Revenge Recap: “Illusion”

by Jessica Grafer:

Revenge Recap: “Illusion”
Original Air Date (ABC): Sunday November 4, 2012
Season 2 Episode 6

Things are definitely coming to a head on Revenge.  This episode opens with Emily talking about how you can live in a world of comforting illusions.  We can allow ourselves to be deceived by false realities or use them to hide.  I think this is a very good point.  All too often we allow these deceptions because they make things easier.  Things aren’t getting easier for Emily.  Just more complicated.

Emily and Amanda are going over her scar removal surgery.  Mason’s fed a line of how a nice wealthy person footed the bill for Amanda to have her scar taken care of.  He believes the story and feels bad for Amanda.  I like Mason.  I’m afraid he’s going to end up on the wrong side of someones’ very big stick.  He pokes his nose in places he shouldn’t and fears no one.  Emily’s story now has Mason on a trail that leads to the Grayson’s and is somehow going to bring himself down in the bargain.

Victoria is at her dressing table.  She pulls out a picture of David at prison.  It’s clear that despite her devious ways she really did love David Clarke.  I wonder if Victoria was always a nasty person or if this thing the Initiative did to bring down David made her this way.  Kara comes in while Victoria is looking at the picture.  She’s trying to pump Victoria for information about Murphy.  She gets little except that he was an evil man.  When Victoria talks about how evil Murphy was you can see the anger and pain in Kara’s eyes. Speaking of true love, it’s clear Kara found it with Gordon Murphy.

Emily calls Aidan and wants the gun he used to kill Murphy.  He says she’ll get it but only if she goes to the Grayson wedding with him.  I’d go with Aidan anywhere he wants just saying!  Emily agrees to go and has Aidan meet her where she has Murphy in deep freeze.

Daniel is trying to get more info on the David Clarke files.  Legal says they can’t get them.  They were all seized by the government back in the day.  Ashley says, just invite Nolan to the wedding.  Try to see if you can suss out his motives.  So Padma and Nolan are going to the wedding.

Emily goes to see Kara on the beach.  Kara is a beautiful artist.  They talk a bit about the Grayson’s and Kara says not to worry.  People like them always get what’s coming to them.  Curious.  I bet Emily really wishes at this point she could confide in her mother.  Ah well, it’s not to be.

Charlotte lets her mom borrow a necklace they gave her for her sixteenth birthday.  It’s the borrowed and the blue.  Very sweet.  Then Charlotte drops the bomb that she’s not going to the wedding.  She just can’t lie in front of all those people.  Instead Charlotte is going to help Declan and the reopening of the bar.  Way to go Charlotte!  Don’t let those people, even though they are your close family bring you down to their level!

Emily meets with Nolan.  She doesn’t want them going to the wedding.  I don’t think she gives Nolan enough credit.  He’s pretty smart.  He wants to go so he can tell if Padma was doing that digging on purpose or if it was a terrible mistake.  While Emily is there Mason calls and would like to have a number traced.  Nolan does it and gets Mason on the road to discovering Murphy.  Emily says this is the “beginning of the end of Mason Treadwell”.  I really like Mason so I hope it’s not as bad as Emily is making it out to be.

While everyone is having fun at the wedding Kara is snooping through Victoria’s stuff and sees the picture of David.  It still burns her that he loved Victoria and she him.  Even though Kara’s found love with Murphy the hurt from the betrayal of her husband is still there.

Mason goes to a trailer to talk to Murphy.  He finds him dead on the floor and surprise the cufflink that Conrad was looking for earlier is on the floor.  While the cops crawl all over the Grayson mansion Mason calls Victoria and gives her a heads up.  Victoria marries Conrad knowing that shortly he’ll be arrested for murder.  Right before the wedding Conrad gives Victoria a gun as a wedding gift.  He tells her if he can’t be there to protect her, he wants to know she’ll be able to protect herself.  Oh Conrad, so romantic!  Ugh.

I love Victoria’s black bouquet as she walks down the aisle.  At first I thought she might not marry him but now I see her reasoning.  She has a very scary smile on her face as they tie the knot.  While they’re dancing Conrad tells Victoria he wants to just blow this pop stand and head out to St. Barts.  Victoria would like to wake up tomorrow at home, with family.  While they are partying it up the cops are putting all the carefully laid out pieces together at the Grayson’s.  Mason looks like he can’t believe his eyes.  I wonder if he’s thinking it looks a little too staged.

Elsewhere in the Hampton’s it’s reopening night at the bar.  Kenny is trying to push Declan’s buttons and get him to do more bad stuff.  Declan is standing his ground.  Kenny forces Jack to discontinue business with his supplier.  Mick is not happy and tells the boys that their father would be very disappointed.  He also makes a comment about how he hopes the boys know who they are getting in business with.  Kenny is pretty sketchy.  The bar is hopping with a packed crowd for the reopening.  Jack makes a public thank you for everyone who’s come out to the bar and to their new partner, Kenny Ryan for all his help.  After Kenny hear’s this he looks like he feels a bit guilty for however they’re going to take down the Porter’s.  Maybe he won’t be able to go through with it.

Back at the wedding everyone is still blissfully unaware about the happenings at Grayson Mansion.  Daniel is talking to Padma about the records she was trying to get.  Padma tells him not to worry, she doesn’t need them anymore.  Then Emily comes and sends her off to Nolan.  Daniel asks Emily to dance.  Aidan asks Ashley to dance.  Ashley is surprised that Aidan and Emily came together.  She makes a point to say it’s almost as if they’ve known each other forever.  Aidan and Emily need to keep an eye on Ashley.

The cops come to arrest Conrad in the middle of his reception.  He immediately thinks it’s Victorias fault.  Nolan talks to Padma.  She didn’t realize what a can of worms she opened until after she did it.  Unfortunately now that it’s opened, you can’t just close it.  Nolan says he’s not mad he just wants to know how far she’s willing to go to protect them.  I feel really bad for Padma.  She’s such a genuinely good person.  To be put in this position is just awful.  I hope Nolan doesn’t ask anything to dreadful of her.

Victoria goes to see Conrad at jail.  He still believes she had something to do with it.  Victoria thinks it was the initiative.  She blatantly tells Conrad, in front of the two way mirror, that he sealed his fate when he helped those people do those reprehensible things to David Clarke.  I was super surprised she said this.  Did she want the cops to hear her?  Does she want it all to come out because that way she can be done with the lies?  Curiouser.

Word is spreading quickly about Murphy’s death.  Kara looks like she’s about to faint when she sees it at the bar.  Mason is at the Grayson’s and Victoria throws him a nice nugget of information with out meaning to.  She tells Mason that Emily is just a juvie girl.  Oh, Masons wheels are a turning!  You can almost smell the smoke.  Daniel calls Aidan and wants a board meeting scheduled for Monday to get a vote of no confidence in his father.  Daniel is ready to take over.  Declan comes to be with Charlotte during this tough time.  She tells him the only time in the past year she can remember being happy is when she’s with him.  I love the idea of the two of them together.  Somehow I think someone will mess it up.  Kara comes to see Victoria and looks wasted.  I thought she was actually going to push her off the balcony.  Murphy was going to retire after this job and they were going to go away together.  This is killing Kara.  Later while Victoria is trying to sleep she hears a noise.  She quick grabs Conrads wedding present from under her pillow.  I think Kara scared the crap out of her earlier.  It’s Conrad.  The Initiative paid him a visit in jail.  They’ve paid his bond.  Conrad doesn’t know what price is yet, but he knows it’s probably more then he can pay.

Jack has the boat beautifully decked out.  Amanda and Carl come out for dinner.  Jack wants to make Amanda feel secure and stable.  He asks her to marry him.  Yes!  She said yes!  I just don’t know how Amanda can lie to him forever.  I wonder if before they get married, she’ll have to tell him the truth.

Aidan didn’t like Emily’s dance with Daniel.  He tells her he has changed.  You can tell Emily wants to kiss him but she tells him to leave.  He says ok, but he’s not giving up on her.  Despite his conniving, Aidan seems like a sweetheart.

This episode ends with Mason connecting the dots literally with pictures in his room.  As he stares at Emily’s picture you can tell he’s realizing that she is the real Amanda.  I can’t wait to find out what happens next.  Although I fear my friend Mason may not be around long if he lets this new find of his out.

Jessica Grafer has loved the “darker” things since she was old enough to pick her own books. She is a contributor for DarkMedia who will be covering Revenge and 666 Park Avenue. She loves to walk the book store shelves and pick up whatever catches her eye. She is a movie lover with a great range in her tastes, and appreciation for all genres. Jessica is a writer and has several things in the works. You can follow her quirky Twitter posts at @scarletbe and check out her blog.