Revenge "Treachery" Review

Rich people are boring and predictable in Revenge. Emily planned on sending Amanda to her Paris apartment. I groaned, shocked and dismayed Mike Kelley and his writers chose such a predictable place for a rich woman to own an apartment. Why couldn't Emily own a condo in western Suriname or property in Mary, Turkmenistan? Okay, I'll admit that a wealthy person probably wouldn't own an apartment in either western Suriname or the capital of Turkmenistan; however, I feel strongly that Emily's apartment should've been in scenic Moscow or a shack in rural Novosibirsk. Maybe fake Amanda Clarke would've been more inclined to flee the country had she been promised an isolated shack in the woods of rural Novosibirsk, where the temperatures fall to -6 degrees Fahrenheit and the reindeer roam. Perhaps a villa in Madrid or Barcelona would've been a more interesting place for a foreign residence. The wayward youth could've spent her afternoons, evenings, or mature evenings, in the Bernabeau or Camp Nou watching two of the greatest soccer teams in history. And let's not rule out balmy Daugavpils in southeast Latvia.

Regardless of the foreign apartment we'll never see a single scene set in, fake Amanda never left the country. Emily needed to pour water on two fires in "Treachery." She succeeded in doctoring the incriminating photo of Lydia's but she failed to send away the girl who could lay waste to all of her carefully thought out revenge schemes. I'd like to use a couple of sentences to write about the Emily and Amanda relationship. I haven't quite figured out how to refer to the characters without confusing my readership, so I'll refer to them by the aforementioned names. Anyway, they were blatant lesbian overtones between the former cell mates. Fake Amanda sensually brushed the back of Emily's hair as well as the upper part of her neck. Each glance was loaded with an affection that went beyond mere friendship. There were several times when I thought the two women were about to kiss until Emily wrapped her arms around Fake Amanda for a long and meaningful embrace. The physical acting between the actresses was too deliberate to be coincidence or the product of a male's wild imagination.

There were several flashbacks of the girls during the episode. They began their time in the juvenile center as enemies, fighting during lunch and such. The next flashback was between the warden and Emily (real Amanda...this is confusing), in which the warden advised Emily to work with the real Emily rather than bust her nose. The final flashback happened when real Amanda pitched her idea to swap identities with real Emily. Their relationship throughout the years in the cell weren't part of tonight's story. Fake Amanda has tremendous loyalty that goes beyond friendship in my opinion. Of course the rampant ambiguity of sexual orientation in soaps might be confusing me. I want to know more about the girls' past with each other, especially how they went from blood sport to BFFs/sexual lovers.

It's madness to think so much about Revenge, though, as the majority of the narrative's fluff stuffed with weak characters portrayed by blandly attractive actors and actresses, with the exception being Emily Vancamp and Margarita Levieva. Emily ruminated on the cliché "those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it" (that's a poor paraphrase). The narration didn't relate at all to the title of the episode. I tune out now whenever Emily Thorne quotes popular proverbs or cliches. The narration does nothing for the series.

The story threads throughout "Treachery" were disjointed. The main reason for the disjointed structure was that the writers needed to tie up some loose ends. The words 'damage control' sums up what the characters were doing this week. Lydia's awakening from the coma forced Conrad and Victoria to work together. Emily went into damage control mode after her old cell mate murdered Frank. Tyler continued to cause damage rather than control it. Declan had to help Charlotte following the surprise that her parents would divorce.

Victoria managed to ostracize herself from her dear family. She and Conrad worked poorly together as a team. Initially they were in agreement about sharing the same story once Lydia came out of the coma to protect their asses. Soon thereafter husband and wife threw insults at one another. I'd describe their scenes in detail but no one wants that (especially not me). Instead, I'll write about Daniel's confrontation with his mother after he learned about her and Frank's investigation of Emily. The confrontation only interested me because it caused me to remember the inciting incident of the family--the David Clarke trial. Normally, I'd insult a show for using a character to vomit already known information; however, your humble blogger forgot alot about Revenge during its one week hiatus. I appreciated Daniel wondering what happened in his mother's life to transform her into such a loathsome creature because I completely forgot about her torment as result of the trial.

Meanwhile, more fires have been lit in the Hamptons. Emily will need a fairly large hose. Frank's final words echo in Victoria's head. Lydia's returned memories increase Victoria's suspicion of her next door neighbor. Victoria shredded Lydia's speech, which included plenty of information about the David Clarke nonsense. Tyler took the time to piece the document together. I imagine the document will lead him further to the truth about Emily Thorne. The FBI paid Emily a visit to interview her about the possible reasons Frank would've investigated her. Emily managed to avoid giving her identity away. Regardless, the walls continue to close in.

The addition of Margarita Levieva as Fake Amanda Clarke/Real Emily Thorne saved the series for me. The character itself seems like a Faith rip-off. I don't care though when the character receives multiple pool scenes. The actress caught me eye from the very first frame she appeared in two weeks ago, and more so tonight. During my after episode research, I discovered Margarita Levieva was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. My fondness for Russian women's well-documented and I wasn't surprised that she's a Russian woman. Indeed, if the opportunity presented itself, I'd court her. I digress. Fake Amanda and Jack Porter had a connection. Jack Porter's a wise man to pursue this girl. Sure the character's a potential sociopath who feels completely okay after murdering someone but she is a damn fine looking woman.

I missed who received the writing credit for the episode. The very talented Bobby Roth directed it.

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