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"Revenge, it&amp;#039;s fair to say, has had something of an inconsistent season. But while the show has had some lows, it&amp;#039;s also had some highs, and &amp;#039;Revelations&amp;#039; was a particularly enjoyable hour of television which made up for some of the less accomplished moments we&amp;#039;ve seen recently. For one thing, &amp;#039;Revelations&amp;#039; captured the pure soapiness that makes Revenge so enjoyable. The show&amp;#039;s been missing a bit of the melodramatic nonsense that makes it fun, recently - this episode brought it back hugely, with ridiculously enjoyable scenes throughout.  You can&amp;#039;t get much more absurd than the insane Initiative, with the purring frontwoman&amp;#039;s threats (&amp;quot;Your son will be removed from the equation permanently&amp;quot;, she murmurs at one point as if she&amp;#039;s trying to whisper but can&amp;#039;t quite manage it.) And the ending - after Daniel&amp;#039;s successfully dethroned his father and gained control of Grayson Global - is suitably absurd, as we see a group of shadowy figures in a military-style room watching the new CEO on a secret webcam and muttering in a sinister manner about putting a plan to a vote. Obviously, this is all complete nonsense, but somehow Revenge manages to pull it off - perhaps because it&amp;#039;s wildly enjoyable to watch complete soapy ludicrousness from time to time (and it helps that it&amp;#039;s at least not boring, as parts of this season have veered dangerously close to being.) Elsewhere, I still struggle to care about the fate of the Porters, but &amp;#039;Revelations&amp;#039; again made the storyline more interesting by injecting some serious froth. Naughty Matt Duncan - you know, who killed that shady Joe Ryan guy - is back in town for Carl&amp;#039;s christening. But more importantly, he&amp;#039;s there to warn Jack off the Ryan brothers - a wise move, since they end up beating Matt almost to death outside the bar.  The Ryans have finally become entertaining villains; one moment when they walk past the window of the bar when Jack is alone inside is so over the top it&amp;#039;s back underneath again, and their meeting with doomed Matt is accompanied by fog and foreboding music. Jack, with the help of Nolan, is now under no illusions that the Ryans are Bad Men (one of them is only subletting! The horror!) But of course, he has to pretend to know nothing when they turn up to talk to him, all passive aggressive and quietly dodgy. Excellent fun. And, naturally, a special mention has to go to Victoria, who spends the episode scheming and slapping and spitting beyond fabulous lines like: &amp;quot;You have wormed your way into the very nadir of repugnancy&amp;quot; or: &amp;quot;It would be a simple pleasure to annihilate you.&amp;quot; Madeleine Stowe has cemented Victoria&amp;#039;s position as one of the most enjoyable villains on television right now, though she is also vulnerable in a way that avoids being annoying. She was on top form in this episode, and who couldn&amp;#039;t cheer when she slaps Conrad, he asks her what it was for, and she replies: &amp;quot;Take your pick&amp;quot;? She is a powerhouse, and the show utilised her perfectly here.  Aside from the soapiness, though, this episode also deftly handled Emily&amp;#039;s character in some depth. I don&amp;#039;t know why, exactly, but this hour seemed to encapsulate precisely how damaged Miss Thorne is; whether it&amp;#039;s her longing, slightly overcooked stares at Jack and Amanda or her relentless focus on bringing people down, you do get the sense that her quest for revenge has broken her in a serious way. That makes her relationship with Aiden - initially a little yawnsome - much more intriguing. You get the sense that this is someone she could trust (although I would never count on it, this being Revenge), but Emily is unable to break the habit of a lifetime and reveal her secrets. The moment later, when she asks if he thinks people like them can ever be happy, is both heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time, as he takes her into his arms to comfort her. (Incidentally, it&amp;#039;s pretty clear now that Daniel still wants a bit of Thorne action - which way will she turn?) Of course, none of this has taken into account the main plot of the episode, which itself is thoroughly entertaining - full of twists and turns and manipulations. Emily and Victoria are always at their best when they&amp;#039;re forced to change their plans thanks to outside forces, too, which was the case here.  The big event is Daniel&amp;#039;s planned vote of no confidence in Conrad, so the two sides are hurriedly assembling their backers. But Victoria and Conrad are given an added motivation beyond greed when the Initiative reveal that if Daniel takes over Grayson Global, they will begin working with him. Now, it&amp;#039;s not only about money but about protecting their son - the one thing that may actually unite them. I love Revenge for raising the stakes in this way. But Emily needs the NolCorp deal to go through - she needs Aiden on the board. So when she realises that Ashley is turning Daniel against the Brit, she sends a video of Ashley and Conrad doing the dirty to Victoria. Unfortunately, this backfires when Victoria uses it to her advantage, forcing a reluctant Ashley to sleep with sleazy-but-powerful board member Salvador in a bid to swing the vote back in Conrad&amp;#039;s favour. Not to be outdone, Emily dispatches Aiden, who brings a horrified Daniel along to discover his girlfriend&amp;#039;s betrayal - and take a picture to blackmail Salvador into grabbing his vote.   This back and forth is wildly entertaining - you never know where anyone stands until the final vote, in which Daniel triumphs (though his new involvement with the Initiative is probably not exactly a blessing.) But Emily will be forced to re-evaluate, as the Board also opts to close ranks - there won&amp;#039;t be any new members unless someone chooses to step down. Bad news for Emily and Aiden, who need an in to the Initiative. Meanwhile, hateable Marco resurfaces and - with his information about Nolan&amp;#039;s offshore account and Amanda Clarke links - helps Daniel to screw over Nolan, forcing him into giving over a controlling share of NolCorp. Plus, Marco sees the Porter bar and suggests that Amanda has no idea that she&amp;#039;s entitled to $500m - oh, if only he knew. But Nolan appears to have a secret plan - he&amp;#039;s talking about being a Trojan horse - and it&amp;#039;ll be interesting to see that unfold in the future. So this was a super entertaining episode, which only got more involving with its end; Victoria calls Emily, explaining that they need to speak about Daniel. &amp;quot;That was unexpected,&amp;quot; Emily murmurs, as Aiden asks what the call was. &amp;quot;Leverage,&amp;quot; she grins, formulating her next plan even as the repercussions of her last are not entirely clear. This instalment had everything - slaps and soapiness, scheming and sex - and it seems it&amp;#039;s only going to get more crazy from here... What did you think of the episode? Let us know below! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/revenge/review/a442400/revenge-revelations-recap-everything-is-in-place/>