Revenge Season 1 Finale

In the previous post I mentioned how I was unable to watch the Season Finale of Revenge until months after it premiered. Along with or rather due to life's stresses I had thought that the previous episode was the Season Finale and was highly upset to discover that Nolan had been captured and that I would have to wait 3 months to find out if Emily would save him. I swore off Revenge Season 2 for trying to pull a "Who shot J.R.?" tactic.

Low and behold I was trolling on ABC's Revenge website and came across the episode entitled Reckoning and boy was it good! ABC took all of our favorite elements from Season 1 and served it to us with explosions, axes, exes, overdosing and a surprise gift-opening. Initially, I thought that the episode had started and ended too slowly. Why was Amanda taking so long to discover Nolan's disappearance? What was the purpose of Victoria visiting Amanda's house? Who in the world is the White-Haired Man and why doesn't he have a name? But as soon as Amanda entered that kidnapper's looking van without a weapon, I knew the episode was going to be exciting.

So to Recap:

The episode starts with Emily standing in her signature black tracksuit in the middle of her ransacked bungalow. She begins to scream for Daniel. Daniel comes downstairs and immediately looks under the kitchen counter for his briefcase and all the evidence against Conrad. Because clearly, no burglar would think to look behind the pots and pans to find incriminating evidence against one of the richest men in the world. He makes up a lie to Emily that I'm sure even if she were clueless to what was actually going on she would never believe it. Conveniently, it's Daniel's idea to pack-up and move to New York.

Emily then calls Nolan and when she is unable to find him, travels to his home to find his laptop with a message to call the kidnapper via Skype. It's none other than the White-Haired Man who doesn't decide to leave on the laptop's webcam. As per his instructions and under the ruse to Daniel of subletting the guesthouse, she meets with him. The White-Haired Man notes that she has no weapons (which, personally, I would have been wary of a good butt-whooping) and Emily willingly lies on a mattress in the back of the van (because of course she is about to be killed in comfort) and  inhales a good amount of chloroform ( for some reason I could only think of Nancy Drew at that moment and how no matter the amount of chloroform that her kidnappers used she was able to get away).  When she wakes, she finds herself chained beside to the wall of what looks like a meat freezer/warehouse. The White-Haired Man thinking that he is more clever than Emily has taken off her watch with a lock pick hidden inside. That did not fool me for a second although Nolan was quite surprised when Emily tricked the Whited-Haired Man into a goose chase for the evidence and pulled out another lock-pick from her jacket pocket with her teeth. The funniest part of that episode had to be when Nolan commented that he was "not worthy" (I'm sure that we were all thinking the same thing). When the White-Haired Man returns Nolan is already on his way to New York to deliver the evidence to the cops and Emily is waiting for the White-Haired Man with an ax. Yes, I wrote it an ax. Emily means business. For some reason, the White-Haired Man decides to use a surgical knife to take Em's down. Of course she is about to strike the crushing blow when she decides to have a conscience and spare the man. When I think about it, if I were the White-Haired Man I would have packed my bags and left the country. She must be really crazy to not only come after me with an ax but I've already seen her face and she decides to walk away?

Other minor things that happen during the episode include, Emily breaking off the engagement with Daniel, Victoria slapping Daniel, Conrad loosing that blonde haired annoying secretary (What's her name again?) to Victoria because the grass looked a lot greener on Victoria's side and Ashley making a move on Daniel ( I wonder how Victoria' s is going to feel about this development. Daniel's definitely gone down the ladder and taken the Grayson name down with him), Charlotte overdosing on pills after being rejected by Declan for  publicly humiliating the new girl and Conrad finding her (I dont think I'll miss Charlotte), the real Emily showing up pregnant with Jack (there's no doubt in my mind that he is not the father) and finally the White-Haired Man orchestrating the blow-up of the plane with Victoria and the Evidence inside (Victoria, I'm sure is not dead).

Oh and finally the best part of the episode. Guess what was inside the box that Victoria gave to Emily for an engagement gift? Absolutely nothing! The look on Em's face was priceless. I can't wait to see how things turnout next season! What are you hoping to see on Sunday's episode?

Why I and You love ABC's Revenge! Part 1

Swamped with final papers, exams, work, projects and personal drama, I didn't have the opportunity to watch the Season 1 Finale of Revenge until three months after it appeared on television. That just sounded like a line straight out of Emily's mouth. As I was writing, the first thought that came to my mind was when she poisoned Conrad's soup and noted that "people say that revenge is a dish best served cold but I think it's best served warm" or something similar to that effect. Emily VanCamp's sinister voice and cliched one-liners crack me up every time yet, I can't help but root for her and the show and here's why.

I think that Revenge is a lot of people's guilty pleasure. To be quite honest, I love the mix that the show offers from being a campy soap opera , to being a compelling drama, to presenting moments of comedic relief and frustration- Nolan, Tyler and Jack are some characters that I have a weekly love/hate relationship with, to providing fantasy- what's it like to be rich and living in The Hamptons with your only concern being revenge, avoiding detection and/or collusion? In these economic and stressful times many of us want to see the underdog and the betrayed overcome every obstacle, defeat the bad guys and run off into the sunset- it's sorta cathartic and we can relate to Emily, Nolan and Jack. I'm sure I'll feel the emotional purging even more when it appears for Season 2 on Sunday nights after a long, exhausting and frustrating work week.

Furthermore, Emily is no damsel in distress neither is she a white knight. Rather than being a victim (or simply hiring an assassin) she sets out to The Hamptons with a plan to avenge her father's death. Throughout the series it seems as if the men are much more in distress than Emily. For example, Nolan is 9 times out of 10 always fumbling through or foiling a plan due to his insecurities and lack of experience, Jack is still pining away at the disappearance of Amanda several years after the fact and keeping her dog as a memento of a lost love, Tyler expectantly going off the hinges because of the damage done to his family and Daniel having absolutely no backbone, being the alcoholic socialite and having absolutely no understanding of life purpose until Emily appears due to his cushy upbringing. The main women in the series are the Lady Macbeth's of their generation. Every time Victoria appears on screen I see her as the perfect embodiment of Lady Macbeth in the first act although I seriously doubt that they will have the same fate.

Oh, and let me not forget to comment on the clothes, cars, houses and furniture. I love the newspaper print upholstery on Victoria's chair; it reminds me a bit of Regina's office in Once Upon a Time. I also enjoy seeing the contrast between Emily's tiny beach house to the Grayson's huge mansion. The soapy symbolism get's me every time.

Maybe I'll do a part two. I was actually getting pretty excited just remembering the old times with my friends from the Hamptons.