
ABC/Eric McCandless
Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) has the mother of all daddy issues with her father Eli (Joe Morton).
But Morton tells TheWrap that while his “Scandal” counterpart may not be the most ideal of parents, “everything he’s done he’s either done to protect his daughter or protect the Republic — or both.”
OK, we’ve heard that one far too many times from the character himself. So if that isn’t enough to make you forgive Eli (aka Rowan, the retired head of B613) at this point, maybe nothing will. Well, until you hear Morton talk about the show’s shining star, that is.
Also Read: State of Shondaland: 'Station 19' Starts, 'Scandal' Ends and Everything Netflix Snagged
“I think Kerry and I really do love one another,” Morton said in a recent interview about the final season of “Scandal.” “I think in many ways I suppose she is kind of — I have two daughters already, so I suppose she’s my third daughter. It’s funny, because her dad and I, whenever we get a chance to see each other we get along really well and there are strong similarities between us. So you’ve seen in the tweets and so forth the expression of the ‘Scandal’ Family. And I think that’s what it turns out to be. The relationships are very specific. The women on the show are all very tight. The same is true of the guys. And as a group, we all get along really well as a family. And we know each other very distinctly. Kerry and I, I think she’s like a surrogate daughter in a way.”
If we say “we’re not crying, you’re crying,” will you punch us? OK, that’s what we thought. So enjoy this story about when Morton directed Washington in episode 16 of this seventh and final season.
“I came out on the floor and I congratulated her for whatever work she had done in the scene. And she turned to the crew and said, ‘It really means something when your dad tells you you are doing well!'”
Also Read: 'Scandal' Cast, Shonda Rhimes Get Choked Up With Their Gladiators on Twitter as Series Wraps
While we can’t tell you if Eli makes it to the end of the series in on piece, Morton says Papa Pope most definitely gets what’s coming to him.
“Minds are going to be blown,” Morton says. Make of that what you will, Gladiators.
The “Scandal” season finale airs tonight at 10/9 c on ABC.
Everybody Who's Been Murdered on 'Scandal' -- And Who Murdered Them (Photos)
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ABC
From the Season 1 death of Amanda Tanner to Olivia bashing the vice president's face in with a chair, TheWrap takes a look back at every bloody, brutal murder from "Scandal's" seven seasons.
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ABC
Who was murdered? Amanda Tanner (Liza Weil)
When were they murdered? Season 1, episode 5
Who were they murdered by? Charlie (George Newbern), hired by Cyrus (Jeff Perry)
How were they murdered? Killed off-screen, dumped in a river.
Why were they murdered? Amanda was about to go public about her affair with the president and the fact that she was pregnant. (Although it was later revealed that the father of her baby was the vice president’s chief of staff, Billy Chambers.) -
ABC
Who was murdered? Gideon Wallace (Brendan Hines)
When were they murdered? Season 1, episode 7
Who were they murdered by? Billy Chambers (Matt Letscher)
How were they murdered? Scissors to the neck.
Why were they murdered? Gideon, a journalist for the D.C. Sun, discovered that Billy was the real father of Amanda Tanner’s baby and threatened to expose him. -
ABC
Who was murdered? Britta Kagen (Keiko Agena)
When were they murdered? Season 2, episode 8
Who were they murdered by? An assassin hired by Supreme Court Justice Verna Thornton (Debra Mooney)
How were they murdered? Remote-controlled sniper rifle.
Why were they murdered? Collateral damage in an assassination attempt on the president. -
ABC
Who was murdered? Jesse Tyler (Adam Shapio)
When were they murdered? Season 2, episode 12
Who were they murdered by? An assassin hired by Hollis Doyle (Gregg Henry)
How were they murdered? A bomb.
Why were they murdered? Jesse had tried to blackmail Doyle after discovering a vote-rigging campaign. -
ABC
Who was murdered? Supreme Court Justice Verna Thornton (Debra Mooney)
When were they murdered? Season 2, episode 13
Who were they murdered by? President Fitzgerald Grant (Tony Goldwyn)
How were they murdered? Suffocated in a hospital bed.
Why were they murdered? Fitz had discovered that Verna was part of a plot to rig the election that got him the White House and had tried to have him killed. -
ABC
Who was murdered? CIA Director Grayden Osborne (Kurt Fuller)
When were they murdered? Season 2, episode 17
Who were they murdered by? Billy Chambers
How were they murdered? Killed off-screen
Why were they murdered? Billy had been leaking intelligence from the White House and set up Osborne to take the fall. -
ABC
Who was murdered? Molly Ackerman (Mageina Tovah)
When were they murdered? Season 2, episode 18
Who were they murdered by? Billy Chambers
How were they murdered? Hit and run
Why were they murdered? Molly was trying to blow the whistle on Billy as the source of the leak. -
ABC
Who was murdered? Random security guard
When were they murdered? Season 3, episode 7
Who were they murdered by? Quinn Perkins (Katie Lowes)
How were they murdered? Poison injection
Why were they murdered? Quinn thought she was simply knocking the guard unconscious, but she was given poison by B613, who then used the guard's death as blackmail. -
ABC
Who was murdered? Daniel Douglas Langston (Jack Coleman)
When were they murdered? Season 3, episode 10
Who were they murdered by? Vice President Sally Langston (Kate Burton)
How were they murdered? Stabbed repeatedly.
Why were they murdered? Sally snapped after discovering that her husband had slept with Cyrus's husband. -
ABC
Who was murdered? Vanessa Chandler (Jennifer Peo)
When were they murdered? Season 3, episode 13
Who were they murdered by? Jake Ballard
How were they murdered? Shot in the head.
Why were they murdered? A White House correspondent, Vanessa knew about Olivia's affair with the president and was about to uncover the truth about the death of the vice president's husband. -
ABC
Who was murdered? Shelby Moss (Julia Cho)
When were they murdered? Season 3, episode 13
Who were they murdered by? Jake Ballard
How were they murdered? Shot in the head.
Why were they murdered? An NSA analyst, Shelby was close to uncovering the truth about the vice president's husband's murder with Vanessa. -
ABC
Who was murdered? James Novak (Dan Bucatinsky)
When were they murdered? Season 3, episode 14
Who were they murdered by? Jake Ballard (Scott Foley)
How were they murdered? Shot.
Why were they murdered? James was also part of the team looking into the death of Daniel Douglas Langston. -
ABC
Who was murdered? Clare Tucker (Kelly McCreary)
When were they murdered? Season 3, episode 16
Who were they murdered by? Maya Lewis (Khandi Alexander)
How were they murdered? Throat slit.
Why were they murdered? Clare had been serving as an informant to Harrison, trying to help him track down Maya. -
ABC
Who was murdered? Jerry Grant Jr. (Dylan Minnette)
When were they murdered? Season 3, episode 18
Who were they murdered by? Tom Larsen (Brian Letscher) on the order of Eli Pope (Joe Morton)
How were they murdered? A very dramatic public poisoning.
Why were they murdered? Olivia's (Kerry Washington) father took issue with the president's relationship with his daughter and punished him by killing his son. -
ABC
Who was murdered? Adnan Salif (Nazanin Boniadi)
When were they murdered? Season 3, episode 18
Who were they murdered by? Rowan
How were they murdered? Killed off-screen.
Why were they murdered? To trick Harrison (Columbus Short), who was romantically involved with Adnan, into helping him catch his terrorist wife Maya (Khandi Alexander). -
ABC
Who was murdered? Harrison Wright
When were they murdered? Season 3, episode 18
Who were they murdered by? Tom, on Rowan's orders
How were they murdered? Killed offscreen, presumably by gunshot.
Why were they murdered? Harrison had discovered that Eli/Rowan was responsible for the assassination of the president's son. -
ABC
Who was murdered? Sue Thomas (Lena Dunham)
When were they murdered? Season 4, episode 16
Who were they murdered by? Huck (Guillermo Diaz)
How were they murdered? Throat slit with a kitchen knife.
Why were they murdered? After sleeping with a number of elite D.C. men, Sue threatened to publish a book detailing all of her affairs. She was killed to keep her quiet. -
ABC
Who was murdered? Holly (Stefanie Black)
When were they murdered? Season 4, episode 18
Who were they murdered by? Jake Ballard
How were they murdered? Shot in front of her boss U.S. Attorney General David Rosen (Joshua Malina)
Why were they murdered? The mild-mannered Holly was a secret B613 agent responsible for the deaths of three people in protective custody and was about to kill David. -
ABC
Who was murdered? Elise Martin (Mia Maestro)
When were they murdered? Season 5, episode 6
Who were they murdered by? Franklin Russell (Brian White)
How were they murdered? Killed off-screen.
Why were they murdered? Part of a plot to kill Rowan and reinstate B613. -
ABC
Who was murdered? Franklin Russell
When were they murdered? Season 5, episode 9
Who were they murdered by? Jake Ballard
How were they murdered? Shot, execution-style.
Why were they murdered? Revenge for killing his wife, Elise. -
ABC
Who was murdered? Vice President Andrew Nichols (Jon Tenney)
When were they murdered? Season 5, episode 17
Who were they murdered by? Olivia Pope
How were they murdered? Beaten with a chair.
Why were they murdered? Traumatized by her recent kidnapping, which was organized by Andrew, Olivia got her revenge with a metal chair. -
ABC
Who was murdered? Richard Moss (Michael Canavan)
When were they murdered? Season 5, episode 21
Who were they murdered by? Jake Ballard
How were they murdered? Poisoned drink.
Why were they murdered? Jake, newly married to Richard's daughter, killed him so his wife could collect her half-a-billion dollar inheritance. -
ABC
Who was murdered? President-elect Francisco Vargas (Ricardo Antonio Chavira)
When were they murdered? Season 6, episode 1
Who were they murdered by? Rowan
How were they murdered? Shot by a sniper moments after winning the presidential election.
Why were they murdered? His wife, Luna Vargas, orchestrated the murder to prevent him from becoming president. -
ABC
Who was murdered? Sandra Potter (Tonya Pinkins)
When were they murdered? Season 6, episode 6
Who were they murdered by? Rowan
How were they murdered? Shot.
Why were they murdered? An old girlfriend of Rowan's, Sandra was brought back into his life by his enemies as an attempt to exploit his weaknesses. Instead of capitulating, Rowan kills her himself. -
ABC
Who was murdered? Jennifer Fields (Chelsea Kurtz)
When were they murdered? Season 6, episode 7
Who were they murdered by? Meg (Phoebe Niedhardt)
How were they murdered? Shot twice, once through the eyes.
Why were they murdered? Jennifer was a loose end in the plot to kill Francisco Vargas and frame Cyrus for the assassination. -
ABC
Who was murdered? Meg (Phoebe Niedhardt)
When were they murdered? Season 6, episode 9
Who were they murdered by? Quinn Perkins
How were they murdered? Slit throat.
Why were they murdered? Revenge for shooting Huck and leaving him in the trunk of a car at the bottom of a canyon. -
ABC
Who was murdered? Elizabeth North (Portia de Rossi)
When were they murdered? Season 6, episode 11
Who were they murdered by? Samantha Ruland (Zoe Perry)
How were they murdered? Golf club to the head.
Why were they murdered? After Mellie (Bellamy Young) refused to help make Theodore Peus (David Warshofsky) the next president, he had his associate kill her aide right in front of her to make a point. -
ABC
Who was murdered? Theodore Peus (David Warshofsky)
When were they murdered? Season 6, episode 13
Who were they murdered by? Jake Ballard
How were they murdered? Shot in the head.
Why were they murdered? In addition to orchestrating the murders of Frankie Vargas and Liz North, Peus had set bombs above several major cities and threatened mass casualties. -
ABC
Who was murdered? Samantha Ruland (Zoe Perry)
When were they murdered? Season 6, episode 14
Who were they murdered by? Rowan
How were they murdered? Stabbed with a dinosaur tooth and decapitated.
Why were they murdered? Rowan killed Samantha after she killed the president-elect, ordering David Rosen (Joshua Malina) to discover who hired her. -
ABC
Who was murdered? Luna Vargas (Tessie Santiago)
When were they murdered? Season 6, episode 16
Who were they murdered by? Olivia and Jake
How were they murdered? Forced to choose between suicide pills or being shot and buried in the forest.
Why were they murdered? It was discovered that she had conspired to kill her husband Frankie Vargas, the president-elect of the United States. -
ABC
Who was murdered? Farid Rashad (Faran Tahir), president of Bashran, and niece Yasmeen (Medalion Rahimi)
When were they murdered? Season 7, episode 5
Who were they murdered by? Olivia Pope
How were they murdered? Plane explosion.
Why were they murdered? After Rashad was overthrown by his people, Olivia made an agreement with the rebels to have him killed in order to secure a nuclear arms treaty. -
ABC
Who was murdered? Curtis Pryce (Jay Alexander)
When were they murdered? Season 7, episode 7
Who were they murdered by? Lucy Riccio (Caroline Day) on the order of Jake Ballard
How were they murdered? Killed off-screen.
Why were they murdered? Curtis, a cable news political commentator, was killed by B613 after he found out the truth about President Rashad's assassination. -
ABC
Who was murdered? Vanessa Moss (Jessalyn Gilsig)
When were they murdered? Season 7, episode 16
Who were they murdered by? Jake Ballard
How were they murdered? Killed off-screen.
Why were they murdered? Jake killed his wife after she taunted him about his relationship with Cyrus, calling him "the vice president's bitch." -
ABC
Who was murdered? U.S. Attorney General David Rosen (Joshua Malina)
When were they murdered? Season 7, episode 18
Who were they murdered by? Vice President Cyrus Beene (Jeff Perry)
How were they murdered? Poisoned drink and smothered by a pillow.
Why were they murdered? After Jake refused an order to kill David to put an end to the investigation into B613, Cyrus took matters into his own hands.
As ABC’s political thriller comes to its conclusion, let’s look back at the many, many deaths from throughout its run
From the Season 1 death of Amanda Tanner to Olivia bashing the vice president's face in with a chair, TheWrap takes a look back at every bloody, brutal murder from "Scandal's" seven seasons.
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