REVENGE
Season 4, Episode 5
“Repercussions”
GRADE: B
The continuing featured story here is that David Clarke, the man Emily Thorne thought was dead, has mysteriously resurfaced like the Loch Ness Monster. much to the shock of the public — and to Amanda, herself. At first, Amanda’s overwhelmed, confused and unsure — but, ultimately, she comes around and realizes that it’s time to confront David — only to find out that her sworn enemy (and reason she’s in the Hamptons in the first place), Victoria Grayson, has gotten to him first…
Thus, “Repercussions” sees a very angry Emily willing to risk everything to confront her father. Nolan tries to talk her down and start making a plan since Victoria seemingly has one this time — but Emily is so emotional, she just can’t listen. When she arrives at the hotel the Graysons have checked into, a new wrinkle emerges: a mysterious individual sporting a crescent moon tattoo attempts to run David over, ending her first reunion bid. The second attempt sees her trying to appeal to Charlotte who seems to listen to her, actually confronts her Mom, then takes David to meet…Jack, instead. The purpose of this being that David can finally meet his baby grandson, Carl. The visit has unintended consequences as David learns that Amanda shacked up with him in his bar before her untimely death. Jack, of course, isn’t happy about the impromptu intrusion and later confronts Charlotte and threatens to tell David the truth about Amanda. Charlotte laughs this off and calls him a “coward” as that would out Emily and ruin her. Jack leaves her but not before taking some parting shots at her substance abuse, telling her that it’s a sad cover for her miserable life and that she’s “just like Conrad”, her father.
Jack, by the way, has been ousted from the police department as his involvement in the case of David Clarke is a conflict of interest. You know, the case where they essentially told Clarke that there was no case because Conrad Grayson’s confession to framing him had fully exonerated him? But, no matter. Jack’s home for the time being. This leaves his partner, Ben, a little more than bored…which leads him to look into the case of Conrad’s murder. He tries to make some headway in re-opening it, but Ben’s boss finds out about his meddling and tells Ben to turn over the file on the case.
But mostly, this episode revolves around David Clarke as he spends his time trying to fill in the gaps of the life that passed him by. First, he visits the grave of his daughter, Amanda who he, ironically, thinks is dead. After his aforementioned reunion with Jack, he makes a surprise visit to Nolan who assures David that he gave everything to Amanda that he was ordered to give: the box, the tapes, the journal. He wants to know why Amanda Clarke was living in the spare room of a local bar without a care in the world. This is, of course, in regards to the woman that was posing as Amanda earlier in the show that would later pass on, a victim of Emily’s miscalculation. He tells Nolan that he can’t remember or recognize Amanda. This concerns Nolan greatly and he tells Emily that her father will slip away if she doesn’t become the girl her father would have been proud of.
Meanwhile, Daniel’s making some “headway” of his own as Louise, whose motivations aren’t very clear, tries her hand at seducing the young Prince Grayson away from Margaux in his hotel room. She succeeds — but this leaves Margaux open and vulnerable to a driven Emily. She wants to give her father his old beach house, a plan which includes Daniel forking over the deed to the house and Margaux’s magazine obtaining an exclusive interview with David. This deal angers Victoria to no end, so she strikes her own deal with Margaux: the interview will go on — so long as she gets “final approval” before it airs. As for Daniel and Louise, their affair is akin to a one night stand which, on the surface, seems kosher to Louise — but angers her behind closed doors and prompts her to call Page 6 with some sort of juicy story about Daniel.
The episode reaches a subtle climax of sorts, with David Clarke examining his beach house alone, remembering the night he was arrested in front of a terrified little Amanda. He drowns his sorrow in Harry Nilsson’s “Everybody’s Talkin'”, a song that Emily and her father used to dance to when she was younger. This is set to flashbacks of David happily taking Amanda to the beach and Emily, smiling, knowing that the journey back has officially begun. David, however, experiences a different catharsis: the need to exact revenge on those who took Amanda from him.
Finally, Charlotte’s trying to drown out Jack’s noise by going home with a stranger at a nightclub…one that sports a Crescent Moon tattoo on his hand…
As I’ve said since the season began, everything has been absolutely solid. The emotional moments hit the right notes, especially as both father and daughter share a bit of a spiritual connection through music. The introduction of the tattooed stranger adds something new to the story when you realize that Victoria wouldn’t have hired somebody to take out her meal ticket and Emily wants reunification. So who is this man? And what is the deal with Louise?
We’ll find out next week when Revenge returns with “Damages”…
BEST QUOTES:
“Well, that definitely sounds like her shade of bitch.” — Nolan, in response to Emily’s anger over Victoria’s stalling tactics, which Nolan refers to as “Clarke-blocking”.
“Multiple rounds of electro-shock therapy will do that to a girl.” — Louise, in response to being told by Daniel that she’s “unlike any girl he’s ever met.”
