It may be freezing outside, but it’s always sunny in the Hamptons: Revenge is back, folks.
It’s summertime, and Amanda and Aidan are training on the beach at night. They take a little smooch break.
Back in the city, Daniel reports for duty as the CEO of Grayson Global. The woman from the Initiative, Helen, rolls up in a limo and tells him that his dad kept a lot of secrets from him, secrets that will make him more powerful and richer than his dad ever was.
At the Stowaway, Emily senses something’s up with the Ryan brothers—since when does Jack take orders from them? She’s onto something, and Declan (who got a nice haircut over break) is too: He does a little snooping and finds drugs inside a bag of coffee beans—a side biz that one of the Ryan brothers is running on the side. That brother tells Charlotte that he once spent time in jail for being accused of dealing drugs, when it was really his roommates who were up to no good. Who knows whether or not that’s true. Whichever Ryan brother that was (I still can’t tell them apart) suspects Declan is onto him when he finds him in the storage room getting some bourbon for up front. Declan tells his brother what he found, and he says he knows a cop who can bust them. Jack sends Emily and the baby away for the night so she avoids all the drama that’s sure to go down.
Back in the Hamptons, the Graysons have a special guest for the weekend: Justice and Mrs. Robert Barnes, the soon-to-be Supreme Court nominee. This was the judge who found David Clarke guilty, so naturally Amanda’s got a vendetta against him. She got a letter from whom she thinks was his court clerk, Palmer, after the trial, saying he’s sorry the trial ended unjustly, but he suspiciously died in a subway accident shortly thereafter. The judge’s wife, Patricia, runs an organization for falsely accused convicts, and it would be good for Conrad to attend her benefit (the “Revenge” party of the week) to get on track to rehabilitating his image.
Victoria calls Amanda over for a meeting. She says that ever since she and Daniel broke up, he’s been in rough shape, and his new job isn’t helping. She tells Amanda he’s still in love with her, and that she needs to reach him and convince him to step down from Grayson Global. She agrees to do it and will also be at the evening’s benefit. By getting back on Daniel’s good graces, Amanda will have access to Judge Barnes.
The first step in her plan is to construct a “fake-up” with Aidan, which happens at a restaurant where Daniel and Conrad can see it in plain sight. By the way, Daniel wants to know about all those secrets Helen warned him about, but Conrad’s not spilling. They’re pretty much at war now.
Daniel asks Nolan to do some searching of Grayson Global’s old files and tells him that Aidan and Amanda broke up, except when Nolan finds Amanda later, he learns her true intentions. Back at Nolcorp, Marco is trying to get back on Nolan’s good graces, but Nolan’s not feeling it.
Emily comes over to the Graysons’ for dinner, and the Barnes are in attendance. Conrad and Daniel spar over the meal while Amanda starts grilling the judge and his wife for info about the David Clarke trial. The judge tells the table that justice was served. Amanda says that surely his wife’s organization, the one for falsely convicted people, must be flooded for appeals to the case, but she says that her husband’s decisions are pretty resolute. She also admits to knowing the court clerk who Amanda thinks wrote that letter, a bit to her husband’s surprise—to which she retorts that she only knew him in legacy. Suddenly she’s not feeling well and has to leave.
Snoop that she is, Amanda does some Googling and finds that Mrs. Barnes was once arrested for participating in an anti-apartheid riot, and who was with her that day but Palmer! Turns out she did know him after all.
Nolan isn’t able to break too deeply through the Graysons’ security, but Helen from the Initiative is onto his searches: She calls Aidan and asks for a meeting. Down in some sketchy warehouse, she says he’s now gotten himself in the deep end and, oh yeah, his sister has really been alive for the past six years. She’ll make him an offer (in a future episode, I guess) and if he’s good he’ll be able to see his sister again.
Marco tries yet again to get on Nolan’s attention, and this time brings a little digital tool to further his mission. Meanwhile, the cops come and find drugs at the Stowaway.
At the benefit, Amanda finds Patricia and apologizes if she insulted her at the dinner. She sees that Mrs. Barnes is being abused by her husband. Amanda tells her she’s “close to David Clarke’s daughter” (har har) and shows her the letter.
Mrs. Barnes was planning to stay off the stage at tonight’s benefit, but after her meeting with Amanda has a change of heart. She takes the floor to introduce her husband but instead of doing so brings up Palmer. Robert is surprised but lets her continue. She then brings up the David Clarke trial and the letter, and her husband tries to stop her again. She won’t let him, though, and says that it was actually she who wrote the letter. Then, she takes off her cardigan to reveal a slew of bruises from her husband. Well, his reputation is certainly in the toilet now.
At the Stowaway, a really bad misunderstanding happens. The Ryan brothers get a clean slate in the cops’ eyes once they tell them that Declan stole from them a few months ago. They go to arrest Dec, but Jack sticks up for his brother and takes the fall, saying the drugs are his. The Ryan brothers later corner Declan in the bar and say that things are gonna get worse. Jack uses his jail phone call to tell Amanda what’s up but that everything will be OK.
Back at Amanda’s house, Daniel pays a late night visit: He wants to set things right at Grayson Global, and he wants her help in expanding their philanthropic efforts. He asks her to think about it, but she doesn’t need to: Her answer is yes, and it’s sealed with a kiss! A jealous Aidan looks on from the window. Hell hath no fury like a Revenger scorned!
