Scandal Scoop: Will Quinn's Relationship with Gideon Get Her Into Trouble?

Scandal's resident new girl may seem innocent enough, but Quinn Perkins is about to go down an ethically questionable path when she gets too close to snooping reporter Gideon.

In his quest to break what he hopes to be a career-boosting story, Gideon (Brendan Hines) digs into the catalyst for why Amanda Tanner (Liza Weil) tried to kill herself shortly after quitting her job at the White House (apparently she had an affair with the president). Professional fixer Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) takes on her case, knowing personally what a charmer President Fitz (Tony Goldwyn) can be. But when Gideon starts getting too close to the story, Pope tasks Quinn (Katie Lowes) to find out what he knows — and that can only lead to bad places.

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TVGuide.com turned to Lowes to get the scoop on what's ahead for Quinn, including her questionable relationship with Gideon and how it will get both of them into trouble.

What attracts Quinn to Gideon?
Katie Lowes: Like most girls, and definitely like me, anyone that you're told you're not supposed to like, you like. So, there's that, but Brendan Hines, the actor playing Gideon, is extraordinarily handsome, so that doesn't hurt, and he's really smart. Their relationship in the beginning, Quinn definitely thinks that she is just using him for information. She thinks that this is going to be where she can prove herself to Olivia Pope finally.She's really excited to figure out what he knows about what's going on in the White House, but it gets to be in the gray area pretty quickly when she's had a margarita and Quinn is clearly very stressed out, looking for an outlet and looking for some sort of normalcy in her life.

How will this relationship start to get her in trouble?
Lowes: Unfortunately, when word starts to get out that she has gone out with a reporter, she starts to get into big trouble, because an unwritten rule is you can't date reporters. At some point that reporter is going to ask you about what you do for your job, and you're going to have to lie to him or not, and so that's the choice Quinn has to make. Her morals are definitely questioned. Like, who can you trust? For every reporter, it's like, are they in it for honest reasons or are they in it to make a story?

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Because he's delving into the Amanda story, will there be a time when she has to hide things from him?
Lowes: They're definitely comes a turning point in their relationship when she is going to have to come to terms with the fact that she is attracted to a reporter. She has to question herself. Am I faithful to Olivia Pope or am I faithful to the relationship I'm in?

How will Gideon's digging into the conspiracy get him into trouble?
Lowes: What you find out in the show is that it's all really fun and really racy in the beginning, but eventually it does go very dark. You start to realize when you start uncovering the secrets about the White House and what is really going on in there, it gets very, very dangerous, and it's not fun and games anymore. It's not cute. It's not sexy in any way.

We've all heard about these crazy conspiracy theories that have gone on in the White House when people get too close, if you are uncovering any knowledge that can compromise the president or the White House that's no joke. Olivia Pope obviously has an incredibly complicated relationship with the White House and the president, and the closer she gets, the closer Gideon gets, the closer we all get. The stakes just get incredibly high.

Scandal airs Thursdays at 10/9c on ABC.