I thought my favorite line of tonight’s episode of Revenge was when Nolan referred to Amanda as “the Long Island Lolita,” a title once held by Amy Fisher, which inspired me to have a flashback of the teen’s publicized attempted murder trial back in the ’90’s. And then Nolan used the word “Revengenda,” topping himself in a matter of moments. Love it! It’s moments like these, and that amazing dinner scene that make the three weeks we had to wait for tonight’s new episode well worth it.
Revenge is back! Tonight’s episode not only set things up for next week’s huge “Chaos” episode, which will finally reveal the beach shooting scene and engagement party we glimpsed in the series premiere, it also featured a fantastically dramatic moment, which served as a reminder of how well this show delivers the goods.
Seriously, by the time Victoria’s little dinner party took place, it seemed like everyone except for Charlotte knew that David Clarke was her father. Maybe Declan didn’t know. And Ashley. Regardless, the fact that the reveal could take place in such dramatic fashion, after it had seeped out all over the Hamptons prior, just shows how well the episode was paced.
“That’s impossible!”
Since we’re on the subject of Charlotte learning that David Clarke is her dad, we’ll start with that, and with a quote from the great Jedi Luke Skywalker when he learned that Darth Vader was his father. Of course, Luke heard this news directly from his dad, whereas Charlotte heard it from the man she thought was her father after her boyfriend’s brother stormed into Grayson Manor. Jack never struck me as the dramatic type, be he sure did make a huge display of revealing that Victoria was having an affair with David Clarke.
In Jack’s defense (kind of), he was all broken up about Amanda’s brief return and hasty exit. We’ll get to that later. Jack learning of the affair actually started with a tape left behind by Amanda (and the guy who broke into his apartment to steal it). Jack told Nolan about the tape, Nolan told Emily, Emily got Amanda back in town and Amanda begged Jack to give it back to her. That only made him more curious and then, instead of erasing the tape, Nolan played it. As luck would have it, the tape was all queued up to show young Amanda Clarke telling the writer about seeing Victoria kissing her father. Convenient!
On an aside, I have to wonder if it was Nolan’s sympathy for Jack that caused him to play the tape, rather than erasing it, or if he was curious. I keep having to remind myself that Nolan had a friendship with David Clarke. I still feel like there’s more to that story than he’s let on. Maybe he’s (or the writers are) holding that back for now, or not. Either way, just as it’s not always easy to follow Emily’s thought process, Nolan’s still something of a mystery to me. Is he helping Emily because he really cares about David Clarke and wants to help her avenge his conviction? Or is it more that he’s looking to make connections with people? We don’t see him with any friends other than Jack and Emily. Perhaps he really just wants to use his resourcefulness and wealth to build friendships... and to have that amazing house and buy giant TV’s for people.
In reference to what I said about Emily’s thought process, we got an inkling of that tonight when she decided not to give Charlotte the tape after spying her half-sister hugging Conrad affectionately. Emily talked a big game in acting like she cared more about her own motives than she did Charlotte’s feelings, but she backed off when it counted... and then Conrad went and let the cat out of the bag after Jack confronted Victoria in the middle of their fancy dinner. So it all worked out.
The reveal was layered with drama. After Charlotte learned that David Clarke was her father, Daniel learned that his mother lied to him when she said (or technically let Daniel draw the wrong conclusion) that David raped her. So now Daniel doesn’t trust his mother, Conrad’s father doesn’t trust him with his company, and Charlotte doesn’t trust anyone... except for maybe Declan.
Edward Grayson
On the subject of Graysons, William Devane guest starred in tonight’s episode, playing Edward Grayson, Conrad’s father. He seems like the kind of dad who puts a lot of pressure on his son, what with all the reminders about how he built the company from the ground up, but it’s really hard to fault Edward for wanting to see the company he built properly cared for. He seems to be on Team Victoria in the divorce, and from what he said about David’s association with the company, I don’t think he has anything to do with the terrorist funding or the big cover-up.
Edward didn’t approve of Conrad telling Charlotte about her mother’s affair with David Clarke. Conrad tried to throw his father’s “Perception is reality” credo in his face, but apparently, that only applies to business, not to family. That further suggests Edward is a decent man and father. I actually think Conrad wants to be both, too. Not to defend him since he’s partially responsible for getting an innocent man convicted, and having something to do with funding terrorism. Do we know that was intentional though? Maybe this whole thing was the result of Conrad trusting the wrong people in his business or something. Again, not an excuse for getting a man convicted and branded a terrorist funder. Just a theory.
I guess after seeing the heart-to-heart he had with Charlotte, during which he assured her he’d always be there for her, I’m starting to think that maybe he’s not quite a monster. Maybe. Sort of like how we’ve seen the softer side of Victoria. We’ve been seeing this story mostly through Emily’s eyes, and while she came into this series hardened and determined, things have gotten kind of messy and emotional.
Amanda’s return
On the subject of messy and emotional, Amanda came back to help Emily get the tape and things got dramatic. She didn’t like having to push Jack away all over again and really, who can blame her? She may have been lying to him, but he was good to her and she’s in love with him. She did push Jack away and then had an argument with Emily, after which it seemed like she left town. Then Emily got home and found her secret nook under the floorboards plundered and a response card to the engagement party checked off for “Yes” by “Emily Thorne.”
So does Amanda have revenge plans of her own? Or is she going to unknowingly follow in Jack’s footsteps in staging a huge reveal at the party. Or maybe she’s just trying to get Emily’s attention.
Will Amanda have something to do with the shooting on the beach? I’m going to predict no, because it feels too obvious. I think maybe that has something to do with Edward Grayson tossing out the idea (threat...ish?) to hand his company over to Daniel instead of letting Conrad run it into the ground.
Random tidbits
Conrad semi-warned Ashley about Victoria’s tendencies to use people and then cut them loose. Is he trying to steal Ashley’s loyalty?
I thought it was amusing that Daniel was talking to his mother about Charlotte being David Clarke’s daughter while Charlotte and Emily were having their photograph taken together.
Loved all the white dresses.
As is often the case, the episode featured at least one scene with lots of food that no one so much as touched, let alone ate.
We got to see flashbacks that revealed that Emily actually met Daniel once while he was back in college and hanging out at the kind of bar where people can read or study at the tables, while others drink and spout philosophy.
We’ll end this lengthy breakdown with the most surreal moment of the night:
Victoria coming into the Stowaway in an effort to be more supportive of Charlotte. I like to think she spent a good hour in her closet, trying to find the right outfit for the occasion.
Photo Credit: ©ABC
