Nick Wechsler and Gabriel Mann/Photo Credit: ABC/Danny Feld
It has been a few weeks since I have posted a recap for one of my favorite television shows. With most of them, I tend to give a full blown play-by-play of the events with a little commentary of my own to back it up. This recap will feature more commentary, and less play-by-play as this episode noticed more of a shift in personalities with some of our favorite characters. Let’s get to it.
At the start of the episode, we see Emily head to Nolan’s house, and she catches out of the corner of her eye that Patrick is leaving. Notice how she became frantic when she thought something happened to her friend. As we learned, Nolan was indeed OK. Emily tries to convince Nolan to keep a watchful eye on Patrick, yet doesn’t really explain why he needs to look out. Nolan wanted to think the best of Patrick, especially as he felt both were social outcasts. However, as he tends to normally follow Emily’s warnings, he didn’t respond to any of Patrick’s messages. We will delve more into Nolan and Emily’s recent turn in their relationship later as the story progresses.
The cat and mouse game that Victoria and Conrad seem to share never gets old. He announces at the Grayson table that the manor has been sold, and the deal was closed, much to Victoria’s chagrin. Even Emily was a bit perplexed, as she was set to use the house for the wedding ceremony. This doesn’t stop her, as she and Aiden hatch a scheme to prevent this buyout from taking place.
As Daniel and Charlotte go over wedding preparations, they stop in a bakery. To their surprise, they both run into Sara. For those that may not remember, in season one, Daniel and Sara were involved in a car accident. The accident was primarily Daniel’s fault as he was driving while intoxicated. The accident left Sara with broken bones, spinal column, and other injuries. As the two discover Sara, she blasts Daniel for all the pain he caused her. This scene causes a power shift in personalities between both Daniel AND Charlotte. We finally see Daniel very sympathetic and remorseful for his actions that took place with Sara, which is a complete 180 from how he has been in previous weeks. Also, we see a shift with Charlotte. As much as she proclaimed she never wanted to be her mother’s daughter, she took it upon herself to act like it. Not only did Charlotte get Sara fired from the bakery, she then winds up getting her another job…at the Stowaway. This is the most interesting I have found the character of Charlotte since the series began, as she was dull and listless prior to this season.
Victoria confronts her first born son about the night of Conrad’s accident. Patrick confirms to her that he did tamper with the brakes, but never meant for an innocent man to die. Victoria took pleasure in her son’s misdeeds. The family that stays together…kills together, I suppose. By the way, I never understood yet how Patrick has been so accepting to Victoria. I seem to think there is an ulterior motive behind this somewhere, because he has been way too forgiving.
Soon after, Nolan gets a surprise visit from Patrick. I sort of got to see more of how both Nolan and Patrick are in a sense that they just want to be loved and appreciated. They never had that growing up, and this was their way to bond and grow closer together. As Nolan tried to tell Patrick it could never work, Patrick tells him he cannot let Emily run his life, just like Victoria cannot run his. The pair’s relationship suddenly takes a romantic turn as they share a kiss.
Emily and Aiden later put their scheme into motion to stop Grayson Manor from being sold…let’s break out the sledgehammer and tear up the foundation, you say? Sure, and while we’re at it, let’s have some rough sex, too. They did. I hope Emily really cares for Aiden, and not playing him. I prefer those two together than Emily and Jack.
Nolan finally comes face to face with Jack. It took until this point to finally have the two talks, and boy was it awkward. This scene HAD to happen because it definitely changed their friendship. As Nolan confesses to Jack about his feelings for Patrick, Jack did not want to hear it. In fact, he even tried to warn Nolan to steer clear of Patrick. However, that wasn’t the icing on the cake during this conversation. Nolan drops the bomb on Jack that he knew this whole time about who Emily Thorne really was. Not only did this set Jack off on a tailspin, he threw Nolan out of the bar.
No matter how big of the betrayal this was to their friendship, Jack pays a visit to Nolan’s house, and the two wondered why they always come to Emily’s defense, no matter who gets hurt. This scene between Gabriel Mann and Nick Wechsler was by far the best I have ever seen them do together. Nolan could never bare his soul to anyone BUT Jack. As he explained how he and David Clarke met, and what he promised to do for his daughter, Nolan also feared that his friendship with Jack was over. Not even Jack could end his friendship with the techie, and the two hug it out, only for Jack to hit Nolan with a harsh truth. As Jack revealed to Nolan that Patrick was the one behind Conrad’s accident, he realizes he has to let Patrick go. Jack vows to protect his friend, and takes of it.
While Jack pays a visit to Conrad to reveal the truth, Nolan gets a visit from Emily. She then receives another blow that could rock her plan. He not only tells her that Jack knows the truth about Nolan’s involvement with Emily, but really lays into her about how all he wanted was friendship. I was applauding at Nolan finally standing up for himself. This man allowed Emily to walk all over him for the past two years, and said nor did anything. Hearing him tell Emily about how he really feels alone just stood out for me. That was a well-crafted scene between Gabriel and Emily VanCamp. I hope we get to see a stronger side to Nolan Ross this season. He not only lost a lot, but was also used a lot. Hopefully, that changes.
To wrap things up, Aiden and Emily talk about how Jack and Nolan’s priorities have shifted, but to garner recourse with their plan, she has him take Victoria to uncharted territory…the hidden palace of the Grayson fortune. When Victoria tries to blackmail Conrad with her findings, the ever-so duplicitous husband decided to one-up her by revealing he knows the truth about Patrick. What’s a mother to do in order to protect her first-born? Send him packing! Patrick’s very reluctant to leave her behind to fend for herself against Conrad, but as soon as she said, “Obey your mother,” he went right into that cab. Now, you know this will not be the last we see of Mr. Osbourne.
As Sara wraps her night at the Stowaway, she bumps into Daniel, who tries to apologize for what happened after the accident. Daniel wants to prove to Sara that he truly does want to make amends, but one cannot deny that the two looked like they did not lose any heat. One person in particular that took notice was Charlotte, and Mini-Victoria is about to her own plan in motion.
Emily pays a visit to both Jack and Nolan and apologizes to the both of them, including telling them both about how it is uneasy it is for her to reveal herself to anyone. As she plans to move forward that may or may not include the both of them, she felt compelled to fill them in on her final course of action…to frame Victoria Grayson for the murder of Emily Thorne!
It looks like we are closing in on what we saw in the season premiere. Emily Thorne was indeed shot, but it may appear to be an elaborate scheme to foil her arch-nemesis! The question is…will Victoria be the one to pull the trigger? Or does her plan take another unexpected turn?
Great job goes out to Aaron Harberts and Gretchen J. Berg for penning this episode, and solidifying the character traits even more. It definitely set the trail to see where each character will head throughout the rest of the season.
Here is a preview for next week’s episode, entitled, “Resurgence”:
“Revenge” airs Sunday nights at 9/8c on ABC.
