The upcoming season of “Scandal” will pick up on election night, showrunners confirm. The Season 5 finale left a major cliffhanger on who will replace Tony Goldwyn’s Fitz.
The finale ended with a big question on who between Bellamy Young’s Mellie Grant and Ricardo Chavira’s Franki Vargas won as the new President of the United States.
Jake Ballard’s Scott Foley has also decided to run alongside Mellie as her Vice President as per the suggestion of Kerry Washington’s Olivia Pope in order to save him.
Meanwhile, Jeff Perry’s Cyrus has been named as Frankie’s vice presidential mate, a move that surprised everyone. Reports say that Cyrus will be lonely in his campaign as the people will favor Jake more than him.
Rowan, played by Joe Morton, also devises a plan to bring down Jake, Liv, and himself inside the White House. The plan will reportedly be one of the highlights of the upcoming season.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, showrunner Shonda Rhimes said that the season will open on election night and that will play into the season.
Rhimes also admitted that she already has a finale in mind for the political drama. In a recent interview, the TV producer confirmed that she already knows how the show will end but was just keeping the details close to her chest.
While Rhimes didn’t say who Olivia will end up with, she said that Liv’s relationship with Fitz is sort of a fantasy while her relationship with Jake is more realistic.
Shonda says that being a full-time gladiator in a suit, Olivia didn’t really have time to be a wife hence, she never became truly emotionally available.
Rhimes adds that for better or for worse, Jake sees all the dirty parts of Olivia and he doesn’t care which is confusing for Liv because it can make her commit harder which Shonda thinks she can’t fully do.
Despite already having a finale in mind, Shonda confirmed that Season 6 won’t be the last installment of the ABC hit series. Executives of the network have also debunked rumors that discussions regarding the show’s end have already been made.
The next season is also slated to return next year to a shortened 16 episodes to accommodate Washington’s pregnancy. The 39-year-old is expecting her second child and her pregnancy will not be written in the story.
The season will also feature the show’s 100th episode which Shonda promises to be exciting and satisfying for the fans.
ABC has not yet announced an exact premiere date for the sixth season of “Scandal,” but it will likely return sometime in February 2017.
By the time the show returns, America already has a new President which will potentially reflect real-life situations as well. The political drama is known to mirror real-life events into some of its episodes.
With how the series plays in the rating game, ABC President Channing Dungey recently said that they already have read the first script of Season 6 and it’s very much like ‘a return to form’.
Speaking at the Television Critics Association summer press tour about “Scandal,” Dungey said that with long-running shows, there tends to be a little bit of ebb and flow. He also assured fans that fans will enjoy the season premiere.
Meanwhile, with Fitz’ days as President coming to an end, he will now be free to pursue Olivia. However, Liv is rumored to choose Jake over Fitz. Jake will also prove himself to Liv as all he will be doing in the upcoming season is for the sake of Ms. Pope.
In a recent interview, Foley shared some twists of Season 5 that will set the direction of the upcoming season. He says that the Mellie-Jake tandem was one great shock for him and he’s excited how this will play out in the next episodes.