Courtesy of ABC
Daddy’s here! The notorious Pascal LeMarchal (Olivier Martinez) has come to the Hamptons to play, which means it’s time for an over the top theatrical performance!
Let’s bitch it out…Oh dear. Every time I think that Revenge has gotten itself over the storytelling hump, it executes another clumsy maneuver like tonight. So a new character, Margaux’s (Karinne Vanasse) father, shows up in the Hamptons, has a sordid background with the Graysons (filled in via mounds of exposition) and then proves to be just the person that Emily (Emily VanCamp) needs to execute a new plan? Oh puh-leeze! It’s not just convenient; it’s downright lazy. It’s as bad as introducing Jack’s (Nick Wechsler) mother, Stevie (Gail O’Grady) and making her integral to the plan, too. Oh wait – that happened, too!
This recent trend of introducing random characters we’ve barely seen or heard of and making them key characters* just isn’t working for me. It’s as though Revenge‘s writers can’t figure out what to do with their series regulars so they just keep importing new people for Emily to befriend or take-down. I mean, do we care if she takes down Pascal and risks hurting Jack and Margaux as collateral damage? Considering how easily Emily engineers the “clean break” from the Graysons, why can’t we just watch Emily execute a really awesome plan and take them out once and for all? Clearly they’re not that difficult to manipulate!
*Let’s all close our eyes and see if we can forget Patrick, mmmkay?
The simple fact is that Revenge is treading water. I had hoped that the shooting would be enough to usher in a new direction, and then I was kinda/sorta worried that the amnesia would, and most recently I thought the black-outs would, but nothing has stuck. For better (nope) or worse (yup), Revenge doggedly refuses to change its tune and try something new. The result is that the show is now suffering from the law of diminishing returns. We’ve got six episodes left in the season; how many of these will be dedicated to watching Emily do something to Pascal, a character we don’t know anything about? Strap yourselves in because this could be a bumpy ride.
Courtesy of ABC
Other Observations:
- Voulez drama: who cares, amirite?
- Conrad (Henry Czerny) offers to pimp Victoria (Madeleine Stowe) out to Pascal to get some office space in NY. Claaaaaaasic Conrad. Also: who cares, amirite?
- I love how Charlotte’s (Christa B. Allen) job is managing Voulez‘s social media portfolio. Damn girl, even Ashley was capable of doing more than that and that bitch is gone!
- My favourite scenes are the pseudo-incestuous ones with Victoria and Daniel (Josh Bowman) where they stand really close and congratulate each other. Good to see that the minute one son runs away, she just goes right back to the other.
- Spin-off of the week: Jack and Nolan (Gabriel Mann) wearing fancy suits and breaking into archives. It’s like Suits meets Alias with a big height difference.
- Did anyone fall for Emily’s ludicrous slow-motion run of shame out of the opera house? It was pretty clear she had self-orchestrated it long before she confirmed it to Jack (note to Revenge writers: that shit is not surprising). I much preferred her “I did it all for Daniel” ploy earlier because we’ve rarely seen her so candidly aggressive with the Graysons. It was fun seeing her get to express her true(ish) feelings to them!
- Finally, ugh to Javier (Henri Esteve), Nolan’s “millennial computer genius from prison” friend. I abhor these kinds of characters (a complete nuisance, but oh so helpful in a pinch!). Hook him up with the hot PI, Brooks (Steven Strait) and get rid of ’em both.
Your turn: what did you think of ‘Disgrace’? Are you excited for any of this Pascal crap? Did you enjoy Emily vamping it up throughout the episode? Are you more equipped to be Voulez‘s social media person than Charlotte? Do you miss Ashley? Sound off below (*Apologies for being even bitchier than usual, but I’m still recovering from that shocker on The Good Wife!)
Revenge airs Sundays at 10pm EST on ABC