TV REVIEW: Poker Faces & Secret Aces in Revenge’s “Addiction”

How deep do Pascal LeMarchal’s secrets go? What is the significance of the letters “TWM” and how will Emily keep the sharks at bay now that both Victoria and Daniel Grayson are actively pursuing her?

These are just some of the questions Revenge attempted to address in last night’s episode “Addiction.”

With just a handful of episodes to go before the season finale, the remaining plot pieces on the board are starting to show their significance, and what better way to illustrate those escalating stakes than in a game of high stakes poker between Emily and Victoria?

This really was Victoria’s episode. Despite an opener which saw her angrily (and perhaps typically) returning a painting (The Fortune Teller by Georges de La Tour), we gradually saw the former Mrs Grayson clawing her way back into a position of real power over the course of the hour, culminating in a subtle deception during a game of Poker. (Was this Poker for dummies, Revenge writers? No Straight Run? No Full House? Did the audience so patently need to be shown that three Aces beats three Queens? Never mind, we forgive you. It was a great moment.)

I have always maintained that Victoria is and should remain Emily’s most significant threat. Although recent episode themes surrounding Grayson manor, handsome Patrick and squabbles with Conrad have side-tracked her from really taking center stage as the show’s true villain, losses on Vicky’s part have now refocused our attention on her potential. By allowing Emily to win, Victoria managed to hide her own hand, leaving Emily to almost fall into her trap. Had it not been for that bug in Pascal’s office, who knows how this scene might have played out? It’s not like Emily to miss a beat, but Vicky Harper has never looked more formidable.

With strong allies in Pascal and Daniel, Victoria is looking more and more intimidating as we head into the final five, and frankly, there’s a bit of a dangerous season one buzz about the whole thing I can help but love.

Is it worth mentioning that the painting Pascal so thoughtfully borrowed from the Met depicts a young man being taken advantage of by a poker-faced young woman who expertly and secretly cuts the strings on his purse and manages to steal all his money while his fortune is read by a gypsy? A subtle nod to Victoria’s perception of Emily and her son, perhaps?

Speaking of which, trigger happy Danny – practically stewing in vitriol in recent episodes – is now openly attempting to run Emily out of town. His ploy? To hurt not only her, but her friends too, and despite his assurances to Charlotte not to involve Jack Porter, the episode clearly showed that Daniel can lie with the best of them. By the time the credits rolled, Daniel had managed to sow the first seeds of doubt in Margaux’s mind concerning the nature of Jack’s friendship with Emily. While Danny is no Victoria, he does have the ability to shatter the delicate peace in the lives of Emily’s friends. Hands off Nolan, Danny. Our favorite whip-smart reclusive billionaire has been through too much lately!

With the sharks circling, it was no surprise to see Emily reaching out to former lover Aiden, now drinking his life away in a grubby little beachfront bar in Bermuda, but managing to look like James Bond while doing so. Yes we all know that the fabulous Barry Sloane is leaving the show at some future point for ABC’s alien drama The Visitors, but Aiden still has some interesting story left to tell (Take next week’s episode “Blood” for example) and I for one am going to cherish every unbuttoned white-shirted, stubbled, tousled-haired, British-accented scene he’s in.

Although some of us Revenge veterans wondered if the letters “TWM” might possibly stand for The White-Haired Man” Aiden made a spectacular end-scene return to the Hamptons – but not for you Emily, he hastened to add! (Yes Aiden we believe you!) to reveal that the letters on Pascal’s incriminating notepad actually stood for Trevor Warren Mathis, Aiden’s Dad, and the other innocent man involved in the downing of flight 197.

It looks like the murky waters surrounding Adien’s father are set to be shaken but not stirred in next week’s episode.

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