‘Scandal’ Season 5: Olivia, Fitz, And Mellie Scramble After Liv’s Mistress Reveal In Episode 4 [Preview]

It appears as though things will continue to go well for Mellie (Bellamy Young) in the coming episode of ABC’s Scandal. After Olivia (Kerry Washington) let the world know that she is having an affair with President Fitz Grant (Tony Goldwyn), Mellie is set to use her newfound leverage to get whatever she wants from a now vulnerable White House.

According to a trailer released by ABC, the coming episode will feature Mellie seeking out her new friend Cyrus (Jeff Perry) for advice in using her husband’s infidelity against him. With Mellie eying a highly sought after position at the White House, she very well may use this situation as a means to get the president to appoint her.

At the same time, Olivia is going to have her hands full in the coming episode, titled “Dog-Whistle Politics.” In fact, after her announcement about her affair with the president, which was given just prior to an announcement by Fitz and his First Lady that they were still united in their marriage, Olivia is set to face down a storm of media attention.

Although she will try her best to deal with all the media coverage, it will be a tall order to accomplish all by herself. According to Fashion & Style, despite the media swarm that threatens to envelope Olivia and her team at Pope & Associates, President Fitz is not going to be able to help her out at all.

But just because his hands are tired and he is not able to help divert some of the media storm around Olivia, that doesn’t mean that he has been unable to feel for her situation. In fact, Fitz’s outrage with how the media is handling the scandal causes him to make some unfortunate decisions.

“You’ve seen this garbage? You see what they’re calling her in there?” Fitz is shown asking his Chief of Staff, Elizabeth North, in the promo video. “And in every other newspaper in the world. The morning shows — morning, when people’s kids are the room — gave estimates with how many men she slept with and at what age she lost her virginity. Disgusting. Liv’s blindfolded on her knees in front of the firing squad and we’re doing nothing.”

This conversation quickly leads to the firing of Fitz’s very own Press Secretary, Abby Whelan (Darby Stanchfield). While it is clear that Fitz blames Abby for their inability to offer any support for Olivia, his decision to fire her is not likely to go over well with everyone.

Along with dealing with all of the fallout from her public announcement, Olivia will be forced to face the consequences of not telling Abby that she and Fitz are back together. With Abby being her closest, or maybe oldest, friend and ally to date, this conversation is not likely to go well.

Despite a potential pitfall in their relationship, the two are apparently going to find a way to look past this large betrayal of trust. In fact, in an interview with Variety, Stanchfield talked about Olivia’s relationship with Fitz, and how Abby fits into the mix on Scandal.

“Olivia is the Fitz whisperer. She really is the one that he trusts and confides in the most. Everybody else, aside from her, really, they don’t have the president’s trust or ear quite like Olivia,” the actress stated in the interview. “Olivia can see how Abby is fixing it, and the president can’t. He tends to be a little near-sided about situations… They help each other. Olivia and Abby continue to help each other moving forward in the series.”

The next episode of Scandal is set to air tonight on ABC, check out a preview below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fOqKZ0j7tU

[All Images and Preview Courtesy: ABC]