Scandal series finale: Who died, and was it a worthy end?

The Scandal series finale has officially come and gone, and in the midst of all the chaos we have to say that the closing minutes were surprisingly low-key, at least so far as the show goes — Olivia Pope had her signature coat, she was walking around Washington, and, in the end, she had a chance to meet up with Fitz. Many of the Gladiators were still alive — alas, one important person didn’t make it through the episode in one piece.

That person was David Rosen. The Attorney General was killed during the episode by Cyrus in an attempt to be able to maintain his own legacy and keep secrets about him from coming out. Unfortunately, David, who was one of the nicest people in the world of Scandal, was the one who actually felt the executioner’s metaphorical axe in the end. Many other major characters survived, though the “bad guys” of Cyrus and Jake were taken down. Jake, in particular, spent the end of the series behind bars. Abby and Huck were left to mourn what happened with David, and as for Olivia, we have that painting in the closing minutes.

What was the meaning of Olivia’s painting? Was it meant to establish her prominence in Washington; or, was it recognition of some sort of future political title? That much is open-ended but we do think it was an obvious callback to Michelle Obama’s painting that drew headlines earlier this year.

We did like that there was some closure in the finale — however, there wasn’t necessarily a lot given that there was no clarity on Olivia and Fitz, just as there was no real clarity as to what all the Gladiators would be doing from here. This was more of Olivia’s story of redemption and how some of these characters conquered their demons while some other ones ultimately found themselves eaten alive by them.

Overall … we liked it so far as respecting the ending to the show, though we do think it worked a little too hard to tie itself to present-day headlines without necessarily focusing on the story and all of the characters. Series finales are difficult, though, in that almost everyone is going to hate them on social media. Everyone has their own vision as to how something should end.

What did you think about the Scandal series finale overall? Share right now in the attached comments!