Revenge- Retribution

"Death is a thief. It takes and it keeps all that a person is. Was."

There was lots of mourning on this weeks Revenge, following the death of Amanda Clarke. It seemed to take the biggest toll on Emily, who admitted that Amanda was one of the few people she actually loved. Many times it didn't seem like Emily was really that close to Amanda and was merely using her as a pawn in her scheme for revenge, but in the end she ended up being one of her closest allies. If one looked at the death in a positive light, it could be the opportunity that Emily wanted; a chance to finally be with Jack. Yet, after washing the blood of her best friend off her hands, she admits that she is getting back to the revenge at hand; no more distractions. The scariest thing about angry and vengeful Emily is that she admits she didn't come back to put these people in prison. That could only mean one thing? She won't stop until their dead. 

When Jack found out that Amanda was gone forever, that pain cut through the soul. Their love was short lived but they always say those are the ones that matter most. his quick recovery from surgery revealed his own plot for revenge against the Grayson's, which eased his pain a bit. Its as if he was carrying on his wife's legacy, no matter how much he was doubting her at the time.  As he admitted to Emily and Nolan, he found out the reason Amanda returned was because she wanted the Grayson's to pay for her father's death and he was going to carry that revenge out for her. Finding the key to the locker where the computer was hidden, he also found a lot of Amanda's secrets. For example, the fact that Emily and Amanda had actually known each other from juvie. This realization is definitely a lead in for the writers to allow Emily to tell Jack the whole truth. He's already doubting that he ever really knew the real Amanda and as much as Emily tries to sugar coat it, the truth is, Amanda was a fake; an impostor who acted out a scenario that Emily created and by chance ended up falling in love and having a baby. Everything for her was a lie and Jack didn't know the first thing about anything. Either way, it was sad watching Jack, whose always been a good guy, doubt the love of his dead wife. Things should never play out that way. He deserves someone good, he deserves an explanation and he shouldn't take it out on Emily who has done everything to protect him, Amanda and little Carol. Additionally, having Jack involved in trying to do Emily's dirty work is putting Jack in more danger, which is obviously a no-go for Amanda, even if she is laying off the whole relationship business for awhile. 

Aside from the funeral and Emily getting back on track with her original mission, not much happened in the episode. Emily's target is of course the Grayson children, which is the only real way to hurt Victoria. Daniel has caught on to the initiative and it seems like the writers are slowly trying to steer away from the idea of the initiative, which has started to loose much of its meaning. I mean, their just a bunch of people with cameras that threaten people to do what they want. Now that their leader, Crowley, is dead its time for the initiative to leave as well. Hopefully, the writers have an interesting way to spin this. Padma needs to be freed from the initiative as well. They have a tendency of hurting loved ones and its time someone brought the whole thing down. Maybe the takedown of the initiative will be the takedown of the Grayson's.  Conrad is continuing his run for mayor, trying to capitalize on the death of his "family" member and make good with Jack. 

The biggest shocker was at the end though. While Charlotte was trying to be a good-doer and find some of Amanda's friends and relatives to come to the funeral, she stumbled upon Amanda's step- brother. It is revealed in next weeks previews that Emily (aka Amanda) hasn't seen him for fourteen years. In this weeks episode, he finds his way to the grave and encounters Emily revealing his presence in town. Next week, we see him get close to the Graysons. We see Emily panic that he will recognize her and we hear him say, "Well don't you look good for a dead girl." Does this mean that Emily will finally shed some light on her real identity??

Seeing Amanda Clarke get buried, was kind of like watching a piece of yourself die. It had to feel like that for Emily as well. She vowed to throw away Amanda and become Emily forever and she has taken that to the extreme. She has attended her own funeral and laid herself to rest, in hopes that her new identity will let her get the revenge that the actual Amanda was looking for. It was sweet to see that the bond she had created with Emily was a ride till I die bond. When Amanda was buried, so were her secrets. But that doesn't mean that they can't resurrect. 


Memorable Quotes

• Emily: A greater offense is to let the guilty go unfinished. 
• Daniel: Exactly how much blood are you two comfortable with? Cause I've just reached my limit.
• Nolan: Why do I feel like this isn't what Takeda had in mind when he handed you guys your revenge degrees?
• Nolan: I'm life's pawn, I just live to figure out whose moving me next.
• Nolan: Regardless of how he feels, you can't take Amanda away from him. Not again.
• Victoria: David and Amanda were plagued by darkness.
• Emily: No more distractions.