Revenge

[Blake (HDLYR)]

1.1 Revenge: Pilot A-
1.2 Trust A
1.3 Betrayal A

I. Love. This. Show. It's one of the best I've watched in recent memory, to be quite honest. It doesn't try to be anything flashy or groundbreaking, and it's actually a spin on a classic favorite of mine "The Count of Monte Cristo". Where this show really excels is its characters, particularly its lead. It makes her story of revenge into something simultaneously dark and destructive, yet also relatable to an audience and something we want to root for.

This is the story of Emily Thorne, whose real name is Amanda Clarke, played by the irresistible Emily VanCamp. While she was very young, Emily/Amanda's father was imprisoned for funding a terrorist organization, subsequently destroying his life and hers. Yet a series of her father's journals left behind reveals the truth to Amanda. He was framed by those closest to him, his co-workers, and even his own lover, Victoria Grayson. Years later, after being estranged from her father and later his death, and a stint in juvie, Amanda takes on the monicker of wealthy bachelorette Emily Thorne and returns to the Hamptons to exact revenge upon the people who destroyed not only her father's life, but hers as well. In the first three episodes she targets her father's former secretary, his business partner, and the corrupt DA who led the prosecution in the trial. As she targets each person responsible for betraying her father, burning each of their lives to the ground, every step she takes will ultimately lead her to the biggest traitor of them all - Victoria.

The previews for this show made it seem like Emily goes around murdering people, offing them one by one like this were some sort of Harper's Island series. That isn't exactly the case. While she doesn't murder anyone per se, she does everything in her power to absolutely crush their lives into pieces. It's truly cold-blooded, calculating shiznit. Emily VanCamp usually plays such sweet and charming characters, and that's still the case as she schmoozes up to these rich Hamptonites to their faces, but behind their backs she is a ruthlessly evil mastermind. This kind of character is so out of the mold for VanCamp, and it's definitely one of the aspects of the show that really pulled me in. Emily Thorne is this perfect mix of elegance and charm, mixed with stoic cunning. There's a hatred brewing deep inside her, yet it never quite boils over to the surface. It's almost like we are constantly waiting for her to explode, but it never quite happens. I'm sure if and when it does, it will be truly magnificent.


Emily Thorne (aka Amanda Clarke)

Revenge itself is an ideal we frown upon in our society, but let's be honest, no one is immune to its sway. Deep down, there's something inside us that allows us to root for people who seek "honorable revenge". I think if Emily was going around murdering people, the honor in her would be much harder to find, but that is mostly alleviated here. There are two things about her quest that make us want to side with her. First, she knows she is on a self-destructive path. From the very first scene of the pilot, she makes it perfectly clear that this will not bode well for her. She knows she is obsessive, full of hate, and she does not expect to come out on top of any of this. She simply feels that bad people should get what they deserve, no matter the cost. What's worse is that her father never wanted this for her, and she is going against his wishes by failing to forgive. This makes her a really compelling tragic hero in my eyes, nothing delusional about her, and I can't wait to see more.
Secondly, she allows these bad people to destroy themselves. Emily does not create the various scandals that destroy each of her victims from the inside, they create the scandals for themselves. She simply facilitates bringing their vices and dirty laundry to the surface, so all the sins these people have committed finally catch up to them. In some instances, Emily has to be a little more devious than others, but overall, she is working to destroy people who are mostly bad at heart, thus giving the audience something to root for.

I think if this show had a different cast, it'd be much less appealing to me. VanCamp is a perfect casting choice, definitely, but I think it's that way across the board. I was just as excited to see Nick Wechsler back on television because I've always felt he's completely underused in everything he's in. I love that he finally has a lead role that he deserves. (Man crush, yes, I won't deny.) The only reservation I have so far is Madeleine Stowe as Victoria, which is unfortunate because she's such an important character. I can't tell if it's the writing, or the performance, (probably a combination of both) but she comes across as very stiff. Some bad guys are so deliciously evil that you love every scene they're in, but that's never really been the case here. Not just Victoria, but when all these super rich Hamptonites speak to each other, they're all so proper and elegant - it's one of the things I simultaneously love and hate about the dialogue. In some instances, their etiquette is perfectly timed, like when Emily is putting on a front and masking her true self. At other times, it's boringly out of place. I'd say Victoria is the worst about it. Instances when I expect her to loosen up and show her evil side, it's masked behind a wall of falsely Victorian (no pun) dialogue that I don't think the audience, or even the actress herself, is buying as authentic. Mostly it's just a kink in the writing that needs to be worked out, and ultimately it's not a big enough flaw to turn me off from the show, just kind of an annoyance.


Victoria and Emily

The great casting find in this show is by far Gabriel Mann as Nolan Ross. Nolan is this techie super genius who's made an immense fortune for himself, but at his core he's this socially maladjusted individual with no respect for the society of the super rich in which he has built a name for himself. He's the only one who knows the truth about Amanda/Emily, so he worms his way into her life as an ally she never wanted. There's something pathetic about Nolan, like he's in a constant struggle to fight his own boredom, yet he's also desperate to make friends, latching onto people around him. He practically jumps at the chance to befriend Emily. Despite her qualms in working with this semi-sociopathic leech, she quickly learns that he is a valuable asset and possibly someone she can trust. The reserved partnership between the two of them is very fun to watch and one of the best things about the show.


Emily and Nolan, unexpected allies

Right now Emily's love interest is Daniel Grayson (Joshua Bowman) who is Victoria's own son. He's a reformed bad boy with a heart of gold. At first we are led to believe he is just one link in the chain for Emily in order to finally get to Victoria, but something tells us she has unintentionally developed real feelings for him. There's a really cool moment in the third episode where she manipulates him - we think it is to serve her own purposes - but in the end it's hard to tell. Maybe it was for his own good. I don't find Daniel to be all that interesting, but that is one thing I enjoy watching about this relationship - you can't tell what Emily is thinking about him. Will Emily set aside her feelings for him and use him as a pawn in her chess game, or will he be the complication to her plan she wasn't expecting? It's almost impossible to get a read on Emily's true motives.


The Porter Brothers, Declan and Jack

The B-plot of the series revolves around the Porter family, who are these blue-collar restaurant owners from the docks. Jack (Nick Wechsler) is the oldest son trying to keep everyone together, and Declan (Connor Paolo) is the younger rebellious son who is seemingly caught up in his own small-scale revenge story. Down-to-earth Jack is still pining away for his childhood sweetheart, Amanda, totally unaware that she has returned to him in the form of Emily Thorne. Jack and Emily cross paths at obscure moments, and frankly their two stories are only loosely tied together right now, but there's something certain that tells us we are only waiting to be clued in to how important these two characters will be to each other. Despite Emily's feelings for Daniel, perhaps Jack is the man who is meant for her. And here's why...

The opening scene of the pilot takes a huge, calculated risk. Immensely huge. It gives away the ending. Yeah, bold. Five months down the line, Daniel is seemingly shot at his and Emily's engagement party, Nolan has been in cahoots with Emily (something you couldn't have predicted right away), and most importantly good-guy Jack is somehow involved with the shooting. Is he working with Emily? Have they resorted to murdering Daniel together? Or is Jack a bad guy now? So many questions of how and why these characters get to this point in the story are left lingering, and I think it was a very bold move to tease the audience right off the bat. Something tells us we simply viewed the "end" from a blurry, out of focused POV, like we are taking what we saw out of context. That is most likely the case. I am really looking forward to seeing all the step by step episodes and how they put the final results into a clearer perspective. This speaks well of the writers and gives me a lot of hope in the success of the series - I can't imagine you would reveal the final act of your story had you not already planned out a solid season. It gives me a lot of hope in the direction of the story arc, so it's all a matter of time before we start to see if the show can truly deliver after such a promising start.

1.4 Duplicity (A+)
1.5 Guilt (A)
1.6 Intrigue (A)
1.7 Charade (A-)
1.8 Treachery (B+)
1.9 Suspicion (A)
1.10 Loyalty (A+)
1.11 Duress (A)
1.12 Infamy (A-)
1.13 Commitment (A+)
1.14 Perception (A)
1.15 Chaos (A-)
1.16 Scandal (A-)
1.17 Doubt (A)
1.18 Justice (A+)
1.19 Absolution (B+)
1.20 Legacy (B-)
1.21 Grief (A)

[Kurai]

Great review! You've made me want to watch it... And I will!

[Blake (HDLYR)]

Young Amanda

1.4 Duplicity A+
1.5 Guilt A

Revenge maintains its incredibly strong opening with two more episodes, this time with minor shifts in the status quo. Rather than Emily Thorne exacting revenge upon those who wronged and ruined her father, this is the first time she targets someone for purely personal reasons. Rather than avenging her father, she sets out to ruin the life of the psychiatrist who basically stole her childhood from her. Emily/Amanda's tragic past is revealed, and it's truly depressing, but equally significant is Victoria's role in it. Victoria was responsible for institutionalizing Amanda as a child, acting in cahoots with the psychiatrist so Amanda would never be released to freedom, never hovering around Victoria as an emotional reminder of the fall of David Clarke. This was only the beginning of a long history of Amanda growing up in the youth detention system because of Victoria's actions.

Not only does Emily/Amanda target the psychiatrist using some savagely cold-blooded tactics (locking her away like a prisoner in a chained storage container - bad ass), but this is also her first deliberate move against Victoria herself. In the process of exposing the psychiatrist for her dirty methods, releasing recorded videos of patients' counseling sessions, Victoria's scorn for her daughter Charlotte is exposed to the world. You could easily say Charlotte is the first innocent casualty in Emily's war of revenge, and I actually appreciate this complication. The unexpected consequence wasn't highlighted much in this instance, but I really hope this is a taste of things to come. Emily can't expect to wage a war without innocent casualties.


Hamptons Exposed

These two episodes do a lot to give Victoria a chance to shine, something that was needed for the series to continue to be successful. In these episodes we glimpse behind Victoria's shell a bit more and see how much guilt truly drives her actions - and in spite of guilt, she covers it with more sins rather than ever confessing. But despite Victoria's cold nature, you could definitely say she still doesn't quite stand a chance against Emily. While Victoria has her share of cunning tactics, Emily has simply outwitted her at every turn so far. That's why I really like the character Frank - the Graysons' private head of security. The guy is really the only formidable foe Emily has on the show - he's an equally cunning liar, he's quite a skilled detective, but more frighteningly he does not shy away from violence. I actually look forward to Emily vs. Frank more than I look forward to Emily vs. Victoria.


Emily vs. Lydia

In the second episode, the former secretary from the pilot episode, Lydia Davis, returns to the Hamptons to - ironically - exact her own form of revenge. She has her sights set on both Emily and Victoria - blaming each of them for her fall from grace in the pilot. The episode opens with what could be any of three possibilities - 1) Lydia has committed suicide, 2) Emily has killed her, or 3) the Graysons have killed her. While the first half of the episode was a bit of a stutter step, it really kicked into gear as each possibility became more and more feasible. You're not quite sure who is going to cause Lydia's death - but by the end, when all is said and done, it's still a pretty chilling outcome. It gives me a reasonable amount of hope that the same technique used in the pilot will be executed well enough when the time comes - show the violent end first, then go back and put everything into perspective.

Elsewhere, Nolan continues to be awesome. His constant meddling in Emily's life is really amusing - as if it weren't bad enough he's weaseled his way into becoming her accomplice, now he is meddling in her love life too. He plays a twisted version of matchmaker to humor himself. Jack and Emily's two stories have really begun to come together organically, partially in thanks to Nolan.


Epic meddler

Daniel continues to remain the wild card in Emily's plans. It's obvious now she has real feelings for him and she won't be able to pull his strings like she does with everyone else. Daniel's friend Tyler was a bit of an annoyance - his sociopathic lying was more excessively unnecessary, and superfluous to the story, than it was cunning and fun to watch - but hopefully adding this character to the narrative just gives Emily one more person to destroy later down the line

All in all, Revenge is still on a hot streak with a surprisingly powerful opening. The first three episodes presented a formula: Emily targets and destroys someone who ruined her father's life. These two episodes, however, complicate things a bit more in a fantastic way. The episodic formula is still in place, but now we see that Emily's sense of revenge and destruction has spread a much wider circle. It started with avenging her father's downfall, but it has become entirely more personal to her. There will continue to be complications, innocent casualties, and hopefully some formidable foes who can match her criminal genius and rival her wit.

[Blake (HDLYR)]

Emily and Ashley

1.6 Intrigue A

The writers more or less read my mind - Frank is a worthy adversary to Emily. I was actually quite surprised (simultaneously thrilled) when it's revealed early in the episode that Frank is Emily's next target. Yet at the same time I was guardedly cautious - while a guarantee for a seemingly exciting episode, disposing of Frank this early in the game would be a highly tragic move for the show.

Luckily the writers agreed with me. This is the first time one of Emily's targets has matched her wits, and even though Frank is completely unaware at first that she is the person pulling the strings against him, ruining his life, it's his sheer tenacity that allows him to come out relatively unscathed compared to Emily's other victims. In fact, he's fairly successful in unearthing her role in all the events that have occurred since the pilot, and no doubt he's about to complicate things for Emily in a very upsetting way. What's worse is that he has leverage over Nolan - and now that we've seen how weak-willed Nolan can be under pressure - Emily might be losing her most valuable asset in all of this.


Frank and Nolan

Elsewhere, Daniel's friend Tyler is up to his usual schemes. The guy is basically a psychopath, and there's no telling what his motivation is for doing the sadistic things he does to Daniel. I really wish they'd clarify the purpose of this character a bit more - but seeing Emily completely own this guy after one conversation with him was indeed awesome to watch. Probably my favorite outcome of this sideplot was seeing Emily's callous hatred getting the best of her again, enough to offend the innocent Ashley. Just like what happened with Charlotte, it's another sign that Emily's anger will cause innocent people to suffer more and more.

Lastly, Jack gets his moment to shine. Everyone in the world is rooting for this guy to be with Emily - it's one of those things where you have your characters conveying the audience's sentiment. So many people are telling Jack he's got what it takes, encouraging him to make a move on Emily, even though we as the audience have the outward perspective of knowing that is an absolutely ill-conceived idea. Nothing Jack can do or say to Emily will possibly work out well for him. But do we want to see him use his better judgement, and simply walk away? No. We don't. Despite putting himself on the line this early in the game, making himself vulnerable to rejection, confessing his feelings in an all too premature and potentially desperate fashion, we want him to make that bold leap. Because despite the predictable outcome, we still hope for the better one.
It's hard to say where Jack goes from here. I've always viewed him as Emily's anchor back toward innocence, while his actions in the pilot teaser (where he has possibly shot Daniel) hint that his own innocence was inevitably going to be compromised at some point. Perhaps this rejection was simply the first step on that path.

[Johno]

I watched the pilot the week it came out - wasn't a big fan but I've been DVR'ing all the latest episodes. Hopefully we can get to them soon, I want to catch up, your reviews make it seem so good! Starting to sound like my kind of show. Haven't found any really good shows yet this season except The Secret Circle due to every show I love having already ended, so this could help me fill up that void. ;D

[Blake (HDLYR)]

Declan and Charlotte

1.7 Charade A-

There's a lot of interesting material in this episode. For instance, everything involving Emily is just as intriguing as ever, and her past and her present are constantly becoming more and more complex. Unfortunately this was the first time I felt other plots within the episode detracted from compelling events within the A-story. I've never really found Victoria, Conrad, Charlotte, Declan, and Ashley to be all that interesting, so seeing all 5 of them with a greater amount of screen time in one episode was a bit too much for me. I understand the intent of the episode - which was using this transitional point in the season to diminish a central plot and allow the drama between the characters to unfold - the "charade" theme is in tact across the board - but while that was done really well with major players like Emily, Daniel, Nolan, etc - focusing on all these minor players at once caused me to be slightly disengaged.

So in the end, I'd say Emily's story only encompasses about 40-50% of the episode, but the amount of information we're learning was well deserving of the full 90-100% she should have gotten. She's dealing with the direct aftermath of Frank setting his sights on her. It's the first time we've seen her in panic mode - I really liked the sense of fear Frank puts into her, cracking her stone-cold demeanor - but my only gripe is that Emily's fear wasn't highlighted more throughout the episode.

Yet interestingly enough, Emily pulls out a secret weapon from her reserves: Warden Stiles. Stiles was the warden of the juvie center where Emily was incarcerated, who is now working as Emily's trusted confidante and ally. Their entire relationship is explained through subtext, but it's easy enough to comprehend. My guess is that the warden knew David Clarke's guilt and Amanda Clarke's incarceration were both just a ruse, but Stiles could do nothing to prove it. Therefore she helped Amanda assume the identity of Emily and even trained her with the necessary skills to operate in secrecy. I'm really looking forward to learning more about Warden Stiles after her brief introduction here.

Frank, on the other hand, works his angle and is able to deduce the truth about Amanda/Emily's secret identity. It was a bit of a twist to discover that there is a Real Emily Thorne still out there, and an even bigger twist that Emily and Real Emily are on the same page about the name switch. It was certainly not a case of identity theft, but rather identity trading. Like Warden Stiles, Real Emily's connection to Amanda/Emily is explained in subtext, but her end-of-episode appearance in the Hamptons leads me to wonder what's in store now. And more curiously - has she murdered Frank to keep the girls' secret in tact?


A meeting with the real Emily Thorne

While Emily is busy tending to more pressing matters, the actual "revenge" portion of the story is shuffled off to Nolan, which is a pleasant concept to work with. Aside from some humorous material with his new bodyguard (a side effect of Frank's threats), Nolan relishes in the idea of disposing of Tyler on Emily's behalf. He's nowhere near as calculating or subtle about the takedown as Emily is, but in some sense he gets the job done.

I feel a bit thick-headed for not going with my gut in the previous episodes. I had always tinkered with the theory that Tyler was messing with Daniel because he was sexually attracted to him, but I was never entirely sold. As it stands, that's exactly the case. His constant lying, aiming to break up Emily and Daniel, is specifically for that reason. But perhaps the more intriguing development is that Nolan himself is gay. It makes me wonder what obvious signs I've been overlooking there as well - kinda makes you wonder if he was clinging to Jack earlier in the season for a much different reason than just "making friends".

Tying into Jack, he's of course embarrassed about confessing his feelings to Emily in the previous episode, but more importantly the focus is on Emily's reaction now. Despite the fact that she rejected him, there's no doubt he touched her in some fashion - her peace offering of the compass was an obvious indication. But more so, it's her reaction when Daniel finds out about what transpired that dimes her out. It's another complication that sends Emily into panic mode. She is forced use the "I love you" card - probably much earlier in the game than she intended, and it comes across as a calculated risk to not only keep Daniel close to her, but to mask any feelings for Jack that she is afraid to admit. I believe Emily does love Daniel and is not using him as a chess piece, but she also knows she is deliberately fighting to suppress Jack from her mind. She unwillingly manipulated Daniel here, not for his own good, not to serve her own plan, but to save herself from her own fear and self-doubts.

[Dale]

this is actually one of the few new shows i've actually enjoyed and invested in. glad to see someone else is thinking likewise.

[Johno]

Caught up to "Guilt" tonight. Fantastic show. Looking forward to finally catching up!

[Blake (HDLYR)]

Mentor and Mastermind

1.8 Treachery B+

I've had a hard time writing this review because the overall episode comes across as a bit of a mixed bag with me. There's nothing inherently bad about any of the content, but it drastically changes tone halfway through. It starts off relatively light-hearted - and while this is common in TV episodes, especially when it's used as a distraction for a much darker turn that looms next - I'm not so sure it was used correctly here. Just when the past few episodes really start becoming edgier and more complicated, especially for the main character, this episode starts off with everything in the world turning about on its usual course, as if nothing were wrong. An amnesiatic Lydia is no longer a problem for Emily/Amanda or Victoria, Tyler isn't suffering from his takedown in the previous episode, and most disappointingly Frank's fate is confirmed and he's given an early departure from the show. (Kinda bummed about this.) The Real Emily Thorne arrives at Emily/Amanda (Emanda)'s doorstep, and while she's a total wild card in the revenge game, Emanda seems to know how to play her pretty well.

Real Emily was a fun character, immediately twisting up the dynamic between the characters and assimilating herself into an already well-established chemistry. Nolan takes an immediate disliking to her, while Jack on the other hand lands on the complete opposite end of the spectrum. Emily was fun to watch (andohmygodshe'shot) but like I said, mixed bag with me. Disposing of Frank already had me on the skeptical end of the viewer scale, so I'm still waiting to see if Emily is going to be an adequate replacement, filling his status as the wild card character.


The pact

Emily and Emanda's backstory still manages to bring the best bit of material to the episode though. While in present time we are led to believe the two girls have a sisterly love between them, the flashbacks suggest that the emotional connection between them is entirely another one of Emanda's manipulations. The two girls were once tooth-and-nail rivals in juvie, and Emily was Emanda's first true enemy in life. Warden Stiles plants the seed in young Emanda's mind that violence is not necessarily the best form of revenge, so it's interesting to see how far Emanda can go to target someone. Her "love" for Emily is almost certainly an act - maybe not a weapon used to destroy, but definitely a tool used to control. Real Emily could have been a patsy in all this, tricked into going along with the identity swap. Based on their interactions I'm also curious as to just how convincing Emanda had to be to win Emily over. Was it just me, or did anyone else get the impression that it was more than just a sisterly love that was forged between them? Possibly romantic? (#wishfulthinking?)

This is the second episode in a row where Emanda's backstory and her present-day complications are by far the most important and intriguing parts of the episode, yet she is not awarded a larger chunk of the screen time. It's kind of a shame that the other characters and their plotlines are not really carrying the show the same way she is. I guess we're still getting to know them on the same level, to be fair, but the biggest drawback is probably that they simply don't face the same kind of obstacles that Emanda faces. While she's constantly playing a game of lies, intrigue, deception, and cover-ups, the other characters are... ... ...not.

[Jacko]

The ads for this show just started coming out here, and it looks soooooo good!

[Blake (HDLYR)]

The Emandas

1.9 Suspicion A

One thing that was instantly great about this show was the complexity of Emily Thorne and how quickly her multitude of faces was conveyed to the audience. I always had a bit of concern that the other characters weren't so quickly intriguing as the lead and they'd even started to become a bit of a road block, slowing down the pacing of a really great story told on Emily's side. But this episode certainly addresses my concerns about them. Emily is so great because she has agendas on top of agendas, and plans within plans, so the writers take this opportunity to lay out the goals of all the other characters too. There's so much sneaking, lying, and conspiring - and granted no one is quite as good at the ulterior motive game as Emily - but it's nice to know that each of the other characters is capable of something more than what's on the surface. You've got Tyler and Ashley with their schemes for power and prestige, and Victoria across the board manipulating everyone to suit her desires. Even Charlotte and Declan get in on the action with a pretty clever ruse, allowing them to continue their relationship against Victoria's wishes.

Emily doesn't set her sights on anyone this week, but it's actually a pretty necessary delay for her revenge game. I really like that Real Emily/Faux Amanda/Cara (man I don't really know what to call this chick anymore) is becoming such a nuisance for Emily. She's the first person who has caused Emily to take a step back, re-evaluate the next course of action and weigh more options, and not rush into any plan toward eliminating this unpredictable target. Amanda (I'm just gonna call her Amanda) has a lot of the same appeal that made Emily so likeable from the start - she's complex and layered enough to be capable of pretty much anything, so we never know what to expect. She assumes the role of the long lost Amanda Clarke, not only in an attempt to cement Jack's infatuation with her, but presumably to put Emily in her place. It's kind of a dominance thing, stealing away Emily's true identity that she's always kept in the reserves. Emily has always been clinging to the Amanda Clarke identity as her anchor toward innocence - and attached directly to that anchor was Jack - but now it seems that both of these connections to her past belong solely to someone else.


What he's been waiting for...

Speaking of Emily's reserves, it seems Warden Stiles was only the first person to join Emily's list of allies, not the last. We're introduced to Satoshi Takeda, a confucian guru who literally trained Emily to be the living weapon that she is today. I'm curious to know exactly what he trained her in, and what kind of skillsets Emily may possess that we haven't seen already, but I'm also slightly worried that this can come across as campy. It's bad enough the guy is playing into a borderline Asian stereotype, but the immediate thought of Emily training under him is all too reminiscent of Uma Thurman's character in Kill Bill. That was my first mental image at least - and never in my right mind would I say Revenge and Kill Bill are two matching styles. It could be a needless worry on my part, the show hasn't gone down that path yet so I can't imagine it would choose to start now.

[Blake (HDLYR)]

Tyler and Nolan

1.10 Loyalty A+

One of the pleasant surprises of this show has been the unexpectedly unique relationship between Emily and Nolan. They're both sociopaths, no doubt about it, but they work on completely opposite ends of the spectrum. While she's reserved, calculating, and stoic, he's more of a devious firecracker and a jester. One particularly interesting facet of their not-quite-friendship is that he loves to meddle - whether it be with her plans, with Jack's love for her, or always teasing her with the idea that he could expose her true identity - yet all his meddling is rooted in the fact that he does care about her to some degree. Whether it's genuine care, or simply out of respect for David Clarke, he's willing to be loyal where it counts. Ironically, Emily doesn't see it that way. When Nolan's attraction to Tyler becomes suspect, Emily even goes so far as to place Nolan in her list of top three roadblocks in her revenge game, right alongside Tyler and Amanda. Emily does her usual thing, where she pulls one tiny string with someone and it escalates into complicating and victimizing someone's life. It's kind of ironic and ruthless how out of the three of them - Tyler, Amanda, and Nolan - she gives Nolan the worst treatment in this episode. While he's the least threatening of any of them, his suspect motivations cut at her and agitate her the most. And Amanda, who's probably the most threatening, gets the slowest burn.

This all ties into Satoshi's assessment of Emily, which is right on the money, believe it or not. Though Emily is consummately stoic, it's true that her emotions are absolutely in control of her. His brief appearances in the wickedly clever dinner scene, and then the porch scene, make it perfectly clear that he feels she is emotionally compromised. I don't blame him for walking away - it's a great indication of how the season is hitting a complication phase. Emily's lust for revenge, her split feelings of attraction between Daniel and Jack, and now even her distrust of Nolan is all spiraling, albeit slowly, in a pattern that indicates she may eventually lose control of it. She's treating Nolan like an enemy all because her emotional rapport with him is compromised.


Niiinja...

One pressing question I've had is how is Emily going to deal with Amanda. Amanda is perfectly content stealing that identity, even using it as a tool to win Jack's affections, and more importantly she is planting herself in the Hamptons with a firm enough foundation that Emily can't just dispose of her in one move. Satoshi offers Emily the suggestion: pit her two biggest enemies against each other, meaning Victoria and Amanda. I wasn't sure how all this would play out, especially when Emily is being so nice and helpful toward Amanda throughout the whole episode, even educating her on the appropriate backstory to assist in her cover, but by the end of the episode it makes perfect sense. Emily has deliberately left out the most important portion of the backstory: the part where Victoria's biggest fear is Amanda Clarke herself, the little girl she once locked away in an institution. Little does this new Amanda know that Victoria will soon be gunning for her, and Emily has deliberately left Amanda in the dark and exposed to danger.

Tyler, once an annoying character to me, has become far more interesting with time. I think the fact that Emily has such a low assessment of his threat-level is what makes him a legitimate threat after all. He's definitely skilled at adapting to any situation and a quick-thinking liar. Add to that the fact that he's fresh out of anti-psychotic drugs, and I'd say this guy is capable of some real trouble.


A shaky allegiance

Overall, one of the best episodes yet. After reading the summary for the episode, I was expecting a little more interaction between Emily and Nolan than what we got, since that thread was so important - but despite the screen time, the end results were superb. Their relationship definitely hits a low point, so it's more complicated than ever.

[Blake (HDLYR)]

Happy Birthday, Daniel

1.11 Duress A

Revenge is one of those shows that doesn't occupy a lot of my brain space. It's not a series I actively and constantly think about or spend a significant amount of my time theorizing and predicting what may happen next. But it is a show that, when it's not around, I miss it dearly. Now that's it back from hiatus, a lacking part of me is instantly gratified and I'm reminded just why I ever held it in such high esteem in the first place. It's simply fun. It's well thought-out, pre-planned enough to offer a sense of direction, and always in a constant state of growth: the characters are becoming more clear and relatable with every scene, and the plot is always thickening.

After the fallout between Emily and Nolan in the previous episode, their dual apologies really meant a lot. Their first scene together in this episode was probably my favorite scene of the series to date. They're both so stubborn, and find social etiquette to be such a burden, that a simple apology on both of their parts is an excruciating task for them. It was fun seeing them struggle to find the words, something that's very uncommon for both of them, and it really highlights how important these two characters are to each other. You can even say they're friends now, and it's a completely deserved friendship - they've worked for it and it feels earned. So many shows struggle to accomplish this relationship between two characters and Revenge has done it in only 11 episodes.

The main plot here revolves around Tyler's psychotic collapse during Daniel's birthday festivities and Emily using it to her advantage to finally put an end to his meddling. Ashton Holmes has always been a little over the top in his portrayal of Tyler, in my opinion, because he delights in the deviousness of his character a little too much. Most individuals do not relish their own evil qualities, which is probably why it took me so long to warm up to the character in the first place, but having his psychosis come into play and culminate in a gunpoint hostage situation seemed befitting, to say the least. Tyler, as an antagonist, definitely escalated from beginning to end, so ultimately I was not disappointed. Revenge let other important bad guys go out with a whimper in the past - Frank being the big example - but here the suspense was maintained for good measure. Not only that, but Emily's brilliance at manipulation actually required some real effort on her part and defeating him felt rewarding, whatever your opinion of Tyler may have been.

I'm still not hugely attached to Victoria Grayson or her particular divorce plotline, which almost seems like filler to simply keep her involved in the show. I think my biggest grievance with her as a character is that she simply isn't on par with Emily. There's nothing in Victoria's arsenal of lies and schemes that seems relatively close to the kind of manipulation Emily is capable of. The fact that the entire season (possibly series?) is supposed to culminate in the final showdown between Emily and Victoria is sadly not something that has me eager and on the edge of my seat. I think, maybe, if they can elevate Victoria as a character and a primary antagonist, then quite possibly Revenge could become one of those shows that actively sticks with me even when it's not on the air. Just a thought.

[Blake (HDLYR)]

Devious Duo

1.12 Infamy A-

The past 8 or so episodes were so focused on the central cast members and exploring their personalities and relationships that I had almost forgotten about the original episode formula presented early on, where Emily targets the conspirators one-by-one. It's been a while since they've brought a new member of the conspiracy into the foreground, but this time it's the author who wrote the "tell all" biography about David Clarke, airing his crimes and misgivings to the general public. The arson plotline was a bit telegraphed from the start, but ultimately the characters carried the episode with enough depth to satisfy.

Treadwell was an interesting enough character and layered enough to at least garner some sympathy. He's not fully evil, yet far from innocent, and there's a seed of decency buried inside him, so I think Revenge could stand to use more characters like this along the way - people who can challenge Emily's convictions and make her question her own path in life. It would do justice to her character development for the writers to present her with opposing characters who at least challenge her ethically, even if they are no match for her in wits. I think this twist with Charlotte has a lot of potential - she is exactly the kind of innocent, untainted character who can make Emily squirm a little. Every time they show a little bit of Emily's shell of stoicism cracking away, it's all the more fun.

I'm loving that Emily and Nolan are working in tandem now. Watching them exchange those sly, knowing glances every time they see a potential opening for their plan is pretty fun. Sometimes it's hard to get into Emily's head when she's concocting a plan on her own - so in those cases, the reward for the audience is ultimately seeing her plan come to fruition through some sort of surprise turn of events - but seeing the build-up to the endgame as she interacts with Nolan is certainly fun too. We kind of see the plan as it comes together piece by piece, from bottom to top, and the more Nolan is involved, the more we're involved too.


Party Girl

Jack gets a glimpse of Amanda's wild-girl side, and it's certainly not a pleasant awakening. He's annoyed, bothered, disappointed... mostly because it's not the kind of behavior he expected from his long-lost childhood love. No doubt he was in for a rude awakening anyway, regardless of whom he ended up with - Emily or Amanda - because neither girl can truly live up to the idolized image of Amanda Clarke that Jack has been forging in his mind since childhood.

Revenge continues to deliver, ever building on the solid premise and keeping things fresh. If it's not focusing on its characters directly, then it's expanding the overall mythology with the David Clarke conspiracy, even in a transitional episode like this. Revenge hasn't really ventured into much new territory since the first 4 or 5 episodes, but the established parameters of the show are broad enough and diverse enough across the board that you hardly notice. In the end, every episode counts for something significant and contributes to the season in some fashion.

[Blake (HDLYR)]

Joy in dark times

1.13 Commitment A+

This episode is all about Emily questioning her own commitment to her revenge crusade. This point in her quest has been in the works all season, and as the collateral damage grows wider with each passing moment, it was only a matter of time before she had to take a step back and re-evaluate her course of action. There's so much moral ambiguity in what she's been doing from the start that not even her own stoic nature can allow her to continue on in cold-blooded heartlessness forever. It's further proof that despite her outward appearance, Emily does have a heart and is often swayed by whatever emotional turmoil she is bringing to herself or others.

Everything about this episode is so dreary - visibly, tonally, even the music captures it from scene to scene - nothing good comes from any turn of events in this episode. Amanda begins to catch onto the fact that she is being played... Jack is caught up in a violent altercation that has nothing to do with him... Charlotte is an innocent casualty in the Grayson divorce, and her tears of childlike innocence break Emily's cold exterior... every scene from beginning to end is so... depressing. You'd think Daniel proposing to Emily would be a joyful occasion to kind of set the balance, but the writers brilliantly turn it into yet another moment of doubt for Emily, as it should be. There's something inherently good happening in her life (despite the fact that it's a pretend life), yet everyone else around her is suffering to an extreme. So in light of recent events, Emily wants to press the "pause button" on the whole scheme, and because of her and Daniel's mutual feelings on top of everything else, it's all the more necessary.

That's why the twist at the end of the episode is all the more deserved. The entire episode is about Emily spiralling out of control, everything around her collapsing into chaos, and right when you think she's about to call it quits - boom, you can see the firework reignite in her eyes, the burning, justifiable anger as Victoria (finally) comes across as a downright evil villain. So Emily is back in the game without a second thought. If this isn't tremendous proof that Emily is controlled by her emotions, then I don't know what is.
Emily VanCamp's performance has been so subtle and controlled all season, and a lot of early critics of the show had been attributing it to a lack of emotional empathy between actress and character, but I think she's done an astounding job. Her restraint is not an indication of her acting flaws, but rather a testament to her abilities. With the help of great writing as well, she's captured an emotional journey of a character mostly without words. The fact that she actually breaks down into tears in this episode only certified how important this turning point for the character was meant to be.

Just in addendum to this review, I wonder if this is the last of we'll see of Amanda. This certainly was not the fate I was expecting for her - I was expecting a loud, dramatic overthrow instead of this sad, tearful departure. But I actually think this way was all the more surprising and befitting. It was certainly unexpected, but more so I think it captured the essence of Emily's vulnerability in this episode. Guilty of what happened to Jack, and simply exhausted of dealing with Amanda, Emily quietly pleads with her to leave town - and out of Amanda's unquestioning love for her, it is done.
The door is still open so Amanda could easily return someday, and I wouldn't mind a bit. Aside from Margarita Levieva being on the show some more, which is great for the male viewers, it could easily give us a second chance to see her character be brought down again, but with more ruthless tactics for her crazy self later on.

Best episode yet!

[Johno]

The show's 2012 episodes have been fantastic so far. Definitely one of the best shows on network TV... Emily VanCamp has been simply amazing and Madeleine Stowe has been great too, imo, her facial expressions are so devious. One moment I'm rooting for Victoria and the next I'm not, but it's amazing to say that despite all the evil-doing she's done herself, I've always rooted for Emily Throne and never thought otherwise. I think that's what makes this show great.

I was sad to see Amanda go in the last episode (hotnessssss), but it's for the best. She's been stirring up way too much trouble recently for Emily, I was afraid it was going to get her killed off. That tea scene between her and Victoria was all kinds of awesome though.

[43 - livetogether]

I gave this show a chance cause it was on after two of the other shows I watch Modern Family and Happy Endings. Boy, I am glad I did. It's easily one of my favorite must watch shows. If it weren't for Homeland, it would be my favorite new show.

EW had some "teasers" about plot points. Nothing big at all. It just got me really excited to watch the show.

[Blake (HDLYR)]

Jack demands answers

1.14 Perception A

Revenge is back from a brief hiatus, and I love that the writers don't mind shaking things up right from the start. There's a tangible change in the air as the Fire and Ice Ball, previewed in the pilot, looms ever closer, and this episode (while still full of excitement and drama) is simply the calm before the storm. Emily's opening narration hints at one thing I've said all along - it's perception that is key to what happens next. The deadly events that we see transpiring at the Fire and Ice Ball may or may not be taken completely out of context. We're led to believe Jack is on the road to killing Daniel, and it seems like the goal of this episode is to make that possibility believable, while still implying that our perception of the event may be skewed. We don't know all the Who, Where, Why, How... Whatever the answers are, it makes for great suspense and keeps the audience off balance - we're ultimately not able to predict the outcome even if it has already been shown to us.

Jack is in a frenzy after Amanda suddenly skips town. He knows he's being played and he knows he's being kept in the dark. It took me a while to sympathize with his intense anger, but by the end I think I reached an understanding. The explanation for Jack's rage isn't given in this episode - but it doesn't need to be. It's already been explained in the past 13 episodes. The man is practically obsessed with his idolized image of Amanda Clarke, and all it takes is a fleeting glimpse of her to turn his world upside down. He can only accept one conclusion for her leaving him twice in one lifetime, and that's the idea that someone has stolen her from him. That someone is Victoria. So in the end, I don't think Jack's change from good-natured soul to irate avenger is out of character for him in the least. If these are the events that eventually transpire into his alleged actions at the Fire and Ice Ball, then it makes sense that he would go down such a dark path - especially if he sees Emily for who she truly is during the process. She's a liar, a manipulator, and constantly abuses their friendship. Jack could very well attack Daniel not as a strike against Victoria, but Emily instead.

Hand in hand with all that is Amanda's reaction to being asked to leave. She's hurting Jack at the expense of being loyal to Emily, but there's no doubt where her true loyalties will fall by the end. Her scenes with Jack at the hotel were so gritty and raw, and in my eyes that really helped break down Jack and Amanda to their cores. When Amanda ultimately chooses Jack over Emily, it's not much of a surprise - but the real twist is that she's stolen Emily's box o' secrets, in a sense sealing her decision with an irreversible action.


A rare glimpse at vulnerability

In some regards Emily is broken down in this episode as well. For one, losing the box is a majorly crushing blow. And two, this is the first time we've ever seen her alter her plans for someone else's benefit. She's considered pulling back on the reins for a while now, especially when innocent people get hurt, but her anger has always won out. Here, however, she deliberately changes course to protect Charlotte from getting hurt. Charlotte is the most ideally innocent person on the show, so I like that the writers are using her as this on-going metaphor to continually challenge Emily's ethics. Instead of exposing Charlotte's true parentage for the sake of stabbing at the Graysons, Emily has second thoughts about the collateral damage it will cause Charlotte and stops her plan. It's a rare move for her, but I think the on-going question presented here, however, is will Emily show the same restraint when it comes to Daniel or Jack?

But the funny thing about Emily's move to spare Charlotte is that the Graysons have a way of bringing their own dirt to the surface, even if Emily sits back and lets things unfold on their own. As Conrad reveals Charlotte's parentage to everyone at dinner and all hells breaks loose, you can't help but noticed the surprised, yet smug look on Emily's face. It's not the outcome she wanted, but as long as her hands remain clean, she'll take whatever damage inflicted upon the Graysons that she can get.

I'll end this with a simple observation about Conrad. I'm surprised Emily hasn't set him or his business in her crosshairs more than she already has. If anything, he seems more responsible for the betrayal of David Clarke than anyone else - he was definitely the one who had to pull all the right strings to set the conspiracy into motion. Yet Emily focuses on Victoria instead, the one who emotionally betrayed David. I'm sure David would agree that she was the bigger traitor, but it's still a curious fact why Emily hasn't sought to cripple the Grayson empire on a larger scale yet. Possibly saving that for season two?

[Blake (HDLYR)]

The fateful night arrives

1.15 Chaos A-

spoilers, proceed with caution

If anything is certain, expectations have never been riding higher. The long-awaited Fire and Ice Ball has finally arrived and all obscure visions of that fateful night are finally brought into focus. I think the biggest surprise for me was not the actual revelation of what transpired regarding the shooting and the various characters' involvement, but rather how little a role Emily actually played in all of it. The title "Chaos" is truly befitting of the episode. It's quite clear that all her machinations up until this point have caused these events to happen, but as for actually playing an active role in this night directly, Emily's role is minimal. True chaos and madness erupt around her, and despite anyone's personal expectations of this episode, I think we can all agree that the game has completely changed across the board now. Every character was affected by this event, some lives tossed upside down, and the ultimate outcome did indeed live up to the teaser we witness 15 episodes ago.

Part of the intensity of the night was seeing Tyler and Amanda form a brief alliance - what could be more fun than having the show's two biggest crazies running around together? It was a big surprise to me that Amanda was not the one who stole Emily's box in the previous episode, but the action still served its purpose of crippling Amanda's unquestioning loyalty to Emily. It was quite clear throughout the episode that Amanda would eventually see the better side of Emily, forgiving her manipulations, and eventually stab Tyler in the back, so I'm not so sure it made the final moments of the episode all that shocking to see. Jack's haste to move the body makes much more sense now - especially now that we know for a fact who was shot and who was the shooter. I'm writing this review almost immediately after viewing the episode, so I haven't read anyone else's take on the shooting. To me this was the event teased all season long, and while I didn't predict the actual outcome, I also wasn't floored by it either. I'm curious to know if anyone was truly shocked by the reveal...?

Anyhow, it's the episode as a whole that makes it so worthy of the season-long tease. It's a combination of the shooting, the characters' reactions, and even some new events that all change the course of the narrative when combined. Satoshi and Nolan's peculiar arrangement has me highly intrigued. I can only imagine what affiliation these two may have and why they are pulling strings of certain events without Emily's knowledge. It makes me think that perhaps we have underestimated Nolan's role in this entire game. He has always come across as a kind of sidekick court jester to Emily's scheming, political queen - but perhaps he is so much more. It's quite possible we have underestimated his ability to influence Emily and the events that are happening around them. He was David Clarke's protege after all, and it's quite true that he knew the man even better than Emily did herself - so perhaps Nolan has been working his own angle in fulfilling his loyal commitment to David Clarke. It makes me think that revenge is not Nolan's game, but rather guiding Emily down a more righteous path and acting as her conscience. His plea for her to walk away from the revenge game, to sail away on Jack's boat, was indeed touching, and I can only imagine what place of love that plea came from. This is all highly theoretical of course, but I truly do believe we have much more information to learn about Nolan's reasons for aiding Emily, and this episode opened those doors.

Surprisingly I can't find much more to say about this episode. I think it speaks for itself and carries its own weight, and ultimately I was not disappointed. I can only discredit it for some lack of suspense, but that might only be on a personal scale of my own expectations. Despite the knowledge that someone would be shot, I was never entirely sold that anyone else's life was in immediate danger, so the gun-wielding and madness in the episode didn't really have my heart racing. Even as I tossed around the idea that Daniel was indeed the person who was going to end up taking the bullet, I was never convinced this would be his farewell from the series. The idea of him dying didn't seem possible, so I became less and less convinced that he was the one who would be shot... and then I was right. Maybe if the writers had teased us a bit more, implying that this would be Daniel's last day among the living, then perhaps I would have been caught off guard - but that never seemed to be the case. There was clearly more story to be told for Daniel Grayson... but for Tyler, not so much. To me it's a misstep in how gripping the reveal of the shooting comes across, sure - but despite being very noticeable, it's only a minor blemish in the long run. Overall the writers made sure that this episode was a huge turning point in the season, as we all demanded it should be.

[Blake (HDLYR)]

Blood on his hands

1.16 Scandal A-

Despite Emily's best efforts of crippling their family, the Graysons pick up a united front in light of Daniel's arrest. He's been painted as the prime suspect in Tyler's shooting, so the Graysons seek help from a consultant named Brooks who doesn't hesitate to work in grey areas. He couldn't care less about his clients' guilt or innocence, he's all about doing whatever it takes to come out on top. In my last review I kind of carelessly glossed over the fact that we never actually learned the true identity of the shooter on the beach, just the identity of the one who was shot. As Brooks was introduced I was almost certain he was responsible, simply because he saw how valuable it was to Daniel's case that there was evidence of a second shooter - almost like he had planned it that way himself. But the crazy thing is that even though Daniel is the one going through hell right now, we don't need to be that worried about him. Whether it's the Graysons and Brooks, or Emily, working to help him, he's bound to find freedom somehow. This episode is all about laying the foundation for Jack's downfall instead.

Jack is truly in the worst possible situation right now. For one he doesn't have the army of lawyers the Graysons have, so if evidence shifts his way, he's screwed. And second, Victoria is already finding ways to direct suspicions away from Daniel and toward Jack. Ideally she would choose Amanda, but since she's out of the picture for now, Jack is the easier target. It's nice to know he's got Emily, Nolan, and Declan backing him up - but Nolan and Declan are hardly as impenetrable against opposing forces as Emily may be.

I had a hard time getting a read on Emily in this episode, to tell the truth. She seemed mostly indifferent to Daniel's arrest. Maybe that's just because she sees it like I do - he's bound to get off on all charges because of the evidence of the second shooter - so she never really bothers to go to great lengths to place her own meddling hand in the situation. Daniel going to jail was never her plan, and you'd think this would be major hindrance in her plan - but for once it seems like she's letting things play out on their own.
But she does get involved emotionally when it comes to Jack. One fundamental character flaw that I simply love about Emily Thorne is that she becomes completely enraged with the people she cares about whenever they show any trace of disloyalty. Nolan's been on the receiving end of that anger more than once, and now we see a bit of that with Jack. Even a seemingly small lie about why he decided to call off his trip to Haiti sends Emily spiraling down a path of suspicion. Everything escalates with her until she's to the point that she's spying on him and keeping tabs on his every move, unearthing more secrets. To some degree you can say she was justified, she uncovered Amanda and Takeda's involvement as they tied into Jack - so in a sense the ends justified the means. But at what cost? It always seems like Emily loses a bit of her humanity when she goes down these paths of distrusting people who have always had her back. Callously she puts them in the same boat as Victoria herself: projecting them as someone who has traitorously betrayed a person they love, thus deserving of no mercy, even when their crime is nowhere on par with Victoria's. It's cold, and frankly... it's a spectacle to behold.

I'm glad they saved Takeda's appearance until the end. He's always been the one to return Emily to her focal point, to state bluntly when she has strayed from her path and let her emotions burn out of control. It's critical that he would mention Jack's name here. Daniel may be the one in jail, which is itself a major deviation in her plans, but it's her feelings for Jack that are clearly more worrisome and problematic. Whether she's out protecting Jack from harm, or keeping him in the dark constantly, or testing his allegiance, her time is being spent almost exclusively on him, and she doesn't even realize it.

As for the ultimate reveal of the shooter, I still wasn't incredibly shocked. My money was on Brooks, but the true answer is equally acceptable. The most surprising thing about the entire shooting plotline was how little of it was actually part of Emily's plan. In fact, you could easily say none of it was part of her plan. But it works because it was a necessary complication in the season. It's a testament to the continued great writing on the show as the writers have now clearly stated that the biggest plotline of the season was not about Emily's goals coming to fruition, but about the monumental obstacle standing in her way. Revenge is not a simple game.