On the newest episode of ABC's
Revenge, Daniel, with Emily by his side, goes toe to toe with his fiercest business rival, Jason Prosser (Dylan Walsh), to land an important deal that Victoria is determined to block; Aidan takes a very dark turn; and Jack and Amanda's future lands in the unlikely hands of Conrad Grayson.
Revenge's second season has primarily been about main different parts and stories percolating by themselves without them really coming together into some grand larger payoff. Sure, the show has still been able to produce episodic stories that leave the audience satisfied but the larger mythology continues to be a too complicated, possible unnecessary mess. This hour of the series functioned along those exact same lines. The stories were distinctly separated - mostly by location. Emily, Daniel, Aidan and Victoria were off in Los Angeles; Nolan and Padma are off house hunting; and Jack, Conrad and Amanda at the Stowaway and the terrible Ryan brothers plot that continues to gnaw its way further into the structure of the show. Of these three locales only the LA was entertainingly frothy and deviously soapy. Sure, I don't really care about the prospects the acquisition of this new company does for the Initiative's plans. But the scheming and attempts to dissuade or reinforce someone to buy the thing was wonderful to watch. Plotting like that makes this series fun and entertaining. These characters are master manipulators whose agendas are very publicly visible - which is the hugest factor of why we love Emily and Victoria and hate the mechanics of Helen and the Initiative.
The one good thing about making Padma a mole was not making it an inside secret for very long. She is a plot device, pure and simple, and thusly is not deserving of so much screentime by herself. But by letting Nolan (and Emily) in on her movements, it allows the series to refocus on those two characters plotting together (which is vastly entertaining) instead of telling this story from her perspective (which the narrative has facilitated or laid the groundwork at this point). Perhaps the highlight of the episode was simply when Nolan and Emily were sitting down and actually talking and thusly able to bring all of the convoluted plotting together into a somewhat coherent grand scheme. We still are immensely in the dark on what is the real goal or what the benefits of said actions are for many of the superflous character. But now, we can have these two characters actually building towards something with purpose instead of just percolating around not really knowing what is or what is going to happen.
So what did everyone think of the episode? So, the Initiative wants to turn the power off - when did this show become Revolution? But seriously, how angry are you that the Ryan brothers continue to claw their way into the story? Excited by the return of the Shamu-Cam? Share your thoughts in the comments.
