Revenge Review: Identity

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Tonight's Revenge picked up where the winter finale left, which meant jumping straight out of Conrad Grayson's bed and right into the aftermath of the fire at the gallery.

Revenge Season 3 Episode 14 was actually a pretty great hour right up until the very last scene.

Stevie Grayson, Conrad's first wife appeared, and SURPRISE! She's Jack's mom! 

To say that I'm not enthused about the sudden return of Jack's mom is an understatement, mostly because it's completely out of left field. He's looking to move forward with his life with Margaux and Carl Jr. and buy a house and here comes his very own Mommy Dearest to throw a wrench into his plans, I'm sure.

What good can possibly come of her returning now? 

She spent how long living right there in the Hamptons as Mrs. Conrad Grayson while her son was raised by Carl Sr. in the Stowaway. She traded her child for a life of privilege. 

I just can't with that. There's pretty much no sob story she can give Jack that will make me not hate this story line or her for abandoning her son.

Speaking of moms and sob stories, Victoria tugged at my heartstrings in Revenge Season 3 Episode 13 with the story about how Jimmy Brennan raped her and why she gave Patrick up for adoption. Shame on me for feeling sorry for her.

Tonight Queen V was her usual, manipulative self, telling Patrick that killing Jimmy Brennan wasn't their fault. That nothing bad they've ever done has been their fault.

They're just victims of their world.

She was distraught over this man coming back into her life, I get that. He made passes at her without realizing who she was and then victim-blamed her. I get it.

But Patrick confessed to her that he'd just witnessed something traumatic, something that made him question everything about his life, and she shrugged off both him and his concerns, waving her hand nonchalantly to clear the stench of guilt from the air.

This isn't a woman who takes responsibility for her actions. That's nothing new so why it irked me so much tonight I'm not sure but it did.

Ugh, Victoria!

With those two side stories out of the way, it's time for the main event: Emily's blackouts.

I'm actually sort of loving that Emily Thorne, always pulled together and three steps ahead of everyone, is falling apart a little bit. It's making this revenging more interesting, that's for sure.

Not that any of us really thought she slept with Conrad, but let's all thank the tv gods she didn't so that's not where we're going with the rest of this season.

What she did do, however, was call Stevie Grayson, aka Jack's mom, and ask for her help divorcing Daniel. Stevie G. was all too eager to fly cross country to the defense of a fellow scorned Grayson wife. 

How this all went down is a little hazy, so I'm guessing it was something like this:

Emily blacked out and ended up at the Southfork. She confessed to Conrad that Daniel had cheated with Sara and gotten physically violent with her. Conrad urged her to divorce Daniel not just to save Emily but also to destroy Daniel further. "Oh hey, Emily, so, why don't you call up my ex-wife!?" Emily calls her, tells her what she told Conrad, and Stevie G. hops on a plane. Emily sleeps in the suite at the South Fork and Conrad wakes her up the next morning. She's come out of her fugue state and can't remember the conversation with Stevie G.

Conrad likely saw Emily's confession as a way to get Stevie to come back to the Hamptons so he could take Queen V's house away from her. Again. 

(Seriously? Enough with fighting over this damn house. I hope when this show is over it falls into the ocean.)

Emily's blackouts are escalating and when she's in one, she has no idea what she's saying. She's not the same person every time she blacks out. 

I'm not suggesting multiple personalities, though nothing is too out there for this show, but it's more like, sometimes Emily blacks out and wants to get Aiden killed. Then she wants to sleep with him. Then she wants to tear Nolan to pieces. 

She's also apparently cognizant enough of her regular life that she can remember where she's supposed to be and when or else she wouldn't have shown up to Charlotte's birthday party.

Charlotte's birthday party which was all a plot device for Daniel to see Emily and Conrad have a conversation and then ask Charlotte to spy on him while he puts feelers out into the Hamptons community to track Emily's movement.

When did Daniel get so...resourceful? How much is he paying that bellhop for information because it's not like the guy has any friends?

After the party, Emily visits Nolan and discovers that Aiden has been taken when she finds the bag for Takeda's sword. She goes to Takeda's apartment to rescue him and battles Niko. Emily and Niko's fight might have been the best scene of the night, followed closely by her heart to heart with Aiden after Niko left.

She broke down and told him that she couldn't give him the life he deserved. She couldn't give him a family. He tells her that was never important to him and all he ever needed was her and suddenly, I'm very firmly Team Aiden (though I still think the writers are Team Jack for reasons that I do not understand).

Aiden and Emily are broken up for now, but he's probably not for good. Right? 

Emily and Nolan contemplate the possibility that whatever happened to Emily's mom is also happening to her, most likely opening the door for her mother to return to help her sort this all out.

What did you think of Revenge Season 3 Episode 14? What do you think of Stevie Grayson? Grade the Revenge mid-season return.

Here is your first look at Revenge Season 3 Episode 15:

Payback Review

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Miranda Wicker was a Staff Writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in 2017. Follow her on Twitter.

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Revenge Season 3 Episode 14 Quotes

Nolan: So, Blackout Em speaks the truth?
Emily: I'm aware of that, Nolan.

Of all the weapons we take into battle there is none more powerful than the mind. It holds our instincts and our training. It allows us to distinguish friend from foe, love from hate. But if that weapon is unsound, it is by no means disarmed. For the mind is all the more dangerous when damaged and there's no guarantee that it won't choose itself as its next victim.

Emily