The fifth season of the American television drama series ''

Scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way. Th ...

'' was ordered on May 7, 2015, by ABC, and began airing on September 24, 2015, in the United States on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

. The season was produced by

ABC Studios ABC Signature is an American television Filmmaking#Production, production studio that is a subsidiary of Disney Television Studios, a division of Walt Disney Television, which is part of the List of assets owned by The Walt Disney Company#Disne ...

, in association with ShondaLand Production Company; the

showrunner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...

being

Shonda Rhimes Shonda Lynn Rhimes (born January 13, 1970) is an American television screenwriter, producer, and author. She is best known as the showrunner—creator, head writer, and executive producer—of the television medical drama '' Grey's Anatomy'', ...

. The season continues the story of Olivia Pope's

crisis management Crisis management is the process by which an organization deals with a disruptive and unexpected event that threatens to harm the organization or its stakeholders. The study of crisis management originated with large-scale industrial and envir ...

firm, Olivia Pope & Associates, and its staff, as well as staff at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

in Washington D.C. Season five has eleven series regulars, all returning from the previous season, out of which six are part of the original cast of eight regulars from

the first season ''The First Season'' is a Canadian drama film, released in 1989. The film stars Kate Trotter as Alex Cauldwell, a woman in British Columbia who, following the death of her fisherman husband Frank (Dwight Koss), tries to support herself and her dau ...

and three new regulars were added. The season will continue to air in the Thursday 9:00 pm timeslot, the same as the previous season as it was moved to make room for ShondaLand Production Company's new TV series, ''

How to Get Away with Murder ''How to Get Away with Murder'' is an American legal thriller television series that premiered on ABC on September 25, 2014, and concluded on May 14, 2020. The series was created by Peter Nowalk, and produced by Shonda Rhimes and ABC Studios ...

''. On March 3, 2016, ABC announced that ''Scandal'' was renewed for a sixth season.

Overview

The series focuses on Olivia Pope and her

firm, Olivia Pope & Associates, and its staff, as well as staff at the

in Washington D.C. as political scandals occur and they must try to deal with them.

Cast and characters

Main

Kerry Washington Kerry Marisa Washington (born January 31, 1977) SidebarCertificate of Live Birth: Isabelle Amarachi Asomugha(County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health). Gives Kerry Washington birth dateArchivedfrom the original on May 2, 2016.Note: Fi ...

Olivia Pope Olivia Carolyn Pope is a fictional character created by Shonda Rhimes for the political drama television series ''Scandal''. This character also played a small role in the series ''How to Get Away with Murder'' on its 4th season produced by Shon ...

* Scott Foley as Jacob "Jake" Ballard *

Darby Stanchfield Darby Leigh Stanchfield (born April 29, 1971) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Abby Whelan in the ABC political drama series ''Scandal'' (2012–2018). Stanchfield is also known for roles as April Green in the CBS po ...

as Abigail "Abby" Whelan * Katie Lowes as Quinn Perkins *

Guillermo Diaz Guillermo Diaz may refer to: * Guillermo Díaz (footballer, born 1926), Chilean footballer * Guillermo Díaz (footballer, born 1930) (1930–1997), Chilean footballer * Guillermo Díaz (wrestler) (born 1964), Mexican Olympic wrestler *Guillermo Dí ...

as Diego "Huck" Muñoz * Jeff Perry as

Cyrus Beene ''Scandal'' is an American television political drama series created by Shonda Rhimes, broadcast by ABC. The show features an ensemble cast of regular characters, with eight main characters in its first season. Since the first season, two ch ...

Joshua Malina Joshua Charles Malina (born January 17, 1966) is an American film and stage actor known for playing Will Bailey on the NBC drama ''The West Wing'', Jeremy Goodwin on '' Sports Night'', US Attorney General David Rosen on ''Scandal'', and Caltech P ...

as Attorney General David Rosen *

Bellamy Young Bellamy Young (born Amy Maria Young; February 19, 1970) is an American actress, producer and singer, best known for her role as Melody "Mellie" Grant in the ABC drama series'' Scandal'' (2012–2018). In 2014 for her portrayal of Mellie, she won ...

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Melody "Mellie" Grant *

Portia de Rossi Portia Lee James DeGeneres (born Amanda Lee Rogers; 31 January 1973), known professionally as Portia de Rossi, is an Australian-American former actress. She played Nelle Porter on the American drama series '' Ally McBeal'' (1998–2002), for w ...

as VP's Chief of Staff Elizabeth North *

Joe Morton Joseph Thomas Morton Jr. (born October 18, 1947) is an American stage, television and film actor. He has worked with film director John Sayles in ''The Brother from Another Planet'' (1984), '' City of Hope'' (1991) and '' Lone Star'' (1996). Oth ...

as Rowan "Eli" Pope *

Cornelius Smith Jr. Cornelius Smith Jr. (born March 18, 1982) is an American actor best known for his portrayal of Marcus Walker on the ABC drama series ''Scandal'' from 2015 to 2018, and Frankie Hubbard on the ABC soap opera ''All My Children'' from December 2007 ...

as Marcus Walker *

Tony Goldwyn Anthony Howard Goldwyn (born May 20, 1960) is an American actor, singer, producer, director, and political activist. He made his debut appearing as Darren in the slasher film '' Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives'' (1986), and had his breakthr ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Fitzgerald "Fitz" Thomas Grant III

Recurring

* Artemis Pebdani as

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

Susan Ross * Kate Burton as Sally Langston, former Vice President *

George Newbern George Young Newbern (born December 30, 1964) is an American actor, best known for his roles as Charlie in the ABC show ''Scandal'' and Bryan MacKenzie in '' Father of the Bride'' (1991) and its sequels ''Father of the Bride Part II'' and '' Fat ...

as Charlie *

Ricardo Chavira Ricardo Antonio Chavira (born September 1, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Carlos Solis in the ABC television series ''Desperate Housewives'' (2004–2012). He also played Abraham Quintanilla in the Netflix original s ...

as Governor Francisco Vargas of Pennsylvania *

Mía Maestro Mía Maestro (born 19 June 1978) is an Argentine actress and singer. She is known for her roles as Nora Martinez in '' The Strain'', Nadia Santos in the television drama '' Alias'', as Christina Kahlo in ''Frida'', as Carmen in '' The Twilight ...

as Elise Martin *

Gregg Henry Gregg Lee Henry (born May 6, 1952) is an American character actor and rock, blues and country musician. He is best known for his performance as serial killer Dennis Rader in the made-for-television film '' The Hunt for the BTK Killer'', and f ...

as Hollis Doyle *

Norm Lewis Norm Lewis (born June 2, 1963) is an American actor and singer. He has appeared in Europe, on Broadway, in film, television, recordings and regional theatre. Productions that he has been involved in include ''Dessa Rose'', ''Miss Saigon'', '' T ...

as Senate Majority Leader Edison Davis *

Joelle Carter Joelle Marie Carter (born October 10, 1972) is an American actress. She is known for playing Ava Crowder in the FX series '' Justified''. Early life Carter was born in Thomasville, Georgia. Her father, Jimmy,Erica Shaffer Erica Shaffer is an American actress who has worked in independent films and television. Some of the films include '' A Family Affair'', ''The Truth is Always Complicated'', '' The Fall'', ''Catalina Trust'', ''The Socratic Method'', ''Three ...

as News Reporter *

Mackenzie Astin Mackenzie Alexander Astin (born May 12, 1973) is an American actor. Early and personal life Astin was born on May 12, 1973, in Los Angeles, California, the son of actress Patty Duke and actor John Astin. His brother is actor Sean Astin. He at ...

as Noah Baker *

John Prosky John Prosky (born 1962) is an American film, theatre, and television actor. Career Prosky's numerous TV credits include ''NYPD Blue'', '' ER'', '' Heroes'', ''Criminal Minds'', ''True Blood'', '' JAG'', ''My So-Called Life'', ''Star Trek: Deep S ...

as Senator Gibson *

Rose Abdoo Rose Marie Abdoo (born November 28, 1962) is an American actress and comedian, known for her roles as Stars Hollow's local mechanic, Gypsy, on ''Gilmore Girls'' and as Spanish teacher Señorita Rodriguez on ''That's So Raven''. Life and career ...

as Senator Linda Moskowitz *

Romy Rosemont Romy Rosemont (born October 28, 1964) is an American actress, who has appeared in multiple television series, including ''Shark'', ''Grey's Anatomy'', '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', '' Prison Break'', and '' Private Practice''. She got her b ...

as Patty Snell *

Paul Adelstein Paul Adelstein (born April 29, 1969) is an American actor and writer, known for the role of Agent Paul Kellerman in the Fox television series ''Prison Break'' and his role as pediatrician Cooper Freedman in the ABC medical drama '' Private Prac ...

as Leo Bergen *

Brian Letscher Brian Letscher is an American actor, best known as Secret Service Agent Tom in ABC's ''Scandal''. Personal life Letscher was born in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, the middle brother of actor Matt Letscher and entrepreneur Aaron Letscher. He attended c ...

as Tom Larsen *

Matthew Del Negro Matthew Del Negro (born August 2, 1972) is an American actor. Life and career Matthew Del Negro was born in Mount Kisco, New York, as the youngest of three children. He grew up in Westchester County. He is a graduate of Boston College, where h ...

as Michael Ambruso *

Annabeth Gish Anne Elizabeth "Annabeth" Gish (born March 13, 1971) is an American actress. She has played roles in films ''Shag'', ''Hiding Out'', '' Mystic Pizza'', ''SLC Punk!'', ''The Last Supper'' and ''Double Jeopardy''. On television, she played Special ...

as Lillian Forrester *

Danny Pino Daniel Gonzalo Pino (born April 15, 1974) is an American actor who starred as Detective Scotty Valens on the CBS series ''Cold Case'' from 2003 to 2010, and as NYPD Detective Nick Amaro in the long-running NBC legal drama '' Law & Order: Specia ...

as Alejandro "Alex" Vargas

Guest stars

Adam J. Yeend Adam J. Yeend is an Australian actor/producer best known for his roles in ''Offing David'', ''Liz & Dick'' and ''Holding the Man (play), Holding the Man'', and producer of the 2014 feature film ''Lust for Love (2014 film), Lust for Love'' as ...

as Danny Mendoza *

Dearbhla Molloy Dearbhla Molloy (; born 1946) is an Irish actress. Early life Molloy was born to John Molloy and Evelyn Ryan and grew up on Yellow Walls Road in Malahide, County Dublin, Ireland, the eldest of seven children. She attended an Irish-language s ...

as Queen Isabel * Adam Fergus as Prince Richard * Hilty Bowen as Princess Emily *

Josh Brener Joshua Max Brener is an American actor. He played the roles of Kyle on the IFC series ''Maron'' and Nelson "Big Head" Bighetti on the HBO series ''Silicon Valley''. In animation, he provides the voices of Donatello on ''Rise of the Teenage Muta ...

as Gavin Price *

Julie Claire Julie Claire (born May 31, 1971) is an American actress known for her recurring roles on the TV series ''Dirt'' and ''Devious Maids''. She's also appeared in '' 24'' as Eden Linley and in ''Web Therapy'' as Robin Griner. She appeared in the 2013 ...

as Francesca Hunter *

William Russ William Russ (born October 20, 1950) is an American actor and television director. He played Alan Matthews on the sitcom '' Boy Meets World'' (1993–2000) and appeared in the television series '' Wiseguy'', the soap operas '' Another World'' an ...

as Frank Holland *

Denise Crosby Denise Michelle Crosby is an American actress and model known for portraying Security Chief Tasha Yar mainly in season one of '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', and Yar's daughter, the half-Romulan Commander Sela, in subsequent seasons. She ...

as Janet Holland * Brian White as Franklin Russell *

Jon Tenney Jonathan Frederick Tenney (born December 16, 1961) is an American actor. He played Special Agent Fritz Howard in TNT's ''The Closer'' and continued in its spinoff '' Major Crimes''. Early life Tenney was born in Princeton, New Jersey. His mother ...

as Andrew Nichols

Production

Development

''Scandal'' was renewed for a fifth season on May 7, 2015, by ABC. The series will continue to air at Thursdays in the timeslot 9:00 p.m. E.T. like the previous season, as it was moved to the timeslot to make room for ShondaLand Production Company's new TV series, ''How to Get Away with Murder''. Production began on May 21, 2015, when Rhimes announced on Twitter that the writers were in full swing mapping the fifth season. The remaining fall schedule for ABC was announced on November 16, 2015, where it was announced that Scandal would air nine episodes in the fall with the fall finale to air on November 19, 2015, just like the rest of ABC's primetime lineup "TGIT" ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into se ...

'' and ''

How To Get Away with Murder ''How to Get Away with Murder'' is an American legal thriller television series that premiered on ABC on September 25, 2014, and concluded on May 14, 2020. The series was created by Peter Nowalk, and produced by Shonda Rhimes and ABC Studios ...

'', which was the same last year. The remaining 12 episodes will air after the winter break, beginning on February 11, 2016, as a result of ABC airing the television miniseries '' Madoff'' over two nights on February 3–4, 2016 in the same time-slot as ''Scandal'' and ''Grey's Anatomy''. The show was renewed by ABC for a sixth season on March 3, 2016. Scott Foley 1

Writing

said in an interview that the fifth season will begin only a few days after the events in the fourth-season finale. She stated that the fifth season will see Olivia and Fitz the only people standing in a single piece, as she said "The world had been fairly blown apart for everybody except Olivia and Fitz. Everybody else was in a fairly blown apart place ... We pick up right there in that environment and we see what happens next." Rhimes continued talking about Cyrus and Mellie and their situation of not being in the White House anymore. Rhimes also confirmed that "the reconstitution" of Team OPA would happen in the fifth season, as Rhimes revealed in an interview with ''

TVLine ''TVLine'' is a website devoted to information, news, and spoilers of television programs. History In late 2010, ''Entertainment Weekly''s Michael Ausiello announced that he would be leaving ''EW'' after nearly two years in their employ to est ...

'', as she explained that the Gladiator conceit was sidelined a bit in the fourth season to instead "healing" Olivia. She noted that "a lot of times it was just Huck and Quinn gladiating by themselves. And that wasn’t the same dynamic."

Filming

Scouting began in the beginning of July. The table read for the first episode was announced to occur on July 14, 2015, by

. The title of the season premiere, "Heavy is the Head" was revealed on August 8, 2015, by its director

Tom Verica Tom Verica (born May 13, 1964) is an American actor, director, and producer, best known for his role as Sam Keating in the ABC drama ''How to Get Away with Murder'' (2014-2020). He also played Jack Pryor in the NBC critically acclaimed drama ''A ...

on Twitter. Filming for the season began on July 16, 2015. Several actors working on

ShondaLand Shondaland (stylized as ShondaLand from 2005 to 2016 and shondaland thereafter) is an American television production company founded by television writer/producer Shonda Rhimes. She founded it to be one of the production companies of her first s ...

-produced shows directed an episode for the fifth season.

from ''Scandal'' directed the second and 17th episodes, making it the fourth and fifth episodes he has directed on the show.

Chandra Wilson Chandra Danette Wilson (born August 27, 1969) is an American actress and director. She is best known for her role as Dr. Miranda Bailey in the ABC television drama ''Grey's Anatomy'' since 2005, for which she has been nominated for the Emmy ...

, who plays Dr.

Miranda Bailey Miranda Bailey, M.D., F.A.C.S. is a fictional character from the medical drama television series ''Grey's Anatomy''. The character was created by series creator and producer Shonda Rhimes, and has been portrayed by actress Chandra Wilson since t ...

on ''

'', directed her first ''Scandal'' episode, which was the sixth episode "Get Out of Jail, Free". Scott Foley from ''Scandal'' also directed his first ''Scandal'' episode, the 16th named "The Miseducation of Susan Ross". Foley's director-debut was announced on Twitter by Foley himself and executive producer Tom Verica.

Casting

The fifth season had twelve roles receiving star billing, with eleven of them returning from the previous season, eight of which part of the original cast from the first season, and three new cast members being added. Kerry Washington continued to play her role as

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

of the series, Olivia Pope, a former White House Director of Communications with her own

firm.

played

Abby Whelan Abigail Whelan is a fictional character portrayed by Darby Stanchfield, created by Shonda Rhimes for the political drama television series ''Scandal''. Whelan is Jewish, worked in the Washington, D.C.-based crisis management-firm, Pope & Associ ...

, the White House Press Secretary, Katie Lowes portrayed Quinn Perkins, and

portrayed Huck, the troubled tech guy who works for Olivia.

continued his role as activist Marcus Walker. after being upgraded to series regular. Jeff Perry continued to portray Cyrus Beene, chief of staff at the

who was fired by Fitz but later rehired.

played Elizabeth North, the new chief of staff at the White House, and later the chief of staff for the vice president.

played the role of David Rosen, former

U.S. Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

, now Attorney General.

continued to act as

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

Melody "Mellie" Grant, who was kicked out of the White House by Fitz, and later joined the presidential campaign for president.

continued to portray

Fitzgerald "Fitz" Thomas Grant III. Scott Foley portrayed Jake Ballard a former B613 agent and later the head of the NSA. On May 14, 2015, after the fourth-season finale, it was announced that

had been promoted to a series regular for the fifth season. ''

'' reported in late April that a new gladiator would be added to Olivia Pope & Associates, and the person would be a guest star. It was also announced on July 7, 2015, that

, who had a guest role in season four playing activist Marcus Walker, will be returning as a series regular for the fifth season, but will not appear until later in the fall. On August 24, 2015, it was announced that actress

Mia Maestro Mia, MIA, or M.I.A. may refer to: Music Artists * M.I.A. (rapper) (born 1975), English rapper and singer * M.I.A. (band), 1980s punk rock band from Orange County, California * MIA., a German rock/pop band formed in 1997 * Mia (singer) (born 198 ...

would be recurring during the fifth season, but the specifics of her role were not revealed.

was announced on September 1, 2015, to have joined the cast in a guest role. It was announced on February 4, 2016, that

would join the show in a recurring role, and would first appear in the eleventh episode.

was announced on February 8, 2016, to have been cast in a recurring role. ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' announced on February 18, 2016, that

who plays Rowan "Eli" Pope had been promoted to a series regular, and was credited as a regular cast member for the first time in the twelfth episode.

Episodes

Reception

The

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reports a 92% approval rating with an average rating of 7.13/10 based on 13 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "Increased pressure on a key couple brings heightened stakes and more exciting twists to ''Scandals action-packed, consistently gripping fifth season.

Live + SD Ratings

Live + 7 Day (DVR) ratings

Awards and nominations

DVD release

References

External links

* * {{Scandal (TV series) 2015 American television seasons 2016 American television seasons

Season 5 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...