Shonda Rhimes Talks Scandal’s Brutal Season 3
Shonda Rhimes has spoken about the brutal turn that Season 3 of Scandal, Vulture reported Friday.
Season 3 has had various characters being met with violence of some fashion. The episodes have featured Mellie being raped, Sally Langston killing her husband, Quinn being tortured by Huck and having her teeth pulled out. She explained the progression of the last particular scene.
"If Quinn's gonna do these things, then Huck is gonna do what Huck does. I try not to make the characters bend to our will. If I've set up a world in which this is what Huck does," Rhimes said.
Rhimes continued to defend the use of violence between the two characters. At one point, Quinn was considered Huck's protégé. However, last night's episode showed that Huck had no mercy for his friend.
"For me, it's a reminder that as much as we all love these people, they're all still monsters. They're all still monsters walking around in human skin," Rhimes said.
Rhimes also addressed the rape of Mellie. It was revealed that her father-in-law, Big Jerry, raped her after a night of drinking. The show runner insisted that the sexual assault was not to make the first lady more likeable to the audience.
"It's not a show about likeability. We're also not working from that point of view. Really, for us, a lot of it is just about illuminating the characters," she said.