing where we
hired the directors we wanted to, and I was like,
Tom's here. If there's anything goes around, Tom's here. And
so they wouldn't tell us and we couldn't, could't, coudn't hire,
(24:23):
which is how we got a lot of women directors
on that show.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
Oh it was the best.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
Love, that was the best. I'm the proudest of that.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
I wish I would have gotten to work with her more.
I think we worked with her just a couple of days, right,
Katie like it.
Speaker 5 (24:35):
Yeah, we didn't have big storylines during her episode, but
I'll never forget sitting there she was and her being like.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
Yeah, I was a publicist for a while.
Speaker 5 (24:43):
And then I made this movie and it did really
well at sun Dance, and I'm a filmmaker and da
da da dah.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
But this is the first time I ever done TV.
And I'm going to do this movie called.
Speaker 5 (24:50):
Selma, And I was like, I am catching this woman
on the upswing of of changing the world.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
Like she is going to.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
She's incredible.
Speaker 4 (25:02):
Yeah, incredible.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
So there's another We have another question, a question from Mariah, Yes,
a burning from Mariah Smith, and she says, what was
your thought process in bringing in a character that most
believe was supposed to come in between O lists?
Speaker 3 (25:16):
He was we're talking about Scott right, Yeah, yeah, I
was gonna say, yeah, yeah. My thought process was simple,
like I we needed somebody like that, you know, we
needed that sort of spookiness, and I thought that that
was powerful and important to have, Like you wanted this
guy who the audience was like, no, yes, no, is
(25:37):
he evil? Is he not evil? And I remember scoffing,
like everybody hates me. Everybody hates my character.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Because it's good.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
It's really good. And then just if you skip back,
I wrote a monologue for him in season four which
we sat together and watched while live tweeting, and I
was like, just watch the tweets because once this monologue
is over, the audience is going to turn. And we
literally watched the audience turn from hating him to loving
it in like a monologue.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
Yeah, no way, no way.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
It was the one where he thought he was going
to die and he's sitting in that prison he's been
beaten up by Fits.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
Yeah, so good.
Speaker 4 (26:10):
Oh my god, I guess.
Speaker 5 (26:12):
I guess the audience was like, how how dare you
bring in somebody that would ever come between Olivia.
Speaker 4 (26:18):
Well, they were guys.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
They were very loyal, and I love that they were
very loyal to Fits in Olivia. But I was like,
we have taken time to deconstruct Fits in Olivia for you.
You got to fall in love with him the way
she did, and then you got to learn the realities
of him, and yeah, you know, he's a complicated personal love.
But I also just wanted her to have some choice
and I wanted Fits. I wanted Fits to have like
somebody to be up against too.
Speaker 4 (26:39):
Oh hell yeah, oh we all do.
Speaker 5 (26:42):
I does love that, right, Like, yeah, I love love triangle.
Speaker 4 (26:46):
When there's one woman and two men, I.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
Think it keeps everybody.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
It was this weird expansion of Papa Pope's family because
you know, you know, Jake was one of his sons. Yeah,
his sons, and so we needed this weird it was
a weird brother sister relationship too.
Speaker 5 (27:04):
Before we get to our last question, and then I
know you have to go because we've got bridgert In
coming out and there's a lot of press to be done.
When did you guys decide? Because it's in this season
also that Huck and Quinn romantically get involved.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
They weren't interesting. I mean, like I talked about you
like you're not here, but those characters were so interesting
to watch yolo is that episode with the with the
teeth pulling and all that. I just I just loved
it so much and I and getting those characters together
was this weird function of that dysfunction, you know what
(27:38):
I mean. Like it was also how they became sort
of equals because before that Quinn had been like his puppy,
right yeah, and after that they they were really unequal
footing so much the time, so much that Quinn could
challenge Hawk, which I thought was great.
Speaker 5 (27:53):
Yeah, who is nasty enough in the writer's room. You
don't have to doubt them to be like this is
when he licks her cheek and this is when she
licks his face, Like what is even going on? I'm
watching it and I and I don't really remember doing it.
Speaker 4 (28:07):
I'm so into it and I'm just like, wow.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Well, I remember, I remember the day you licked me.
I remember that because we were shooting at Hollywood Cemetery.
Speaker 4 (28:16):
Remember that.
Speaker 5 (28:17):
Yeah, yeah, we just watched that and we had Debbie Allen.
Debbie Allen, she directed the episode where we have sex
on a car.
Speaker 4 (28:23):
Oh yeah, and I was so complimented.
Speaker 5 (28:27):
She is one of my all time favorite directors of
all time. But I just she made me feel so
comfortable and confident because Quinn has to be really sexy,
and I'm that's probably the one thing I am as
an actress. Just like, oh god, oh god, I want
to crawl on my skin.
Speaker 4 (28:42):
I'm suf ear those scenes.
Speaker 3 (28:43):
Those scenes were so sexy. And here's the deal, Like,
I remember the one sex scene I wrote other you know,
like between characters who weren't fits and live. The one
sex scene I wrote was the one where Abby sticks
her fingers and oh so good and I and I
wrote it. I was like, I just wrote it because
it felt weird and it felt like what Abby would do.
I don't know who wrote the licking. I don't, but
(29:06):
I loved it and I was like, let's let's see
and you know me, I'm never gonna be like the
characters have to band clothed, like you guys could have
done that scene fully clothed. And the licking itself, what's
the sexy part? That's what was interesting. He didn't require
any nudity, It didn't require any anything.
Speaker 5 (29:20):
No, no, he just we were fully closed, which we
were very appreciative about. We also had long conversation Shanda,
which the people know about we've talked about it before
in the podcast, but G and I had long conversations
where we were like, we will not make out like
fits and Olivia. We are not movie stars. We are weirdos.
(29:44):
And the pain and pleasure threshold is very confused. Yes,
and so you know, there weren't intimacy coordinators at the time,
but it would have been like, Okay, there's probably gonna
be like tongue, which is like not really allowed in Hollywood.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
And god, we were like best It helped that you
guys were best friends and it made it okay. But yeah, coordinators.
Intimacy coordinators came later, and then once we had them,
that's when I started being like I remember Carrie saying,
like can can Scott and I just choreographed this this
sex scene ourselves with the intimacy coordinator. I was like, great,
(30:19):
Like here's what I want from it, knock yourselves out.
And so that's when we started letting you guys choreograph
your own sex scenes with the coordinator. So that I
was like, this is perfect because then everybody really feels comfortable, right.
Speaker 5 (30:31):
Right, Yeah, we felt so taken care of it.
Speaker 4 (30:33):
Again. I mean, Debbie was She's like, yeah, she's the best.
Speaker 5 (30:37):
And she just made me feel like she was just
like you look good, Like she just was like really complimentary,
and I was like, oh my god, I feel kind
of cute, Like, thank god for Debbie Allen Lucky.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
You are cute.
Speaker 4 (30:47):
Okay, Gene, thank you Okay gee. Last question?
Speaker 3 (30:52):
Is this really?
Speaker 2 (30:52):
It?
Speaker 3 (30:53):
Is this really it? We're like, this is a fast conversation. Wow,
I know.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
This is go go g This is a question. This
is from Denise Steine. Another burning question. She says, I've
been curious for years who was the funniest to write
dialogue for? Sally or Hollis. Both such interesting characters in
their own ways and have great one line.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
You know, Hollis was really fun to write for, but
for me, Uh, it was Sally. And the reason why
it was Sally was she took herself so seriously, like
Hollis was always like in on the joke, you know
what I mean, But she took herself so seriously, and
then to give her these lines like it's not in
God's plan that I lose Ohio, like those kinds of things.
(31:33):
She was so serious. I mean even when she was
spitting young young Chrispy Piking like she's She was so
much fun to write for because she was deeply committed
and shook everything. Like her idea of politics was that
it was like the foundation of life. So she took
it all so so seriously was great.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
Which is so scary.
Speaker 5 (31:50):
It was almost like she was like God had told her,
you know, like she was supposed to be there like
a king or queen, you know, like really right.
Speaker 3 (31:57):
She played it that way, like literally like I am
here because God says this is where I'm supposed to be.
And so she played it so brilliantly crazy.
Speaker 4 (32:06):
Oh she did.
Speaker 5 (32:07):
And Leo Bergen is one of my all time favorite characters.
Speaker 4 (32:09):
Oh my god, the entire.
Speaker 5 (32:11):
Scandal verse, and this is the season where the church
blows up and he rips Sally's shirt off and rubs
some dirt.
Speaker 4 (32:21):
Go go.
Speaker 3 (32:22):
He's like, be Jesus, Sally, go be Jesus. That he
was also great to write for, but you know, he
was from private practice, so I've been writing for him
forever and love working with him. So but it was
really fun to see him come in as this like
totally different guy, and he played it so hard and
like so seriously. It was fantastic.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
He's so good.
Speaker 5 (32:39):
Oh, Shanda, you are the Is there anything else we
have not talked about?
Speaker 4 (32:44):
In season three? Before you have to go to your bridge,
you didn't.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
Talk about the fact that this is the this is
the episode. This is the season where you introduced to
his family.
Speaker 4 (32:54):
At the end, Oh, Quinn, do that you were so mad?
Speaker 3 (33:00):
Yep? That season was also that final episode is also
Columbus shorts last episode, remember, because he was the one
who figured it all out. He was the one who
went to po and figured it all out. So it
was there were a lot of big things that happened
this season. That season was filled with these very very
big moments.
Speaker 5 (33:16):
And speaking of Harrison, right, I think this is actually
a really good time to share some very special news
with the listeners. Yeah, g and I, we had a
beautiful reunion with Columbus Short and we recorded an entire
episode together.
Speaker 4 (33:31):
That really just it covers a lot.
Speaker 5 (33:35):
Of ground about his time on the show, and we're
going to be dropping that conversation in a few weeks,
So definitely, gladiators and listeners keep an eye out on
our socials for the official release date of that episode.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
So Seanda, of course, you know that we had Columbus
on the podcast. How what did you think? How was it?
Speaker 3 (33:52):
I absolutely loved hearing it. I mean, honestly, you guys
spend a lot more time talking about Britney spirits than
you should have, but it was amazing.
Speaker 1 (34:01):
Well, that's something we all have in common.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
Yeah, it is. He's something we all have in common.
But what I really loved was just hearing him be
so open and brutally honest about that period of time
in his life. It was really beautiful to hear. And
I always have a special love for Columbus, you know,
because he's such a talented actor and it hurts so much,
but it was so brilliant. His time on the show
(34:26):
is so brilliant.
Speaker 4 (34:27):
Oh my god, Harrison is unforgettable.
Speaker 5 (34:30):
He's unforgettable, and he's like always how I feel when
I watch the show back. I'm like, he's like the gladiator,
Like that's how I feel, like a gladiator in a suit.
Speaker 4 (34:38):
He's that.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
He was that, he was the gladiator in a suit
who taught everybody else, like you know, he's teaching Quinn
the ropes. It was he was great and I thought,
like his his podcast, it's one to listen to because
it's just amazing.
Speaker 1 (34:49):
Good yeah, good good.
Speaker 2 (34:51):
It was Yeah.
Speaker 5 (34:52):
Yeah, your support means the world, and I mean we
were really happy to have the platform to do it
and that he was game and.
Speaker 3 (34:59):
That was an amazing and I'm really proud of him circle. Yeah,
I'm proud of him for taking that opportunity to me too.
You guys are bold, but he was brave, yes, yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
And he came in with humility, yes, Like he was
open and it was just lovely. Yeah. It was really
nice to see him like that.
Speaker 4 (35:17):
Season three was gonna bug you. For season four, we are.
Speaker 3 (35:23):
Whenever you want to. I love talking about the show
and I love talking to you guys. Seriously, you can
just be like something I'm happy to do.
Speaker 4 (35:29):
Oh, thank you so much. I love you so much.
Best of luck.
Speaker 5 (35:33):
I will I know what I'm doing this weekend, and
at the time that this airs, everyone will have already
seen Bridgerton and is obsessed with it, and the Bridgerton
fandom will continue on. But we love you and thank
you so much for coming on.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
To the podcast. We'll be right back, guys.
Speaker 4 (35:55):
So it was awesome to have Shonda.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
On so great.
Speaker 4 (35:58):
We love you, Shonda, We you Shonda Rhimes.
Speaker 5 (36:01):
And now we're gonna break break break down this episode
three oh eight, Vermon Is for Lovers Too.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
You better tell somebody, you.
Speaker 4 (36:08):
Better tell somebody, you better don't tell you. I love
this episode.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
It is a.
Speaker 5 (36:13):
Steamy, steamy, steamy episode. Yes, sex o rama. Okay, this
episode really was special for me. It's episode three oh
eight called Vermont Is for Lovers Too. It aired on
November twenty first, twenty thirteen, and it.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
Was written by Mark Wilding and directed by the wonderful
Ava DuVernay.
Speaker 5 (36:33):
Guest starring Candy Alexander Asmya Lewis, Lisa Kudro is Congresswoman
Josie Marcus, Jack Coleman is, Daniel Douglas Langston.
Speaker 1 (36:40):
Brian Lesher is Tom Sally Pressman as Candace Marcus, Sharmila
Davar is Lauren Wellman, and Ivar Broger as Doctor.
Speaker 5 (36:48):
The synopsis to remind you, the OPA team gets closer
to nailing down the security guard killer as Fits and
Olivia do a little nailing of their own.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
Meanwhile, Cyrus has a plan to take down Sally Langston.
All it involves is pimping out his own husband to
Daniel Douglass. Things comes to an epic climax after Maya
Pope escapes from her cell and shows up at Olivia's doorstep.
Speaker 5 (37:10):
Okay, so many things in this episode. First, you're all
gonna remember this, Maya choose her own fucking risk.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
That's my fist disgusting, disgusting, even for me, who is
a huge horror fan. Disgusting and savage, Who the fuck
she chewed her wrists off?
Speaker 3 (37:34):
Who wrote this?
Speaker 1 (37:35):
Mark Wilding?
Speaker 5 (37:36):
She's been in jail for twenty years and it's on
her back, thank god. And you just hear blood and
gnawing and bone and snapping blood and snapping of ligaments
and disgusting sounds, and you realize what she's doing is
that she's chewing her own wrist off. So that she
can essentially try to commit suicide to get her out
(37:58):
of the cell, and the doctor so grossly says, yeah,
this girl's.
Speaker 4 (38:03):
Out of her mind.
Speaker 5 (38:04):
Because we've had people be able to make it to
like level one on your own wrists off and pass out.
Speaker 4 (38:09):
She'd made it all the way through to the most
major arteries, Like this bitch is correct.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
She is a Maya pope.
Speaker 4 (38:18):
That was disgusting.
Speaker 5 (38:20):
The other huge, huge, like winning scenes of this episode,
I mean the biggest. I must have written one thousand
notes about Tony Goldwin's.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
But I know, listen and one of the I feel
like there's a character that is not a human in
this episode that is such a standout and so beautiful
and so epic, And it's the Vermont Home. Oh when
we see this episode is.
Speaker 5 (38:46):
Where Fits says, please, I needed time, and she gets
in this private plane and I guess it takes one second.
Speaker 4 (38:54):
To fly from DC to Vermont. And he walks into
this house and there's like, you know, sheets.
Speaker 6 (39:01):
On furniture, furniture, but the fires going into the most
beautiful laid stonework fireplace in these vaulted wooden ceilings and
it looks like they're in the most bucolic landscape scene,
and he says, I bought it for us.
Speaker 4 (39:15):
I wanted you to see it one time before I
sell it.
Speaker 1 (39:17):
I kind of broke down in that part when he
says that and that love scene, the way that love
scene was shot beautiful killed that ava.
Speaker 5 (39:31):
The sex scene and Tony Goldwin's bad, that's unheard of.
I don't understand his watch the man thick placement of
the manscaping.
Speaker 1 (39:42):
Hand, yes, and just the waist and that that sort
of like V shape down such.
Speaker 5 (39:49):
A V shape that is something genetic. And he's eating
baby's blood.
Speaker 1 (39:54):
Vampire ship in the middles blood. I think that's what
it is.
Speaker 4 (40:00):
It's the most epic sex scene. It's so beautiful.
Speaker 5 (40:03):
They're just like on the floor. They're all over this
Vermont house. And where did you hear where this house
was shot? Because I loved like where in La Ladies?
And how much does it come?
Speaker 1 (40:12):
I've shot in this house. I have a scene in
front of that fireplace with Darby, and I have a
scene on the chair. You weren't there for that.
Speaker 4 (40:20):
I don't think.
Speaker 1 (40:21):
Yeah, it's a watch.
Speaker 4 (40:22):
Let's get to that season.
Speaker 1 (40:23):
In that episode, Yeah, there was a I remember Carrie
telling me that, oh my god, Jamie Fox lived like
right up the hill, and there was a day that
they were shooting in the house and Jamie was having
like a big old party and Carrie called Jamie to
be like, Jamie, can you just turn down music a
little bit because we're filming? And he totally did. Isn't
(40:45):
that creepy? Oh my ye.
Speaker 4 (40:47):
A good yes, that is absolutely hilarious, And so Hollywood.
Speaker 1 (40:51):
I was just gonna say that Candy Alexander is is
very much in this episode, and obviously she has that
crazy scene chewing off at risk. She has the wonderful
scenes with in the hospital where Eli Pope is showing
her pictures of Olivia because she, again, like Katie said,
she's been in prison for twenty years, right, so she
doesn't even know what her daughter looks like when she
was a teenager and as an adult. But a fun
(41:13):
fact about Candy Alexander is that she was a choreographer
and she choreographed Whitney Houston's world tours from like nineteen
eighty eight to nineteen ninety two. Gosh, which I had
no idea. I didn't know that about her.
Speaker 4 (41:29):
Are you like I need to YouTube videos of Candy Alexander.
Speaker 1 (41:32):
Dance like, I'm sure you can. I'm sure you can.
Oh man.
Speaker 5 (41:37):
Somebody definitely says QR five facial recognition software in this
episode it's Jake, and I love it so much, Like
what is QR five facial recognition software? And how many
times did you say it on Scandal? Because I think
I said it seventy five hundred times.
Speaker 1 (41:50):
I'm sure, I'm sure I've said it a ton. Something
else that's stuck out for me in this episode is
when James mentions Ella's Ella's poop law and I was like,
is this laz, That's some straight hell bullshit. Y'all keep
flogs of your babies.
Speaker 4 (42:06):
That's poop blog?
Speaker 1 (42:07):
Is that a real thing? Just to be like her
poop today was like solid and sort of like brown.
Speaker 4 (42:13):
Yeah, you right down.
Speaker 5 (42:14):
Well, because if the baby is really little, when you
go to the pediatrician, they ask you like how many
times have they pooped impede in the day, because it's
the only way to tell are they getting enough calories?
Speaker 4 (42:26):
Are they hating weight?
Speaker 5 (42:26):
And are they not like dehydrated? And is their body
like up online? Also, I used to have a pooplog
because yourself.
Speaker 2 (42:34):
Not for Adam.
Speaker 1 (42:37):
Adam, you had a pooplog for Adam.
Speaker 4 (42:40):
Could you imagine Adam.
Speaker 5 (42:42):
No for my baby, because if you had child's care,
you would keep a log so that she could, like,
when I got home from the end of the day,
it would be written down if the kid went to
the bathroom, because I could get home. She might have left,
and the baby could be super cranky and you might
not know why. You like, look at the poop log
and you're like, oh my god, she hasn't gone to
the bathroom, but all today she might have a really
(43:02):
bad gas and maybe she needs medicine or like whatever.
So that's that straight ass poop blog bullshit.
Speaker 4 (43:10):
I wrote that down to you though.
Speaker 5 (43:12):
This is also the episode where Cyrus sets has been
setting up, setting up, setting up for Daniel Douglas and
James to have an affair. Yes, Cyrus is so convinced
that when it when push comes to shove, James won't
do it because he's not like fits, and it ends
up happening. He goes to Daniel Douglas's house and he
(43:33):
starts to realize and put together that Cyrus has set
this whole thing up, and he's so upset and James,
Oh my god, Dan m does such an amazing job,
and they end up hooking up and having sex, and
then Cyrus is waiting at home for them, and and
then James has all these lines that are like, you know,
innuendos that he did it on the.
Speaker 1 (43:53):
Saddle, Well, I'm just back on the saddle again to
this ally it does.
Speaker 4 (44:01):
And then he said something like yeah, you really opened
me up.
Speaker 1 (44:03):
Yes, I really opened him up.
Speaker 4 (44:06):
Or something like that.
Speaker 5 (44:06):
And then he's like, Okay, come to bed, honey, and
he's like, no, I'm going to take a shower. Don't wait,
and he says, I love don't wait up for you,
and he says, I love you. And then we see
Cyrus open up his cell phone and he gets the document,
like the actual proof of photos of them.
Speaker 4 (44:21):
He's mortifies and hooking up.
Speaker 3 (44:24):
Yes.
Speaker 5 (44:25):
And what's so crazy is that at this time when
we were making this episode, I didn't know, none of
us knew that this was going to be the thing
that leads James.
Speaker 1 (44:34):
To his death. Oh my god, yeah, and Daniel Douglas and.
Speaker 5 (44:39):
Daniel Douglas, everybody dies, Cyrus fall so good, so good.
Speaker 1 (44:46):
I love I love the moment where between Quinn and
Huck were Huck and this I love that this In
this episode, Quinn is trying to hide the fact that
she killed that security guard. Right, Oh, yeah, she killed
the security guard, but she's trying to hide that end.
Speaker 5 (45:02):
This is the episode where she's trying to get the
information before you do.
Speaker 1 (45:07):
Yes, Yes, and the whole Opia team is like working
hard to get the picture of that woman with that
pencil and killed the security guard.
Speaker 5 (45:15):
And Quinn's like shit happy says that shitty pencils, skirt
and those dumpy heels.
Speaker 1 (45:21):
But there's a moment where Quinn goes into Huck's office
and Huck is like, hey, you do a really good job.
You do a really good job at what you do,
or something like that, and I don't tell you enough
and I love that. I love that. But then Quinn
is like then.
Speaker 5 (45:35):
The episode is and Quinn comes into her apartment and
she has her spiding senses up and she's like Huck
and he's waiting, Oh, there's a folder on the floor,
and she picks up the folder and it's a close
up shot of her in the building that killed the
security office and Huck is waiting there with the tarp
and the tool.
Speaker 1 (45:53):
And the tool.
Speaker 4 (45:55):
Row.
Speaker 1 (45:57):
I remember shooting in that, in that in Quinn's apartment.
Whenever we shot in Quinn's apartment, it was always like
a really intense scene, like a really good, juicy, intense
dark scene. It was always exciting shooting there. And it
was on the stages at Centic Hour.
Speaker 4 (46:12):
Yeah, it was on the stages. Okay, Giirmo. Six Degrees
of Horror?
Speaker 5 (46:16):
Was there anything in this app If you look on
your notes, I don't know these movies.
Speaker 1 (46:21):
Well listen, Yeah, there was a lot of horror, and
it was in the beginning of the episode.
Speaker 5 (46:24):
Yeah, Kenny Alexander was in Firstborn in two thousand and seven.
A pregnant couple buys a mansion and moves out of NYC.
Strange things start happening to the c sectioned anxious new moment.
Speaker 3 (46:35):
Have you ever seen Firstborn?
Speaker 1 (46:36):
I have not seen that. Can you believe it?
Speaker 5 (46:39):
Now?
Speaker 4 (46:39):
A horror movie exists that Giermo Diaz has not seen?
Speaker 1 (46:42):
And then Terminal.
Speaker 4 (46:43):
Also I will never.
Speaker 5 (46:44):
Watch these movies, but also I kind of love it.
And also this episode was a horror thing in and
of its own. We had to watch a woman eat
her own wrist off, which was absolutely yeah, okay.
Speaker 4 (46:52):
Fun fact for this episode, it's like, this is a lot.
Speaker 5 (46:55):
But the compound that's in Quinn's syringe, which they name,
it's called bachelor and toxin, the effective dose that actually
would kill someone around that dude's weight would have had
to have been three pounds of liquid shit. So there's
no way that that that they named in the episode
could have killed that guy. But like whatever, oh my god,
(47:19):
Scandal tweets at the time, this one's.
Speaker 4 (47:21):
Away at Luck.
Speaker 5 (47:22):
You mean it, wrote Quinn, You dumb bitch. Why would
you ever trust Charlie?
Speaker 1 (47:28):
Hashtags game, love it go dogs tweeted back at back
at Mo. Miriam She tweeted, oh my god, just saw
last night's Scandal episode. Quinn finally about to die? Get
her ass, Huck? Oh shit, what all this drama with Quinn?
Speaker 2 (47:42):
All this?
Speaker 1 (47:42):
Like all this Quinn?
Speaker 5 (47:44):
I love it at far dus of ninety two tweeted,
you believe he's killed your mother, but you forgive him
because he got you a house.
Speaker 4 (47:50):
Olivia is something else so true?
Speaker 1 (47:55):
Tait potait Ho tweeted, are you a side chick if
you get picked up by a helicopter to stay in
a posh mansion. Hashtag scandal. Olivia Pope got me wanting
to be a side chick.
Speaker 4 (48:08):
I agree, I agree.
Speaker 5 (48:11):
At Angel Rene thirteen tweeted, Melly is the side chick
and she knows it hashtag scandal.
Speaker 4 (48:17):
I'm not true.
Speaker 1 (48:18):
Scandal Possessed tweeted hashtag scandal. A Scandal crew can have
just one well lit, oh litz love scene before the
show is over. It's hard out here for a fangirl
editing pics. Oh my god, so she's saying she wants
to flighting to be brighter so she could edit a
good fucking picture.
Speaker 4 (48:36):
Just really focus on Tony Goldwin's yes. Oh look at
this shot.
Speaker 5 (48:41):
This is with a picture at ohso brand New tweeted,
Olivia Pope be like, oh, I thought you said throw
it back Thursday hashtag scandal. And it's definitely a very
saucy photo of Fitzgerald Grant behind Olivia Pope without their
clothing on.
Speaker 1 (48:57):
And it looks like there's some on panky panky.
Speaker 4 (49:00):
Hanky panky back position going okay.
Speaker 1 (49:04):
Felicia tweeted, why y'all ain't warm me about this lady
eating her arms on Scandal. I was eating sorry about that, Felicia, I.
Speaker 5 (49:13):
Know same at Smiley Stylist tweeted, I just had a
whole body shaking flashback to last night's hashtag scandal at
ave et cetera. Plus shonder rhymes have me shook. I
still hear the chewy And guess what next episode is?
All y'all who our Quinn haters are going to get
what you need because the next episode is three o
(49:35):
nine and it's called Yola Yolo Yolo.
Speaker 4 (49:38):
Quinn's about to Quin's about tua.
Speaker 1 (49:41):
Quinn's about to go to the dentist. She about to
go to the dentist.
Speaker 2 (49:46):
Y'all.
Speaker 5 (49:47):
So, if you guys want to hear all about how
much you hated Quinn and make sure that she gets
her shit tortured real bad, come listen to next week's
episode of Unpacking the Toolbox, a Scanalal rewatch podcast for
episode three oh nine titled.
Speaker 1 (50:01):
Yo Quinn's gonna check her yuck mouth. Maybe she just
got a yuck mouth.
Speaker 4 (50:07):
Thank you guys so much for listening. We love you.
Speaker 5 (50:10):
Tell your friends, Hey, if you like the scandal Rewatch podcast,
tell a friend to subscribe to it.
Speaker 1 (50:16):
Yes, we need you guys. Listen if you guys want
to show this podcast to continue on. We need your
help and we need your love. So please, yeah, find
another Scandal obsessed friend or someone on social media and
just send them a link to the podcast because it
would help us a lot, and we would love to
keep doing this for you, guys and for us.
Speaker 4 (50:35):
Bye.
Speaker 1 (50:36):
We love you, Thank you, bye everybody. Thank you, Thank
you guys for joining us on Unpacking the Toolbox. If
you enjoyed the show, please subscribe, share with your friends, rate,
or leave us a review.
Speaker 5 (50:51):
Scandal is executive produced by Sandy Bailey, Alex Alce, Lauren Homan,
Tyler Klang, and Gabrielle Collins. Our producer and editor is
Vince Johnny, with music by Chad Fisher.
Speaker 1 (51:02):
Scandal is a production of ABC Signature, and you can
follow along by rewatching Scandal on Hulu.
Speaker 5 (51:08):
Unpacking the Toolbox is a production of Shondaland Audio in
partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from Shondaland Audio, visit
the iHeartRadio app or anywhere you subscribe to your favorite shows.
Hosts And Creators
Guillermo Díaz
Katie Lowes
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