TV Review: Revenge - "Duplicity"

ABC's Revenge continues its mission to get even with "Duplicity." This week, Emily (Emily VanCamp) turns her attention on Dr. Michelle Banks (Amy Landecker, A Serious Man, Dan in Real Life). At a mother / daughter charity benefit, a video plays of confidential taped sessions between Dr. Banks and her patients, including Emily and Victoria (Madeleine Stowe). This ruins the doctor's practice, and she is locked in a shed for awhile which terrorizes her on a personal level. Of course, Emily is behind the whole thing, but by putting herself in the video, does she keep suspicion away?

The episode title is meaningless, as in other installments. Issues of "Duplicity" occur in every episode, as do "Trust," "Guilt," "Betrayal," "Intrigue," and "Charade" which are all other episode titles. There is no discernible quality in each episode that chooses which of these go with each outing. This makes for a less than satisfying lineup, and gives no clue about what will happen in the upcoming weeks. Plus, there are only a finite number of such words that will fit the show, so someone is going to have to rethink this strategy soon.

Of the many things expected from Revenge, a procedural element is not one of them. Yet, for four episodes now, Emily has taken down four different people connected to the trial of her father, David (James Tupper). Is this the formula Revenge will be following? If so, certainly they will run out of targets for Emily to go after soon. Yes, David's ordeal is large and complicated, but by two or three seasons down the line, she has to have gone after all of the people who were involved. More likely, the procedural format is a first season gimmick to hook lazy television viewers who want their stories wrapped up in an hour, and the series will grow out of it relatively soon.

Banks is a more personal attacker of Emily than previous guest stars have been. Victoria actually pays off Banks to institutionalize young Emily / Amanda (Emily Alyn Lind), so that Emily can't spoil the case against David. As such, Banks does something bad to Emily, not just David. Perhaps that explains why Emily steps the game up a notch, kidnapping Banks instead of just humiliating her. Emily doesn't go as far as hurting Banks, but she does want her to suffer more than the previous offenders.

Article Author: JeromeWetzelTV

Jerome Wetzel has hosted two entertainment based podcasts, "Geek Out With Jimmy" and "The Good, The Bad, & The Geeky". He is also the author of the An Actor's Nightmare book series. He currently writes television reviews for examiner.com and blogcritics.org. …

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