Wow, was Nolan and Louise’s wedding reception the first party in Revenge history, even with the occurrence of a classic takedown, to reach its conclusion without having been ruined? I might be wrong, but I’m pretty sure it is. Compared to the recent string of episodes, tonight’s outing was relatively low-key and focused on most of our characters trying to figure out what to do with their lives now that Malcolm Black is done. It felt very much like a table-setting episode and definitely suffered at times from the fact that neither Emily nor Victoria was the episode’s main focus. On the upside, “Kindred” finally revealed aspiring-detective Ben’s purpose and allowed Gina Torres to guest-star.
The Wedding of Nolan and Louise
Guys, Nolan Ross is officially off the market, and there’s a party to mark this momentous occasion. Last week, Nolan and Louise got married so that Louise could reclaim control over her fortune. And now she has her money, she is wasting no expense on her wedding reception that’s being held at Emily’s home. However, because this is Revenge, there is something that threatens this party’s success: Louise’s mother.
At the end of last week’s episode, Penelope Ellis, upon finding out about Nolan and Louise’s marriage, revealed that Louise murdered her father—which came by complete surprise to the young woman. In light of her mother’s other deceitful activities, Louise didn’t believe her. Well, tonight and at his mother’s bidding, Lyman returns to the Hamptons to show Louise proof that she killed her father in the form of a police report that says Louise, at the age of 13, pushed him down the stairs. According to Lyman, who keeps insisting he was unaware of his mother’s many lies, Penelope had a judge that was a close family friend bury the police report to protect Louise. If Louise doesn’t annul her marriage, Penelope threatens to release the police report at Louise’s reception—the very reception Louise invited every major media outlet cover.
Louise has no recollection of the night and in the face of this uncovered police report tries to call of her wedding to save herself, and more importantly Nolan, the embarrassment. Nolan walks in on her sending everything back—except for the champagne because she says she’ll need that—and asks what’s going on, so Louise tells him of her mother’s threat. However, Nolan smells something fishy and convinces Louise to let Emily help her remember the night of her father’s death. (Emily picked up so many useful tricks in Japan!) Surrounded by a gratuitous amount of candles—enough to power one of The Vampire Diaries‘ Bonnie Bennett’s spells—Emily helps Louise flash back to her father’s death. In her memory, Louise sees her arms outstretched as her father falls down the stairs and her mother yells “What have you done?!”
That memory convinces Louise that she did indeed kill her father, so on the day of the wedding reception, she runs off and checks herself back into Claremont Psychiatric Facility. Because he can’t leave his own party, Nolan sends Emily after her with proof he found that she didn’t kill her father. Nolan was able to track down the police officer from the night and quite fortuitously, the long-since retired officer kept meticulous records and still had the original report from that night. As it turns out, the police report Lyman showed Louise was forged. From the police report, Louise remembers that she didn’t push her father, she was actually trying to catch him.
To no one’s surprise, Penelope was actually the one who pushed her father down the stairs. The night Mr. Ellis died, he had found out about Penelope’s affairs with a judge—the very judge who forged the police report that incriminated Louise—and during their argument, Penelope killed him. Upon her return to Grayson Manor, Louise confronts her mother and sends her packing. Oh, and she also boots Lyman, who tries and fails to convince her to keep financing his congressional bid. With all of that done, Louise and Nolan are free to enjoy the rest of their night.
NEXT: Gina Torres, a love triangle return to the Hamptons
Life After Malcolm Black
In the wake of Malcolm Black’s death, everyone else is trying to figure out what to do next. Victoria’s attempts at raising a fundraiser in Daniel’s name are temporarily foiled by Hamptons newcomer Natalie Waters, played Gina Torres who oozes power and commands attention whenever on-screen. In a storyline that’s reminiscent of Gossip Girl‘s high-school Queen B struggles, Natalie challenges Victoria’s position as Queen of Everything and tries to steal Victoria’s circle of friends by convincing them not to donate to Victoria’s fundraiser. Not one to be trifled with, Victoria quickly reestablishes her control over her subjects by reminding them that she knows all of their darkest secrets. She makes it clear that their continued loyalty, as well as doubling their initial promised donations, is the only thing to ensure her continued discretion.
Meanwhile, a recovering David proposes that Emily give up “Emily Thorne” and resume being “Amanda Clarke.” Emily’s been living this lie for 11 years, so it’s kind of hard imagining becoming Amanda again. Unfortunately, Margaux’s hired help photographs David and Emily hugging and splashes the photo across one of Margaux’s tabloids with the headline “David Clarke’s new boo?” Naturally, Emily goes to confront Margaux and, similarly to what Victoria did to her friends, reminds her that she knows many secrets about Margaux and her continued silence is contingent on Margaux leaving her alone and out of the press.
With Margaux seemingly taken care of, Emily returns to pondering her father’s proposal. When she first began her crusade, the plan was to clear her father’s name, leave “Emily Thorne” behind, and disappear into a new identity. However, her father’s return has forced her to reconsider. Seeking someone impartial, Emily asks Ben for his advice, and he tells her that he doesn’t want to imagine a world without Emily Thorne (awwww). I’ll admit, I liked their exchange in the bar, especially when Emily says “Really with the undercover thing, again?”
Following her rendezvous with Ben, Emily decides to pay Jack a visit because Ben let slip that Jack’s still having a hard time. As we saw last week, Jack is still not over killing Kate. To make matter worse for him, the media is all over him and Ben for taking down Malcolm Black, and the Mayor insists on awarding them medals for their excellent service. During their conversation, Jack tells Emily that each time a reporter interviews him, he’s forced to not only continue covering up Kate’s death, but to also relive the trauma of taking another person’s life. Unfortunately for Emily and Jack, Margaux’s P.I. records their entire conversation and shows it to Margaux, who is not sure she wants to take Emily down if it means taking Jack down. Later at the award ceremony, Jack finally cracks and decides to quit the force.
Later that night, Emily tells David that for the first time in a while, she’s happy with her life and doesn’t wish to lose it by coming out to the world as “Amanda Clarke.” This isn’t the only big decision she makes. After Nolan and Louise’s reception, she goes over to Ben’s place and after some banter, the two end up making out in his doorway. Little do they know, Jack see this all go down. Before Emily showed up at his house, Ben texted Jack to ask why he quit the force, so Jack decided to head over to talk it out in person. The ending of tonight’s episode implies that Ben’s entire purpose this season was to set up Emily and Jack finally coming together.
At the end of tonight’s episode, someone with a British accent calls Victoria and informs her that there’s been a death in the family. Is Charlotte dead?! Isn’t it a bit too soon for another death on this show?
