‘Revenge’ Review: ‘Endurance’ Renews Emily’s Quest for Vengeance

In last week’s review of Revenge, I questioned if I was watching the show wrong because I was having such a difficult time rooting for Emily, even when she was at her most vulnerable. This week, I found myself impatiently waiting for her to get her act together when it seemed like she was just going to roll over and let the Grayson family win. So maybe my love for Emily Thorne isn’t completely gone after all.

Or maybe she is just the lesser of two evils at the moment because Daniel has officially reclaimed the title of the absolute worst and I want someone to beat that smug look off his face (I even mentally cheered when Jack did take a swing at him and I’m not one to take Jack’s side ever). But even though Daniel has suffered because of Emily (and Victoria), his ‘poor me’ routine hit a new low when he went crying to Sara about how his wife is a psycho, conveniently leaving out the part where he shot her (which was Sara’s first question). He so deserved this.

So now that we’ve established that Team Emily is better than Team Daniel, let’s talk about what happened in “Endurance.” Queen Victoria found a way to get the upper hand, and for a good portion of the episode, it seemed like Emily was just going to let her have it because she was tired of fighting and just wanted to run off with Aiden (okay, can’t blame her for that part). But then Victoria dropped a new bombshell on Emily, one that revived her need for revenge: thanks to her injuries, she’d never be able to have children.

Thanks to an assist from Nolan (more on that later), Emily managed to stop Victoria from learning the entire truth about her. Instead, Victoria was led to believe that she was just a grifter who had targeted them and she planned to let everyone in society know. But Emily took control and called a press conference where she announced that Lydia had been the one to shoot her and she and her husband were offering a hefty reward to anyone who had information. Victoria, Conrad and Daniel had no choice, but to watch in stunned silence.

It was a total BAMF move and for the first time in a long time, it was nice to see the smug look on Emily’s face again. Unfortunately, my happiness ended in the next scene where Emily broke the news to Aiden that she’d decided to stay and she didn’t want him to be a part of it. This was a little confusing to me because I’m not sure why Aiden had to get kicked to the curb when he’d been helping her the whole time. It doesn’t matter though because I hate this development almost as much as I hated what came next.

Remember the random nurse we met last week, the one who (ugh) kissed Aiden? It turns out that Nico is Takeda’s daughter (whoa!). Not only that, but she had been with Aiden after Daniel shot him and she was not amused to learn that Emily and Aiden were engaged. However, she had her own revenge scheme brewing because she wanted to find out who really murdered her father and make that person pay (Guys, things are not looking good for Aiden and I am not okay with any of this). Aiden decided to distract her with some making out, which was effective, but not something I care to see.

Speaking of my poor, traumatized shipper heart, it’s time to get back to Nolan and Patrick. I wanted to love them so much, but that’s not in the cards. After a harsh (but funny) make-up scene where Nolan mocked Patrick’s mommy issues, the two had a quiet night in at Nolan’s. Patrick attempted to get him drunk, but Nolan was actually downing water most of the time because he didn’t trust him. So Patrick went for Plan B and knocked him unconscious to steal the infinity box and give it to Victoria. Guess what? Nolan had already switched out some of the incriminating documents because Emily had warned him over the walkie-talkie Jack had brought her.

Patrick and Victoria had an honest moment where he reminded her that he came to town to get to know his mother, but they’d basically stayed in the happy phase and ignored everything else and he couldn’t do that anymore. He wants answers. Meanwhile, Nolan iced his head and told Emily that he planned to make sure Patrick knows who his motherreally is. I seriously hate that these two didn’t even get an entire episode of happiness. And I love both characters, but if I have to choose sides, I’m picking Patrick because he comes in the form of Justin Hartley (fangirl bias).

Then, there’s Jack and Margaux, who seem to have the healthiest relationship on the show. After Daniel talked Margaux into running with the story about Lydia shooting Emily, Jack told her the truth and Margaux put a halt to the issue, costing the magazine money. Once Emily gave her press conference, Jack decided that he was done and he told Margaux that he never should have gotten involved. I can’t believe I’m going to say this because I’m not really invested in either of them, but I really like them together. It’s nice to have one normal, adult relationship on the show.

Conrad didn’t have a lot to do this week and that should be a crime. But he did try to get Emily to come to him first when she remembered the truth. Since she didn’t, he had a Plan B of his own and went to Margaux’s assistant and got her to come to him before bringing the magazine to the printers. I have no idea what Conrad is plotting or who he is going to throw under the bus, but I will be waiting with popcorn to find out. Team Conrad.

Victoria has a new throne and sat in it as Emily lied about how she loves Daniel and she lied so they’d have another chance. Daniel was ready to call the men in white coats to take her away, but Victoria pointed out that she survived 25 years in a loveless marriage and they could make it work until they found a better plan. It was pretty funny because Victoria was so done with both of them at that point. And next week, it looks like Daniel and Emily will be trying to kill each other War of the Roses style. This could be good…

While some of the moments and characters made me unhappy, I liked this episode a lot more than I did last week’s. I still don’t see how Emily can keep this up long term now that no one trusts her, but I’m willing to hang in there and wait a little longer to see where it’s going. I look forward to watching her make Daniel suffer and I’m dying to know what Conrad is planning. I’m also anxious to see what’s going to happen with Patrick once he learns the truth about Victoria’s past.

Did you guys enjoy the episode? Whose team are you on? Were you devastated by the breakups or do you know better than to invest in any couples on this show? What do you think Conrad is up to? Hit the comments below and share your thoughts and theories with us before next week’s winter finale!