The main question for Scandal fans as it returns after an eight-month hiatus: would Olivia Pope's return be worth the wait? And what would the beloved ABC drama have to say about President Trump? The election-themed episode hit familiar notes for fans of the Shonda Rhimes drama, which means it was ridiculous in the best – and worst – ways.

The Season 6 premiere began with a bang, literally, as a cabin exploded in the woods. True to Scandal form, we weren't told immediately who was in the cabin. The episode then jumped to the previous night, as Olivia Pope and her team of gladiators waited for the results of a presidential election between Mellie Grant, the ex-wife of current Scandal President (and Olivia's on-off lover) Fitzgerald Grant, and rising political star Francisco Vargas (Ricardo Chavira).

The scene required a suspension of disbelief accepted by longtime viewers of the show. News reports asserted that the race results rested solely on one California county. The election itself was also pretty weird and not just because Olivia had signed on to run the campaign of her erstwhile lover's ex-wife. Francisco, a Democrat, had chosen Cyrus Beene, a staunch Republican and Fitz's former chief of staff, as his running mate. In last season's finale, which aired in May, Mellie's running mate was revealed to be Jake Ballard, Olivia's other longtime lover, and a former agent of a top-secret spy agency run by Olivia's father.

The character of Olivia Pope, played by Washington, is largely based on former George HW Bush administration press aide Judy Smith (ABC)

When Scandal premiered in 2012, the show quickly established its heroine (based on famed crisis manager Judy Smith) as an unstoppable fixture in Washington. With her trademark catchphrase - "It's handled" -- Olivia Pope even sprang to mind during real-life political scandals. And now, in some ways, it feels like we need her more than ever. The fictional fixer even became a Twitter-trending topic after Trump won the presidential election, with people calling on Olivia to "handle" the unexpected outcome. During an appearance last year on HBO's Real Time With Bill Maher, Kerry Washington hinted at her character's influence. “Kellyanne's really good at what she does,” Washington said of Trump's campaign-manager-turned-adviser Kellyanne Conway. “Playing Olivia Pope, I know spin when I see it.”

But even die-hard fans can admit that 'Scandal' has become harder to take seriously, with plot lines as meandering as the show's breathless dialogue. In Season 4, Olivia was kidnapped and auctioned off on the black market, and the aftermath carried into the show's uneven fifth season, which saw declining ratings. Fitz divorced the first lady and moved his mistress into the White House. Olivia found the first girlfriend role to be suffocating. (Shortly after their breakup, the show's midseason finale stunned viewers when Olivia had an abortion.) When the show returned last spring, Fitz had gone full-on bachelor in the West Wing, cavorting with multiple women, including a reporter who had covered the White House. And in what turned out to be a somewhat related plot line, Olivia bludgeoned Fitz's former vice president to death.

Murder aside, recent political events have eclipsed some of Scandal's" over-the-top storylines. To its credit, the show parlayed the contentious election cycle into moments of brilliance. "Scandal" offered ongoing commentary about the double standards faced by women in politics. One episode, aptly titled 'Trumped', featured a candidate with contentious views on women and minorities. It's a safe bet that the longstanding character, Hollis Doyle, took on an amalgam of traits from real-life Republican candidates - including a penchant for machine gun bacon. But one of his opponents made a campaign-killing speech that included some thinly veiled parallels to the then-Republican front-runner. ("Nothing needs to be restored or made great again.")

Certain aspects of this week's episode seemed to parallel the unexpected outcome of the presidential election and debates about the electoral college. But the premiere took a prime-time soap-opera turn when Francisco Vargas was assassinated (on live television, no less) shortly after making his victory speech. The shooting plot line is a provocative one, considering it comes less than a week after Trump's inauguration, but Washington told The Hollywood Reporter that it's not political commentary. The episode had originally been slated to air Jan. 19, but was pushed back to accommodate a pre-inauguration special about the Trump family. And the premiere episode was filmed in September before Washington went on maternity leave. Still, ABC Entertainment Group president Channing Dungey acknowledged that the postponed airdate made sense. "In this current climate, I think it's better that we're airing it a week later," she told the trade magazine.

By the end of Thursday's episode, Cyrus had become the president-elect and Olivia figured out that he was the mastermind behind Vargas's murder. Olivia stealthily confronted him under the guise of paying her condolences and vowed to bring him to justice, before confidently striding out of his office. Following her Season 4 kidnapping, Olivia has struggled with her conscience and the gut feelings she used to rely on without question. Her confrontation with Cyrus could signal a welcome return for Olivia Pope and her white hat. It's too early to call whether Scandal is still must-see TV. But if you've made it this far, the episode is a promising start.

The sixth season of ABC's drama series 'Scandal' is on Sky Living on Thursdays at 10pm