My Review of Revenge's 1x06: "Intrigue"

Written by Dan Dworkin And Jay Beattie
Directed by Tim Hunter

Tyler: “You might want to be careful with who you’re dealing with.”
Emily: “I’m always careful and I know who I’m dealing with.”

Oh, Emily and Tyler – you can just see the tension rolling off the pair of them, can’t you? I don’t think either of these two could make their hatred for each other any more obvious if they tried. Still, both of them would want to heed Tyler’s advice though, especially given the events of this episode.

Tyler should learn for himself that trying to come between Emily and Daniel could prove to be a disastrous thing for him. Daniel still pretty much had the hump with him over the phone antics and Emily certainly took a gleeful pleasure during the double date with Daniel and Ashley when she took Tyler down several notches.

As a scene went, that was actually rather gratifying to watch but it was also one where Emily went a bit too far and attracted suspicion from Ashley, which is probably the only reason Emily decided to go and make nice with Tyler during the Fourth Of July party this week. Of course, Tyler wasn’t really buying it, so again Emily needs to watch herself.

Tyler’s definitely proving to be quite a slippery little snake in the grass as it is. Victoria doesn’t have that high of an opinion of Emily anyways but it’s interesting that Tyler is able to plant further doubt about Emily’s influence on Daniel with such ease into Victoria though. Why Victoria seems to trust Tyler is a little baffling at this point but I suppose there has to be at least someone she’s not suspicious/disapproving of at the moment.

As for Daniel, he varied with me in this episode. His scenes with Emily were nice and it was interesting that he didn’t take her to task over her humiliating Tyler but it’s also rather worrying that he allows Tyler to lead him astray. His first night working at the Stowaway and he decides to get hammered on the job because Tyler needles him a bit. This is not a particularly good sign for the character.

Less good is the fact that Tyler bashed his forehead in and made it look like a drunk Daniel did it to him. I’m not too surprised that Victoria seemed to believe but I was rather pleased that Emily saw through it as well. I think I’m gonna enjoy future scenes between Emily and Tyler in the next few weeks.

Speaking of future scenes – how the hell did Lydia survive that fall? I’ve seen characters on other shows die for less but either way, I can’t help noticing the contrasting reactions here. Nolan felt some actual guilt over Lydia’s current comatose state whereas Emily really couldn’t have cared less. I’m beginning to think that Emily might have a dark passenger that would give Dexter Morgan’s a run for it’s money.

Okay, I suppose Emily did have some reaction. I mean, she didn’t intend for Lydia to actually get hurt but at the same time because of Lydia’s contribution to her father’s downfall, she wasn’t exactly in a sympathetic mood either. Still, this only continued to show that Emily’s actions are getting out of her hands, don’t they?

Also, getting out of her hands is Nolan. This episode seemed to be the straw that broke his back here. Lydia being placed into a coma was one thing for Nolan but Frank paying him a visit was clearly another thing. I didn’t think Frank would actually succeed in killing Nolan but I can see why it was a moment that made Nolan reconsider helping Emily, though I have a feeling something else will pull him back into the cause.

Frank seemed to be on fine form in this episode as well. He found out that Nolan had bugged Lydia’s place after Conrad discovered what really happened to his mistress and promptly fired Frank and he also tried to reach out to Victoria as well. Unfortunately for Frank though, it seems that he’s cottoned onto Emily and that can only end badly for him of course. It’s not like Emily is going to be bested by a disgruntled bodyguard, is it?

Onto less mystery driven stories, Jack made an ass of himself this week by actually following Declan and Nolan’s advice in relation to Emily. I knew she was going to reject him when he poured his heart out to her and this episode proved me right. It’s hard to tell how deeply Emily feels about Jack because she certainly took no pleasure in casting him aside but at the same time, she does seem to actually like Daniel as well.

Also in “Intrigue”

This was actually the first episode not to feature any flashbacks at all, which meant no appearances from David for that matter.

Daniel: “How is it possible to wake up looking this good?”
Emily: “It isn’t. You’re just half asleep.”

This is also the second episode in a row where Emily hasn’t exacted revenge on someone new as well. I guess every now and then, that’s going to happen on the show.

Emily (re Lydia): “I can’t believe she survived.”
Nolan: “I can’t believe I survived.”

Emily: “You got lucky.”
Nolan: “You might want to redefine your definition of ‘lucky’ in the dictionary.”

Declan and Charlotte managed to get to the next phase in their relationship and we learned that Adam is out of the picture.

Ashley: “I don’t do well with rejection.”
Emily: “Obviously, that was 200 years ago.”

Tyler: “What’s your point?”
Emily: “Either you’re confused or you’re giving spectacularly bad advice.”

Again, Ashley needs more development as a character. Tyler’s been in fewer episodes and we know more about him than we do her.

Jack (to Declan): “Call your girlfriend. You’re going to that party tonight and so I am.”

Victoria: “There’s nothing so precious as freedom, is there?”
Emily: “There isn’t.”

Standout music: Silver Swans version of “Anyone’s Ghost” played at the end of the episode.

Jack: “Am I making any sense?”
Emily: “You’re making perfect sense; just you’re saying it to the wrong girl, Jack. I’m seeing Daniel, I thought you knew that.”

Emily (to herself): “Like life, revenge can be a messy business and both would be simpler if our heads could figure which way our hearts will go.”

Chronology: It’s the fourth of July, presumably 2011.

“Intrigue” was certainly an intriguing episode to watch. I did like the ramifications of Lydia’s fall played throughout the episode and the hostility between Emily and Tyler was certainly a highlight to watch as well and Nolan was a highlight as ever.

Rating: 8 out of 10