TV REVIEW: Death Comes Calling in Revenge’s “Atonement”

We were promised a “big death” on tonight’s mid-season finale, and our favorite guilty Sunday pleasure delivered… big time. The bets were on with many putting their money on Margaux, Ben, or Louise. Those Revenge writers surely wouldn’t kill off one of the fan favorites, right? I have two names for you – Conrad and Aiden.

The pace was super frenetic with things moving so quickly there was no time for a quick “let’s make nachos” break. I blinked twice and had to rewind to make sure I didn’t miss anything. It was a definite “wait, what?” episode with a major character biting the dust or bullet and leaving us all sad that we won’t see that beautiful face anymore.

David and Victoria Live to Love (Fight) Another Day

“Atonement” begins with Victoria freaking out about Malcolm Black and his vendetta against David. She confronts lover boy (older man) about his big, bad, Black secret. He says he has it all under control.

“I need you to promise me you will not interfere,” David tells Victoria.

“I’ll do what’s best,” she says. That’s code for interfere, interfere.

Later, we see Clarke getting a drug that will take down an elephant or a Malcolm Black. See, he does have it under control.

In one of those “wait, what?” moments of the night, we find out the drug isn’t for his enemy but for his gal. He slips the poisonous powder into a tall glass of red, handing it to Victoria.

“Now I know I can finally be free,” he tells her before toasting. Victoria doesn’t take a drink. Instead, she confesses that she stole his computer twenty years ago and gave it to Conrad in the ultimate betrayal.

“Why are you telling me this now?” he asks.

“Because I love you. I always have. I was afraid. I was frightened of you.” She says she found out about the secret he was hiding about his wife, Kara. Wait, what? I’m so confused.

“You made me doubt you, and I hated you for it.” She says she’s so sorry and doesn’t deserve his forgiveness. He just stares at the poisoned wine glass, obviously confused too.

(ABC/Tony Rivetti)
EMILY VANCAMP, NICK WECHSLER

Emily and Nolan Live to Plot Another Day

Nolan investigates fed Kate Taylor because Emily thinks she’s a bad seed, and she might be the key to finding the elusive Malcolm Black. Nolan’s not all in, saying federal agents “hold grudges and warrants.”

He can’t find a Malcolm Black connection, but he’ll keep digging on that trusty laptop. Meanwhile, Emily breaks into Kate’s hotel room setting up all her Ms. Gadget stuff and runs into semi-super cop Ben on the way out. What a coincidence! He mentions the Kate and Jack love connection because he’s slimy that way. Emily looks upset, seemingly jealous of Jack’s new girl or maybe just worried about his safety.

Lolan Lives to Take a Selfie Another Day

Nolan and his new second best friend Louise make it past this mid-season finale to look gorgeous and take selfies at fancy parties next year.

Nolan heads to Louise’s yacht begging for forgiveness for his d-bag ways last week. The emails and texts garnered no response, so he figured the personal touch would do the trick.

He says they can be “the Wonder Twins of gossip.” Louise can’t resist that proposition, or his cute little jacket and shorts ensemble, adding, “Wonder Twins activate.”

Nolan throws a big party, showing up with Louise on his arm. They take a quick selfie because… priorities. Is there anything cuter than Lolan dancing, drinking, and sharing secrets? Uh, no.

(ABC/Tony Rivetti)
NICK WECHSLER, COURTNEY FORD

Jack Lives to Fight Crime (and long for Ems) Another Day

Emily tracks down Jack demanding to know if he’s seeing Kate Taylor. She spills the beans quickly, admitting she thinks that girl is bad news. Jack’s not hearing it. He finally got lucky, and goodness knows, it had been awhile.

By the time he shows up with Kate at Nolan’s big shindig, he’s willing to admit Emily might be right. He does say he wants a big fat kiss, I mean apology, if Emily’s wrong.

Kate Lives (for at least 45 minutes)

So who is this Kate Taylor? Federal agent? Malcolm Black mole? Jack girlfriend? We get all of our questions answered in “Atonement” although it’s a twisty, turny ride leaving us all “wait, what?” at the end.

We see Kate confront Victoria in the beginning of this one, asking about a “new piece of evidence.” It’s the picture of Emily that Victoria gave the Malcolm worker bee. Victoria turns the tables in typical Queen V manner implying that the agent is working for Malcolm Black. Victoria says she just wants to live happily ever after with David Clarke. Get your money from Emily and “leave us the hell alone,” she advises.

Next stop for the federal agent, Nolan’s party, where Kate corners Emily saying Malcolm is forcing her to work for him. “He has my mother,” she confesses. Wow, that was quick. And Emily didn’t even have to ask. They plan a secret meeting for later.

Kate and Emily have their big rendezvous, with the agent telling Ems about David stealing money from Malcolm. They want it back. Now.

“When were you planning on killing me?” asks Emily. Kate pulls her gun, saying after they got the money but “plans change.”

“So the mother story was a lie?” asks Emily looking pretty calm for a girl with a gun on her.

Sort of. She is with Malcolm but apparently because he’s her father. Wait, what? Emily isn’t concerned at all. Oh, Kate, you don’t know who you’re dealing with. She shoots but the gun is empty. Girl fight! Hefty stunt doubles battle it out. Emily finally kicks her ass, knocking her unconscious. She goes for the gun, but the agent just won’t stay down. They fight again, this time all the way up the stairs, so they can fall through the bannister. Emily’s hurt and can barely move, but don’t you worry about her. The cavalry is coming.

Daniel’s Atonement

Daniel has a couple of realizations in this one, continuing his two week trend of making more sense than anyone else on the show. Demily’s made a comeback with the pair finding themselves in an elevator and at a bar with cute banter in the past few episodes. They end up together at the end, if only for a few minutes.

We see Danny trying to make up with Margaux in “Atonement.” Daniel tells Margaux to slow down with her “delicate” position. She’s not taking him back so quickly, storming off to the office not believing a word he says.

Daniel blows off some steam by hitting golf balls. He flashes back to a talk with dear old dad. Conrad’s hitting balls on the beach and doling out that Grayson wisdom.

“This world is made up of gods and insects… don’t concern yourself with the well being of ants.”

We see Daniel holding a letter written for dad, but we don’t get to hear what’s in it. Yet.

Later, Daniel’s sad and alone in his room. He gets a text from mom urging “meet me now.” He does, looking depressed, confessing to mom that Margaux might be right… he’s changed. He goes through a laundry list of his wrongdoings, even admitting “I shot my ex wife.”

(ABC/Tony Rivetti)
JAMES TUPPER, EMILY VANCAMP

“You manipulate everyone, “ he tells mom. He says they’re cowards, and he wants to teach his child to be better than that. If he gets the chance… wait, what? Is he not getting the chance? The minute I saw the first Daniel flashback, I thought he might be the one dying tonight. Flashback combined with sad face = death?

Flash to the present with sad Daniel at the beach, reading that letter to his dead dad. We still don’t know what it says. His phone rings, and it’s Margaux.

“Daniel, are you okay?”

“No, I haven’t been for a while.”

Margaux says she was wrong, please come home. He smiles looking like he’s ready to be a daddy.

Not so fast… back to the big Emily/Kate karate-kicking showdown. Emily’s down, and who shows up to save her. Our poor, little rich boy who’s both loved and hated Emily, probably simultaneously.

Daniel rushes in to help Emily, but she tells him to “Run!” Of course he doesn’t, you usually have to repeat instructions to him twice. Evil Kate shoots him several times. Wait, what? This is the big death? A little death follows when Kate’s shot in a “who cares” moment. Back to the big death…

We finally get to hear that letter to Conrad… Daniel’s voice says, “Dear Dad, My whole life I was told sacrifice was for the foolish… There is no such thing as destiny. I now know we write our own endings and we can either choose to hide as villains or choose to live as heroes…”

Emily’s crying. We’re reaching for that Kleenex too. Yes, one of our originals is dying tonight. Revenge already got a few degrees cooler without the hotness of Aiden. Now we’re losing Danny?

Ems says, “I want you to know it was not all a lie.”

“I know, I know,” he replies and closes his eyes on all us Revengers for good.

Josh Bowman as Daniel Grayson. Image © ABC

Oh, Josh Bowman, what a wonderful ride it’s been. You made us love your drunk, frat boy, car crashing ways in the beginning of Revenge, made us feel for you when you gave your heart and puppy dog soul to Emily, and made us hate you when you got your revenge and shot little wifey in the gut. We felt your pain on so many occasions even when you were being full Grayson evil. Now, we’ve come full circle, and we love you again. That letter, that save of Emily. Sadly, there will be no redemption for Daniel, just the atonement for his sins.

Now, we wait for January when all our faves come back. Well, all our faves except beautiful, twisted, good, bad, then good again Daniel Grayson. It looks like Victoria’s one little string of humanity is gone, and it’s going to be a David/Victoria battle to the end. Let’s hope Emily can slip on that hoodie, break out the Sharpie, and finally, finally get her Revenge. Now, she’s got dear old dad to back her up, so what could go wrong? Wait, what?

See you back here in January for the second half of this season’s Revenge!