Revenge 4.12 “Madness”

Will David and Amanda Clarke escape The Hamptons for good? Or will someone stand in their way? In “Madness,” Malcolm Black sabotages the duo’s chance at a new life together. And they’ll have to do anything to escape. Even if that means teaming up with Victoria. We resume shortly after last week’s mourning of Daniel Grayson. This week, (we’re still mourning Daniel, boo) there’s revenge in the unlikeliest of places. Amanda/Emily takes a backseat in this episode after French widow, Margaux, hurls a vitriolic campaign to have Emily named as Daniel’s murderer. She later learns the truth, passes out, and is rushed to the ER (all ok, baby ok, moving on). We also have David Clarke’s revenge plot to murder former employer, Malcolm Black.

David stated that Black was worse than Conrad Grayson. Ouch. That’s like someone missing GWB as a president. Admittedly, I miss Conrad too. I don’t like Black as a villain. His accent is a bit off and he looks vaguely like a thin Mickey Rourke (never good). Black aside, this episode has way more revenge, action and intrigue. Be on the lookout for spoilers, as I’ll jump into the revengy ending we’ve got with this one. So many questions. Will Margaux find her justice? (doubt it) Will Jack get David Clarke to choose a GOOD path? (hell no) and finally, will Ben and Emily finally hook up? (we can only hope).

Back in The Hamptons, Malcolm Black has just killed the Police Chief, so guess that Grayson case is closed, right? And David and Amanda Clarke vow to “kill Victoria” this time, so that sets up a few different interesting angles for this evening’s revenge. We open with a flashback to David Clarke, when he was serving prison time for his “involvement” in the attacks on Flight 197. We find out that it was Mr. Black who stabbed David and took him under his wing as a free criminal agent. Then we’re zapped back to the current time at Queen Victoria’s cottage. At least we know 100% that David is merely messing with Vic and is plotting to kill her. It’s fairly obvious, at least to me, when David says, roughly, yeah let’s meet in Montauk, by the abandoned lighthouse…at night.

Ladies, when your man wants to meet you by a lighthouse at night, you’re gonna die. That’s like asking, “Hey are you going to walk to your car alone later?” Bodies in the trunk. So by the rules of Revenge, if Queen Victoria is to meet David, something will go wrong.  Queen Vic will show up for sure, but will David?

This is a very exciting episode as a lot of the loose plotlines finally get resolved. Specifically, we finally get that David and Amanda Clarke father-daughter moment we’ve been waiting for. David and Amanda finally hug and make plans to leave The Hamptons together. Obvs a plan made by both Clarkes is cursed, and not even Nolan’s hacking can help them. But it’s a sweet sentiment and gives closure to the “will, they, won’t they” plotline they’ve been dragging through the mud. David and his daughter are so close to starting over, but there are “loose ends” to be tied up. David has to kill Malcolm and Amanda has to sleep with Ben the cop (or at least talk to him). So they part, but there is some hope that David and his estranged daughter might finally get a chance to know each other as adults. Might.

In a different revenge plot, Nolan’s whack-job, ginger debutant, Louise is being…drugged?! By her Congressman bro? In her Xanax? Who would do such a thing? This is an awesome plot twist, with Louise and her brother at the dinner party. Nolan of course is ridiculously dressed and compliments Louise’s plump, retro look quite well. It’s shocking when Louise has more schizophrenic episodes wherein her dead mother is an apparition. And not just any apparition, one with emotional abuse and searing diatribes. But, it turns out that someone has been putting lariam, an anti-malaria pill in Louise’s Xanax (causing mood swings and panic attacks).

WHAT?!

Louise has been an amazing, high-functioning schizophrenic with a panic disorder. Now it turns out there’s nothing wrong with her? Wait, there is, she has Stockholm syndrome because her family tried to kill her and she’s’ not mad. That’s family, she basically says to a confused Amanda. WTF? Louise is great and it raises a lot of good points about mental illness. This show is never political nor does it purport to have a message. However, it can be read that there’s a statement being made about the overmedication of American society. Specifically with anti-depressants. Louise shirks it off, that someone has been spiking her Xanax and trying to kill her. The very pill she turned to in panic, ended up making her psychoses worse and could’ve killed her. I’m not trying to get soap-boxy here. It’s just rare that a show can show a slice of life so real and so pointed that it makes you think. It just made me think that Louise’s situation isn’t that abnormal. And Revenge touches on this, whether it means to or not. And it does it in a heart-breaking manner, much in the way The Leftovers does in Season 1 with episode 6, “Guest.”

And maybe I’ve been in D.C. too long but, I kinda believe her Congressman-bro would never hurt her. Statistically, it’s most likely to be her doctor. Either way, this links Louise to Black’s late daughter, Kim. Uh oh. Well Louise was BFFs with Victoria in the psych ward, so dangerous liaisons had to be made.

And now, SPOILER ALERT, ENDING AHEAD.

In the end, Amanda shows up to meet Victoria (aha! David didn’t make it). So what’s the worst that could happen? They both get tranq’d by Malcolm Black. Yes, they got shot with tranquilizer darts and drop to the floor. Who will save them now? Certainly not Jack Porter who botched a Malcolm Black arrest (um he controls the Feds, duh Jack). So does Ben rescue them and finally make Detective? See you next week with “Abduction.” Emily and Victoria “must work together, or they’ll die alone!”