Jimmy Kimmel, Shonda Rhimes dissect 'Scandal' finale

Jimmy Kimmel pulled out his electric drill and revved it on his Thursday late-night show, just to ensure he'd get proper answers from writer Shonda Rhimes as to why she made the choices she did on the Scandal Season 3 finale. It was a nod to some of the torture tactics seen on Rhimes' political drama.

Along with the interview with Rhimes, Kimmel showed a Scandal blooper reel and got some special "dirt" on cast members from an "informant."

But he started with Rhimes and the finale, telling the writer/creator that it was "like three finales in one" because there was "so much going on."

"I always want to make the show something that you feel like you can't do other stuff while it's on," Rhimes said. "You can't fold your laundry and watch the show. Or yell at your husband and watch the show. Or talk on the phone and watch the show. I want you to watch it or you're going to miss something."

She said the one plot that caused the most debate in the writers' room was the midseason-finale moment when Jake was chosen to either run B613 or be Fitz's vice presidential candidate. They even shot both scenes, and B613 won. "It's my show. I get to decide."

When it comes time to kill off a character, Rhimes, who has obviously killed off her fair share on shows Scandal, Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice, makes the call herself to let the actor know.

"That call is always the worst call to make," she told Kimmel. "I do it myself. You really have to have the topic sentence ready. You have to call and say, 'I'm sorry, you're going to die, and here's how and why, and we love you. ... Put it out there right away. And then they can scream at you or be really lovely."

She added, "For me, it's never easy to say goodbye to a character."

Said Kimmel, "In a way, you're like the grim reaper."

And, yes, she said there is blooper reel. Enter Scott Foley, with two really big glasses, wine and a bowl of popcorn.