While the weather is getting warmer here, things are chillier than ever in Revenge, and not just due to the major jump-forward. Tonight's episode offered some interesting new developments and one fairly sizable revelation, saved for the very end, that left us wondering what's next for Emily, and how her revenge plans might be adjusted.
"Justice" seemed to zig-zag all over the place, doing its part to catch us up and fill in the autumn-sized gap between the end of the summer and December, where the story picked up tonight. Daniel's on trial, and still on house arrest in the Hamptons. Declan's at the fancy prep school, though he and Charlotte are over. Jack's been wandering all over the eastern seaboard, searching for Amanda, a task made much more difficult due to Nolan's regular interference. Victoria's still serving as a muse for her artist lover Dominic. Ashley's remains the face and voice of the Grayson's for the press. And Emily's keeping track of everything that's going on.
"I came here for one reason. Nothing's gonna get in my way."
Emily managed to get the upper hand tonight, once again out-scheming Victoria at every turn. She got proof that the Graysons were tampering with the jury, had Nolan interfere with Charlotte's attempts to charm Declan into ratting out his own brother, and managed to use Lee, Victoria's henchman, against the Graysons to clear Jack and Daniel's name.
Jack proved what a stand-up guy he was, not only in discouraging Declan from lying under oath (Declan obviously ignored that order), but also planning on turning in the bloody hoodie and admitting he was on the beach the night of Tyler's murder. Emily used that to everyone's advantage by burglarizing Jack's place, stealing the hoodie and planting it in Lee's car.
Lee got arrested, the hoodie was found, and now it looks like he killed Tyler. Everyone wins… except for Lee. And the Graysons. Lee didn't love being framed for murder and after calling Victoria and threatening her, Conrad intervened.
I was starting to think maybe Conrad wasn't such a bad guy. That maybe he'd gotten mixed up in the wrong business, made some bad calls, but deep down, wasn't that awful. I was wrong. At first it seemed like Lee killed himself. No, that's not right. At first it seemed like Daniel killed himself. Because, as he was writing Emily an apologetic letter from his prison cell, the scene cut to a prisoner hanging from his cell. Almost right away, it was revealed to be Lee, but there was a moment when I thought maybe it was Daniel. And then I wondered, why would Lee kill himself? He wouldn't.
Emily managed to get a recording of a conversation that Conrad was having on the phone with someone, and from the sound of it, he was having Lee set up to be killed in prison, and made to look like a suicide. Not only did this seem to confirm that Conrad set it up for Lee to "kill himself" and leave behind a note confessing to Tyler's murder, but he referenced David Clarke during the call, revealing to Emily that Conrad once had the same thing done to her father. Emily thought his death was just a random prison-fight situation, but no, apparently Conrad had him killed. It is so on.
So just to recap the recap, Emily managed to turn the blame of Tyler's murder onto Victoria's hired thug Lee, whom Conrad later had killed. Does that mean Daniel's in the clear? Let's hope so. And with the hoodie out of Jack's hands, maybe he's in the clear too. Legally, anyway. The Graysons know Lee didn't kill Tyler, so this might not be over for them. And Emily still has photos of the Graysons with Lee and lots of juicy recordings in her infinity-box. So there's that. And now Emily has an even bigger score to settle with Conrad Grayson.
"How do you plan to convince twelve strangers you're in love with me, when I'm not even sure myself."
Poor Daniel. Not only is he being tried for murdering his once-friend, but now he's got it into his head that Emily was messing around with Jack. The suspicion sort of came out of nowhere. He saw her letting him into her beach house, and that's about it. Maybe all that time spent cooped up at home started to get into his head. Regardless, he drank too much and had a confrontation with Emily at her house, violating his house arrest in the process and giving her a good shove, that he seemed to instantly regret. Needless to say, things are not good for them. He was arrested and dragged out of her house, thanks to the ankle bracelet alerting the police that he left his family's property, and last we saw of him, he was writing what sounded like a break-up letter to Emily. Boo.
Scotch and Pills
Charlotte's still kind of a mess. Being apart from Declan doesn't really agree with her. She's still taking pills and drinking, and now she seems to be semi-back-together with her old boyfriend. That may be a matter of convenience though as he's the one who got her more pills. And earlier, she put on a skimpy dress and went all seductress on Declan in an attempt to get him to tell the truth on the stand. The act seemed straight out of her mother's book, though I think Victoria would have worn something a bit less revealing in her version.
The pills, drinking and indifference isn't a good look on Charlotte, and the act makes me uncomfortable to witness. I'm not sure if it's how Christa B. Allen plays it, or the fact that we're not supposed to like that Charlotte's a mess, but I hope it's resolved soon. I like her better when she's warm and sort of innocent.
Unfinished
Conrad managed to run Victoria's art-boyfriend Dominic off. Apparently, the guy forges paintings and has had involvements in black market art dealings. Whether or not Victoria was aware of this is unclear, though she did used to broker his paintings during her "Vicky Harper" years. Conrad used that as part of his threats to the man, and Dominic took off, leaving behind the unfinished painting of Victoria, but taking everything else. I think there's a metaphor in there about Victoria needing to choose her fate and "finish her own painting." Either that, or it was his way of saying he was never going to finish it, and she can have it. Either way, she was sad, and it'll be interesting to see how/if the heartbreak affects her going forward. Once again, her husband has intervened with her love life.
And that about covers it for the night. We'll close this out with a quote from Nolan, which I'm pretty sure was a nod to one of my favorite bands (Counting Crows).
"How's Omaha? Somewhere in middle America?"
Maybe when it comes to Amanda, Jack should turn his ticket in, and get his money back at the door.
