“Atonement” proved Daniel’s bumpy road to redemption, and what an ending that made for. It was great. The final moments of the episode, though poignant, weren’t as shocking as they could have been, considering last week’s promo and the fact that the entire episode mostly focused on Daniel.
The pre-hiatus episode was a strong episode, but erase the last 8 minutes and there wasn’t much going on. It was brought down by the ever time-consuming pregnancy talk that no one really cares about, too much weary-eyed Margaux for my liking. It’s instrumental in Daniel’s character growth, but it slowed the pace of the episode to a stall, while these episodes are legendarily explosive. Maybe I should have managed my expectations. The last minutes, like they always do, managed to make up for the rest of the episode, because no one likes leaving us on a high of emotions like "Revenge" does.
“When does anything ever go right when the host of the Hamptons party has you on the guest list?”-Nolan
It’s been a while since we’ve been invited to a Hampton’s party. Maybe they’re now all scared of throwing them, as parties are usually synonym of disaster in Revenge Land, and it’s now Nolan’s turn to try his hand at it, and he isn’t going at it alone. Louise was mad, disappointed in Nolan in last week’s episode, but who could stay mad at him? Someone cold-hearted, someone vindictive, and that doesn’t seem to be Louise. She feels she’s made him pay enough by ignoring his texts and calls, and voicemails, so she forgives him. Is it fishy? She’s a psychopath, is she not? Their friendship is building up nicely, Nolan’s even setting her up for bigger things, will he bring her aboard the revenge train and help her take down her bother, we’ll see. Nolan should be careful with her though, she’s unpredictable, a ticking time bomb. Did he, or did he not crack open her juvie record?
Nolan and Louise, or as the twitterverse is calling them, Lolan, co-host the re-opening of the yacht club. We can pause, and take a moment to appreciate how awesome, Nolan’s boat tuxedo was. Given they’re both already part of the well-oiled rumour mill, they decide it best to jump together, both feet in, and really give the media something to talk about, controlling the information and what not.
Parties are Emily’s battlefield, the perfect place to hide behind fake smiles, nice dresses and strong drinks. Lolan’s isn’t any different, though it managed to survive, unhindered by her scheming. It is a Hamptons freakin’ miracle.
Jack and his plus one, aka Agent Kate Taylor, are on the guest list, and Emily is planning to take advantage of it. I appreciated that Jack didn’t throw a hissy fit over Emily suspecting his new… I wouldn’t know how to call her, let's go with girlfriend for simplicty's sake. He was actually pretty cool about, which is a nice improvement from judgemental, season 3, Jack. It proves he’s changed, he's learned to trust her, or at least stop getting in her way.
“This is not how I expected to spend my summer.” - Jack
Upon installing surveillance cameras, the Shamu, transparent tape cameras, Nolan and Emily discover the woman’s secondary phone, the non-FBI-sanctioned one, and they’re going to get it. Kate Taylor is their only way to find the man that’s after Emily’s father. Emily’s ninja skills allow a quick snatch in the women’s bathroom. Nolan’s able to duplicate it on his all intrusive tablet before she realises it’s gone.
Because Jack does a lousy job at distracting his date, Kate realises Emily stole her phone and cooks up a story about Malcolm having her mother to get herself invited at Emily’s house. But she’s not trying to save her mother, she’s the secret daughter of faceless crime boss, Malcolm Black, and I should have seen that coming. (If anyone else watched “Dexter” I’m pretty sure you had a Trinity flashback, just like I did!)
Emily wasn’t as easily fooled as I was. She never believed her, she just wanted to save Nolan’s party the throw down calling her out on it would induce. Ninja skills again, Emily removed the clipping from Kates gun, the same was she took her phone, unseen. The crime boss’ daughter is furious with herslf for letting Emily have the upper hand with her. I laughed so hard when she Kate threw the gun at Emily before jumping on her. It was an incredible moment while evolved into a full blown fight, and if there’s something “Revenge” does well it’s the fight scenes.
Something else “Revenge” does expertly, is death. It’s a shame it was so obviously going to be Daniel, because if not, the last minutes of “Atonement” had three very good candidates. Four actually, but Emily was never really in the race. The next big “Revenge” death would sway between Jack, Victoria and Daniel.
I’m glad Daniel’s character managed to redeem himself, that Daniel managed to leave the show on a high, that I’m actually saddened to see him go. It was probably the best he’d ever be though, because I loved his encounters with Emily in the past few episodes, but that was all he could have, all they were ever going to be. Having the episode focus mostly on Daniel had me realise one thing, I like him with Emily, but as a stand-alone, I don’t care for him that much.
“Why is my future more important than hers?” -Daniel
It was great to see Henry Czerny again, as Daniel flashes back to 2008, when he chose to run, when he chose his future over a girl, assaulted at one of his parties, when he let his father’s ideologies become his own, to the day he lost sight of what’s right. Of course the prospect of being a father, Margaux’s accusations, brings back memories of his own father, when he didn’t do the honorable thing, when he chose to run.
He’s realising the person he’s become, a person who left his girlfriend after an accident, a person who shot his wife, a person he doesn't want to be. He’s finally feeling the remorse of his actions, seeing things from Emily’s point of view, siding with her over his mother, that she was only forcing them to own up to the truth, the path they had chosen for themselves, the graves they dug. One of the reasons Daniel’s character has been so enjoyable lately is because of his new found tendency to say things as they are. It’s exactly what he tells his mother, the truth, what we’ve all been wanting to tell her, that she’s kidding herself, and that she needs to own up to her past, own up to her decision. It makes Victoria realise that something true can never come out of lies. And if the truth didn’t set her free, it certainly did, save her life.
David is no longer the manipulated puppy, mooning over Victoria, but I have a difficult time understanding how he got there, or maybe he truly was playing her all along. He contacted his old prison cellmate, procuring himself some undetectable poison, poison meant for Victoria. Killing Victoria is part of the larger plan, a plan he doesn’t want Emily involved in. How are Malcolm Black and Victoria related?
“We throw parties, give ourselves awards to cover up the truth, that were not special, we’re cowards. If I get the chance, I’ll teach my child better than that. I’m done running, I hope you are too.” -Daniel
I’m guessing the running was meant to be metaphorical, but it ended up being literal, because when Emily told him to go, to run, and he didn’t. He shielded her from the bullets, taking a few in the guts and taking his last breaths in her arms, at peace. Emily's reaction in that moment was perfect, as the exchanged their last words, their last banter. Beautiful emotion was portrayed by both parties, subtle, yet incredibly touching and realistic.
I’m really looking forward to seeing how the characters will react to Daniel’s passing. Victoria’s reaction to her son’s death will be brutal, she’ll blame Emily and she’ll hate her even more. Victoria needs to become the villain I know she can be, and the death of her son is a step in the right direction. Remember what happened when she blamed Emily for Pascal’s death? I’m also curious to see Louise’s reaction to Daniel’s death, will she see it as a win? That Vicky’s nest is new empty and cold and that it’s her chance to fill the emptiness. Or as a lost? That she’s lost her entrance in the family through Daniel. Will she take another go at Margaux after she discovers she’s pregnant? (Please, yes!)
RIP Daniel. You will be missed.
“My whole life, I’ve been told that I was destined for greatness based solely on the virtue of my name. I was taught sacrifice was for the foolish. Survival was all that mattered. But now I find myself at a cross-roads and I missed aside, what I believe to be true. There is no such thing as destiny. Legacies must be earned by the choices we make. I now know that we write our own endings and we can either choose to hide as villains or live as heroes.” - Daniel
