It has already been confirmed that ABC has renewed "Scandal" for a season 6, which means that fans will continue to see the feisty lawyer Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) for another season. The bad news, however, is that instead of the usual 22 episodes, season 6 will only have 16 of them.

According to a report on TV Line, ABC's decision to lessen the number of episodes in the upcoming season was in consideration of Washington's pregnancy. It can be remembered that the same thing happened in season 3 when ABC cut it to 18 episodes because of Washington's first pregnancy.

As reported earlier, Washington's pregnancy has caused ABC to waver whether they will renew the show for another season or not. They have indeed given the nod for a season 6 but for fewer episodes. As for the air date, there are speculations that the network might start airing season 6 either in January or February 2017.

Meanwhile, it was reported that the season 5 finale would be filled with tension as each presidential candidate made an announcement of who their running mates were going to be.

Bellamy Young, who plays presidential bet Mellie Grant, revealed in an interview on In Style that the finale episode of season 5 woulds lay the foundation for the season 6 storyline.

""It sets up Season 6 so brilliantly-and it is really a jaw-dropper. I think we're just bringing it home beautifully," Young says in the interview. She adds, "This week's episode is the one that really got us in the table reads. We all cried, like, three times. It's a doozy of an episode, and a real gem."

The season 5 finale also showed Olivia finding herself in an unlikely position, while Cyrus took hold of information that is said to change the course of the race for presidency.

The "Scandal" season 5 finale aired on May 12, Thursday, at 9 p.m. EST on ABC.