The third season of the American television drama series Scandal, created by Shonda Rhimes, began on October 3, 2013, in the United States, on ABC, and consisted of 18 episodes.

They discover during a military action code named "Operation Remington" Fitz shot down a civilian aircraft over Iceland and Olivia's mother was one of over 300 casualties.

Determined to find out the truth about Operation Remington, the firm investigates Rowan and learns that a passenger was removed from the flight by a Federal Marshall just prior to take off.

Quinn starts to hang out with Charlie, who sets her up to kill a security guard who was an eye-witness to the Federal Marshal's removal of the passenger.

Meanwhile, Fitz faces problems when Congresswoman Josephine "Josie" Marcus is in the running to win the Democratic Party primary against Senator Samuel Reston and become the first female president of the United States.

The president's eldest children, Jerry and Karen Grant, come to the White House for an interview, but Olivia soon figures out that they aren't pleased with their parents.

[2] On December 7, 2013, ABC Studios, announced that due to Kerry Washington's pregnancy, the overall episode order would be trimmed from 22 to 18,[3] which led the season finale to air four weeks earlier on April 17, 2014.

Kerry Washington continued her role as protagonist of the series, Olivia Pope, a former White House Director of Communications with her own crisis management firm.

Darby Stanchfield played Abby Whelan, Katie Lowes acted as Quinn Perkins who leaves Olivia's firm in the second part of the season for B613.

Jeff Perry played Cyrus Beene, the Chief of Staff at the White House, who loses his husband James.

[5] Casting for Lisa Kudrow was announced on August 28,[6] and was revealed to be playing Congresswoman Josephine Marcus for multiple episodes.

[9] Jack Coleman joined the cast in a recurring role as Daniel Douglas, the husband to Vice President Sally Langston.

[11][12][13] On December 3, 2013, it was announced that the show was casting for a new role as a handsome, charismatic fella named Andrew, who would be a love interest for Bellamy Young's character, Mellie.

[15] On January 28, 2014, it was announced that Scandal was casting the guest-starring roles of Jerry Grant and Karen Grant, Tony Goldwyn and Bellamy Young's characters' children[16] A week later, on February 6, 2014, it was reported that the guest-starring roles of Jerry and Karen had been landed by Dylan Minnette and Madeline Carroll.

The website's consensus reads, "Scandal finds its footing in season three, allowing its characters to blossom and providing the kind of intrigue that makes serialized television so addictive.