Episode 1.8: Treachery

Spoilers!

For some reason I didn’t enjoy this episode as much as I have the others. The glaring looks and the dramatic orchestrations were just getting on my nerves. I also kept wondering how I was going to write about two people who have switched identities without confusing people. Revenge is not making my job easy.

On the other hand, my husband thinks I didn’t like it as much because I didn’t have to yell at the TV this week. He could be right about that one. Episode 8 was pretty slow paced compared to the others we’ve seen; I guess I can accept that since it was definitely prepping us for something more.

If you remember from two weeks ago, “Real” Emily is in the picture, she has just killed Frank, and seeks out our Emily. As always – total drama.

Our Emily gives Nolan a new little task. Don’t let “Real” Emily out of his sight. She doesn’t divulge anything about this girl and leaves to clean up the latest mess to fall in her lap. Nolan, of course, is suspicious and tries to get information out of this Emily but she keeps her mouth shut. Nolan spies blood on her jacket, and leaves her to her own devices when our Emily calls him to photoshop her face out of that New Year’s Eve picture that Lydia has seen.

Why?

Lydia is conscious! Rejoice! Conrad immediately wants him and Victoria to talk through what story they are going to tell Lydia when and if she remembers that Frank attacked her. (Her memory is not so good at the moment but the doctor assures the two that she should be back to her old self with plenty of rest and time. Yippee.) Victoria does the best thing (for herself) and has Lydia move into her Hamptons home while she is recuperating. Conrad’s not a fan of this. Especially since he is no longer living there anymore – according to Victoria. (Did anyone else love how Charlotte has no idea her parents are planning to live separately? This poor kid is such an afterthought… if she doesn’t have a complex already, she will.)

Meanwhile, Daniel decides he no longer should be working at the bar and he really took the job just to piss his father off. He tells our Emily he feels bad about the state of his parent’s relationship and thinks he should see if that internship offer is still available. She thinks it’s a great idea. Tyler, as if you couldn’t guess, is not too thrilled to see Conrad super psyched to have Daniel back on board.

This, along with Ashley’s jealously of Emily’s money and lifestyle, strengthens Tyler and Ashley’s alliance to bring down the rich folks. “We’ve been playing way too nice”. I don’t know about you but I’m scared to see what Tyler’s vindictive side is all about, after seeing what he is already capable of.

As a huge fan of Jack and his awesome hair, I didn’t love the scenes between him and “Real” Emily at Nolan’s house. Jack decides it’s time to apologize to Nolan for dropping their friendship and conveniently, “Real” Emily is hanging out in a blood red bikini and eventually mixing him a drink called a Black Dahlia (typical). Our Emily interrupts the fun and after Jack (hesitantly) leaves Nolan’s awesome backyard (did you see that view), we learn that “Real” Emily knows all about the dreamy Jack Porter. Our Emily is not amused.

The affection between “Real” Emily and our Emily baffled me at times. Did you notice how “Real” Emily would give our Em these lingering touches? They hugged fiercely. “Real” Emily called our Emily the closest thing she’s ever had to a real sister. In the flashbacks, we see both these girls as youngins ready to tear each other’s eyes out while in juvy. The warden (who we first saw last week) appears and tells our Em she is smarter than most of the girls here, especially “Real” Emily. The warden urges her to befriend her (“there are better ways to deal with your enemies”), and get her to come to her side – that it would prove to be invaluable. (Later, our Em in a crimpy wig offers “Real” Em $500,000 for her “help”.)

I’m left to wonder if the warden is very much involved in our Emily’s plot and if she was the one who planted the seed for this whole project. I’m sure that is not the last we will see of her. Or, at least, I hope not.

Our Emily knows she has to get rid of “Real” Emily. She wants to set her up in her apartment in Paris and is going to find her a new identity (cause it’s so easy). “Real” Emily doesn’t want to go without her, but as we know, our Emily can’t just run off to Paris right now.

Back at Nolan’s, the bodyguard shows Nolan the latest headline on his iPad. Frank is dead. Nolan quickly pieces everything together and confronts “Real” Emily. Frank’s wallet falls out of her jacket. The jacket with the blood stain. Nolan does not want to house a criminal and calls our Emily immediately. She is all set with a new name for “Real” Em – Kara Wilkins which may or may not be the name of our Emily’s mom. My guess is that is untrue but our Em would do anything to make “Kara” get on the next plane out of New York.

Back to the Grayson’s. The police call Conrad to ask him to come down and identify Frank’s body. Much to his pleasure (I’m sure), Conrad is the one to tell Victoria that Frank is dead. The victim of a carjacking/robbery, the cops think. Conrad thinks the whole thing is a “relief” and Victoria looks like she is going to throw up.

Emily’s name starts to pop up a bit more. Lydia remembers she saw Emily in that New Year’s Eve picture, and Victoria remembers her last conversation with Frank… that Emily is not who she says she is. Like always, our Emily is one step ahead and has already replaced the picture with the newly photoshopped one. Victoria mentions Frank’s concerns to Conrad, who thinks the whole idea is ridiculous. What would Emily have to do with any of this? Victoria calls the cops anyway and they land on Emily’s doorstep.

Basically, they want to know where Emily was when Frank was murdered (in bed with Daniel) and she openly admits she left early in the morning to go to the fish market (she managed to pick up some fish while transporting “Real” Emily around). Daniel and Emily both find out that Victoria was having Emily investigated which riles up Daniel. She decides to confess her stint in juvy to the police (and Daniel), explaining that she was very messed up when her parents died, her foster father abused her, and she had to protect herself.

Daniel is pissed and doesn’t beat around the bush with Victoria. “What happened to you to make you feel so threatened all the time? Stay away from Emily. I love her.” And with that, Victoria is left in large house alone with Lydia, who has just overheard Victoria talk to Conrad about Frank trying to kill her. Lydia pretends to be asleep after hearing that conversation and Victoria steals her phone. What a mess.

And the biggest surprise of the night: Emily/Amanda/Kara is still in the Hamptons. Surprise, surprise: she is flirting with Jack again after hours. Simultaneously, Victoria shreds Lydia’s “outing the Grayson’s” speech from a few episodes ago and Emily is burning her mugshot. Afterwards that wily Tyler is piecing the speech back together and our Emily is planting Frank’s phone at the Grayson’s and returns to bed with a suspicious glare from Daniel.

I knew it wouldn’t be that easy to get rid of Emily/Amanda/Kara and I have a huge hunch that next week is going to be a very interesting episode because as we see in the previews, E/A/K is kissing Jack. Amanda/Emily’s Jack on the Amanda boat of all places. This breaks my heart in all kinds of places but I’m also starting to feel really bad for Daniel’s unfortunate spot in his charade. He really trusts our Emily, he loves her, and he keeps getting screwed over by everyone he knows. (And he may or may not be dead at this point, who knows.)

So here we are. Emily’s mission is once again halted by uncontrollable events, and who knows when all of that is going to calm down.

Lucky for us, we get a new episode before we stuff ourselves with turkey and cranberry sauce. See you next week for some more mayhem!