Courtesy of ABC
After last week’s Tylerrific meltdown which saw the ousting of Ashton Holmes’ enfant terrible from the Hamptons, I was left with a dark void in my life. Who was going to bring the crazy on Revenge now that everyone’s favourite schizophrenic bisexual was gone? And then Margarita Levieva’s Faux-manda started kissing girls and dancing on the bar…and everything was right in the world again.
Let’s break it down…
This week delivered the goods in a big way. I had concerns that the show would slump after last week’s over the top showdown on the beach, but as usual, Revenge proved it should never be doubted. This week returned to the early ‘take-down of the week’ format, but there were plenty of continuing strands that will serve to have major repercussions in the future.
The take-down is in reference to the appearance of journalist Mason Teadwell (a dandy Roger Bart) , who pops up to do press for his upcoming memoir. Treadwell is famous because he wrote the David Clarke tell all tome, ‘The Society Connection’ (whose cover looks strangely like the poster for The Ideas of March). Of course he’s in deep with the Graysons (for the most mundane reason: money) so despite having interviewed both Clarke (James Tupper) and mini-Amanda and learning the truth of the cover-up, his book is entirely false. No surprise there. That just means Emily has her sights set on him in the form the red marker of REVENGE!
Courtesy of ABC
Thankfully instead of a retread of previous take-downs wherein the victim is embarassed in front of people or forced to abdicate a plum position of power, Emily revisits her pyromaniac ways. In one of the flashbacks, Treadwell mentions that mini-Amanda’s foster house burned down, which was a nice little foreshadow to Emily burning down his house, including his unpublished memoir (of which he naturally only had one hardcopy). As much as I love Revenge, the idea that any author would take such a risk simply because they’re old-fashioned and write on 1920s typewriters is ridiculous!
And so Treadwell’s home, his interview tapes, and memoir go up in flames. The kicker is that Emily uses Faux-manda’s lighter to start the fire, so after police investigate they’ll ID her as the arsonist. Add to this the fact that Emily earlier fed Faux-manda lines in her interview with Treadwell to make her seem angry and confrontational. As usual, Emily has taken out two opponents in one fell swoop.
In a way this is almost disappointing because Em and Faux made a great team in this episode. The Girls of Cellblock D took some shots and then tag-teamed Treadwell in an attempt to get him to set the story straight at his reading. Alas, it’s clear that Emily knows that Faux-manda can’t be trusted (she’s far too impulsive – case in point: her bar antics – and she’s easily distracted by her emotions – see: Emily’s relationship with Nick Weschler’s Jack). I think Faux-manda is safe for now, but all of this will soon catch up with her.
Other Considerations:
- Victoria (Madeleine Stowe) asks Daniel (Joshua Bowman) to get control of his Grayson stock, which prompts Conrad (Henry Czerny) to put in a clause that Daniel must turn 30 or be married before he gets access. In his own (less duplicitous) attempt to tackle two issues with one solution, Daniel suggests to Victoria that he marry Emily. Ha ha – he might as well have just punched his mother in the face. Her reaction to her lawyer was great: the real reason she doesn’t want the marriage to happen is because she doesn’t trust Emily. What’s the name for a reversal Oedipal complex again?
- Best line of the night: Ashley Madewke’s Ashley muttering, “I’ll have it burned immediately” after Victoria complains she’s not wearing another bandage dress. It’s amusing that Victoria wears one to the party moments later.
- So what’s happening with Ashley, anyways? Her boyfriend goes psycho two weeks ago but we don’t address her emotional fall-out at all? Hopefully the show will throw her a bone soon and let her do something other than be Victoria’s puppet.
- Jack is taking Faux-manda to Atlantic City? Does anyone care? Better question: where’s the magical age-defying dog?
- As much as I complain about Declan (Connor Paolo) and Charlotte (Christa B. Allen), their minor domestic issues in this episode was kinda cute. I particularly liked Declan’s attempt to read Paradise Lost so that he could spend time with Charlotte, even if he did require the Coles Notes to understand it.
- Speaking of Charlotte, the bombshell most of us suspected was revealed at episode’s end: Charlotte is actually David Clarke’s daughter with Victoria, which means that she’s Emily’s half-sister. What does this mean for Emily’s plan of REVENGE? We’ll have to wait and see…
I actually just watched this episode an hour ago… I really find the whole series hard to get into, but I’ve watched most of it, so it can’t be that bad 😉
Fine review!
I thought that was the writer’s lighter, not Faux-manda’s. She was just playing with it during the interview. She is also out of town during the fire so I think her alibi will hold up.