28/07/2012
Show: Revenge
Episode: Season 1, Episode 21 - Grief
Aired: Monday 8:30pm, July 16th 2012
Channel: Seven
Recap
*SPOILERS – THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THIS EPISODE AND PREVIOUS EPISODES OF REVENGE. CATCH UP ON EPISODES OF REVENGE HERE*
For the sake of my sanity and yours, I will keep the real Amanda Clarke as Emily and whenever you see Amanda it refers to the real Emily Thorne. Confused yet? Let’s get started.
The episode starts with Emily, crying as she digs a grave in the sand near her house, before we flash back to 36 hours earlier. Conrad plans to use his son’s wedding to boost PR for the firm after the SEC investigation and Daniel’s only too eager to help. Conrad’s also worried that Jack and his version of events that night stay quiet but Daniel already has a plan for that. The white-haired man arrives at Conrad’s office to inform him he’s a bad asset and his usefulness is currently under consideration by his employers. Emily decides she has to create a reason for them to meet again so she can track the white-haired man to his humble abode.
Emily makes Daniel aware of how unhappy she is with the big wedding he’s planning but he asks her to look over the plans with Ashley before she makes any decisions. When Daniel goes to shower, Emily removes the SD card from a camera hidden inside an Orwell book and heads out for a ‘run’. Charlotte informs Victoria that her counsellor wants them to do a family therapy session but Victoria doesn’t seem very keen on the idea. Victoria meets with McGowen, who hasn’t found anything to use against Conrad, hindered by the fact that their warrant only covers the office and not Conrad’s living space. She tells him that while his team may be incapable, she is not.
Daniel tries to buy Jack’s silence with a cheque. Jack’s busy trying to get Sammy to drink some water and Daniel leaves the cheque with him. Victoria arrives at Conrad’s apartment looking like a “demonic succubus” and pretends she’s had nothing to do with the SEC. She professes she’s just here to ask him to participate in family counselling for Charlotte and he agrees to attend. He’s poured two drinks but tells her the other isn’t for her, as Lydia emerges from his bedroom. Declan and Jaime, his partner for a homework assignment, get to work on their project at the Stowaway. Emily gets Nolan to email the footage of her and Daniel sleeping to Conrad. Nolan’s worried that the white-haired man is more capable than her and might kill Emily first, but she’s willing to take that risk.
Conrad receives the footage and calls the white-haired man, giving him an address or the option to see Conrad’s contingency plan. Emily takes down the address and is about to run out the door when Ashley arrives to help Daniel and her with wedding planning. Jack considers starting a charity with the money Daniel left and Nolan encourages him to cash the cheque, or else they may find a more permanent way to keep him quiet. Unable to get away from the wedding planning, Emily calls Nolan and asks him to track down the white-haired man. Victoria comes over to the apartment to offer Lydia a lifeline, to help her get immunity in the case against Conrad. Lydia mentions the de Kooning was moved from Conrad’s office as it was his most valuable possession but Victoria knows it’s worthless because she conned him into buying it. She cuts into it and discovers all the evidence is hidden inside the canvas.
Conrad threatens to expose the white-haired man and when he leaves, Nolan follows him. Daniel is angry that Emily isn’t present, constantly checking her phone and he leaves, angry. Jack worries because Sammy’s missing and Declan and Jaime join the search for the dog. Able to join the hunt for the white-haired man, Emily asks Nolan to text her the address. The white-haired man is on the phone, winding the many clocks in his living room as he updates his bosses on the fact that someone is onto them – threatening Conrad’s family. Emily approaches a door as the white-haired man gets a visit from a cable company man who looks suspiciously like Nolan. Aunt Carole turns up to tell Emily that Nolan couldn’t let her do it, and they argue about morality.
Emily feels betrayed by Nolan but he swears he’s giving her options. She hangs up though when she finds Sammy, covered in dirt, lying on her porch. Emily calls Jack, letting him know Sammy is with her and asks him to hurry. Charlotte’s counselling session doesn’t go as planned but as expected. Emily and Jack bond over Sammy’s final moments. Jaime is drenched from their search for Sammy and heads to the bathroom to freshen up. Of course, Charlotte uses this exact moment to apologise and ask if she can spend the night, interrupted by Jaime coming out in Declan’s t-shirt. Charlotte leaves, disgusted. Daniel threatens his mother: if she goes through with destroying Conrad, she’s dead to him.
Emily comforts Jack and ends up kissing him, while Ashley watches through the porch doors. Emily digs the grave in the sand while Jack goes to get Sammy’s body. Jack mourns the loss of Amanda, as the last part of her is buried with Sammy. Jack asks what they’re going to do now but she doesn’t have an answer. Charlotte finds a new dealer. Victoria gives in to Daniel’s ultimatum, assuring him that her devotion to him trumps everything, and hands over all the evidence to him. Victoria eavesdrops at the door to the study as Daniel calls his father and implies the ultimatum was Conrad’s plan. Emily calls Nolan to thank him for saving her from herself. She gets off the phone as Daniel comes home and they make up. Nolan pulls up his surveillance of the white-haired man but checking his phone, he realises the clocks in the white-haired man’s living room read the wrong time as the white-haired man grabs him from behind.
Thoughts on the Episode
Despite knowing from the beginning that a shallow grave in the sand could only be for a pet, Sammy’s storyline still got me teary. It seems whenever Emily is about to go too far, the writers throw us a moment where she reveals her emotional side, as if to remind us that she’s human and allow us to reconnect to her character. The one thing that didn’t entirely work for me (although not the fault of the writers), while I’m sure plenty of viewers were happy to see Emily and Jack finally kiss, I still don’t see the sparks between those two - not that I see them between her and Daniel either.
I swear my heart stopped when the white-haired man grabbed Nolan. That build up was done so well; I thought the episode was basically over and Revenge isn’t known for that style of cliff-hanger moments, so while I was worried and tense in those moment while Nolan was in the white-haired man’s house, by that point I had let my guard down. I don’t believe the show would do something as daring as to kill off a fan favourite character (it’s not Game of Thrones by any stretch of the imagination), but I try not to make assumptions. If Nolan does die, I may never forgive the show.
Madeleine Stowe stood out again this episode. Those fight scenes between Conrad and Victoria were so much fun - there’s a real guilty pleasure in watching them exchange zingers. Similar to Emily’s moments where she lets her guard down, Victoria got her own this episode when we felt almost sorry for her as she watched her son mercilessly play her and yet still gave in to his demands. It’s clear this episode that one really doesn’t want to belong to that family.
This was thrilling and emotional and perfectly set up the finale. Nolan’s in danger, the evidence is within her grasp, her engagement is looking precarious and there’s a potential for a relationship with Jack all flying around Emily. Will she be able to get it all together before the season ends or will she drop some of those balls with dire consequences? Either way it should be an exhilarating end to what has been, for the most part, a strong first season.
What Did We Find Out?
This episode left us with so many questions but the main points were:
- Who does the white-haired man work for? The white-haired man called them the initiative – does this mean Professor Walsh is involved? This conspiracy is blowing up to be bigger than those Emily’s already introduced to her red sharpie, which makes sense because how else would Conrad have gotten involved in terrorism?
- Ashley witness Jack and Emily’s first kiss. What will she do with this information? She’s the kind of person who will wait until the opportune moment; it just depends when that moment presents itself.
- Will Victoria keep her word to her son or will she find a different way to bring down her ex-husband? And will she continue to keep Lydia on her side?
- How will Emily save Nolan? I’m sure it will be a brilliant and intricate plan that could possibly end in the death of the white-haired man.
If you picked up anything else in the episode to hint at what’s to come, let us know below (but for those ahead overseas, please no spoilers).
