ABC has announced the sixth season of “Scandal” will return on January 19, completing the network’s ‘Thank God It’s Thursday’ lineup alongside the winter premiere of “Grey’s Anatomy” Season 13 and “How to Get Away with Murder.”
The upcoming season of the political drama will pick up on the night of the election between Bellamy Young’s Mellie Grant and Ricardo Chavira’s Frank Vargas.
Showrunner Shonda Rhimes said that the latest installment of the series will kick off on election night as they did not want to spend the entire season on the election cycle plot.
The network has also released a trailer for the season and judging by its tone, it looks like the season premiere will be full of surprises, action, and drama.
Kerry Washington, who portrays series lead Olivia Pope, has teased the trailer a few days before it was released, saying that she’s so excited for the new season.
In the clip, Mellie is seen yelling at Olivia that she’s done running for president. An angry Liv strikes back and says that she’s not.
It then cuts to Quinn and Huck heading to an empty cabin that suddenly blows up. It remains unclear if they fell victim to the explosion.
Liv and Tony Grant’s Fitz begin fighting again as the former President is worried about something that Olivia did. Tony questions if Liv’s strategy was wrong and the latter stands firm that it is not.
In one scene, the two are then seen hugging one another sparking rumors of a reconciliation. Last season, Liv and Fitz called it quits, with the fixer walking away from the POTUS.
She also got an abortion and had to take some time off because of her depression. Fitz was also wrecked and attempted to move forward by having an affair with a reporter.
While the trailer posed some serious things to look forward to, it also raised many questions. Fans speculate that Mellie was just having a mental breakdown as a result of her anxiety over the elections.
Fans will remember that Olivia served as Mellie’s campaign manager and suggested that she pick Jake as her Vice President in an attempt to save his life from Rowan.
However, it looks like Rowan is one step ahead of Liv and has looped in none other than Mellie to execute his plan on ruining his daughter and Jake.
Vargas, on the other hand, has chosen Jeff Perry’s Cyrus Beene as his running mate straining the friendship between Mellie and him. Cyrus apparently has vowed to ruin Mellie but spoilers say that his plan will backfire soon enough.
Reports say that the season premiere will mimic the tension of the recent US elections brought in. Donald Trump won over Hillary Clinton and was announced as the country’s 45th President on the night of November 8.
Rhimes has earlier stated that she envisions the sixth season of “Scandal” as a reflection of the current US elections, which caused some fans to think that Mellie is going to lose.
The season premiere was filmed before the results of the November 8 elections were revealed, which means any parallel will be purely coincidental.
The season premiere is entitled ‘Survival of the Fittest’ is deemed perfectly apt for the current events.
Rhimes has previously stated that the new season will open doors for many characters aside from Liv. Fitz will finally be out of office and will be leading a normal life.
Shonda Rhimes promised fans that they will be seeing a new Fitz Grant in the upcoming season, as he will also explore his life outside the White House.