“Exploit your opponent’s weakness. That is the key to revenge.” – Takeda

There’s never a shortage of secrets when it comes to REVENGE, but secrets are only interesting and delicious when there is someone to share your confidence.  However, when more than one person knows your secret, then it can also become dangerous.

So what did we find out this week?

The mysterious Aiden was Emily’s lover

When Emily (Emily VanCamp) was at Takeda’s training camp preparing for her path of revenge, Aiden (Barry Sloane) was looking for his sister. He, too, was in training, though we don’t know what kind of danger his sister was in, suffice to say he did not succeed in saving her.  He did succeed in winning Emily’s heart – up until the moment he left her behind at Camp Takeda, and Emily has not forgiven him for that.  She also does not appreciate him killing her only link to the truth about her mother, Kara (Jennifer Jason Leigh), and so she throws him out with the trash.

Victoria calls a press conference

Who can resist a story as juicy as that of Victoria (Madeleine Stowe) coming back from the dead and allegedly a victim of an elaborate kidnapping plot by a White Haired Man (James Morrison)?  Choppers and reporters surround Grayson Manor, all dying for any bit of news.  Never one to lose control of any given situation, Victoria puts Ashley (Ashley Medekwe) back to work and calls for a press conference.  I bet when the reporters arrived, they never counted on just how explosive it was going to get!

Speaking of explosions…

How did Victoria get off that plane in time before it went up in flames?  When we last saw the plane before it exploded, we also saw the White Haired Man loitering underneath the plane.  It turns out, yes, he was sent there by Conrad (Henry Czerny) to plant the explosives, but he also had a better idea – to offer Victoria a way out  in exchange for a share in Charlotte’s (Christa B. Allen) inheritance after Victoria “dies”.

Victoria and Emily – new BFFs?

Ever since Charlotte shared her mother’s secret with Emily, Victoria has had no choice but to play nice with the woman who stole her son’s heart and gained her daughter’s trust.  She invites Emily over for tea, to strategize over how to deal with the prying eyes and lenses of the reporters camped outside Grayson Manor.  Then she tells Emily to stay away from her family permanently – it’s all for her own safety, you see, for the White Haired Man could come after her, too.  What Victoria doesn’t know, of course, is that the White Haired Man is dead and buried (somewhere) and would no longer be a problem.

Nolan 2.0

Emily’s new roomie, Nolan (Gabriel Mann), has been like a new man since his return to the Hamptons.  Not only has he become more interested in his company’s financial affairs, what with the looming IRS audit, but he has also been turning up to business meetings, much to the surprise of his new CFO, Padma (Dilshad Vadsaria).  On another note, Nolan also got to put some of his new-found karate skills to use when he goes back to Emily’s house to return the White Haired Man’s cell phone.  Unbeknownst to him, Aiden is hiding in the dark, somewhat ninja-like, and ready to attack.  Unfortunately for Nolan, he hasn’t had the kind of Takeda training that Emily and Aiden had, and he comes off second best.  Thank God Emily returned home in time to stop Aiden from pummeling our handsome tech guru/part-time revenger.

Sisterly love

Fauxmanda (Margarita Levieva) may have sold her soul to Emily in order to have a family, but in exchange, her new identity as Amanda Clarke also gained her a “real” half-sister in Charlotte, who is so excited about soon becoming an aunt that she gives the baby a five thousand dollar gift certificate from a baby boutique.  Meanwhile, Emily reminds Amanda that they became forever bonded when they switched identities, and that what she has now – a future with Jack (Nick Wechsler) – would all disappear if he was to find out the truth.  How many more times will Emily be able to blackmail Amanda with the threat of telling Jack the truth before that trick stops working?  I’m sensing not much longer now that Jack is finally sick of her lies.

Brotherly love

Just when we thought maybe Jack’s little brother, Declan (Connor Paolo), might have finally become more responsible, helping out with the family business and saving for college, he falls under the influence of rich kid Trey Chandler (Michael Nardelli).  Why is it that when the two commit neighborhood B&E, that it’s the poor one who gets caught?  Declan is found out, but the crime victim is willing to drop the matter if he agrees to return all the loot he stole.  Is there a catch to this?

Queen Victoria holds court

There is nothing that will stop Victoria from holding her press conference – not even when, moments before it is due to start, her son, Daniel (Josh Bowman) discovers the truth about her disappearance (via a well-timed anonymous delivery of Victoria’s fake passport), that there was no kidnapping plot, and that his father and sister both knew the truth except for him.  He is angry but Mommy Dearest manages to turn the tables back on him when she accuses him of choosing Conrad’s side over hers when he decided not to turn over evidence against Conrad just before her plane exploded.

Whatever preparation Victoria might have made for the press conference, everything went out the window when she finally stepped up to the podium to face the waiting press.  Instead of talking about the White Haired Man and going into details about her kidnapping ordeal, she makes an announcement to the world that Charlotte is the result of her affair with David Clarke.  As if that was not enough, she then thanks her “saintly husband” Conrad for sticking by her through it all (henceforth sticking him with the title of “cuckold” in front of all those reporters).  Daniel also reluctantly joins in the charade of happy family as the loyal son.

To make the family portrait complete, Victoria finally invites Amanda to join them on stage as Charlotte’s pregnant half-sister and joyously proclaims “Welcome to the family!” amidst gasps and O-M-Gs.  But wait, there’s more! After the press conference, Conrad gives the Vanity Fair reporter an exclusive that even Victoria had not bargained for – the exes are going to remarry!  And in Tuscany, no less.  I wonder who will be the maid of honor?

White Haired Man’s secrets revealed

His name is Gordon Murphy and he was staying in a motel where he hid the flight recorder in the air vent of his room.  Aiden finds the recorder and brings it back to Emily in a bid to win back her trust.  She is still unforgiving – perhaps she has learned to let go of all compassion, just as Takeda taught her?  What Aiden didn’t realize was that he found more than just the flight recorder at that motel – he also found Emily’s mother, Kara, alive and well and suspicious as hell about a police detective with a fake badge.

Amongst the possessions found on Murphy’s body before Emily dumped it were a watch with a picture of Kara inside and a bottle of anti-psychotic pills that Emily suspects are for her mother. Despite Nolan saying he was not able to retrieve any data from Murphy’s handset or the SIM card, Emily manages to play back a voicemail message from Kara to Murphy.  The message ends with words that brought tears to Emily’s eyes: “I love you.”

Revenge “Confidence” Recap

Written by Valerie Leung.  Read her blog LibragirlRules.com and follow her on Twitter @valshopaholic to share your Revenge theories!

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