Last night's Mar. 20 episode of "Scandal" started off with a bang. Episode 14, titled "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang," picked up right where the previous episode left off: Jake Ballard (Scott Foley) shooting either James Novak (Dan Bucatinsky) or David Rosen (Joshua Malina).
Warning: Spoilers for Episode 14 ahead.
In the first few minutes it was revealed that Cyrus' (Jeff Perry) husband, James, was the victim. The death left many "Scandal" fans shocked. Even Bucatinsky was surprised to find out that his character was going to be killed off telling The Hollywood Reporter that he doesn't think James "deserved to die."
"Whether he deserved or brought it on himself, I don't think he deserved to die," he said.
The actor described the moment he first learned that his time on "Scandal" was coming to a shocking and sudden end.
"It was really hard to take; I pulled over to the side of the road and was in shock. It was a tough pill to swallow and took me a long time to wrap my head around. I started going through the five stages of grief: anger, denial, bargaining. I sent an email to producers playing out some thoughts I had. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I hadn't tried! Then I entered the sadness stage; I kept thinking about James' glasses, pocket squares and daughter, Ella. I started to feel the sadness of the death of the character."
"There wasn't a dry eye in the room as we read that script at the table," he added.
The next few episodes of the season will definitely deal with how each character handles the death of James. Cyrus tried to remain strong but eventually broke down in tears. Bucatinsky said it's going to be interesting to see how Cyrus will be able to move forward following the death of his husband.
"I'm curious to see what kind of dad he becomes," Bucatinsky said. "I don't really know how they're going to play the rest of the season or how they'll play his mourning. I'm curious about whether we're going to see a softer side of Cyrus as a result of coming out, falling in love and becoming a father and losing his husband."
