Note: Do not read on if you have not seen Season 1, Episode 14 of ABC's "Revenge," entitled, "Chaos."
After months of anticipation, we finally discovered the truth about "Revenge's" dirtiest little secret: Whose body was on the beach?
"Chaos" had so many twists and turns that for a second I really thought that I had no idea what was really going on anymore, and in true "Revenge" fashion, the last five minutes may have left us with more questions than answers. However, at least the season's biggest mystery was finally solved.
Daniel was not the body on the beach. Like many of you may have guessed, it was actually Tyler's body.
The shooter, however, remains unknown, and while the second half of the season will largely focus on Daniel Grayson's trial, I wouldn't be so quick to blame Daniel for Tyler's murder. After all, the murderer was obviously wearing a black coat, not a white one, and after tonight, there were more than a few targets on both of their backs. And what better way to seek revenge on your enemy than to sabotage their reputation and frame them for someone else's murder?
Just when I almost forgot about his existence, Tyler returned to the Hamptons crazier than ever. It turns out that he was the one who broke into Emily's house and stole her little box of secrets. And along the way, he also managed to kidnap Amanda.
He's holding Emily's box -- and Amanda -- ransom, but for psycho Tyler, it's not all about the money. You see, he wants a little revenge of his own, so he decides to kill Daniel and frame it on Emily. Unfortunately for him, he's not exactly enemy-free, especially after kidnapping Amanda. She may be annoying, but she's also fiercely loyal to Emily.
That is, until Tyler reveals to her that Emily framed her for Mason Treadwell's arson. And if that wasn't bad enough, she also blocked her true love Jack's calls. Now that seriously goes against the BFF code.
Meanwhile, back with the Porters, Charlotte Grayson is passed out drunk thanks to a night of boozing with Declan. I mean, the poor girl just found out that her real father is convicted terrorist. She definitely has the right to have a few drinks, especially if it somehow makes me care for her even the tiniest bit. Charlotte Grayson is pretty much the equivalent of paint drying, right?
After awakening from her drunken slumber, Charlotte heads to the bathroom to cure her hangover -- and by that I mean vomit. The girl is in desperate need of some mouthwash, so she opens up the medicine cabinet, and after a little snooping, she discovers something much stronger: Jack's pain medication. Uh oh. Is little Grayson going to try and overdose?
Speaking of Jack, it looks like he's thinking about heading to Haiti after receiving a message from Father Rick, who recently received a grant to build a grade school in Port-au-Prince. It turns out that he wants Jack to head up the project. Sure, it's a little random, but I'm more than willing to overlook it.
Back at Grayson Manor, H.B.I.C. (Head Bitch in Charge) Victoria Grayson lets Emily know just how much she doesn't trust her intentions, and after a few fake smiles and icy glares, she convinces Emily to talk to Daniel about repairing their broken mother-son relationship.
Meanwhile, Grandpa Grayson is one truly scary old man. He doesn't care about his family. The only thing he cares about is his company, his family's reputation and the millions it makes him. He forces Daniel to go meet with one of the company's most powerful investors, and just when you though he couldn't stoop any lower, it turns out that Grandpa would rather have Charlotte lose her mind than let the Graysons lose their reputation.
You know, I'm usually a sucker for TV grandpas, but there's nothing to like about Grandpa Grayson.
I'm also not a huge fan of Amanda. Just when you think Emily has out-smarted psycho Tyler, Amanda turns up out of nowhere with a little surprise for her former BFF. She's upset that Emily took away the one thing that meant anything to her -- and no, she's not talking about Jack. Amanda loves Emily. Now all of the not-so-subtle sexual undertones of that relationship make so much sense!
After turning the gun on her real true love Emily, Amanda frees Tyler and they ride off with the money and Emily's little box of secrets. I'm not sure I'm mentally prepared for psycho Tyler and psycho Amanda to team up with one another.
Later, Jack meets up with Emily and Nolan to tell them about his impending departure. Emily's poker face is spot-on when she tells Jack that Amanda "will come back when she's ready."
There's just one more thing. Jack can't exactly take his dog Sammy with him, so he asks Emily if she'd be willing to care for him while he's in Haiti, since you know, Sammy really likes Emily. It's nice to see Emily reunited with her dog after all of these years. That poor little guy is probably so confused by all of this whiplash-inducing drama.
Side note: Is it just me or is Nolan's hair looking even more Bieber-ific than ever?
Meanwhile, Daniel ruins his business deal with a potentially lucrative investor, but ... oh wait, it's the assassin Takeda, Emily's sensei. Takeda not exactly thrilled to hear the news of Daniel and Emily eloping. Could he be the one who shoots Tyler? After all, if Daniel was in the middle of a murder trial, he and Emily wouldn't be going anywhere. Not to mention that Grandpa Grayson won't be very happy.
Back with the crazies, Tyler tells Amanda about his little plan to frame Emily for Daniel's murder. As if Amanda would really let Tyler go through with his plan. In an effort to sabotage his evil plan, Amanda tries to escape to warn Emily. Unfortunately for her, he manages to fire one shot at her before she runs off.
But did the bullet really hit her? It sure looked like it, but how was she able to continue running? I just have so many questions.
Finally, it's the night of the much-anticipated Fire & Ice Ball, and Emily's getting herself ready for the big night by ... you know ... packing a gun in her thigh holster. Emily and Daniel then share their last drama-free moment together before the shooting. Think of this as the calm before the storm.
At the Fire & Ice Ball, it looks like Takeda has a present for Emily. He was one step ahead of Amanda and Tyler -- aka Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum -- and he managed to take Emily's little box of secrets. Takeda tells Emily to take the box and "bury her father's secrets."
Maybe it's just me, but the beach doesn't seem like the best place to bury really important things.
And just when you think Jack is about to set sail to Haiti, Hurricane Amanda storms in and convinces him to take her aboard. But it's not exactly the happily ever after moment Jack wanted because when Amanda left to pay the cab, he realized that she was actually bleeding, which means that Tyler did, in fact, shoot her.
It looks like Amanda was just trying to give Jack one last goodbye because she jumped in the cab and sped off, leaving poor Jack in the dust, and hopefully off to go warn Emily. Maybe she wanted Jack to follow her?
Back at the beachside ball, Daniel finally tells Emily about his plan to run away with her and elope in Paris. That's not exactly what Emily had in mind. Naturally, Daniel is heartbroken and feels like Emily only wants him for his Grayson name. He runs off ... on the beach ... alone. That's where Tyler finds him.
Tyler tries to show him Emily's hit-list, but I'm not sure Daniel really understands what's going on. Complicated things like this tend to go over Daniel Grayson's pretty-boy head. So Tyler fires the gun at Daniel, and more gunshots are heard as Jack arrives on the beach, presumably chasing after Amanda.
We then see Amanda there, standing over the body on the beach. Jack tells her to run back to his car while he moves the body, but suddenly a cell phone starts ringing. Jack pulls out the phone and realizes that it's Emily making the call.
Declan and Charlotte, who are about to go for a midnight swim, hear the phone and rush over to the body. Jack flees the scene, and Charlotte and Declan scream for help. Everyone from the party, including Emily, rushes down to the beach, only to discover that the dead body in the sand is actually Tyler. Daniel then comes out of nowhere, blood all over his pretty white coat. Victoria tells him not to say a word.
Meanwhile, Amanda has managed to once again get herself kidnapped. This time, by Takeda.
So who shot Tyler? It obviously looked like a man's coat, but Amanda isn't necessarily innocent either. Could it have been Takeda? He was speeding away from the scene pretty quickly.
To be honest, I was a little disappointed with Tyler's obvious death. As much as I love Daniel, his death would have been much more powerful. After all, he was the only innocent one in the entire ordeal, and innocents can unfortunately be collateral damage in any plot for revenge. Of course, if you take away Daniel, then Emily no longer has her much-needed "in" with the Graysons.
Notable Quotables:
"Speak of the Devil, or shall I say the Devil's daughter?"
-- Tyler
"Just promise me one more time. No secrets of any kind, ever. You've seen what they've done to my family."
-- Daniel
"I thought you'd like to know that revenge is a pitiful pursuit and a waste of my time."
-- Tyler
"But if you indeed become part of this family, you must know that blood will always be thicker than water."
-- Victoria
"Your name is Grayson, Daniel. The name makes the decision for you."
-- Grandpa Grayson
"One midnight call from a Haitian benefactor, and damn, there you go?"
-- Nolan
"Go with him. I'm serious. Sail away, fall in love and go make little volunteer babies."
-- Nolan
"I'm taking Emily to Paris, we'll get married, and we'll stay there until we choose the life we want to lead, one that doesn't include Grayson Manor, Grayson Global or anything Grayson."
-- Daniel
"Revenge" airs Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. EST on ABC.
Follow Crystal Bell on Twitter: www.twitter.com/newyorkbell
On a positive note, the original pilot episode was filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina in April/May of 2011. In December of 2011 They shot the Fire and Ice Episode 15. If you watch them side by side you can see where they cleverly mixed old footage with new making it look as if it was all the same night and they did so brilliantly.
However, when Declin finds the body on the beach, many minutes pass before Victoria comes screaming along. Yet no one turned the body over to see it clearly isn't Daniel??
The writers better tighten the ship because it is really sinking fast...
First of all, I doubt Charlotte was trying to overdose. You can't really overdose with half a container of pain pills. What those pills can do, however, is start a really bad addiction, and it seems like that's the way the writers are trying to go from here.
And secondly, Amanda decided to stop helping Tyler because he told her he thought Emily framed him for Frank Stevens's murder to save herself, but Amanda knew that Emily actually framed him to save her, which "proved" her opinion of Emily - that she does bad things for good reasons (except Emily only framed Tyler because she wanted a reason to keep him away). So when Tyler spouted that bit to Amanda, she decided she couldn't really go through with it.
But I also don't think that bit of information was enough to encourage Amanda to actively help Emily and warn her, since instead of going straight to Emily, she went to Jack. I think it was only after Jack told Amanda how Emily was the only person who actively supported their relationship - in other words, prove both of the points Tyler used to turn Amanda against Emily (how Emily framed her for the arson because she didn't really care about Amanda and how Emily stood in the way of her love for Jack) "false" that Amanda truly decided she is going to actively help Emily again.