Revenge - Recap: Get to the Choppa!

Granted, it's the kind of off-screen, TV-14 gore that primetime network TV allows, but there's still something to be said for the sight of Conrad Grayson (Henry Czerny) splattered in gore after shoving a longtime rival into helicopter propeller blades. The episode builds to this moment quite nicely, as there's this sense of inevitability about the death of Pascal LeMarchal (Olivier Martinez). For one, Olivier Martinez is too busy making movies and being Mr. Halle Berry to become a regular on a primetime American soap, so his time on the show was likely to be fairly brief. Secondly, "Revolution" is packed to the gills with foreshadowing, from Conrad's early, ironic-in-hindsight assertion to Aiden (Barry Sloane) that he never gets his hands dirty, to the closure Margaux (Karine Vanasse) gets when Pascal signs the company over to her. For a man who gets murdered unexpectedly, nearly everything he does in this episode makes it seem like he knows his days are numbered. But it's exciting nonetheless, because the entire episode is one long subversion of one of Emily's schemes, illustrating that no matter the amount of control she thinks she has, there will always be variables in any equation. The murder of Pascal does, however, have one interesting unintended side effect: it aligns the goals of Emily (Emily VanCamp) and Victoria (Madeleine Stowe), who are both intent on seeing Conrad taken down. I'm not sure where the show is going from here, but wherever it's headed, "Revolution" feels like a good start.

Credit: ABC

I guess that paragraph pretty much covers the big stuff, but there's a lot to like here besides the almost poetic nature of Pascal's episode-long march to those propeller blades. Emily hatches a plan to use Pascal to get a confession from Conrad on tape. She does this by creating a new identity for herself: Agent Rebecca Stone of the Department of Homeland Security (cute name, but I liked Nolan's Golden Girls-inspired suggestions better, if only because the world needs more Zbornaks). Aiden abducts Pascal and brings him right to Emily, who "reveals" herself to have been working with the Feds the entire time. Emily VanCamp's "bad cop" performance is glorious, as she plays the Rebecca Stone character as a total loose cannon, someone with neither the time nor inclination to deal with Pascal's "cool, even-tempered" routine. In short, she talks him into wearing a wire to bring down Conrad by threatening to go after Victoria if he doesn't. And since Pascal has just proposed to Victoria and all, he's obviously got a soft spot for her. And so the plan is set. Pascal will attend the launch of Javier's MyClone app, obtain the confession, and then disappear to Europe with Victoria, never to be heard from again.

Credit: ABC

But something happens that Emily didn't predict, although it's something she probably should have been cautious about. You see, Emily and Nolan (Gabriel Mann) were planning on attending the MyClone launch party to supervise the mission from the inside, so there's no real reason for Pascal to need to contact them. Yet, before Pascal leaves, Emily gives him a business card with a phone number on it for him to call in the event of an emergency. And it's this card that Victoria discovers. And by calling the number, she learns that Pascal has been chatting with the Feds. She tells Daniel (Josh Bowman), and suddenly, things start unraveling. Daniel tells Conrad, and they concoct a scheme to derail the Feds' plans by luring Pascal away from the party. This all happens unbeknownst to Emily, who assumes her plan is going to go off without a hitch. If she'd seen what we'd been seeing all episode (Pascal making amends with Margaux and signing over the company, affirming his love for Victoria, and talking wistfully about the future with his bride-to-be), she'd probably have been able to see what was coming, since nobody on a primetime soap gets away with talking longingly about the future without getting killed. (It's the "Three Days from Retirement" Rule)

Credit: ABC

And so Conrad and Pascal end up on the roof, one thing leads to another, and Conrad is suddenly shoving Pascal into the propeller blades of his expensive helicopter, all while Emily and Victoria race to get to the scene before it's too late. For her part, Emily makes it in time but hangs back to watch what happens, then gets the hell out of Dodge as soon as Conrad does the deed. Victoria, however, arrives just after the killing, and Madeleine Stowe deserves all the credit in the world for selling Victoria's love for the man, and her grief over his death. And also her reignited, intense hatred for Conrad, who is exonerated by law enforcement thanks to the corroborating testimony of the (likely paid-off) helicopter pilot, who confirms that Pascal tripped and fell into the blades accidentally. Emily is left reeling from the spectacular failure of her plan, while Victoria is blinded with grief-rage, accusing Daniel of telling Conrad about Pascal's talk with the Feds. Daniel, proving he's a spectacular liar, blames the leak on a contact Conrad must have had in the Department of Homeland Security (although why he'd have such a contact is beyond me). He then makes a particularly trenchant observation: if the Feds were working Pascal, where are they now? That question plants a suspicion in Victoria's head -- a suspicion that is all but confirmed by the "Homeland Security" phone number suddenly being disconnected. Emily was behind this, so now Victoria has two people to blame for Pascal's death. So much for Victoria and Emily's goals being aligned.

Credit: ABC

But it actually gets worse for Victoria, although she won't know it until next week. Charlotte (Christa B. Allen) receives a letter from an anonymous source that leads her to suspect that David Clarke might actually be alive. So she enlists Jack (Nick Wechsler) to help her get to the bottom of this. Jack goes to Nolan, who tracks the postage to a cabin in the middle of scenic nowhere owned by one Kurt Renner. In this cabin is a bunch of David Clarke paraphernalia, although it doesn't prove that David is alive. If anything, it proves he isn't, since most of the paperwork and news clippings in the cabin are things David Clarke already knows and wouldn't need to research. However, Jack does find a ring with the initials "DC" on it, and takes it without telling Charlotte what he found. Unbeknownst to either of them, they were being watched by a creeper, perhaps the "Kurt Renner" to whom the cabin belongs. He's also likely the guy who kidnaps Charlotte at the end of the episode, because of course Charlotte gets kidnapped. So the question now is, who is this guy and why is he obsessed with David Clarke? Did ol' DC sire another child out of wedlock? How busy can one man get? And how many more mysteries can one series hold? The show is ratcheting up tension as we get closer to the finale, and we're left to wonder which of these characters is safe, and which will end up on the chopping block. Hell, reports that Barry Sloane might be leaving (or having his role reduced to recurring) could mean huge things for the endgame of Season 3. And for that reason alone, I couldn't be more excited about where this all is headed.

Credit: ABC

"Revolution" was a fun episode that succeeded thanks to its borderline singular focus on Pascal, who gets about as fitting a send-off as any character has gotten. He gets moments of villainy, of poignancy, and of victimhood, so that we're left in a place where we might not be so sure what to make of Pascal as we were before. And that really goes to the skill with which Revenge is plotted, even in its clunkiest moments. It takes self-awareness and narrative discipline to make a good primetime soap, and Revenge is still, for my money, one of the best ones out there.