Guess what? Nolan gets his own slice of the vengeance pie in this episode of “Revenge,” and it’s nice to see him get some small reward for his otherwise thankless role as Emily’s sidekick. What’s weird, though, is that he seems to think this opportunity to destroy someone’s life requires not grim determination (Emily’s standard M.O.), but an Oscar-worthy speech of gratitude. “I’ve learned so much from you, Ems,” he gushes, so grateful is he to her for having found the inner pluck to “take control” of his own life. I really think Nolan needs to make new friends, as crushing someone like a bug under your heel isn’t exactly taking the high road.
Still, it’s great fun to see him use what appears to be the next generation of Google Glass to get a publicist’s password, crack into her private files, then destroy her ability to pay her mortgage. Nolan being Nolan, he can’t deliver the fatal blow. Instead, he tells her that if she ends her affair immediately, he won’t show her husband the many pages of dirty texts that she’s written or reveal her standing three-nights-a-week date with the other man. I’d suggest her husband is probably suspicious already and he might be doing the guy a solid.
Though Nolan’s dalliance with revenge took up a great deal of the episode, other storylines progressed at a rapid fire pace. When Charlotte explains to Victoria that Sara could be back in the picture, Victoria sends Aiden packing so fast he probably doesn’t get a chance to get his after shave out of the bathroom. This is just one of the many, many setbacks that seem set to completely screw up Emily’s plan for world domination/total Grayson annihilation. Of course, I don’t think she can destroy Victoria entirely next week, because that would effectively kill the show, so we might as well start seeing the train come off the tracks.
We also see Jack get over Amanda so that he can move on with Margaux. This probably made sense in the writers’ room, but the execution of Jack coping with his loss feels utterly cheesy. Whenever someone talks to a headstone, that monologue had better sparkle — in this case, we just got sap. I realize that Jack is the “nice guy” in this show, but too often he either seems illogical or just dull, and this grieving process fell into the second category.
Daniel isn’t a nice guy, but he also suffers from a lingering dullness as a character, coming across more as a plot device than a person. This week, though, he got a new/old love interest in Sara. The sparks between him and the girl whose spine he’s responsible for crushing are palpable, and it’s hard not to root for Daniel to dump Emily and run off with the one who makes good cupcakes. I’m sure Emily will pull off some kind of miracle (or do something devious to send Sara away), but hey, there’s always a chance for a twist, right?
Conrad’s “book of lies” (as Jack calls it) could be the things that pulls new couple Jack and Margaux apart, but I think there are so many other things that could yank that thread. Different cultures, different interests, just… different, these two seem about as logical of a pairing as Sandra Bullock and Jesse James. While I realize it takes some thinking outside of the box to keep Jack in the mix now that he’s so put off with Emily, this might have been a relationship that deserved further consideration.
Right now it seems that the obstacles to Emily and Daniel’s wedding keep piling up, and Emily is frantically knocking them down like she’s stuck in some surreal Whack-A-Mole game. It’s good to see Emily on the ropes, though, as well as watch her struggle with the reality that executing her plan comes at great personal sacrifice — never being able to see Nolan or her sister again. Of course, Emily could just walk away and remind herself that the Graysons will be spectacularly miserable whether or not she’s in their lives, but what fun would that be?
Do you think Margaux and Jack make sense? Do you think Daniel and Sara will get together? What did you think of Nolan’s act of revenge?