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Is the Sash as Katie. The SNL did a parody of Olivia Pope. Cecily Strong played Quinn and who played Hauck I.
Don't I don't remember this, but he's he's a great actor. I can't remember his name, but he was so good.
It was unfucking believable, Like I was losing my mind.
That's the first time we were like, oh, We're like like this is crazy, Like we're on SNL.
No, this is zeitgeis like, this is like a cultural phenomenon. If you get parodied on SNL, you've made it, folks, you have made it.
Or your or your life is over because you're like, you know Wiener, the guy that showed his Wiener to the world or whatever, the political guy.
We literally did an episode of scandal on the Wiener thing, like sending Dick pics. We had like a guy that had to get fixed for sending, tweeting and sending out too many testics.
Yes, yes, yes, there is so.
Much to talk about. I'm honestly giddy, like I feel.
I love it. Me too, me too.
Very I love you very much.
Gmod. I love you too, Katie.
Okay, Germo Diaz and I are just going through paperwork right now because.
You have like a I have a fucking book. I wrote down you own book.
Okay. We're so fucking pumped to be completely honest.
So guys, here we have episode one oh two. It's titled Dirty Little Secrets. We all have some of those, don't we. It first aired on April twelfth, twenty twelve. That's a long ass time ago. It was written by the awesome Heather Mitchell and directed by rox and Dawson. Remember Roxanne, she was one of my first obviously one of the first directors.
Yes, and I think she was our producing director that season, but we'll get into that later.
She was, yeah, yeah, And this episode is guest starring Mimi Kennedy as Sharon Marquette, John Gets as Patrick Keating, and Megan Gallagher is Stacey Keating.
I'm going to take you through this synopsis of the episode at scandal pace because we need to get into this episode and we cannot be bothered with all these logistics. But I just want to say it really quickly in scandal paste speed, so that you know what the hell was going on in the episode. So the synopsis is, Olivia must protect a new client who's under investigation by
the US Attorney's Office. Quin runs into trouble with the Manda Tanner when a charming reporter Gideon Wallace approaches Quinn at the hospital trying to get information. Meanwhile, at the White House, President Grant is just nominated his first Supreme Court justice, a man who has crosspads with Olivia's most recent client.
Oh my god, Katie, that was way too fast. I feel like I feel like it might be a little too fast for the listeners. Like, I get it, you know, we're so used to as scandal past. But I'm gonna do it. I'm going to try to just, you know, slow it up a little bit for the listeners.
Okay, let me give it. Let me hear you.
Olivia must protect a new client and their investigation by the US Attorney's Office. Quin warns is druggle with Amanda Tanner with a charming reporter, Gideon Wallace approaches Quinn at the hospital trying to get information. Meanwhile, at the White House, President Grant has just dominated his first Supreme Court justice, a man who has cross passed with Olivia's most recent client. God damn it, we can't stop scandal pacing. What is
wrong with us? Every job I did after Scandal they were like, uh, can you please just take your time? Like slow it down?
We are ruined as actors. Thank you so much, Sean Rhimes. But like, yes, first of all, we must note Geramemo, that was really fucking fast. And I always won the award as the fastest scandal Pace speaker on the cast, and you just gave me a run for my money.
That was pretty fast. Huh.
It was really fast. And also we have to give such applaud to Hawk because not only did you master scandal pace, but you would normally have to speak at scandal pace whilst saying absolute hacking jargon like QR facial recognition software.
Yes, I had no idea what it meant or what it was. I you know, Huck is is this tech savvy like character. Obviously everyone knows, but me Ghirmo Diaz is like, where do I go on my phone to turn on the light? Like I'm the worse.
I think even for this podcast, someone sent you a link for us to like open up our first meeting on this podcast and you're all texting me like, can you like text me that link? I don't know if I can get it on my computer or my phone. And I'm like, Guillermo, I sure did.
I Sure did. I was like, Katie, thank you so much.
Yeah, all right, So that's what happened in the episode. But like sitting down and rewatching episode two gave me such fucking vibes because it's just so classic early Scandal. It's a case of the week. The case is Sharon Marquette, who's played by Mimi Kennedy, and she's like, I'm DC's finest madam, is what she says. She's based running a whorehouse for like all these politicians where they get their fancy ass hookers. Yes, and it's the first episode, you know,
once we got picked up. Wait, by the way, how long was this between shooting the pilot and when did we start this? Do you remember?
I was going to ask you that because one of the first one of the things that like stuck out for me in this episode was Carrie's wig. I was like, oh, we got some money. Now They're like, okay, we want to order like seven episodes or six because we had done the pilot, but I was like, that way got spruced up. It looked like she went through the Emerald City makeover that Judy Garland goes through, and all of a sudden, she got this like fancy, like curly like up.
Like you know, everyone is listening. When you shoot a pilot, it's like they don't give you. I mean, they give you money, but it's not like if it's series and it goes to series, they're gonna like commit a little bit more. So, Yeah, Harry's wig and when she comes on this show, we have to have like a whole conversation about wigs because I know she made a lot of character choice is based on whether her hair was curly or straight. But I think that we see a
major upgrade in this episode. Yes, in the first couple minutes of this episode, we're already listening to Stevie Wonder. It's already like yeah, down down, down, down down, And you and Abby are in the Madam's apartment. You know, Steven played by Henry and Cusick is out on the street on the phone with Olivia, and David Rosen drives by and we're on a ticking time clock where like you guys, gotta totally take over whatever's in her apartment.
Before the cops get there.
Yeah, yes, and it just seems so cool. Record scratch to Quinn standing waiting for the elevator to come up like a freaking loser.
She's like, what the hell is going on? Well, Quinn is also the audience, right, Quinn is the one that's like, Okay, what's what's going down here? Like fill me in? And no one's like really filling her in, and they're just like you gotta learn, Like you gotta just watch and learn.
Yes. In this episode, Olivia is pissed because she has found out that her dude, her love of her life, Fitzgerald Grant the Third, is fucking Amanda Tanner and now she's pissed, and now Amanda try to kill herself and now here we are where she's like, oh, Amanda Tanner, I'm going to get this bitch to be my client. Yeah, okay. A couple other things about this episode that need to be mentioned that are in some notes G and I
take notes people. G takes them on paper. I take them on the notes in section of my phone.
I'm old school. Yep.
He played a hacker and he can't do anything technologically savvy. Okay. No, David Rosen calls Olivia by her whole name, Olivia Carolyn Pope.
Ye.
Do you remember where Carolyn came from? Hell?
No?
Okay. I texted Carrie yesterday and I said, do you remember where Carolyn comes from? And she's like not no, But I remember being one and everyone being like, oh my gosh, like it's so lovely that her middle name is Carolyn, because that's I want to say Shonda's middle name, but I could be do not remember this at all?
I don't remember this at all.
Wait, I'm texting. I'm gonna text Shana right now and I'm gonna ask her. I really feel like it was a special nod to something.
This is also I remember in this in that scene where he says her middle name is the first time he goes to sort of poker and Huck steps up and he's like, do not touch her. And it's the first time you see Huck. He sort of like, You're like, oh, that's like Olivia's like protective, like pitbull, like he's like her protector. And I love that moment because he was like, I will snap your neck.
Modifuga it was really that's when you realize that, like, these aren't just lawyers.
Yeah.
Quinn walks in in episode one and says, so you're all lawyers, and you're like, no, lawyers are for losers. Like we're fixers, we're crisis managers. It's a whole package of different kinds of people. And I always thought in episode two when David Rosen goes to touch Olivia and you're like, do not touch her, You're like, holy shit, these people are. Yeah, they're like a whole mixed bag of crazy.
Yeah, they have scary baggage.
This is also the episode where we meet Morris, Yes, who we've got to have on this podcast. I love him so much. Morris is the White House security guard at the security gate that checks people in, and he's so lovely and so wonderful and again, such a secret sauce to this show because our guest stars are co stars. Our people with one line are just fucking killing it. We meet Morris, and then right with Morris, Olivia Pope is not getting checked into the White House right Like
they're not letting her in. In this episode, I can't remember why do you remember?
Why? G that Cyrus thinks that Olivia is not on the President's side anymore. So he's like, he revokes her past to the White House.
That's right. And so then we meet Billy Chambers who's in line right behind Olivia, and he's like, oh, hold on, let me just call the front gate and like let you in, and she's like, thanks so much. Billy. Did Billy know at that time that he was going to be the Billy Chambers He couldn't have, right, No.
None of them, Well, none of us knew, right, like all the crazy stuff that we do on the show, none of us knew till like the table read in.
This episode where we're dealing with the Madam. Abby's all pissed because Steven. She finds out Steven's sleeping or has slept with whores and paid prostitutes.
In the Madams book. Yeah, as one of her clients exactly.
And when you guys have those scenes where you're going through I don't think Huck is there, but it's Harrison Wright and it's Stephen and they're talking about what sunny day is, what hard like speaking Greek and then around the world, around the world, So like for those of you, I was laughing and Abby Darby does such an amazing job of being uncomfortable and asking like, well, what's hardwood floors? Like in her snarky ass way, and who what's the answer. The answer is so brilliant.
It's it's when there's nothing to match the the the carpets don't match the drapes or something like.
That, it just means that she's bald.
Right, yeah, Like she's yeah, yeah, she got that Brazilian wax.
She's but like full, full throttle, full full full bald headed. That's terrifying. Okay. Then she's like, okay, fine, sunny day and they're.
Like, you don't have to wear a raincoat?
Yeah, which is guys, I'm so lame. I'm sitting on my bed. I'm like hysterical laughing. Can you imagine being a writer in the writer's room coming up with this bullshit? I do not. This is what I love about Scandal, especially these this early, these early skittles of why it gives me like just such it makes me giddy is that the show is fucking funny.
Yeah.
And then I also love in this episode that Olivia Pope says, all cylinders people, let's go yes?
Is that the first time we hear her say that, I think it might be.
By the way, listeners, we're dealing with only forty two minutes of television. This is the second round of forty two minutes, and we're already giving you such hashtaghs. Yes, such T shirts, Yes, such sayings. I mean all cylinders, people, let's go. Who says that?
And also, speaking of T shirts, Katie and I are wearing I think this was our first like merch that we got gifted from Shonda and the producers. Right, it's like a long sleeve black, really nice shirt that says scandal on the front where like your you know, your booby is chest pocket would be where your boob is ye, And then on the back it says do you want to be a gladiator in a suit? Right? Or does it say I can't stand that? Turn around you you turn around? Are we here?
What was this saying?
It says, oh, yeah, do you want to be a gladiator in a suit? Which is so awesome.
Ah, so this shirt bravo to Geirmo and I because this shirt is twelve ten years old or someone and we are wearing it.
Yes, yes, Well, And I was telling Katie I cannot dry this shirt because if I dry it, it's gonna be like, you know, it's it's not gonna go over my belly.
Garmo and I. Over the course of this podcast, we have a lot of vintage pieces that will be coming out. They might be clothing, they might be gifts, they might be shit we stole from the Scandal set. They might be clothing I stole from the Scandal set. But this shirt is so special and I would never wear it in public because it is way too fucking tight.
Totally, totally. You know what's funny. I wore it. I had to go to the grocery store to get detergent, and I have the shirt on and I was in an aisle looking for you know, looking for it which one I was gonna pick, And a guy was like kept staring at me, and I was like, oh crap, and he was like, I loved you on Scandal and I was like, oh god, I'm wearing a Scandal's shirt. I was like, how how cheesy?
No, No, it's sweet, and everyone listening, so, you know, I get recognized, but I really look like everyone else, Like I really think I'm like a pretty average in size and height and in brown hair, brown eyes, like you got to really know. I don't Gamo fucking Diaz cannot go anywhere, like anywhere, I mean traveling around with you. I don't know how Mikey does it. I don't know, because you stick out like a sore thumb, like you're just so special. You don't look like anyone else. You
have a vibe about you. You have a look. And the greatest treat about that is that a lot of times when Gamo gets recognized for Scandal, he also gets recognized for Half Baked, and people are just passing you weed.
People want to get me high everywhere I go. We were in Israel and people were like, you want to get high?
Everywhere you go, people want to get you high. We were at the White House Correspondent dinner and everyone's trying to get you high. Like everyone just wants to say to their group of friends, yeah, I got stoned with Germo Diaz from Half Baked, or I got stoned with Huck or like whatever, You're just.
Cool, you know. Very early in my career, Katie, I learned that you have to be kind to your fans. So I can't say no, you know, so I'm I just you know I have to kindly exist.
I will give you that memory. I will give you that memory. Please, it's not it's okay, it's not too much off my back. What else did you love about this episode?
One of the things that I loved about about this episode, Katie, that stuck out also was the sets. It's the first I mean, you see the sets of course in the pilot, but this was the first time that you see the recreated actual set where we shot the pilot at an actual location in downtown at La in this old old building where those panels that those window panels that we have on our show, those cracked, flawed window panels were
all real. And our amazing you know Scandal team that works on the sets at the stages where we shot the show recreated that place like perfectly, and it looks so freaking good in this episode.
That is such a great point, And what blessing did they give us because the real one downtown, the real OPA the hallway was actually insanely long, and when they recreated it on the stages, it was like still long, but half the length. Because Quinn is constantly walking up and down the fucking hallway getting a people of coffee, like I don't think you had to deal with this. And I hate wearing high heels, and my feet are an issue at all times.
And those pencil skirts that kept like twisting on you.
You remember, am I spanks. Every time I took a step, my pencil skirt would just like rotate. I spent eighty hours a week complaining about my feet, which Kerry Washington never did. And she's wearing like literally six inch every single high end fashionable shoe. And I think I was in Jessica Simpson like low priced shoe because I you know, when we did fittings, I would say like Quinn doesn't have what Olivia Pope has, like I shouldn't be in
Prada and all this shit. Yeah, but anyway, they they made the hallway half the length when they recreated it, and I remember being like, oh, thank you God, because this will just log me like less steps where my feet and my pencil skirt are just just ridiculous, like my feet were hurting so badly.
Do you also remember, Katie, the window panels that I mentioned a little bit ago, where we would have to put up people's photos. I think you know this, Katie. But when we wrapped the series. I asked Mary Howard, who was one of our producers. I asked her, Hey, is there any way I can get one of those window panels? And they sent me. They delivered one to my house and it's with the iron around it, Katie. It weighs like a tongue. You didn't know that.
Nowhere is it in your house?
It's in that right at the entrance of the house, like on the wall right there. It's like one of my favorite things that I have in my house. And I was like, thank god I asked for this.
I'm seemingly jealous.
They literally took one of those things and delivered it to my house.
Giermo, that makes me like sleep better at night knowing that you have one of the window panes.
Yes.
Yes, And our OPA conference table desk is the main conference room table at Shondolin Offices in Hollywood.
Oh way, I didn't know that. Yeah.
I was there once before COVID and I walked past the big conference room and it's the OPA conference table that you and I boned on, Yes, where.
We would hide all our sides on the chairs and then we'd scooched them into the table and we boned on that table. We sure did. We'll be right back, guys.
Okay, Quinn has one job. You all are working on the Madam case. You're all trying to have her not give up her list to David Rosen of all the people in DC horse sleeping with prostitutes. I simultaneously, I'm doing this b story where I'm never supposed to let Amanda Tanner out of my site because we know that Gideon Wallace, who's a reporter from the Sun, has been sniffing around and Olivia Pope doesn't want that getting out. So I'm just supposed to be watching this girl. And
Quinn's like, I don't want to watch this girl. And then Olivia is like, don't let her out of your site, and I'm like, right, don't let her out of your site, don't let her side, don't let her side, don't let her out of my site.
She's gone. How the hell did she get out there that quickly?
And also is that allowed? Don't you have to be discharged? Right?
Yeah?
It's fine? Yeah, And then I go to your office and I say, I'm gonna barf. How do I find something that's gone missing? And You're like, go check her house, and I'm like, oh, check.
Her house, check her house. Oh, like yeah, and.
It's already you know what's so lovely? Also going back, it's already like I can see what the writers were seeing about Huck taking Quinn under his wing.
Yeah, yeah, like.
You can already see. Like I always go to you. Abby is just like so meanto Quinn. It's insane and great and lovely and I love it and like Harrison just doesn't have time because he's just like mister man about town and you're really the only person.
Yeah, that's the left that we'll talk to her.
Go ahead, Katie.
Do you remember that we used to talk while we were filming the show, like how do the writers know? And how does Seanda know our relationships? Because you and I started to get really close and then we'd be like, dude, are there microphones like in our trailers? Like on and then we'd see it in the scripts reflected in the scripts, right, we were.
Like always we would be like, no, they have got to have bugged the makeup. So on sets, makeup trailers is where a lot of shit talking gets done, and that's mostly because you're there at five o'clock in the morning.
You know, your makeup and hair people are the ones that are closest to your face at all times, like when you're on your period, when you've had a rough night, when you're like so, the makeup trailer just sort of becomes this place, and I always like, this shit has got to be because we would talk about we would like have relationships forming and like trust things happening, and then we would see them one hundred percent reflected in scripts down the road.
Yeah.
Also what we would do in the trailer I was going to say was we were really studious and we would drill lines.
Well, we had to write. We had to because we had to. We had to scandal pace our dialogue, which I don't know if people know we should say that it first started because the scripts were so long, right, and there were so many words that I think it was Shonda that said, you guys have to talk fast to get all this stuff out, and that's I think
where it started. But then we all I think discovered little by little that the faster you you speak, I mean, you know, the intention and the we're still acting under the fast pace. But every time it made that scene better, every single time, even beyond Scandal. Sometimes I'm on sets, I'm like, y'all gotta speed that shit up.
And not only did we have to have scandal pace, but we had to be word perfect.
This wasn't a show that you were like, hey, you know in throwing an improv like that didn't happen on Scandal, which.
By the way, Germo Diaz brilliant improv actor from Dave Chappelle show.
God No, but.
Yeah, I think we had to drill lines.
Yeah.
In fact, when I watched these episodes back, the amount of material Kerrie Washington.
Had, oh my god. Yeah.
Most hour long scripts, I want to say, are like fifty to sixty pages. Some of our scripts were eighty nine fucking pages.
That's really long.
Crazy to think that that would fit in forty two minutes and shoot in nine days.
We would cut up and have fun and laugh and do all that stuff on set, but most of the time I feel like we'd be like, let's run lines, let's run lines. It was NonStop that we were like, yo, let's run that scene, Let's run lines, because we just wanted to get it right. We couldn't. There was no room for, you know, to.
Mess up, and we were like that on each other.
I mean, I felt like we were all not goody two shoes, but we all really believed in the show and wanted to do a good job, and so everyone did didn't want to be the person in the scene to fuck it up, because a lot of the OPA scenes are like those theater scenes where you're in an ensemble you're holding like tossing a volleyball up between all of your lines, and if you're the dick that sucks up the take because you go up and you forget the line, it just made the take not usable for
everybody else, And like, no one wanted to be that person. So it was like we were all, can we run them? Can we run him?
Come we run?
No, I don't want to be the one that like drops the ball. We have that whole monologue where Olivia and I dropped my jaw down to the ground, which I feel like is really a poor acting choice on my head. And Olivia says, slip your number in the door. She's gonna call you, and it is your job to get her to be our client. And I'm like, oh shit, And so I put the number down and she does call.
Because Olivia is a genius and she knows what's going to happen, and so Amana Tanner and I meet, I think on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and we get a glimpse into Quinn's past, which is Lindsay Dwyer and I say, Quinn says something like I was in trouble once. A lot of people wanted to I was in trouble. I was alone and it was awful. Now you think we're getting a glimpse into Quinn Perkin's past, But at that point, the writer's room did not know what Quinn's past was.
I always forget that they did it right. Nobody knew where that was gonna go.
They didn't know. Oh my god, they didn't know. So what I think is interesting is that things were already being built. But I also sometimes wonder if I had played it differently, Like I played it as true, like Quinn does have this thing, this like secret, But I could have played it as like I'm tricking her, like I'm making.
It up right just to get it to be a client.
Yeah, because Olivia told me to. And I always am like, wow, had I been playing that with things have been different?
Right?
Who knows?
Hey? Speaking of that scene, at the Lincoln Memorial. We should talk about how that we shot this show in CA, California, in LA at some stages, at sunte Gower stages. But the CGI, what is it called the green screen? What is it considered CGI? The you know the backgrounds. I think so because when you see when you see the Lincoln Memorial and other you know, historical sites in DC,
like that's all green screen. And and the team that did that were so freaking talented too, because I remember remember people would come up to us all the time and be like, you guys shoot the show in DC.
People still think that now, yeah.
And we'd be like, no, it's green screen. They'd be like what, because it's good. It's really it was really really good, Like they did an amazing job.
Yeah. We would always be outside in parks all over LA and then they would have this like massive green screen that they would then superimpose like you're saying the Jeffremanson Memorial, Ling Memorial, whatever the mall. Yeah, and we would be dressed in coats, sweating balls.
In California where it never gets cold except for today.
And Lynn Pallow we're gonna have her on too. She's an amazing costume designer Lynn Pallow she I think just set the world. I don't know if that was her choice or Shawna's choice that it was just a forever fall. I think it's just like forever fall, which means we're just always in pea coats, a scarf. Olivia's obviously like in the most incredible gloves you've ever seen in your
entire life that go up to her elbow. But most a lot of times we would be in like one hundred and ten degrees in a wool code.
You having to act.
Des I mean the chafing that was going on in my pencil skirts. I deserve all the acting awards people.
And I was in freaking flannels, remember flannels, and then a leather jacket on top of that and boots.
Oh, later on down the road, it used to be like a war of like Lynn would be like, well, we can't, we need to have different flannels on quinn Hockah.
That's right, that's right. We started dressing. They started dressing us very much alike. You were in freaking black leather boots and leather jackets and flannels and yeah you love that though, right, Oh I can't. Yeah, it was so sexy.
We'll get there. That's how the should I took.
Yes, we'll get there. I did too.
Okay, How Sharon Marquette gets off is Olivia staring at the board, which, by the way, that's what we call that glass wall that we put up the cases and all the people's pictures. We called it like who's at the board? So Olivia's staring at the at the board, and she has this brilliant idea. Let's call all these douchebags. Let's call all these dudes to the table and say like, look, guys, this is all going to come out and your life is screwed. Unless we all pool together our.
Resources, we're all trifling.
Bill Withers comes on, call me, mister pitiful. Best song ever. I love the soundtrack of this entire show, especially this episode. And Harrison goes around and he's like, hey Wooden Floors, Hey you, hey, Sonny Coat whatever.
That music montage scene is the best. And Harrison Man is the dude like, I'm like in love with him. He's so good. Love Columbus Short is so freaking cool and good and sexy and.
Sexy, and and he's flipping his phone and he's walking the walk and he's solving the cases and he's out there and they're playing fucking awesome music and he just makes it look effortless.
Oh so so good, so good Columbus.
Yeah, So they all come in and they get Sharon Marquette off, praise be we cut two fits wasted in the Oval, and he's on the seal and he's in a scene with Cyrus and he tells Cyrus like, I love Olivia Pope. We're not talking about this tomorrow, but I'm in love with Olivia Pope.
I mean he's whipped. He got whipped.
He's so whipped. And at those in those beginning times, like especially episode two, this early on in the in the series, I just feel like it was such separate shows. Like we never went over there. They never came over to us. We only saw them at table reads.
Yeah there, remember, I mean moving forward, you know, closer to other seasons, we'd have our characters eventually sometimes go to the White House. But it was such a big deal for us, right we'd be like, oh my god, we're gonna be at the White House. I can't believe I'm acting with Bellamy or with Jeffer Tony. Yeah, because
we never we never you know, encountered them. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was two separate worlds, completely, two separate worlds, and ours and ours was better, Oh like way better, way more anyway, I'm just saying yeah and cuter.
I think before we were really going over there, and maybe even before we really started to have storylines intermingle, Tony came over and and we would he directed an episode or two, and he'd always like hate love directing OPA because he would be like, what the fuck is He'd be.
Like, you guys, you gotta focus.
Stop singing, stop dancing, Like Columbus Short is the best dancer ever. He like choreographed Britney spears like a world tour she had like a million years ago. Like he's an amazing mover. And if like it's even you can even see it in this episode when he like anytime he solves the case, the way he walks, the way he handles his props, his phones, it's like fucking cool.
Yeah.
And I just think when Tony came over he was in shock at like not that we're unprofessional, we're just better.
But I remember that he was like I felt like he was like a substitute teacher who was like you know, and the kids were just out of control, like you could not get us to stop talking. But you were the best, Katie. You were. I remember you. We'd be like blah lah lah talking and then they'd be like, okay, rolling, but you still be talking about la la la lah
and they'd be like close to act. You'd be like, Olivia, I need to go to the You were so good at going from like you know what I mean, from reality to like Quinn, you were so good at it. I'm so honored you were so so good at it.
Okay, So we talked about the Lincoln memorial part and then the end of the episode is that Gideon walks in and Amanda Tanner is there and she's now become our client and and she's like, you don't have a story, and he's like, well, I wasn't sure, but now that I've just walked in here and Amanda Tanner is here and you're here, now I do.
What a freaking turd? Right? I was like, you're a little turd. Like he's so annoying in this episode.
Ugh.
I was like, you little bitch, Like what is wrong? Oh? Who's this? Is that your best friend. Is she just try to kill herself? Oh wow or whatever? The hell? Oh?
When he walks in and he's saying to Quinn like, oh yeah, yeah, Well, you know what's funny. When I first met Gideon, who's.
An amazing actor, He's doing this is what he needed.
He's an amazing actor. And by the way, do you know who he's married to. Gideon Wallace, who is played by Brendan Hines. Yes, during the pandemic, married Tatiana Maslani, who play who's the lead in Orphan Black. She won the Emmy for Orphan Black.
Do you know, I swear I was going to say the Russian ice skater. I'm not even kidding Oksana Bayoul I was thinking, ok Sana, I was like, that motherfucker married the Russian ice skater. I'm so dumb. Wait, he married a Russia skater.
No, Gideon did not marry Axana by you. That's the stupidest thing. Oh God, I hope this podcast comes out and we just start that rumors about you. I hope she's okay.
She's okay, she's okay, but wait, he married this lovely woman.
He married Tatiana Masslani. No, she's like literally one of the greatest actresses of our time.
I know exactly who that.
Is outstanding, and they're both Canadian, and I think there's like living this phenomenal life. Wow, blessed Gideon, like bless I mean bless Brendon Hines and blessed.
By That is a wrap on. I'm kidding.
We will be back with more after the.
Break, Benitos, I'll unpacking the toolbox.
Wait, how do you say unpacking the toolbox in Spanish?
I don't freaking know.
That's hard.
I don't know something like that. Yeah, welcome back, Welcome back, y'all.
I remember coming to the Prospect offices to read episode two when we had heard we were picked up, and Sean is sitting down next to me and being like, that's going to be your love interest, like right there, Brendon Hines, and I remember being like, huh, oh my god. It's not that he's so handsome and like a great actor. I just was like not ready to like have a love interest. I wasn't like comfortable yet. I felt like, oh god, fuck, that's what Quinn's going to be doing.
Oh no, I think your first one of your first thoughts, which was for all of us, because when I first found out that Huck was going to have a love interest, was like, am I going to have to have my shirt off? Do I have to stop eating? Do I need to work out? What the fuck are they gonna have a shirt? Because it's scandal, so you knew they were gonna end up screwing race.
So ten PM show people, Yes, fucking was on the table. I mean not cable, not cable sex.
Not cable sex, but yeah, ten pm sex.
Which is more than Grays at nine pm. And we had all seen Grays. We knew we were gonna be pushing the envelope little more than that. Yes, So it wasn't that it was like, oh no, Brendan Hines. It was more like, oh no, wait, shit, I'm gonna have a love interest. I'm gonna have to to be doing stuff like I didn't have a lot of experience with that.
But anyway, Gideon Wallace the turd, Yes.
He's turtish in the episode in that he just is like trying to uncover the case and it might be annoying.
Yeah. Yeah. And also a little piece of information about Brendan Hines is that he did lock and Key with Darby he's in that show with Darby.
Yeah, yeah, Well get on board because Brendan Hines and Gideon Wallace are a big part of season one.
That's a lot going on.
We are going to be talking a lot about Brendan Hines and Xana Bayule and the rest of the season. But the scandal Rewatch podcast Unpacking the Toolbox. Yes, fun facts about the episode. This is funny. We talked about the Stevie wonder of it all and the songs, which I feel like are perfect. The episode was referenced in Jeopardy.
That's right, Yeah, yeah, yeah, and this I love.
There is a small continuity error people.
You know, some of those Twitter fans are going to be like, oh, I know that, My god.
The continuity error is Patrick Keating is the President's first Supreme Court justice nominee during his presidency. But in season two, episode eight, Happy Birthday as a President, we learned that it's part of the Defiance conspiracy deal. Verna Thornton was to receive a seat on the Supreme Court, being fits
his first Supreme Court justice nominee in his term. We need to get someone on this show because I think most writers' room have not a dramater, but like a researcher, isn't there someone in the room whose job it is is to keep all this shit straight?
But at some point that stuff has to kind of go out the window, and there's got to be creative like light what is it called creative license or whatever it's called, to just be like you know what, Like, yeah, that was that, But listen, there's five hundred freaking episodes like give us a break. Listen. I'm a huge Golden Girls fan, and in some episodes, Blanche has, you know, one daughter and then the other one. She's got two daughters, and one of them is named this and that. The
names change and I'm like, who cares. It's a great show, you know what I mean?
Is that true?
Yeah? Yeah, stuff is continuity. Stuff is all screwed up on that show.
And I think I'm on great shows.
Yeah.
For example, my first screen test was for Guiding Light, which is like one or I don't think it's not anymore, but it was like the longest running soap opera, and I was coming on to test to just be someone else who already existed in that role. Like that's how much people don't give a shit?
Oh yeah, that's where it started. You're right.
They were like, you're auditioning to play like like Abby, like if I was going in, and just like, you're just replacing Abby. She played the role for twenty years and now she wants to retire or we can't make ends meet in her contract or whatever, so will you just come on and be this person? And you're like, yeah, wait what, like no one's care.
Yeah, but the audience somehow accepts it, right, Like they don't make a big deal about it, and people just just accept it because it's you know, the show is still really great. Guiding Life was an amazing show. Oh no, I'm kidding, you know what.
I didn't get that part. And guess who did? This amazing actress named Melli Melissa Fumero who was one of the lead girls on Brooklyn nine to nine. Oh way, and right now she's on that show Blockbuster.
Oh wow, and.
She's a wonderful working actress. And we went to NYU together and at the time I was so bummed. I was like, I can't believe she's replacing Aubrey or whatever. The character's name was a Guiding Light, and she like right out of the gate, got like a four year contract on a soap opera and like made money.
Oh my god.
I used to tell myself like, oh, whatever, you don't want to be pigeonholed into being a soap opera actor because then that's all you'll ever be. Well, guys, that's not true because Melissa Favo's doing great.
But at the time that's like, it means so much. Writing you're like, oh god, this would have meant the world. But look at you now, look at you now play Quinn on Scandal.
Thank you. Oh my god. I just heard back from the Queen herself, Shonda Rhymes, and I wrote, again, why was Carolyn Olivia Pope's middle name? No presh doing the podcast now three heart emojis? Oh no? And then I added, is that your middle name or something? That's what I remember. I remember being on set and someone saying that this is Shonda's middle name. I am like, literally, I'm making shit up that none of that is true. None of it is She wrote back, Nope, it just came out
of my head one day in writing the show. Wow, you heard it here first, folks.
Also, just so everyone knows, I do not have Shonda Rhime's phone number.
Go on, Katie, go on, continue, I'm gonna give it to you.
Please don't, please don't. I don't want to send her something by mistake and be like, oh my.
God, no. But I'm going to bring it to all of you, all of you listeners. I am going to bring you the good stuff. I will reserve it and not text her anymore unless it's unless it's deefcon for all cylinders people, let's go. But no, out of her brilliant head, Olivia Carolyn Pope, can we just sing the song we used to sing yes whenever Olivia Pope Opa was handling a case. Pope, Pope, Pope it out, uh.
Poo, that's Folksana bayou. Oh y'all, Brendan Haines, congratulations, May your love last forever.
But before we go, like real quick, we gotta read some tweets at the time. You all know, all you super fans, all you og gladiators that are listening, you know that Twitter was the backbone and party. Every single Thursday night, ten pm East Coast time, Mountain time, Pacific time, whatever fucking time. Twitter was going off and G and I thought it would be really funny if we could go back and find any tweets because it's such a
time capsule. Yeah, we have uh three here that I they're not that great, but they're gonna get great.
They're gonna get great.
Yeah, these tweets at the time are okay, But I know this, this segment will pay off in later episodes.
This is just the begin This is when people are just starting to get their like Twitter feet wet so all the way.
In April twelfth of twenty twelve, Miss Cassia, who is at sivon Black quotes I'm a gladiator in a suit. I don't know if it was her, but on Twitter and some fan on Twitter hashtagged the first gladiator as being like that's the name of fans who watch Scandal, which stuck and still sticks to this day. Like I have people come up to me and they're like, no, no, you don't get it, like I'm a gladiator, Like I'm a gladiator, and I'm like, I believe you. I believe you.
They're like, no, I'm like an og gladiator, like from the beginning, from day one, I'm like, I believe you're a gladiator.
I need to get my groceries. I believe you're a gladiator.
And then from that we change it to like Gladiator in pajamas, Gladiator in whatever, Gladiator in doctor clothes, gladiat like people would change it for whatever they needed.
Yes.
Bonnie Smith at Bonbon Fabu on April twelfth of twenty twelve wrote, Thursday Night Primetime is the place to watch strong, intelligent women kicking ass and taking.
Names Freedom Major Paine forty four. She retweeted Scandal, ABC. Do you think Amanda Tanner is telling the truth about her affair with the president hashtag scandal? The President is a liar. He's a liah. That's what she wrote.
The President is a liar.
He is a freaking liar. Like what it's in this episode. There's so many references to to you know, the Monica Lewinsky built Clinton scandal as well. And Cyrus has a line to the President in this episode dirty Little Secrets, and he says, don't don't Clinton talk to me or something like that, And I thought I caught that yesterday when I was rewatching it. I've watched this episode like twelve times, but I was like, oh, that's such a great line.
These tweets will get crazier and crazier.
They have to they have to be like the nastiest, like crazy tweets ever.
Right, I spent a whole night on Twitter in one of the episodes talking about my ass, and I went to work and I told Oliver Bockelberg, our amazing DP. We were doing some episode where there was a mansion and they did a wide angle shot to show this is what I tell myself. Did a wide angle shot to show the mansion and the back of Quinn is what walked us into the shot. And this was insane what was shown on national television. And I spent the entire episode just reading tweets about my butt. No yeah,
and like ninety eight percent of them were complimentary. And I'll take it, honey, I will take it. We got to find But look, we're just getting started on the Scandal rewatch podcast Unpacking the Toolbox. This is we're just starting the unpacking of the toolbox. So like things are gonna get crazy. The series keeps getting more insane, intense, wild, so will this podcast. Yes, we're gonna about different shirts.
Yep or no shirts for some of the podcasts.
I'm down. I love early og Scandal though, like I just am both psyched to be on this ride with everybody listening and with you Gearmo. I love you so much. But I'm so happy to be watching these early episodes. They have such a fucking place in my heart.
Yeah, we're literally reliving this experience right like. It's pretty We're pretty lucky. This is awesome. I'm super excited. And again, this is just the beginning, y'all. This is just episode two of Unpacking the Toolbox.
And next week come back listen to us talk about season one episode three.
Yes, y'all, please come back. The episode is called hell Hath No Fury And if you want to hear me and Katie like a tug shit and cut up and crack up where we're crying, come back and listen to the next episode.
Yes, and listen and tell your friends I'm talking to you all you gladiators out there, og gladiators in suits, gladiators and doctor pants, gladiators in sweatpans, gladiators with wine glasses, gladiators on spin bikes, gladiators with popcorn. Whatever gladiator you find yourself to be current or in the past. Come be part of the Scandal fam and tune in next week. Thank you so much for listening. I Love you, Guiero Diaz.
I Love you, Kitty Lose. Bye. Hi guys, Thank you guys for joining us on Unpacking the Toolbox. If you enjoyed the show, please subscribe, share with your friends, rate, or leave us a review.
Scandal is executive produced by Sandy Bailey, Alex Alcea, Lauren Homan, Tyler Klang, and Gabrielle Collins. Our producer and editor is Vince de Johnny, with music by Chad Fisher.
Scandal is a production of ABC Signature, and you can follow along by rewatching Scandal on Hulu.
Unpacking the Toolbox is a production of Shondaland Audio in partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from Shondaland Audio, visit the iHeartRadio app or anywhere useub scrip up to your favorite shows.