TV Quote of the Day (‘Scandal,’ As Olivia Shows Why She’s an Ace Crisis Manager)

Olivia Pope [played by Kerry Washington]: “The mayor's wife is upstairs lying in a pool of blood while my team erases evidence of a crime scene. I'd say it takes a lot to surprise me.”—Scandal, Season 4, Episode 19, “I’m Just a Bill,” original air date Apr. 16, 2015, teleplay by Shonda Rhimes, Raamla Mohamed, and Paul William Davies, directed by Debbie Allen

After watching only a few episodes of Scandal a decade ago, I gave up. Its plots were getting so crazy, I figured, that they were no longer remotely close to reality.

Today, reality has overtaken anything that series showrunner Shonda Rimes could ever dream up. Even Hollis Doyle, a billionaire with Presidential ambitions invented late in the show’s run, can’t begin to suggest how his real-life original is acting these days.

Maybe around the turn of the century, no politician with national ambitions could hope to go far without an Olivia Pope to snuff out scandals. In the new Washington, who needs the likes of her? The new mantra: Be as brazen as you wanna be!