Will Olivia and Mellie battle it out on Scandal season 7?

Through much of Scandal season 7 to date we’ve seen tensions rise between Olivia and Mellie; are those tensions about to explode into some disastrous mess? You’re going to have to wait until January to find out, but all early signs suggest that this is something that is going to happen. These two characters have their own ways in which they want to go about wielding power and we’ve already seen this play out in a few different ways. Mellie had her own ideas concerning how she wanted to handle the Bashran crisis and Olivia had another — hers just so happened to lead to President Rashad getting assassinated.

The moment that Mellie figures out everything that Olivia’s been up to, it’s going to be chaos — she is the President and therefore knows that she’s got reasonably unchecked power. In speaking more on this subject to TV Guide, series star Bellamy Young had the following message to pass along:

“I think what we’re starting to feel is the tension between her and Olivia … Just a little of, every once in a while, catching things that she [hadn’t caught] onto before.”

We think it’s possible that either Olivia or Mellie is out of a job by the end of the season and if the pattern holds, it’s more likely to be Olivia. She’s transformed in a dangerous, powerful person since taking on Command and becoming Mellie’s Chief of Staff. She’s Icarus, slowly hovering around the sun while we wonder whether or not she can possibly maintain much of that momentum. All it takes for Olivia is just one wrong move and the entire world could come crashing down around her. Luckily, she hasn’t made that wrong move as of yet and we’ve certainly learned from her father that there is a possible, albeit crazy way for someone to be able to navigate this minefield and keep their head above water.

The final run of Scandal episodes airs starting in the new year, and you better believe that we’ll be there to assess what will be the end of the road for the show.

What do you want to see with Olivia and Mellie on Scandal season 7? Be sure to share some more of your thoughts on that subject below!

Remember to also click here to see when the Scandal return date is going to be or like CarterMatt on Facebook to get all sorts of updates past, present, and future on the show. (Photo: ABC.)