Revenge - Recap: The Pipes, The Pipes Are Calling

Recap and review of Revenge - Season 4 Episode 10 - Atonement:

Revenge made a point, at the end of last week, of promoting that someone would be biting the bullet tonight. I tried not to think too much about whom it'd be, although I had my suspicions that it'd be David (James Tupper). However, about 15 minutes into "Atonement," it became all too clear who'd be dying tonight. And, in some ways, the season so far has been building up to that moment.

In recent weeks, the show has featured more than a handful of scenes between Daniel (Josh Bowman) and Emily (Emily VanCamp) that have been livened by Daniel now knowing who Emily truly is. These scenes have allowed both characters to come to a better, more cynical understanding of their similarities, and how poorly/perfectly matched they were, as grimly humorous as that seems to them now. But those scenes served a greater purpose than just drawing symbolic or thematic parallels between Daniel and Emily. They actually kickstarted Daniel's redemption, as his downward spiral prompted serious reflection on his part. The knowledge of just what rough shape his life is in came long before he learned Margaux (Karine Vanasse) was pregnant. However, it wasn't until he learned of the pregnancy that he felt compelled to change, to be different from Conrad (Henry Czerny), to reclaim the goodness and idealism of his youth. Once Daniel started having poignant reflections on how Conrad's warped life lessons shaped him as an individual, it was all over for Daniel. It was just a matter of figuring who killed him, how, and why.

Credit: ABC

Daniel's journey in "Atonement" is a terrific arc to follow, as we see (through flashbacks and in the present) how both Conrad and Victoria (Madeleine Stowe) have stunted Daniel's maturation by making excuses for him. In telling him he's special, and that the normal rules of conduct and consequences don't apply to him, Daniel was made to believe that the only way he could succeed, or have any sort of life whatsoever, was to play the same sort of twisted, socio-political game his father played so well. A Grayson protects himself, protects his name, above all else, and it's an ideology that resulted in the family making significant gains in the world of corporate business, but it came at the expense of the family's moral fiber. In the most crucial scene in the episode, we see a flashback in which Conrad talks Daniel out of testifying on behalf of a young woman who was raped by one of his fraternity brothers, since the boy's father is powerful enough to keep Daniel from advancing in the business world. Conrad tells Daniel that he likely won't succeed, couldn't succeed even, on his own merits. He needs the connections these people present. Daniel doesn't want to believe it, but Conrad is presenting a vision of the future that doesn't allow for Daniel's idealistic notions of fairness and justice. So Daniel ends up allowing himself to believe that this is how the world works. Similarly, later in the episode, Victoria tries to assuage Daniel's guilt about Margaux by excusing his behavior. Daniel pleads with Victoria to stop the cycle of lies, saying that theirs is a family of cowards. They pass the buck and never look in the mirror when things go sideways. And he's right. There's always been a clear lack of accountability in the Grayson household. Calling B.S. on the Grayson family ethos is one of Daniel's best moments as a character, and it's a capper to one of Bowman's best episodes.

Credit: ABC

Daniel's condemnation of the Grayson family's self-preservationist attitude has farther reaching consequences as well: Victoria feels compelled to confess her role in David's framing. Naturally, David doesn't take it well, and she hardly tries to justify it beyond saying that, quite simply, she was scared. For herself, for her future, but most of all, for Daniel (more evidence of Daniel's imminent demise, since his death will now prove she sacrificed the man she loved for nothing). Victoria states that she was scared of David at the time, even more so than Conrad, although it's kind of a lousy motivation for framing a guy for terrorism. Regardless, David doesn't have much time to react before both he and Victoria hear the sound of gunshots coming from the old Grayson Manor. It's the climax of the fight between Emily and Kate Taylor (Courtney Ford), who is revealed to be the daughter of Malcolm Black. It's a high-energy action setpiece that is among the better fight sequences the show has done, culminating in both Emily and Kate going over the side of the balcony and crashing to the ground below. Kate gets her gun, and it's a race to save Emily: Jack (Nick Wechsler) realizes the truth about Kate, and rushes to the house to stop her from killing Emily, while Daniel just happens to be in the area and hears the commotion. It's a wrong place/wrong time situation for Daniel, who gets shot trying to protect Emily. Jack gets there moments later and kills Kate before she can do any more harm. But it's too late, as Daniel is pretty much a goner. He lives just long enough for Emily to tell him that what they had together wasn't all untrue. "It wasn't all a lie," she tells him. "Not with you." To which Daniel responds, "I know." And like that, the guy who wanted to do right by his child will never get the chance.

Credit: ABC

While it could be argued that Revenge might have made a mistake in ditching Daniel before ditching any one of a number of more expendable characters, I like the story possibilities his death opens up. Do Emily and Victoria team up to bring down Malcolm Black? How does David fit into all this? Will he be able to forgive Victoria and move forward, or do her actions demand vengeance? And, lastly, why is Louise (Elena Satine) still on this show? Like, does her story have any sort of point beyond letting her snark with Nolan (Gabriel Mann)? I'll miss Bowman in the role, and I'm glad that he at least got to go out on a relative high note, since this was one of his best episodes across four seasons. Daniel is as much a tragic figure as Emily herself, and seeing his journey ends this way suggests the same could happen to her. It's a cautionary tale, but also a tale of redemption, as it ties a ribbon on the relationship between he and Emily, in surprisingly poignant fashion. For that alone, I think Revenge did right by the character of Daniel Grayson, even if they didn't always do right by the character of Daniel Grayson. Here's to you, Danny Boy...

Oh yeah, the preview...

See you January 4th!