Tuesday, April 08, 2014

My Review of Revenge's 3x18: "Blood"


Written by Karin Gist
Directed by Wendey Stanzler

Aiden (to Emily): “Thinking about the past doesn’t make for restful sleep.”

Okay viewers, this was an Aiden episode and actually pretty decent one as well. I know I am partially biased given that I like the character but aside from the continuing flaws that have been apparent with recent episodes, this episode did have some good moments though.

First of all we got some more insight into the death of Aiden’s father and the self-isolation of his mother when Aiden and Emily decided to visit Mother Mathis in Jolly Old England for the duration of this episode.

Of course by doing that, Aiden was forced into finally admitting to his own mother what actually happened to Colleen while clarifying some stuff on his father and a mystery character named Oscar Chapman (connected to Pascal – of course).

I have to admit, I actually liked Aiden’s mother, though the actress playing her had a dodgy delivery of an English accent on a US production (and there are plenty of US shows guilty of that), which was distracting at times but overall, the character was engaging enough and I didn’t actually mind seeing Emily almost take a backseat in her own scheme to take down Pascal for some odd reason.

Thankfully though with some vital information handed over from Mason Treadwell, at least both Emily and Aiden are that one step closer to actually removing Pascal from the equation and royally sticking it to Victoria as well. That in itself was something of a minor victory for the episode.

Speaking of Mason – long time, no see. His scenes with Victoria and Stevie certainly had their biting moments but his fake out death with the face cream from hell was a surprising move. I kind of wish someone had let Stevie in on it though considering that she believed she was responsible for Mason’s demise and succumbed to the demon drink once again.

I really hope this isn’t the last time we see Stevie though. The character has actually worked over the last six episodes and I do want some more scenes with her and Victoria as well. I also like that Jack’s first instinct upon seeing his mother drunk was to help her rather than judge her but even when drunk, Stevie picked up on Jack’s not so hidden feelings for Emily.

Speaking of which – I get the impression that Jack and Margaux won’t be playing house anytime soon. Last week, she was jealous of him and Emily and this week, the roles reversed with him being jealous of her and Daniel. Daniel’s shameless sabotaging of Margaux’s relationship with Jack might be fuelled with his own personal desire to get back at Emily but it also seems like he does have some feelings for her too.

A lot of emphasis was seemingly put into Daniel and Margaux’s history in this episode, especially with him persuading Pascal to have more confidence in Margaux. In some ways, it did remind that Daniel had a sense of decency but at the same time, shooting Emily really did put him in a corner as a character and it’s hard to root for him, even if he does actually care about Margaux as a character.

Also in “Blood”

Aiden had his own little Dexter moment by seeing his father’s dead body in the garage when he was a child.

Daniel (to Charlotte, re Jack): “And what if you’re blindly defending the man whose helping Emily demolish this family? You’d never forgive yourself.”

Charlotte and Javier have both turned on Jack and Nolan and are aligning themselves with Daniel. I kind of expected it but it’s still rather annoying.

Victoria: “You look well, Mason.”
Mason: “And you still lie elegantly, Victoria.”

Margaux (to Jack): “Daniel and I are friends. I don’t like jealous men.”

The sooner Pascal goes, the sooner the show can drop the purely contrived romance with him and Victoria and Conrad’s sniping about it.

Mason (to Emily): “Tick-tock goes the clock.”

Emily: “We’ve always been there for each other.”
Aiden: “Missed you too.”

Standout music: Fitz & The Tantrums “Out Of My League”.

Nolan: “I never thought I would say this but it’s good to see you, Mason.”

Chronology: Not long from where “Addiction” left off.

A better episode than the previous one but “Blood” still gives off the feeling that the writers are kind of coasting a bit until the finale. Thankfully though, at least by next week’s episode, at least Emily will finally have taken Pascal out.

Rating: 7 out of 10

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