Monday, April 13, 2015

My Review of Revenge's 4x19: "Exposure"


Written by Wilson Pollick And Andrew Steier
Directed by Jennifer Wilkinson

Emily: "Victoria, if you're watching, it is in your hands to end this."

Now that's how to throw down the gauntlet. Granted, Emily's on air "up yours" towards Victoria might have stemmed after Nolan realised too late that Louise had betrayed information to the demon lady herself but either way, I liked that Emily publicly slighted Victoria in the manner she did.

Victoria might be a great villain but her inability to take responsibility or even partially admit she's done terrible things as much as Emily has been growing more and more annoying over the last few seasons and having Emily allude to Aiden's murder and Victoria's part in it was pretty satisfying to watch.

On a frustrating note, this episode not only gave Victoria one ally for her cause but two of them. Louise foolishly screwed over Nolan because she stupidly bought into Victoria's little sob stories about Daniel and Margaux then returned to the vengeance after briefly having some sense in this episode about Emily. One step forward with Margaux and then several ones backwards.

As for Louise - I don't think she's really in a position to be that annoyed with Nolan. Nolan had no reason to tell her about Emily's real identity and Louise did conveniently ignore the fact that it was him who got her away from her mother's clutches as well as saving her from a trip back to Claremont. Is it too much to hope that Louise gets an epiphany and ends up helping Emily and Nolan in the last run of episodes?

Keeping with Emily - when she wasn't pissed at Nolan for keeping dangerous information about her, she was also feeling the brunt of Ben's annoyance but on the plus side, she did manage to stop a few of her former takedowns from mounting a revenge mission on her for the time being. I liked that Emily was savvy enough to realise that some of them would band together against her and that Victoria would go to the media as well. The fact that Emily got ahead on both fronts was pretty nice.

As for the episode itself - it was primarily a clip show with several clips from various seasons tying into the events of today. While I do think clip shows can be somewhat naff and a cheap way of saving money, it actually worked well enough, highlighting the progression that Emily and her mission has made over the last four years as well as reminding viewers of the people that she's lost along the way too.

Of course this episode was very much building towards things coming to an end - Emily Thorne no longer exists (but I'm sticking with the name for the remaining reviews), her battle with Victoria is close to concluding as is the whole 'will they/won't they' thing with her and Jack. Oh and there's a final enemy in sight too. Let's not kid ourselves - it's either going to be Lydia or Charlotte, right?

Also in "Exposure"

I hope for Louise's sake she isn't stupid enough to tell either Victoria or Margaux that she killed Lymon.

Emily: "Emily Thorne no longer exists."
Nolan: "It's the end of an era."

The fun thing about the flashbacks was noticing how different a lot of the characters (the male ones moreso) look now.

Ben (to Emily): "It's too late. That's why it's called live television. You don't get a do-over."

Emily (to Tom): "So get on the phone and spread the word. Stay away from David and Amanda Clarke."

One of the few decent things that Margaux did in this episode was admit to Victoria that Emily didn't cause her to lose the baby.

Victoria: "She caused you to lose your own child. Why don't you care?"
Margaux: "Because I lied. Emily didn't push me."

Emily (to interviewer): "I didn't make an accusation. It's on Victoria to take responsibility for her own actions. I do have sympathy for her though. She was born with a dark soul.

Standout music: You & Me's "You & Me", played at the end of the episode with David and Emily on the porch.

Victoria: "Amanda Clarke dug a grave for me tonight."
Margaux: "But I won't let her put you in it."

Emily (to David): "For the first time, I have no idea what's coming."

Chronology: From where "Clarity" left off.

As a clip show went, "Exposure" did a solid job of keeping things pretty interesting. The nods to the past (Sammy, real Emily/pretend Amanda, Aiden) were great and the hints of things to come should hopefully give this show a satisfying conclusion. At this point, I really do think it's done for now.

Rating: 7 out of 10

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