There’s a Clarke family reunion in the third episode of Revenge season 4, but it’s not the one everyone’s been waiting for; well, at least not officially, since we found out David’s alive. However, the end of “Ashes” comes as close as it can get without that reunion actually happening.
Meanwhile, Victoria’s offspring continue to compete for Most Annoying Character on the Show right now, with Daniel’s financial problems hitting an all-time low and Charlotte accurately describing her current mental state (“I went out of my mind”). As for the two officers on the show, Jack has to decide what to do about the Stowaway’s future and Ben continues to pursue Emily in a way that makes me wonder if she (or someone at least) should be keeping an eye on him.
Am I the only one who finds something off about Ben? Emily finds him looking inside her car after her visit to Victoria’s cabin in the woods, and he tells her he was investigating reports of kids drinking. He saw what looked like an abandoned vehicle and wanted to make sure no one was in distress. But hey, where does she plug in her car? And what is she doing out here? She tells him she walks in the woods to clear her head, and he says he does the same, so if she ever wants company … Ben is trying way too hard and being way too obvious. At least he realizes that the answer to that is always going to be no.
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Jack to the Rescue and the Future of the Stowaway
Fortunately for Emily, despite Charlotte trying to burn her alive, Jack runs into the Stowaway, sees his family photos and then sees Emily unconscious and saves her. Fortunately for Charlotte, Emily says in her statement that she went in to check on the bar after smelling smoke and, like her sister, states that no one else was inside.
After saving Emily, Jack has a decision to make about saving the Stowaway. At first, he thinks the cause of the fire is the old wiring he never got upgraded, but when the guy who saw Charlotte the night of the fire tells Jack she said it was empty, he realizes what really happened and turns to Emily for answers. She does tell him the truth, but she also thinks that because of everything she put her through, it’s okay her sister tried to kill her. This family, am I right? The fire is ruled an accident, and with the insurance money, Jack can rebuild the Stowaway, but does he want to?
As he tells Emily when he brings her a photo of them as kids (with Sammy!), the answer to that question is really no. The bar was his father’s and his father’s dream, but it wasn’t Jack’s and his dad knew it. He wanted Jack to have a bigger life, and that’s something he’s forgotten. He’s not sure what he’s going to do next, but it looks like the Stowaway is closed for good.
Mistress Manipulator
Victoria continues to manipulate David, getting him to stay behind while she goes to try to get them money to get their own place by telling him she doesn’t want to share him with the world until she has to. After seeing that Daniel gets her nowhere and she brushes Louise off like yesterday’s news, she goes to see Charlotte, finds out what she did and what she knows and tells her that she can come live with her and her father, but they can’t overload David with information, so keep Emily’s real identity a secret from him, okay? Great.
David’s over the moon about seeing Charlotte, and Victoria takes the opportunity to make it seem like she’s the one who’s responsible for clearing his name, that she was the one who got the confession out of Conrad on purpose, something that seems to even make Charlotte uncomfortable. Even though I know it won’t happen, I just wish she’d yell out that it wasn’t her.
While David is conveniently off getting firewood and Charlotte’s taking a nap on the couch (trying to kill your sister can be so draining, don’t you know?), Emily shows up to try to make amends with Charlotte (or “have an Oprah moment,” as Nolan puts it), only for Victoria to meet her with a shotgun while obviously checking the surrounding area for David. Emily tries to talk to Charlotte and calls out that she’s not going to tell anyone what really happened, but Victoria just wants her out of there because, despite what she’s told David, maybe she knows that as soon as they come face-to-face, it’s all over for her.
Emily leaves, Victoria breathes a sigh of relief that can probably be heard by Daniel over the sound of his credit card being declined again and Charlotte does absolutely nothing as she stands inside and listens.
As “Ashes” ends, Victoria then goes and manipulates Margaux into offering a check for whatever money she needs by pulling the “I still consider you family even though my ex-husband killed your father and my fiance, and I’m now living with my old lover who isn’t really dead” card. Sometimes I feel like Margaux is just on whatever side is convenient for the story.
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Poor Rich Boy
Daniel’s storyline seems so separate from everyone else’s, except for the one scene with Victoria, that it’s even harder to care about him even a little. “You are the patriarch of this family now. That’s what the Grayson men do,” Victoria lectures her son upon finding out that he didn’t put any money aside and therefore has no money to give her so she can run off with David. “How do you not put money aside to prepare for a rainy day?” Let’s face it, even if Daniel had any money, it would probably be long gone since he can’t get a job but insists on staying in that fancy hotel. Even his previous relationship with the hotel can only get him so far, as he gets kicked out for not paying for months, and he can only go to the hotel bar if he pays in cash.
Louise continues to try to make herself important, this time attracting the attention of Daniel as she loudly complains about her financial manager (paid by her mother). “Doing some deep thinking, were you?” she asks after he remarks that she’s being loud. Louise clearly doesn’t know anything about him. Or maybe she does. Maybe she tracks Daniel down specifically because Victoria rejects her. I don’t know, and I really don’t particularly care, but since this is Revenge, I won’t be surprised if she knows exactly who Daniel is when she walks into that bar.
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Home Invasion
Victoria tells David that Emily was at the house and wants to destroy their whole family and to stay and protect Charlotte, but as soon as she leaves, David gets out his knife and goes to the former Grayson Manor. He gets as far as Emily’s bedroom before Nolan, who is luckily up late working on the system, sees movement on his cameras. However, David pauses while looking at Emily, and he has to know that she’s his daughter, right? A father always knows. (Am I the only one who thinks from the moment Jack gives Emily that photo of them as kids that David will see it and stop in his tracks?) Nolan comes in and shoots at David, who gets away before he and Emily can get a good look at him.
Sure, Emily can tell that Victoria’s hiding something because of how she acts at the cabin, but I doubt any part of her suspects it’s that her father’s alive. As much as I’ve wanted Emily and David to reunite sooner rather than later (and it’s already taking too long), part of me likes that Victoria is enjoying knowing something Emily doesn’t.
Do you care at all about what’s happening with Daniel? Do you think Victoria is going to regret trying to turn David against Emily? Do you think David realized Emily is his daughter? And what do you think Jack should do about the Stowaway?
Revenge season 4 airs Sundays at 10pm on ABC.
(Image courtesy of ABC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
If it’s on TV — especially if it’s a procedural or superhero show — chances are Meredith watches it. She has a love for all things fiction, starting from a young age with ER and The X-Files on the small screen and the Nancy Drew books. Arrow kicked off the Arrowverse and her true passion for all things heroes. She’s enjoyed getting into the minds of serial killers since Criminal Minds, so it should be no surprise that her latest obsession is Prodigal Son.
