Mellie's Sister Has Come To 'Scandal'

We've see a lot of sides to Mellie Grant over the past few seasons of Scandal — jealous wife, smiling first lady, crisis manager, mother — and now we can add sister to the mix. That's right, Mellie's half-sister Harmony was on Scandal this week and even though we didn't know anything about her before now, I think it's safe to say that she's something we've been waiting for for years. In fact, I'd probably love her if for no other reason than she is a character clearly intended to mess everything up and yet they named her "Harmony."

From what we find out about Mellie's family in this episode, Harmony and Mellie are half-sisters who share the same father. Harmony is younger, and was apparently born after Mellie's parents split up — either because Harmony's mother stole him or Mellie's mother kicked him out, depending which daughter you ask. And although there is a lot of bad blood between the two girls, to this day, Mellie needs to get her less refined, wild card sibling to play nice if she's going to have any hope of running for president.

But as much fun as the smart, savvy, angry character of Harmony was this episode — and as much as we hope to see her again soon in the future — perhaps the best part of having her around was getting to see another side of Mellie. We're used to watching Mellie deal with all kinds of frustrating situations, but nothing can quite compete with family on the scale of being able to push your buttons. This episode we saw Mellie trying to deal with her bitterness about her own father leaving and her embarrassment over her sister's "classless" Southern ways, as well as trying to keep her cool around someone who clearly drives her crazy.

And that's the thing. As smart and combative as Harmony is, we've seen Mellie deal with people far, far more formidable with a patented, sunny smile and an effortless, girlish laugh. But when it comes to Harmony, Mellie's careful facade begins to crack.

Having Harmony around gave us a glimpse of the familial craziness that we might get to experience if Mellie's family continues to be part of the show, and also gave Fitz a crash course in how to be the candidate's spouse instead of the candidate. But it also gave a glimpse of a Mellie who isn't so perfect. And for that, I hope that she comes back soon!

Image: Nicole Wilder/ABC