Gladiators unlocked the first clip from Scandal’s mid-season 3 premiere on Facebook today, and it features Olivia and Mellie.

In the scene, Fitz’s wife Mellie invites Olivia to lunch, and the latter is confused about why she received an invite. “We’re sharing a meal, being gal pals, talking about boys.”

“Mellie,” Olivia says after detecting sarcasm.

“I’m making a respectable woman out of you,” she replies with a smile.


 

Mellie is obviously talking down to Olivia and looking to get her straightened out in some way. Is it so that Olivia can work with Fitz on his re-election campaign without romance being involved?

It may be hard to notice, but we think we can spot a hint of Kerry Washington’s baby bump poking through her long white jacket. We know that Washington has continued to film while pregnant, and show runners are avoiding writing the bump into the storyline by keeping it hidden in ways like keeping the camera’s eyes off her lower half.

Washington’s pregnancy actually caused Scandal season 3 to reduce its number of episodes by four.

Despite having our first clip from the mid-season premiere, episode 11 does not air until Thursday, February 27 on ABC at 10 p.m. eastern/pacific.

What do you think Mellie is up to in the first ‘Scandal’ clip of 2014?

According to a calendar posted on the show’s official Facebook page, a new poster for season 3 will be revealed on Tumblr tomorrow.