Revenge Review: What's In A Name?

This week’s episode of Revenge was a vast improvement from the previous one. Although a string holding two cans together would have done just as well to surpass the massive failure of last week’s episode.

For starters, Helen Crowley (Wendy Crewson) didn’t for one second believe that Aiden was not behind their so called “attack.” And while she’s gotten his partner wrong, (she thinks it’s Victoria) the fact that she sees through this charade shows she’s probably the most sensible person on the show right now. Proving that, she decides to flip Aiden from his presumed partner by offering to give Aiden his sister if he kills Victoria Grayson.

Now, there’s no love lost between Victoria and Aiden (Barry Sloan) so of course he’s all too willing to off her. He follows her as she’s on a cheerleading mission with Jason Prosser to undercut Daniel’s bid on Stonehaven United. In fact, as Victoria’s ready to give up the goods to convince Jason to keep after a bid on Stonehaven, Aiden’s outside and ready to end her. Lucky for Victoria as the curtains are about to close, Emily steps in and convinces Aiden to back down. They’ll find his sister some other way. So for the moment, Victoria lives. In contrast, Aiden’s poor sister is shown appearing to OD, so now he’s pissed and firmly off Team Emily.

But that’s okay, because I was never sold on Aiden. Nope, I’m still rooting for Daniel whose relationship with Emily may have gotten one step closer to rekindling this week… for real this time, hopefully. Because once Emily, in spite of Victoria’s wishes, helps Daniel land the Stonehaven account, she kind of makes it clear which Grayson she’s backing. That earns her Victoria’s ire, and just to further solidify it, she confesses to Daniel that she came back into his life because of his mother. Now, I don’t know where the idea that Daniel was just another pretty face came from, but this week he shoots that down telling Emily that he’s known from the beginning that she and his mother were in cahoots. And is he correct in thinking that Emily was the one who leaked Stonehaven? Of course he was. But that’s okay, he says, because Victoria’s plans rarely work so perfectly into getting him what he wants like this one did. Way to keep yourself in the running Daniel.

Speaking of running, let’s get back to the most fantastical storyline of the bunch: Conrad’s run for office via the Stowaway Bar. This week starts off with Conrad washing his hands of Jack Porter. Since Jack doesn’t want to give up Matt Duncan in the murder of the Ryans’ father, Conrad tells him that there’s nothing he can do. Jack doesn’t want to give up Matt, but he does convince the guy to turn himself in. Spouting fatherly loyalty which led to Matt killing the older Duncan anyway, Jack gets Matt to finally confess to the murder. This makes it a little bit easier for Conrad to buy out the Ryan brothers’ stake in the Stowaway from the least heartless half of the duo: Kenny (JR Bourne). This doesn’t sit well with little brother Nate who tries to get Conrad to sell him back their share. He has a proposition, and Conrad’s more than willing to listen.

If Conrad had spent a little more time listening to daughter Charlotte this week, she might not now be disowning him. Or at least, legally declaring that she’s not a Grayson. After spending the majority of her birthday with older “sister” Amanda because her Grayson relatives (mother, father, brother) forgot her birthday, Charlotte decides that her first decision as an adult (she’s 18 now) is to change her name to Charlotte Clarke. I’m sure Amanda/Emily is ecstatic to have her sister finally claiming their father’s name. She’s been working so hard to clear his name that this public show by Charlotte could go a long way in the public arena. Not to mention the personal satisfaction as with this change she’d no longer be alone, she’d have a family. Signing a paper isn’t going to make Charlotte any more of her sister, it’s just the public acceptance, but that seems to make all the difference.

Speaking of names, I’m sure Padma (Dilshad Vadsaria) is going to regret uttering one: “Carrion.” At first mentioned as a person, now Padma refers to Carrion as a program and just like that Nolan’s ears perk up because he hadn’t told Padma it was a program. And she would only know about this top-secret program if she was the spy he’d stopped looking for once he ousted Marco. He tells Emily about the spy in his bed, and Emily counsels Nolan to play her just as he’d been played. So Nolan sets up a camera in his office and sends in Padma alone to discover a secret USB with what appears to be the Carrion file. Now, I’m more than a little sure that the file’s a fake because as secretive as Nolan is of it, why would he just deliver it into the hands of his enemies. Not when, as he tells Emily, it can knock out the entire city of Manhattan, electrically speaking. I fail to see a good use for this program, so I’m hoping that its invention was just a mad scientist oops-y moment of Nolan’s on the way to some other project for the greater good. But with such catastrophic possibilities in Carrion’s future, I’m firmly backing the belief that Carrion’s not on that file in Padma’s possession. Maybe a helpful little bug, a message of “I Got You” proportions; I don’t know, whatever it is I trust in Nolan’s brilliance to see it through.

Season 2, Episode 12: “Collusion” (original airdate January 20, 2013.)

Revenge airs Sundays at 9/8c on ABC.