Tonight’s episode opens with a tearful Emily digging a grave on the beach. It’s a rarity to see her showing emotion, so we know this must be someone important to her. Let’s flash back 36 hours to see how this all came about…
Conrad holds a little tete-a-tete with his son/heir to the throne, Daniel, and tells him he needs to make sure Jack keeps his story straight about that night on the beach. Daniel tells him he’s got a plan for that — blood money, natch! Jack’s hesitant to take it — he knows what it is — but he COULD use that money to save the world, so he decides to take it after all.
Everyone’s favorite murderer, known simply so far as “the white-haired man,” pays a visit to Conrad’s office to talk shop — all this terrorism talk doesn’t bode too well for him and his “Initiative.” On the other side of town, wedding planning is going just swimmingly for Emily and Daniel…kidding! She’s mad that their affair has taken a big, splashy turn — um, did she forget who she’s marrying? Ashley’s naturally in charge of everything and Emily’s not too pleased about all this.
Charlotte’s seeing an in-home addiction counselor (in case you forgot — the Graysons are loaded) and he pushes for a family therapy session, which Victoria’s not too fond of. But: Convincing Conrad in person gives her an opportunity to head to the Graysons’ swanky NYC pad to do some searching of her own. So she runs off: She gets on the SEC guy’s case for not collecting enough evidence to convict Conrad, then it’s off to the Graysons’ lavish apartment. She greets Conrad in a quite revealing ensemble to show just what a saucy little minx she is, but unfortunately, Conrad already has company: Lydia! Awkwarrrrddd. Welcome back, Lydia, you’re looking good after that big fall!
No episode would be complete without some tomfoolery on Em’s part. She has Nolan tape she and Daniel sleeping and then anonymously send it to Conrad in the hopes that Conrad sees it and realizes someone’s spying on his son — and who else could he blame but the white-haired man? Of course the plan works perfectly, and Conrad gets the murderer to meet him at a restaurant in Brooklyn. Emily gets the address and is all set on going so she can follow the man home and kill him, but, oh shoot, she’s got a wedding meeting with Ashley and Daniel to attend to. She tries to get out of it but can’t, and Daniel starts to get suspicious. Thankfully, Nolan’s able to cover for her. He follows the white-haired man to the restaurant, then to his home. He texts an address to Emily, and she’s ready to finish the guy when she gets out of her wedding meeting. Unfortunately, the address he gives her is to his aunt’s — Nolan’s not ready for Em to whack him just yet. This doesn’t sit too well with her — it’s betrayal, no? But Nolan’s got a plan of his own: He weasels his way into the white-haired man’s creepy home, which is strangely full of clocks, and poses as a cable guy as he rigs his place with a hidden camera.
Back in catty grown-ups land, Victoria returns to the NYC apartment and Lydia’s there again. Victoria reminds her that because she lied under oath during the trial, the cops will come after her too. But there’s a silver lining: She tells Lydia that she had gotten immunity for telling the SEC guy about Conrad, and she also asked him to grant Lydia immunity too — if she cooperates in helping convict Conrad. While she’s visiting, Victoria’s a little confused about something she sees in the apartment: a painting that both she and Conrad know is forged by her lovah — why is it still in the house, AND displayed so prominently? There must be something more there. Sure enough Victoria’s right: She slices the painting and inside it is a bundle of tapes — evidence of David Clarke’s innocence!
So, the episode is called “Grief,” Emily’s burying something at the beginning…this can’t be too good. Did you, like me, expect a person to die? Well, you’d be wrong. It’s poor, poor Sammy’s time. Did anyone else cry? I did. It was embarrassing to the men in the room watching with me, but that Sammy was one of Emily’s only trusted pals. It’s a huge loss. Poor Sammy is hopefully in a better place now. Jack and Emily got together to say goodbye to the dog — he wanted to spend his final minutes in the old Clarke house — and all that emotion must have gotten the best of them: Sammy dies, there’s tears all around, then a makeout sesh happens! Cheating! Scandalous! Of course, this being a nighttime soap, someone has to be surreptitiously watching from the wings. Tonight, it’s Ashley. What will she do with this information? Maybe we’ll see next week.
Charlotte somehow gets everyone in her fam to attend a family therapy session, which includes a lovely little game called “I like, I need.” It turned into a gloriously devilish passive-aggressive showdown between Conrad and Victoria, and Charlotte’s so upset she runs toward her comfort — not drugs, surprisingly, but Declan. When she gets there, the female equivalent of Declan, a Yahnkahs girl who’s been working with him on a school project, is changing into dry clothes — it was raining when they went looking for Sammy earlier, OK? — but of course Charlotte doesn’t see it that way. She deals with her pain the way any sensible teen girl would: with massive amounts of coke (seriously — did you see how much was in that baggie?).
Victoria tells Daniel she wants to repair their relationship, and she hands over the evidence she had been planning to turn in against Conrad. Daniel calls his dad to let him know, but sneaky Victoria is listening in on the convo. The effect here is twofold: We know (again) that Victoria can’t be trusted, and Daniel continues to shape up to be his father’s son. With Daniel acquiring all the evidence, Emily is now one step closer to learning the truth about her father’s death.
At the end, Emily thanks Nolan for watching out for her — she’s no longer mad about his “betrayal.” He tells her about his camera system in the white-haired man’s house, and as he’s watching him on his computer, he notices a time lag — wait! Holy sh—he’s there! The white-haired man! He’s in Nolan’s house! Now he’s strangling Nolan! Now Nolan’s on the floor! Is he dead? How is this all gonna be resolved on next week’s season finale? More importantly, WILL any of this be resolved next week, since “Revenge” was just picked up for a second season? Dear lord, I hope I don’t waste my summer stressing out any unfinished plotlines…
