Revenge

Revenge

Episode 8: Lineage

By: Carlos Uribe

Revenge is a show about Emily Thorne and her quest of revenge.

Spoilers Ahoy!

Revenge delivers a flashback episode with Lineage. The series had done a flashback episode in the previous season called “Legacy”. What did I write about it?

“It was technically good, but it wasn't very entertaining. It simply wasn't very interesting to see their lives in 2002, and the events that transpired could have easily been revealed in flashback segments. This definably seems like the writers are just wasting an episode before they could go back to the story that has us hooked. This isn't a bad thing-there's a reason Fringe writers use episode nineteen to twist the show's format around-but here's hoping they do a better job in the second season.”

Did Revenge do a better job with it's second flashback episode? Yes. It wasn't just technically good but quite entertaining on it's own right. Let's get into the review.

There is a lot of things that Lineage did right but I'm going to talk about the plot that really wasn't any good. That was the plot that involved the Porters. Jack and Conrad have both been involved in a plot where some shady guy manipulated himself into buying a share of their bar. The shady guy is running his own revenge scheme for something that their father had done. This flashback episode revealed what that was: Jack's father was involved in the murder of the shady guy's own dad. Why was Jack's father involved? The shady guy's dad was a gang member who was demanding money for protection. This is such a disappointment because the series had been promising that there was something dark in the Porter backstory. Revealing that Jack's father was involved in the death of a gang member is not really that dark. Making matters even worse is that Jack's father didn't even kill the guy. He merely was involved in the cover-up because it just happened to be his gun that shot him. The person who did it is Jack's friend. A friend I don't think we've ever even seen before. While involving the Stowaway in a long con game isn't a bad idea, the reason underlying it is weak simply because it's too scared to paint the Porter family as anything other than a perfect family with bad luck. It's this fear that always stops the Porter family from becoming interesting or having any decent stand-alone plots. The Stowaway plot ended up coming short of any expectations the previous couple episodes had been hinting about but it's no surprise that it's the weak part of the episode.

A decent plot of the flashback was with Nolan. He hasn't joined forces with Emily and he's leading his company into going public. He's also sleeping with his CFO at the time. This time it's a male. The two are happy together until the CFO learns that there's half a billion dollars missing from an account in the Caymans. He demands to know the truth and Nolan gives it to him. Nolan reveals that the money was being held for Daniel Clarke's daughter because it really belonged to her. The CFO is driven away when he discovers that the set-up investor of Nolcorp is a convicted terrorist. This ends not only their personal relationship but their professional one as well. This plot becomes relevant when at the end of the episode, Daniel is seen calling this old CFO up. Whatever his intentions are, it's not going to be a good one. It's also not good that the CFO knows the truth about Amanda's financial security. This flashback sequence was hurt as it was a little bit too similar to Nolan's current story. Padma is not only his CFO but his lover. The similarities grow because she had also found out about David Clarke's investment but she was at least willing to seemingly let it go. There's nothing wrong with setting up similar plots in flashback episodes but this was just uncanny.

A good part of Lineage involves Emily and Aiden. This season had introduced Aiden as a partner of Emily. Their relationship had been established in previous episodes. They were lovers until Aiden left her to pursue his sister. Emily felt betrayed and she didn't forgive him until a few episodes ago. They're back on friendly terms and are now working together. The part of the episode that takes place in the present day involves Emily showing Aiden her infinity box. It's a box that holds the truth to what really happened to her father and it's a symbolic way to let him in emotionally. She's not only allowing herself to feel for him but she's starting to trust him. The question becomes on just why the two had a relationship in the first place. This flashback episode answers that question. It turns out that Emily was the one who had recruited Aiden into Takeda's revenge school. She was on a mission to try and find Aiden's sister because there's some connection with the flight her father was accused of bringing down. He had his own plan that conflicted with Emily. In the end, the two united together to bring down the people responsible for taking their families down.

The best part of the episode and the one that really made it strong was Victoria's plot. This flashback episode serves as an introduction to Victoria's mother. Who was Victoria's mother figure? It was someone who was completely self-involved. This was a mother who always put rich men over her own daughter. It reached a climax when the mother framed her own daughter for murder before she kicked her daughter out because Victoria was molested by her last husband. This is a show filled with terrible mothers and Victoria's mother just took the cake. Victoria engineered her own revenge scenario on her mother by giving her the last hope to be with a wealthy widow before losing everything. It was not only genius but it helped to add a lot of extra dimension to Victoria's character. It should come as no surprise that she was willing to frame David Clarke for terrorism considering how her own upbringing had shaped and molded her. What's cruelly ironic is that she hates her own mother for putting herself ahead of her own happiness while allowing Conrad to do the same to Daniel. It's an irony that can only exist because Victoria doesn't know any better. She was raised by a heartless gold digger and that's who Victoria became at her very core: a woman who is willing to pay any price for the things she wants.

Lineage is a flashback episode that works because it not only had interesting plots (except for the Stowaway) but because it revealed something new about the characters and the plots. The relationship between Aiden and Emily is given an extra dimension that creates a bond for the viewer between them that didn't exist before. The Stowaway plot makes more sense now as it reveals the motivations of the antagonist. Victoria's character becomes a much more layered human being because of her relationship with her own mom. The Nolan flashback itself doesn't explain anything but it does lead to a new threat to Emily: someone who knows about her financial source.

Other Notes:

Charlotte is mysteriously missing in 2006. It's Thanksgiving and she doesn't even make a single appearance. Where was she?