Revenge "Suspicion" Review

No one smiles in Revenge. The abundant wealth only makes the characters more miserable and frowny. Characters want to con one another. Identities are freely exchanged for an undisclosed sum. "Suspicion" lacked a cohesive, whole narrative. Mike Kelley's now a victim of sloppy serialized television in which episodes don't bother telling an actual story. Instead, an episode begins where the other left off, a bunch of stuff happens, and then it ends, and then picks up again the following week.

After a one week hiatus for some music award show, Revenge didn't waste time in reminding the viewers where we were. A sultry Russian joined the show as Fake Amanda aka the real Emily Thorne. Fake Emily tried to send her to an apartment in Paris but Fake Amanda chose to stay because she longed for a stable life, instead of constantly running away from something or someone. Emily reacted to this development like any other development that displeases her--a cold, dead stare and barely a recognizable expression of emotion. Tyler continued to worm his way into the hearts of the Grayson family. The murder of Frank the Security Guard somehow leads to a cover-up that implicates Conrad Grayson. Ashley grew more annoyed with her lack of purpose within the Grayson household and conspired with Tyler to 'play the game' (whatever the hell that means).

I won't hesitate to state my preference for a bikini-dressed Fake Amanda in the opening minutes of Revenge. I hoped her second episode would've produced more insight into she and Emily's past, specifically how the girls went from bloody brawls in the prison cafeteria to swapping identities. Unfortunately, the girls had two flashbacks. None revealed anything more about their relationship. I'll stop hoping for more insight because I assume Mike Kelley and the writers provided all they wanted to about their friendship. It is the audience's job to accept what we've been told. The flashbacks revealed basically nothing. Amanda told Emily her life's story. Emily memorized the facts. She repeated the facts to Amanda. Emily left as Amanda, check in hand. It was unnecessary to show a scene in which Amanda tells Emily who she is. The audience isn't stupid. We assumed that happened when identities were swapped.

I understand why we saw the scene. We needed to see the trust Amanda put into Emily, so that Fake Amanda's betrayal would be felt more. The betrayal occurred on the Amanda boat, following a passionate kiss between Faux-Amanda and Jack Porter. As Fake Amanda's mentally unstable, she decided to reveal her fake identity to her boyhood crush. For whatever reason, real Amanda told Real Emily about her decision to give her dog to Jack Porter because they were soulmates in childhood. Of course, fake Amanda was supposed to stay away from the Hamptons, so the detail about the dog and Jack seemed unnecessary. Regardless, that exchange of information occurred and it bit Emily in the ass. Fake Amanda resorted to the confession after Nolan threatened her. He essentially promised death or something fairly horrible if she didn't leave town; after all, Emily's proven she'll rid herself of unwanted company without so much as breaking a sweat. The betrayal was a self-defense move. I know it doesn't work in the long-run.

Meanwhile, Emily wanted Nolan to deal with Tyler. Tyler, of course, continued to set-up his con of the Graysons. For some unknown reason, Conrad pitted his son against his son's best friend. Whichever male signed the most lucrative investor would earn full commission and find himself more esteemed within the company. Tyler went to Nolan for $20 million. In a show with non-sensical soapish elements, the Tyler-Nolan thing eludes me. I haven't seen substantial evidence from Nolan to attract him to Tyler. It feels as if the writers decided on putting the two in a sexual relationship because they didn't have any other ideas. Nolan needed to invest $20 million because Emily needed the speech that revealed the truth about the Graysons' involvement in the money-laundering-terrorist-plot. Remember, Emily wants Revenge--not Tyler revealing all so that he receives a massive paycheck. I'll mention Ashley walked in on Tyler locking lips with Nolan. Tyler then accused her of not doing enough to PLAY THE GAME. Moving on.

Actually, that's about it for my thoughts on "Suspicion." I don't care nearly enough about the love triangle between the Graysons and Lydia to comment extensively on it. In general, I don't care about the series.

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