Entertainment

'Scandal's About To Take A Really Long Break

by Nicole Pomarico

It's the most wonderful time of the year — except for when the holiday season means a lot of my favorite shows go on hiatus. Unfortunately, Scandal's in that group, and after Thursday night's inevitably explosive Scandal midseason finale, it's going to be a long time before we get more Olivia Pope in our lives. Once the lights go down on our gladiators at 10 p.m., Scandal Season 4 will return Thursday, January 29. I know, I know — it hurts me as much as it hurts you.

My guess is that Shonda Rhimes has all kinds of tricks up her sleeve and she's going to use all of them for this finale, so I expect the hiatus to be absolutely miserable. Sure, there will be holidays around to distract us in the meantime, so feel free to indulge in some extra booze, Santa-shaped cookies, and retail therapy if you need it to get through the next two months. I also have another solution all queued up for you so you can prepare yourself before the hiatus officially hits: A little something I like to call the Scandal Hiatus Survivor Pack. All the cool gladiators have one, and you can create it mostly from things you already have around the house.

Wine

Olivia prefers you choose something red, and if it comes in a box, shame on you. At least spring for a $10 bottle — although if you're trying to be authentic, you can go international and really lay down some serious cash. If you feel like schlepping out to Crate & Barrel, you can even arm yourself with Olivia's exact wine glass for just $14.95. That's a bargain for hiatus sanity.

A Netflix account

But let's not kid ourselves, you probably already have one of those. If you're going to survive without new episodes of Scandal, you will probably need to re-watch all your favorite old ones, and Netflix has all three previous seasons on tap.

A computer

Joe Raedle/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Mostly so you can practice your hacking skills like Huck. By the time Scandal is back, you'll be solving PR nightmares faster than Olivia and her team. #Handled.

The Olivia Pope Line From The Limited

If Olivia herself can't be with you, you might as well fill in for her. With any luck, The Limited will offer some sweet deals on their Scandal -inspired line on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and you will be able to reign over Washington DC knowing that you're dressed for success.

Images: Tony Rivetti/ABC; Crate and Barrel; Giphy; Getty Images; The Limited