Thursday, January 5, 2012

Revenge is Best Served...


...on the beach, at a fabulous "low-key" clam bake, of course.  Only the simplest, most low-key clam bake ever! One that required a party planner and much electrical power.

Oh, the delicious twists and turns of last night's episode of Revenge!  Before I get to the recap, I need to tell you that my viewing was less than optimal:


                                                         Poor Nolan, stabbed and tied up... I think?  (No worries, new TV on the way!)

So there may have been some subtle visual cues missed.  But I really doubt it.

Appropriately titled "Duress"opens to the gang sitting around a beautiful table on the beach to celebrate Daniel's birthday. Whoa! Tyler is holding a gun and is aiming at... Emily! Time jump to days earlier and we see Emily apologize and make up with Nolan. Then Nolan lets Emily know that Tyler has the whale cam (Whale Cam... possibly the name of my new rock band?) AND all the videos collected on it. Horrible, right?  Not to game-runner Emily who declares, "or it could be the shovel for him to dig his own grave." Interesting... *wiggles fingers together ominously*.  Meanwhile, Conrad and Victoria meet with lawyers to discuss their divorce.  Among other things, we find out that Victoria was preggers when she signed that pre-nup (duress!). Here's where we get Maybe Queen Victoria Was A Commoner Once Clue #1: Conrad says "Marrying me was the best thing that ever happened to her." Back to Emily, who is now off to Daniel/Tyler's beach house to retrieve the whale cam (<-- must henceforth be said like rock star: "Whaaale Caam!") from Tyler.  She finds it in his duffle bag (the Duffle Bag of Secrets and Lies!) along with, oh yeah... an empty anti-phsychotic med bottle.  Bam. And if that doesn't tell us that Tyler is legit crazy, seeing him bust up the place when he discovers ""Whaaale Caam!" gone certainly does. Emily sees all of this, then tells Daniel and Ashley that Tyler is bonkers.  Daniel goes to confront Tyler and comes away thinking Tyler is, indeed, bonkers. Declan lets it slip that Jack had a thing for Emily... to Amanda. Amanda does her best jealous side-glances for the rest of the show. Emily and Jack build clam bake pit on beach, she has flashback to being Amanda as a kid with Jack. Emily tells Nolan she has the "Whaaale Caam!", Nolan tells Emily he contacted Tyler's bro and he is on the way, and the GPS Nolan put on Tylers phone tells us that Tyler is on a plane to Cali. Emily tells Nolan he should stop by the clam bake because it's just friends and family and he now qualifies.  Nolan is wicked psyched.  Until Tyler comes in the house and stabs him! And sees "Whaale Caam!" streaming on Nolan's computer AND sees where Emily keeps her gun. And then ties up Nolan and leaves. At clam bake, now everyone knows that Amanda is back in town.  Cue Maybe Queen Victoria Was A Commoner Once Clue #2:  When Conrad asks Victoria what she knows about Amanda being back, Victoria says "All I see is a pretty girl with cheap shoes and limited social graces."  Conrad replies: "Like someone else I used to know." Whooopah!  Time for cake... Emily goes to get the cake, Tyler pulls Emily's own gun on her and walks her out to the gang.  Tyler goes on a rant and starts demanding truth! Starting with "Connie", he wants to know what really happened with David Clarke. Emily and Amanda exchange looks, Conrad doesn't answer, Tyler puts gun to Emily's head and... and... Nolan shows up with Tyler's bro and cops. Good ending. Wait... only after the fact does Nolan reveal that there were no bullets in the gun the whole time, as Nolan calls Emily a true master. Also, the police find dead security dude Frank's wallet with Tyler's stuff (most likely in the Duffle Bag of Secrets and Lies) so he's going away for a long time. The show closes with Daniel telling Emily he can't imagine his life without her, setting us up for the proposal and more importantly, the tragic engagement party that started the whole series!

Now that we're all caught up, here are some things to consider:

- Is it a leap to think that Emily knew Tyler was going to show up at the party that night?  In hindsight, I am thinking that since Emily saw Tyler's rage, she intuitively knew that he was not going to just walk away.  She knew that Tyler would go to Nolan, thinking he had stolen the "Whaaale Caam!" back. So then she knew he might see anything that was happening in her house (since she positioned the "Whaale Caam!" on her mantle). She cleverly invited Nolan to join the party, knowing he would never miss it in a million years. But was there an extra place setting? No! With this line of thinking, though, are we to believe that Emily was willing to have Nolan die?  Because Tyler could have definitely just killed Nolan instead of merely stabbing and tying him up. Also, she would have had to not believe Nolan's GPS telling us that Tyler was on a plane. Not far-fetched, since Emily doesn't trust anyone or anything. And what about the gun?  I think it is a stretch to think that Emily would have known that Tyler saw that exact moment when Daniel was placing the gun in the desk for easy access (even though we know he did).  But she knew he could have seen it... so she took the bullets out!  Or, could we also assume that maybe she took the bullets out awhile ago, ever since Daniel found the gun?  Mayhaps.

- So, what are we to think of Emily and party-planner Ashley's frenemyship?  Early on, they were besties. Then Tyler shows up and woos Ashley into thinking she can partner with him for a piece of the rich pie.  Now Tyler is revealed to be crazy and criminal... where does that leave poor Ash?  The few scenes with Emily and Ashley lead me to believe that Emily knew Tyler had Ashley believing Emily was the enemy.  Though I am not sure if now Ashley regrets it all.  Will she go back to being likable, friend Ashley? Or now that she's had a taste of the other side, will she try to wile her way into the glamorous life? I like Ashley, so I am hoping they find a good story line for her (one that doesn't end with psycho BFs pulling guns at the party you planned. How rude!)

- When Conrad indicates that Queen Victoria may have had more humble beginnings, we all immediately heard the lyrics to Don't You Want Me Baby in our collective heads, amirite? "You were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar/ When I met you."

                                                                                      not playing? click here

Queen Victoria as Vicki the hash-slinger? Awwww yeah.

- Shouldn't everyone have known something was up with Tyler when he showed up with The Duffle Bag of Secrets and Lies?  I mean, Daniel's Harvard roommate shows up with a duffle bag?  bitch, please.


What are your thoughts on the episode?  Sorry to see a villain as good as Tyler go? Dying to know about how Victoria and Conrad met? Let's chat about it!


2 comments:

JulesBC said...

I think Emily knew that Tyler would come back and set it up to her advantage. Otherwise, she would have just gone after him, ninja style ;) knowing there weren't any bullets in the gun. Or she could have even paid him off to do it, why else would he have gone after the David Clark truth 1st? Then she looked sad as he got taken away in cuffs, perhaps she felt bad for using him?

What's your take on her true love? I think it's actually Daniel, not Jack. She loves Jack but more like a brother. I think she connects to Daniel and feels like he is just as much of a victim of his family as she was. My hubby still thinks Jack s the one.

LCT said...

Thanks for posting Julie! Great show, huh?

Yes, the more I think about it, Emily definitely had this whole plan and spun all the chaos to her advantage. The only thing that sticks with me is that she took a big gamble, I think, that Tyler didn't just kill Nolan. This definitely makes sense if she paid him off, which is a good point. The only thing that holds me back from that is the way she told him off in the kitchen... i think she was doing that to get him really angry, ensuring that he follows through and follows her so everyone could see him. But again, you never know with this show... she could have been doing it just for the "Whaaale Cam!"

Oh, maybe it's the romantic in me but I do think Jack is the true love. I think she likes Daniel a lot, which is unexpected, but he is really just the key piece to her whole game. The chemistry between Jack and Emily is there anytime they are together - it's hard to fight that. Here's some interesting info from series creator that includes a tease on his ultimate vision for Jack + Emily: http://www.tvline.com/2012/01/revenge-mike-kelley-season-1-episode-11-preview/