Revenge - Abduction - Review:"Unlikely Allies"

This week, “Revenge” blessed us with an incredibly intense and action-filled episode, in the aftermath of Victoria and Emily, captured by the infamous Malcolm Black. “Abduction” was fast-paced, heart-pounding, tension-filled and caught me with every twist and turn, all things I’ve come to love about this show. (Though I’m a sucker for the paradisiac beaches and the stylish dress codes, the earlier red-sharpie moments included!)



Emily and Victoria, trapped in the claws of the monster that held David a prisoner for all these years, pawns in his plan to get his daughter back, need to rely on each other in order to survive, forming an unlikely alliance. When your life is on the line, and you’ve got no one left to turn to but your enemy, priorities shift, even for the vengeful and unforgiving Emily Thorne. Both women had us (or maybe just me!) fooled, just like Malcolm’s men, that they were fighting against each other, not with each other, and it made for an even more powerful ending.

Quote of the episode:
“You don’t cage a majestic peacock with a heller monkey.” - Victoria

Caged, in a decorum that screams creepy, Emily and Victoria, are stuck with each other, and the loathing they have between them is still pleading to explode out of their lips. It’s more than time to air everything out, time for the romance that’s made us curse at our TVs for the better part of the season to end, get everyone up to speed. Emily, tired of Victoria bringing up her father, can’t hold it in any longer, and tells Victoria that her father, the man that came back to them, the man, changed by betrayal, by the years of Malcolm’s mental abuse, no longer loves her. He wanted to kill her. In a powerful moment, where Victoria remains unchanged, doesn’t answer or argue, it’s possible to feel her pain, the pain of realising that she knows it’s true, knows that David and herself need to take their separate ways, that she’s alone.

“Abduction” tapped into Victoria’s humanity, it’s an episode that made me feel for her, a rare occurrence these days. Her guilt finally seems to resurface, after all this time, all these years. But I’ve always loathed the fact that she feels like she owes David. She mentions, in the beginning of the episode, to Margaux, that she wants to let Emily off the hook for him, because she hurt him 20 years ago. Every time I feel for Victoria, get the fleeting feeling that maybe Emily’s in the wrong, I flash back to the image, of 9 year old Amanda Clarke, being brainwashed into hating her father, on Victoria’s orders. I’ve hated that Victoria didn’t feel like she owes not Emily Thorne, the woman she became, but Amanda Clarke, the child who cried for her dad.

“Emily’s on the right side of this war, whether you know it or not.” – Jack

This episode seemed to have Victoria realise just that, that she not only owes David, but also Emily, that she owes them the relationship she robbed them of. David is dragged to Emily and Victoria, with a bullet in his leg, a result of his attempt to take Malcolm Black for a fool. (Really cool use of the laser thermometer though! Always so inventive these bad guys!) Malcolm’s daughter is dead, and he’s going to make David suffer for it, bringing him back to his lair, where he’ll witness the death of the people he loves. But watching is nowhere near cruel enough, he wants David to kill them, so it’d be quick, so it’d be painless. And when David refuses, Malcolm decides that piece by piece, he’s going to make them suffer.

Even though, I knew, in the bottom of my heart, nothing truly terrible could happen to Emily, I still found myself at the edge of my seat, stressed out. And when it was over, am I too dark for thinking that, to truly bring the Malcolm’s character justice, Emily should have lost something, maybe just a finger, and it would have made Victoria’s confession that much more powerful?

Moments away from plunging his knife into Emily’s side, Victoria, in an altruistic gesture, takes the blame for Kate’s death, sacrificing herself so that Emily and David would have more time together, even after learning David doesn’t love her, it’s truly selfless. Taunting Malcolm, taking a beating for it, Victoria buys Jack and Ben more time, enough time for them to find the lair, enough time for the partners to follow Emily’s clue back to them. Maybe, just maybe, Victoria can be redeemed.

Jack feels the need to redeem himself, because he’s a little to blame for what’s happening. He’s to blame for David losing the tiny bit of leverage he had over Malcolm’s head. He’s also the one to have put a bullet through Kate’s heart, and knowing Jack, he still feels guilty about that too.

Not knowing where to turn, who he can trust in his own department, Jack asks Ben for help, who loses no time in telling Jack he knows everything. This was definitely a win for the character, I hate when they draw things out for no good reason, he knows, and they’re going to have to deal with it. Ben’s mad that they’ve been lying to him, doesn’t want to help until Jack mentioned that Alvarez’s disappearance is probably related. They work together, like the partners they were when the fourth season started, to find Emily and Victoria.

Jack and Ben find, on the man that attacked them, a clue, left by Emily, leading them to her, with seconds to spare. If Jack’s stunt at the academy brought him one thing, it’s his fighting skills, brought to light when he beats Malcolm’s man who had Ben tied in his house. It’s refreshing to see this side of Jack, a fighter, self-sufficient, instead of the needy, whiny character that I had the impression he was. I bitched (Yeah, I like to bitch) about Jack being in the police force when the season started, but right now, I have to agree it was the right choice for the character.

Malcolm lost his Badass title when he took 2 minutes to react to Ben and Jack’s surprise entrance, giving Victoria enough time to push the knife to Emily, who freed herself, in my favorite choreographed scene of the episode. The fight continues, and although Emily seems to have the higher ground, on Malcolm, she loses her advantage when she runs to her father and gets clubbed with a pipe, despite Victoria’s warning shrieks. She’s dragged to the burner, and David shots at Malcolm before he gets her in, ending in fiery death. Now that he obviously is not coming back from this, what now?

It’s only when I rewatched the episode, that I came to question this shot of Victoria, one I had overlooked amongst the chaos this scene delivered. Victoria, in moments were only your most guttural instincts shine, cried out for Emily. What does that mean? That she forgives her? Is the look Emily and Victoria exchange at the end of the episode, a silent agreement, meaning we’re even now? It sure felt like it.

I hate what they’ve done to the Emily and Nolan relationship now that Louise is in the picture, hate that Nolan didn’t even realise Emily was gone, that he didn’t realise she wasn’t in the manor, didn’t question her absence. It makes me sad that she’d been missing for a full day and he didn’t check in on her. I understand that it’s probably a healthier type of friendship; it just doesn’t seem like them, the old them, that I loved. All on his lonesome, Nolan had other fish to fry, than to try and save Emily, he had another damsel in distress. (Though I’m not too sure this caption accurately describes Emily.) David, I’m quite angry at you for not wanting to include Nolan, though I admit I wanted Nolan purely for selfish reasons.

The two story lines felt like two different shows that didn’t mash up so well. And even though, I would have been disappointed to have no Nolan in the episode, his presence, with Louise, didn’t seem necessary, didn’t seem to fit. I could have done without. Am I alone on this one? Though now that Malcolm’s dead, they’re going to get another storyline going, and I guess it’s this one. I’m not too thrilled, but I’ll give them a chance.

Louise’s dear old mom showed up in the Hamptons, and she seems to be here to stay, not a hallucination brought up by the pills her family had been forcing up on her. Her mommy doesn’t seem real nice. Is Louise going to be part of the next generation of revengers, wanting to make her the people that wronged her to pay?

On a completely unrelated note, if there is another season, I think I’d like to see Nolan and Emily open a Revenge School, now that Takeada, for evident reasons, is out of business.

Nolan and Louise want to get her money back, and they find a loophole where Nolan can gain control over Louise’s fortune if he marries her, so they do. Does this mean Louise now has a claim on Nolan’s, because I still don’t trust the girl, and her family even less. And with a family like that, you never know which way they’re going to go. Look at Daniel for example.

Mama Elis doesn’t seem like the story-reading, hug-giving type, but does she deserve a red-sharpie take down. Is stripping her of the money that was never hers in the first place, enough? At first it’s what I thought, but apparently there’s more to the story. Louise is responsible for her father’s death, and although at first I assumed her actions, unknowingly, lead to his death, I’m not too sure anymore. And wouldn’t it be more fun if Louise really was crazy?

It’s really no surprise that Margaux was not going to keep it a secret. She doesn’t know it yet, but she’s no rival to Emily; she doesn't stand a chance. Even Victoria doesn’t think it’s a good idea, though she won’t say it too openly too loudly, because as she said, all that’s important to her now is Margaux and her future grandchild, and she’ll do nothing to come in the way of having a relationship with them. Margaux’s war on Emily is completely unjustified, Emily put things in motion, but she didn’t kill Pascale, didn’t kill Daniel. Really what does she have to go on? What is it will all these people wanting to make justice for themselves?

Excited or not about the upcomming Margaux vs Emily?