Can Olivia Take Down Cyrus On 'Scandal?'

Is all truly fair in love and war? We're about to find out in Season 6 of Scandal now that Cyrus (Jeff Perry) has been named as Frankie Vargas' (Ricardo Chavira) running mate in the Presidential Election opposing Mellie (Bellamy Young) and Jake (Scott Foley), and by association, Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) herself. While Olivia has proven time and time again that she will do whatever it takes to win, does that mean she'll be willing and able to take down her old friend Cyrus in the process?

While the cast of Scandal is as cagey as ever when it comes to revealing any spoilers about the new season, Bustle was able to get Washington to spill a few cryptic teases after the 2017 Winter Television Critics Association press tour panel in Pasadena early Tuesday morning. Looking glam with her hair pulled back in a ponytail and wearing a dark navy cocktail dress with metallic print, the actress crosses her arms and smiles while thinking before giving each answer slowly.

"She's just doing the job in front of her at the moment," Washington says of where Olivia is at when season 6 premieres. "She's a crisis handler. She's a fixer. Whatever the situation is, she'll figure out a way to do what's best for her client in the moment."

While Olivia was blindsided in the season 5 finale after learning that Cyrus had always planned on being Frankie's running mate and had been playing her all along, Washington isn't worried about Olivia's past with Cyrus affecting her game moving forward in the election.

"I think she's capable of juggling more than one ball," Washington says. "I think she can stay open and still stay on her target. We'll see."

This season, Scandal will hit a milestone that not many television shows are able to achieve: reaching 100 episodes. Executive producer Shonda Rhimes says she is still in the planning stages of what is sure to be a game-changing episode, but Washington doesn't want to give the writers any suggestions.

^"Whatever they want to write, I really trust our writers," Washington says. "I mean, we got to where we are because of what they do. I'm not a producer on the show, I'm just on the ride. And I love being on it, so I'm just going to keep buckling my seatbelt and enjoying the ups and downs."

Making it to 100 episodes has always been a huge accomplishment for any TV show, but in this era of Peak TV, when there are almost 500 original scripted series on the air between broadcast and cable networks and online streaming sites, it's next to impossible to earn that kind of success. In fact, Washington never even expected Scandal to make it this far, despite coming from TV powerhouse Rhimes.

"No way, not in a million years," she says with a big laugh. "For me, as an actor I never think anything that I'm going to do, that anybody's ever going to see it. I think part of that is so much of it is luck of the draw. There's no sense to it all. You just do the best work that you can and let go of the results."

So will she be celebrating the 100th episode with a big bowl of popcorn and glass of wine, Olivia Pope-style?

"I love popcorn," Washington says with another laugh. "I haven't been drinking a lot of wine because I've been with child and nursing and I'm not really into the pump and dump. But popcorn is big in my house. We have popcorn for breakfast in my house which may not be the best parenting but it's fun."

Sounds like A+ parenting to us.