We’re still coping with the news that Scandal will end after Season 7 next year, but now we have some answers to why it’s time for Olivia Pope’s story to finish. Show creator and overall TV goddess Shonda Rhimes released a newsletter explaining the decision to end the show, Refinery 29 reports.
“It had begun to occur to us that—warning, warning: swagger alert—shows written by me don’t seem to…end,” Rhimes wrote. “Every show I’ve created has gone more than 100 episodes. People keep watching. The network is happy. And that’s awesome. But what happens if we let all the shows go on and on without end? What if we just hang on so long that people don’t say WHY are you ending, but WHEN? What if we don’t let anyone say WHEN?”
Rhimes assured fans that she’s as loyal to her characters as they are, remarking that the decision to end Scandal meant deciding to challenge herself. Showing just how scary it can be to face these kind of decisions, she also explained her feelings about not being present with her cast when the show’s end was announced at a press event.
“I didn’t have to actually face it…The decision to end a thing I love,” she said according to People. “I was glad I didn’t have to make it real by being there on that stage with my cast…This is a big huge roaring deal in my world. It’s scary to make a change.”
If you aren’t crying yet, hold tight—Rhimes’ newsletter was the first of her letters to promote her new Shondaland.com website, so addressing the community Shonda fans have formed over the years was a must. “Shondaland is not about the shows,” she wrote. “It’s about the community of people who watch the shows. It’s a place to be—more than just on Thursday night. So maybe you will come here on a really bad day and you will discover the most important thing: that you are not alone. Not in Shondaland.”
Scandal may be ending soon, but if there’s anything else this newsletter taught us, it’s that Shonda Rhimes will never abandon her tribe of fans very easily.