(Warning: If you haven’t seen Seasons 1-3, there are spoilers!)

Grade: A

The long wait is finally over for fans of Scandal! The season 4 premiere aired on September 25. With a new time slot of Thursday night at 9/8c, many Gladiators (Scandal fans) were worried that the show notorious for scandal would have to become… less “scandalous,” but the premiere was packed with the high-stakes drama that Scandal fans love.

On the season 3 finale, a surprise turn of events led to the death of the President’s son Jerry (Dylan Minnette). Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington), thinking that her mom was responsible for Jerry’s death, planned to disappear with Jake Ballard (Scott Foley). The finale ended with Olivia and Jake taking off from Washington D.C.  on a private jet to an unknown location  and with Olivia receiving a phone call from the White House, which she declined. This episode had fans wondering how Scandal, a show with such a strong political plot, could have two of its main characters away from the capital. From the looks of things, it seemed like the show’s plot had imploded and killed many storylines, but the season 4 premiere was pleasantly surprising.

The premiere began with Olivia, as her new identity of Julia Baker, and Jake lounging on a beautiful beach far from the darkness of Washington D.C. Their paradise was soon broken up when they received a letter from Washington, and Olivia decided to leave the remote island. However, the Washington she left was not the same Washington she returned to. There had been another shocking death, this time hitting a member of Olivia and Associates (OAP), forcing Olivia to plan a funeral for her friend. As she planned for the funeral, she realized that OAP did not exist anymore and that the world had continued spinning without her.

Abby Whelan, a former member of the OAP team, told Olivia, “We? We’re not a team, Liv. You’re just Olivia Pope. There is no ‘And Associates.’ Not anymore.” These revelations are hard for Olivia as she was used to a tight team at OAP. While Olivia dealt with the death of a friend, we saw how the first family handled the death of their son, Jerry. We saw the mental state of the First Lady, and we learned some shocking news as to how the President was coping.

Death engulfed most of the episode, but politics were a major part, as always. The show added a new character “Lizzie Bear” (Portia de Rossi), the chair of the RNC. It will be interesting to see how her storyline plays out.

In true Scandal style, there was an Olitz, Fitz and Olivia encounter that left Gladiators wanting more.  The ending will have Scandal fans crying. The premiere of Season 4 pulled on the viewer’s heart string and kept them thinking. The episode opened up so many new storyline possibilities, but Gladiators know that the show’s amazing producer, Shonda Rimes, will make this season truly “scandalous.”