Revenge - Season 2 Episode 15 - Recap and Review - Retribution
Recap and review of Revenge - Season 2 Episode 15 - Retribution:
Tonight's Revenge was a really rough watch, but in the way that good drama tends to be. I was never a huge fan of Amanda, although the writers and actress Margarita Levieva did a great job in transforming her into a well-rounded, interesting character towards the end. But regardless of my initial antipathy towards the character, her death has been resoundingly resonant, to the point where "Retribution" became the most uncomfortable episode of the season, for me, due in large part to the dread involved with everyone waiting around to learn of Amanda's death. Emily (Emily VanCamp) knows, Nolan (Gabriel Mann) knows, but no one else does. The first half of the episode, then, is a long march, a funeral procession towards that terrible moment when Charlotte (Christa B. Allen) or Declan (Connor Paolo) or, most poignantly, Jack (Nick Wechsler) learn of Amanda's tragic demise. It's not fun, or even enjoyable, but it's incredibly compelling. And when the big moment comes, Nick Wechsler absolutely delivers, turning in a performance that is, by turns, poignant yet devastatingly raw. I'm genuinely excited with what they're doing with Jack, if only because I feel as though this is the logical point his story has been building to -- that he would eventually get involved in a revenge mission of his own. Unfortunately, he doesn't have Emily or Aiden's (Barry Sloane) revenge training -- but then again, revenge skills don't necessarily equate with focus. As Emily states, in a line that could very well sum up how the story for season two has been similarly derailed by dramatic excesses, "How did I get so far off track?"
Credit: ABC
That first half was really grim, as it should have been, given the content. The episode kicked off with Emily storming through her house, getting ready to launch an all-out assault against the Graysons right then and there, while Nolan pleaded with her, desperately, to take a moment and simmer down. But Emily fired back, telling Nolan that she's covered in the blood of one of the only people she's ever loved, so she's not exactly about to cool down. "Retribution" serves to reorient the narrative of the second season, and of the series at large, back towards the simple dynamic of the first, with Emily squaring off against clear-cut enemies in Victoria (Madeleine Stowe) and Conrad Grayson (Henry Czerny). As the episode goes on, it becomes readily apparent that she may not be alone in this fight.
When a female body washes ashore, Charlotte must identify the corpse. Charlotte is devastated to discover that her "sister" is truly dead, though Victoria pounces on the opportunity to solidify a bond with her daughter bred of grief. Hey, if anyone knows how to mourn a Clarke, it's Victoria. But Emily resents Victoria's opportunism -- nearly as much as she resents Conrad's, as the Grayson patriarch shows up at the hospital to foot the bill for Jack's medical expenses mere moments after Jack learned of his wife's passing, in hopes of turning Amanda's passing into a public relations boon for his political campaign. And man, was Jack finding out about Amanda's death devastating. Nick Wechsler deserves all the credit in the world for going from zero to pieces when Emily tells him that Amanda is gone. It's raw enough that I began to feel vaguely voyeuristic, like I was intruding on the grieving processes of these people, and that I shouldn't be watching. It was immensely uncomfortable, yet it absolutely worked within the context of the scene. Just devastating stuff.
Credit: ABC
However, due to the incident on the boat, Jack knows more about Amanda than he ever did before, including the existence of the mysterious laptop with all the Grayson info. When smashing a glass on the floor in a fit of grief, Jack discovers a key that will open a locker by the bay. He discovers the laptop inside, and upon reviewing the information it contains, lashes out at Emily for keeping secrets from him. Jack is horrified to learn that Emily and Amanda were pretty much like sisters, since this means that Emily likely knew of Amanda's plan to bring down the Graysons. Of course, Emily can't actually tell Jack that she's the real Amanda, although she briefly considers it. Emily can only despair as Jack tells her to leave, possibly breaking off their friendship altogether.
Emily provides the eulogy at Amanda's funeral, in a surreal, Tom Sawyer-esque bit of attending one's own funeral, if not actively burying one's own past in a literal fashion. It's all very touching, but does nothing to dissuade Jack's conflicting feelings about Emily's culpability in what happened to Amanda. For his part, Jack simply going along with Conrad's "nice guy" facade in order to get close enough to...well, do something. And that's what's interesting about it. We don't really know what Jack's angle is, in terms of what he actually plans to do about the Graysons. For that matter, we don't really know Emily's either. After having The Stowaway ransacked to retrieve the laptop, Emily throws it into the ocean, along with all evidence that could have put the Graysons away for good since, as Emily phrases it, prison was never what she had in mind for the Graysons. She lost her focus but, as she tells Aiden in the episode's conclusion, there will be "no more distractions." Whatever she plans to do to the Graysons, whether it involves ruining their company, their family, their reputation, or even killing them outright, Emily is back on track towards that goal, and that's beyond exciting.
Credit: ABC
Of course, the Initiative is still kicking around, even following the disappearance and death of Helen Crowley. Trask (Burn Gorman) won't give up the search, even confronting Emily while she searches the Stowaway for the laptop. But he doesn't really have concrete evidence to go on, beyond the suspicions formed from having found Helen Crowley's cell phone and shawl under Amanda's bed. Meanwhile, the Initiative is increasing its pressure on Daniel (Josh Bowman) while Padma (Dilshad Vadsaria) appeals to Nolan to help her in her quest to save her father. Nolan, for his part, is dealing with a suspicious Daniel, who threatens to ruin him if he finds out that Nolan did anything with the Carrion Program but destroy it. But all of this pales in comparison to the final twist: in an effort to organize a big turnout for Amanda's funeral, she tracks down her foster brother, a man named Eli James -- who appears at the gravesite late in the night while Emily is mourning. No sooner has she put one facet of her past in the ground than another rises to meet her. If he recognizes her, he could threaten to blow up her entire operation. It probably doesn't help that Emily was responsible for burning down their foster home as kids. Kind of late to call a mulligan on that one...
"Retribution" is a solid hour that keeps the various wheels of the season moving while also getting us back to basics. Emily vs. The Graysons has always been more compelling than any of the other conflicts on which they've tried to sell us, so I'm definitely glad that the show is taking us back to that central, anchoring feud.
