Monday, November 05, 2012

My Review of Revenge's 2x06: "Illusion"


Written by Michael Foley
Directed by Bobby Roth

Conrad: “For a moment you had me worried you weren’t coming.”
Victoria: “Like you said, til death do us part.”

Sadly for Victoria, that just happens to be one vow that Conrad seems incapable of delivering on. Their wedding might have been an exhibition in the farcical but at least Victoria and Conrad are now placed in another unfortunate position due to Emily finally getting scheming groove back on.

I find it a little disturbing even for Emily that she would have Gordon Murphy’s body store somewhere but it turned out to be rather handy upon framing Conrad for his death and using the eternal loose cannon that is Mason Treadwell in order to do it. However, Emily seriously underestimated two twists of events in this one.

First of all the Initiative and the scary female figurehead they seemed to have managed to get Conrad away from a jail sentence by forcing his hand yet again and secondly, Victoria managed to inadvertently throw Mason back into Emily and Amanda’s direction once again. Even when she isn’t trying to cause trouble, Victoria manages it so well.

I think it’s a safe assumption that Mason has figured out that Emily and Amanda have already swapped identities. He didn’t really seem to buy Amanda’s story about her scar removal and hearing about Emily’s previous record seemed to slot everything into place for him. Of course, the last person who realised that these ladies were living each other’s lives ended up dead. Something tells me that a similar fate awaits Mason now.

It’s almost a shame to lose Mason as a character. He’s so sly and his vitriol towards the Graysons has been entertaining to watch but the show’s purpose, I guess we do have to lose him as a character. Still, it’s been fun seeing him as a spanner in the works but now I guess it’s up to the Initiative to take the fore.

I’m not sure what Conrad will have to be forced into doing but the thinly veiled threat he gave to Victoria was rather masterful. The two of them might bring out the worst in each other as people but at the same time, they truly deserve each other and the consequences they’ll have to face for their crimes.

As for the rest of the episode, Kara is still a good addition to the series. I enjoyed her moment discussing the Graysons with Emily as well as her scenes with Jack and Amanda but at the same time, she’s letting her supposedly friendly facade slip. Victoria came pretty close to realising that Kara had feelings for Gordon and something tells me, she’ll figure it out soon enough if Kara isn’t careful.

As for the quadrangle surrounding Emily, Aiden, Daniel and Ashley, it was rather interesting to watch it unfold here. Emily pointedly rejected both Daniel and Aiden’s advances during and after the wedding and Ashley seemed more than a little jealous and suspicious of both men’s interest in Emily.

I’m not really sure if Emily should be with either of these guys or Jack but I did love seeing her trying to look out for Nolan with Padma. Padma seemed to quickly reveal that she was more well being than backstabbing with Nolan over the David Clarke stuff, which is actually a relief. I want to like Padma but I do feel that the relationship with her and Nolan is a tad rushed to be honest.

Also in “Illusion”

Kara is something of a painter/drawer and we saw her probing Emily on it too. I hope Amanda has some skills in that department too.

Emily: “We can allow ourselves to be deceived by false realities or we can use them to hide our true intentions.”

Emily talked about meeting Ashley six years ago because was an easy target. Aiden seems to think there’s more to Ashley, which could be interesting if true.

Kara (to Victoria): “A second chance at love doesn’t happen very often, but a third and a fourth? You must cast quite a spell.”

Victoria: “Learn to take a joke, Conrad, seeing as we’re perpetrating one.”

I still really don’t like Kenny in this episode and his attempts of being too buddy like with Jack were somewhat grating as well.

Declan: “What about your parents wedding?”
Charlotte: “I’ll catch the next one.”

Daniel (re wedding): “So, this was almost us, huh?”
Emily: “Almost.”
Daniel: “Ever think about it? What might have been like if we hung in there?”

Daniel and Aiden’s plot to overthrow Conrad didn’t make too much progress in this episode either, Declan and Charlotte had sex and Jack proposed to Amanda.

Nolan (to Emily): “Having Conrad arrested for murder at his own wedding? Now what a revenge all star opportunity.”

Victoria (re Gordon): “The man was a killer. He kidnapped me and threatened my family. Now if you’re insinuating that I had anything to do with his murder, I promise you are mistaken.”
Kara: “Your promises don’t hold water with me anymore.”

Standout music: Massive Attack’s “Paradise Circus” at the end of the episode.

Victoria (re Initiative): “What did you promise them?”
Conrad: “I don’t think I’ll know until it’s too late. Sleep well, darling.”

Chronology: Not long from where “Forgiveness” left off.

I’m not really getting the hate this season for the show. I might not like every plot and the Initiative storyline is one I’m taking with some trepidation but these last few episodes have been cracking and “Illusion” certainly was another one.

Rating: 9 out of 10

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