Will television's U.S. president be losing its tough First Lady? News about First Lady Mellie Grant of "Scandal" not appearing on the show's fourth season had reached new heights.
Bellamy Young's character had to deal with the death of her son that it was unlikely for her to appear in the fourth season premiere.
Young, who sat down for an interview with TVLine, somewhat confirmed that the polarizing character might be missing in action during the show's season premiere. She told TVLIne, "No, because I don't know if we'll come back immediately. One year, we skipped 10 months in the middle, so I have no idea where we'll start back. But I can tell you that and as much as [the rape episode] "Everything's Coming Up Mellie" was a devastating table read, that script for our last episode of Season 3."
Young is pertaining to a particularly graphic moment in "Scandal" history that somehow changed how television viewers perceive the show's First Lady. Jezebel said that in the "Everything's Coming Up Mellie" episode, the show took the fans to a scene that purportedly happened 15 years ago, when Fitz Grant (Tony Goldwyn) was still planning to run for Governor of California. As Fitz's father, Jerry (Barry Bostwick) discusses with Mellie about his son's political plans, Jerry made a pass on Mellie, which quickly escalated into a harrowing moment.
Mellie turned the icky moment into her "bargaining chip," Jezebel added, forcing Jerry to apologize to his son whom he kept on berating and urged him to support Fitz's political plans. Later, there were hints that Mellie had become pregnant, which insinuated that Fitz's firstborn might actually be his half-brother.
Young said about her piece on that TV moment, "It killed me, I'm telling you. That episode just kept going ugh, ugh, ugh, you know? At the table read we'd finish the first little bit and Shonda would say, 'It's just Act 1 people. Just Act 1.' Because there was so much more to come and we were just not ready for it. I feel I've never known such devastation," she told TV Line.
The show ended its previous season with Mellie and Fitz initially sharing a tender moment upon the death of their son (or in Fitz's case, secret half-brother). While Fitz is crying at the Oval Office, Mellie somewhat broke the ice when she asked about the whereabouts of Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington). Breathecast said that although people will be looking forward to the continuation of the Olivitz romance, Season 4 would most likely focus on the Fitz-Mellie relationship.
"Scandal" is expected to return to television sometime in the fall on ABC.