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Revenge: Doubt

"Your empire is crumbling, my queen."

A tad too underwhelming for my liking. Revenge has been on hiatus for far too long so viewers were bound to find themselves out of the show's groove. It doesn't help that this was a transitional hour which was too preoccupied with setting up the season's final stretch than providing us with many explosive developments.

The episode's highlight for me was undeniably Daniel's beating and that fantastic moment when we discovered Victoria had set it all up. Her son's imprisonment perfectly encapsulates the lengths our favorite manipulator will resort to in order to protect her family. However, I did find Victoria's lost love storyline quite bizarre. It came out of nowhere, although I'm undoubtedly intrigued to see where the writers plan on taking it.

As for the episode's other subplots, I can't say I'm really a fan of Mason Treadwell's various machinations so far, or Charlotte and Declan's irritating relationship troubles. As far as I'm concerned, the show could do without that annoying twosome as the Romeo & Juliet shtick has gotten a bit old (and prescription drugs are so 90s).

And can we please discuss that brilliant final scene where Emily finally taps into her inner badass and totally lets loose on Victoria's lackey? It was simply awesome watching her unleash her anger (and ninja skills) so proficiently. The scene practically salvaged the episode on its own and definitely pumped me up for the rest of the season.

Vengeful Bits:

• Loved Emily's tips to Daniel about staying safe in prison.

• Naughty Victoria got quite a few sex scenes in this episode. A bit weird with her son rotting in prison.

• I enjoyed sneaky Emily placing Victoria in Mason's cross-hairs.

• I can't express how satisfying it was to see Victoria slap the hell out of Charlotte. The little brat deserved it and more.

• Brilliantly resourceful plan by Emily to disguise herself and run into Victoria's mystery assailant at the bar.

• Jack on his way to find Amanda doesn't strike me as particularly exciting.

• Badass final shot of Emily as she struts off post-asskicking.

Devious Delights:

Victoria: I'm sorry, I have to go.
Dominique: Don't worry, darling, it's what you do.

Victoria: I swear to God, Mason, I'll...
Mason: You'll what? Not invite me to the parties you've stopped throwing? Not introduce me to the celebrities who've stopped calling? You empire is crumbling, my queen. News-choppers are circling Grayson Manor like so many buzzards waiting for a goat to die.

Daniel: (To Victoria) You bring Emily into this and I swear to God I'll confess to the whole thing.

Emily: In society, women are referred to as the fairer sex. But in the wild, the female species can be far more ferocious than their male counterparts. Defending the nest is both our oldest and strongest instinct. And sometimes, it can also be the most gratifying.

Ultimately, while there wasn't much wrong with it, this was one of Revenge's weaker episodes. Nevertheless, I have the utmost faith that this little firecracker of a show will bounce back with a passion next week.

2 out of 4 Treadwell Reports.

Previously posted at Nad's Reviews.

5 comments:

  1. I just love Revenge. It has all that Ringer has not. Both shows have this kind of payback thing going on, and I think Revenge got it spot on.

    Loved this ep. It's been a long hiatus. But I've missed the show, and that's a good sign no?

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  2. Definitely TJ. I love comparing Revenge and Ringer because they're both such polar opposites in the manner in which they're executed.
    Ringer is cheap, sloppy, and just a mess of a show. Revenge on the other hand is wonderfully written, gripping, and just wholly satisfying on every level. The writers knew exactly how to plot out a season-long arc in a way that kept us intrigued while Ringer just flopped around from random plot point to the other aimlessly praying its pathetic twists would make up for the lack of thought infused into the show.
    As far as I'm concerned, the ratings for once reflected the quality of both shows :)

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  3. I don't really watch Revenge, but I'm so so happy that James Purefoy is back on television.

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  4. I actually really liked it. I love the additional conflict between Victoria and Emily and how they're both trying to pin the murder on different people, and I actually enjoy Roger Bart's role on the show -- his interaction with Victoria is always so catty and melodramatic.

    Agreed that James Purefoy came out of left field, but again the soapiness kind of worked for me. I'm intrigued to see where that goes.

    And loved the final scene! Badass!

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  5. Agree that this is one of the, if not the, weakest show of the series so far.

    But -- James Purfoy. I completely understand having sex with him, son rotting in prison or not. Wow, but I hope we see a lot more of him.

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