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Zap2it: The finale is election day. Are Pope & Associates involved with the election in the finale? 
Darby Stanchfield: They’re never just busy with one thing, they’re definitely doing more than that. Olivia has really taken Abby under her wing, so Abby is right there ’til the last minute helping with the campaign. But the Gladiators are really, in the last episode, the visual that came to me while we were shooting is this ship that has come up on a rock and is all splintered and going off into different directions. It’s not just the election, it’s other things that are going on. It’s absolutely crazy, the way that it ends. And with the election, within the episode, you don’t know who wins right up until the last minute. You think it’s one person, you think it’s another, you think it’s another. There’s no room for napping in the finale. 

The show is so great about different pairings, is there anyone Abby hasn’t interacted with yet that you’d like to see her have some scenes with? 
We have yet to see Abby have a knock-down, drag-out scene with Mellie, or have a scene with the vice president. Not the vice president elect, but Sally Langston. It’d be fun to see those worlds collide. 

The fans always want to know — Team Fitz or Team Jake? Do you have a team? 
I don’t. This is probably a really unpopular answer, but I’m Team Neither. I don’t feel like either situation suits Olivia because she has to give something up or compromise something to be with either one. They both feel like settling, that’s how I view it. In different ways they’re both settling [for Olivia] because she can’t have the whole enchilada, so I think she should just move on. I feel like she can do better. 

That being said, as a fan, I truly, honestly, get caught up in both relationships at certain moments. There are still moments where I find myself getting choked up or just caught up in the moment and I see the beauty and the intimacy that those two people share, which to me — hats off to the ‘Scandal’ writers because to me, that’s just really, really good writing. Even though things have gone south in both relationships, there’s still something that you can’t turn away from. Your heartstrings still tug. Both as an actor working on it and an audience member watching it, I love that it’s complicated.