Scandal Season 4 Spoilers, Plot Rumors: Storyline to Focus on Abby Whelan

Show runner Shonda Rhimes revealed in an interview that the storyline for this Scandal Season 4 will revolve around Abby Whelan (played by Darby Stanchfield). She said, "Season 4 is Abby's season. That was by design. A lot of what we know about Abby happens this season."

"It will be very devastating for Abby in a surprising way. You'll see how she's coping with it in a very different way than you would expect", she added.

She also confirmed the death of the character Harrison Wright. She revealed that people at OPA will have a difficult time coping with the loss, especially Olivia Pope (played by Kerry Washington).

She also explained why this season will be focusing more on the show's "core characters" instead of introducing new ones. She explained, "Kerry Washington couldn't work 14 hours a day, so we had to tell our story in a different way, and that necessitated other people both picking up the slack in beautiful ways".

The Synopsis for the episode 2 read, "Cyrus blackmails Olivia into helping him bring back a couple who are considered miliry heroes, James and Lisa Elliot, whom are supposed to attend the event where Fitz will hold his State of the Union speech about gun control, after they missed two planes from Mexico. But problems arise when Olivia learns that the couple is having marriage problems, and refuses to attend the event, which Olivia tries to handle.

Meanwhile, Fitz and Cyrus must deal with a situation when the media begins to be concern about Mellie's state of mind, and her refusal to go to the event. Abby manages to convince her to attend, but after the speech, in which Fitz talks about the loss of his son, she breaks down crying.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth, still concern about Fitz's new direction, hires a man to flirt with Cyrus. David blackmails a senator to keep the nomination for Attorney General after he is accused of domestic violence, and Olivia and Jake decides to booty call each other."

The third episode, entitled Inside the Bubble, will air on October 9, 9 p.m. on ABC.