Holidays tend to bring out memories and family tension in the most normal of families. So, heading into this special installment, one could only imagine what the holiday would conjure up for our favorite villain, Victoria Grayson.

In "Lineage" we learned that the duplicitous apple certainly does not fall far from the scheming tree.

Yes, the introduction of Victoria's awful mother Marian was just one of the many highlights from the latest flashback-heavy episode. Let's take a trip to 2006, shall we?

2006 was a time of new beginnings. Ashley had just arrived in New York and struggling to make her rent, almost resorting to a career as an escort. Daniel was a freshman at Harvard, dreaming of becoming a poet. Jack had finally gotten himself the boat, the Amanda. In a drawn out/semi-useless storyline, we found out that Kenny was invested in taking over the Stowaway because Papa Porter was involved in his father's death. But these characters were merely secondary to to everything else that was going on.

As mentioned above, we enjoyed a few Victoria flashbacks for the first time. Real, painful, childhood Victoria flashbacks, not just sexy sessions with David Clarke. Been there, seen that! I think this exchange between Victoria and her mother Marian, guest star Adrienne Barbeau, summed it up best:

Marian: Vindictive bitch!
Victoria: I learned from the best.

Simple and to the point. Satan's spawn has to come from somewhere, villains aren't just born out of thin air. I sometimes find moments of weakness where I feel bad for Victoria before she snaps back into her usual sociopathic mode. Tonight was one of those times.

How horrible to have a mother who tells you they wished they'd aborted you? She made a 15-year-old Victoria lie for her, shoot somebody and subsequently endure a court-mandated six months in a psychiatric institute. If that wasn't enough, when Victoria finally returned home and Marian's pedophile paramour made a move on young Vicky, Marian threw her out on the streets.

The Ice Queen kept her demeanor while she told her mother's newest suitor all about their past over Thanksgiving dinner. Little did we realize, the entire thing was a set up for Victoria to exact revenge on and humiliate her mother. At the end, an unusually supportive Conrad asked Victoria if she felt okay after her visit to the dark side. Had the darkness finally been lifted? Victoria said to ask her in the morning. Six years later we can confirm that Victoria is not done with the dark side. There's no such thing in breaking the cycle when you're involved in the game of revenge.

Meanwhile, west of the Hamptons in Manhattan, Emily and Aiden were trying to lift themselves from a different darkness. Emily was on her first Takeda mission where she met Ashley and saved her from a life of prostitution, though one could argue that sleeping your way up the social ladder is not all that different in principle. Emily also met the sexy Aiden. Before Aiden was enrolled in the Takeda school of revenge, he was trying to avenge his sister's abduction into sex trafficking. 

The twist here is that Aiden and Emily's families were both involved in the plane crash. Aiden's father was a baggage handler at Heathrow, a possible way for the bomb to have gotten on the same plane that David Clarke was notoriously blamed for taking down. What a small world, eh? Or is it more than that?

Can I just say that from the first second these two met I was sold on their chemistry? Holy hell, I'm so team Emily and Aiden, it seems like it's impossible there was ever another option. People claim Jack is boring, but I think Emily finds appeal in him because he reminds her of childhood innocence, the time when her life wasn't about exacting justice on terrible people.

I get it, but Emily is not that innocent girl anymore. Too much has happened. Besides, screw that when she can have Aiden! I loved when he called her by her real name in bed. He knows who she really is.

Lest you think I forgot about our favorite sidekick, Nolan's new beginning was taking Nolcorp public. Unfortunately this coincided with his breaking up with his boyfriend and CFO, Marco Romero. Nolan confided in Romero about his payout to David Clarke's daughter, making Romero a present day ally to Daniel Grayson.

One thing I'm still confused about is why Aiden is aiding Daniel in taking down Nolcorp. Nolan is Emily's friend, confidante, and sometimes helper. Why would Aiden want to hurt him? Is it the only way to help Emily advance her ultimate goal? After all, double infinity is really just a symbol for "a journey with no end."

What did you all think of the special Thanksgiving Revenge? Are you surprised that Victoria's mother was a monster? Did you enjoy how Emily and Aiden met? Were you interested in the Porter storyline at all? Hit the comments and don't forget to tune in to next week's Winter Finale!