Wednesday, January 07, 2015

My Review of Revenge's 4x11: "Epitaph"


Written by Alex Taub
Directed by Bobby Roth

Daniel (to Emily): “If you open those curtains, it’s all be over.”

It’s been a month since Daniel was actually killed off screen and in terms of send offs; this was a satisfying episode to finally end the character. Assuming we won’t be seeing Joshua Bowman on the series, even in flashbacks and dream sequences any time soon.

With Daniel’s death being so prominent in this episode, there were some pros and cons. The obvious cons was the whole cover up of Kate’s body to make it look like Emily had to kill Daniel in self defence and if even Ben could easily see through that, then I’m pretty certain the arriving Malcolm Black will be able to as well.

It was also pointless because now we’ve got a misguided vengeance storyline of Margaux’s to deal with as well. I like Margaux but the whole idea of her wanting to take down Emily will become pretty tedious and at this point, with everyone else privy to her being Amanda, maybe Margaux could be used more as an ally than a threat to Emily, right?

Then there’s Victoria and David. Is it wrong that I like that Daniel’s death is doing more to drive a wedge between them than uniting them? They were both pretty nasty to one another this week, even if David did try to be a bit more supportive during the actual funeral itself.

As for David – I called his whole plan to take out Malcolm Black being a failure. Even without the last scene where the latter killed off Edward (who was the most annoying character this week), the latter half of this season alone needs Malcolm and whatever brand of danger he supposedly carries to the remaining cast members.

The rest of the episode also had it’s moments though – I liked that while Emily was banned from Daniel’s funeral, we still got some insight into her true feelings about him and I even liked that she told Ben about being shot by Daniel during her wedding night. However if anything, I think that’s going to make Ben even more of a problem down the line than anything else.

As for Louise – her loyalty towards Victoria remains gravely misplaced but her baking skills and general perkiness at least prevented the episode from being a total downer. Aside from the lingering plotline with her brother, I’m not sure where else Louise can go for the remaining half of the season but at the same time, I’m finding her a lot more enjoyable now than I did when this season began.

Also in “Epitaph”

While I didn’t miss Charlotte in this episode, it did feel slightly odd not having her in it either. At least her absence was accounted for onscreen.

Victoria: “How smoothly you lie.”
David: “I did that so you don’t have to.”

The Daniel flashbacks in this episode involved Victoria teaching him how to tie a tie and a bedroom scene with Emily. Jack also had a flashback to romping with Kate.

Ben (to Jack): “I’ve seen Emily play people, including me and she’s good at it. Anyway, I hope it’s true.”

Victoria: “I won’t be a prisoner to your lies anymore.”
David: “I was a prisoner for two decades because of you. You can hold on for one more day.”

Emily showed more of her bad ass nature when she got David to help her pop her shoulder back in. Whatever toughness Emily has was not courtesy of him.

Emily (to Ben, re Daniel): “I wouldn’t hurt him because underneath the scar tissue, the temper, there was a genuinely good guy trying to find his way.”

David (to Emily, re Victoria): “If all of this hadn’t happened, we’d be having her funeral right now instead of Daniel’s.”

Standout music: Izler’s “Emptiness”.

Malcolm: “Malcolm Black.”

Chronology: The episode picked up from where “Atonement” left off.

Not as gripping as the winter finale but at the same time, “Epitaph” was a good note to end Daniel’s death on and to properly introduce Malcolm Black into the mix. It’s good that the show has found it’s feet again after such a shaky start this season.

Rating: 7 out of 10

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