Note: Do not read on if you have not yet seen Season 2, Episode 3 of ABC's "Revenge," titled "Confidence."
This week's episode of "Revenge" delivers some much needed back story on Emily and Aidan, Takeda's other trainee. After opening with a flashback to a training exercise in Japan designed to remove their compassion, we return to where we left off at the end of the last episode: Aidan has just shot the white haired man and saved Emily's life. Instead of being grateful, she's furious, and tells him she doesn't need a nanny. She whacks him on the back of the head with a bottle and throws him into a dumpster -- pretty harsh for someone who just saved your life, Em!
Why is she so angry every time he shows up? Why can't she let him be of use to her? Later in the episode, he shows up with the pilot box from Vic's plane, and even that does nothing to change her opinion of him. In another flashback scene, we finally get some answers: Emily and Aidan used to be an item. Like, romantically. That is, until he left Japan abruptly and broke her trust and -- presumably -- her heart.
Pre-dumpster dumping, Aidan and Emily look through the White Haired Man's belongings, and Aidan asks to keep them. We see him take a hotel key and stuff it into his sock, while Emily jams a pocket watch into her jeans -- easy to see why they were once a pretty good match.
Later in the episode, Aidan shows up at the hotel attached to the key and speaks to Emily's mother, claiming to be a detective with the local police and showing her a sketch. As soon as he leaves, she phones the police and discovers that he gave her a fake name. Something's up.
Meanwhile, Emily meets with Vic to "discuss" how to handle the media. The Grayson family is giving an interview with Vanity Fair, and Vic wants to present a united front. She asks Emily to stay away from their family permanently, and she forbids any of her children to speak to the media individually. After a conversation with Daniel -- in which he expresses some really obviously insincere loyalty -- she thinks she has all of her bases covered.
Little does she know that Emily has asked Fauxmanda to deliver a version of their father's diary to Charlotte. Horrified by what it says about her mother, Charlotte bursts into the interview, reveals that her father was David Clarke, and confronts her mother about what she did to him. The whole thing looks pretty bad for Vic, but if we know anything from experience it's that the woman doesn't go down easily.
She calls a press conference, asking her entire brood to join on stage to show their solidarity. She admits to David Clarke being Charlotte's father, extends a hand to Fauxmanda, and renews her pledge to her husband. The entire thing is a desperately insincere preemptive strike, but it seems to work ...
For Vic, that is. It doesn't make things better for Fauxmanda, who has been told time and time again by Jack that he doesn't want her having anything to do with the Graysons. He sees her on TV with them at the press conference, and confronts her when she gets home, telling her that he's commited to their baby, but he can't commit to her.
We also get some foreshadowing of more trouble to come for Jack, possibly Fauxmanda, and definitely Declan after the latter breaks into a neighbor's house. The neighbor tells Jack he won't press charges if Declan puts back what he took. Jack is grateful, and tells him to come 'round if he ever needs anything. There's something sinister about the neighbor's smile as he assures Jack that he will.
We end the episode with Emily listening to a voicemail from her mother stored in the White Haired Man's sim card -- an item delivered to her by Nolan. In it, her mother tells White Hair about the visit from Aidan, and promises to "go dark" if she doesn't hear anything back in a couple days. And, most alarming for Emily, she ends the call with "I love you." We close on Emily processing some pretty hefty new information.
And, one of my favorite bits from the episode providing some comedic relief -- are we hinting that Padma, Nolan's new CFO, is crushing on him?
Stay tuned for next week's episode, titled "Intuition."