‘Revenge’ Season 3 Recap – Episode 12 “Endurance” – puppy dog and profiteroles

Love and betrayal; loyalty and lies. We all choose to believe what we want to believe because the alternative is always going to cause heartaches. But sometimes, even when we know the truth, we pretend everything is going to be OK. In the end, who are we to judge where love is concerned?

The candy-striper with the best bedside manner
Now that Emily has recovered her memory, the realization that she has failed in her mission to avenge her father’s death has hit her. Victoria and Daniel have come close to uncovering the truth about her. Her near-death experience has made her decide that all she wants to do now is to escape with Aiden and leave the Graysons all behind her. But how do you turn your back on a candy-striper as cool as Nolan Ross?

You’re so vain, Daniel
Just like Carly Simon’s song, Daniel believes Sara (his true love) had tried to commit suicide on his wedding day because he was marrying Emily. The truth is Sara had drunk too much and passed out in the bath and nearly drowned. But no matter what Sara says, Daniel remains undeterred, even after Jack lands a nice right hook on his chiseled jaw as a warning for him to leave her alone. He tells Sara that Emily’s pregnancy was all a ruse to make sure he marries her and that she admitted the lie after the wedding. However, he tells her that he cannot leave Emily or reveal the truth to the world in case people become suspicious, like her, believe that he shot her out of anger and to get out of their marriage. He isn’t that convincing, but to someone who wants nothing more than to believe the best of the man she loves, even a lie can sound like the truth.

Monsters-in-law
It seems that Grayson Manor is the place patients go to recover under the watchful eye of Victoria. Remember when Lydia Davis was thrown off the roof of her penthouse by the Graysons’ head of security (oh Frank, may he rest in peace) and Victoria convinced the doctors to let her recover under the Graysons’ roof? Well, mommy-in-law dearest is determined that if Emily was ever to remember who shot her, that she would do so while closely monitored by her. How will she escape the clutches of her monster-in-law?

Friend or foe?
The mystery nurse, Niko, has a romantic history with Aiden, but now we know there is so much more to that story. Although Emily no longer has her revenge master, Takeda, around to help and guide her, now she has his daughter by her side. Having grown up with her mother in Sydney, Australia, Niko has never met Emily before but spent most of her life playing second fiddle to her father’s favorite student. And now she finds out Emily also has Aiden’s heart – is she going to really going to help Emily out of loyalty to her father or will she prove to be a foe?

Conrad the friendly face?
It wasn’t that long ago when Conrad was laying in bed believing he was dying and the only friendly visitor he received was Emily. Now that Emily is trapped in the house by Victoria, he seems to be the only person in the house who is not trying to kill her. But let’s not forget that it is Conrad’s evil schemes in the terrorism attacks that triggered this entire chain of events. With Margaux getting so close to the truth about Emily’s shooting and his part in the framing of David Clarke, what is he plotting to ensure the truth stays as well hidden as Lydia?

Deception and head-thumping runs in the family
Victoria’s first-born remains a confused psychopath. We know he has killed before, as does Nolan, and yet, there is something about him (probably the body, the face, the smile…you get the idea) that makes him irresistible. At the heart of his story, he is just a man who came to the Hamptons looking for the woman who gave him up for adoption as a baby. He longs to know his mother so that he can understand who he is and why he is the way he is. The answer is rather obvious – he can be as ruthless as his mother, choosing to betray Nolan’s trust by smacking him over the head with a log after his attempt to woo him and get him drunk failed, all so that he can break into Nolan’s safe and steal Emily’s Infinity Box to please his mother. Is Victoria worthy of any of her children’s love? Are they all a little psychopathic like she is? She tells him she tried to protect him from all this, but in her efforts, she has only made him more determined to do whatever it takes to win her love. And just what does Nolan have in mind when he says he is going to give Patrick what he wants to know about his mother?

Puppy dog…
It has been a while since we have seen baby Carl. It should have come as no surprise that he is no longer a “baby” given all that has happened since he was born. When Jack brings him to Grayson Manor to visit godmother Emily, he “accidentally” drops a stuffed puppy while Emily is holding him, dreaming of leaving behind the crazy Graysons, running away with Aiden and maybe starting a family of her own. As it turns out, the puppy holds a walkie talkie inside his belly – a way for Emily to communicate with Nolan, who remains the only person she can truly trust.

…and profiteroles
While Jack may bring puppy dogs and a cute baby to visit Emily, there is no such cuddliness from Victoria. She may come bearing a tray of profiteroles to make sure her daughter-in-law doesn’t go to bed without her dessert, but it’s bad news when that tray includes a medical report to tell you that, thanks to a drunken husband shooting you in your stomach on your wedding night, you are now no longer able to have children. And just like that, Emily’s entire world comes crashing down on her – the reality that the Graysons have taken away her past AND her future happiness.

Beware Pandora’s box
What did Victoria expect to find in Emily’s secret box that Patrick stole for her? For more than two years, we have come to know the box to contain everything that Emily holds dear – her father’s prison journals, the truth about the Graysons and everything about Emily’s plot for revenge. Fortunately, Emily was able to warn Nolan about Patrick so that he switched out the contents of the box so that Victoria would find exactly what she had hoped to find – evidence that Emily Thorne is nothing more than a grafter who wanted to marry her son to climb up the social ladder and to get her hands on the family fortune (more like misfortune, if you ask me).

Lydia’s fate is sealed
Victoria may think she has Emily’s agenda all figured out, but even she is surprised when Emily calls a press conference at the Manor to announce that she has regained her memory and publicly declares that Lydia Davis was her shooter. This move ensures Lydia will stay away from the Hamptons and the Graysons will keep her around and live in mutual hatred so that she would not reveal the truth. As ridiculous as this may sound to Daniel, Victoria smilingly reminds her son that she has been trapped in a loveless marriage for over twenty-five years so he can just learn to accept his own fate. Yes, he is her flesh and blood for sure.

The end of the Aiden/Emily love story
Emily may be going through her five stages of grief after the news that she will never be able to have her own family. First, there was denial when Victoria delivered the news, which quickly turned into anger when she blasted Victoria out of her room. However, she seemed to have skipped over bargaining and depression all together as she went straight to acceptance that her future lies with making the Graysons as miserable as her past has been since she lost her father. She arranges to meet with Aiden, but instead of leaving with him for the happily-ever-after that they had planned, she tells him that they have no future together and that she must stay to finish what she started.

Remembering Takeda
Since Niko’s sudden appearance in the Hamptons was a surprise even to Aiden, it can be assumed that her arrival had less to do with helping Emily and more to do with trying to find out who killed her father. No suspect had ever been arrested or charges been laid against anyone. The police had no leads because the crime scene had been wiped clean. And now his daughter wants answers. Will she ever figure out that the man she is in love with is the one responsible for his murder?

Tune in for more Revenge on ABC Sundays at 9/8c.

Photo: ABC. Written by Valerie Leung. Share your Revenge theories with her on Twitter (@valshopaholic) and read her blog LibragirlRules.com.

REACT: Will Aiden stay in the Hamptons now that Emily has (again) broken up with him?