Scandal ended its seventh and final season with a cryptic shot of a portrait of Olivia hanging in the National Portrait Gallery, but what did it mean? Shondaland political thriller Scandal was one of the most entertaining, bat-crap crazy shows in recent television history. Set in the seedy underbelly of Washington D.C. politics, the series focused on the various endeavors of fixer Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington, Django Unchained), her crisis management firm and the staff of the White House as they blackmailed, back-stabbed and murdered their way to the top.
Scandal’s season 7 series finale was bonkers as ever. People died (RIP David Rosen) and the scheming Cyrus Beene was forced by Olivia Pope to resign as Vice President. Jake took the fall for B613 and toddled off to prison presumably for the rest of his life while Olivia and her pals got off scot-free despite admitting to their many misdeeds. Although Olivia and Fitz’s fate was left open-ended it was heavily implied they ended up together, much to the delight of the so-called “Olitz” shippers.
Olivia may have walked away from Washington D.C. in the series finale but the very last scene in Scandal season 7 implied that she wasn’t entirely done with politics. Set some indeterminate time in the future, the scene saw two young black girls - the older of which is actually Shonda Rhimes’ daughter Harper - staring in awe at a stunning portrait of Olivia Pope hanging in the National Portrait Gallery.
As the National Portrait Gallery is home to a lot of presidential portraits, the Scandal fandom wondered whether the cryptic closing scene meant Olivia Pope became POTUS herself. The gallery also houses a number of portraits of first ladies so a second theory to emerge was that Olivia married a future president and became First Lady, although not with Fitz as he’d already served his two terms. A third theory was Olivia didn’t become POTUS or First Lady but was instead honored with a painting in the National Portrait Gallery for her contributions to cleaning up corruption in Washington.
Scandal fans looking for concrete answers about the meaning of Olivia’s portrait will be disappointed. In a post-finale interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Kerry Washington said neither she nor the rest of the cast were told exactly what the portrait meant. Shonda Rhimes admitted in the same interview that she knew its meaning but would be taking it to the grave with her. Instead, Rhimes wanted viewers to come to their own conclusion about the portrait’s meaning. Regardless of how it’s interpreted, Olivia’s portrait was a powerful and fitting way to end Scandal.