Things are about to get much more complicated for Emily or is it Amanda? For this post, I’m going to refer to each character by the name they are actually using. So, Emily is the real Amanda and Amanda is the real Emily … clear?
Revenge hit an awkward spot for me this week. For the first time, I’ve started to not like Emily. We are supposed to feel sympathy for her and support her plot again the wrongdoers, but I’m questioning her integrity. What happened to Emily and her father was definitely not right, but her quest for revenge is destroying what humanity is left in her.
The arrival of Amanda was definitely not ideal, but rather than being thankful for the cover that she provided, Emily threw her out like garbage. While Amanda clearly grew to care for Emily (as more than just sisters?), Emily was just using her.
When Amanda showed up at the bar to see Jack, I was disappointed she didn’t leave the country. But, after some consideration, first of all, duh … like she would just show up and leave. And, secondly, this will add to the story. The big question — will Amanda tell him her name and pretend to be his childhood love? Or, will she go by her “new” name?
Emily deserves to get screwed over a bit by Amanda after just trying to ship her off. Though, if I had my choice, Jack would never be given the impression that Amanda is “his Amanda.” That would be too cruel to do to him.
I don’t think Emily will take Amanda’s presence lightly. Will she become the next victim of revenge for her betrayal? It would be a tricky thing to do given their relationship. It’s not like Emily can leak to the cops that Amanda killed Frank, right?
Speaking of Frank, I was surprised that he’s dead and that we found out so quickly. As I mentioned last week, I thought it would be left as an outstanding mystery. Given Lydia’s surprise recovery, I’m glad that Frank’s death stuck. I will miss him, but he served his purpose and I’m not sure he would have added further value to the story.
Up until this episode, I had a view of where the story and the revenge was headed, but now there have been too many twists and turns in Emily’s plan that I’m not sure what comes next. We still have seven episodes until we get to the engagement party. That seems like a lot to me, but I’m along for the ride.
Odds and Ends
Clacked by Carla Day 
on Nov 17, 2011 @ 22:00 EST5EDT
What I appreciate most about the Emily character is how cold and unlikable she is, and I hope that the writers have the tenacity to keep her that way for some time to come. The cost that revenge takes upon the enactor is one of the central themes of the work, and if anything they’ve softened the character somewhat for primetime viewing. If the adaptation were truly faithful, Emily would be willing to coldly shoot Daniel dead in a gentleman’s duel, and neither prevent nor care about Victoria poisoning Charlotte to leave her son the sole heir to the family fortune.
I’m not sure leaving Amanda to lounge about a billionaire’s Hampton mansion for a few days, then putting her on a jet to any destination in the world with a new identity to avoid murder charges, and generous regular deposits into her own bank account counts as throwing her out like garbage, but Emily definitely doesn’t return Amanda’s love to the same degree. I wonder if Amanda will find out just how false Emily’s relationship with Daniel is, though.
The fact that Ashley can’t actually stand Emily was the only revelation that seemed lazy to me. Emily’s public persona is so saccharinely do-gooding, nice, and supportive, and she’s gone so out of her way to be a good friend to Ashley in the few months that we’ve seen, that the only basis Ashley would seem to have for her resentment would be the vast differences in their wealth and station, and not any personal incompatibilities. And to throw her rich best friend over for a self-admitted poor schemer doesn’t seem like a trade likely to advance her own interests, but rather cost her her best ally.
I’ll state once again that I definitely think Charlotte is a Clarke.