Revenge - Season 2 Episode 3 - Recap and Review - Confidence
There's something to be said for consistency in a TV series such as Revenge where each new episode seems twistier than the last. "Confidence" provides its own twists and turns, but it's considerably more subdued than what we've seen in the last two weeks. Now that Victoria (Madeleine Stowe) is back in the game, and attempting to do damage control, each conversation seems fraught with greater consequence than before. Neither Daniel (Josh Bowman) nor Charlotte (Christa B. Allen) trust their mother, and Conrad (Henry Czerny) remains every bit the jackwagon he's been throughout the entire series, even going so far as to threaten his ex-wife with an implied rape before strong-arming her into a forced remarriage, by episode's end. The narrative revolves around Victoria, and the episode is stronger for it, particularly the closing press conference, which is a stunning gambit that also makes for some pretty salacious television. It's certainly better than the focus on the vague, shadowy Initiative (the last thing this show needs is a mythology, with a nebulous organization at its head), or Emily's interminable search for her mother (Jennifer Jason Leigh), or Nolan (Gabriel Mann) getting audited, even if his money is technically Emily's money too. The tighter the focus on Victoria as an antagonist for Emily Thorne (Emily VanCamp), the tighter the episode's focus. "Confidence" succeeds in that regard, while failing in others. I will say, however, that it's nice to get an episode less concerned with shockers and twists, and more focused on setting the pieces for the next turn at play.
Credit: ABC/Colleen Hayes
Emily is furious because she was this close (maybe) to getting the white-haired man to talk (ignoring, of course, that he was perilously close to killing her), but then her fellow Takeda-sponsored revenger had to stick his nose into things and shoot him deader than disco. Aiden (Barry Sloane) shares an intense past with Emily, as they were lovers while both were attending Takeda's revenge school. They had planned to run away together before Aiden pulled a Luke Skywalker and bailed on his training to rescue his sister. He would go on to fail, while Emily would go on to discard the pesky business of feeling things. Their interactions throughout "Confidence" involve Emily snowing Aiden on handing over everything the white-haired man, Gordon Murphy, had on him at the time of his death, while Aiden withholds knowledge of her mother's whereabouts, having found her after tracking Murphy's movements to an off-road Inn. Not only does he find the former Mrs. Clarke, he also finds the flight recorder from the night of the plane crash, which should complicate things for Victoria, depending on which person he decides to give the information. Emily, however, has her own secrets, as she discovers a locket with her mother's picture on Murphy's body, and, in his phone's SIM card, a voicemail from her mother, in which she tells Murphy that she loves him. Did Emily just have a hand in the death of her mother's lover? Whether she did or didn't, this reveal will likely make it harder for Emily to stay focused on the Grayson matriarch.
Victoria, for her part, is busy trying to sell the fiction of her kidnapping to her family and to the media, at large. An interview with a reporter goes awry when Charlotte storms in and reveals that she's the daughter of David Clarke. Never one to be outdone, Victoria gets a jump on the reporter by revealing Charlotte's paternity in an impromptu press conference at yet another typical Grayson soiree, and in so doing, bring Amanda (Margarita Levieva) onstage to join in a mock family embrace. Victoria's genius stroke makes Daniel's ploy to simply appear forgiving to his mother while plotting behind her back seem all the more amateurish. Daniel has never been portrayed as the brightest guy, but he's never been depicted as a moron before, though he's never been shown to have the most strategic finesse either. Emily, with whom Daniel seems on solid footing with again, offers him the advice that to beat his mother, he has to play her game better than she does. In that regard, things are not off to a promising start for young Danny Boy, though, if he's anything like his father, he'll be a quick learner where backstabbing and double-dealing is concerned.
Credit: ABC
As for Amanda, Jack (Nick Wechsler) has essentially decided to throw in the towel on their relationship after seeing Amanda on TV with the Graysons, a clear violation of his request that she stay away from them (a parallel to Victoria demanding that Emily stay away from her family, a request that also went unobserved). More substantively than last week, "Confidence" paints Amanda as a sad pawn in Emily's game, to the point that viewers are likely to find themselves sympathizing with the girl. Hell, I know I wasn't sympathizing with Emily as she first guilt-tripped Amanda into disobeying Jack's request (which was a little unreasonable in the first place, if we're going to be honest about Old Man Porter), then she threatens to reveal the actual paternity of the baby to Jack if she doesn't continue to go along with her plan. I get the idea that, in her desperation, Emily is becoming something of a pill. But this just seems uncharacteristically harsh on her part, to the point that it makes me wonder whether she's simply having a delayed reaction to Takeda's teachings, finally absorbing the "once more, without feelings" lesson a bit late. Regardless, I never thought I'd find myself feeling sympathy for Amanda, a schemer in her own right, who knew what she was doing when she made the initial deal with Amanda and was VERY well-compensated for her trouble. Emily is displaying Grayson-like tendencies, and it's a troubling development, to say the least. However, on the plus side, at least Jack got a trim and a shave, so he doesn't look like a Muppet anymore.
Credit: ABC/Colleen Hayes
Of course, for every Amanda, there's a Declan (Connor Paolo), for whom my sympathy is eroded from week-to-week. After last week saw Declan receive an offer to hold onto a piece of jewelry from an obvious thief, this week sees him suddenly, implausibly graduated to outright breaking-and-entering. We get it, the Brothers Porter are poor and can't afford to send Declan to college. But it's barely been two weeks (in our world - I imagine it's only been days, in his) since Declan was showing signs of real growth and maturity, striving to work his way through, with or without the help of his brother or the Graysons. That Declan is a thing of the recent past, I guess, since he's now looting baseballs autographed by Babe Ruth from the home of a handsome stranger in a shirt so tight it would make Simon Cowell have psychic chest pains. It's a weird development since there really hasn't been enough time invested in Declan's bitterness over his financial situation to make his leap to a life of crime seem plausible. We knew he wasn't exactly thrilled to be poor last season, but he seemed to at least be at peace with that reality, in some respect. Here, it seems like there's little other reason to take this path in the story other than because...I don't know, to hell with rich people? Speaking of which, Nolan is still being audited. He's also leaving town due to his manifold troubles, and his parting with Emily is the most honest emotional beat of the episode. Of course Nolan isn't really leaving the show, but it's still heartening to see that Emily and Nolan have developed a real friendship. At the very least, it's more interesting than any potential relationship that omni-sexual Nolan could have with Padma (whom he calls "The Audit Whisperer," who, like Ashley, I have neither the desire nor inclination to know or care about).
Credit: ABC
"Confidence" is a solid episode all-around, and a very welcome change of pace. Even though the tension isn't diminished for lack of action scenes or crazy, twisty machinations, the plot is still dense enough to offer a real challenging viewing experience, and it's layered with plenty of intrigue, particularly the upcoming nuptials of Conrad and Victoria, which should be good for a bit of catty back-and-forth. I also like the idea of Conrad and Victoria's sham marriage evolving into a full-on sham family (a shamily, if you will), with Charlotte and Daniel pretending to play nice with their parents as well. Should make for interesting developments, and plays nicely into the overall theme of "confidence" as not simply belief in one's own abilities, but also in the trust between two people. As for now, however, I simply enjoy seeing the chess board take shape as we get closer to Labor Day, and The Amanda at the bottom of the ocean.
Credit: ABC