REVENGE “Blood” recap: Tick Tock goes the Clarke

Life in the Hamptons is never boring when Mason Treadwell (the amazing Roger Bart) makes a return, albeit still looking great in the orange jumpsuit. With all the knowledge he has of both sides of the war between the Graysons and Emily Thorne, it’s a wonder that he is still alive at all. It seems someone else has a similar thought now that he is threatening to show his hand.

Welcome home Aiden

The revelation that Pascale LeMarchal is somehow also connected to the Graysons’ terrorist plot and their blackmail of Trevor Mathis, Aiden has returned to Emily’s arms to get some answers. Unfortunately, even Nolan’s hacking skills have got him nowhere, so Aiden, accompanied by Emily, pay a visit to his mother to try and get some answers. Dear old Mom had been living in the dark, a prisoner in her own home all these years, hiding from gossiping neighbors ever since her daughter “ran away” and her husband committed suicide in the back shed (it turns out Aiden was the one who discovered his father’s body when he was only twelve). A walk through the old shed shows it had been kept just as it had been when Trevor died. But Trevor did leave Aiden a message – a name carved into the table that read “Oscar Chapman”.

Playing house

As much as Victoria pretended she had wanted nothing to do with Pascale, now that he has gifted her with the deed to Grayson Manor once again, she has been busy playing host in said house to the suave Frenchman. And wait, Queen Vickie even looks happy! But there is still the pesky problem of trying to find out why Emily has been sniffing around her family history. So she goes to the one person who has just about all the answers – Mason Treadwell, who, unbeknownst to Victoria, already has a deal with Emily to tell all for an exclusive when all is over.

Who wants to hear the jailbird sing?

Mason, never one to waste an opportunity, offers to give Victoria the answers she seeks on the condition that she gets him out of jail by the end of the month. Meanwhile, he calls Emily to make another deal – get him out of prison in 24 hours or he will sing like a canary to Queen Victoria. But how will Emily be able to get Mason out in time without jeopardizing her own mission, not to mention that she was busy with Aiden and Mama Mathis? “Tick tock goes the Clarke.”

The enemy of my enemy

Anxious to get the answers she wants, Victoria goes to Conrad to demand that he does whatever he needs to to exonerate Mason so that he can tell her all he knows about Emily. Unfortunately for Victoria, her ex would not be able to help even if he wanted to seeing as how it was Emily and Nolan who had set up Mason for the murder of The White-haired Man (does anyone even still remember this plotline?). Besides, as Conrad reminds her: “As long as Emily is your enemy, she’s an ally to me.” Don’t be counting on Conrad to be on Victoria’s side any time soon. I mean, he is the man who “sold” his ex-wife to buy his way into the LeMarchal media empire.

What’s Daniel up to?

For a long time, Daniel had been busy writing the manual on “How To Alienate Everyone You Know”. The only reason he is still talking to his mother is because of their mutual hate for Emily. After using Charlotte to manipulate Margaux into believing that Jack is still in love with Emily, even his little sister doesn’t quite trust him. His relationship with Margaux appears to be one forged out of mutual hatred for their parents. Or maybe “hatred” is too strong a word. Whatever his motives may have been, Daniel did do her a favor by telling Pascale that he should not underestimate his daughter’s talents and that maybe she has only been fighting him to get his love, respect and attention – a conversation which seemed to have worked on Pascale.

Once a con, always a con

Whatever Javier may have done to help Nolan out while they shared a cell together during his stint in prison, Nolan should probably be more wary of his new roomie than he has been. Going to business together is not the same as sneaking into law office archives. Feeling a little ripped off by Nolan’s offer of a 70-30 split (with Nolan getting majority share) in their new business venture, Javier threatens to go elsewhere for investments. First stop: the Grayson Manor Pool House, where Miss Charlotte is currently the new resident. That pool house has seen a lot of action over the years (most don’t end well for the guests) and seems to have a magical power to make people talk. Before you know it, Javier is spilling his guts to Charlotte (trying to make an impression on the little rich girl), telling her how he had helped Nolan’s friend, Jack Porter, steal something, and all about visits from Emily. Suddenly, Charlotte is all forgiving of big brother Daniel, and suggests that he may enjoy hearing these stories from Javier.

Stevie is no match for Queen Vic

No matter how hard she tried to beat Victoria, Stevie will always be bested by her alcoholism. With all good intentions, Stevie goes to Mason as his new counsel with a renewed offer from Emily to get him out of prison and more money. He scoffs at the new deal but before he could go back to Victoria, he is found dead in his cell after splashing on huge dollops of a mysterious moisturizer on his face, causing him to stop breathing. Believing him to be dead, Victoria announces to Stevie that everyone she ever visits in prison ends up dead in their cell (referencing her jailhouse visit with David Clarke before he was killed) and even brings with her a bottle of gin so that she could drown her sorrows in a glass. Stevie is obviously way over her head and Jack offers to pack her up and take her back to LA.

In short, not dead

Emily never renegs on a deal. Besides, she still needs a scribe to tell her side of the story once her revengenda is done. Of course, Mason Treadwell cannot die…not yet anyway! If you thought that you hadn’t seen much of Nolan while Emily and Aiden were off tracking down links between Pascale and Trevor Mathis, that is because he was busy sneaking the body of Mason out of the prison in a body bag. Apparently, there is a Japanese herb that mimics the symptoms of death for twelve hours, and, thanks to Emily, that is what Mason generously lathered on his face to help fake his death. Now, he is merrily on his way to the Maldives with a new identity, lots of money for “sundries”, probably sipping cocktails on Nolan’s private jet. But before he disappeared, it turns out someone else is also not quite dead: Oscar Chapman – the man whose name was carved into Trevor’s table in the shed and who Aiden believed to have died in a car accident several years ago.

And so the hunt is on for this mystery man who had once worked for Pascale, who could provide the missing links that Aiden and Emily are looking for.

Tune in for more Revenge on ABC Sundays at 10/9c.

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