Scandal season 7 episode count revealed for Kerry Washington, cast

Want to know the Scandal season 7 episode count? Well, look no further than the latest reports that are out there today!

Per SpoilerTV, the Kerry Washington series from Shonda Rhimes will have a final season of 18 episodes, which makes this a slightly longer order than season 6. This order is no surprise for a couple of different reasons, starting with the fact that the show clearly wanted to make more for the final season, and didn’t have as many limitations as they did last year when Washington was on maternity leave.

With that said, there was also no interest in going upwards towards the 22 episodes that many other network scripted shows produce. This is something that Rhimes bemoaned in the past for the show, and with its current configuration and heavily serialized nature, it would be impossible to execute this without exhausting the cast and stretching the story out to where the quality was somewhat diminished.

There are a couple of different ways in which ABC could structure out this season with the episode count in mind. For example, they could air nine episodes this fall and then nine in the spring, using a structure that is fairly similar to what Fox uses for one of their shows in Empire. This would leave a pretty gaping hiatus in the middle of the season, which ABC could use to try out another show.

Another possible scenario for the network here would be airing the show almost straight-through from the fall until around March or so when the series finale airs as a two-hour even. This would then leave then the spring to try a short season of something new. The irony here is that the network would be making an almost full-circle pattern, given that Scandal originally premiered with a short season 1 in the spring. There weren’t initial expectations for it to become the huge hit that it did, but it surpassed so many of those and proved itself to be a ratings and pop-culture machine.

No matter when Scandal season 7 premieres, the big thing to know here is that there is hope for a lot of different, interesting storylines to unfold.

What do you want to see on Scandal season 7? Be sure to share now in the comments below!

Meanwhile, head over to the link here in the event you do want to get some additional news right now when it comes to the show. (Photo: ABC.)