Revenge, Season 2, Episode 8: “Lineage”
Written by Nikki Toscano
Directed by Chris Misiano
Airs Sundays at 9 pm (ET) on ABC
Revenge steps back in time this week and though I’m generally against flashback episodes (they always ring a little soap opera to me), “Lineage” offers good insight into where our characters come from and what drives them.
Adrian Barbeau guest stars on this Revenge as Victoria’s con artist mother, Marion Harper. Marion seems to be the one woman that Victoria can’t steamroll. The most intriguing aspects of the night are the revelations about Victoria’s past, courtesy of Marion. We’ve always known about Victoria’s darkness. Heck, we’ve seen it more than once. But now we have a real source for that darkness and it makes some of her actions just a little bit more understandable.
“Pity’s not a quality that you taught me”, Victoria tells her mother just before she kicks her out. I couldn’t help but be struck once again by the similarities between Emily and Victoria’s stories. The details might be a little different but they share a similar pain; Emily lost her family and Victoria never really had one. The irony of course is that Victoria was a big reason for what happened to Emily.
For the majority of the episode I couldn’t shake the feeling that I might be watching an episode of The Twilight Zone. Everyone is so… nice. It’s strange. Then of course, people’s true motives are revealed and I was actually kind of relieved. It was starting to get a little eerie.
The flashback does allow us to see a piece of Nolan’s past- CFO Marco Romero (E.J. Bonilla), Nolan’s now ex-boyfriend, who knew Nolan before he was Nolan. We saw the softer side of Nolan earlier this season with Padma but this seems to be something completely different. In 2006 Nolan hadn’t quite become the snarky, somewhat cold guy we see now. He was more fun and giving.
And though we get to see the beginning of Emily and Aiden’s relationship, it is by far the least important moment of the episode. We always knew they had a big beginning and we finally get to see it play out.
There is one majorly important thing that came out of their meeting, the revelation that Aidan’s father was also connected to the plane crash, adding a whole new dimension to the show’s central storyline. This revelation also comes along with the knowledge that we are definitely going to see Marco again, especially after his phone call with Daniel.
“Lineage” might not have moved us towards answers concerning the season’s big mystery (who was dead on that boat?), but it is an entertaining episode, particularly in Victoria’s own plan for revenge against her mother and the characters’ origins.
Tressa Eckermann