Prop (Animation): large mouse trap with “prop” piece; stone or rock; basket of river rocks

People I know are hooked to two tv shows right now. One they admit right away: “Empire.” The other is more a “guilty pleasure” they admit to only when pressed: “Scandal.”  

Back for its fifth season, “Scandal” is the story of a president’s mistress. A married US President, Fitzgerald Grant, has fallen in love and is having an affair with crisis management professional, Olivia Pope. While her job is usually to “handle” political crises, ironically, she has become the “crisis” herself. Her relationship with the president has become a scandal.

What does that mean? A “scandal.” In the Greek, the word is skandalon. We translate it most often “stumbling block.” The relationship between Fitz and Olivia h…