Last night, ABC wrapped up the (significantly improved) third season of Revenge with a jaw-dropping finale that was packed with game-changing revelations, a generous amount of bloodshed, the father of all twists, and at long last, Emily’s ultimate revenge against the evil Graysons.
Here’s what you need to know about the Revenge finale (obviously, this list contains spoilers, so don’t continue reading if you care about that sort of thing):
Victoria kills Aiden
A couple of episodes ago, we saw Conrad (Henry Czerny) go into full hulk mode when he brutally killed Pascal LeMarchal (guest star Olivier Martinez). But as we already know, he’s not the only Grayson willing to get his hands dirty when push comes to shove (and in his case, we mean that literally). A grief-stricken Victoria (Madeleine Stowe) wants to “level the playing field” by taking away Emily’s (Emily VanCamp) chance for true love – the same fate that she (falsely) believes Emily bestowed upon her by being an accomplice to Pascal’s murder. Therefore, Victoria drugs Aiden’s tea (because how else do you take down a Brit?), causing him to be paralyzed and incapable to fight her off when she suffocates him to death with a pillow. But like a true sociopath, good ol’ Lady Grayson is just getting started – she leaves Aiden’s lifeless body sitting up in Emily’s house, morbidly waiting for her to come home and find what Victoria later refers to as “the gift” in her former daughter-in-law’s living room. Whoever said you can’t discreetly carry/hide corpses in a sensible pair of stilettos?
And fans of actor Barry Sloane need not worry – he’ll be returning to your TV this fall in ABC’s newly picked up alien invasion series, The Whispers, from Executive Producer Steven Spielberg.
David Clarke’s conviction is overturned
Last week, Conrad was caught on video admitting to a list of crimes so long that he might as well as change his last name to Giudice. As a result, the David Clarke trial is reopened and Emily gets her longstanding wish of seeing her father’s name cleared of all the charges that had the world previously label him as a terrorist.
The best part? She learns of this by watching a news segment read by Jay Jackson, also known as Parks and Recreation’s resident anchor, Perd Hapley (imagine THAT crossover)! But, of course, as this is Revenge, don’t start pouring the celebratory champagne just yet …
Victoria figures out Emily’s real identity
She’s long been suspicious of the girl next door, and last night, Victoria finally figured out the whole truth: Emily Thorne is really Amanda Clarke, seeking revenge against those who wrongfully put her father behind bars. The duo face off in a cemetery, where Emily is digging up Amanda’s grave (THE SYMBOLISM OF IT ALL) and Victoria spills all of her recent discoveries. Unfortunately for Satan’s Hamptons ambassador, Emily is no longer interested in subtlety and instead decides to knock Victoria out by hitting her ACROSS THE HEAD with a SHOVEL, displaying a level of bad-assery that hasn’t been seen in a graveyard since Buffy’s patrolling days.
Daniel is photographed in bed with a dead prostitute
After Margaux (Karine Vanasse) appoints Daniel (Josh Bowman) second in command of Pascal’s empire, her accentless brother Gideon (Daniel Zovatto) arrives on the scene to (you guessed it!) exact revenge on those who stripped him of the title he believes he earned at his father’s company. Of course, he and Daniel are old friends, so after they catch up over some absinth (those pesky French!), Gideon’s true colors are revealed. He pays his debt to a prostitute in cocaine, who just so happens to overdose in Daniel’s bed, providing Gideon with the perfect blackmail to use against Daniel in season four. And given how much of a vindictive and trigger-happy douche Daniel has turned into this season, it’s only fitting that Conrad and Victoria aren’t the only Graysons discovering the power of karma.
Charlotte turns Jack in for kidnapping her
Jack Porter (Nick Wechsler) is hardly at the top of the list of characters on Revenge who deserve jail time. However, when he touches Charlotte’s (Christa B. Allen) shoulder in a way that triggers her post-abduction PTSD, the personality devoid Grayson / Clarke hybrid immediately realizes that her friend was involved in her kidnapping. But the real crime here? Locking away the most attractive man on primetime television without even a SINGLE shirtless scene to hold us over until the fall. Not cool, Revenge writers. Not cool at all.
Conrad is murdered … BY DAVID CLARKE!!!
Because he’s the infamous patriarch of the Grayson clan, Conrad is smugly pleased with himself when he thinks he’s figured out a way to escape from jail. Little does he know that hot on his trails is none other than the man whose “death” served as the catalyst for this entire series … David Clarke (James Tupper)! I repeat, THIS IS NOT A DRILL: DAVID CLARKE IS ALIVE and GUESS WHAT! He wants revenge too! Revealing a new buzz cut that proves he’s not fucking around, David stabs Conrad to death, leaving him to bleed out in the middle of a dark road before ominously driving away from the scene of the crime.
But if David really is alive, where has he been hiding all these years? What has been doing? And if he’s been watching the Graysons this whole time waiting for the right moment to attack, why has he allowed his beloved daughter to risk her life avenging him? While his shocking return certainly doesn’t qualify for any Parent of the Year awards, it’s certainly a major twist that will clearly play a central role next season.
Emily checks Victoria into a mental hospital
Emily (or can we start calling her Amanda now?) puts her finishing touches on her plot to destroy her father’s former love interest. After their rendezvous at the cemetery, Victoria wakes up in a psychiatric hospital with Emily seated by her side. As she starts to scream for help and that Emily is an imposter, Victoria is shocked to find that her previous confidante, Dr. Michelle Banks (Amy Landecker) has turned against her. Emily and Dr. Banks explain to one of the hospital’s doctors that Victoria has fallen completely off the deep end, and has developed a sick fixation with Amanda Clarke that caused her to go so far as to try to dig up her grave and obsess over unfounded conspiracy theories that Emily is really Amanda. Victoria shrieks and shrieks until she’s sedated, leaving viewers with the final image of Emily walking away with her mission accomplished.
But at what expense(s) did Emily achieve her vengeance? And with her father still being alive, was it all worth it? Find out when season four of Revenge premieres this fall on ABC.