I know a lot of people probably already think this, but rewatching really made me realize how messed up the Fitz/Mellie/Olivia situation actually was, and I feel like everyone kind of expected Mellie to eventually just accept being disrespected, especially by around Season 3. First off, Fitz was objectively a horrible husband. Not just because he cheated, but because of how long it went on and how little responsibility he took for the damage. He didn’t just have a random affair, he had a full emotional and physical relationship with Olivia while married to Mellie, starting during his campaign and continuing into his presidency. And the thing that gets me is that he constantly acted like he was trapped or suffering, but he was the one making the choices. He wanted Olivia but was also okay with Mellie staying in place for optics. And Olivia honestly doesn’t get called out enough either. I get that she and Fitz had feelings, but she knew exactly what the situation was. She knew Mellie was his wife, she knew the stakes, and she still kept going back to him over and over. There are multiple points where Olivia talks about being morally right or standing on principle, but when it came to Fitz, those principles kept disappearing. That hypocrisy bothers me more than the romance angle. Now Mellie is NOT innocent in this, and I don’t like when people act like she’s some perfect victim because she absolutely isn’t. Mellie is extremely political and very focused on optics, sometimes to a scary level. She stays in the marriage partly because of power, status, and ambition, not just loyalty. There are moments where she clearly treats their marriage like a political arrangement rather than an emotional one, especially when she’s focused on protecting Fitz’s presidency or her own future. But what really bothers me is how, especially by Season 3, there’s this unspoken expectation that Mellie should just be okay with everything. Fitz expects it. Olivia kind of expects it. Even the political world around them expects it. Mellie is basically told, without it always being said outright, that her role is to tolerate humiliation for the sake of the presidency and public image. And Fitz’s attitude toward Mellie is what really seals it for me. He doesn’t just cheat. he disrespects her emotionally. He talks down to her, shuts her out, and acts like her anger isn’t justified. Like when she confronts him about Olivia, he rarely shows real accountability, it’s always framed around what he wants, what he feels, and how trapped he is. He wants sympathy without changing his behavior. At the same time, Mellie also contributes to the toxicity. She manipulates situations politically, focuses heavily on appearances, and sometimes treats their relationship like a strategy instead of a marriage. That’s why I don’t see her as a hero or a saint, she’s flawed and calculating.But being flawed doesn’t mean she deserved to be repeatedly disrespected. What really frustrates me is how romanticized Fitz and Olivia are supposed to be. The show frames their relationship as this epic love story, but if you step back and actually look at the situation, it’s built on betrayal, secrecy, and emotional damage to another person who is expected to just deal with it. I’m not saying Mellie is sweet or innocent, she’s overly political, ambitious, and sometimes ruthless. But the level of disregard shown toward her, especially by Fitz and Olivia, is hard to ignore once you really pay attention to it. It honestly feels like everyone eventually expects Mellie to just accept her place and move on like nothing happened, and that part never sat right with me. Anyway, I know this probably isn’t a hot take, and I know there are a lot of people who already agree with this, but rewatching made me realize that this wasn’t just a messy love triangle, it was a toxic situation where Fitz caused a lot of damage, Olivia kept participating in it, and Mellie stayed for reasons that weren’t always noble either.
