Revenge - Kindred - Review: "Is there something left?"

“Kindred” was Revenge’s last episode before their 5 week hiatus, but did it feel like it was? Not really, because usually, Revenge has a way of going out with a bang. Maybe I’ve come to expect more of these episodes, especially after the incredibly intense episodes we’ve been getting lately, but this week left me with a sour taste in my mouth. Some aspects of the episode were enjoyable, but mostly, this episode was too slow to come close to the pre-hiatus standards I was expecting.

At the end of “Abduction,” I asked myself the question, what now? Emily cleared her father’s name, the hatred between her and Victoria has finally subsided; she’s done with her revenge. Malcolm’s dead, and her friends and family are no longer in harm’s way. So what does this leave for Emily Thorne? It’s way too early for her to be riding off into the sunset, if that is, indeed, how they plan to end the series. (Which I doubt!) The writers seem to be asking themselves the same question, and I hope they can get back on solid ground because this episode somehow fell short.

Victoria and Emily became unlikely allies in last week’s episode, they somehow managed to bury the hatchet, at least for now. With Emily out of the running as her arch-nemesis, Victoria seems to be getting a new storyline, when a new character made her appearance in the Hamptons. Natalie Waters, new to town, and her and Victoria seem to be off to a shaky start, both trying to establish their dominance over the other. It’s hard to predict whether they’ll be friends or enemies. Can Victoria really have friends?

It seems to be back to the basics with Queen Victoria and her loyal, not so loyal court, as she starts a foundation, in an attempt to salvage her son’s memory. Queen Victoria returns, with her court. To her credit, she is keeping the secret of her son’s heroic end, even when the fundraising doesn’t go as she expected, and no one shows up to the art gallery. I felt for Victoria, and for the love she has for her son in the scene, thought it had the perfect display of emotion.

I was half expecting her to cave, and tell the world what had really happened, but instead we had the pleasure of witnessing old-school Victoria. She blackmails her “friends” into giving to the foundation in exchange for her keeping their secrets. It was a pleasure to see this side of Victoria again, she’s been playing the victim way too long for my liking.

The cliffhanger of the episode, if we decide to call it that, seems to lie solemnly on the cryptic call Victoria received. I’m starting to feel bad for Victoria, she needs a break. Who knew this day would come? She is informed, quite coldly, that there has been a death in the family. Is it Patrick, or Charlotte, is it her mother? But my question remains, who was it that called? Guess we’ll have to wait to know, but none of these questions make me itch for the next episode, like “Revenge” cliffhangers do.

This episode of Revenge hosts the time-honored Hamptons party, held by Emily, in Nolan and Louise’s honor, synonym of drama and takedowns. While Emily was being held captive by a violent sociopath, Nolan and Louise were getting married, in the hopes that Louise would escape her mother’s vicious clutches, and have access to the fortune that was rightfully hers. I’m still having a hard time with the Louise and Nolan relationship, and they’re married now. It’s not like I have that pathological need to label things, but what does that make them, still only friends? Are they living together? They’re married for convenience. Are they still dating other people? Is Nolan really off the market?

In exchange for their silence, Louise’s family demand an annulment. An incriminating police report convinces Louise she really was the one that has killed her father, that she pushed him down the stairs, but Emily and Nolan know better than to trust this simple piece of evidence. They, using an unconventional memory returning trick Emily learned in Japan, try to help her uncover her buried childhood memory, to shed some light on the situation. I can’t be the only one that laughed out loud during this scene, I get that Emily is ninja and all, but it was ridiculous. I liked the drowning method, used by Taekeda in the beginning of the second season a whole lot more.

Louise remembers (pretty easily) but lies about it, and commits herself to Clairmont Psychiatric Hospital, but Emily comes to her rescue her from herself, giving validity to the statement: “Marrying a man is marrying his friends.” It really was no surprise that Louise’s mother killed her father because she was having an affair. Maybe they haven’t built up a good enough rapport with Louise or with her family for the takedown to feel satisfying, or maybe it just was the lack of challenge, because the whole thing seemed way too easy.

Louise is not crazy and I’m can’t say I’m not disappointed by this. Does that mean her psycho affection for mommy Victoria is over? If that is so, then what was the point in that? It was probably the part I enjoyed the most about Louise’s storyline.

Like us, like the writers, Emily doesn’t have a clue what could possibly come next for her. She had never meant for her to make a life as Emily Thorn, with friends, family. She never expected her father to come back to her. She had never planned on staying Emily Thorne; of being attached to the person she’s become. She was supposed to disappear, to find a new life once her revenge complete.

For the time being, she’s content just being the daughter her father wants, of becoming the family she longed for, to make up for the time they were robbed out of, but as Emily Thorne. She’s not ready to go back, to become Amanda Clarke again, and could she ever be? Amanda Clarke no longer exists. The little girl she once was is forever gone, and having her father back, it doesn’t change that. When she doesn’t know who to turn to, she asks for Ben’s advice.

“Really? With that undercover thing again?” - Emily

It’s always a treat to see the light, smiling Emily, and it’s an increasingly rare treat in this show. I’m not really one for “shipping,” but Ben does seem to bring that out in her recently, which I appreciate. Their scene at the bar was cute, as Ben continued to try to compare his 6 month undercover op. to Emily’s double identity.

I did not expect Emily to go to Ben, but he’s cute, he’s kind, so who would I be to tell her otherwise? I like the fragments of happy Emily, so whoever she ends up with, honestly, I don’t really care, though it’s always been clear Jack and Emily was going to be their endgame. I can only hope they’ll give up the whole childhood crush angle, it just doesn’t work anymore. They’re both two completely different people, even if he was in love with her when she was 9, that girl is long gone. If they want me to root for them, they have to show me he loves Emily, the damaged woman, not the idea of what Amanda Clarke would have become.

Jack isn’t comfortable with all the attention him and Ben are receiving for having saved David, Victoria and Emily from Malcolm Black, shutting everyone way. He’s feeling guilty for having killed Kate, for having covered it up, and ultimately, he feels bad that Daniel’s memory had to suffer because of it. It’s maddening, at least for me, because it was his idea. He spent the first seasons demanding to be included in Emily’s plan, but really, he can’t stomach it when it becomes morally ambiguous.

It’s after receiving a medal of honor for his heroic actions that he gives up being a cop. It’s back to the basics for him, as he becomes the bartender at Emily’s party. I don’t know if that’s what they’re trying to show us, that after all these years, they’re still the same people, as they slowly crawl back to the people they were when the series started. First with Victoria, then Jack. Is that what’s next for Emily, going back to being the vengeful, lonely person she was in the pilot?

I had doubts on Margaux becoming the end of season villain, and still have them, maybe more than before after this episode. She just doesn’t seem like a worthy adversary for Emily. When Emily’s going to start itching, looking for her next target, for something to do, and it’s bound to happen, Margaux will go down. When even Victoria advises against it… maybe Margaux should realise she waging a war she can’t possibly win.

“If you go to war with Emily, no good can come of it. Trust me. Pain and conflict only brings more pain and conflict. So move forward.” –Victoria

If Victoria is willing to let it go, after everything Emily’s put her through, Margaux should realise everything’s not all black or white. She told Emily she didn’t want to dishonor Daniel’s last wishes and it made perfect sense, why is she going against him? And more importantly, why isn’t she telling Emily how she’s really feeling, getting everything out in the open, once and for all. They’ve had one conversation since Margaux learned the truth, and she hid behind lies, maybe she’s jumping to conclusions a little bit too quickly. The whole vendetta seems kind of pointless.

The only damage she managed to do this week, was including Emily and David in the gossip pages, hinting they were together, and I laughed, what do they care about the gossip pages? They’ve been wrongly accused of terrorism. She has nothing on Emily, so they decide to throw a wider net, and they catch Emily and Jack, and I really don’t know what they’re going to do with it, and if we should care.


Sorry for my rant.
You guys agree? Disagree?