Episode Report Card Kelsea Stahler: B+ | 62 USERS: B+ YOU GRADE IT She Wants It All or Nothing At All
By Kelsea Stahler | Season 3 | Episode 12 | Aired on 01.12.2014
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.This week, Emily experiences her last slice of heaven, possibly ever, as Nolan manages to sneak in and visit her as a candy striper (so he says) and Ems tells him she's done seeking revenge. She simply wants a normal, happy life, but we all know she can't actually have that.
Aidan, however, is angling for that life too and asks last week's new Australian friend Niko to help him sneak Emily out of the hospital. He hints at being involved with Ems — a shock to Niko, who he dated and ditched in Tokyo (and that was before he murdered her father, Takaeda, and let it be blamed on "burglars").
Instead of helping Aidan sneak Ems out, Niko offers to help Victoria make sure that the doctors release Emily to Grayson Manor instead of a rehabilitation facility for the rest of her recovery. Of course, Victoria's intentions are suspicious, but Niko seems fully aware of that.
At the manor, Victoria plays doting mother-in-law, keeping the paparazzi out and swearing Emily's "a Grayson now." And while Emily's sworn off revenge, she's not an idiot. She pretends that she still remembers nothing after her wedding vows, keeping the card of Daniel's guilt as close to her chest as possible.
Luckily, Niko is there to help — sort of. She reveals her identity as Takaeda's daughter to Emily, but when she learns that Emily is actually engaged to Aidan and not just his most recent romantic conquest, she turns colder and tells Emily she's safer in the "eye of the storm."
Meanwhile, Daniel has gone full bad-guy-in-an-'80s-movie. He's constantly stewing; he somehow garners no suspicion when he tells Margaux to publicly accuse Lydia of shooting Emily in Voulez; and he's harassing the woman he didn't actually drive to suicide. Sarah says she fell in the bathtub while drunk just before Daniel earns himself a nice shiner from Jack; he wears it proudly for the rest of the episode. Finally, he manages to get Sarah to listen long enough to tell her about Emily's fake pregnancy, to which Sarah replies with open arms and insults for Emily — both of which are understandable because she's blind enough to believe Daniel when he swears he didn't try to murder someone. The rube.
Back at the house, Victoria delivers a satisfying blow to her daughter-in-law: the gunshot wound made her barren — which also means her plan for normalcy is shot to hell. This lights a fire under Emily and she kicks her plan back into gear: Niko tells Ems about Victoria's infinity box heist, so Emily has Nolan swap the contents for articles and photos the Graysons and false bank statements. Patrick triumphantly "tricks" Nolan and returns with a box of false evidence that makes Emily nothing more than a gold digger — but a gold digger in love who says she plans to stay put with the Graysons.
Next, Emily calls a press conference to say her memory is back and names Lydia as her attacker instead of Daniel — her bargaining chip for staying in the family. This throws just about everyone's plans into the fire — including Margaux, who let Jack convince her not to publish her story because he knows the shooter is Daniel. Emily's semblance of a life, however, is the real victim.
Furious that her shot at a future family was stolen from her by her husband, Emily actually cuts the symbol of her dream life out of her real one and breaks up with Aidan, sending him into Niko's waiting arms. She's now fully committed to a life of revenge because she believes she does not actually have the ability to have a real life. Nolan is oddly supportive of this — though he did just have another lover betray him, so revenge is kind of all he's got. Aidan is furious. Victoria is, dare I say it, intrigued. Daniel looks as if he's just been sentenced to hell on Earth. And to be fair, the guy did just shoot his wife. Twice. He kind of deserves whatever Ems has in store for his petulant ass.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!This week, Emily experiences her last slice of heaven, possibly ever, as Nolan manages to sneak in and visit her as a candy striper (so he says) and Ems tells him she’s done seeking revenge. She simply wants a normal, happy life, because she’s just relived the pain she’s experienced by having to remember her life all over again. Unfortunately, Revenge wouldn’t really work with a happy Emily, she we all know she can’t actually have what she wants.
Aidan’s also angling for a happy ending. He’s agreed not to harm Daniel for trying to kill Emily, but he is still hoping to sneak her out of the hospital. He enlists Niko, the Australian doctor who kissed him last week, to help him, only she’s a little less than willing when she realizes that Aidan and Emily are romantically linked. Go figure.
Meanwhile, Daniel is determined to take back his life, so he visits Sarah at the Stowaway and apologizes for driving her to kill herself, but then comes the satisfying shocker: Sarah wasn’t cliché enough to try to kill herself over a guy. She was drunk and slipped and fell into the tub. And because that’s enough for one heart-broken person to bear, Jack comes barreling in, prepared to throw the could-be murdered out of his bar. When Daniel won’t go, Jack finally lets his anger out and punches Daniel in the face. It gives Danny a black eye he sports proudly for the rest of the episode.
But while he’s worrying about Sarah, Daniel’s mother is putting a plan into action. The doctor says Emily can be discharged to a rehabilitation center, but Victoria suggests that Emily be released to the Graysons instead. Quite suspiciously, Niko pops in to volunteer her nursing services.
Once Emily is settled in the house, she wakes up to Victoria’s borderline sociopath hospitality. V’s insistent that Emily is an official Grayson now and that they family is rallying to protect her from her potential attacker (falsely accused Lydia) and the paparazzi. Emily tells her she would prefer to recoup in the beach house with her husband, but that’s clearly not an option. Victoria leaves Emily alone with her husband, who’s managed to wipe that grimace off his face long enough to kiss her on the forehead and tell her to get some rest.
And while Emily’s helpless in the issue of her recoup locale -- even Daniel can’t convince Victoria to let her go -- she’s not helpless when it comes to playing the Graysons. She’s telling them that she still hasn’t recovered all of her memory, though she knows Daniel is the one who shot her. But for now, that seems to be the only scheme Emily is working.