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Bellamy Young’s most ‘Scandal’-ous Mellie speeches

“Scandal” star Bellamy Young shares her favorite speeches delivered as first lady Mellie Grant on the ABC hit. One of them comes in the Nov. 14 episode, called “Everything’s Coming Up Mellie,” so we can’t really talk about what happens, but Young did tell us why she loved the speech.

“It’s amazing how Mellie keeps trying to find the limit of how many concessions she can live with,” she wrote in an email. “And often, as is the case here I think, she finds out it’s a bridge too far even as the offer is being made.”

Tune in to ABC at 9 p.m. CST Thursday to find out what that’s all about. Until then, here are her Top 4 “Mellie moments.”

Hunting Season
Season 2, Episode 3
Aired: Oct. 18, 2012
What happened: Mellie discovers that Fitz met secretly with Olivia during a hunting trip.
Quotes: “I need to make some plans for my political future. And I do have a bright, bright political future. A sweet lawyer who gave up her career for her husband, suffered a miscarriage and then had a late in life baby while first lady. That’s gold. That’s a future president. That’s a hell of a second act. America loves a second act. Get. Over. Her. You see her again and I’ll blow you away and I’m an excellent shot remember.”
and “Get. Over. Her. You see her again and I’ll blow you away, and I’m an excellent shot, remember.”
Why Young chose it: “It was fun to finally let the subtext be the text. Very loudly.”

The Other Woman
Season 2, Episode 2
Aired: Oct. 4, 2012
What happened: Mellie goes to the funeral visitation for a high-profile pastor who died while cheating on his wife. She kicks everyone out of the room, including Olivia, to talk to his wife.
Quote: “It’s like you didn’t even know him at all. You thought the two of you were partners. You thought the problems in your marriage were solvable. You thought ‘for better or worse’ meant something. You thought no matter what he’d be faithful. Nancy right now you are angry. Right now you feel betrayed but here’s the thing, you are his partner. You are his wife. Some mistress doesn’t change that. He made a mistake, you have to forgive him for it. You weren’t wrong about him. You were just stronger than he was. And he’s not a monster, he’s the man you fell in love with. You have to bury the man that you married. Somewhere in all the cheating, Nancy, is the man that you married. And you are his wife, right to the end. Be his wife.”
Why Young chose it: “That felt like the speech Mellie has to give herself everyday in order to soldier on.”

Snake in the Garden
Season 2, Episode 17
Aired: March 28, 2013
What happened: Mellie stops a visit by the teenage Grant children, Jerry and Karen, leading Fitz to suggest she’s a bad mom. Mellie’s not having it, telling him they do not want to come for the weekend because Fitz has turned into his alcoholic father.
Quote: “You’re different. And maybe I’m cold, and maybe I don’t have the mother gene, and maybe a thousand other things that make me such a horrible villainous bitch in your book, but in Jerry and Karen’s book, I’m still their mom. I haven’t changed. It’s you. You’re not their father anymore. … You’ve turned into your father! So you should understand how your children feel, considering how much you hated your dad.”
Why Young chose it: “That was an unbelievably loving tirade. Have you ever been so mad at someone because you loved them so much and saw them so off course? It was a gift to get to to walk that tightrope in a network TV drama. We are exceedingly lucky that Shonda loves to keep her characters’ hearts so messy; it’s a ball to play.”

Mrs. Smith Goes to Washington
Season 3, Episode 3
Aired: Oct. 17, 2013
What happened: Mellie gets drunk and tells her husband why she is happy Olivia wasn’t killed by a bomber.
Quote: “That’s my nightmare. If your whore had died today, brave and strong and protecting a congressman inside the Capitol with the nation watching–honey, the nails, the wood, the cross you would build and hammer her on. The worship you would feel for the rest of your days, down on your knees praying to Saint Olivia Pope. That would be, I’d lose our little war. I’d lose. I am spectacular, but I can’t compete with religious fervor. So no, I was not hoping that she would be blown up today. I am not miserable that she survived. I am celebrating because Olivia Pope still walks this earth! She’s still alive and as long as she’s still alive, well, she’s your flaw, your Achilles heel, which makes her my weapon. She’s the strings that if need be I will pull to make my puppet husband dance. So cheers baby, drink up! I live to fight another day.”
Why Young chose it: “Being tipsy let Mellie have an unguarded moment. It was nice to take the armor off for a bit. It also let us see a glimpse of the connection she and Fitz used to have. She used to be fun. They used to be fun. Now it’s all so complicated.” (Read more about this speech.)

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