Now on a brief winter season hiatus, "Scandal" will return next year with all-new episode that promises to elevate the show to a new level of crazy.

The upcoming episode of the hit political series has yet to be named. However, ABC release a new promo showing Olivia being bombarded by the paparazzi. First Lady Mellie Grant and Olivia Pope have a sit down in which Mellie tells Olivia in a very sarcastic voice to smile because, "the world is watching." The camera then pans to the window where photographers are snapping tons of photos of her, indicating that something intense has occurred.

In the meantime, Harrison seems worried about some sort of threat and a quick shot of Jake reminds us that he's in command now. However, the question as to whether Mellie is attempting to woo Olivia back to the Grant reelection team still remains. Plus, there's a chance that Liv may take the offer now that she knows that Fitz didn't kill her mom.

Later in season 3, "The Closer" and "Major Crimes" actor Jon Tenney will join the cast as a rumored love interest for Bellamy Young's love-starved FLOTUS, TVLine reports.

TVLine also reports that ABC has trimmed "Scandal's" Season 3 episode order from 22 to 18. Although the network did not offer an official explanation for the cutback, it's safe to say the decision was made in response to the real-life pregnancy of leading actress Kerry Washington. Because she is due in the spring, it would have been almost impossible to hide her baby bump while shooting those final four episodes, and sources say writing Olivia out of the show for an extended period of time was not an option..

"Scandal" will return with S3E11 on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014 on ABC.

Watch a preview below.