List of Scandal episodes

Scandal is an American political thriller television series created by Shonda Rhimes, that ran on ABC from April 5, 2012 until April 19, 2018.^[1]

Kerry Washington stars as Olivia Pope, a former White House Communications Director who leaves to start her own crisis management firm, Pope and Associates, where she works to keep the secrets and protect the public images of the country's most powerful and elite. On staff at the new firm are fresh-faced lawyer Quinn Perkins (Katie Lowes); smooth talking litigator Harrison Wright (Columbus Short); investigator Abby Whelan (Darby Stanchfield); and computer hacker with a CIA past Huck (Guillermo Diaz). The show also focuses on President of the United States Fitzgerald Grant (Tony Goldwyn); First Lady Mellie Grant (Bellamy Young); White House Chief of Staff Cyrus Beene (Jeff Perry); Vice President and eventual presidential candidate Sally Langston (Kate Burton); U.S. Attorney David Rosen (Joshua Malina); Head of NSA, Jake Ballard (Scott Foley); chairwoman Elizabeth North (Portia de Rossi); activist Marcus Walker (Cornelius Smith Jr.); and head of B613 Eli Pope (Joe Morton).

During the course of the series, 124 episodes of Scandal aired, including one special.

Series overview

Season	Episodes		Originally released		Rank	Viewers (in millions)
			First released	Last released
1	7		April 5, 2012 (2012-04-05)	May 17, 2012 (2012-05-17)	62	8.21[2]
2	22		September 27, 2012 (2012-09-27)	May 16, 2013 (2013-05-16)	47	8.46[3]
3	18		October 3, 2013 (2013-10-03)	April 17, 2014 (2014-04-17)	16	12.00[4]
4	22		September 25, 2014 (2014-09-25)	May 14, 2015 (2015-05-14)	18	12.66[5]
5	21		September 24, 2015 (2015-09-24)	May 12, 2016 (2016-05-12)	29	10.68[6]
6	16		January 26, 2017 (2017-01-26)	May 18, 2017 (2017-05-18)	39	8.16[7]
7	18		October 5, 2017 (2017-10-05)	April 19, 2018 (2018-04-19)	53	7.41[8]

Episodes

Season 1 (2012)

Main article: Scandal season 1

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	Prod. code	U.S. viewers (millions)
1	1	"Sweet Baby"	Paul McGuigan	Shonda Rhimes	April 5, 2012 (2012-04-05)	101	7.33[9]
2	2	"Dirty Little Secrets"	Roxann Dawson	Heather Mitchell	April 12, 2012 (2012-04-12)	102	7.28[10]
3	3	"Hell Hath No Fury"	Allison Liddi-Brown	Matt Byrne	April 19, 2012 (2012-04-19)	103	7.21[11]
4	4	"Enemy of the State"	Michael Katleman	Richard E. Robbins	April 26, 2012 (2012-04-26)	104	6.86[12]
5	5	"Crash and Burn"	Steve Robin	Mark Wilding	May 3, 2012 (2012-05-03)	105	6.69[13]
6	6	"The Trail"	Tom Verica	Jenna Bans	May 10, 2012 (2012-05-10)	106	6.43[14]
7	7	"Grant: For the People"	Roxann Dawson	Shonda Rhimes	May 17, 2012 (2012-05-17)	107	7.33[15]

Season 2 (2012–13)

Main article: Scandal season 2

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	Prod. code	U.S. viewers (millions)
8	1	"White Hat's Off"	Tom Verica	Jenna Bans	September 27, 2012 (2012-09-27)	201	6.74[16]
9	2	"The Other Woman"	Stephen Cragg	Heather Mitchell	October 4, 2012 (2012-10-04)	202	6.56[17]
10	3	"Hunting Season"	Ron Underwood	Matt Byrne	October 18, 2012 (2012-10-18)	203	6.17[18]
11	4	"Beltway Unbuckled"	Mark Tinker	Mark Fish	October 25, 2012 (2012-10-25)	204	6.11[19]
12	5	"All Roads Lead to Fitz"	Steve Robin	Raamla Mohamed	November 8, 2012 (2012-11-08)	205	6.06[20]
13	6	"Spies Like Us"	Bethany Rooney	Chris Van Dusen	November 15, 2012 (2012-11-15)	206	6.02[21]
14	7	"Defiance"	Tom Verica	Peter Noah	November 29, 2012 (2012-11-29)	207	6.64[22]
15	8	"Happy Birthday, Mr. President"	Oliver Bokelberg	Shonda Rhimes	December 6, 2012 (2012-12-06)	208	7.39[23]
16	9	"Blown Away"	Jessica Yu	Mark Wilding	December 13, 2012 (2012-12-13)	209	7.14[24]
17	10	"One for the Dog"	Steve Robin	Heather Mitchell	January 10, 2013 (2013-01-10)	210	8.37[25]
18	11	"A Criminal, a Whore, an Idiot and a Liar"	Stephen Cragg	Mark Fish	January 17, 2013 (2013-01-17)	211	7.93[26]
19	12	"Truth or Consequences"	Jeannot Szwarc	Peter Noah	January 31, 2013 (2013-01-31)	212	8.09[27]
20	13	"Nobody Likes Babies"	Tom Verica	Mark Wilding	February 7, 2013 (2013-02-07)	213	8.14[28]
21	14	"Whiskey Tango Foxtrot"	Mark Tinker	Matt Byrne	February 14, 2013 (2013-02-14)	214	8.02[29]
22	15	"Boom Goes the Dynamite"	Randy Zisk	Jenna Bans	February 21, 2013 (2013-02-21)	215	7.68[30]
23	16	"Top of the Hour"	Steve Robin	Heather Mitchell	March 21, 2013 (2013-03-21)	216	8.51[31]
24	17	"Snake in the Garden"	Ron Underwood	Raamla Mohamed	March 28, 2013 (2013-03-28)	217	7.97[32]
25	18	"Molly, You in Danger, Girl"	Tom Verica	Chris Van Dusen	April 4, 2013 (2013-04-04)	218	8.04[33]
26	19	"Seven Fifty-Two"	Allison Liddi-Brown	Mark Fish	April 25, 2013 (2013-04-25)	219	7.90[34]
27	20	"A Woman Scorned"	Tony Goldwyn	Zahir McGhee	May 2, 2013 (2013-05-02)	220	8.07[35]
28	21	"Any Questions?"	Mark Tinker	Matt Byrne	May 9, 2013 (2013-05-09)	221	8.87[36]
29	22	"White Hat's Back On"	Tom Verica	Shonda Rhimes	May 16, 2013 (2013-05-16)	222	9.12[37]

Season 3 (2013–14)

Main article: Scandal season 3

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	Prod. code	U.S. viewers (millions)
30	1	"It's Handled"	Tom Verica	Shonda Rhimes	October 3, 2013 (2013-10-03)	301	10.52[38]
31	2	"Guess Who's Coming to Dinner"	Allison Liddi-Brown	Heather Mitchell	October 10, 2013 (2013-10-10)	302	9.01[39]
32	3	"Mrs. Smith Goes to Washington"	Jeannot Szwarc	Matt Byrne	October 17, 2013 (2013-10-17)	303	9.51[40]
33	4	"Say Hello to My Little Friend"	Oliver Bokelberg	Mark Fish	October 24, 2013 (2013-10-24)	304	8.62[41]
34	5	"More Cattle, Less Bull"	Randy Zisk	Jenna Bans	October 31, 2013 (2013-10-31)	305	9.18[42]
35	6	"Icarus"	Julie Anne Robinson	Peter Noah	November 7, 2013 (2013-11-07)	306	8.66[43]
36	7	"Everything's Coming Up Mellie"	Michael Katleman	Peter Nowalk	November 14, 2013 (2013-11-14)	307	9.04[44]
37	8	"Vermont is for Lovers, Too"	Ava DuVernay	Mark Wilding	November 21, 2013 (2013-11-21)	308	8.93[45]
38	9	"YOLO"	Oliver Bokelberg	Chris Van Dusen	December 5, 2013 (2013-12-05)	309	8.27[46]
39	10	"A Door Marked Exit"	Tom Verica	Zahir McGhee	December 12, 2013 (2013-12-12)	310	9.22[47]
40	11	"Ride, Sally, Ride"	Tom Verica	Raamla Mohamed	February 27, 2014 (2014-02-27)	311	9.32[48]
41	12	"We Do Not Touch the First Ladies"	Oliver Bokelberg	Heather Mitchell	March 6, 2014 (2014-03-06)	312	8.53[49]
42	13	"No Sun on the Horizon"	Randy Zisk	Matt Byrne	March 13, 2014 (2014-03-13)	313	8.22[50]
43	14	"Kiss Kiss Bang Bang"	Paul McCrane	Mark Fish	March 20, 2014 (2014-03-20)	314	9.08[51]
44	15	"Mama Said Knock You Out"	Tony Goldwyn	Zahir McGhee	March 27, 2014 (2014-03-27)	315	9.01[52]
45	16	"The Fluffer"	Jeannot Szwarc	Chris Van Dusen & Raamla Mohamed	April 3, 2014 (2014-04-03)	316	9.13[53]
46	17	"Flesh and Blood"	Debbie Allen	Severiano Canales & Miguel Nolla	April 10, 2014 (2014-04-10)	317	9.23[54]
47	18	"The Price of Free and Fair Elections"	Tom Verica	Shonda Rhimes & Mark Wilding	April 17, 2014 (2014-04-17)	318	10.57[55]

Season 4 (2014–15)

Main article: Scandal season 4

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	Prod. code	U.S. viewers (millions)
48	1	"Randy, Red, Superfreak and Julia"	Tom Verica	Shonda Rhimes	September 25, 2014 (2014-09-25)	401	11.96[56]
49	2	"The State of the Union"	Allison Liddi-Brown	Heather Mitchell	October 2, 2014 (2014-10-02)	402	10.34[57]
50	3	"Inside the Bubble"	Randy Zisk	Matt Byrne	October 9, 2014 (2014-10-09)	403	9.52[58]
51	4	"Like Father, Like Daughter"	Paul McCrane	Mark Fish	October 16, 2014 (2014-10-16)	404A	9.90[59]
52	5	"The Key"	Paul McCrane	Chris Van Dusen	October 23, 2014 (2014-10-23)	404B	9.98[60]
53	6	"An Innocent Man"	Jeannot Szwarc	Zahir McGhee	October 30, 2014 (2014-10-30)	405	9.32[61]
54	7	"Baby Made a Mess"	Oliver Bokelberg	Jenna Bans	November 6, 2014 (2014-11-06)	406	9.82[62]
55	8	"The Last Supper"	Julie Anne Robinson	Allan Heinberg	November 13, 2014 (2014-11-13)	407	10.05[63]
56	9	"Where the Sun Don't Shine"	Tony Goldwyn	Mark Wilding	November 20, 2014 (2014-11-20)	408	10.14[64]
57	10	"Run"	Tom Verica	Shonda Rhimes	January 29, 2015 (2015-01-29)	409	10.48[65]
58	11	"Where's the Black Lady?"	Debbie Allen	Raamla Mohamed	February 5, 2015 (2015-02-05)	410	9.58[66]
59	12	"Gladiators Don't Run"	Randy Zisk	Paul Willam Davies	February 12, 2015 (2015-02-12)	411A	9.32[67]
60	13	"No More Blood"	Randy Zisk	Heather Mitchell	February 19, 2015 (2015-02-19)	411B	9.62[68]
61	14	"The Lawn Chair"	Tom Verica	Zahir McGhee	March 5, 2015 (2015-03-05)	412	9.57[69]
62	15	"The Testimony of Diego Muñoz"	Allison Liddi-Brown	Mark Fish	March 12, 2015 (2015-03-12)	413	8.24[70]
63	16	"It's Good to Be Kink"	Paul McCrane	Matt Byrne	March 19, 2015 (2015-03-19)	414	7.79[71]
64	17	"Put a Ring on It"	Regina King	Chris Van Dusen	March 26, 2015 (2015-03-26)	415	8.06[72]
65	18	"Honor Thy Father"	Jeannot Szwarc	Severiano Canales	April 2, 2015 (2015-04-02)	416	7.27[73]
66	19	"I'm Just a Bill"	Debbie Allen	Raamla Mohamed	April 16, 2015 (2015-04-16)	417	7.86[74]
67	20	"First Lady Sings the Blues"	David Rodriguez	Paul William Davies	April 23, 2015 (2015-04-23)	418	7.79[75]
68	21	"A Few Good Women"	Oliver Bokelberg	Severiano Canales & Jess Brownell	May 7, 2015 (2015-05-07)	419	7.44[76]
69	22	"You Can't Take Command"	Tom Verica	Shonda Rhimes & Mark Wilding	May 14, 2015 (2015-05-14)	420	8.08[77]

Season 5 (2015–16)

Main article: Scandal season 5

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	Prod. code	U.S. viewers (millions)
70	1	"Heavy Is the Head"	Tom Verica	Shonda Rhimes	September 24, 2015 (2015-09-24)	501	10.25[78]
71	2	"Yes"	Tony Goldwyn	Heather Mitchell	October 1, 2015 (2015-10-01)	502	9.12[79]
72	3	"Paris is Burning"	Jann Turner	Matt Byrne	October 8, 2015 (2015-10-08)	503	8.76[80]
73	4	"Dog-Whistle Politics"	Zetna Fuentes	Mark Fish	October 15, 2015 (2015-10-15)	504	8.06[81]
74	5	"You Got Served"	Kevin Bray	Zahir McGhee	October 22, 2015 (2015-10-22)	505	8.28[82]
75	6	"Get Out of Jail, Free"	Chandra Wilson	Chris Van Dusen	October 29, 2015 (2015-10-29)	506	7.80[83]
76	7	"Even the Devil Deserves a Second Chance"	Oliver Bokelberg	Raamla Mohamed	November 5, 2015 (2015-11-05)	507	8.03[84]
77	8	"Rasputin"	John Terlesky	Paul William Davies	November 12, 2015 (2015-11-12)	508	7.70[85]
78	9	"Baby, It's Cold Outside"	Tom Verica	Mark Wilding	November 19, 2015 (2015-11-19)	509	8.13[86]
79	10	"It's Hard Out Here for a General"	Tom Verica	Severiano Canales	February 11, 2016 (2016-02-11)	510	6.96[87]
80	11	"The Candidate"	Allison Liddi-Brown	Alison Schapker	February 18, 2016 (2016-02-18)	511A	6.09[88]
81	12	"Wild Card"	Allison Liddi-Brown & Tom Verica	Mark Fish	February 25, 2016 (2016-02-25)	511B	5.85[89]
82	13	"The Fish Rots from the Head"	Sharat Raju	Heather Mitchell	March 10, 2016 (2016-03-10)	512	5.97[90]
83	14	"I See You"	Paris Barclay	Matt Byrne	March 17, 2016 (2016-03-17)	513	6.31[91]
84	15	"Pencils Down"	Regina King	Chris Van Dusen	March 24, 2016 (2016-03-24)	514	6.15[92]
85	16	"The Miseducation of Susan Ross"	Scott Foley	Raamla Mohamed	March 31, 2016 (2016-03-31)	516	6.44[93]
86	17	"Thwack!"	Tony Goldwyn	Zahir McGhee	April 7, 2016 (2016-04-07)	517	5.88[94]
87	18	"Till Death Do Us Part"	Steph Green	Paul William Davies	April 21, 2016 (2016-04-21)	518	6.00[95]
88	19	"Buckle Up"	Oliver Bokelberg	Michelle Lirtzman	April 28, 2016 (2016-04-28)	519	6.25[96]
89	20	"Trump Card"	Jann Turner	Severiano Canales & Jess Brownell	May 5, 2016 (2016-05-05)	520	6.06[97]
90	21	"That's My Girl"	Tom Verica	Shonda Rhimes & Mark Wilding	May 12, 2016 (2016-05-12)	521	6.65[98]

Season 6 (2017)

Main article: Scandal season 6

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	Prod. code	U.S. viewers (millions)
91	1	"Survival of the Fittest"	Tom Verica	Shonda Rhimes	January 26, 2017 (2017-01-26)	601	7.62[99]
92	2	"Hardball"	Allison Liddi-Brown	Matt Byrne	February 2, 2017 (2017-02-02)	602	6.54[100]
93	3	"Fates Worse Than Death"	Scott Foley	Mark Fish	February 9, 2017 (2017-02-09)	603	6.22[101]
94	4	"The Belt"	Tom Verica	Paul William Davies	February 16, 2017 (2017-02-16)	606	6.06[102]
95	5	"They All Bow Down"	Millicent Shelton	Zahir McGhee	March 9, 2017 (2017-03-09)	604	5.26[103]
96	6	"Extinction"	Tony Goldwyn	Chris Van Dusen	March 16, 2017 (2017-03-16)	605	5.63[104]
97	7	"A Traitor Among Us"	Tom Verica	Alison Schapker	March 23, 2017 (2017-03-23)	607	5.40[105]
98	8	"A Stomach for Blood"	Oliver Bokelberg	Severiano Canales	March 30, 2017 (2017-03-30)	608	6.57[106]
99	9	"Dead in the Water"	Nicole Rubio	Michelle Lirtzman	April 6, 2017 (2017-04-06)	609	5.10[107]
100	10	"The Decision"	Sharat Raju	Johanna Lee	April 13, 2017 (2017-04-13)	610	5.35[108]
101	11	"Trojan Horse"	Jann Turner	Jess Brownell & Nicholas Nardini	April 20, 2017 (2017-04-20)	611	5.11[109]
102	12	"Mercy"	Nzingha Stewart	Severiano Canales & Ameni Rozsa	April 27, 2017 (2017-04-27)	612	5.29[110]
103	13	"The Box"	Steph Green	Raamla Mohamed & Austin Guzman	May 4, 2017 (2017-05-04)	613	5.15[111]
104	14	"Head Games"	Zetna Fuentes	Chris Van Dusen & Juan Carlos Fernandez	May 11, 2017 (2017-05-11)	614	5.10[112]
105	15	"Tick Tock"	Salli Richardson-Whitfield	Zahir McGhee & Michelle Lirtzman	May 18, 2017 (2017-05-18)	615	5.23[113]
106	16	"Transfer of Power"	Tony Goldwyn	Matt Byrne & Mark Fish	May 18, 2017 (2017-05-18)	616	5.23[113]

Season 7 (2017–18)

Main article: Scandal season 7

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	Prod. code	U.S. viewers (millions)
107	1	"Watch Me"	Jann Turner	Shonda Rhimes	October 5, 2017 (2017-10-05)	701	5.52[114]
108	2	"Pressing the Flesh"	Tony Goldwyn	Matt Byrne	October 12, 2017 (2017-10-12)	702	5.00[115]
109	3	"Day 101"	Scott Foley	Zahir McGhee	October 19, 2017 (2017-10-19)	703	4.70[116]
110	4	"Lost Girls"	Nicole Rubio	Ameni Rozsa & Austin Guzman	October 26, 2017 (2017-10-26)	704	4.88[117]
111	5	"Adventures in Babysitting"	Oliver Bokelberg	Serveriano Canales & Tia Napolitano	November 2, 2017 (2017-11-02)	705	4.89[118]
112	6	"Vampires and Bloodsuckers"	Jann Turner	Chris Van Dusen & Tia Napolitano	November 9, 2017 (2017-11-09)	706	5.00[119]
113	7	"Something Borrowed"	Sharat Raju	Mark Fish	November 16, 2017 (2017-11-16)	707	4.97[120]
114	8	"Robin"	Daryn Okada	Juan Carlos Fernandez	January 18, 2018 (2018-01-18)	709	5.17[121]
115	9	"Good People"	Nzingha Stewart	Shonda Rhimes, Jess Brownell & Nicholas Nardini	January 25, 2018 (2018-01-25)	708	5.19[122]
116	10	"The People v. Olivia Pope"	Kerry Washington	Ameni Rozsa	February 1, 2018 (2018-02-01)	710	5.62[123]
117	11	"Army of One"	Allison Liddi-Brown	Austin Guzman	February 8, 2018 (2018-02-08)	711	4.63[124]
118	12	"Allow Me to Reintroduce Myself"	Tony Goldwyn	Raamla Mohamed	March 1, 2018 (2018-03-01)	712	4.95[125]
119	13	"Air Force Two"	Valerie Weiss	Severiano Canales	March 8, 2018 (2018-03-08)	713	4.67[126]
120	14	"The List"	Greg Evans	Jess Brownell & Juan Carlos Fernandez	March 15, 2018 (2018-03-15)	714	4.74[127]
121	15	"The Noise"	Darby Stanchfield	Raamla Mohamed & Jeremy Gordon	March 29, 2018 (2018-03-29)	715	3.71[128]
122	16	"People Like Me"	Joe Morton	Chris Van Dusen	April 5, 2018 (2018-04-05)	716	3.83[129]
123	17	"Standing in the Sun"	Jann Turner	Mark Fish & Matt Byrne	April 12, 2018 (2018-04-12)	717	4.15[130]
124	18	"Over a Cliff"	Tom Verica	Shonda Rhimes	April 19, 2018 (2018-04-19)	718	5.46[131]

Specials

No.	Title	Narrator	Aired between	Original release date	US viewers (millions)
1	"The Secret is Out"	Joshua Malina as David Rosen	"White Hat's Back On" (season two) "It's Handled" (season three)	October 3, 2013 (2013-10-03)	5.75[38]

Webisodes

Gladiator Wanted

A web series debuted prior to the sixth-season premiere and features Guillermo Diaz as Huck, Katie Lowes as Quinn, Cornelius Smith Jr. as Marcus and George Newbern as Charlie. All of the episodes were directed by Darby Stanchfield, who portrays Abby in the show.^[132]

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	1	"So You Want to Be a Gladiator in a Suit"	Darby Stanchfield	Juan Carlos Fernandez	January 19, 2017 (2017-01-19)
2	2	"A Job to Kill For"	Darby Stanchfield	Juan Carlos Fernandez	January 19, 2017 (2017-01-19)
3	3	"Induction"	Darby Stanchfield	Juan Carlos Fernandez	January 19, 2017 (2017-01-19)
4	4	"Governments Fall"	Darby Stanchfield	Juan Carlos Fernandez	January 19, 2017 (2017-01-19)
5	5	"By Dawn's Early Light"	Darby Stanchfield	Juan Carlos Fernandez	January 19, 2017 (2017-01-19)
6	6	"Exit Interview"	Darby Stanchfield	Juan Carlos Fernandez	January 19, 2017 (2017-01-19)

Ratings

Season		Episode number																						Average
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
	1	7.33	7.28	7.21	6.68	6.69	6.43	7.33	–															8.21
	2	6.74	6.56	6.17	6.11	6.06	6.02	6.64	7.39	7.14	8.37	7.93	8.09	8.14	8.02	7.68	8.51	7.97	8.04	7.90	8.07	8.87	9.12	8.46
	3	10.52	9.01	9.51	8.62	9.18	8.66	9.04	8.93	8.27	9.22	9.32	8.53	8.22	9.08	9.01	9.13	9.23	10.57	–				12.00
	4	11.96	10.34	9.52	9.90	9.98	9.32	9.82	10.05	10.14	10.48	9.58	9.32	9.62	9.57	8.24	7.79	8.06	7.27	7.86	7.79	7.44	8.08	12.66
	5	10.25	9.12	8.76	8.06	8.28	7.80	8.03	7.70	8.13	6.96	6.09	5.85	5.97	6.31	6.15	6.44	5.88	6.00	6.25	6.06	6.65	–	10.68
	6	7.62	6.54	6.22	6.06	5.26	5.63	5.40	6.57	5.10	5.35	5.11	5.29	5.15	5.10	5.23	5.23	–						8.16
	7	5.52	5.00	4.70	4.88	4.89	5.00	4.97	5.17	5.19	5.62	4.63	4.95	4.67	4.74	3.71	3.83	4.15	5.46	–				7.41

Scandal : U.S. viewers per episode (millions)

Audience measurement performed by Nielsen Media Research^{[133][citation needed]}