Revenge returns with new episodes in April. April?! Boo. Putting aside the disappointment in knowing we have at least a month to wait for the next new episode of Revenge, let’s talk about tonight’s episode, which felt a bit chaotic and unstructured, but ultimately delivered some answers. Throughout the whole episode, it seemed like no one knew exactly what was going on, though everyone had their own bits and pieces of the puzzle tucked away. And then there was the ending, which took us two days earlier, to the night of the engagement party, and showed us what really happened on the beach.
To be honest, I never expected to learn the truth about the beach shooting so soon. That said, I can’t say I’m surprised to learn that Takeda was behind the shooting. Or at the very least, he pulled the trigger twice, sealing Tyler’s fate. Daniel shot Tyler once in the chest before that, mostly in self defense, after which Takeda knocked Daniel out and killed Tyler, who was alive enough to beg for help at the time.
The reveal of the beach shooting came along with a fight between Emily and Takeda the night of the engagement party. He told her off for her lack of discipline and basically said that she can’t save both the boys she has feelings for (Jack and Daniel), which seems to indicate that one of them will take the fall for Tyler’s death.
With that mystery solved, we’re left to wonder who will be blamed and convicted for this murder. Right now, things aren’t looking so good for Daniel, who is being held at Rikers Island without bail. Fortunately, he has a top notch attorney in Courtney B. Vance’s Mr. Brooks, whom I expect will find a way to get Daniel out of prison. In the meantime, what are the odds that Jack will be able to afford a decent attorney if/when the cops find some reason to suspect him? The fact that it didn’t occur to him to dispose of the bloody hoodie, or at the very least, wash it, seems to indicate that he hasn’t done much to cover his tracks.
Going back to Daniel for a minute, during the confrontation on the beach, Tyler showed Daniel the photo and mentioned the location of the infinity box. This led Daniel to dig up the box himself from Emily’s floorboards. Emily found him poking through it and managed to convince him that the stuff was probably there from whoever lived there before (The Clarkes?). He seemed to buy it, or maybe he was just too exhausted to want to think about it anymore.
Speaking of buying it, when Victoria came by to give Emily the engagement present after Daniel was arrested, I almost thought her comments about hoping Emily stands by Daniel were genuine. And then she made a crack about Emily’s time in a juvenile detention facility, which might have just been a snide remark, or perhaps a comment to remind Emily of her own criminal past.
Moving on to everyone else...
Declan and Jack
Declan found Jack’s bloody hoodie, and after all the talk about the creepy hoodie-guy between Declan and Charlotte, it wasn’t surprising that he made the connection and figured out that it was Jack on the beach. He made it clear when he confronted Jack and handed him the hoodie that he’d protect him. Declan used a story about a time when Jack took the blame for something he broke when he was younger, which really wasn’t necessary. Simply saying, “You’re my brother and I know you wouldn’t kill anyone so I’m just going to throw this hoodie in the wash and forget I saw it.” would have sufficed. But maybe Declan doesn’t know that Jack didn’t kill Tyler, and he just wants his brother to know he has his back.
Charlotte
Charlotte’s still taking pills. She did have a semi-heart-to-heart with Emily and Emily asked her about the pills. The pills also came up in a conversation between Declan and Charlotte, so the situation isn’t exactly a secret but is it being taken seriously?
Ashley and Nolan
Boy are these two wildcards lately. Nolan apparently tampered with the security videos at the party on Takeda’s orders, unbeknownst to Emily. This explains their nods. Emily was not happy about that. Meanwhile, Ashley spent the episode putting her face and voice all over the press coverage of Daniel’s arrest. It was obvious from the start that she was milking the press opportunities for all they were worth, seeming all too happy to make one statement after another. We’ve known for a while that Ashley’s an opportunist, so that wasn’t all that surprising. And then we learned that she leaked the photos of Daniel covered in Tyler’s blood from the beach. Totally shady. Nolan is currently the only person who knows that little nugget of information. At present, he seems to be pocketing it, possibly planning to team up with Ashley. Hopefully at some point he hands that info over to Emily and she finds a way to pay Ashley back for what she did.
Amanda
No word from Amanda, but Jack did find a receipt for a $5 million wire transfer. Is she really gone?
Graysons
Finally, I suspected that Conrad’s involvement with terrorists was some kind of accident on his part. Not that he or Victoria are off the hook for pushing the blame onto David Clarke, nor is money laundering an especially ethical activity, but given what we’ve seen from Conrad and Victoria, they don’t strike me as the kinds of people that would knowingly collude with terrorists. One of the flashbacks we saw tonight revealed Conrad confessing to Victoria that he’d been laundering money for the group claiming responsibility for the plane crash. From the way he was talking, it seemed like he was genuinely upset about it, and maybe this is just me wanting to think better of the man, but he seemed sort of horrified by the whole thing and not merely upset because the connection could destroy his business and the family name.
And that’s all we get for weeks. Weeks! The next new episode airs at some point in April. On the bright side, there should be a handful of episodes left to the season, so hopefully when the show does return, we’ll see fewer breaks between new episodes.
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