Scandal Season 4 has been a wild change for Abby. She left OPA and went to work at the White House and fans were left with a shocking reveal about her love life in the winter finale. With Olivia’s abduction, Abby will be pulled back into the OPA world.
BuddyTV talked with Darby Stanchfield at the ABC All-Star Cocktail Reception earlier this month about Abby’s trouble as Press Secretary, challenged relationship with Olivia, surprising love connection, and Olivia’s disappearance.
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Read on for our conversation with Stanchfield.
Abby’s been having a rough time at the White House. We never saw how she got into the White House. Will we see flashbacks of how that all came about?
She’s been having a rough time. She’s been outside of the bubble for most of season 4. So far not yet. I have the same curiosity. How did Abby end up here? It’s the perfect job and at the same time– It makes sense to me in terms of having had to deal with her grief for Harrison’s death, right?
Abby sparks me as someone who would just kind of bury it and go and get a whole new life, especially if Olivia wasn’t there. That tracks for me as an actor. I like that it’s not real predictable the way Abby grieves. I think it’s all connected, but I also think it’s a great job. Abby’s really good at one thing and that’s work. She’s not really good at all of the personal stuff, so it’s where she’s comfortable. It will be interesting to see if we ever find out.
Abby and Olivia had a little bit of coming together and forgiveness. Will we see that continue to evolve?
We see it develop. Abby has a couple Gladiator moments in the next four episodes. That was surprising to me, but it’s nice to see that relationship– it never went away. It’s just like how really close best friends do. They squabble and almost get under each other’s skin faster than normal people. They have been through a lot, the two of them. Abby has a couple Gladiator moments back in the OPA world that’s really fun. She’s also making headway as Press Secretary.
Abby’s love life took a shocking turn.
I know! Abby is not really making judgments based on her moral compass right now about who she’s in the shack with. Yeah, the writers are continuing to surprise me. I don’t know where it’s going, but it’s putting a smile on my face.
Anything you want to tease about the show’s return?
Yes. When we first come back, Olivia’s gone missing and that gets addressed right away. It takes two to three episodes before it’s fully addressed. Shondra [Rhimes] writes the first episode back and it’s absolutely amazing. It will be fun for fans because they won’t be wondering for very long.
Does everyone coalesce together to try and find Olivia?
Everybody deals with it in a different way. It’s probably one of the biggest crises of this season and a lot is revealed about where these characters stand.
Who handles it the worst?
Oh, I couldn’t tell you that. That’s a spoiler.
Who handles it the best?
I think Abby does. Surprisingly.
Scandal airs Thursdays at 9pm ET on ABC.
(Image courtesy of ABC.)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Contributing Editor and Writer for Collider, BuddyTV, TV Fanatic, CliqueClack, and other publications. TV criticism, reviews, interviews with actors and producers, and other related content. Founder of TV Diehard.
