The wedding day has finally arrived. Emily and Daniel are about to walk down the aisle to say their “I DOs,” and nothing could ruin such a perfect day in the Hamptons, can it?
The start of the episode shows again the flash forward scene from the season premiere where Emily is shot twice in the stomach. In turn, that gives us the rest of the hour to try and figure out who would want to pop her with a couple of bullets. As we then flash back to 12 hours before that event took place, Emily, Nolan, and Aiden go over the plan once more as how they will wind up framing Victoria for Emily’s murder. As much as you would hope this will not backfire, take a look at the start of this season. Most of Emily’s plans have taken a turn for the worst. By the way, trust me when I say it only gets better from here.
While Conrad figures out that Lydia was working with Margeaux to take down the Grayson clan, he receives a text from Emily. Emily tries to devise a plan to get Victoria to show up at the wedding, with Conrad’s help. What better way to do that than by bringing back Victoria’s first born to the fold. With Patrick’s return, there was no doubt in my mind that Nolan was going to be left breathless. He was…but not for the reasons you think. Patrick wound up dumping him for Victoria herself. We need a flag on this play, because the fact Patrick catered to his mother’s wishes is kind of eerie. What kind of hold does she have on her sons that make me scream, “Joan Crawford”? Poor Nolan, though. He can never have a successful relationship.
Emily pays a visit to the Stowaway, and says her goodbyes to Jack. She then confesses to him that she was there the night Fauxmanda died. While she saved Jack, she did not make it to save the real Emily Thorne in time, and died in her arms. This sent Jack into a fit of rage as he then wonders yet again who is the woman is standing in front of him. I feel for Jack, as he was lied to by one person, deceived by another. He doesn’t know where to turn to anymore.
Sara pays a visit to Daniel at Voulez, only for her to shoot him down once again. I’m sorry, Daniel, but at least when Conrad had a mistress, he was more suave. Daniel, on the other hand, had no suave or charisma whatsoever. He cannot have it both ways, especially if he desperately wanted to get out of Conrad’s shadow all these years.
Lydia’s presence back in the Hamptons sets off a huge chain of events throughout this entire episode, and I loved how it culminated right up to the final moments of the finale. She pays a visit to Emily, and the picture has decided to come back to life and haunt Emily. It IS a soap opera, after all. If people can come back to life, so can inanimate objects; like photographs. Lydia blackmails Emily and wants the beach house back, which Emily reluctantly agrees.
As the wedding finally takes place, Charlotte and Emily share a brief close moment before it starts. I really wished that Emily could tell Charlotte the truth about who she really is. Their bond could be stronger than the one Victoria has over her children. Never say never, however. As Charlotte leaves, Aiden appears and not only helps put the garter on Emily’s leg, but decides to get one final taste before she walks down the aisle to marry the enemy. As Nolan walks down her friend and gives her away to Daniel, the vows definitely served a purpose. As Emily recited hers, it showed how everything she said had a special double meaning behind it. The flashbacks to where she was a young girl with David Clarke, to the point of how she became involved with the Graysons, it defined Emily’s “destiny” for retribution. I thought that was a clever tactic to use during those scenes.
I really felt a bit of sentiment during the Nolan/Emily wedding dance. Mainly for the reasons being that what was about to happen for his friend unbeknownst to him. The question that pops into my mind is that when he learns who shot his friend, what kind of recourse will he take? Will Nolan have a revenge scheme of his own to take down the shooter? It is the Hamptons. “Revenge” is their stock and trade. Oh, and a personal side note…Daniel, how about you NOT contact your ex several moments AFTER you said your “I DOs”? Stay classy, sir.
As Conrad confronts Margeaux about Lydia’s involvement with the Voulez, she informs Conrad that nothing happened simply for the mere fact Lydia is in love with the Grayson patriarch. After he pays Lydia a visit, the two not only share a roll in the hay, he invites her back to the yacht, much to Emily and Victoria’s chagrin. You can tell that Lydia wants to take down Emily so bad, it hurts.
Back at Nolan’s, Patrick left the reception after receiving a cryptic text from the billionaire tech genius. Nolan informs Patrick that he was well aware of what Patrick did to Conrad’s brakes, but also tells him he is safe. Nolan vowed that he will do anything to protect the people that he loves, which suddenly caused a shift in Patrick’s emotions. Hopefully, Patrick will finally let Nolan in, yes?
As Emily prepares to start the slideshow presentation (which again, was part of Emily’s plan to begin with), she “accidentally” bumps into Victoria and spills a drink on her. Victoria exits to the stateroom, Emily heads to the outside deck, and Lydia follows after Victoria. Now, this is the time when I had to grab several drinks because shit was about to get real! Lydia confronts Victoria, and reveals the photograph that shows Emily Thorne (as Amanda Clarke) at the Grayson dinner party all those years ago.
Victoria: And they say they never think of the mother of the groom.
If things in Emily’s plan couldn’t get any worse…it does! Daniel receives a phone call in reference to Sara’s roommate, supposedly, telling him she tried to kill herself. This causes him to make a quick exit out the room, and then we pan over to see Emily set her plan in motion. However, it now is about to change as Victoria confronts Emily about the photograph as well as her fake pregnancy. Not only did Emily confirm her allegations, she told her new monster-in-law she had to in order to get what she wanted. Shortly thereafter, Aiden chloroforms Victoria and tells Emily she has two minutes to shoot.
Just then, the flash forward is now explained. The actual shooter heads to the deck, and tells Emily that they heard everything about her lies and manipulations, including faking pregnancy. As Emily tries to apologize, the shooter already hit her with two bullets to the stomach, and she falls overboard. The shooter throws the gun overboard, and goes back to the reception as if nothing happened! As the coast guard yelled that someone went overboard, Charlotte noticed the blood on the deck, as well as the bloody garter, and wonders where is Emily, as Conrad wondered where was Victoria.
The shooter was none other than DANIEL GRAYSON. What a great twist to the story as he becomes hip to Emily’s lies, and learning she may not be who she says she is. I cannot imagine where the story is going to go from this point, but seeing as both he and Victoria will not have the upper hand, the possibilities are endless.
To round out the episode, Nolan and Patrick are about to share a romantic evening, only for Patrick to almost discover the Infinity Box. At the beach, Jack and Aiden wonder where Emily is as she has not checked in. They notice her dress floating in the water with blood, and the two begin the search to find out what happened.
The winter finale was incredible, and Sunil Nayar and company have brought back the “Revenge” I know and love after a season two wonderment. It is going to be amazing to see how Emily will be able to bounce back after this. The promo for its January 5th return shows the blonde bombshell with possible amnesia? Say what? Does she, or is she faking? Watch the promo below and be the judge for yourself. Then, cast your thoughts on what you thought of the finale.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oha2Lb79I9Q
“Revenge” returns Sunday, January 5, 2014, at 9/8c on ABC.
Daniel shooting Emily didn’t have a big impact, because these two people haven’t cared about one another since the first season. That’s been the biggest problem for the show, and why the story doesn’t make a lot of sense. Daniel should be a strong character, and not just a plot device. Without him Emily doesn’t have a reason to be around the Greyson’s, so I don’t understand why the writers decided to kill any relationship that he and Emily have. The result is that it made no sense that these two people were engaged. Daniel had to notice that his girlfriend couldn’t stand him. That was just too big of a plot point to ignore.