Tuesday, November 19, 2013

My Review of Revenge's 3x08: "Secrecy"


Written by Sallie Patrick And Jasheika James
Directed by Colin Bucksey

Emily (to Daniel): “I’m great. As it turns out, I’m pregnant.”

Considering what exactly went down in this episode, it’s a safe assumption that Emily is not with child, folks. Instead she’s just using that infamous trope of faking a pregnancy to keep her man from leaving her.

Usually this would be a source of irritation but considering that Emily doesn’t actually love Daniel and needs him just a tiny bit longer to ultimately frame Victoria for murder, I actually think it’s a rather clever if dastardly thing for her to do. After all, Daniel came pretty close from slipping out of her fingers in this episode.

I don’t know what it says about me but I am actually delighted that Daniel has begun to fall out of love with Emily. I know the current affair he’s having with Sara is completely rushed but it’s actually doing wonders for Daniel as a character and the fact that Sara has managed to be a pretty sympathetic character as well certainly helps matters.

I also like that while Sara might have fallen for Emily’s manipulations, at least she’s wise enough not to fall for Victoria. Victoria yet again tried to expose Emily and it backfired on her spectacularly but more to the point, Sara earned a lot of respect by merely calling Victoria out on her obsessive hold on Daniel as well.

As for Emily and Victoria – I did like the constant back and forth with them this week. Emily managed to use her past marriage of convenience to Rohan as a means of exposing Victoria’s pettiness and Victoria got to rub in Emily’s face about Daniel’s growing attachment to Sara. For the time being though, Emily was the one who came out on top here.

As for Emily and Jack – anyone else getting frustrated with the latter? I know Emily’s scheming has cost him and I don’t dismiss his anger but his constant dictating to Emily has been tiresome and it was finally nice to see her tell him to back off a tad as well this week. Unfortunately, it looks like he might be onto something with Aiden though.

I don’t like the idea of Aiden becoming a liability for Emily but given that he was a bit of a dick to both Nolan and Jack and used a blackmailing situation involving Charlotte to his advantage, I can’t help wondering if he’s suddenly going to be a problem for Emily. I hope not but I am noticing that some viewers do seem to be warming to him a lot less this year than they were last season.

Speaking of problems – Lydia, really? Didn’t she die in a plane crash at the end of the first season? I guess not after all. I’m surprised that she was the one who got in contact with Margaux. For some reason I was actually expecting it be Ashley but I guess this could be a lot of fun and another spanner in the works for Emily to deal with before tying the knot with Daniel.

Also in “Secrecy”

Conrad had a little secret club that the Grayson men inherited. I wasn’t too shocked when it became clear that Victoria was aware of it.

Sara: “What if your mother hates me?”
Daniel: “She won’t and even if she does, I’ll protect you.”

Victoria’s comments about Emily being a gold digger are odd, considering that Emily has always been wealthy since she’s been in the Hamptons.

Emily: “You gave me a deadline to end this. You don’t get to pass judgement about what I do when it’s done/”
Jack: “You’re right, I don’t.”

Conrad (to Daniel): “The secret to staying happily married is secrecy.”

I loved seeing Nolan posting post-it notes all over the place when it turned out that Aiden was moving in with him.

Aiden: “I’m the future.”
Jack: “Are you trying to convince me or yourself?”

Rohan (to Emily/Victoria): “I am on pins and needles for you and Daniel. It means excitement, yes?”

Rohan was another one of Takeda’s students, Emily married him so he could get a green card and he’s in love with a guy named Benny.

Victoria: “You cannot be fooled by that girl.”
Sara: “You think you’re protecting your son but your psycho obsession is hurting him. Let him go, I’m gonna do the same. Goodbye Victoria.”

Standout music: Noah and the Whale’s “Silver And Gold”.

Emily (to Jack): “You know what I used to wish for? That nothing would ever change.”

Chronology: A few days since the events of “Resurgence”.

Now this was a brilliant episode. “Secrecy” felt like a far bigger episode than we’ve had for a while and while I’m still a little flummoxed by Lydia’s return, I am looking forward to seeing her and Emily going toe to toe pretty soon.

Rating: 9 out of 10

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