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David E. Kelley and Melissa James Gibson's new British crime thriller Anatomy of a Scandal is based on Sarah Vaughan's book of the same name. The series will be available on Netflix this Friday, April 15, 2022.
Anatomy of a Scandal, starring Sienna Miller, Rupert Friend, Michelle Dockery, Naomi Scott, and Josette Simon, promises to be a gripping psychological thriller that will keep viewers engaged from start to finish.
Given the show's political plot and references to the #MeToo movement, it's easy to see why so many people are wondering what happens in this story of the scandal and how it comes to a close. Let's find out.
Warning: This article contains major spoilers.
Exploring the storyline of Sarah Vaughan's book Anatomy of a Scandal
The scandalous affair
The book opens with Kate, a criminal barrister who specializes in s*x crimes, being assigned a fresh case.
The narrative then introduces Sophie, a socialite who is married to James, a junior government minister. One night, James returns home late and calls for his wife, asking to talk to her. He confesses to her that he had an affair with a young staff member.
Seeking a solution, Sophie and James both go to meet with Tom Southern, the Prime Minister's communications advisor and a friend of James'. Tom urges James to make a brief statement apologizing for his error and then wait for things to blow over.
But before heeding Tom's advice, two police officers arrive at James's workplace the next day and inform him that Olivia Lytton, the lady with whom he cheated, has accused him of rape.
Meanwhile, Kate informs her buddy Alison Jessop, aka Ali, that she had been assigned to the White House investigation. Ali appears to be suspicious of the allegations of the scandal. In flashbacks, it appears that a girl named Holly appears whose father drops her off at Oxford in 1992. There she befriends Ali and meets Sophie, James' future wife. Holly has an unspoken crush on James, which no one is aware of.
The trial
The book next approaches James' trial. Olivia testifies that she and James went out for a drink before starting a s*xual connection.
Sophie, still grieving after Olivia's testimony, packs her bags and takes the kids on a trip. Sophie's absence from Olivia's testimony on the second day irritates James' lawyers.
Olivia testifies that James was enraged by a media piece and forced himself on her in a small elevator, biting her and ripping her underpants off. She claims she told him to stop, but he raped her instead.
Meanwhile, the narrative goes back to 1993, where a younger James and a group of buddies party in a restaurant. His brazen attitude gives way to his behavior towards women, and how he eventually becomes his later self.
In the present, Olivia is currently being cross-examined in court, and she admits to having broken up with James. James' lawyer believes that Olivia may have just objected to having s*x in the elevator, and reminds the jury that they had consentual s*x in James' office as well.
A ghost from the past
The third part of the book opens in 1993 when Holly runs into James one night. He's inebriated, and they eventually make out. Holly then recalls him pushing himself on her. She flees Oxford in fear and returns home, traumatized. She adopts her middle name and that's how she becomes Kate Woodcroft.
In the present, Ali is reading about the trial. He recalls James' wife Sophie from their time at Oxford. Ali is perplexed as to why Kate failed to reveal that James and Sophie attended Oxford with them. He also recalls Holly/Kate having a dreadful experience and refusing to go to the police. Kate also wonders if James will recognize her in court.
Ali contacts Kate and leaves a message after being shaken after his realization of Kate's relationship with James and Sophie. Kate recalls James telling her the same thing he said to Olivia before hitting her in court: "Don't be such a pr**k tease." Kate realizes she should have acknowledged her relationship with James. She then meets with Ali, who sympathizes but questions if she should be prosecuted in this scandalous affair.
Sophie then listens to Kate's evidence and realizes that James has done similar things to her, such as ripping her clothing off and biting her. Kate then interrogates James about the scandal in court. She attempts to punch holes in his story, but fails to successfully do so.
The ending
In the end, James is declared innocent due to lack of evidence. While he is overjoyed to have been found not guilty, Sophie is still troubled by what she heard in court. They fight about the scandal before going to James' parents' house. Sophie, though, has already made up her mind to leave him.
Sophie then returns to Oxford for a visit. She runs into Ali and enquires about Holly. Ali informs Sophie that Holly is now a barrister and that she was s*xually abused while at Oxford. At that point, Sophie realizes who Kate is.
She also discovers that Tom and James have a sad secret in common about Alec Fisher, a classmate of theirs, died after falling out of a window after a night of drinking and partying in college. Tom and James hid their involvement in the case but they were directly responsible for Alec's death.
The book ends with Sophie abandoning James. Kate/Holly lets go of the past and starts to date again. Out of the blue, Alec Fisher's tale starts making the rounds in the media.
What's to be seen now is how the series deflects from the original story and whether any more characters will be introduced in the scandalous courtroom drama.
Anatomy of a Scandal will be exclusively available on Netflix on April 15, 2022.
