‘Revenge’ recap: Episode 14, ‘Sacrifice’

Conrad announces his plans to run for governor on “Revenge.”

Credit: ABC

All this time, I figured it’d be a Ryan brother down there at the bottom of the ocean with the Amanda boat, but whoa, I never thought we’d see Emily go down with the boat too! First Helen, now Emily—I’m so glad this show is kind of getting good again.

OK, to backtrack: The episode opens with a back-and-forth between Emily and Jack getting it on, and the divers combing through the wreckage. We see the hand with a wedding ring, and then a few minutes later, when we see Connor Ryan on the boat, he’s got a wedding ring on too. So, all signs point to him being the casualty here.

Back the Graysons, Helen’s still dead: “The bitch had it coming,” according to resident sasspot Victoria. She’s got a plan: She’ll cover herself up and pretend to be Helen, getting back in the car with the driver, so the driver won’t suspect anything funny. They can’t let the Initiative know she’s dead, and besides, they’ve got other business to take care of—their annual Labor Day party, of course! This is where Conrad will announce his ridiculously foolish plan to become governor (seriously, with his history, why bother?). In a little family conference, Victoria tells Daniel that “Amanda Clarke” blackmailed the family and has the ability to bring down the whole campaign. It’ll be Ashley’s job to prevent further interference. Ashley goes to Amanda’s house to discuss her concern for Emily, and tells her about the blackmailing. You’ll recall that Amanda didn’t know Emily took her laptop to use against the Graysons. Now Amanda’s pissed. Elsewhere, Amanda, Aidan and Nolan come up with a plan to use Padma to get closer to the Initiative, which might help Padma get her dad back and get her out of the Initiative’s way.

Somewhere in the middle of the ocean, Connor pulls a gun on Emily. Jack wants to approach things very carefully and cooperatively, and they agree to get Conrad on the phone to sort everything out. At the Stowaway where Charlotte and Dec are watching Carl, Amanda’s checking out the wedding pictures and sees in one of the pictures that Connor is hiding on the boat. She and Nolan get on a boat of their own to save the day.

Daniel and Victoria have this a conversation in Daniel’s office because they know the Initiative is watching and they don’t want them to suspect that they know anything about Helen being dead. Padma goes to the Stowaway and meets Aidan for the first time.

Conrad tells Connor over the phone that it’s “Amanda” who’s really playing him and that he needs his laptop back. Amanda tells the whole “Revenge” story to Connor, about how she’s really only here to exact revenge on the Graysons and that she’s just using Jack. Poor Jack hears everything and understandably freaks out. He tells Connor the whereabouts of the laptop. Nolan, because he’s Nolan and can do anything, is able to hack into the laptop and see what’s transpiring on the boat.

Victoria gets Charlotte to come to the Grayson Labor Day party and then sneakily drops Helen’s shawl and cell phone under Emily’s bed.  Aidan bonds with Padma over their missing family members, and Aidan tells Padma that she needs to get proof from the Initiative that her father is still alive before she can help them.

When Connor gets a hold of the laptop, he sees that it’s really Charlotte’s laptop instead of the one he’s looking for. Then, oh no, Jack gets shot! It looks like a bad chest wound. Amanda sends him on a lifeboat to get him away from all the trouble on board. I think she gets knocked out by Connor, because next thing you know she’s awaking (we see that Jack’s out cold) and the Amanda boat is starting to fill with water.

At the Labor Day party, Victoria tells Conrad that she won’t leave him at the end of summer like they had previously arranged, because who’s going to vote for a politician going through a divorce? Also at the party we meet a creepy looking Mr. Trask, who wants to know the whereabouts of Helen — he thinks the Graysons are to blame. Meet the man above Helen, ladies and gents! Victoria, sassypants she is, says Amanda Clarke has something to do with it and advises Mr. Trask to get the hell out just like she told Amanda to.

Because this is “Revenge” and nothing logical ever happens, Amanda and Nolan spot Jack’s lifeboat floating in the middle of the ocean. She tells Nolan to get Jack to the hospital — she’s got stuff to take care of. Namely, killing Connor. First, a quick aside to the mainland: Trask is at Declan’s house, black burglar gloves on and everything, and, naturally, finds the shawl and phone that Victoria left under Emily’s bed. On the phone are 14 messages, the first from Padma, who wants proof that her dad is alive. Go Padma! Unfortunately, when Padma finally gets on the phone with him, she gets her proof in the form of her father’s finger, mailed to her. Ew.

OK, so back on the boat, again, because this is a TV show, Amanda out of nowhere leaps onto the boat and kicks Connor Ryan’s ass. Emily’s the one who shoots him, but before jumping to safety with Amanda, she goes back for a special necklace. Bad move! Connor is somehow still alive, and he blows up the boat. Emily, watch out! Too late!

Conrad announces his run for governor to thunderous applause (how does he still have friends?) Daniel’s not really feeling it, but Victoria says they’ll continue on as if nothing has ever happened. Ha. Good luck, team.

How many “Titanic” references were there here? Poor Amanda and Emily have a beautiful final chat on a sinking lifeboat, with Emily thanking her for giving her the one thing she always wanted, a family. She makes Amanda swear she’ll take care of her baby, and oh my God, it really looks like she is going to die. This is actually kind of sad! Poor Amanda loses it: Her plan is leading to so much destruction. Now she’s losing her sister, her partner in crime. We get a glimpse of Emily and yup, she’s bleeding pretty hard. Amanda has a memory of her never telling Emily she loves her when they first switched lives, and now she finally says it back to her, as she lays there dying. Once she goes, cue the Celine Dion, Amanda pushes her body off the boat into the ocean. I’ll never let go!

You guys, this was a really sad episode tonight. This is the first time they’ve killed a major character, and while I loved to hate Emily, I do wonder how this will change things on the show. Poor Jack, I don’t want to be there when he realizes he’s gone. Or maybe soon he’ll really learn the truth? What do you think? “Revenge” doesn’t return until March 10, so we have plenty of time to contemplate what’s next for these folks. Let me know your thoughts!