Revenge - Madness - Review: "Simply, Madness"

Wow, this definitely was one heck of an episode. But with a show like “Revenge,” and a title like “Madness,” how could anyone expect anything less than what we got this week? This episode truly was, madness. So much happened in those mere 40 minutes, I don’t know where to throw myself first.

It isn’t the first time Emily’s ready to leave, that she’s done, or at least she thinks she is, and for the moment being, she wants to be done. (Nice try “Revenge,” but no one’s falling for this old trick!) I don’t think she could ever, truly be done. She tried it once, she had a glimpse at a normal, revenge-less life, in the beginning of the season when she got Victoria institutionalized, and if memory serves right, she failed miserably. Emily’s never going to get the happy ending Nolan wants for her, and the question remains, after all she’s done, does she still deserve to have one?

“Death for Victoria would be merciful. She has nothing left. Now is the time to let her suffer. Please, I sacrificed my whole life for this moment, don’t rob me of it.” –Emily

Whoa, Ems! That was one cold statement you delivered there, even for you, even talking about Victoria. That line was delivered with so much detachment, with so little guilt, so little remorse, almost psychopathic. Maybe I’m hell bent on seeing the good in her even after that statement, and at first, I wasn’t sure what to make of it because on one side she wants her nemesis to suffer, in the same way she suffered during her painful childhood, but on the other, she doesn’t want to be there to watch. She blames Victoria for ruining her life, yet, she still feels compassion for her. Maybe she’s not as cold and indifferent as she lets others see. I’ll repeat it, Emily was never a murderer, she’s not all good but she’s not that, not a murderer, so killing Victoria was never her intention.

Now that Victoria has nothing left, no one left to lose, Emily thinks she can run away, after a job well done, to get to know the father she was robbed out of. She thinks she can run away from the place they once described as paradise, now that her revenge has been completed, now that Victoria’s alone. The last few “loves of her life” are either dead or despising her. (The episodes are getting better and better as the David Victoria romance seems to die out. Just finish the poor suffering plot off with a shovel, so we can move on shall we?) She has one kid in rehab, wanting nothing to do with her, the other one dead. Victoria has nothing left, no one, so she grabs onto Margaux, onto her unborn baby, and with them, onto the idea of a family. The idea of being alone, it always scared her. Family is one of the few things she’s always been motivated by, so Victoria will never let go of them, they’re the only family she’s got left, and Victoria, she’s the only family Margaux’s has right now. In some way, they both need each other.

Margaux is still hell bent on proving Daniel’s innocence, even though the case is closed, even though Emily managed to convince everyone, most of all Ben, of her innocence. She lands herself in the hospital, exhausted, with no one there to answer for her, other than the still grieving Victoria, the woman who’s terrorised by loneliness, the mother who’s got no kids left, the future grandmother who wants her grandchild to know who her father was, who wants him to be remembered by his life, not by the lies surrounding his death.

“If I am to come clean, and there were to be no secrets between us. I’d have start with a damaged little girl named Amanda Clarke, also known as Emily Thorne.” -Victoria

Victoria tells Margaux everything, after making her to keep it a secret, and all I could think of when they zoomed in on a shot of Margaux was, “Doesn’t count I had my fingers crossed. I had my fingers crossed!” She’s a journalist; of course none of it is going to stay a secret. I get why she did it though, why Victoria told Margaux the truth. She’s seen, with front row tickets, what lies, and covering them up with more lies, can do to a child, can do to a broken down little girl. Not every child is like Amanda Clarke, but secrets have a way of getting out, and when they do, they hurt everyone in the passing.

I really wish we would have heard how Victoria put a spin on that whole David /Amanda Clark story, because she has a way of having explanations, excuses, for every bad thing she’s done. I wonder if she took the responsibility for some of the things that happened to Amanda. Most of all, I have to wonder if Margaux will believe everything Victoria is telling her, or if, being a journalist, she’ll do some digging of her own, it wouldn’t be true to her character if she didn’t. I’d love to have Margaux as the objective party in this war between the ladies, then again, maybe Ben could be it because he too knows the truth now.

Very soon, Emily is going to have to tell the world that she is, in fact, Amanda Clarke, because there aren’t much people left that do not know. I’m actually excited to see how that’s going to go. Ben was on the other side of the door listening in, and I seriously have no idea how he’s going to process the news We still don’t know that much about him so, it’s hard to predict. One thing is certain though, through his blooming simile relationship with Emily/Amanda, he’s going to be collateral damage, sooner, rather than later. I’m not sure he’ll be surviving the next few episodes.

“Gentlemen prefer blonds, you know that.” –Nolan

I’m not sure if gentlemen do, but Nolan sure does. I complained, last week, about the lack of Nemily, now that he has found himself a new tortured soul and that Emily has her father back. This episode definitely quenched my thirst. He wants to help his other partner in crime, the one he’s been hanging out with lately, the one who could never replace Emily. She’ll always have a special place in his heart that no one can ever take away, no matter what she does. I love their relationship so much, and feel it’s the heart of the show.

This episode diverged from their usual dynamic, because Nolan is rarely the one asking for help. It helps us annihilate the impression that this friendship is one-sided, not that I ever doubted it. She agrees to help Nolan, and join Louise and her brother for dinner, Emily and Nolan’s farewell takedown, before she leaves the Hamptons. She rarely listens to anyone, anyone’s hunches besides her own, but ultimately, she gives Nolan’s a chance even though she has doubts on Louise.

“Is your revenging sense tingling?” -Nolan

Emily assumes what we’ve been assuming since the beginning of the season, that Louise is crazy, after overhearing the red head and her brother argue over pills. Simply because she’s Emily, and she’s awesome, she suspects something’s wrong with the pills Louise is taking and has them tested.

Turns out, the Xanax isn’t solely Xanax.

Louise isn’t crazy? What the hell? That’s a bummer. I’m seeing a whole new storyline on that front, and other than Emily and Nolan resuscitating the red sharpie together, I’m not too sure I’m invested in Louise’s family drama. We don't really need another useless storyline, the writers need to focus on the core characters, and finish the story they already started.

Elsewhere in the Hamptons, Jack receives a surprise visit from the one and only, Malcolm Black, showing up, on his doorstep, very much alive, and looking for his daughter. He, by the same time, makes it known that he can take him down in a second, that when you have something to loose, when you’re a father, you’re that much more vulnerable. What does that say for Malcolm when he realises he’s already lost his daughter? Nothing good, because David told Malcolm his daughter was still alive, and this lie, this gamble it’s definitely going to cost him in the next episode.

“Conrad ruined my life, but Malcolm, he damned my soul to hell.” - David

Some of us wanted to be shown what happened to David when in Malcolm Black’s custody (Yes, I’m speaking to you Aryam Manzueta) and we got exactly that in this episode, starting with the day everyone assumed he died, 12 years ago, (Revenge has the same timeline we do, right?) showing us how one man’s trash became another man’s prized prisoner. Showing us how David had to kill an innocent man, in cold blood, in order to save his daughter.

David stayed in Malcolm’s custody for a couple of years, (Anyone knows exactly how long?) pretending to be the criminal mastermind Malcolm thought he was. We’re still fuzzy on what exactly it is that Malcolm does for a living except that he’s a bad guy, unless I missed something.

With a plan that’s not really a plan, but more of a suicide mission, David, in his stupidest move all season, which is saying a lot, decides he can take down Malcolm Black, alone. For once I was rooting for Jack, and I applauded his effort because, TV reality usually bypasses the easy way and go straight for the impossible way. In Jack’s case there was a simple way, and it included trusting the legal system. He turned in the USB key, full of incriminating information on Malcolm Black, and had him arrested, as easy as one, two, three. But it turns out the legal system has way of screwing with them because Malcolm got out of holding shortly after, and the USB is probably now destroyed. I’m curious to see how he managed that. Could Alvarez still be in the picture?

The ending to the episode I absolutely did not see coming. Emily, after figuring out that it was Victoria that tipped Kate off about her true identity, lures her to the lighthouse, pretending to be David. They argue, and they’re going to be able to continue this argument because, who knows how long they’ll be together. Malcolm Black followed Victoria, in an attempt to trade her life for Kate’s. He gets more than he bargained for when he shows up and Emily’s there, revealing who she truly is. The showdown between them should be great.

“Night, night.” -Malcolm

Sorry for the lateness of this review guys, still hope you enjoyed. I love to read what you have to say!