Fans may see fewer episodes of "Scandal" when it returns to ABC for season 6, but it could still be packed with all the twisted political drama next season.
The network earlier confirmed that they trimmed the usual 22-episode order for "Scandal" to 16 episodes for season 6. According to TVLine, ABC decided to shorten the season due to the pregnancy of the show's lead star, Kerry Washington.
However, it does not mean that the excitement for the series' upcoming U.S. presidential elections will also be cut short.
It was revealed toward the end of season 5 that former first lady and presidential candidate Mellie Grant (Bellamy Young) will be running with Olivia's ex-lover, Jake Ballard (Scott Foley), for the vice-presidential position. Olivia set up this arrangement to save Jake from her father Rowan (Joe Morton). But could the two really work together, since they never really had a lot of opportunities to know each other better in the first place?
In an interview with Variety, both Foley and Young believe that Jake and Mellie will not be comfortable with the set-up.
"Our storylines have been so opposite to each other that I don't remember many scenes at all. I think he is a good running mate, and I think he is exactly what Mellie needs. I think as long as he believes that this is what Olivia wants, he is not going to ruffle any feathers," Foley stated.
Meanwhile, Young also believes that Jake could not work properly in an ornamental position. This could cause a lot of trouble between the two.
Foley also teased that the implications of Cyrus Beene's (Jeff Perry) decision to shift alliances from President Fitz Grant (Tony Goldwyn) to run for the vice-presidential post with Frankie Vargas (Ricardo Chavira) will be explained in season 6.
"Cyrus is on an island by himself at this point. But I think that he really believes in this candidate — he really believes that Frankie Vargas is the best choice and the real deal. It's going to be interesting to see if what Cyrus did to get Frankie to this point [this shooting at the capital] comes out," the actor said.
ABC has yet to announce the premiere date of "Scandal" season 6.
