Shonda Rhimes' encore of hit series "Scandal," "Grey's Anatomy" and "How to Get Away with Murder" lit Thursday evening on fire.

Each show demonstrated that Rhymes and her team of writers have no qualms about teasing fans, and leaving them to chill over the cold winter break with memories of finales that included abduction, sex, betrayal, plot twists, murder and people being called "b*tch babies."

"Scandal" went big with its season finale, but doesn't it always? The series worked through its barrage of story lines and introduced exciting content.

Cyrus Beene, the White House Chief of Staff, made plans to marry prostitute Michael, who was hired by RNC Chairwoman Elizabeth North (Portia de Rossi) to undermine Beene. The decision to marry foiled the chairwoman's plans to unseat Beene. Also, Mama Pope has been rescued from the depths of B613, but being that she's unapologetic and unsympathetic, Maya will likely stay in jail for the rest of her life due to her countless acts of treason, terrorism and murder.

When it comes to love and family, Olivia Pope chooses the good ole boys, President Fitzgerald and Jake Ballard, over her own father. In a desperate grasp for control, Olivia turns a gun on Rowan and pulls the trigger, but luckily there are no bullets in the chamber.

Rowan fans get a chance to see a softer side of the malicious, cut-throat character. He reminisces, and quietly mentions moments from Olivia's childhood before he exits her life, promising that Olivia will regret her decision to abandon her family. And he reminds her that the two are more alike than she thinks.

First Lady Mellie finds out that North have been having sex with the VP also, and she tells North that she's has little interest in playing nice any longer. But, it's the VP and North's planning outside of bedroom that's the real danger, as the two successfully conspired to kidnap Olivia in order to control Fitz and make him declare war.

Olivia finally decides that she won't choose between the two men in her life, as she dances to music from her youth before she's stolen away. Also in the episode, Quinn and Charlie continue their exchange: sex and attempted murder. David Rosen finds out that Abby has had sex with another man. Huck may have finally convinced his ex-wife that he was a spy, and Maya Pope tells Olivia, "Cry me a river."

The finale for ''How to Get Away With Murder'' redeemed every inexplicably dull moment in the freshman series thus far, showering fans with answers to questions viewers didn't even know need to be asked. And viewers finally learned who killed the lying, adulterous Professor Sam Keating, husband to Annalise Keating (Viola Davis).

Wes, the young innocent character, turned out to be the one who struck Sam with the class' prize trophy, splashing blood in the face of drug dealer/suspected murderess Rebecca in the process. But he only did this after Sam charged toward Michaela Pratt, at which time she instinctively tossed him over the bannister. Sam wasn't done yet; he came to with enough energy to choke out Rebecca.

They momentarily think about calling the police but meet in the woods, flip a coin and they agree to burn the body.

HTGWM had a number of fake outs, surprise twists and steamy sex scenes. Annalise hooks ups with Nate before (SPOILER!!) she returns home and finds Sam's dead body. Then she sees Wes enter and whisper "I'm so sorry" over Sam's corpse. From the darkness, Annalise says, "Don't be." It's revealed in the last moment of the show that she quietly encourages the Keating Four to cover up the murder of Sam.

New questions: Did Sam really kill Lila? Will someone discover Sam's body? Where's Michaela's ring? What's going to happen next??? Why do we have to wait until next year to tune in again?

"Grey's Anatomy" was no less jaw dropping. Derek (Patrick Dempsey) accepted the president's mapping job in Washington, D.C. after bickering with wife Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) for the entire first half of the 11th season.

"I see it as a tremendous opportunity for a really good and interesting conflict that we have not seen between them," Dempsey told The Hollywood Reporter during a set visit for the midseason finale. "We have no idea what [showrunner] Shonda Rhimes has in her mind and where she's going to take [their story]. She might want to break them up to bring them back together. That would be the thing to do. We have a long way to go in this season, so there's a lot you can do and resolve or not resolve. We'll see what happens."

Dempsey also stated that he didn't know where Derek's storyline was supposed to go, but he said, "there's a lot of conflict internally, and that's good."

Pompeo has said that she doesn't believe that Dempsey's character, Derek will be away from Seattle for too long. However, Dempsey has already shared interest in a Derek-focused "Grey's Anatomy" spinoff set in Washington, though it's important to note that two aren't breaking up.

"It would be fun for him to be there and have juggling the political aspect of it be the frustration," he said in the Hollywood Reporter interview. "A lot of the conflict is getting caught up in the politics of getting things done and dealing with the competitive nature of all the different departments he's trying to organize. It would be fun for them to really bring a nice spotlight to that program so that people have a better understanding of what's really going on and how amazing it will be when this gets figured out. To me, that could be really exciting and informative, and a lot of opportunity for conflict and drama certainly."

Also on the episode, Meredith sides with her half-sister, Maggie, over Derek. Arizona goes behind her mentor's back to send Herman's medical records over to an unwitting Amelia. Amelia bonds with Owen by telling him the whole story of her past addiction. And Geena Davis joins the cast.

Each ShondaLand series will return to television on Jan. 29 on ABC.

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