Revenge - Recap: Masqueradin' with Emily and Aiden
Credit: ABC
Recap and review of Revenge - Season 2 Episode 18 - Masquerade:
"Masquerade" might just prove to be one of the best episodes Revenge has ever done. This has less to do with the actual content of the episode itself, though that's certainly part of it, and everything to do with how well-structured the episode is from start to finish. Each storyline this week was engaging in its own right, even when certain elements didn't really seem to fit (such as anything having to do with Charlotte). "Masquerade" is the kind of episode that represents Revenge at its best, embracing its soap opera sensibilities and going for broke on the salaciousness of the scandals at its heart. So much was going on that it's almost hard to keep track of it all, but the show keeps the momentum going without ever letting the stories get unwieldy or hard to follow. It represents a high watermark for the season, as the show continues its mission to get back to the elements that made it so compelling in the first place.
Credit: ABC/Colleen Hayes
Emily (Emily VanCamp) continues her campaign against Victoria (Madeleine Stowe) by using the secret about the secret son she gave up for adoption, which Emily learned last week from Mason Treadwell, to psychologically torment her nemesis. Victoria is holding a masquerade party, and Emily pounces on the opportunity to use this ball to further her campaign against her. Emily does this by sending Victoria eleven black roses with a card that reads "I'll be wearing the 12th", signed "Your Loving Son." Victoria, spooked into flashbacks of how she gave up the child after becoming impregnated by her mother's boyfriend, spends the party on the lookout for this mysterious son. Her anxiety about the potential arrival of her long-lost son is exacerbated by her irritation that Daniel (Josh Bowman) has apparently gotten back together with Emily, and has also figured out his mother's transparent attempt to convince him that the Initiative was targeting Emily. Daniel is back to having the upper hand over his mother, and he takes pleasure in flaunting it in her face. Just as Victoria's anxiety heightens, she spies a mysterious man in a black-and-white mask and a black rose on his lapel. Victoria gives chase but can't find him anywhere. The shock of it causes her to faint, which dovetails nicely into the next phase of Emily's plan, as Victoria's anxiety forces her to seek out the convent to which she'd brought her newborn son all those years ago. Having now discovered the avenue by which Victoria gave up her son, Emily approaches the convent herself, pretending to be a pregnant young woman with nowhere else to go. One would assume that her intention is to gain access to information as to where Victoria's son might have been placed, since we now know that the son had once been actively trying to find his mother. This is an eminently compelling development that contributes to the increasingly salacious nature of the series in this latter half of the second season, and it makes for great television.
Credit: ABC
But that's not all that's going on this week, as Aiden (Barry Sloane) tracks Trask (Burn Gorman) to the facility where Padma is being held. Tragically, once he arrives, he learns that the Initiative kept their promise: she's with her father now, having been killed just like he had been. When Trask mouths off about Aiden's sister and about Padma and her father, Aiden snaps Trask's neck just as the cops arrive. Aiden high-tails it out of there, but the guilt over Padma's death weighs heavily on him, as it does on Nolan (Gabriel Mann). "Masquerade" kicks off with a six-week time skip, meaning that much of Nolan's obsessive investigation into Padma's disappearance happens off-screen. He still blames himself for roping her into the danger, which is why he's ultimately inconsolable once he learns the truth about Padma's death from Aiden. It's a wonderful scene for the three principle actors involved, as Barry Sloane just barely conceals Aiden's anguish over his own perceived failure, while Gabriel Mann portrays Nolan as a man completely dislodged by his grief, tearing into Emily and Aiden and himself for allowing this to happen.
Credit: ABC
However, though he quickly backs off blaming Emily, she insists that he's right, leading to a scene in which Emily VanCamp further humanizes Emily Thorne by portraying her as someone who no longer wants to shirk aside these emotional connections she's been making. Whereas the old Emily would have kept Nolan and Aiden at arm's length, she now does what she can to help them, and to affirm their place in her life. Emily apologizes, fighting back tears, and Nolan can only say "I love you too." It's a simple, poignant moment, and deepens the friendship that stands as the series' best relationship. This scene also has the added benefit of giving extra oomph to Emily/Aiden/Nolan's vendetta against the Initiative, though their goals remain relatively obtuse, even if Trask promises, before his death, that we'll find out what they're planning soon enough. The mystery just makes it a bit hard to get invested. It works with Victoria's mystery son because that's not the driving narrative force of the season. Yet, if the Initiative are going to be the big overarching villains of this whole thing, they really need a more substantial presence than they've gotten, to say nothing of the ambiguity of their motivations (for instance, what's gained from killing Padma and her father, other than pissing off the wrong people?). Hopefully, the series goes to greater lengths to establish the Initiative's threat, as I don't think a more mysterious, vague sort of threat is the way to go here.
Credit: ABC/Colleen Hayes
As for the other big stories of the episode, Conrad (Henry Czerny) continues his campaign for the Governor's mansion, and a plan between Nolan and Jack (Nick Wechsler) leads to Conrad getting tripped up at a town hall meeting at the Stowaway. Jack gets a local restaurant owner to ask a rogue question about reopening the investigation into the David Clarke case, while Nolan plays audio into Conrad's earpiece of him conspiring with Nate Ryan. Conrad is dazed and confused, and ultimately figures that the only way out that will allow him to retain whatever headway he's made with the blue collar district is to steer into the question, saying that, if elected, he will make sure that the investigation is reopened, and that if any judicial impropriety is discovered, he will campaign for a full presidential pardon for David Clarke. However, this is merely one facet of Jack's plan. At the masquerade ball, he overhears Conrad giving Ashley (Ashley Madekwe) the third degree. Realizing he could have a potential ally in Ashley, Jack approaches her about forming an alliance to bring Conrad down. This is a pretty big risk on Jack's part, since he has no way of knowing that Ashley isn't simply just going to turn around and tell Conrad. But Ashley, from all appearances, seems genuinely fed up with Conrad and with all the Graysons, at large. She agrees to partner up with Jack, a development that finally makes her feel like a more substantive character.
Credit: ABC/Colleen Hayes
Too bad I can't say the same for Declan (Connor Paolo) and Charlotte (Christa B. Allen). Charlotte spends the episode continuing to mourn the loss of Amanda, which results in her defending Amanda's honor at the masquerade. When one of Charlotte's school acquaintances mouths off about Amanda's alleged promiscuity and alcoholism, Charlotte gives her the kind of open-hand smack that's been sorely lacking on a show that ranks among TV's best primetime soaps. Yet it's still not really enough to make Charlotte interesting, nor does it do anything for Declan, who continues to just sort of hang around on the fringes without doing much of anything at all. But you really never know when a character might jump from insignificance to sudden relevance, like with Ashley this week. So there's certainly hope for the two lovebirds yet.
Credit: ABC/Colleen Hayes
"Masquerade" keeps the momentum of the season rolling along at an encouraging pace, and as we get closer to the season finale, it's hard to imagine that the show could possibly drop the ball. As long as they keep telling complex, engaging stories with a certain level of sophistication, Revenge is on-track to delivering the goods.