Scandal signed off after seven seasons with a major character death and a final scene that left fans talking.
On Thursday’s series finale, Cyrus (Jeff Perry) proved he was willing to do anything to protect himself amid Olivia’s (Kerry Washington) truth-telling mission. After Jake (Scott Foley) failed to intimidate David, Cyrus took matters into his own hands, killing him under the ruse of a confession.
“I’m not a good person, but … there is a reason for everything I do, and it may be sick…,” Cyrus said, handing David a drink. “I’m consistent. I do what needs to be done. I do what other people have done. David Rosen, you are in my way. No hard feelings.” Moments later, David (Joshua Malina) fell to the ground, choking to death on the poison cocktail Cyrus gave him.
ET spoke with Perry about being the man behind David’s untimely death and fan reaction to the revelation.
“I think they’re going to dig that Cyrus’ final stop in the story is authentic, that it makes sense, that it’s satisfying,” Perry told ET’s Leanne Aguilera at a live finale table read benefiting The Actors Fund on Thursday. “Some people are going to think Cyrus might have gotten off easy.”
The 62-year-old actor also reminisced about his time on Scandal for the past seven seasons.
“We’ve had a while to know it was senior year. And in one way that made it easier and in another way it didn’t get easier. It’s like the time kept shrinking,” Perry reflected. ABC announced last May that the series would be ending with its seventh year.
“I love this crew so much and the people support each other so beautifully. It’s such a tribe,” he added. “It’s a very sentimental group. I think we’ll have a reunion maybe two days from now. That’s how sentimental we are. I flirted with getting depressed about it, but that wasn’t the authentic emotion I was feeling. I just felt really good. I felt really satisfied.”
As for David’s shocking mid-episode death, Malina admitted on Jimmy Kimmel Live! following the finale on Thursday that he got a heads-up before the cast’s tearful table read.
“I got a call the night before. I saw it was Shonda’s office, I didn’t answer,” he joked.
For more on Scandal, watch the video below.
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