Episode 04 | Aired Oct 21, 2012

Nolan gets a girlfriend, Victoria throws a baby shower, and someone ends up in the hospital
By Tara Fowler


I have a confession to make Revenge fans. Until last night, I hadn’t been too sure how I felt about this season. It just doesn’t seem as deliciously… soapy as the first one. Emily’s search for her mother had made her over-emotional (with good reason, I suppose). She’d been behaving irrationally -- Letting the assassin into her house? That was just plain stupid! -- and it had started to get on my nerves. But then came “Intuition.” I loved this episode so much, you guys. Did Emily pull her act together? No, not really. But so much happened! The show seemed to be treading the same path for the past few episodes, but with the return of Kara Clarke -- and that juicy reveal at the end -- I see potential for Revenge to become a whole new show. But enough about me! Let’s get to the recap, then talk theories at the end.

We open on a trail of blood running along checkered tiles. A maid’s cleaning up the mess while Victoria stands by the fireplace, holding a bloodied visitor sign-in sheet and a check. She balls them up and tosses them into the fire. Did you figure out what had happened just from this opening shot?

Cut to Aiden jogging on the beach. (Producers, why wasn’t he shirtless? Missed opportunity, I tell you.) He runs up to Emily, who plays him her mother’s message from last episode. Emily has realized that Aiden must have been the agent that her mother met at the motel and asks him how he got into Gordon Murphy’s room. He says he pulled a key from Gordon’s pocket and adds once again that Emily needs to watch out. The white-haired assassin may have brainwashed her mother and she may not be the person Emily (barely) remembers. It’s a rehash of something we’ve heard a zillion times over the past three episodes and I’m done with it. Obviously something’s up with Mom, stop dragging it out, Revenge!

Conrad and Victoria are enjoying a pleasant breakfast together. Victoria tells Conrad he's a fool for bringing the Initiative back into their lives; Conrad says she’s the one who did that in the first place by teaming up with the white-haired assassin. See? Pleasant! Daniel comes in and sweetly compliments Conrad on his work strategy, behaving just like he always does. (Not.) Charlotte turns up and asks why a camera is being installed over her bedroom. Conrad says it’s a necessary evil and adds that there are worse places to be imprisoned. “You mean like the rehab you locked me in?” Charlotte answers. I forgot about that. Tell me again why she’s still living under that roof? If ever there was a reason to move out, having your not-biological father condemn you to an asylum is it. Conrad heads off to work and Victoria asks to see the journal that Amanda gave Charlotte last episode. Charlotte tells her she’ll have to ask Amanda directly. In the foyer, Conrad warns Ashley to keep an eye on Daniel because he was behaving suspiciously at breakfast. You fooled no one, Daniel!

Amanda drags a suitcase to Emily’s house, where she’s staying after Jack threw her out. She’s pissed off and she has good reason to be. “Your obsession with making everyone pay is ruining lives,” she tells Emily. Like I’ve said before, I’ve never been a fan of Amanda, but suddenly she seems to be the voice of reason. I should’ve known something was going to happen… Emily tells Amanda that she needed her to give Charlotte that doctored journal so Victoria would hear about it. Right on cue, Victoria phones Amanda and asks to see her -- with the journals. Emily gives her the go-ahead, hoping that Victoria will be convinced to share her mother’s whereabouts based on what she reads in the journals. What could Emily possibly have written to convince Victoria to share something like that?! I’m unconvinced.

Padma and Nolan are going through his boxes of mail. (Nolan has unopened mail dating back six months or more! Who could let their mail sit that long? I love opening mail.) Emily comes in and Nolan gives her a set of earwigs and a link to the cameras in the Grayson household. This is the only time we see these two together this episode, which in my opinion is far too little. After Emily’s left, Padma presents Nolan with a letter from his father’s estate attorney -- from three weeks ago. Seems his dad died, only no one told Nolan.

Does anyone care about Declan? Anyone? He’s been calling Trey (or as Trey puts it, “blowing up his phone.” Who are you Trey, Ke$ha?) in an attempt to get him to return his share of Mr. Ryan’s stolen goods. Trey refuses, saying Declan was an idiot to leave his ID behind and that he deserves what’s happening to him. I wish this plotline would go die in Jack’s mold-infested bar.

Amanda shows up at the Graysons’ for the meet and greet with Victoria. Emily is coaching Amanda via earwig on what to do with the journal. Amanda reads some heartfelt words and Victoria gets a bit glassy-eyed. Victoria cuts Amanda off -- possibly because she’s too upset? -- and offers to buy the journal. Amanda goes on to read that Victoria is the only one who knows the secret of what happened to Kara, but Victoria only says that Kara was the source of David’s pain. Charlotte walks in on the two women before they can say any more and Victoria saves the day by announcing they were just planning Amanda’s baby shower. Honestly Charlotte, sometimes you are an idiot.

Daniel punches numbers in a calculator, yada, yada, yada. The result is what we already know: Conrad’s defrauding the company. Ashley walks in and asks why Daniel’s staying so late (God, she sucks at keeping an eye on him). He gives her some thinly veiled excuse and she tells him to cut the crap. Daniel admits that he’s trying to get to the bottom of Conrad’s betrayal. Ashley tells him he should just leave it be, but he shoots back: “You think he wouldn’t do to the same to me, to Charlotte or to you?” Ashley looks away, ashamed. What really intrigues me about this, however, is that Daniel suspects he’s being played. He’s certainly wised up over the past year, hasn’t he? The next morning, he reveals to Ashley that he’s trying to get proof of Conrad’s fraud. Ashley warns him that this could ruin the entire company, but Daniel says he has plan and asks her to trust him. And then Ashley’s phone rings. It’s Conrad. Awkward…

Aiden comes back to the motel just in time to see Kara leaving. He confesses that he wasn’t who he said he was, saying that he’s actually an FBI agent deep undercover -- like Gordon was (or pretended to be). Kara tries to leave, but Aiden pulls a gun on her. He takes her inside, where he explains that Gordon’s being hunted by the Initiative and that he needs any information Kara might have. Kara says that he left her a hard drive and she bends down to get it. Aiden turns his back -- really, Aiden? -- and Kara tasers him. The guy’s going to end up with permanent head trauma if he keeps giving his back to Clarke women.

Emily pulls out the log sheet we saw at the beginning of the episode. She tells Amanda she needs to accept Victoria’s offer of a check so they can get her signature to check it against the log and use it to prove Victoria visited Kara in the ward. At Nolan’s office, Padma comes in to question Nolan about a lawsuit, but he brushes her off and heads out to get some air. Padma spies the estate letter, which included a key to a storage unit with Nolan’s father’s things. She surreptitiously pockets the key. Conrad meets the Initiative woman who phoned him last episode. She’s suspicious about the Graysons’ story. The white-haired assassin had always been a loyal agent and there’s no reason to believe he would kidnap Victoria. She says that she will find Gordon (erm, not alive, you won’t) and that she’ll be interested to hear his side of the story when she does. Uh, oh.

Nolan apparently left his office for drinks at Jack’s bar. (Isn’t Nolan’s office in New York City? What is he using for transportation to the Hamptons? Teleportation?) While the two boys talk, Mr. Ryan comes in. Jack tries to say that he’ll pay him off for the still-missing items, but Ryan only gives him a month to re-pay $20,000. That’s a hefty sum for someone whose place of business is still closed. The health inspector turns up for a re-evaluation of the bar, but he declares it unfit. There’s more mold to be dealt with, a job he estimates will cost $40,000.

Much to Victoria’s dismay, Emily turns up for Amanda’s baby shower, as do four of Amanda’s friends from her “club” days. (Side note: Was anyone concerned about Amanda’s baby suffocating in that tight dress? Also her black bra was showing for most of these scenes.) Emily discretely passes Amanda an earwig before they sit down to open presents. Victoria, queen of subtlety that she is, gives Amanda a journal so she can record the “incredible experience of motherhood.” She urges her to open the journal, which contains a $100,000 check (a far better gift). So now we have the log and the check, both in Amanda’s possession. This can’t bode well…

Amanda says she’s tired and Victoria takes her off to “rest.” Emily gets her cameras and earpiece going to coach Amanda once more. Amanda confronts Victoria with the visitor’s log and check in hand. The handwriting matches, proving Victoria was in the ward. Victoria storms out, but Amanda chases her, asking for the truth about what happened to Emily’s mother. At this point, Emily’s earwig starts to cut out so she doesn’t hear Victoria drop this major bomb: “Your mother tried to kill you.” Though it’s not her own mother, Amanda is shocked and she reaches for Victoria, claiming this couldn’t possibly be true. Victoria pushes her away and… Amanda goes over the railing, tumbling head over heels to the floor below! Ladies and gents, we have our body! An ambulance is called and Amanda begs Emily, who’s come running out of the bathroom she was hiding in, to save the baby.

Meanwhile, Nolan finds out that Padma’s been to his father’s storage unit and asks her to take them there. While in the unit, we learn that Nolan was a fan of competitive Tetris and even tried to make it an Olympic sport. Ha! As Padma and Nolan unpack boxes, he realizes he’s attracted to her and tries to kiss her (aw!) only to have the box he’s resting his elbow on collapse underneath him. Smooth. Second try’s the charm, though. After they kiss, Nolan offers to take Padma out wherever she wants to go, but before they head out, Padma discovers a framed $50,000 check signed by none other than David Clarke. Temptation, frustration…

Aiden’s being held hostage by Kara. She accuses him of either working for the Graysons or the Initiative because there’s no other way he would have known her name. Her husband certainly wouldn’t have told him. Well, well Gordon! Kara leaves and Aiden immediately starts trying to make his escape attempt -- first by knocking over a shelf full of glass knickknacks, and then by kicking over the chair he’s tied and using the glass shards to sever his bonds.

At Grayson Global, Daniel puts a plan into motion. He calls security on Ashley’s car, then checks her messages. There’s one from Conrad. Boom! Now he has proof she’s working against him. Elsewhere, Jack is meeting with Mr. Ryan again when he gets a call from Emily about Amanda’s fall. Jack rushes off to the hospital, while Ryan phones Trey and tells him, “You did good, and so did our inspector.” Turns out Ryan’s after The Stowaway. But is all this really necessary to get his hands on a rather grimy bar? I don’t understand the point of this plot or what it has to do with anything.

Conrad comes home with Daniel and Ashley to find the maid moping up a pool of blood in the foyer. “Guess it’s a Tuesday!” he declares. No, not really. But he does seem remarkably nonchalant about the whole thing. Daniel heads up to bed (did he not see the blood?) and Ashley confronts Conrad about moonlighting as a spy. She doesn’t want to do it anymore. The camera pans away and we see Daniel’s been eavesdropping. He grins and later we see them making passionate love. Is all forgiven, then?

As she makes her getaway, Kara hears a news report about an Amanda Clarke being admitted to the hospital. The doctors perform an emergency C-section to get Jack and Amanda’s son out, but while the baby seems fine (he's on oxygen), Amanda is now in critical condition. Emily goes to check on Amanda and sees her mother stroking Amanda’s arm. At the sight, Emily goes into full flashback mode. Remember that sweet scene we saw at the beginning of episode one where Emily and her mother were swimming? Turns out Mom nearly drowned her shortly afterwards. Instead of confronting her, Emily goes home. There, she finds Aiden. She starts whaling on him for being right about her mother, but he catches her arms and pulls her into a hug. And then Emily Thorne bursts into tears. I cried too. Did you?

All in all, I admit, I had my problems with this episode. The whole Mr. Ryan plot makes me want to pull my hair out. I hate it when shows deviate from a main storyline for silly sidebars. I understand that the other characters need something to do, but if they have no place in the principal story, there’s no reason to invent plotlines to keep them around. Send Declan to boarding school or something because he doesn’t need to be on Revenge. However, I did love what's going on with Amanda. She may not die, it’s true. I have no idea what will happen next week. And yet, that threat is there. Her death would be so much more powerful than her life. What would happen to Emily’s in with the Graysons? What would happen to Jack? What would happen with Emily’s mother? Amanda’s death could raise so many great questions and we could finally give this season of Revenge a bit more direction. I’m pulling for a flat line next week, are you?

All credit goes to EW.com