Scandal season 3 is still a month away from resuming (February 27!), but the cast are already dropping hints about the second half of the season.

While speaking to The Hollywood Reporter at the Television Critics Association, Scandal season 3 stars, including Kerry Washington (Olivia Pope), had a lot to say about what’s in the pipeline.

For example, Washington says that Olivia will still be in search of her mother and a new “window” into her character’s emotions will open up. “[Her mom is] definitely on her mind,” she says. “What was most interesting for me was the more that we’re learning about who her parents are, the more of a window we have into Olivia’s emotional reality. I really like that and that’s a lot about what this next part of the season is about.”

Olivia’s father will still be in the spotlight too, and in light of the midseason finale developments (her mother is the bad one, not her father), she and Rowan will have a better relationship. “There was that great scene when Rowan is in chains and Olivia has that realization that they’ve both been bamboozled by her mom,” Washington says. “So Olivia starts off this second half of the season with a lot more compassion for Rowan because in some ways, they’ve both been victims. That’s where she is. You’ll have to watch whether he is in a similar place or not.”

Finally, Washington wouldn’t confirm whether or not Olivia gets involved with Fitz’s re-election campaign for sure, but she did say we should look forward to how she comes to decide on her involvement. “Whether she’s involved or not, how those decisions get made is really interesting and unexpected.”

Elsewhere in THR’s interview with the Scandal cast we learn that Quinn will be turning over a new leaf after being removed from Olivia Pope & Associates. “She doesn’t have OPA and that’s who she figured out who she was,” says co-star Katie Lowes who plays Quinn.

Check out our recap of the Scandal midseason finale to refresh yourself on how things wrapped up in mid-December.