In this episode of our favorite found-footage program, the characters stand around and watch some found footage of their own! It’s flashbacks within flashbacks within a concept that’s coming apart at the seams.
Before the recap, let’s cut to the chase. There were two major revelations in this episode: first, Dr. Cole and Tess lost their first child, Alice. In the face of that loss, they began making Undiscovered Country, mostly just to keep their minds off their loss. To me, this speaks volumes about their characters.
The second major revelation also changes the way we look at one of the main characters: Lena set off the beacon that led the team into the jungle. She wanted Tess and Lincoln to take up the search again, to provide the resources necessary to find her own father. I’m beginning to wonder if she and Jonas deserve each other.
Editor: The tardiness of this post is my fault, not Estelle’s.
After last week’s fast-paced engagement/murder party and the fact that we have a whole month of March without any new episodes, I decided to switch things up a bit this week…
Ten things that happened on this week’s Revenge:
1. Declan is all of a sudden the smart one. I know, shocker. He’s dealing with the fact that Charlotte is starting to get super dependent on pills after finding out her real father is a criminal and her brother may be a murderer. Declan also catches on to the fact that Jack didn’t make it to Haiti because of “engine trouble” (unless that’s what Amanda is calling herself these days) and that he has a black hoodie a.k.a. “that creepy guy in the hoodie” (as Charlotte remembers him) before the two spotted Tyler’s body.
2. Daniel doesn’t remember anything about that night. Or so he says… he convinces Emily to take the dog for a walk (I think it was around midnight) so that he can dig through her floorboards and find out if Tyler was telling the truth. Was she playing him? His search comes up with nothing.
3. Courtney B. Vance (The Preacher’s Wife, Angela Bassett’s husband) is Daniel’s new lawyer. I I love Courtney B. Vance and he is one tough cookie. Mr. Brooks wants all the possible dirt he can get on Daniel. Emily tells him about Daniel’s horrendous car accident from the summer before, and Mr. Brooks is quick to corner Jack about Amanda’s whereabouts. Since Victoria loves to blame Amanda Clarke for just about everything she possibly can.
4. Emily and Daniel never got to open their engagement presents. Can you believe it? That psycho guy that held them at gunpoint was found murdered on the beach and they couldn’t find a spare moment? Crazy. Victoria is sure to bring over her gift to the couple as long as Emily promises not to open it. (Um, anyone else curious as to what it could be?) She also needs to know if Emily is going to stand by Daniel no matter what. Personally, I think Victoria was being genuine here or she has just mastered the subtle tear. (Favorite quip: perhaps your time in JD will become as asset in this situation. Awesome.)
5. Jack finds the receipt for Tyler’s ransom money in Amanda’s abandoned hoodie. He confides in Nolan, who tries to convince him to just forget Amanda. But Jack, and this is why we love him, is loyal and can’t do that. (I swear this whole thing is going to make him crazy.)
This week’s episode begins on day 22 of the search for Dr. Emmett Cole. It’s something of an anomaly because it begins with some foggy footage aboard the Magus instead of with the flashback we’ve become accustomed to.
As the team sails on toward The Source (or Jonas’ best guess of where it is), Tess has everyone on “visibility” duty to fight the fog. Jonas, who recently spent months hanging from a tree by his neck, thinks that returning to his breezy perch might be preferential to holding a flash light and keeping watch for obstacles on the water. It’s an odd tone for the character to take, and it feels completely unrealistic. Where’s the PTSD, the crippling fear, the inability to sleep?
During the night, with Tess at the helm and the rest of the crew watching the water, they see another ship approaching them. The team honks the boat’s horn, lights flares, waves their arms … and are eventually forced to run the Magus aground to avoid a collision. Except, of course, when the creaking stops and everyone is back on their feet, the other ship has disappeared. Ghost ship!!
This week starts with a flashback that’s much more recent: Dr. Cole is trying to cut the Magus free from the jungle vines, only to watch the vines grow back seconds after he removed them. On today’s Magus, there’s dissention among the crew. Without a… Read More »The River: Season 1, Episode 4 – A Better Man
Last night’s Castle was an exercise in changing opinions. While I was watching it, I enjoyed it. It was lots of fun with great twists. But the more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve been disappointed by it.
The episode started off with Castle and Beckett in the car that was pushed off the dock and into the water in the cliffhanger at the end of part one of this two part saga. As the water rose, they couldn’t get the doors to open, and Beckett’s seatbelt was jammed. Her gun had fallen on the floor, and Castle had to dive down to find it to shoot off her seat belt and then use it to break the windows so they could get out. Read More »Castle 4-16 Recap: Linchpin
I don’t know about you but I’m still reeling Wednesday’s episode of Revenge. It had a lot to live up to. We’ve been subjected to 15 episodes of flashbacks (and flashbacks in those) just to be brought back to the Fire & Ice engagement party. The party where viewers were led to believe that Daniel Grayson would not survive his engagement shindig… literally. Could the writers be that cruel? Especially after we have grown to care about Daniel and realize our initial impression of him as the party animal/evil spawn of Grayson was completely wrong?
Well, after much speculation, and in the final minutes of this long-awaited conclusion, we can breathe a sigh of relief as we see that psycho Tyler is the one with the fatal gunshot wounds.
You would think Revenge’s entire story would make a bit more sense after this reveal, but, no, of course not. Instead, we are left with more questions than answers. Again.
Please welcome back Melissa Sue Sorrells Galley with her recap of the 2nd episode of The River
Starting off with another flashback to 2002, the team is working on a show about sharks, specifically focusing on their penchant for eating each other. What a great topic to explore on a family show about the wild!
From there, we head into the present. The show has clearly slipped into a format: this episode once again begins with the team crowded around a table, using clues from Dr. Cole’s video tapes to determine where they should look for him next. This time, they’ve picked a cave somewhere in the mountainous region of the Amazon.
As they prepare for their trek “at least a day’s hike back into the jungle into hostile territory,” as Lincoln tells us, the show uses the documentary style to ask the questions we’ve all been wondering about: why haven’t these people run screaming from this expedition. Their answers don’t provide much insight.
Amazing, isn’t it, how during February sweeps Castle and Beckett manage to find themselves in a case that puts the balance of New York if not the entire world on the line and requires two episodes to complete. It’s now the third year in a row that this has happened. So shall we strap in for part one of the wild ride?
The episode opens with Castle learning that Alexis has taken on a third internship, but no one will tell him what it is. Immediately, bells went off in my head screaming “It has something to do with police work.”
We head out to the murder scene where the victim was shot and stabbed with a knife and pencil before being thrown out the window. As Castle quips, “Talk about overkill.” And it’s at the crime scene that Castle learns Alexis is interning with Lanie. While he puts a good face on it, he’s not happy because he likes to keep his police work separate from his family life. Alexis is loving it and Lanie seems to be enjoying having her there as well.
