Observation Analysis of Scandal

Assignments 1 Kalin Harris

Observation Analysis for Assignment 1
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Observing: ABCs t.v show Scandal


Background of the Show: Olivia Pope is a
young African American woman who is the head
of her own firm consisting of her associates
known as gladiators. Olivia started her career as
working on the campaign of Fitzgerald the now
president of the United States of America. After
the campaign Olivia joined the Whitehouse then
later left to start her own company call Olivia
Pope and Associates. Now Olivia works to fix the
lives of innocent people and solve the crisis of the
lives of others including Whitehouse
representatives.


Observing Practice: I will be observing one 45 minute long episode in a 30 Minute increment of
Season 1 of Scandal. While giving detail and taking very explicit notes I will be observing the
figured world, communities, practice of these communities, actors, artifacts, domain, and literacy
practices.

Figured World: is just like the real world that we are living in today and a part of. The figured
world is a non-physical space where people exist and are separated and subdivided into
categories called communities. For example the figured world of Scandal would be Public
Relations in Washington DC.
The specific figured world that I am observing is the Public Relations World of
Washington DC. The purpose of the figured world that I am observing is to fix the
messes of the lives of the people who run and help run the country of the United States of
America. The type of people observed in the figured world politicians, senators, and
regular ordinary people, but what ties them all together are their connections with
government. Then some people become part of a community of practice known as Olivia
Pope and Associates but while in that practice they are called gladiators because they
fight for whats right no matter what may come of them or their reputation. The
community of practice that I am going to be observing in particular depth is that of Olivia
Popes firm in Washington DC. Along with other communities of practice such as
Politicians, Politicians that use Olivia Pope's firm, senators, Mistresses, and even the
president and his associates. These communities of practice sometimes may communicate
with one another by calls, texts, emails, physical conversations even when they are not
supposed to. The rules and conventions for appropriate behavior pertaining to this figured
world are no backstabbing (selling out information to the press/other people), and usually
secret meetings are held to relay information to the president or other officials of
Observation Analysis of Scandal
Assignments 1 Kalin Harris

government. In scandal there are spies who sell out information at every turn so you do
not know who you can trust in the public relations world. Olivia Pope tries to save
everyones image so that governors and senators and even the president can get votes
from the American people and stay on good terms with the country. While there is no
guarantee of success Olivia Pope and her gladiators try everything to save everyone else
but they are not saving themselves.
Domain- the domain is a community in which the people that community make a commitment to
be a part of the community no matter what the circumstances. Example of a domain would be the
gladiators in the show Scandal because they are hired by Olivia Pope they are committed to
doing their job at all costs no matter what so.
The Gladiators- The gladiators are Olivia Popes associates at the firm which do her
work when she is not available or doesnt want to and they do it with no thought of
themselves and how it will affect their life. The gladiators are committed to only the
greater good and helping others like Olivia has helped them. The gladiators are also the
actors observed in the domain of this figured world
The President and his Staff- all of the presidents staff including Cyrus Bean the chief
of staff are dedicated to serving the president and the American people. The president
himself along with other members of his staff took an oath to protect the American
people and the president does that by signing new laws and making sure that the country
is safe. The president represents the domain in the United States government figured
world. He is the figure head in which the government operates and runs its day to day
operations.
Community/ies- are groups and categories of people that coexist together with one another.
Communities share a common interest or talent and communicate with one another. For example
one community in the TV show scandal is Olivia and her Associates, this is a community in itself
because the actors /people in the community coexist with one another by working together to
solve cases and fix problems in Washington D.C where they all live. Communities are also apart
of figured worlds which are bigger than communities
Olivia and her Associates- Together Olivia and her gladiators solve mysteries, fixes
\problems, and help people avoid crisis. Olivia is the head of her associates also known as
the gladiators and they all work together and form their own community that takes on
cases and handle problems. Everyone in the community has their own talent that they use
for the greater good to progress the company and gain loyal clients.
Mistresses- The mistresses play an important role in scandal because they have
information about the inner workings of other people who are of great value. Mistresses
like Amanda Tanner who is the suggested mistress to the president Fitz and a Whitehouse
aid who is supposed to help the president with work only. Olivia works hard to try and
discredit Amanda and prove that the president did not sleep with Amanda Tanner, but
Amanda has information that only the mistress of the president could know like secret
rooms in the Whitehouse. Some if not all mistresses are unexpected by everyone
including the observer of the community.
Observation Analysis of Scandal
Assignments 1 Kalin Harris

The Whitehouse-The Whitehouse consists of many if not all of the important and
powerful actors of the figured world. The Whitehouse is home to the President, the first
Lady, the Vice President, The speaker of the house, along with their assistants and crew.
The president controls or thinks that he controls the day to day operations of the
Whitehouse and what goes on behind closed doors of the Whitehouse. The common
interest that they all share is to better serve the Americans of the United States who voted
them all into office. Olivia communicates frequently with the Whitehouse by visiting the
president and helping him along with other people of power fix their problems.
Practice of the community- is the thing/talent that is being done inside of the community. This
is where the actors of the community come together to develop or work on themselves and each
other while practicing what they do best in the community. For example Huck (an actor of the
gladiator community) is good at technology and having into other peoples computers so he uses
this skill to hack into security software and steal information that is useful to the gladiators
community. This talent overall helps the community further better itself and work together.
Negotiations- the gladiators make fast paced deals with other people to get information
and eve use legal threats to expose the truth. By using legal threats the gladiators can
persuade anyone to do anything that they want. For example Abby uses the threat of
exposing the police officer at a murder scene about his infidelity in his marriage to gain
access to the murder scene.
Solving Cases- Clients are
brought to Olivia Pope and
associates firm on their own will
and they come because they
have problems that need fixing.
It is up to Olivia and her team to
solve those cases. They are very
good at what they do and they
use every means to solve their
cases and make their clients
happy. They use tools to practice
this skill of solving cases like their cell phones and their power of persuasion.
Artifacts- are physical items that are necessary to allow the community to practice what they do.
Artifacts may even be set traditions, ideas, and rituals that the community may do.
Olivias Phone- Olivia is constantly on her phone whether it is sending text messages or
on private calls. Olivias Phone is an important part of her job it connects her with other
people and holds important information on the contacts of her past clients. Without her
phone Olivia cannot make calls to inform her associates about the next step to take in her
course of action. Her phone is necessary to the daily operations of her business.
Olivias personality/element of persuasion- Olivia has a distinct personality of being
the boss and this works for and against her when it comes to running the firm. She uses
her personality to get the job done and persuade other people to relay to her valuable
Observation Analysis of Scandal
Assignments 1 Kalin Harris

information when it comes to fixing cases. This can also be detrimental to the community
because it does not allow for other people to contribute ideas and it may cause other
associates to feel inferior to her. This ultimately allows Olivia to run her company.
The White Hat- Olivia wears the imaginary white hat which is a symbol of her doing
what is best for the greater good. Olivia refers to herself as wearing many hats and the
white hat being the most important one. Olivia does what is best for everyone and she
wants to make sure that everyone is safe and ok with her decisions. She extends her white
hat powers to the gladiators who do her dirty work on behalf of her. No matter the
situation everyone believes that they are making decisions based on what is best for the
greater good
Actors- are the actual people in the community who have roles to play in that certain community
maybe as well as other communities. Actors can be in many different communities of practice
and overlap one another.
1. Olivia- she is the young African American woman in charge of Olivia Pope and
Associates firm. She runs the gladiators and the day to day operations of the company.
She solves cases and fixes peoples situations with the help of her gladiators. She does not
have a lot of personal time because she is always at the office and working
2. Huck- is the technology guy of the Gladiators and he used to work for the CIA but now
he doesnt and he does not like to talk about it. He is an average man with a Latin
ethnicity to him and he is quiet and keeps to himself. He is very close to Olivia and
admires her.
3. Quinn Perkins- is a young Caucasian girl with long hair who has just started working for
Olivia and Associates. She is very new and does not yet know the inner workings of the
firm and her role that she is supposed to play. She admires Olivia a lot and looks up to
her and has dreamed of working for Olivia
4. Harrison- is a young 28 year old African American man who is a Gladiator and dresses
well to every event. He is the one who interviews Quinn for her job and he is the one who
does a lot of undercover work for Olivia Pope and Associates.
5. Steven- He is an older Caucasian man with dark black hair working for Olivia Pope and
he wants to propose to his girlfriend Georgia but he doesnt know if it is the right choice.
He is very charming and has messed up before by cheating with other women. He is the
litigator for the firm and he helps in many ways.
6. Abby- is a young red haired woman who works for Olivia and is a gladiator. She is the
investigator for the firm and she investigates the new case of sully and the crime scene
she uses her powers of persuasion to gain access to the murder scene and she does it by
threatening the cop on the scene. She is a liberal who hates conservatives and sully just
happens to be a conservative. She has no trouble saying her opinion.
7. Fitzgerald Grant- Mr. Fitzgerald Grand is the President of the United States depicted in
the show scandal. He is tall, Caucasian, with black hair and maybe in his late 30s. He is
also the leader of the free world and many people depend on him to keep the country
going and to handle big problems. Depending on who you ask in the figured world
Observation Analysis of Scandal
Assignments 1 Kalin Harris

Fitzgerald controls all of the power and delegates what should be done to better serve
Americans. He is married to Melly and they have two children together.
8. Cyrus Bean- Cyrus is the chief of staff and the presidents right hand man. Cyrus is an
older Caucasian man with gray hair and a short temper. When Fitz has a problem he turns
to Cyrus and they cooperatively handle the situation sometimes. Sometimes Cyrus takes
things into his own hands and handles problems like the Amanda Tanner situation. He
consults with Olivia on how to handle Amanda Tanner which ultimately backfires on
him. Cyrus is a short tempered but humble man who is well aged and has been through a
lot of things to get Fitz into the Whitehouse.
Literacy practices- are the ways that the actors communicate with one another in the
community of practice.
Cell Phone- every gladiator can be reached on their cell phone and this is the main way
that gladiators communicate with one another, clients, and Olivia. Their cell phones
allow them to speak directly with one another about the aspects of a case and it provides
an easy and efficient way to do business
Meetings- throughout the episode there are many meetings that take place in different
areas. With these meetings comes
information from clients and other
sources. For example Olivia meets with
Mistress Amanda Tanner to talk about her
lying on the president Olivia uses her
ways of persuasion and threatens Amanda
Tanner and gets her to think about
resigning from the Whitehouse. These
meetings can take place anywhere and at
any time of day or night. Olivia meets
frequently wit h her gladiators to discuss
cases and work ethic. These meetings allows for the gladiators and Olivia to
communicate with clients and witnesses so that they can win the case and handle
problems.

The Observation One
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Season 1, Episode 1

0:35sec- Images of Washington DC are flashed on the screen and we can see Quinn Perkins
running in and out of traffic to meet Harrison at a bar. She meets Harrison but is in a rush and
says she doesnt want to stay because she doesnt like blind dates. Harrison explains this is not a
blind date but an interview to see if you are ready to work for Olivia Pope. Quinn is shocked that
she might get the opportunity to work for Olivia.
Observation Analysis of Scandal
Assignments 1 Kalin Harris

3:02min- the scene changes to Olivia Pope and Steven riding in a dingy elevator to an unknown
place and they discuss how Steven wants to propose to his girlfriend Georgia but doesnt know
how to or if it is even a good idea. Olivia encourages him. They also discuss how the ambassador
of a government has not given them all of their $6 million dollars and it could affect their deal.
They get off of the elevator and are greeted by 2 European men who ask about their money.
Olivia uses her personality and power of persuasion to convince the 2 men that $3 million dollars
of counted money is better than no money at all and being in custody of the United States. They
make the deal and Olivia receives a box for the money that she has given them.
5:00min- the scene changes to Quinn walking with Harrison into Olivia Pope and Associates
office where she is introduced to Olivia and the other associates Huck, Abby, and Steven. Olivia
informs her a little bit about what they do and say that this is not a law firm but they are lawyers
they just solve problems. The ambassador of a country comes in and thanks Olivia for getting
what was in the box back which is revealed to be his baby son who was stolen by the 2 men.
Olivia and her associates has solved the case
6:47min- Huck enters the room after leaving to introduce a man who is covered in blood as
Sully who claims that the police think that he killed his best friend Paige Montgomery but he
claims he did not. Sully asks for Olivias help and protection from the police. Olivia converse
with her other associates about taking the case and they do against Abbys judgment who does
not like sully because she thinks he may be guilty.
8:02min- Olivia takes sully into a conference room where she and her associates interview sully
about what happened the night of the murder and if he really did kill his best friend. Olivia
informs Quinn about how they solve their cases and interview their clients she says that at that
moment they are the judge and the jury. Olivia sets the rules and she chooses her cases using her
gut which is never wrong. They all interview sully and learn that he is a war hero from the army
who received the Medal of Honor from the president. He speaks at conferences and conventions
and is a conservative right wing republican who is also a deacon at his church and is active in his
community. Olivia keeps asking if he killed his best friend and he says no he loved her. Olivia
then tells sully that he must stay here and not tell anyone about anything she takes his phone and
anything that can connect him to the outside world.
10:38min- Olivia is seen going up the steps to a townhouse and ringing the doorbell and a man
answers. He is a short Caucasian man named David Rosen. Olivia knows that he knows about
sully and wants him and the police to hold off on arresting him for 48 hours. David disagrees and
says that Olivia cannot always get her way. They settle on the police waiting 24 hours before
arresting Sully on the murder charge of Paige.
12:09min- Abby is seen going up the steps of a house but a police officer blocks her way they
appear to know each other which means that Abby has done this before with the same officer.
The officer continues to block her way and will not let her in. Abby threatens the police officer
named walleye and asks about his wife and how she is doing and does she know about the
stripper. Walleye lets Abby enter the crime scene and she begins taking pictures of everything
Observation Analysis of Scandal
Assignments 1 Kalin Harris

with her Camera and she takes pictures of the bloody walls and the victim Paige Montgomery on
the bathroom floor with 3 bullet wounds in her head and she is surrounded by a pool of blood
13:13min- the scene changes to an autopsy room and Steven having a clear door slid in from of
his face by the coroner Elisa. Steven has formerly slept with Elisa and did not call her back
which is why she is mad at him and does not want to let him in but he uses his charm to gain
access to the lab and he asks Elisa to do him a favor and fast-track the autopsy report of the dead
girl Paige Montgomery. The scene changes back to the Gladiators office where it is very late in
the evening. Harrison and Quinn are working and she asks Harrison if he ever sleeps and
Harrison replies that Gladiators never sleep which informs Quinn that gladiators stay up all the
time and work. They are seen piecing together photos on a board which is back lit by light.
14:50min- Olivia is now walking in a park across the street from the Whitehouse to meet with
Cyrus Bean the chief of staff for the United States. He starts talking about Olivias new case but
she deducts that thats not what he called her there for. Cyrus says that the president needs a
favor but Olivia is reluctant because she says she no longer works for him. The favor is that there
is a girl going around named Amanda Tanner saying that she slept with the president and Cyrus
says that that is not true. Olivia now wants to meet with the president so that she can ask him if it
is true or not.
16:29min -Olivia is in her office packing up her necessary things for her trip. She plans to leave
for Camp David where she will meet the president. She instructs her gladiators to keep her
informed on their new case.
17:20min- Quinn walks into the gladiators conference room and announces that Huck has
finally hacked into Paiges emails and figured out that she was supposed to be attending an event
with her friend the night she was murdered. Abby then leaves to go and interview the woman
who Paige had planned to go to the embassy with whose name is Arial. Arial then explains to
Abby that sully and Paiges relationship was different because Paige used to always go out with
other guys.
18:38min- Olivia is now seen in a room at Camp David with Cyrus bean. The first lady of the
United States enters (Melly). She hugs Olivia and explains how she is so happy to see her since
they havent seen each other since Fitz was elected president. Olivia then leaves and walks and
talks with the President and Cyrus and the secret service along a trail in Camp David. The
president assures Olivia that he is not having an affair and did not have sex with Amanda Tanner.
Olivia agrees to take on the presidents case and she is going to try and fix the situation without
it coming to the attention of the media. The president tries to get Olivia to come back to the
Whitehouse but Olivia says she likes working for herself.
20:03min- Olivia is now in her office and walking to go back out when she sees Quinn and asks
her to come with her and be her witness. Quinn agrees and the scene changes with a few flashes
of Washington DC and Olivia and Quinn are now at a park in from of a Washington monument
where they see a lady walking her dog. Olivia asks her where she got the dog and it is revealed
that the woman is Amanda Tanner and she got the dog from the president. Olivia begins to
interrogate her and threaten her by telling her that her career would be over she went through
Observation Analysis of Scandal
Assignments 1 Kalin Harris

with this story and she will never be credible again. Quinn is seen as not being too happy about
interrogating a young woman who may be telling the truth. Olivia then makes a call when she
leaves Amanda saying that its handled
28:38min- Olivia is now seen in her office with other gladiators when Abby comes in and
explains that she has some breaking news about their case. Sully knew that his best friend was
sleeping around and he knew the whole time his fingerprints were also on the murder weapon.
Olivia rushes into the next room where sully is sitting down and she asks him if all of this new
information is true. He says yes he knew that she was sleeping around but he loved her and could
never hurt her. Olivia and her associates are now frantically trying to figure out an alibi for Sully
who says he was walking at the time of the murder and there was no way he could have done it
because he went to a local bar during his walk. Olivia is now walking in the hall and Amanda
Tanner comes up from the elevator and confronts Olivia saying she knows Olivia has access to
the president and she needs to send him a message. Olivia says this is very inappropriate and
makes Amanda Leave. At the same time David Rosen comes up the elevator with other police
officers saying they must now hand over Sully to authorities. Olivia states she still has 48 more
minutes until it has been 24 hours so David gives her 48 more minutes. During this time Olivia
sends her gladiators out to find evidence that Sullys alibi is concrete. To do this Abby, Steven,
and Harrison go to a bar
30:01min- Abby is seen coming out of the bar that Sully said he was at during the time of the
murder with no concrete alibi because no one saw him. She meets up with Harrison and Steven
outside of the bar and Steven notices that there are cameras facing the bar located on the bank
adjacent to the bar. They bribe the security guard to show them the tapes of the night of the
murder by giving him $500 and a deep dish pizza. The tapes show something revealing. The
scene changes and everyone is back at the office and Olivia shows Sully whats on the tapes and
sully is seen waiting outside the bar for someone another person comes out of the bar and kisses
sully and it is revealed that sully is gay. Sully looks traumatized and he says that he has served
his country well and no one can know that he is gay so he hands himself over to the police
against Olivias will and they put him in handcuffs.

Observation Two
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Season 1, Episode: 2

The Observation-
3:40- The show opens up with a recap of what happened in the last episode. Olivia is seen
standing in front of her 4 television monitors while images change on the screen. She focuses on
one monitor in particular the one showing the president walking on the lawn and a news reporter
talking about the presidents new Chief Justice Selection that has controversy surrounding him
about being too conservative. Olivia is also in the room with another woman who is older and
dressed conservatively. Olivia is seen talking over a telephone receiver and she is on speaker
phone with her gladiators and the scene changes to Abby and Huck in someones house and they
are stealing information from the computer and from the shelves. Steven is seen standing outside
Observation Analysis of Scandal
Assignments 1 Kalin Harris

on the phone with Olivia watching as a guard and he is spotted by David Rosen and he tells
Olivia that she has incoming.

5:53- David Rosen has arrived to Olivias firm and is beginning to walk into Olivias conference
room where the older woman is sitting but Olivia stops him. He says he has enough information
to arrest the woman in question, but Olivia stops him because he does not have an arrest warrant
and says he should go. David Rosen proceeds to leave the building. As Rosen leaves the
gladiators Abby, Huck, and Steven are seen coming out of an elevator and they all head into the
conference room with boxes that are apparently stolen information from the woman who is
sitting down house. Quinn walks in and starts to ask the woman who she is and the woman says
that she is D.Cs finest Madame Sharon Markette.

10:14- the scene changes to the president and Cyrus Bean having a conversation about the newly
elected Justice, but Cyrus really wants to talk about what he saw between the president and
Olivia Pope. He wants to talk about the kiss that he saw the president give Olivia and he
questions him about having an affair he also informs the president that Olivia is now
representing Amanda Tanner the other mistress in question instead of handling their situation.
The scene changes again to Sharon Markette sitting in the conference room of Olivia Popes
firm. Olivia and the gladiators are interviewing and questioning her trying to find the list of
woman who work for her and the men that they have slept with. The list is revealed in the back
of an old photo album and then the gladiators to work identifying all of the men by hanging a
picture of them and their information up on the backlit window sill wall. It is also revealed that
Simon is one of the men and Abby is upset and angry about that because he is newly engaged.

11:14- Olivia pulls Quinn aside and asks her to check on Amanda Tanner who is in the hospital.
Quinn questions Olivias judgment and says that Amanda is no longer a problem anymore since
Olivia threatened her. Olivia orders Quinn to go watch over Amanda and leaves to go back into
the conference room. When she does she takes a long hard look at one of the photos that are
hanging on the wall of men and she abruptly says she has to go. Harrison asks who is Patrick
Keating and Simon says that in about 10 minutes that is going to be the new Chief Justice.

15:22- Images of Washington flash on the screen and the scene changes to Olivia walking to the
gate to get into the Whitehouse and is stopped by the security guard Morris. He says her hard
pass to get into the Whitehouse has been revoked and she cannot get in unless she has an
appointment. Olivia is shocked because she has never been denied entry to the Whitehouse
before luckily she sees a friend Billy Chambers the vice presidents chief of staff going in and he
vouches for her. The scene changes again to Quinn standing by Amandas hospital door and a
news reporter named Gideon working for the DC sun wants access to Amanda Tanner and Quinn
has to use her persuasion powers to make him go away. The scene changes back to Olivia and
when Olivia gets in to the Whitehouse she goes to Cyruss Office with Billy and they discuss the
major issue of having a secret like the new chief justice sleeping with an escort get out. Cyrus
wants Billy to handle the situations. As Olivia is walking down the hall to leave she sees the
president and they share a look but Olivia turns to walk away and the president sends his
assistant to stop Olivia but Olivia tells the assistant to inform the president that she is very busy.

Observation Analysis of Scandal
Assignments 1 Kalin Harris

18:00- The gladiators are in the conference going over the case when there is a knock at the door
to the firm and it is David Rosen with the police and a warrant for the arrest of Sharon Markette.
Olivia orders Harrison to go downstairs and make sure that there is no press waiting to take
photos of Sharon. The cops then put Sharon into handcuffs and take her off to jail Harrison
comes back upstairs to let Olivia know that there is no press but Patrick Keating and Billy
Chambers are downstairs about to come up to the office. Olivia then receives a call from Quinn
who informs Olivia that there was a man from the DC sun there to make a story about Amanda
and Olivia orders Quinn to not let Amanda leave her sight but when Quinn gets off of the phone
Amanda is out of bed and Quinn does not know where she is.

20:01- Olivia calls Billy, Patrick Keating and his wife, and Abby into her office to talk about his
affair. Patrick insists that he never had sex with a prostitute and his wife confirms that he would
never do such a thing. Olivia wants Keating to withdraw his name for consideration for the
Justice position but Keating refuses saying he was called by the president and will not turn his
back on the duty to his country. This makes Olivia believe that he did not do it, which calls into
question the entire list of men who are suspected of sleeping with prostitutes.

24:30- The scene changes to Sharon Markette sitting in a holding room, Steven enters and wants
Sharon to give up her real list of men who have slept with her clients, she refuses because she
does not want to destroy the lives of the men and states that she does not kiss and tell. Photos of
Washington flash across the screen and you see Cyrus entering the Oval office while the
president is working on a speech. Cyrus says that Fitz has to handle the Amanda situation
because it is getting out of hand due to an article in the DC sun about Amanda Tanner. The
president blows it off saying it is nothing and his wife enters the room and says they have a
speech to go to and she helps the president put on his jacket. The scene changes to Quinn asking
Huck for help in his office at Olivias firm. He tells her to go check the house and as Quinn is
leaving Olivia spots her and she admits to losing Amanda Tanner, so Olivia takes measures into
her own hands and is about to go to Amandas house to find her when the elevator door open and
David Rosen steps out to hand Olivia a paper and says that she has been served and has two
hours to produce the list of men that she is withholding.

28:27- Harrison and Abby are seen in the park going back and forth about whose turn it is to go a
questions a woman who is seen in the park as well with her two sons. Abby then goes to question
the woman about where one of Sharon Markettes prostitutes who slept with Patrick Keating can
be found because they used to work together. The woman says that she moved out west to
another state and they have lost contact. The scene changes and Olivia is seen walking up the
stairs of an apartment building with Quinn and they go to knock on a door. Amanda Tanner
opens up the door and is angry because Olivia changed her life and made her want to kill herself
by cutting her wrists. Olivia apologizes and admits that she believes that Amanda was telling the
truth about the President. Amanda orders Olivia to leave her alone and slams the door in her
face. Olivia tells Quinn to slide her number under the door because Amanda will be calling her
needing Olivias help when the reporters start to pop up wanting to know the real story behind
Amanda Tanner and the president.

30:00- Olivia and Abby are seen in the conference room standing in front of all of the pictures of
men who are accused of sleeping with prostitutes. Abby is venting to Olivia about how she
Observation Analysis of Scandal
Assignments 1 Kalin Harris

doesnt understand why Steven would pay money to have sex with a prostitute when he has a
wife and is funny, charming, and handsome. Olivia advises Abby that she shouldnt judge and
then Olivia has an epiphany and she walks out of the room. The scene changes to Olivia going
up the guard gate to enter the Whitehouse with a dozen red velvet cupcakes with extra frosting to
try and persuade the guard Morris to let her in but he says the president called and got her pass
restored. Olivia is now seen in one of the rooms at the Whitehouse with Patrick Keatings wife
and she tells her that she did not even flinch when she informed her of her husband' betrayal
because she must have already knew. And Olivia deduced that Patrick Keatings wife already
knew about him sleeping with a prostitute because his wife was the prostitute in question.

Observation 3
Monday, September 15, 2014
Season 1, Episode 3

4:13- Images begin to play that are a recap of the last episode. Then the camera shows Amanda
Tanner in Olivia Pope and Associates law firm conference room. She is brought 2 cups of coffee
by Quinn Perkins and Amanda begins to ask why Olivia, Steven and Abby are all staring at her
from behind the glass door Quinn assures her that they are discussing her and trying to figure out
what to do about her situation. Meanwhile Olivia, Steven, and Abby are discussing how they
should keep Amanda from the press and fix her crisis discretely. The scene then changes to a
court room with a jury defense and prosecution. The judge is asking where the defenses client is
and the defense lawyer states that they just need a little more time locating him. Then the scene
changes to Olivia and Harrison walking into a hotel room to discover a naked 23 year old man in
a bed drunk and Olivia orders him to get ready because he has a rape case that he is late for.

8:22- Olivia is now sitting down in her office talking to Sandra Harding the mother of the young
man who is on trial for a rape charge that he claims he did not commit Travis Harding. His
mother is a multi-millionaire who owns an important company and Olivia decided to take on the
case as a favor to her friend. The scene then changes to the president sleeping in bed in the
Lincoln bedroom of the Whitehouse, and his wife drinking coffee on the sofa; when the alarm
goes off and the president rushes out of bed because he is late and Melly says she canceled all his
morning appointments because he has not been sleeping and she wants him to get some rest. She
wonders why he has not been sleeping and the president cannot answer her. The scene then
changes again to Gideon right entering into Quinn Perkins office at Olivias firm. Quinn tries to
rush him out but he says he has a meeting with her boss, Olivia shows up about to leave from her
office and go down the elevator when she asks Gideon to hold off on his story of Amanda tanner
for 72 hours and she will give him a quote from Amanda Tanner herself.

11:03- Amanda Tanner is seen in Olivia Popes apartment in Washington DC with Olivia. They
sit down on her sofa and discuss what Amandas end game is (what she ultimately wants).
Amanda says that she wants to have a face to face sit down meeting with the president by herself
and then she will go away. The scene then changes to Olivia entering into a restaurant and sits
down at a table with Cyrus Bean and Billy Chambers. Cyrus and Olivia both ask Billy to leave
and he does. Olivia then begins to tell Cyrus Amandas demands and that if the president
complies then Amanda and her situation will go away.

Observation Analysis of Scandal
Assignments 1 Kalin Harris

14:23- Images are shown on the screen of a young blond Caucasian woman with bruises around
her eyes and on her throat. The defense attorney for the rape case is in Olivia Popes conference
room with the other gladiators and they are trying to figure out how to spin the jury so that they
will vote for not guilty but it seems that all of the jury members are going to be voting guilty, and
they know this by the jurys body language, facial features, and by what the gladiators have
heard them say outside of the courtroom. The scene then changes to Olivia waiting by a car on
the sidewalk in the morning. From around the corner comes David Rosen who is taking his dog
for a morning walk. Olivia hands him a cup of coffee and tries to get information on the
prosecutions attorney, but he does not give her any information and he walks away. The scene
changes again and shows all the gladiators and Olivia pope in the conference room of her firm
and they all have pictures hanging of every jury member on the rape case pinned to their backlit
window sill and they are discussing how they are going to win the case and the only way seems
to be to settle with the rape victim because they discover that she is an outstanding member of
the community who works for a non-profit organization helping children and is an honest woman
but she is broke and needs money so this seems like the gladiators best option to make the case
go away.

20:25- Olivia is now having a sit down meeting with Steven the defense attorney and the
prosecution team as well as the woman who is accused of being raped by Travis Harding. Olivia
offers her 8 million to settle the case but she does not want any money because she feels violated
and that no amount of money is worth her body. The camera then switches to the president in the
oval office with Cyrus Bean, a group of reporters with cameras and injured Army veterans. The
president is thanking them for their service and shaking their hands. After everyone has left the
room Cyrus informs the president about Olivias deal with Amanda Tanner to have a sit down
meeting and the president only asks if Olivia will be their which concerns Cyrus. The scene then
changes again to the gladiators in the conference room discussing the case and Quinn asks Olivia
what they do now since it is apparent that they have lost the case. This fires up Olivia and she
says that they have not lost and that there is always a next step. Olivia then returns back to her
apartment with Quinn where they find Amanda Tanner on the phone with the news reporter from
the DC sun (Gideon). They advise Amanda that she must never answer the phone unless it is her
parents or her team of lawyers.

25:37- The president is seen entering into Cyrus Beans office where Cyrus bean is standing
looking angry. Cyrus puts in a cd and allows the president to listen to what is on it. When the
president is done Cyrus says that Olivia is blackmailing him and using this tape to get what she
wants. He says that the tape is of the president moaning and having sex with Amanda Tanner and
Olivia is going to use it against him. The president insists that it is not Olivia but someone else.
The scene then changes to Harrison on the phone with Abby who has bad news and says that
Travis Harding raped another girl a few years ago but paid her off and three years later she killed
herself which means that Travis probably did rape the blonde girl in the case. Harrison then
proceeds to go to a police lab and uses his charm to ask a young black woman for the rape kit of
the young girl who killed herself 3 years ago and may be connected to Travis. The young woman
agrees to give him the rape kit and the scene changes to Quinn Perkins. Quinn has just used her
phone to call Gideon the reporter and ask him on a date to ask him question. Huck over hears her
and says that she is weird because she is so nervous and talking fast but he says weird is good.

Observation Analysis of Scandal
Assignments 1 Kalin Harris

30:09- Travis Harding is now sitting in Olivia Pops conference room with his mother Susan and
Olivia as well as Huck. Olivia informs Travis and his mother that they have new information
about Travis and his past. It is uncovered that the woman that Travis raped a few years back and
committed suicide was best friends with Helen the blonde woman who is prosecuting Travis for
raping her. Travis tells his mother that he handled the situation by paying the young girl who
committed suicide off and buying her a car. His mother is disappointed in him but Olivia says
that he will not go to jail because he did not rape Helen but is being punished for what he did a
few years ago. The scene changes to the courtroom where Helen is on the stand and is crying
because the defense is ruining her reputation by saying that she stalked Travis and seduced him
and had consensual sex. Olivia walks out of the courtroom because it is too much for her and she
walks and sits beside Susan Harding who is sitting on a bench outside of the courtroom they
begin to talk about how Travis was when he was younger and how she was never there for him
and she blames herself for not being there for him that is why he committed all of these crimes.



Interview with Olivia Pope-
1. Tell me about what it is like to fix everyone else mess when it comes to government in
Washington?
Its the job, it comes with the territory, I fix what needs to be fix and I move along.
2. Give an example of a time when you were most vulnerable and put in a dangerous
situation because of your job.
A time when I was most vulnerable was when I was sent to make a deal with two
European men for an ambassadors baby. The deal could have went either way on top
of that we did not have all the money to pay these men but I went in the situation with a
level head and I used by powers of persuasion if you can call them that, that bargain
with them and walk out of there with a healthy baby.
3. Reflect on your relationship with your co-workers and family members.
4. I separate my personal life from my work life. I do not like to talk about my family but
when it comes to my job I do that very well and I put a lot of time and effort into my
business.
5. Tell me about what it takes to run a successful public relations firm and how you keep
it running.
I keep my business running by taking care of my clients and fixing their problems. I do
everything to the best of my ability and I rely on my team of gladiators.
6. How do you feel knowing that everyone comes to you for help when they have a
problem need fixing in politics?
It feels good to know that people count on me and that I can do something good for the
world.

Interview with Quinn Perkins
1. Tell me about what it is like to be a new employee of Olivia Pope and Associates Firm.
I am very excited about working with Olivia Pope and her associates. I enjoy what I do
here although I feel I could do more and become more capable if Olivia would give me a
chance.
Observation Analysis of Scandal
Assignments 1 Kalin Harris

2. How does it feel to be working under Olivia Pope herself?
It feels surreal to be working under Olivia Pope. She expects a lot out of all of her
associates and she expects even more from me since I am new.
3. Give an example of a time when you maybe had to do something that you were not
comfortable with doing while working under Olivia.
A time when I had to do something uncomfortable would be when Olivia and myself
went to go see Amanda Tanner and she wanted me to keep quiet when she completely
destroyed a womans reputation in front of my eyes by interrogating her and making her
doubt if she really wanted to pursue a case for being the presidents mistress.
4. Reflect on what it is like to work with other gladiators
I highly respect each and every gladiator that I work with. They are amazing people to
work with and treat me as one of their own.
5. How are you liking your new job and is it something that you see yourself doing in the
future?
I love my new job and I can see myself as a permanent employee of Olivia and associates
for a long time


What I learned- what I learned about the show by re-watching it from the previous first time I
watched it was how the characters communicate. I got a better understanding of the show by
looking for specific details and things that go on in the show. For example when Abby threatens
the police officer at the murder scene by using evidence against him I noticed this as a practice of
the community that she is in which is the gladiators community under Olivia pope; compared to
the first time I watched this episode and I just thought that that is just the way that the gladiators
work I did not have a name/specific term for the way that Abby behaved. This shows that just by
looking at the show again and from a different perspective you can really learn a lot about the
actors and how they behave.

Photo Credits:
1. ABC. Danny Feld. Web. 9/25/14.
http://www.salon.com/2013/10/04/stop_comparing_everything_to_scandal/

2. ABC. Anderson-Niles, Amanda.Columbus Shorts Scandal Role is in Jeopardy over
Legal Troubles. March 29, 2014. Web. DA- 9/25/14.
http://urbanbellemag.com/2014/03/columbus-shorts-scandal-role-jeopardy-legal-
troubles.html


3. ABC. Danny Feld. Web 9/25/14. http://www.tvgoodness.com/2013/02/02/what-they-
said-favorite-quotes-from-scandal-truth-or-consequences/