Scandal Scoop: How will OPA Handle Mistress-Gate 2.0?

It's Mistress-gate 2.0!

In Scandal's season premiere, Olivia Pope & Associates teamed with the White House to point the finger at an innocent White House staffer to get the heat off of Olivia (Kerry Washington). But in doing so, they've gone behind the back of their fearless leader. 

"It's difficult because even though we fix problems by any means necessary, there's always a level of goodness to us," Guillermo Diaz tells TVGuide.com. "This time, it feels like we're doing something shady. That's not us. So I think everybody's feeling like, 'What are we doing?' So that whole case feels a bit off and a bit wrong."

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"What the hell else was going to happen?" Katie Lowes adds. "There wouldn't be any money to pay the electric bill. None of us would get paid. Where would we get hired elsewhere? This is for our livelihood that we needed to do it. It was definitely ballsy and crazy, but at the end of the day, it gets the light off Olivia Pope, and I really think they think they can fix it."

However, in true Olivia Pope fashion, the political fixer isn't about to let someone suffer in her place. Instead, OPA is now representing the intern, Jeanine Locke (Samantha Sloyan), whom they threw under the bus. Although Olivia is furious with OPA for going against her, Washington says it's really Olivia getting a taste of her own medicine.

"It's so funny because Olivia herself has had moments where she has done things that have been counterproductive to people she loves because she thought it was for their own good," Washington says. "This is a similar situation where it's come full circle and now the Gladiators are doing something to protect her feelings, to protect her. And she's furious. You'll start to see how the Gladiators really do go over a cliff for each other. The unexpected power plays come into the picture, and there are twists you just can't imagine." 

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But not everyone will be happy that OPA is going up against the White House. Mellie (Bellamy Young) and Cyrus (Jeff Perry), who came up with the plan, won't go down without a fight. "It was Mellie's plan all along at the beginning," Young says.  "She picked that poor scapegoat. Mellie thinks Washington is cruel, and if Janine was there, then Janine knew the odds. Mellie will also do her best to show Janine that when it feels like utter devastation, there is tremendous opportunity. There is always a place to go."

Scandal airs Thursdays at 10/9c on ABC.