Scandalis filled with so many outrageous moments, it's hard to keep up. Olivia (Kerry Washington) is having Sunday dinners with her father one day and sending him to jail the next — only to free him again. And she's just the show's main character; it's easy to forget, for example, that Cyrus (Jeff Perry)even has a daughter, since she's never shown in the scenes of him moping around his house.Between B613; the love triangle between Olivia, Fitz (Tony Goldwyn), and Jake (Scott Foley); and the life and times of David Rosen (Joshua Malina), there's a lot happening in the Scandal-verse. Some of the show's most ridiculous plots mimic real-life events — the death of a foreign princess in a murder-disguised-as-car-crash hit a little too close to the conspiracy theories about Princess Diana, for example — others are so far out in left field that they're just laughably ridiculous, like when Fitz made an incredibly speedy recovery after an assassination attempt. (Still, I like to think the brain damage is why his character delivers such unbearably slow speeches.)
We've rounded up 11 of the most outrageous plots from Scandal over the years. Click through to find the ridiculous storylines you might have forgotten about — and let us know which ones we missed!
The whole Defiance plot.
Not only did Fitz become president through voter fraud, but James lied about it in court. To persuade his husband not to reveal his involvement in the conspiracy, Cyrus agreed to adopt a baby with him.
Fitz killed Verna with his bare hands.
After Verna threatened to tell David Rosen the truth about Defiance and the election fraud, Fitz took matters into his own hands — literally. True, Verna was the one responsible for Fitz's assassination attempt in the first place, but it's still pretty horrifying to watch a president murder a Supreme Court justice while looking her in the eyes.
Tom killed Jerry Grant because he was working with Rowan.
What's a president to do when the men devoted to protecting him are actually working against him? When Fitz found out his son was murdered, no one thought Tom was responsible, which made the reveal all the more shocking.
Amanda Tanner attempted suicide because of Olivia's lecturing.
Olivia found it impossible to believe Fitz was having an affair with a White House employee, Amanda, so she lashed out at her for lying to get attention. Unfortunately, Amanda's story was true — and the stress Olivia and the others put on her was enough that she tried to take her own life. Luckily, Amanda recovered in the hospital and Olivia was able to apologize, eventually.
Cyrus had Charlie kill Amanda Tanner.
Though Amanda survived her own suicide attempt, Cyrus still eliminated her from the Washington scene. The president's chief of staff called in a hit on her (through Charlie) and Amanda was never Fitz's "sweet baby" again.
A U.S. spy agency is responsible for all kinds of tragedies, including a school shooting.
Scandal veered into full-on conspiracy theory territory with this one. It turns out that a school shooting was actually orchestrated by B613 in order to distract the media.
Sally killed her husband in a fit of rage — and Cyrus was the one she told.
After Daniel had an affair with James, Sally was furious. So furious, in fact, that she stabbed him to death. Or, as she put it, she "committed a sin." Luckily for her, Cyrus was able to help make it look like Daniel's death was an accident.
Jake killed James, and it was blamed on a carjacking.
This was the first moment Jake was revealed as a cold-blooded murderer. To be fair, we're glad he didn't kill David, too — but if either of them could be trusted enough to live, did James really need to die? Of course, Jake later told Olivia his actions were justified — the American people couldn't find out how Daniel Douglas really died — but that doesn't make his actions any less shocking.
Andrew orchestrated Olivia's kidnapping to get Fitz to declare war on West Angola.
When the vice president wants to start a war, but the president doesn't, what's the best way to change his mind? In Scandal, the answer is kidnapping the president's mistress. Cyrus was less forgiving — he gave the okay for Olivia's death in order to stop the war. But luckily for both Fitz and Olivia, Stephen saved her from captivity, Fitz sent Andrew into a coma, and Jake was left blue-balled with pillows and a wine-stained couch.
Huck brings Javi on a mission — and Javi ends up watching his father kill someone.
It's pretty heartwarming when Huck finally reunites with his son after years of estrangement. Unfortunately, the bond is short-lived, since Javi witnesses Huck killing another man.
Hollis' daughter cut off her own ear and pretended she was being held against her will.
When your father is as wealthy as Hollis Doyle, a Washington energy lobbyist, you might hope, as Hollis's daughter does, that you'll inherit some of the riches. Most people, though, wouldn't go to the extremes that she did — faking being held captive in order to get the "ransom" money from her father. To really make the hostage situation seem real, she cut off her own ear — but to be fair, she did get her dad's money in the end.
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