Tuesday, January 07, 2014

My Review of Revenge's 3x11: "Homecoming"


Written by Ted Sullivan
Directed by Matt Earl Beesley

Emily (to Jack): “Daniel shot me.”

You wait a month for the resolution of a cliff-hanger as big as the one the previous episode left you with and when the show returns, it feels like an oddly low key affair. Still, at least Emily actually survived being shot and this episode got to have fun with a familiar trope at the same time.

The amnesia trope. I actually did think for a moment that Emily was faking it to but her some time with the Graysons but the second that Aiden tried to rescue her from the hospital, it was made abundantly clear that she genuinely didn’t know who the hell she was. Of course because this show doesn’t dwell too much on things, it’s mainly restricted to this episode.

We might have had scenes where Emily had to ask Daniel who she was and ones where she let slip to Charlotte that David Clarke was her real father but you had to hand it to Jack. If someone had to jog her memory with a few choice words and a necklace, it was going to be him.

This would be a moment where I would groan about the show implying Jack was Emily’s endgame guy yet again but actually I liked Jack in this episode. He actually took some responsibility for bull dozing Emily into finishing up her revenge plans, gave Nolan and Aiden the heads up on some of Margaux’s photos and he helped Emily remember who shot her. Overall, while I’m still largely mixed on the character, this was a good episode for him.

I’m not sure what Emily will do next now that she knows Daniel tried to kill her. I don’t think everything has come back to her, memory wise and the Graysons themselves have circled in on her as well in order to maintain damage control. For once, Emily genuinely will be at their mercy until she recovers.

Speaking of the Graysons – I was pretty delighted to see Victoria forcing Conrad into framing Lydia for Emily’s near death in order to protect Daniel. Lydia’s general stupidity always meant that she was going to become a scapegoat anyways, so it was nice that this episode didn’t waste much time in taking her out of the equation. That being said, I don’t doubt that she’ll reappear later in the season to get her own back nonetheless though.

Keeping with the Graysons, it’s amazing to see the consequences of Emily being shot play out with them. Both Conrad and Charlotte were certain of Victoria’s guilt while Daniel tried to do the ‘right thing’ and chickened out when Lydia was made a scapegoat for him instead. I also found it amusing that Conrad was more peeved with framing his girlfriend than learning his daughter in law was a scheming madam though.

Of course, Victoria did have some support in this episode. Margaux facilitated the opportunity to cause Lydia’s downfall and Patrick kept putting his mother’s needs over his relationship with Nolan. I think this was sadly the first episode where I genuinely disliked Patrick and all because of his desperate attempts of trying to stay in with his mother’s good graces. It’s also a sad hint that him and Nolan really are doomed before they truly go anywhere either. Still, I did dig that delightfully catty exchange between Nolan and Victoria at the hospital. That was definitely the highlight of the whole episode.

Also in “Homecoming”

Aiden probably should’ve asked Emily who shot before making sure she was discovered. I also don’t trust his mystery friend either, but I’ll give her a fair chance.

Aiden (to Jack): “You wanna help Emily? Go talk to that girlfriend of yours. She was there. Find out what happened.”

Victoria managed to trick Margaux into revealing that she was aware about Conrad’s prior history with Jack. Margaux really will need to stay on her toes with that one.

Victoria: “Do you get off causing innocent people pain?”
Nolan: “I will let you know if I meet anyone innocent.”

Emily: “What happened?”
Daniel: “You don’t know? What do you remember?”
Emily: “Nothing. I don’t remember anything. Please tell me, who am I?”

We learned in this episode that Sara was still alive too and Lydia deliberately spilled wine all over Victoria’s favourite chair. The tussle with those two was laughably bad though.

Lydia: “I never knew how uncomfortable this chair was. When I showed you that picture, Victoria, I simply wanted you to know the truth about Emily. I never expected for you to shoot her.”

Daniel (to Victoria): “I knew everything. You’ve been right about Emily from the start. I shot her.”

Victoria figured about Emily’s double infinity tattoo thanks to Patrick mentioning that box in Nolan’s safe.

Charlotte: “You’re my inspiration, Emily. I’ve always relied on your strength to get through tough times. I just wish I knew where you got it from.”
Emily: “My father.”

Victoria (to Conrad): “It’s a terrible feeling betraying someone you love. I’m so pleased you finally get to experience the sensation yourself.”

Standout music: There wasn’t any. This episode was pretty devoid of music or opening/closing narrations from Emily too for that matter.

Jack: “Come back to us, Emily Thorne.”

Chronology: From where “Exodus” left off.

Not quite as stunning as the previous episode and a tiny bit frustrating in some parts too. Nevertheless though, I did actually enjoy “Homecoming” enough and it will be interesting to see if Victoria can actually piece who Emily really is either next week. I’m kind of guessing here though that she doesn’t.

Rating: 7 out of 10

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