Credit: ABC/ Colleen Hayes
Masquerade! Masquerade! Anyone else singing the “Phantom of the Opera” theme song along tonight’s festivities? Just me? OK, moving on…
Well tonight was a rough one for Nolan, right? At the start of the episode, he’s calling the detective for any leads on Padma, but nothing’s come up yet. Also, he’s a disheveled mess. I kind of like the scruffy Nolan though. Anyone else? He tells Amanda he’s got to believe she’s still out there, and Amanda says she has an idea on how to find her.
Victoria is counting her RSVPs to her annual Halloween masquerade (we skipped a few months here, I guess, but nothing makes sense in this “Revenge” world, you may recall). Too bad one invitee can’t make it because she has a destination divorce to attend to. Aah, rich people! Anyways, one RSVP catches her eye—it’s postmarked 1973, and inside is a “Yes! I will attend with pleasure,” note, signed “from your loving son.” Victoria has a flashback about when she was a teen and found out she was pregnant by her mother’s boyfriend. She didn’t live with her parents at the time.
Amanda wants to move ahead and drain Trask’s money from Grayson Global. She needs Aidan to do it. Elsewhere, Conrad is doing some media training at the Stowaway, with Jack offering his counsel as the “every man” (tip #1: Don’t use the words “working class.” No one likes it.). Ashley tells Conrad about the strange RSVP Victoria got and they decide it’s probably from his political opponents. To make sure they’re answering questions properly, they decide Jack will coach Conrad throughout his speech through an ear bud. Jack’s got his own idea though: He’ll have Nolan rig the earpiece to broadcast the taped convo between Conrad and the Ryan brother. That’ll get voter attention!
Aidan drains the money out of Trask’s account, much to Daniel’s fury. Trask shows at the office. This was all part of Aidan’s plan, so he calls Amanda to tell her everything worked. Amanda intrudes on Victoria (in her vanity room…seriously, how does she keep getting in this house uninvited?) and asks for an invite to the Masquerade, but Victoria says no can do, you weren’t invited, sorry! Amanda accepts this and leaves.
Trask confronts Daniel about the missing funds, and he tries to pin it on Aidan and says he’ll get it back. But he warns him that he knows Trask is threatening him. He thinks he sent the picture of him dining with Amanda. But Trask says he wouldn’t do threats “in two dimensions” for “we act in three dimensions.” Yowza! Trask tells Daniel a lot has changed since they worked with his dad and says the real money is now in rebuilding after a big crime. And yes, he will take the Initiative’s funds out of GG. As Trask gets in his car to leave, Aidan pulls a gun on him from the backseat and forces him to take them to Padma.
Daniel invites Amanda as his date to the ball—suck on that, Vicky—and back in the Hamptons, Victoria gets another ominous delivery: a beautiful bouquet of black roses. There’s only 11, but the note from her adopted son says that he’ll be wearing the 12th.
At Conrad’s press conference, a friend of Amanda Clarke’s asks if the David Clarke case will be reopened. Then, to everyone’s horror, the taped conversation plays. But Conrad handles it all extremely well: He says if there’s an opportunity he will secure a presidential pardon for David Clarke. Back at home, Conrad finds the mysterious RSVP—did Victoria really never tell him she had another kid? Wow, way to keep secrets, girl. She makes her hubby believe she had an abortion.
Oh no, this part was sad. Trask and Aidan get to some warehouse and lying on what appears to be a cold metal table is the body of Padma. We’re asked to believe she’s dead—“she’s with her father,” Trask tells Aidan—but being that this is “Revenge” I wouldn’t be surprised if she makes a surprise return (maybe for ratings later).
Ah, and it’s time for the Grayson obligatory party of the evening: Tonight, it’s the Masquerade ball! Everyone looks all shiny in their dresses and masks. Victoria presumably doesn’t care; she’s just on the hunt for that 12th black rose. Jack, Amanda and Daniel have an awkward reunion, but Daniel does manage to thank Jack for all his help on the campaign. Conrad, who looks ridiculous in his outfit, is busy fielding phone calls from reporters (Note to Conrad: Don’t hate. They’re just doing their job.) when Ashley appears and surmises that Conrad’s campaign manager was behind the tapes being played earlier that day. Conrad doesn’t want to hear any of it and goes off on her, all with Jack listening in the wings.
Sloane, Daniel’s ex, is at the ball and shows a recent Page 6 clipping of Amanda and Daniel at their secret hideaway dinner to Victoria, who freaks out. Also upset is Aidan, to see that Daniel and Amanda are back together. Victoria and Daniel spar over his freedom to make his own choices, and he gives her her bullets back. Based on his little chat with Trask earlier, he knows they weren’t from the Initiative.
Oh no, sad part redux. We have to break the news to Nolan about Padma. He’s pretty crushed, but vows to Amanda that he’ll be OK and just has to deal with it his own way, alone. Amanda is once again shown the collateral damage all this revenge business is causing her.
Upstairs, Charlotte punches a girl who was talking smack about Amanda Clarke (Emily, the dead one), and Declan comes in to save the day. Jack is icy to Victoria after she makes some blue collar statement to him, and Victoria has another flashback. Back in the present, she sees someone wearing a black rose, so she follows him, but it eventually turns out to be Aidan. She passes out.
The next day, Conrad’s numbers are up, thanks to the whole David Clarke promise (must be the liberals, he supposes). He wants to know what happened to Victoria last night, and he calls her out on the aborted first kid story. She says she’s got proof and will show him if he vows to drop it after that.
Aidan is “disgusted” with Amanda, who tells him that Trask is going to look into his past based on his convo with Daniel earlier. Aidan wants to be alone, so he heads to the city.
Jack recruits someone else for his bring-down-the-Graysons-team: Ashley. He knows they’ve never treated her well. She knows it too. She’s in.
Poor Nolan goes beserk in his office, smashing things and crying, when the detective comes in. Padma’s only been dead for a day. What did you do after we spoke, he wants to know? He thinks Nolan killed her. But Nolan won’t talk. I’m confused about this also. I guess he doesn’t want to say because that would mean unleashing all the info about the Initiative?
Victoria pays a visit to the nun who took her baby in when she showed up with him many years ago. In a flashback, we see that the nun made her promise not to ask of what became of her son once she gave him up. But here’s Victoria, looking for info. All the nun will tell her is that he came by a few years ago, looking for information. Victoria asks if he looked happy, but the nun will only reply that he was on a hopeful quest. She leaves, the nun prays, and then Amanda pulls up to the bench and takes a seat next to the nun. She says she’s pregnant and has nowhere to turn. What is this about? We’ll have to wait until next week to find out. Til then, Happy Easter if you’re celebrating, and thanks for taking time out of your chocolate bunnies to read along!
