ABC’s ‘Scandal’ season 5 spoilers: Portia de Rossi official series regular

We had a feeling that this was coming within the closing minutes of the “Scandal” season 4 finale, but it is definitely now official: You are definitely going to be seeing a whole lot more of Portia de Rossi as a regular when the series returns to ABC for a fifth season. She has been around all season, and we figured that there were two ways that Elizabeth North’s story would go: She would either be killed / humiliated, or she would be in power and around for the long haul. She scored the latter.

Liz is now Chief of Staff, and while Portia tells TVLine that she did not know the specifics about the twist until late in the game (the finale script apparently was in flux through multiple drafts), she has known that the promotion was going to be coming. She also touched on whether or not she always believed that the story was going to end with her taking the place of Cyrus in the White House:

“Was this a long con? It’s not clear. But she kind of ends the season where she started. My very first scene was in Cyrus’ office. And I always looked at Cyrus and thought, ‘I want to play that role. I want to be Chief of Staff.’ [Laughs] So it’s so crazy for me as an actress to be able to go into the next season in that role. I don’t know where Cyrus is going or how long I’m going to stay there but for right now it’s pretty exciting.”

For those wondering, we feel like it is more likely that Olivia Pope will start working at the Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital than we do that Jeff Perry is leaving the show. Cyrus will still be a mover and shaker on this show in some way. For now, just hand him something that says “status, unknown.”

If you did miss our review of the finale, head over here! Also, sign up to score some other TV updates on all we cover courtesy of our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: ABC.)