Amanda uses her newly single status to unravel a mystery from the past. Credit: ABC/Danny Feld
Tonight’s episode is all about addiction — in the literal sense, with Stevie and her drinking problem, and in the figurative sense too (Amanda, still gung ho about righting the Graysons’ wrongs). At the start, Pasquale is still trying to woo Victoria, this week with a painting he’s gotten on loan from the Met (of course). Victoria’s not feeling it. Meanwhile, Amanda and Nolan are going over the TWM initials she found in the Pasquale letter last week — what could that mean? The White Haired Man? HA! No, Nolan says, that was his original nickname for that long-forgotten character. Since Pasquale seems to know some stuff, Amanda decides her next plan of attack is to get close to him.
Elsewhere, Daniel enlists Charlotte in his take-down Amanda mission (as long as Jack stays out of it), and Jack hears from his mom how his parents’ divorce wasn’t all Conrad’s fault (read: Stevie’s alcoholism). But I don’t know, hearing that they met on a blind date kind of humanizes Conrad a bit, no?
So Amanda sidles up to Pasquale at a bar right after he finishes a little chat with Conrad. This is the start of her “in” with him. Meanwhile, Victoria is hosting a single ladies daytime get-together (with Morgan Fairchild playing a close confidante of V’s—welcome to “Revenge” m’dear!). Anyways, Victoria tells everyone to keep an eye on Amanda (whom she still knows as Emily), because she’s trouble. Conrad drops by unannounced, he and Victoria spar like an old married couple (oh wait) and then she says something about Stevie being in Page 6.
Margot gets offered a job as editor-in-chief of a magazine in Rome. At first she shuts the idea down because she doesn’t want to leave Jack, but he encourages her to seriously consider it, which she warms to.
After doing some digging (what he does best), Nolan discovers that the casino chip Amanda swiped from Pasquale the night they met earlier in the episode is a chip at an ultra-luxe casino where the poker buy-in is $1 million. Just then, a shirtless Javier, the ex-con squatter, rolls in shirtless and finally gets to meet our leading lady. She’s not really impressed, though I am by Javier’s abs. Anyway, Javier’s working on some anti-social network that works with avatars, and he’s created a “Charvatar” (that would be Charlotte) as his prototype. Where’s this going? Who knows…
Margot tells Daniel about her job offer, and Daniel tells her that Jack’s playing her—he wants to ship her off and go after Amanda now that she’s single. Margot tries not to buy it. And speaking of Amanda, she invites Pasquale to a poker night she’s arranged. I guess he can’t really say no considering the proceeds will go to a charity close to him. Access, people, all in the name of access!
Amanda meets Stevie at the Stoweaway to ask for more dirt on Pasquale. She learns that Pasquale and Victoria dated. Jack shows up and tells Amanda about Margot’s job offer and how their relationship would have to be long-distance since he’s buying a house. Because she’s Amanda and always makes everything about her, she turns the conversation to the fact that she dumped Aidan after pushing him away. Jack encourages her to find him and tell him she still loves him. He puts his hand on hers to be supportive, but that’s all the evidence Margot needs to start wondering what’s going on between the two of them.
Seeing Victoria get a little red in the face explaining her dating history to Daniel humanizes her a bit too, doesn’t it? Interesting how both Graysons were a little more likable to meet tonight. Anyways. We learn that Victoria and Pasquale met a flea market in Paris, ah oui! They had a brief love affair but when her visa was up she had to go back to the States. He sent her a flower every day she was gone, but when she flew to surprise him, she caught him with another woman. Two-timed! Yikes. Suddenly, an email comes through Daniel’s phone—it’s the invite to the casino gala. Victoria recognizes that it’s for Pasquale’s charity, and rightfully so wonders what Amanda wants with him. Guess they’ll go to find out!
Amanda, being the richest girl in the world, flies to Bermuda to track down Aidan. Oh, but not really to talk about how she still loves him, but to ask for his help figuring out TWM. Big ups to Aidan, even though he was miserably drunk, for saying, “I’m not Nolan. You can’t give me the cold shoulder and expect me to run and save you the next day.” Burn! But can you blame him?
Margot triumphs over her father in getting Voulez back in her hands (not Pasquale’s, and not Conrad’s) by fake-leaking a story that Pasquale is using the mag as a tax shelter. She’ll get Daniel’s friend to help drop the charges if he gives her what she wants, which he does. Daddy’s little girl is all grown up! She has a big smirk on her face when the deal is done.
Conrad visits Stevie in her hotel room and he’s drunk and upset — he had no idea she had a kid while they were still married. They have a heart-to-heart about their marriage and her alcoholism and they end things well. You know they’re tight because he calls her Steph. But there’s one thing she’s been keeping from him: the property deed to Grayson Manor. He calls Pasquale with the news that he’s got it, calling it “Victoria’s trump card.”
Ah, Casino Night, the Revenge Fete of the Night™! Nolan is wearing a fabulous suit with flowers on it, the girls have curly Roaring ‘20s hair, oh, it’s a delight. Daniel and Amanda spar like his parents, but she gets the last win when she tells him she charged the party on his card. Amanda finds Pasquale with Victoria, and she tells him she’s saved two seats at a high-stakes table. Pasquale’s gonna let Victoria take this one, though. The three of them walk over arm-in-arm.
Javier puts the moves on Charlotte before being whisked away by Nolan. When Nolan sees that J’s rigged his alcohol anklet, he realizes he can’t trust him for a parternship that Javier didn’t even know Nolan was considering. Javier can’t have that though, so he says BRB to Nolan to plant a big one on Charlotte (skeevy) before running back to try to amend things with Nolan. Elsewhere, Margot tells Jack (who cleans up well) about her getting control of the mag, but Jack is skeptical when he finds out she worked with Daniel on a plan to oust him. It turns into a little bit of a jealousy war, with Margot bringing up Jack and Amanda’s tight relationship, which Jack insists is just a friendship. Then it blows over and they’re fine again. Daniel keeps winning at the tables, which makes me want to throw up.
Victoria lets Amanda win their high-stakes game (Amanda put down her engagement ring from Daniel when she couldn’t afford to match V’s bet anymore). Pasquale and Amanda go to settle up, and he tells her he knows she wants business from him. She’s about to embark on enlisting him as an ally when she notices a camera on her, so she gets the hell out.
Stevie heads over to the Stoweaway in hopes that Jack’ll lend an ear after her emotional night. She comes thisclose to pouring herself a glass of wine but then puts it aside. Go Stevie! (Also, how much would it suck to be a recovering alcoholic only to find out your long-lost son owns a bar?)
Victoria is now all into Pasquale, since he got her house back for her. And Pasquale spills that, during their meeting, Amanda wanted to know her family’s secrets. Pasquale gives Vicky a flower and says he will never abandon her again. Then they make out and it’s gross to watch.
Meanwhile, Amanda tells Nolan that she’s pretty sure Victoria folded on purpose. It all makes sense now: Pasquale and Amanda get together so he could use her just as she was using him. The only bummer of their chat is that Nolan still can’t figure out who TWM is, but just then, Aidan bursts through the door (of course, because this is “Revenge”). TWM, it turns out, is Trevor Warren Mathis — Aidan’s father. That’s who Pasquale was referring to in the letter. So Pasquale and Aidan’s family are a lot more involved in this web than originally let on. What will we learn next week? Come back here to find out!
