'Revenge': Power

"Power. Born out of nature. Coveted by man. Wars rage on and victors are crowned. True power can never be lost or won. True power comes from within," Emily voiced as she and Aiden sparred on a windy hilltop just before sunrise. 

 

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Later that day, Victoria worried about how The Initiative planned to use her son, but Conrad shrugged that their son wasn't listening to them, so they couldn't help him. She, of course, had a plan. She'd bought a table at Patricia Barnes fundraiser for the falsely accused, which meant Patricia and her hubby, future Supreme Court Justice Barnes, were coming for a visit. Victoria figured the connection would be a good start to rehabilitating Conrad's image and getting him in position to take back control of Grayson when Daniel fumbled. Emily was part of the plan.

 

Emily, meanwhile, showed Aiden an unsigned letter from her father's box. It came from someone claiming to have witnessed David Clarke's injustice at the hands of Barnes. The theory was the letter came from court clerk James Palmer, who'd told Barnes which juror had been siding with Clarke. Then Barnes passed that info on to the Graysons, the juror was recused and Palmer was killed in a subway accident. Emily hoped to meet Barnes and trip him up.

 

The first step was a lemonade date with Victoria, who worried Daniel was over his head and not vicious enough for his new job. Emily noted he'd done a great job of unseating his father. Victoria ignored that. She believed Emily could reach her son, because he was still in love with her. "Remind him of the man he aspired to be when he was with you," she begged, promising she'd support their relationship this time around. They shook on it. Before leaving, Emily met the Graysons' important guests and agreed to return for dinner.

 

In Manhattan, Initiative baddie and Grayons investor Helen showed up for an impromptu limo meeting with Daniel. She suggested he dig closer to home to uncover more Grayson secrets that would bring him more wealth and power than Daddy ever dreamed of, so he scheduled a lunch date with Conrad and asked him outright about stashed secret investments. Conrad brushed it off and pointed to a nearby table, where Aiden and Emily were putting on a show of arguing about Daniel. 

"The only reason you've been dating me is to keep tabs on your ex," Aiden sniped, playing the jealous beau. Emily stormed away and right into Daniel, but brushed past him, smiling to herself as she walked away.

 

When Daniel returned to work, he asked Nolan to create a program to search Grayson for his father's "rogue" investments. Nolan immediately shared the news with Emily, who was happy to hear he'd gotten access to Grayson files. Just as Nolan was cooing over her "breakup with Remington Steele," Aiden showed up and put his arm around her. "A fake up. Call me impressed," Nolan said. Emily said playing nice with Daniel was a small price to pay for access to the judge, but it was clear Aiden was a little uncomfortable with the set up. After she left, Nolan sighed that the line between Em, Daniel and The Initiative could get blurred. Aiden asked for his help keeping a step ahead of "the boy" and Helen.

 

Victoria popped in on Daniel, reminded him his father built Grayson via social meetings and then invited him to dinner with the judge… and Emily. Of course, that hooked him.

 

Before dinner, Daniel asked Emily about her fight with Aiden. She explained Aiden was a good guy, but not the right one. Daniel was glad they'd both found out about their significant others before it was "too late." Then he bickered with his dad at dinner, while Emily buttered up Judge Barnes. When Emily dropped James Palmer's name, it gave both him and his wife pause. Patricia commended Palmer's unparalleled passion for justice, but claimed to only know him in legacy. When Emily brought up David Clarke and conspiracy theories, Judge Barnes scoffed that was onecase where "justice was well served." Emily wondered whether Patricia's Liberty Project had ever been approached about an appeal. "None of my husband's verdicts have ever been second guessed," she said as he squeezed her hand. Then she excused herself, complaining of a headache.

 

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Amanda was worried about Jack, who'd been tossing and turning at night. He changed the topic by giving her some sea glass that she could turn into something old, borrowed (from the sea) and blue for the wedding. Nate interrupted, telling Jack to get to work and wipe down the bar. Amanda wondered why Jack was letting the Ryan brothers boss him around.

 

Declan also had his eye on the brothers and asked Charlotte to keep them busy so he could do some recon. She moaned to the Ryans about her mom's latest charity case, ex cons. Kenny told Nate not to bite, but Nate revealed he'd lived with "purveyors of curiosity shows" when he was younger and it had landed him in prison. In the bar's storage room, Declan found drugs hidden in coffee beans. The beans spilled everywhere, but he got it cleaned up just before Nate walked in… or so he thought. Kenny stepped on a remaining bean.

 

Declan was none the wiser when he reported his findings to Jack. Jack realized bully-turned-cop Eddie Solomon could be their way out, so he reached out to him. He also sent Amanda to Emily's for the night after explaining that Solomon was going to bust the brothers and promising they'd never know he was involved. She begrudgingly agreed to go to Em's.

 

The next morning, Emily reviewed Patricia's medical history (broken collar bone, fractured wrist) and expunged criminal record. While talking it over with Amanda, she noticed a photo of Patricia and Palmer together at an apartheid protest. It was clear Patricia was connected to the letter, so at the fundraiser, Emily followed Patricia and called her out on having new bruises. Em also showed her the letter and told her about Amanda's hard life and how the letter had saved her. When Patricia admitted the letter was from her, Emily challenged her to save more lives tonight, "maybe even your own."

 

Aiden checked on Nolan, who'd uncovered video of Helen making a call during the investor's lunch. He'd pulled the number she was calling and they called it, using the password, which was Latin for "intrigue." She answered and knew it was him. They set up a meet in a dark empty parking lot. "You're in the deep end now," she said. Then she dropped the bomb that his sister was still alive. Suddenly, guns were on him. She warned that if he wanted to see his sister alive again, he better keep his mouth shut about this meet and be more polite at the next one.

 

Back at NolCorp, things were still tense between Marco and Nolan. Marco tried desperately to make peace, but Nolan scoffed at the idea that Marco had doubted his intentions back in the day, let alone believed he was in consort with a terrorist. Marco wanted them to start over. Nolan denied him, saying he was in love (presumably with Padma), but Marco was willing to wait. To prove his commitment, he showed Nolan a memory drive. It had Nolan's abandoned code for Teria, which Nolan called "cyber plutonium." Marco said it could be a useful weapon against Grayson and left it on the table.

 

The police interrupted a quiet night at the Stowaway, but found no drugs in the coffee beans. Instead, the dogs found them on the boat, along with a gun. Declan looked guilty, but Jack took the fall. 

As Jack was taken away in handcuffs, Conrad was giving his speech at The Liberty Project fundraiser about the "gut-ripping' effect of being falsely accused. Then Patricia took the mic and took her husband down! "The verdict rendered in the David Clarke trial came from a tainted jury," she said and read some of the letter. She said James Palmer had paid the ultimate price for writing the letter, but she had actually been the scribe. With her husband up for Supreme Court, she couldn't stay quiet anymore. "The greater the power, the greater the potential for abuse," she intoned, unveiling her bruised arms to the stunned crowd. Barnes walked out.

 

After the event, Conrad spoke to the press about his commitment to avenging Barnes' domestic and judicial wrongdoings, while Daniel took a call from Helen. Daniel wondered if she'd sent him on a wild goose chase, but she knew about Nolan and said his investigation had left breadcrumbs that could lead Grayson back to NolCorp secrets, including a very lucrative one.

 

Nate and Kenny gave Declan a hard time. Nate said whoever called the cops made a mistake and threatened that things might get a lot worse if "They" didn't come to their senses. 

 

Jack called Amanda from jail. Their baby cried as he told her the news.

 

As Emily put a satisfying X through Barnes' photo, her voiceover concluded, "Power can be hoarded by the mighty or stolen form the innocent. Power provides the ability to choose, but has a proclivity for corruption. The abuse of power is not to be taken lightly... for it is never without consequence."

 

Daniel showed up to tell her he fought to become CEO to set things right. As Victoria watched from her balcony, he asked Emily to help him steer Grayson resources in a charitable direction. She agreed and went in for a kiss. Aiden did not seem to like watching that. 

 

"Revenge" airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.