Revenge is back on our TV screens and it feels so good. The show came back from a long, cold winter hiatus more explosive than ever with its first two episodes Duress and Infamy. I wanted to do a mini-recap of each but they were SO GOOD I had to include all the details. So this is more like a double-recap. Enjoy the extra-long goodness (is a that’s what she said joke out of line here?)!

The dream team.

Duress

Our first week back in the Hamptons opened with a super intense scene of the entire gang sitting at dinner on the beach and held at gunpoint by a manic Tyler. Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata is playing dramatically in the background until Tyler swings around to hold his gun directly to Emily’s head. The music swells and then we cut to “Two Days Earlier.” Welcome back, show!

Two days ago, Daniel mentions that Victoria is planning what is sure to be an over-the-top birthday for him. Emily, in her usual good girlfriend fashion, makes the suggestion that they do a low-key clam bake on the beach instead. Conrad shows up for a father-son chat wherein Daniel agrees to go back to work for him, so they’re all buddy-buddy. EXCEPT that as soon as Conrad leaves, Daniel calls his mom to tell her he’s perfectly positioned to help her get whatever she wants in the divorce! SNAP. Victoria tasks Ashley with helping to plan Daniel’s requested birthday, and the two of them act like baking clams is the most ridiculous, classless idea for a party they have ever heard.

Now Emily approaches Nolan by his pool to apologize. Their exchange is funny and dare I say heartwarming as Emily awkwardly tries to make things right. The thing is, she seems really genuine. Emily frequently pulls on people’s heartstrings, but everything she says is calculated and you can kind of see the wheels turning as she manipulates everything around her (Emily VanCamp, could I love you more?). She seems natural to me in this scene because she isn’t so smooth – she’s having trouble getting the words “I’m sorry” out, but eventually she does, and they make up and it’s really nice.

This week we also see Conrad and Victoria figuring out the details of their divorce. Victoria and super attorney Huntley drop a major bomb on Conrad when they claim that Victoria was pregnant when she signed the prenup, rendering it invalid having been signed under duress. Conrad’s reaction is something along the lines of, “Bitch, please, I’m the best thing that ever happened to your trashy ass.” Victoria’s evil smile is awesome. She later tells Huntley that she wasn’t actually pregnant, although Conrad believes she had a miscarriage shortly after their marriage.

So Tyler is more insane than we even knew, which is saying something. When Conrad gets back to work, Tyler is sitting at his desk and rambling and calling him “Connie” a lot. He reveals that he has evidence of Frank trying to kill Lydia and Conrad framing David Clarke. When Conrad later fills Victoria in, we find out that Tyler isn’t even enrolled at Harvard. They conclude that Tyler has planned to extort them since before they met him.

Back at Grayson Manor, Emily asks Victoria for help finding a photo for Daniel’s birthday present, naturally with ulterior motives. She mentions that Ashley has enlisted the help of Jack and Amanda for the party, letting Victoria know that Amanda is in town so that she can get rid of her. So that’s why she suggested a clam bake! Then she heads to the pool house to search for the camera containing the evidence Tyler is using against the Graysons. Damn, she’s good. Along with the camera, she also finds a bottle of – wait for it – anti-psychotics! With some investigation she learns that Tyler attacked his doctor and police are looking for him. Nolan tracks down Tyler’s brother, who promises to get there as soon as possible to help.

I'm cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs!

When Emily tells Daniel, he confronts Tyler right away. Daniel tells him to get the hell out of dodge and Tyler tells him he already has a plane ticket. He also invites Daniel to join him since they are best buds and all. I can never decide whether Tyler wants Daniel or wants to be Daniel. The scene is tense, and at this point I’m pretty sure he has people buried under his floorboards in San Fran.

When Emily gets back to her house, Daniel has her gun, worried about Tyler. Nolan calls and informs Emily that according to GPS on Tyler’s phone, Tyler is on his way to California, so Emily tells Daniel he can put the gun away. Unfortunately, Tyler knew his cell was being tracked so he shipped it ahead. When Nolan hangs up the phone Tyler is there. Emily has the camera on her mantle and Tyler sees the video feed. So now Tyler knows where the camera is and sees Emily and Daniel putting the gun away. Shit. He ties Nolan up.

We get this really sweet scene of Emily giving Daniel his birthday present. It’s a small album filled with poems that remind her of him, including one he recited to her on their first date. It’s painfully romantic and I want to believe that part of her really cares about him. But on the first page is a picture of the first day they met; a reminder that from day one, their relationship was orchestrated as a part of this master plan. That reminder makes the rest of it feel a little hollow and a little sad.

At the party, Ashley introduces everyone to Amanda. Everyone is kind of awkward and we get a flashback of Victoria and David on the beach talking about how they’re going to be a family. Victoria gives Daniel a scrapbook of memories of their summers together despite having been condescending toward Emily about the idea. Victoria and Daniel have huge smiles as they look through it.

"I’ve always seen you for exactly what you are: an impotent little misfit who’s gonna spend the rest of his life on the outside looking in."

When Emily goes inside for the cake, Tyler is there. She plays dumb when he questions her about the camera and calmly delivers an awesome speech about what a pathetic person he is and how everyone thinks he’s creepy and gross. This strikes a nerve and he goes for the gun. He follows Emily back out onto the beach at gunpoint. He tries to get Conrad to fess up to the David Clarke conspiracy but he won’t. This is when we catch up with the first scene. Emily looks terrified with the gun pointed to her head. But just in time, Nolan shows up with Tyler’s brother Alex in tow. Alex successfully talks him down long enough for Jack and Daniel to tackle him.

And so the police arrest Tyler. They find Frank’s wallet on him, which Emily slipped into his pocket during their confrontation. Nice touch. Nolan and Ashley bond over having the absolute worst taste in boyfriends ever. In the final scene, we are back at Grayson Manor and Huntley tells Victoria that he has found a doctor to manufacture documents proving she had a miscarriage, making the prenup null and void.

Infamy

The second episode after the hiatus doesn’t start quite as intensely as the first, but definitely packs a strong punch at the end. It is a fantastic Take Down of the Week episode.

It begins with Emily and Daniel. After the Tyler situation, Victoria wants Daniel to move back to Grayson Manor for the summer. He suggests that when the summer is over, they could move in together. Emily says that she doesn’t believe in moving in with someone until she’s married. This would almost be nice if it wasn’t Emily and we didn’t know it to be some kind of manipulation. I want to believe she is trying to maintain independence for revenge purposes and not just positioning herself to get engaged…but I’m probably being overly optimistic there.

Meanwhile, at the suggestion of her attorney, Victoria has encouraged Daniel to ask Conrad to release his trust fund. As the divorce battle rages on, Conrad is attempting to deny Victoria her stock in the company. As a fail safe, if Daniel is given his shares, the two of them combined could own the company. Conrad sees right through it. To avoid turning Daniel against him, he releases his trust but with the stipulation that his shares in the company will not be released until he is married or turns 30. He’s confident that although Daniel is with Emily, he’s easily distracted and will soon move on. He even tries to set him up with a sexy investor. But then Daniel sees right through that and reads the fine print of his trust. You see where this is going? Daniel wants to propose to Emily. All signs point to yes. Victoria absolutely hates the idea.

The target of this week’s take down is an author and biographer by the name of Mason Treadwell. We first meet him speaking about his book “Society Connections,” a biography of David Clarke. Emily introduces herself as the new owner of the Clarke house and a fan of his work. She also introduces him to Nolan. After his recent brush with death at the hands of Tyler, Nolan claims to be interested in making sure his story is told. Victoria is also at this book signing. She makes vague references to everything she’s done for Treadwill’s career and asks him to meet her later. When they meet, she requests that he interview Amanda under the pretense of wanting a follow up for his memoir so that he can find out why she’s back.

Later, Emily and Nolan meet Treadwell at his house to talk about the biography. He shows Emily and Nolan around his historic home, telling them all about it. He shows them the single copy of his memoirs – his life’s work. He also points out his collection of research interviews on video to Emily since she’s such a fan.

Back when Treadwell first started the biography on David Clarke, he was interested in uncovering the truth. David told him everything about the conspiracy. In one flashback, we see Treadwell interview Child Amanda. He asks her if she believes her father is guilty. She is hesitant and scared, and in a heartbreaking moment she tells him that she fears they’ll lock her away too. Treadwell earns her trust and asks her if she wants to help him save her dad. In another flashback, we see him confronting Victoria about her affair with David. He says that he will tell the real story because he has nothing to lose. Victoria senses desperation and exploits it.

I get back at my boyfriend by kissing girls in front of him. I'm the best girlfriend ever!

In this episode, Amanda is acting out because she’s pissed at Jack for having once had a crush on Emily. She does things like makeout with girls and flirt with customers at the bar to get under Jack’s skin. Jack is annoyed by this until Declan tells him he could do to loosen up a bit, so he decides to use the extra slutty tip money to take Amanda on a trip to Atlantic City. In Declan’s world, he’s feeling a bit intimidated by Charlotte’s fancy prep school, and worried she’ll be too busy for him when school starts.

Amanda also helps with the take down. She agrees to the interview with Treadwell. Emily admits that there may be more to her father’s case than she previously realized. She sends Amanda into the interview bugged and tells her exactly what to say. Amanda acts the part pretty amazingly. She gets under his skin and confronts him about why he never wrote a word about what she told him about her father’s relationship with Victoria. When Treadwell reports back to Victoria the message is loud and clear: Amanda remembers too much and is a threat.

Victoria is hosting a reading with Treadwell at Grayson Manor. He reads a new excerpt from his memoir about his interview with Amanda. For a moment, it sounds like maybe he is finally coming forward. Perhaps her words really got to his conscience. He is talking about Amanda’s suspicion that her father wasn’t guilty…but his reading ends with him reaffirming that he was. Nolan can’t believe he didn’t come forward but Emily isn’t surprised. She asks Nolan to keep him busy for awhile.

Nolan goes to dinner with Treadwell to discuss his biography while Emily sneaks into his house after they leave. First she steals all the videos. Then she takes Amanda’s lighter and sets fire to his manuscript, burning down his beloved home starting with his masterpiece. She leaves Amanda’s lighter at the scene, possibly implicating her in the crime. When Nolan and Treadwell return, Treadwell falls to his knees in complete and utter devastation as he sees everything he has worked for go up in flames.

Wow.

Just when you think the episode has reached its ultimate in epic, we get one last scene. Emily is watching one of the interviews. When Treadwell tells David that Victoria is denying their affair he looks genuinely surprised and crushed. “I guess they got to her.” Ok, then. He mentions that Victoria has a daughter, Charlotte. He tells Treadwell to get a DNA test…and find out who the father is. GOD I love a well-played twist.

I can’t wait for next week! What did you guys think of the episodes? Did you see the Charlotte is Emily’s sister twist coming? Do you think Tyler is gone for good? Let us know in the comments!