As much as we love this salacious show, we've got to admit that up until this point, Revenge has been a bit tame. The biggest surprises have consisted of Nolan's unnecessary corporate side plot and a new actor taking over as Takaeda without explanation. The British guy, who we've since learned is named Aiden, was a bit out of the blue, but it's obvious he's new romantic thread for Emily, so his presence isn't all that surprising either.
But here we are, at episode three, and we finally have a few things to make us go "Huh?" including the long-awaited appearance of Emily's elusive (and very alive) mother. But first, let's take care of this sexy new manfriend of Emily's.
Emily and The History of Her Manfriend
It was clear from the moment Aiden wanted to follow Emily to make sure "she stayed on course" that there was more to this story. These two had a history, and just as we suspected hoped, it involved romance. We jump back in time a few times this episode, to visit Emily's memories of Takaeda's School For People With Family-Related Vendettas, where she and Aiden trained (and made out on occasion). We find them navigating a maze with attack dogs of the extremely cute and not-at-all terrifying variety. Aiden cheats and wins their little race, momentarily causing Emily to spurn him until he kisses her and agrees to let her help him on his mission to find his sister. We later learn that the mission was not only a failure, but he left without Emily, leaving her to feel betrayed while Takaeda did an I Told You So dance.
Back in reality, Emily is furious that Aiden took out the man with a knife to her neck. Obviously, she’s upset that the information about her mom seems to have died with Voldemort, but she may be more upset that someone is wounding her pride by “babysitting” her. And that that person is Aiden, the man she trusted and who left her behind without so much as a word.
Still, they manage to work together for a second, taking items off of Voldemort's dead body and discovering his real name: Gordon Murphy. (He sounds like a guy who owns a string of a TGI Friday's restaurants, not a spy-assassin, so we'll stick with Voldemort for now.) As they try to figure out if Voldemort's cell phone can be salvaged, Aiden swears he's only there to help her. She doesn't believe him, and she's clearly growing weary of his sexy British accent, so she knocks him over the head with a wine bottle. When he wakes up in a dumpster with a one-way ticket to Japan strapped to his chest, he takes it upon himself to do a little recon of his own. Using the key he swiped off dead Voldemort, Aiden visits the motel he was staying at, where he finds a flight information recorder and Emily's mom. He poses as a police officer, but Emily clearly gets her distrust of all living things from someone, and Mama Clarke calls up the local police station to verify that Aiden was, in fact, a liar.
Later, Aiden demands that Emily trade the box of Voldemort's personal effects for the flight recorder box, and she obliges, with exception of his pocket-watch, which holds a picture of Emily's mother. From this (and the "I love you" voicemail at the end of the episode), we can deduce that Mrs. Clarke not only knows Voldemort, but is working with this man who was the architect of her husband's undoing.
Speaking of Dark, Handsome Men, How's Jack These Days?
He's not doing great. Everyone's favorite dock-side bartender is stuck with a woman he doesn't love because she's peskily carrying his unborn child. And to boot, his little brother is running around with his rich friend, Trey, stealing things from Hamptonites. Let's deal with the trouble-maker first.
Declan has taken the Charlotte route this season: go bad in a matter of seconds. Last week, we saw him regretfully "holding on" to Trey's step-mom's jewelry for a $500 stipend. This week, he's in full-on burglar gear, taking valuables off some rich man's desk with Trey. It took no time at all for him to go from doing his friend a "favor" to grand larceny. And it takes even less time for it to all come crashing down with a visit from the victim. Thanks to Jack's excellent mediation skills (a little "our dad died, give us a break"), the man says as long as Declan returns the goods, he won't press charges. The unavoidable "duhn-duhn-duhn" comes when Jack offers the guy a favor someday in return and the wronged man says he will, "Barkeep." The deliberate call to alcohol practically promises that this guy's favor won't be a free beer.
And then there's Amanda. After putting her through the ringer with the paternity test, the results came out in Jack's favor, and his guilt carried him through to this point in their relationship. But it can't last, and Emily finally found a way to drive a wedge between her playmate and Jack. When Jack finds that Charlotte, Amanda's "sister," gave them a $5,000 gift certificate to a baby store, Jack blows up and refuses to allow her to use it. It's pretty archaic of ol' Jack, but he sticks to it. Then later, when Emily asks Amanda to visit her sister and deliver an annotated version of David Clarke's journal during the Graysons' press event, Amanda does it even though it will make Jack furious. Of course, she isn't able to stay out of sight, as planned, because Victoria reveals the secret of her affair and Charlotte's paternity during the press event and calls Amanda onstage (and onto the television) as a result. Jack later tells Amanda he understands, but it's the final straw. He can be the father to her baby, but he can't be with her. Emily finally figured out how to break them up, and she didn't even have to do a thing.
Next: Queen Victoria's Royal Announcement awaits...