The buzz over the last few weeks has been the revelation that a major character who is close to Emily will be killed in the finale. Like many of the readers, I’m nervous about the future of Nolan, since he is Emily’s closest ally. This is the last episode before the big two-hour finale, and so it’s the best chance to get hints of who could be exiting the series. Instead, “Engagement” delivers a big shocker of another major recurring character getting killed.
Sayonara, Takeda
I’ve always been a little suspicious of Takeda’s intentions during season 2, but I also admit a lot of that has to do with the fact he is being played by the main villain from Mortal Kombat. (Who would have thought this show would inspire so many reference to ’90s fighting video games?) Takeda leaks to Daniel the fact that Aiden’s father was suspected in the same airline bombing that convicted David Clarke, which obviously makes it hard for Aiden and Daniel to remain drinking buddies. Takeda claims to Emily that this had to happen, because Aiden was hurting Emily from fulfilling her quest for revenge. Apparently, the real reason was that Takeda has some even more sinister intentions.
Before it can be revealed, Takeda and Aiden have a swordfight, because what else is there to do on a slow evening? The weird thing is that Aiden seems aware of Takeda’s master plan, and it is nasty enough for a fight to the death. It leads to the question of why Aiden wouldn’t have warned Emily earlier. It doesn’t seem to matter now since Takeda’s chest is permanently occupied with a broken blade. Hopefully, the finale will answer what Takeda’s real motives have always been, and maybe even why Aiden decided to stay quiet about them.
Initiative’s Evil Plan Begins
Aiden is now on a mission to stop Emily from fulfilling her revenge. In in his mind, this is fulfilled by making the Graysons bankrupt. It appears this little act of money drainage may have also kick-started the Initiative’s latest attack of evil. What is the attack of evil? So far, it is a giant power outage, because maybe they don’t want anyone to be able to play Street Fighter anymore.
Yes, Street Fighter shows up once again this week. Nolan plays detective, and discovers the password to break the Falcon’s encryption is her high score. It allows them to make the Graysons poor, but also seems to trigger what will be the evil that must be overcome in the finale.
It’s interesting to see that while everyone is shocked by the power outage, Edith Lee makes a knowing smile. It appears she may have been trying to trick Nolan into activating the next stage of the Initiative’s attack. I wonder if this means Edith is closer aligned to the group than has been initially suggested.
Edith Lee also ends up being a pretty important character by revealing to Nolan that Victoria not only had her erase all of Patrick’s records, but also that Victoria got some of her goons to pay off Patrick from trying to find his real mom. Victoria doesn’t want to reconnect with her long lost son, but the interesting storyline will be if Patrick still wants to see his mom or if he wants revenge. I’m sure he will somehow be wrapped up in this crazy conspiracy, and will also likely show up next week.
Victoria’s Many Acts of Tampering
Victoria has a pretty busy week, especially making a variety of soul-chilling facial expressions. She makes an ice dagger shooting look once Daniel and Emily reveal they will be getting married and moving to Paris in two weeks. She shoots out a devilishly evil smile when she takes Jack away from Emily in order to have a private meeting. Emily makes some great facials, but Victoria is still the queen.
The Jack and Victoria relationship is turning out to be an interesting one. Victoria proves to be a brilliant antagonist by not only figuring out Emily has an attachment to Jack, but also realizing Jack is trying to sabotage Conrad’s campaign. The alliance seems to be partly to vex Emily, but also to lead to the eventual fall of Conrad. Though when the Governor’s wife reveals the terms in office may be responsible for her husband’s serious heart condition, Victoria gives a look that hints she may hope such a thing happens to her husband as well. It isn’t made clear if Victoria is going to cooperate with Jack in the sabotage or if she is planning to betray him in order to get Conrad elected.
Victoria and Emily also have a few big showdowns this week. Hopefully, it is just teasers for an epic confrontation during the finale. Victoria delivers some solid jabs about making it clear she knows Emily isn’t in love with her son. She also manipulates things so Jack knows the wedding was originally called off on account of him. Emily ends up getting the knockout blow this week with a comment dredging up memories about Victoria’s betrayal of David. As much as Victoria is a wonderful villain, I’m still rooting for her to have a moment of redemption and to try to clear the name of the man she really loved.
It looks like Ashley is still legitimately aligned with Jack. I doubted her a bit in the last episode, but this week all her scenes are about helping him. Actually, she sort of becomes a big player this week. I’m thinking she will make some type of big move to really show where she stands in the finale.
Pregnancy Announcement
This leaves us with Charlotte, who reveals to Daniel that she is pregnant. I registered a giant sigh with that news. Both Charlotte and Declan have become a little irritating over the last few episodes. The pregnancy doesn’t have the same impact since so much happens this week, and Charlotte has been drifting into minor character territory. This will likely become a major storyline, and hopefully will lead to both characters becoming interesting and important again.
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(Image courtesy of ABC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
