Revenge ‘Infamy’ Recap – Nolan Needs NO Introduction

If everyone gets their fifteen minutes of fame, then Mason Treadwell (guest star Roger Bart) got more than his fair share. It has been fifteen years since he published “Society Connections” chronicling the story of David Clarke and his conviction. The book made Treadwell rich and famous and ensures him a comfortable seat in the Graysons’ den of lies.

Revenge Recap “Infamy”

Season 1 Episode 11
Air Date: 11th January 2012

It has been a little while since we have had our take-down-of-the-week on REVENGE and “Infamy” is a return to form as we peel off more layers of this story to reveal more secrets. I am also very excited to see that Emily (Emily Vancamp) and Nolan (Gabriel Mann) are best buds again – probably even closer than before – as they work together to take down Treadwell.

When they first meet, Emily introduces herself to Treadwell as the new owner of the former Clarke house, and then introduces her billionaire-internet-genius-friend-who-needs-no-introduction, Nolan to him. After his terrifying ordeal at being bound and gagged by crazy Tyler, Nolan is concerned his life story may never be told. How handy it is that there is a well-known biographer around who might be able to pen his memoirs for him! And by the way, why there is a book signing for a fifteen year-old book is intriguing to me…

Victoria (Madeleine Stowe) informs Treadwell that Amanda Clarke (Margarita Levieva) is back in town and wants him to find out what her motives are. Who can say no to Victoria? After all, as Treadwell admits, once you have made a deal with the Devil, it is not something you can easily forget. Under the guise of revisiting old interviewees for his autobiography, Treadwell finds Amanda tending bar at the Stowaway Tavern. Amanda has no idea who Treadwell is, but she is fairly well-prepared by now with her “I have moved on from my past” act.

So what’s Emily’s beef with Treadwell? Flashback to some old video footage of Treadwell interviewing David Clarke in prison saying he was framed by the Graysons. Though privately Treadwell believed David’s story, publicly, he called David a narcissist who truly believed himself to be telling the truth.

When Nolan and Emily pays a visit to Treadwell at his “cottage”, he shows his guests a copy of his memoirs – his one and only copy – as well as a cabinet full of old video tapes of his interviews with the people involved in David Clarke’s trial under lock and key. He informs them that he will be re-interviewing some people including Amanda.

Meanwhile, love-struck Jack (Nick Wechsler) suddenly finds his quiet bar has been turned into “Coyote Ugly” with his girlfriend Amanda serving drinks, flirting with (and kissing) female customers and dancing on the counter, much to the cheers of his patrons. Emily drops by to warn Amanda that Treadwell’s account of her father’s story is made up of lies and enlists her help to expose him as a fraud.

Over the last few episodes, we have learned that Emily has many secret talents – fluent in Japanese with mad ninja skills included – and now we learn that she’s also a deadly shot (did we ever doubt that since we knew she had a gun?). She takes Nolan to a shooting range for target practice with Daniel (Joshua Bowman), Nolan explaining that after his ordeal with Tyler, he wants to be able to protect himself (whatever happened to his bodyguard?). When Daniel has left, Emily explains to Nolan that she has plans to take down Treadwell using Amanda.

Amanda is all wired for sound at her interview. While Treadwell is asking her questions, Emily is feeding her answers. In a performance deserving of an Emmy, Amanda/Emily angrily accuses Treadwell of withholding the truth about the Graysons from his book, in particular, the part where David told him of his affair with Victoria. She accuses him of being paid off by the Graysons and to stick the knife in even deeper, Amanda/Emily addresses him by his real name as he was known before he became famous. (Although I am not entirely sure changing your name from Leo to Mason is such a big secret if you’re keeping your last name.) She tells him that his private reading of his memoirs at the Graysons’ will be his last chance to tell the truth. Treadwell is sufficiently rattled that he begins to change parts of his memoirs.

But of course, nobody scares people as much as the Graysons. Upon hearing that Treadwell is considering revealing the truth, Victoria reminds him that as long as he remains quiet, he will remain in her inner circle and be protected. Another flashback and we see that Treadwell did originally plan to expose the truth. He approached Victoria asking her to confirm her affair with David and giving her a chance to tell her side of the story. When Victoria threatens to sue him for slander, he says that he has nothing to lose while the Graysons have everything to lose. Smart thinking Victoria realizes that if the stick doesn’t work, then dangling a sweet carrot in front of a debt-ridden journalist would be a better way to go.

Now, before I go into the final take-down, let’s not forget there is still the ugly divorce negotiation between Victoria and Conrad (Henry Czerny) going on. Victoria’s lawyer, Ryan Huntley, informs her that her pre-nuptial agreement with Conrad is nullified due to duress. However, not one to give up so easily, Conrad is trying to take away her shares in the company. Huntley suggests that if Daniel’s shares are combined with hers, then they would have a controlling interest and Conrad would lose. But this is not as simple as it sounds – Daniel’s shares are locked in trust and Conrad quickly hatches a plan to change the conditions of their release so that Daniel can only access his shares when he is married or when he turns 30.

It doesn’t take a genius to work out what Daniel plans to do. He has already suggested to Emily that at the end of the summer they should get a place together in the city and she has rejected the idea, claiming that she would only do so when she’s married. Conrad tries to break up his son’s relationship with Emily by throwing a woman into his arms which, of course, would only serve to make Daniel despise him more and bring him closer to both Victoria and Emily. Whilst Victoria is against the idea of her beloved son marrying a woman she does not trust, Huntley suggests that the marriage clause only requires that Daniel be married, regardless of its success or failure.

Now that Ashley’s only ally, Tyler, is out of the picture (at least for now), her job with Victoria has changed from being a sycophantic party-planner to being Victoria’s snitch and spy. She “casually” drops into a conversation with Emily that the conditions of Daniel’s trust fund have changed and hints that she should be careful of his motives if and when he proposes. Sometimes I really feel sorry for Ashley – she is undoubtedly one of the most clueless characters so far.

Back to the take down. A while back, I suggested that Gabriel Mann who plays Nolan must be bribing the writers for the best lines in the show. I am still convinced this is the case. When Treadwell chooses to maintain Victoria’s secret (no, not the lingerie) rather than coming clean, Nolan’s responds with “I haven’t been this disappointed since Phantom Menace.”

Emily never really expected that Treadwell would fold. She asks Nolan to take him out to dinner while she breaks into his house. She takes the video tapes he kept of his interviews and research on her father’s case, then proceeds to burn his house down (it shall be noted that Emily’s penchant for fire started as early as her first foster home after her father’s conviction). When Nolan and Treadwell return from dinner, they are shocked to find the house on fire. Nolan quickly realizes what has happened and smiles his gloriously wicked smile, “Bad girl.”

As I said, there are always surprises galore and secrets to be revealed on this show. And this is no exception. As I mentioned in my “Duress” recap last week, speculation had been rife that Charlotte may be the result of her mother’s affair with David. Whilst we don’t yet know this for sure, the footage of David’s prison interview with Treadwell where he suggests Treadwell ask Victoria who the father of her daughter is, certainly seems to prove that the fans have been right to have anticipated this twist. I, for one, am looking forward to some DNA testing to be done in the coming weeks!

Written by Valerie Leung. Read her blog Libra Girl Rules and follow her on twitter to talk about great TV-  @ValShopaholic

Read more of Valerie’s REVENGE RECAPS on Small Screen Scoop! Why don’t you start with her smartly written Revenge “Duress” Recap?