Revenge - Season 4 Premiere - Recap: Don't Throw Dirt On My Grave Just Yet
Recap and review of Revenge - Season 4 Premiere - Renaissance:
Revenge is back, even though the initial mission of its premise has already been accomplished. But this makes things interesting: how does one hell-bent on revenge survive when their goal has been achieved? What's left for such a person as Emily Thorne (Emily VanCamp)? As we learn in "Renaissance", it's a mixture of "survival" and "nothing".
Credit: ABC
However, it's clear that Charlotte has no intention of working things out with Emily. And I suppose it's just as well, since Charlotte continues to be the absolute worst. She's dating Gideon (Daniel Zovatto), and Gideon is supplying her with copious amounts of blow, completely disregarding Jack's threat that if he gives Charlotte anything stronger than aspirin, he'd be facing all kinds of hell. But even without the drugs, Charlotte still seems completely misguided and useless. She whines and has Daniel (Josh Bowman) pay her $7000 rent, because it's apparently easier than getting a job of her own. Yet Daniel is slowly being bankrupted from a combination of his lavish lifestyle, the financial demands of his family members, and blackmail by Gideon. That redhead who OD'd in Daniel's bed at the end of last season? Totally put there by Gideon, with the intention of forcing Daniel out of the LeMarchal's business ventures. This leaves Margaux (Karine Vanasse) incensed at her brother's criminal intentions, and Daniel desperate for money. The former Grayson heir even goes as far as to sell his expensive car in secret, hoping to maintain the public illusion that the Graysons are still well off. Yet, as each day passes by, Daniel learns just how little weight the Grayson name still carries, now that Conrad is dead, Victoria is locked away, Grayson Manor has been sold, and the family has less money than they've ever had. But things start to look up for the family in one significant way: Victoria is able to bust free.
After what, to Victoria, seems like a lifetime locked in the psych ward, she is able to procure her escape thanks to the help of a fellow patient (Yeardley Smith). She flees amid the commotion of the sprinklers being set off, but in the process, leaves behind another patient she was expected to help: troubled Southern heiress Louise (Elena Satine). At the very least, Victoria seems to regret leaving Louise behind, but it's beyond her control, as her only other option was to stay and be recaptured. So she ventures off on her own and returns home to Grayson Manor to confront Emily directly. For her part, Emily isn't threatened by Victoria's presence, nor by her insinuations that now Emily is the hunted. And while Victoria has been a formidable character in the past, I can't say I blame Emily for not being intimidated in the least, since Victoria doesn't exactly have the same resources for revenging that Emily had. Even worse, Victoria's threat is neutralized almost immediately, as she's abducted from outside Grayson Manor just as instantly.
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Yes, David Clarke (James Tupper) is alive and well, just as we saw in the Season 3 Finale. No mysterious twin or fake dream sequence. It's the real, flesh-and-blood David Clarke, and he's here to abduct Victoria, presumably to ask her what really happened all those years ago, and whether or not she truly betrayed him. Madeleine Stowe is tremendous here, using nothing more than her eyes to indicate how horrified and stunned she is to see David Clarke in front of her, even as she fights against the chloroform rag he presses over her mouth. That said, David Clarke's return introduces some interesting questions: does he even know Emily Thorne is really his daughter? Emily briefly returns to her old house across the way, and David Clarke is there, hiding out. But he doesn't reveal himself. He simply hides until Emily leaves, so it's hard to know for sure if he thought her to be a stranger he needed to avoid, or if he knows Emily is really Amanda, but is waiting for a better time to reveal himself. Whatever his reason, and whatever his methods, his return creates several exhilarating possibilities. Hell, it's interesting enough on its own that, by returning from exile to presumably clear his name for a murder he didn't commit, he becomes a murderer himself by stabbing Conrad to death. He's following his daughter's own blood-soaked example now, and that's intriguing all on its own.
It's far more interesting than any of the other ancillary plots of the episode. Charlotte briefly abducts baby Carl just to scare Jack (Nick Wechsler) as revenge for having kidnapped her last season is ridiculous, although it's hardly any more ridiculous than the reveal that Jack has become a cop in the six months since last season. I had no idea you could run a bar, raise a toddler, and study/train to become a police officer simultaneously without basically being awake for 24 hours a day. But if that isn't credulity-straining enough, he also feels compelled to keep sticking up for Charlotte, even after she abducts Carl and threatens Jack's way of life, and even knowing that she isn't really family (since Carl isn't really her nephew by blood). When his superior officer, Ben (Brian Hallisay), catches Charlotte with illegal substances, it's Jack who talks him out of arresting her, even at the risk of his own career. I can understand the attempt at painting Jack as a man with down-home, blue collar nobility, but this almost felt like a bridge too far. If anyone could use prison/rehab, it'd be Charlotte.
Credit: ABC
That said, the episode was able to recover nicely by illustrating that even though Emily has won, she still can't let go of revenge. She plans an elaborate fundraiser all as a long con to get back at a philandering husband who murdered the fiance of an innocent woman named Nancy. It's one of her more compelling long-cons, as she "accidentally" hits Nancy's car and invites her to the party to pick up the check to pay for the damage. Once there, Emily presents the boat the murderer had christened. However, upon revealing the name of the boat, the murderer is shocked to discover that it's his mistress's name on the boat, and not his wife's. The man's wife is so offended, she reveals his secrets to the entire audience, from the mistress to the philandering to the murder itself. Emily wins again, yet it doesn't leave Nancy feeling any better. She feels nothing would come out of seeing her fiance's murderer prosecuted, since she'd simply have to live the worst day of her life over and over again. But more than that, Nancy explains that holding onto the anger and bitterness can rip one's soul apart, and they're words that echo as a warning to Emily. Or, at least, they should. But the words don't really seem to get through to her, as she rants at Nolan (Gabriel Mann) that she doesn't even remember who Amanda Clarke is. Emily declares that Amanda Clarke died when everyone she loved died. In essence, the Emily Thorne persona is all she has left, and revenging is the only thing "Emily Thorne" knows how to do. And that's a fairly compelling character arc, in all honesty, as the notion that someone could be compelled to commit acts of vengeance even after their main target has been neutralized is the kind of crazy thing you only get on soaps like this. I suppose this is a very long-winded way of saying I'm glad Revenge is back.
Credit: ABC
"Renaissance" isn't exactly a renaissance for the show, since it's still very much the Revenge we know. But there are fresh stories here, each with tons of potential, particularly the return of David Clarke and the role reversal between Emily and Victoria. This show doesn't always do subtlety, but there is plenty of potential to tell engaging, layered stories here. It's already departing from its usual norm of opening each season with a flashforward which will be explained at midseason (Season 1 had the shooting on the beach, Season 2 had the sinking of the Amanda, and Season 3 had Emily's wedding gown shooting), so it begs the question of just what else the show might do in this redefining fourth season. Revenge is one of TV's best primetime soaps, and I think the show will benefit, in the long run, by expanding on its serialized approach and shying away from telling self-contained stories. Overall, this was a pretty good start for what could be a very lively season.