Revenge Review: The Thin Line Between Love and Hate

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We might be taking an extended break from Revenge because of the Winter Olympics, but tonight gave us more than enough to chew on until Emily Thorne and company come back.

Emily, Daniel, and Sara. Jack and Margaux. Victoria and Patrick. Niko and Aiden and Emily. And the blackouts! Waking up at the Southfork! WHAT?

Revenge Season 3 Episode 13 was full of twists and turns and cliffhangers to keep us eager for the show to return.

Will Emily Take It?

First thing's first, Emily Thorne is a badass

It's not like we didn't know this already, but you guys, that opening scene? She just...cauterized her own wound. With a fireplace poker. Straight out of the fire. 

Maybe she's just completely insane. And maybe Niko is equally as insane for going along with it, albeit with some prodding. Yikes!

It's a good thing Daniel doesn't know about the at-home cauterizing or he would realize the lengths to which Emily will go to win once she's set her mind to something. Or maybe it would solidify his belief that she's crazy. Or both.

Daniel's really turning out to be the villain of the season. After years of Victoria and Conrad being the villains, and then the Initiative, Daniel's definitely being made into the antagonist, and he's rising well to the challenge. I actually think I prefer seeing Daniel play this darker character than the person he was in Revenge Season 2.

At first, Daniel was caught in the crossfire of Emily and his parents. He was a means to an end. Season 2 Daniel was a bit of a whiner who got in over his head. 

This Daniel? This one deserves every shred of vengeance Emily Thorne exacts upon him. And whatever Conrad can throw at him, too.

Taking the magazine? Yes. Go, Conrad! I almost high-fived Margaux for selling, not because I want to see steam pour out of Jack's ears when he finds out, but because Daniel shouldn't get to drag Margaux down with him. (Okay, and maybe a little because of Angry Jack. A little. Because you know this will cause trouble for Jack and Margaux and their happily ever after fantasy.)

Daniel doesn't realize that he 1) is a cold-blooded attempted murderer who shows no remorse for any of his gunslinging, or 2) that he made Sara a pawn in his game with Emily by bringing her into Grayson Manor and parading her around to "rub Emily's nose" in the fact that their marriage is a sham and it's her fault. Sara didn't even realize it, and she's typically pretty good about recognizing that stuff. 

That's okay, though. Sara's mom was there to set her daughter straight. And Emily was completely right that nothing was wrong between she and Daniel until Sara showed up again. I wonder what would happen if she found out that Sara's reentry is actually Charlotte's doing.

Is that the end for Sara and Daniel? No, probably not. But it's the end for now, and I'm not complaining. Sara hasn't been my favorite part of this season, though she has served a purpose, I suppose. 

As has Patrick.

While he also hasn't been my favorite part of this season, tonight he was, if for no other reason than because he really humanized Victoria.

It's always been clear that Victoria is calculating and that her cold nature comes from a place of protecting herself. Now we know a little more about why that is. After her mother kicked her out (after Victoria took the fall for murder for her mother) she was raped and that's how she became pregnant with Patrick.

There was something about watching her tell Patrick the truth that actually made me feel bad for her. She doesn't seem like the hugging type, but man, Victoria needed a hug.

Instead Patrick burned down her art gallery, so that's probably not winning him any points with mom.

Speaking of "mom," the sticking point for Emily continues to be that she can't have children now. That's the fuel for this leg of her revengenda and Daniel Grayson has no idea what sort of wound he opened up when he told Emily that sterilizing her was the best thing he could have done for the world.

AHHH!!! I hate him! Rage.

I also sort of hate Aiden. 

Emily broke off their engagement, yes. It was abrupt and unexpected. Sure. I'll give him the first time he slept with Niko as a freebie because he was devastated and she was there and he wasn't thinking clearly and one thing let to another. It was Scorn-Sex. 

But the repeated boot-knocking Nolan relayed to Emily? Nope. He's not getting a pass on that now that he's all "must protect Emily." Sorry, Aiden. It doesn't matter how crazy Niko is, and she might be certifiable, you don't get to sleep with her around the clock and then try to woo Emily back like nothing happened. Even if you do think she came to you during her blackout spell because she clearly can't get you out of her mind.

Way to make it all about you, dude!

Aiden was the first to discover that something isn't right with her, but neither of them knows that she's losing time. It's not even clear if Emily understands what's happening to her, and she definitely seemed like a different person when she woke up standing in Nolan's house. 

And she had to be a different person to sleep with Conrad Grayson, if, in fact, she did. There's no way Emily was in her right mind when she did that. Right? 

Did she do that?

What is happening to Emily??

What did you think of Revenge Season 3 Episode 13? What IS happening to Emily? Do you love or hate this Daniel? And the best question of them all, did Emily sleep with Conrad??

Hatred Review

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Miranda Wicker was a Staff Writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in 2017. Follow her on Twitter.

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Revenge Season 3 Episode 13 Quotes

If you're trying to build a bridge between us, Emily, here's a tip--stay on your side of the river.

Victoria

Emily: When I was a child, my father woke me every morning with the same phrase: 'Life is a great sunrise.' The words shaped the way I saw the dawn, but after my father was taken from me, the morning sun burned like fire. That's when I learned what hatred was, and that it would greet me each day to come.