Scandal season 7

The seventh and final season of the American television drama series Scandal was ordered on February 10, 2017 by ABC. It was later announced that the seventh season would be the final season for Scandal. The season began airing on October 5, 2017, and consisted of 18 episodes, bringing the total episode count of the show to 124 episodes. Cast member George Newbern was upgraded to a series regular after being a recurring cast member for the past six seasons. The season was produced by ABC Studios, in association with ShondaLand Production Company; the showrunner being Shonda Rhimes.

The season focuses on Olivia Pope and her new position as Chief of Staff of President Mellie Grant and the Command of B613. It also depicts Quinn Perkins as the boss of her crisis management firm Quinn Perkins & Associates, and its team, as well as staff at the White House in Washington, D.C., in their efforts to deal with and contain political scandals. Season seven had have twelve series regulars, all returning from the previous season, out of which six are part of the original cast of eight regulars from the first season. The season aired on Thursday nights at 9:00 pm until episode 15, where it aired in its original timeslot, Thursday 10:00 pm.

Main

 * Kerry Washington as Chief of Staff Olivia Pope
 * Scott Foley as Jake Ballard
 * Darby Stanchfield as Abby Whelan
 * Katie Lowes as Quinn Perkins
 * Guillermo Diaz as Diego "Huck" Muñoz
 * Jeff Perry as Vice President Cyrus Beene
 * Joshua Malina as David Rosen
 * Bellamy Young as President Mellie Grant
 * Joe Morton as Elijah "Eli"/"Rowan" Pope
 * George Newbern as Charlie
 * Cornelius Smith Jr. as Marcus Walker
 * Tony Goldwyn as President Fitzgerald "Fitz" Thomas Grant III

Recurring

 * Jay Hernandez as Curtis Pryce
 * Faran Tahir as President Rashad
 * Shaun Toub as Ambassador Marashi
 * Dean Norris as Fenton Glackland
 * Whitney Hice as Hannah
 * Michael O'Neill as Lonnie Mencken

Guest stars

 * Bess Armstrong as Senator Diane Greenwald
 * Caroline Day as Lucy Riccio
 * Medalion Rahimi as Yasmeen
 * Viola Davis as Annalise Keating
 * Aja Naomi King as Michaela Pratt
 * Tom Irwin as Justice Spivey
 * Khandi Alexander as Maya Lewis
 * Jessalyn Gilsig as Vanessa Ballard
 * Kate Burton as Sally Langston
 * Gregg Henry as Hollis Doyle
 * Tom Amandes as Samuel Reston
 * Brian Letscher as Tom Larsen

Development
Scandal was renewed for a seventh season on February 10, 2017, along with the other ShondaLand dramas. The series continued to air on Thursdays in its 9 p.m. E.T. timeslot like the previous seasons, but unlike the previous season which aired in January, the seventh season premiered in the fall of 2017. ABC announced on June 26, 2017, that the seventh season would consist of 18 episodes.

Long-time director Tom Verica shared on Twitter that he would only direct the series finale as well as the fact that Kerry Washington would be directing her first episode. Actress Darby Stanchfield also directed her first episode.

Final season
Speculations about the seventh season being the final season had started as the sixth season began airing. ABC entertainment president Channing Dungey commented in January 2017 that it had not been much discussion about the show's future after the seventh season, but she would happily keep the show on as long as Rhimes "feels that she has creative runway to write the show." Andy Swift from TVLine said that the show needed to end after the seventh season as he felt "this once-great drama is simply spinning its wheels, serving us the same old flavors with only slightly different toppings." Before the sixth-season finale, multiple sources reported that Scandal would be ending next season. ABC confirmed on May 16, 2017, that the seventh season would be the final season for the show. Shonda Rhimes released a statement about the ending of the show calling the seventh season "Olivia's Swan Song" as she said:

Deciding how to end a show is easy. Deciding when to finish is quite simple when the end date is years away. But actually going through with it? Actually standing up to say: ‘This is it?’ Not so much. So, next year we are going all out. Leaving nothing on the table. Creating this world in celebration. We are going to handle the end the way we like to handle the important things in our Scandal family: all together, white hats on, gladiators running full speed over a cliff.

How to Get Away with Murder crossover
On January 3, 2018, Kerry Washington tweeted out a photo to Viola Davis of herself in a "familiar" setting, that being a courthouse used for the set of How to Get Away with Murder. Fans began to speculate a possible crossover episode being in the works, which was only heightened when Davis tweeted out a photo in response, that being her on the set of Mellie Grant's (Bellamy Young) Oval Office. Later that day, the crossover was officially confirmed through a tweet by Scandal creator Shonda Rhimes.

How to Get Away with Murder creator Peter Nowalk later went on to share in an interview with Deadline:

At the beginning of the season, my writers and I were planning out Viola's entire arc and something in her story organically came up that was very appropriate for Scandal. When I went to Shonda, she heard it. I said, we don't have to do it, Viola's arc doesn't need this, but it's possible that their stories could cross really organically. She actually pulled up a clip of something from Scandal and their side of the story coalesced perfectly. So it was one of those serendipitous things where we both realized it was good for both characters, and it almost felt like we had been planning it since last season.

Casting
In May 2017, actor George Newbern, who has had recurring appearances since the show's beginning as Charlie, was promoted to the regular cast. In August, Jay Hernandez and Shaun Toub were cast in unspecified, recurring roles.

Critical response
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported a 92% approval rating with an average rating of 7.60/10, based on 24 reviews. The site's critical consensus states: "With the aptitude that helped change the face of serialized drama, Scandal concludes its fiery run with unpredictability, heart, and an emphasis on cultural affairs."