Well, that certainly leaves us with plenty to think about this summer while we wait for Revenge to return for Season 2. It was a bumpy ride for tonight's season finale of Revenge, as virtually nothing was wrapped up, other than the matter of the cliffhanger involving Nolan. And speaking of which, Nolan wins for having some of the best lines of the night, including his order for Emily not to do anything "revenge-y" until he get to her.
We'll start with the closing twist… Emily's mother is still alive!
I actually wondered about the late Mrs. Clarke recently in passing, thinking it might be an interesting twist if it turned out she was alive. But it was more a quick theory than a thought-out prediction, so it was most definitely a surprise for that to be revealed at the very end of tonight's finale. So who is she? Some secret spy-agent lady like Sydney Bristow's presumed-dead mother was (Alias reference!)? Perhaps.
The big reveal about Emily's mother came after Nolan played the hero, having wisely backed up a the hard drive that was among the evidence Victoria was attempting to bring to DC. Nolan came through big time tonight, not only in being there for Emily more than once, but in providing laughs, literally. His chuckle when he saw her pick the lock and help him escape and lines like "I'm not worthy" and "You are way outmatched by that crazy albino" had me grinning numerous times during the episode. Nolan has not only proven to be a good friend and a resourceful ally, he's also a crucial piece to this series in providing some much needed subtle humor in the form of witty lines and excellent random-references.
Next twist: Victoria's dead!
Ok, do we really think she's dead? Sure, we saw White-haired-man under the plane and next we see on the news that the plane has crashed, but can Victoria and Lydia really be gone? Not buying it. I refuse to believe it. Her "death" was served with a twist of irony that I'm sure wasn't lost on WHM. Victoria's off to DC with Lydia to testify about Conrad's involvement in framing David Clarke for a plane crash when her plane crashes. At least this "Initiative" organization is consistent with their method of murder.
And also: Daniel and Emily broke up!
Ashley told Daniel that she saw Emily and Jack kissing. Jack confronted Emily. She didn't deny it and to top it off, she gave him a sort-of-honest answer about what happened, pointing out that she was willing to marry him despite his family name, but recently he's been becoming very Grayson-like. That much has been pretty obvious. He gave her an out there, though neither of them seemed particularly happy about the break-up. Later, we saw Daniel and Ashley having a night-time drink together. Will Season 2 return with these two shacking up? I'm annoyed just thinking about it.
And then there's Amanda Clarke…
Fresh off her break-up with Daniel, Emily went to Jack to bring him Sammy's old collar and announce that she's on the market again, only to find that Amanda Clarke has returned, sporting a large baby-bump with Jack's name on it. Did Emily announce that Amanda's a big liar and now who she claims to be? No. She left and cried on the Stowaway deck. I don't like defeated Emily and I don't like that Jack's not questioning the paternity of that baby. Ok, no, I do sort of like that because Jack's sort of a stand-up guy that way, but still, I'm not entirely convinced it's his.
And let's not forget Charlotte…
…because everyone else sort of did. Or Mom and Dad did, anyway. Victoria and Grayson spent all season neglecting Charlotte. Too caught up in their own problems and scheming, neither fully grasped the gravity of their daughter's situation, even after learning that she'd been taking pain pills. Jealous over the attention Declan's been getting from Yonkers-Jamie, Charlotte sent her mother's private detective to sniff up some dirt on the girl and came up with some photos of Jamie engaging in PDA with a teacher. Apparently, "the judge" was supposed to bury those old pics but Charlotte got ahold of them and put them online, with captions! Thoroughly humiliated after being slut-coughed at, Jamie ran off and Declan told Charlotte off.
Between her remorse over humiliating a girl who did virtually nothing to deserve it, Declan's anger and learning her mother was dead by watching the news, Charlotte took too many pills and may be at death's door. The last we saw of her, Conrad was trying to revive her. I'll be surprised if she dies, but it's certainly an intense way to close out her story this season.
And that about wraps it up! What did you think of the season finale? Did it deliver? Do you think Victoria's really dead? Will Charlotte pull through? And is Amanda really carrying Jack's child?
