Revenge review – 2×04: ‘Intuition’

Courtesy of ABC

A week after Queen Victoria (Madeleine Stowe) welcomed Fauxmanda (Margarita Levieva) into the Grayson fold, the Grayson matriarch is already removing the baby mama from the picture. It just goes to show that when you have a baby shower, you best keep the event on the ground floor.

Let’s bitch it out…Yes, poor Faux suffers a tragic fate in ‘Intuition’ thereby proving that it’s best not to mess with the Ice Queen, because that shrewd b*tch will help you over the banister and into a coma. In an hour filled with manipulation, it’s clear that Faux was in over her head (if we’re being honest, she always has been). Never has a pawn been so evident as when Emily (Emily VanCamp) uses Faux as a mouthpiece (again!) to interact with Victoria. Is it any surprise that she ends up as little more than a bloody body in the Grayson foyer with the two women who dictated her actions crouched on either side ?

Let’s face it: there was never going to be a happy ending for Faux. The former stripper with the not-so-heart-of-gold lost Jack (Nick Weschler) last week and Em is content to string her along only as long as she’s useful in her on-again, off-again mission of REVENGE! against the Graysons (or whatever it is Emily is doing with them these days). It’s become clear ever since Faux returned in an orca-pregnant state in the season finale that she’s in the same precarious position as Ashley (Ashley Madewke) – these are social climbers who lack the ability to follow-through on their own plots. The result is that they are continually used, abused and discarded by the stronger players in the game. Their downfall is that they don’t even realize how insignificant they are to the other people.

By the end of the episode, Faux’s limited impact is clear. The concern  for her safety immediately shifts to her unborn son when there are complications. In fact, the only one truly affected by Faux’s state is Jack, and he’s primarily motivated by guilt (for kicking her to the curb because he doesn’t love her, which sucks but lying seems worse). Oh sure, Charlotte (Christa B. Allen) – aka the boring Grayson – is distraught, but this is easily assuaged when Declan (Connor Paolo) arrives at the hospital with open arms and bushy eyebrows. Even Emily is surprisingly non-plussed, at least until she sees mom Kara (Jennifer Jason Leigh) stroking the still body of her doppelganger. But her emotional reaction is tied less to jealousy and more to PTSD after remembering dear old mom tried to drown her as a child. Now that’s a memory to build a reunion around!

Courtesy of ABC

Other Observations:

• I’m still uncertain why we’re meant to care whether Emily finds/meets up with Kara, but at least the show is making the MIA mom more interesting. Aside from the attempted infanticide, we learn that Kara and James Morrison’s Gordon (previously known as WHM) are were married and that they were on the run from the Initiative. Thus far the involvement of a larger, shady organization responsible for pulling the various criminal strings is vague, but logical (it’s unbelievable that Henry Cznery’s Conrad runs a company, let alone that he oversaw an elaborate frame-job on David Clarke). With that said, it does feel like both Kara and the Initiative are what Aiden (Barry Sloane) suggests: distractions. These new complications feel like roadblocks to keep Emily from tearing through the Graysons. The result is the continued unfocused feel to the second season thus far
• Two non-starter plotlines continue to tread water: Padma (Dilshad Vadsaria) – whose presence literally makes me bristle – discovers that David Clarke funded Nolan’s (Gabriel Mann) start-up after they sort through the trash of his deceased father’s estate. Meanwhile, Gay Trey (Michael Nardelli), as I’ve taken to calling him, is actually working with Mr Argent Kenny Ryan (JR Bourne) on some kind of long con to bilk the Porter brothers out of the Stowaway. Likely should have seen the latter one coming, but whenever money stuff arises with Jack, I have trouble taking it seriously. The problem feels easily fixable: Emily swoops in with pockets full of cash and saves the day. The end
• Ashley continues to disappoint as Grayson father and son toggle her spy skills back and forth. A) Who cares about the investment scandal? We’re not watching Revenge to see Daniel stay late at the office to crunch numbers manually via calculator and B) What is Ashley doing this season exactly? What role is she serving on the show? Because right now she shows up and I write down things like “looks good in yellow.” That’s not a character!
• Anyone else have trouble focusing on Emily during the baby shower/hospital scenes? Note to costume designer: I should be focusing on the plot and the acting, not the plunging neckline that prompted me to refer to Emily as “Boobs O’Clock” for the rest of the episode
• I doubt many will remember it, but the look of disdain/constipation on Charlotte’s face when Victoria asks her to guide the baby shower guests out of the living room is priceless. So random!

Best Lines:

• Nolan (to Emily as he sets up camera feeds inside Grayson manor): “Now you can monitor Boris and Natasha’s every move.” Rocky & Bullwinkle jokes are always amusing
• Emily (to Faux, regarding her unplanned baby shower guests): “Nice touch bringing your girls from the Beavertown” Strip club names are always amusingly dirty

So that’s ‘Intuition.’ Were you surprised that Faux was taken out so quickly/easily/shockingly? Think they’ll leave her in the coma on reserve until they need her to come back and wreak havoc? Are you becoming more interested in Kara? Is anyone enjoying the Declan or Padma storylines? And finally, how long until Aiden and Emily resume their bed-hopping antics? Speculate away below!

Revenge airs Sundays at 9pm EST on ABC