When Scandal ended its seven-season run back in 2018, there were as many surprises as there were expected turns. David Rosen (Joshua Malina), the purest of them all, got the shortest end of the stick, proving that, even though dirty little secrets always come out, good deeds can go unrewarded. Mellie (Bellamy Young) became president and had a love of her own after years of being humiliated by a husband that never really cared for her in the first place. Olivia Pope ( Kerry Washington) and Fitz got their happy-ending, getting to a world where Fitz wasn’t burdened by a presidency he did not have the slightest bit of passion for. It was odd, but satisfying to see Huck (Guillermo Díaz) officiate Quinn’s (Katie Lowes) wedding, though the question on everyone’s mind would be, “What if we’d gotten a couple of spin-offs? How would they look like?” Here are some possible options:
1. The One Where Jake And Olivia ‘Stand In The Sun’
In another life, Olivia Pope and Jake (Scott Foley) would get away from it all, and ‘stand in the sun.’ One too many times, Jake hinted at it, but Olivia was never ready. One time, he ambushed Olivia at her apartment with a bottle of sand. “ Sand…It’s from the island. Sand from the island…it’s my little piece of the sun. Our sun…I’ll never call myself a happy person…But I was happy once. Being on that island, my feet on the sand…standing in the sun. I was happy standing in the sun.” Jake said. All he wanted at one point was to get away from the chaos. Then maybe he wouldn’t have ended up in prison. It would have been nice to have a world where the two spent their days by a beach in Zanzibar, not worried about the next president or B613. A world way Jake wasn’t haunted by the things he had done, and wasn’t at the mercy of the real Command, Eli Pope (Joe Morton).
2. The One Where We See B613 Actively Running
For a long time, B613 was a theoretical world in which Rowan was Command. Through the years, we saw Jake become Command, Olivia take over, and at some point, even Queen, Olivia’s original gladiator, had to do the dirty work for B613. The secret agency, for the most part, operated in secrecy with no known station. What would it have been like to see it in full operation? Camouflaged in the middle of the city, for instance, with agents who had distinct code names and trained on specific grounds. What if there was a B613 agent stationed at the white house, known to Olivia, Jake, and Rowan Pope? What if every day, B613 meetings took place in a specific chamber that no one knew anything about. And, inside their dark worlds, each agent had a family that had no idea what they did for a living? What if one of the family members found out? Someone close, like a spouse or a daughter, and the whole agency had to walk on eggshells? In an alternative universe, it would have been great to have seen B613 beyond the main cast’s interaction with it.
3. The One Where Mellie Creates A New World For Herself
For a long time, Mellie’s happiness was dwarfed. She was an unhappy woman masquerading as the President’s wife, yet she was hurting inside. Every day, she had to deal with the fact that she wasn’t Fitz’s first choice anymore, and it didn’t matter that they’d had kids together. Mellie Grant represented the smart highly-intelligent woman who makes sacrifices for the sake of a relationship, only to get a raw deal. Having graduated top of her class at Harvard, her brain, which could as well have helped draft policies, was reduced to picking chinaware and smiling for the cameras. In many ways, Mellie and Olivia were similar, except Olivia didn’t really conform when the roles were reversed. Towards the end of the series, we saw Mellie take back her power. A world where she set the rules and prioritized her happiness over any man would have made great television.
4. The One Where Fitz And Olivia End Up In Vermont
Just like Olivia had a taste of the sun with Jake, she also wanted to be in Vermont with Fitz (Tony Goldwyn). With Jake, she’d spend time basking in the sun, getting a good natural tan on an island where no one knew her whereabouts. Life in Vermont would have been quite the opposite. She’d have to trade the bikinis and sunglasses for boots and sweaters. In place of a vast ocean that doesn’t seem to have an end, she would have to embrace the green scenery and go for runs whenever she could. While at the island with Jake, Olivia’s protection would have been knowing that no one will ever find her. But in Vermont, there’s no saying when anyone could pop up. She’d have been under the constant watch of the secret service, but still able to steal moments with Fitz by her side.
5. The One Where Jake And Mellie Are Friends
Through the seasons, there was a lot of emphasis on Olivia’s relationship with Jake, but when Mellie’s presidency was under threat and Liz North ( Portia de Rossi) faced her death, we got to experience Jake come to the aid of Mellie. “ Hey! Eyes on me. Eyes on me…I am your vice president. I am your shield. I clean up your political messes. I take political bullets for you. I clean up messes you leave behind. It’s my duty, so you don’t apologize to me.” Jake told Mellie. He further insisted that they were in it together, and in some twisted fate, Mellie’s problems had now intertwined with his. “We’re in this together. This is just one bump on a long journey for you and me, okay?” Jake assured Mellie. In another world, Jake and Mellie, who always lived in the shadows of Olivia and Fitz, would have made a great plot twist of their own, where a unique friendship blossoms. He would have been acquainted with Melly’s children, perhaps made friends with Jerry, and protected him from Command. A Jake-Mellie friendship is the magic that would have sanitized Jake’s dark side.
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