My Review of Revenge's 1x18: "Justice"

Written by Sallie Patrick And Liz Tigelaar
Directed by Bobby Roth

Nolan: “So, that’s what this is all about – protecting Jack?”
Emily: “He might be willing to sacrifice himself for Amanda. I’m not willing to let him.”

Of course, we all forget that Emily truly is the most altruistic person on this show. Okay, sarcasm aside, it was nice that Emily actively went out of her way to protect both Jack and Daniel in this episode, even though once again it nearly blew up in her face.

I have to admit that stealing the troublesome hoodie from Jack and using it to frame Lee the thug Tyler’s murder (plus taking into account that he beat up Jack not so long ago) was a masterstroke on Emily’s part. Did I feel bad that Lee was going to be punished for a crime he didn’t commit? Morally, I probably should’ve but I just couldn’t sympathise with him all that much to be honest.

However, even I was a bit shocked when Conrad had it arranged that Lee would end up being hung in prison before he could expose the Graysons but considering how ruthless that family are and that Conrad was cleaning up after Victoria throughout this episode, it probably shouldn’t have been that much of a shocker.

Lee’s arrest and death should be a nice way of ending the whole trial saga with both Jack and Daniel but considering the damage it’s caused with Declan and Charlotte as well; it’s not going to be that easy. Declan couldn’t be swayed when it came to discrediting his former girlfriend’s reliability as a witness and that too was something of a conflict to watch.

Perjury aside, I didn’t blame Declan for trying to protect Jack yet again (and I certainly didn’t blame him for being frustrated with his brother as well) but I couldn’t help feeling bad for Charlotte. Victoria and Conrad are continuing to fail her and Declan should be the one she should be able to turn to but she can’t.

It didn’t help that Victoria tried to get Charlotte to seduce Declan in order to make sure Daniel wasn’t screwed during the trial and the rather unwelcome return of Adam supplying Charlotte drugs was another bummer moment as well. It looks like things are only going to get much worse for Charlotte than better.

As for the whole Jack/Emily/Daniel triangle – that got rather interesting as well. Jack managed to inadvertently create tension between Emily and Daniel to the extent that the latter was reckless enough to violate his own bail conditions. I didn’t like seeing Daniel shoving Emily in this episode but given that he’s being lied to left, right and centre, it’s easy to see why he lost it in this episode.

That being said though, whatever doubt Daniel might have had with Emily’s love for him didn’t seem to last that long. He was about to do something stupid before Mr Brooks stopped him and he did seem to instantly regret losing his temper with Emily as well. It’s also Emily who may make or break him on the witness stand as well, given that she’s next in line to speak at the trial.

As for the reveal of Conrad having someone kill David Clarke in prison – I actually did see that coming. David wasn’t some casual fling for Victoria – he was the big deal and I mean that in the way that Dominik certainly isn’t and given that Conrad resorted to underhanded tactics to get rid of Dominik, having David killed doesn’t seem all that shocking to be honest.

However, I can see why maybe it shocked Emily a little in her last scene with Nolan and I definitely can’t wait to see how she’s going to deal with the Graysons now that she knows that bit of information. Maybe the performance of a lifetime in court could end up spelling doom for Daniel after all.

Also in “Justice”

It seems that both Dominik and Victoria conned Conrad with a piece of art and that’s how Victoria seperated from Dominik and met Conrad.

Emily: “Explaining all the reasons why I love Daniel shouldn’t be difficult.”
Mr Brooks: “Good, because forensic evidence is not on our side. We’re going to have to build an emotional connection between the jury and Daniel.”

Charlotte was reading Mason’s book in this episode. I wonder if Mason is going to enlighten Charlotte on who David Clarke really was.

Emily (to Nolan, re Daniel): “I came here for one reason. Nothing’s gonna get in my way.”

Victoria: “What are you doing out here? You’re going to catch your death.”
Daniel: “That seems inevitable.”
Victoria: “Oh, Daniel, don’t be so morbid.”

Both Nolan and Ashley seemed a bit underused in this episode, though I did love the scenes Nolan had with Declan in this one.

Victoria (to Daniel): “I simply don’t give my trust as freely as you do. Need I remind you who your fiancée was sitting next to in court?”

Daniel: “Maybe my mom was right about you. Maybe Tyler was too.”
Emily: “How much have you had to drink?”
Daniel: “Don’t change the subject. I saw you yesterday with Jack.”

Standout music: Crocodile’s “No Black Clouds For Dee-Dee”.

Emily (to herself): “Justice like beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Some see an innocent victim; others see evil incarnate getting what’s deserved.”

Chronology: It’s 58 days since the events of “Doubt”, so it’s either late November or early December.

“Justice” was certainly an interesting episode to watch. While Dominik may have ended up being a rather pointless addition to proceedings, I do like that things continue to step up a notch between our main players and the reveal of the circumstances behind David’s death were certainly overdue as well.

Rating: 8 out of 10