Monday, October 08, 2012

My Review of Revenge's 2x02: "Resurrection"


Written by Sallie Patrick
Directed by David Grossman

Conrad: “So, it’s true. Even the devil himself didn’t want you.”
Victoria: “The only devil here is you.”

Never mind the devil, even Cersei Lannister would probably blush if she knew about Victoria Grayson or perhaps, secretly high five her. The one thing I continue to like about this show is how things like Victoria faking her death aren’t dragged out for long but even when she revealed herself to Conrad, she made damn sure it was to her advantage.

I knew that Victoria would resort to outing herself given that Conrad had managed to seize Charlotte’s inheritance but even I was mildly repulsed by the cruel way she actually rejected Charlotte initially before getting Conrad to beat her up in order to fake a kidnapping. Victoria stopping to these kinds of levels are surprising but they do continue to highlight the lengths she’ll happily go to get what she wants from anyone.

For now, I can see why Conrad would go along with her fake kidnapping scheme. It benefits him to keep her sweet for the time being but it won’t last. Conrad might have tried to save her life the night that other plan crashed but I don’t doubt he’ll try and come up with his own way to either keep Victoria in line or get her out of the picture and it should be rather interesting to see how that will ultimately play out.

Of course, Victoria’s miraculous resurrection back into the public eye couldn’t have come at a worse time for Emily. She was this close to succeeding in snatching Charlotte away from the Graysons but at the same time, even Emily’s realistic enough to realise that her best chance about learning what really happened to Kara now lies in having Victoria around.

I was kind of sad to see WHM getting killed off in this episode but seeing as Victoria had betrayed him and Aiden ended up killing him to save Emily, I’ll somehow cope. From the cryptic manner in which he was with Emily prior to attacking her, I think it’s a pretty safe bet that Kara is alive and more than likely, Victoria knows exactly where she is too. Emily really is going to have tread carefully with this one.

For the most part, Charlotte does trust her but Victoria never has and the ‘peace’ between them won’t last long if Daniel somehow gets wind of what his mother was really up to for the last few month. Needless to say, Emily will have to find the right of getting the right information on Kara but hopefully we won’t have to wait too long for it ourselves.

I did like the flashbacks with Kara in this episode. The ones with David last year were pretty good with the general plot and explaining Emily’s actions as a whole and it seems that the writers are similarly adept with making Kara’s moments in this episode matter. The dream sequence in the car with Amanda was nicely done but the scene at the hospital with Victoria and WHM was far better.

I honestly believe (until proven otherwise) that unlike David, Kara is actually alive and it was pretty bad to see how much pleasure Victoria seemed to be taking in trying to shatter whatever faith Kara had left in David. I did like that Kara didn’t seem to believe Victoria though. Not that I thought she would but it was a nice move nonetheless. Still though, I do actually hope we get to see a present day Kara before Christmas 2012 though.

As for the rest of the episode – Nolan really does need to get more. If Emily’s trying to push him into getting a life, then perhaps it’s a good thing in a way. I’m not sure if I like the upcoming romance between him and Padma but I’m an open minded sort of guy and she did seem like an okay character, so I’ll keep an open mind. Still, I’m not sure if it’s a good idea for him to be hiring her as his CFO at NolCorp though.

As for the arrival of Aiden in the Hamptons – that guy moved at an impressive pace. He was already at a meeting with the Graysons and he managed to save Emily’s bacon from WHM as well. Two episodes and I actually like him a lot. Of the new characters we’ve gotten so far, he seems to be the one who works brilliantly.

In slightly less interesting stories, I’m not sure I really care about Declan’s new subplot with posh mate Trey but it was marginally better than the paternity thing with Jack and Amanda. It was cold on Emily’s part to let Amanda believe that Jack wasn’t the father of her baby when he actually is (and that’s what Jack believed too) but I did like the scene where Emily had Charlotte and Amanda bonding with each other. Emily’s feelings for Charlotte seem to be changing a lot now. She’s definitely becoming protective of her, even if Charlotte is another tool in Emily’s true agenda.

Also in “Resurrection”

Madeleine Stowe’s name was put back in the opening credits for this episode.

Kara: “Come on, my voice isn’t that bad.”
Amanda: “Daddy said you were sick.”
Kara: “I’m all better now that I’m with you.”

Nolan’s company definitely seems to be in some financial trouble, which definitely explains his reluctance to find somewhere new to live in.

Nolan: “This is why you should never fall asleep watching horror movies.”
Emily: “I fell asleep monitoring Victoria.”
Nolan: “Exactly.”

Nolan: “What now, revenger?”
Emily: “Let the punishment fit the crime. Victoria took my mother away from me. It’s time I took her daughter from her.”

WHM’s name was revealed as Gordon Murphy and Victoria/Charlotte had gotten fake passports under the names of Veronica and Samantha Clarke.

Amanda (re Jack): “He doesn’t keep secrets from me.”
Emily: “Oh yeah, that’s your role in the relationship.”

Nolan: “Are you hearing this, Ems?”
Emily: “Is Victoria’s heart still beating?”
Nolan: “Was it ever?”

Ashley’s been spying on Daniel for Conrad and even that’s something she can’t do right. I did like Daniel stepping up for Charlotte though by giving her his trust fund.

Nolan: “You look different in 3D.”
Padma: “We all do. Something you’d know if you came to the office occasionally.”

Gordon: “What the hell? Who did this?”
Victoria: “You did and if I were you, I’d start running right about now.”

Standout music: Kara singing (not so well) INXS’s “Never Tear Us Apart” at the start of the episode.

Conrad (re Victoria): “It’s amazing what this woman can endure.”
Emily (to herself): “Son of a bitch.”

Emily: “For those who believe in the resurrection, death is inconsequential.”

Chronology: Over two months since the events of “Reckoning”.

“Resurrection” was a slightly better episode than the opening but two episodes in and this season seems to be on fine form. Perhaps it will avoid that difficult second album syndrome that so many hit series have had to deal with in recent years.

Rating: 8 out of 10

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