Episode Report Card Pablo G: B- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Amily
By Pablo G | Season 1 | Episode 8 | Aired on 11.16.2011
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.The simultaneous death of Frank and awakening of Lydia from her coma sends the Graysons into complete disarray. Conrad and Victoria are entirely suspicious of each other, Victoria thinking Conrad had Frank murdered and Conrad thinking Victoria bringing Lydia to stay at Grayson Manor is a calculated move against him. Daniel renounces allegiance to his mother when he finds out about her surveillance of Emanda through detectives investigating Frank's murder. Charlotte is so distraught to learn Conrad has been kicked out of the house and she'll be alone with her mother that it creates a little speed bump in her romance with Declan. The only good thing that happens for the Graysons is Daniel quits his job at the Stowaway and resumes his apprenticeship at Grayson Global under his father -- much to Tyler's chagrin, but screw Tyler.
Emanda dumps Stripper Emily Thorne on Nolan while she covers her tracks in case Lydia remembers the photograph with a young Emanda in the background. This "Nolan as a babysitter" move proves to be a bad one. He quickly figures out Emily murdered Frank, and while he's figuring this out Jack comes looking for him at his house and runs into a bikini-clad stripper. The good guy is immediately intrigued by the bad girl. The beginnings of a fling and the sentimentality of the Amanda Clarke alias she's kept for years factor into Emily's decision to ignore a plane ticket and new identity Emanda puts together for her. She plans to stick around the Hamptons and generally make Emanda's revenge plot a living hell.
A lot hinges on what Lydia remembers after waking up and... well, she doesn't remember much of anything that's happened in the last few weeks. She does happen to have her memory jogged about the photograph of Emanda, but it's not until Emanda has managed to have Nolan Photoshop it and sneak it back into Lydia's boxes of possessions which have been moved to Grayson Manor. Expect Lydia to make some noise soon, though, because she overhears an argument between Victoria and Conrad where he very clearly implicates Victoria as the one who ordered Frank to have Lydia killed. She is now a viper waiting in the landscaped grass of Grayson Manor.
Off on the Island of Misfit Psycho Underappreciated Hamptonites, Tyler and Ashley's middle class rebellion begins to crystallize a bit. They admit to each other that they've been harboring deep resentment toward their supposed best friends, Daniel and Emanda respectively. Is it too much to hope that the two most obnoxious characters might actually do something cool?
-- Pablo G. is some guy who lives in San Antonio, Texas. He co-hosts TWoP's original "Trailers Without Pity" with his brother Omar G. Check him out at Unp0ssible and Pablog and follow him @PendejoJoe on Twitter.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Emanda and Amily (formerly Stripper Emily) speed down a country road in Emanda's Lexus late at night. Emanda voice-over: "There's an old saying about those who cannot remember the past being condemned to repeat it. But those of us who refuse to forget the past are condemned to relive it."Amily defends her decision to murder Frank because she senses Emanda is mad at her, and also probably because Emanda scolds her for not handling the situation in a way other than killing the guy. Amily is no slouch, though. She weathers the admonishment and shoots back that she was expecting gratitude from Emanda. FLASHBACK: Another brawl between teenage Amanda and Emily. This time it's in the correctional facility's cafeteria and in front of a crowd of cheering peers. Amanda decidedly wins again, but this time Emily has learned enough to taunt her for fighting dirty like Amanda's father probably would. /FLASHBACK. Emanda suddenly softens up and apologizes to Amily, thanking her for trying to look out for her.
It's now morning and Emanda is banging on Nolan's front door. Big Ed is on duty to protect his frail millionaire, but Nolan comes downstairs in his silk robe to wave him off. To what does he owe the pleasure of a morning visit from the revengess herself? Before Emanda can rudely dump her problem on Nolan as per usual, Amily even more rudely makes herself at home. Emanda tells Nolan to watch over the stripper and leaves. Most lonely guys would not be annoyed by this, but Nolan is about a three on the Kinsey scale.
We're close up on Lydia's eyes having a flashlight aimed at them as she sits up in her hospital bed. She's awake and coherent as Conrad stands by. Victoria walks in and almost immediately asks if Lydia knows who she is. Lydia does, but has no memory of what's happened or why any of them would be there. The Graysons follow the attending doctor out of the room and start mining her for information. Is there a possibility Lydia's memory could come back fully? The doctor suggests it is indeed possible, especially if they surround Lydia with their friendship. This doctor doesn't seem to know that being friends with the Graysons would drive anyone to do anything they could to erase their memory. Conrad suggests to Victoria when the doctor has left them alone that they get their story straight about why Frank attacked Lydia.
At Poor Porter Bar, Charlotte has woken up panicked because she forgot to make up a lie for her parents to cover up her overnight stay with Declan. She has no time for the breakfast in bed Dec made for her and hurries down the stairs past Jack. He awkwardly tries to breach the topic with Dec, who brazenly admits he slept with her... literal sleep. Jack starts being the guardian and warns that he needs to be careful, like, safe-sex careful. It's a normal enough concern, but in this case it's even more important because of the power her family would have in the event of an accidental pregnancy or whatever. Jack steps down from his soapbox and tells his little brother to carry on. They crack small smiles at each other