Revenge Recap: "Grief"

This week’s episode involved the usual heartbreak, secrets, catty one-liners, revenge plotting, but things took a surprise turn with the death of a beloved character.

Sure, a lot of things happened this week, but none as devastating as the death of Sammy. Aside fromCharlotte, Sammy is the last living link to her father, a gift he gave her shortly before their lives went to hell. It was also a tie to her friendship and love for Jack, and while I’m firmly on Team Anyone Except Jack, he and Emily broke my heart this week. May you rest forever in peace, you very puppy like yet extremely old dog.

It was looking bleak for Sammy as soon as he appeared in the episode and Jack was trying to get him to drink some water. Instead of staying at the bar, Sammy went back to his original home – Emily’s. She found the dog on her doorstop and called Jack, who rushed over and the two proceeded to cry over the dying in what has been one of the most heartbreaking scenes on this show to date. Anyone who has had a childhood pet knows what this like and when Jack talked to Sammy about what a great dog he had been and how much he meant to him, I was ugly crying all over the place. It striped Jack and Emily to the most vulnerable place they’d ever been, leading to a kiss that had been building all season. Little did they know Ashley was watching through the window. How long before she runs to Daniel? Together Jack and Emily buried the dog, and he was left wondering what happened now, but Emily said she didn’t know. Who can blame her after the day she had?

Before coming home to find Sammy, Emily had argued with Daniel about wedding plans and his family and set out to murder the man who killed her father. Nolan had followed the prison guard who murdered her father to a meeting with Conrad after Emily sent a video she’d recorded of her and Daniel sleeping to Conrad to make it look like a threat. It’s moments like that where I can’t decide if Emily is completely insane or just a genius. Unfortunately for her, Nolan intervened by sending her to the wrong address while he went to the man’s house himself and secretly installed a camera in the man’s cable box. Nice work, Nolan.

QueenVictoriareigned supreme throughout the episode, caving for her beloved Daniel at the last second. When the SCC had trouble finding evidence on Conrad, she decided to take care of it herself, and even managed to scareLydiaoff along the way. How classy of you to go back to your mistress, Conrad. It madeVictoriachasing her off with what was happening at the SCC even better.Victoriaknew Conrad well enough to know exactly where he was hiding the evidence against himself and everyone else – the phony painting he had gotten from her former artist lover. The moment whenVictoriagrabbed the scissors and cut into the painting was simply fantastic. Never get in her way – unless you’re Daniel Grayson, who told his mother she’d be dead to him if he destroyed Conrad. While I wish she would stop letting her Daniel manipulate her into doing what he wants her to do, I appreciate that she loves her son that much.

Meanwhile, Daniel hasn’t been too worthy of any love lately if you ask me. I’m still on the fence as to whether or not he’s playing everyone around him, including Emily. It seems his loyalty is to his family and the company. Giving Jack a million dollar check in exchange for keeping quiet reeks of Conrad and Victoria. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. The family loyalty I can support, but to his father and the company that destroyed David Clarke and committed acts of murder to keep it a secret – well, not so much. Add to Daniel’s newfound desire to have a front page wedding and use what should be the happiest day of his life to bring some positive attention and he’s suddenly not my favoriteHamptonboy anymore.Victorialooked as devastated as I felt when Daniel called his father and said he had the evidence in his briefcase. Here’s hoping that Emily gets a hold of that evidence when Daniel’s sleeping.

I get that Emily is using him, so using her in return shouldn’t be such a bad thing. They are means to an end for one another, but all those lovely dovey moments have to mean something, right? Emily appears to hope that Daniel will do what she wants – the right thing and go against his father and reveal what happened to David Clarke. And Daniel seems to be testing Emily’s love and how much she can take before she won’t stand beside him anymore. With the sudden veer toward focusing on Emily’s feelings for Jack, I can’t help but wonder if this is happening to make things more devastating for her in the event that Daniel does the right thing. It’s the kind of twist this show likes to give viewers.

Speaking of twists, the end of the show had a major one. First,Charlottefound Declan with a girl from school and misconstrued the situation, which sent her off to buy drugs. Looks like she’s going on a bender. Then, Jack told Declan that Sammy died and the brothers cried together. And after bragging to Emily about his video stashing prowess, Nolan was attacked by the crazy former prison guard from behind and choked until he was unconscious. Cue the panic attacks! Something tells me that Emily’s BFF is going to be just fine, but judging from the promos, those two are in some deep trouble next week.

Prepare yourself, viewers. The finale is bound to be a doozy.