Tyler Burden

S01E10

In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.

The thing about assuming the identity of the person with which you switched identities with once before (and dating their childhood love), is that eventually that shit's going to catch up with you. Jack starts to sense there's something a little bit off about Amily since she doesn't seem to really remember some of the very special memories they should share from childhood, and Sammy doesn't seem to like her. Lucky for her, Emanda is dead-set on following through with this "kill her with kindness" plan. She offers up a journal to Amily from when she was still young so Amily can keep up her appearance with Jack. The usurped romance continues to blossom, but Emanda makes sure the Graysons are aware Amanda Clarke is back in the Hamptons.

Speaking of the Graysons, Grayson Manor is a very quiet place these days. In addition to Daniel already being gone, Conrad files for divorce and Charlotte starts scheming with Declan to move out. Dec actually takes a lecture from Jack to heart, and decides he needs to develop more into a man before he makes this move with Charlotte, or he could risk messing it all up in the long-run. Instead, Charlotte ends up going to live with Conrad. That means Victoria is all alone with Tyler, whom we find out has run out of his anger-suppressing medication.

That's important because the business competition between Tyler and Daniel at Grayson Global has gotten nasty. Emanda steals Nolan's sex tape of Tyler and tells Daniel the only reason Nolan did business with him is because he was blackmailed. Daniel takes this info to Conrad, who tries to fire Tyler, but Tyler pulls out his ace in the hole. He threatens to expose the Graysons' role in framing David Clarke. So, that means Tyler gets to continue to be part of the family and keep his job. Daniel is livid when he finds out his dad is keeping Tyler on, and gives his full allegiance to Victoria in the impending divorce case, offering to dig up any info he can find at Grayson Global that would help her. She will probably need a lot of help because the lawyer taking up her cause is the same lawyer who chose not to go forward with David Clarke's appeal. He will probably have a red X marked on his face in a photo very soon.

All of this happens pretty organically as far as Emanda's concerned. So, she spends her time this episode pissing off her Japanese mentor who takes his leave of her when he refuses to believe she's not falling for Daniel or at least letting her emotions guide her quest too much. Whatever, Japanese dude, we don't need you anyway. We're going to kill Bill with or without your help.

-- 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 The YES and NO and Pablog and follow him @PendejoJoe on Twitter.

Want more? The full recap starts right below!

We open on the sparkling, blue ocean on a summer afternoon. We pan over to see Emanda sparring with Satoshi in a secluded wooden ring on a hill overlooking the beach. Emanda's decked out in a full karate gi because we really need to feel the Japanese going on here. She's faring well against Satoshi's attacks -- maybe a little too well for his liking -- and takes him down a couple times. He comments the she remembers her training well. She replies, "One thing you can count on: I never forget." That must suck for Emanda because Satoshi likes to spout off very obvious bits of advice like: "The task in front of you requires absolute focus," and, "Prioritize the obstacles to your end goal. Eliminate them one at a time." Her targets at the moment are Tyler and Amily. She figures Tyler isn't a problem, but Amily is a ticking time bomb. Satoshi advises Emanda stay clear and let her ultimate opponent handle the problem for her. That would be Victoria. There's no way Emanda would've figured that out on her own without fight training with her Japanese mentor.

We're close-up on divorce papers in Victoria's hand. She's still in her evening gown, and isn't really up to greeting Ashley, who's all chipper this morning because she's excited to go to breakfast so they can discuss Emanda. It'll have to wait, Victoria tells Ashley, before she instructs her to go back to referring to her as "Ms. Grayson." Ashley immediately reverts back to being a spineless assistant and offers her devotion in these tough times. Victoria's eyes light up at the opportunity to dispatch a minion. She asks Ashley to bring back Daniel to Grayson Manor, and as a little reward for doing this, she tells her it's OK now to call her "Victoria." Tiny acts of kindness -- they're like dog treats for personal assistants.

Ash makes her way over to the pool house just as Tyler finishes popping a prescription pill. This is the first time they've spoken since their awkward encounter. They recap for us what happened (hello, new viewers) and Tyler maintains that getting frisky with Nolan has secured a great deal of money for them both. Ashley asks Tyler point-blank if he's bisexual. "What I am is ambitious," he replies, keeping things delightfully nebulous. If Ash can't deal with that, then they should part ways now as friends, Tyler adds. He extends an invitation to dinner tonight at a very nice restaurant, but the invitation to join forces as Tyler climbs the ladder at Grayson Global is time-sensitive.

Poor Porter Bar. It's still late morning or early afternoon and the bar's empty when Amily walks in looking for Jack. Sammy comes out from the back and starts barking angrily at her, which alerts Jack that Amily's there. He chalks up Sammy's lack of recognition for his original owner to senility. Sammy's like, "I know a stripper when I smell one. They reek of berry liquors and Red Bull." Jack has a tray full of blueberry pancakes for Amily he was planning on taking down to the boat for her. He asks if she still likes blueberry pancakes, expecting her to get excited about his good memory, but she shows no sign of recognition. Well, if she can't remember that, maybe she'll remember the day they first met on the beach. Nope. Amily offers up a lame excuse about not really liking going down memory lane after her troubled childhood. She changes the subject to wanting to go clothes shopping since she's decided to stay in the Hamptons for a while. Jack can't go with her because he needs to open the bar. Amily takes this opportunity to thank Jack for being so nice to her.

Fortress of Solitude. Nolan has summoned Emanda so they can recap what's been going on with Tyler (hi people who can't remember what happened two weeks ago). He shows her his office surveillance video of Tyler doing a search on Nolan's computer for information on David Clarke, which is completely unnecessary since he just ends up showing Emanda his Internet history anyway. Also: Tyler, you can't use Google at the library, buddy? Emanda wants Nolan to pull his funds from his deal with Tyler right now. Nolan, not wanting to mess up his sex racket, suggests that's not a good idea, but Emanda points out Tyler will likely respond by blackmailing Conrad with Lydia's speech. There's still some hesitance from Nolan, so Emanda pointedly asks if she's right in suspecting there's some reason Nolan's not ready to attack Tyler. Nolan responds by saying he'll call his business manager later today to pull funds. That's not good enough for Emanda. She grabs Nolan's phone from his desk and hands it to him so he can call right now. He dials and walks out of the room. When he's completely gone, Emanda sits at his desk and pulls out the whale figurine camera from the drawer. She plugs it into Nolan's computer and pulls up the video he recorded of his unflattering night with Tyler. The vengeful wheels start turning in Emanda's head.

New 3-D title card! CGI waves! Commercials.

Casa Emily. Sitting at Emanda's breakfast table, Ashley and Daniel discuss Conrad filing for divorce from Victoria. Emanda walks in and is surprised to see Ashley talking privately with Dan. He tells Emanda the news about the divorce and asks if she'll accompany him to a lunch reservation with his mother. That's not what Ashley had in mind. She grumbles a bit about having to change the reservation to accommodate Emanda and leaves defeated. Daniel laments his family falling apart and turns the conversation to his father probably wishing Tyler were his son instead after he closed the deal with Nolan. Emanda sees an opportunity and tells Dan that Tyler was only able to close the deal because he was blackmailing Nolan.

"Blackmailing him with what?" Daniel asks. Only the pastiest sex tape EVAR!

Nolan's pool. Tyler drops a stack of cash on Nolan's poolside table right to his lunch. Of course, Nolan's a germaphobe. "Do you have any idea how much E. Coli you just dumped to my lunch? There's a reason I don't carry cash." Tyler ignores Nolan's eccentric nature and explains the money is repayment for the charges he put on his credit card. A nice gesture, except he's paying Nolan back with Nolan's own money. As a further thank you, Tyler suggests he and Nolan go off on a little getaway to spend some quality time together. Maybe Miami. "Miami's for trolls," Nolan quips. Then you pick a place, Nolan. A boyish grin spreads across his face as he suggests to Tyler that Monte Carlo is pretty nice this time of year.

Victoria waits alone at an outdoor table at a restaurant. She's approached by a man who identifies himself as Ryan Huntley. He says they met before at an art auction and Conrad has asked to retain him as his lawyer in their divorce, but he has declined for his own reasons and would rather represent Victoria. He hands over his card and leaves as Daniel and Emanda walk up. Emanda notes Victoria's slight disdain at her being present for her lunch with Daniel, so she takes his hand and gives a mini-speech about wanting to be there for Victoria to show their united support. Victoria puts on a happy face and declares her marriage is the last thing she wants to talk about, so Daniel starts in about it being weird Tyler is still living in the pool house even though he's gone. Victoria doesn't think it's weird because Tyler's like family. She'd be all alone at the house without him. That is, unless Daniel plans on coming home. He takes Emanda's hand and restates he has no plans of coming home. So, Tyler stays, Victoria cheerfully says before tossing a sideways glance at Emanda and burying her face in her menu.

Poor Porter Bar. Emanda shows up and is greeted by a happy Sammy. This just goes to show that you should always pick the girl your dog likes. Jack appears and starts talking about how Sammy seems to be losing it because he doesn't recognize Amily, which segues into the fact Amily doesn't want to talk about her past. Emanda asks Jack what the deal is with Amily's childhood, and Jack shares what he knows about David Clarke, which is pretty much what anyone with a television would know. He says his childhood ended when Amanda disappeared. FLASHBACK: Little Amanda begs to keep Sammy because Social Services is taking her away. The agents tell her not to worry because Jack will take care of her puppy. She hands him over to little Jack and hugs them both. She promises through tears she'll come back for him as she's led away. /FLASHBACK. Ems says it wasn't little Amanda's fault. She hands Jack a napkin with an invite for Amily to come by the house to reconnect with warm memories. "You're a really good person, you know that?" Jack tells Emanda. He walks off and notices Sammy and Emanda having a tender moment from across the bar. "You take care of him for me, okay?" Emanda whispers to Sammy. She has to tell him to stay before she walks off.

Dan walks in on Tyler digging through his chest of clothes in the pool house and throws a little hostility his way about him not trying harder to live somewhere else now that Dan is living with Emanda. He asks Tyler what his secret is behind landing Nolan as a business partner so quickly when Conrad has tried for nearly a decade with no success. Tyler claims he just figured out what makes Nolan tick and it's a talent. Whore. Dan decides better than to reveal what he knows and walks out. Tyler keeps digging through his things and finds empty prescription bottles. He wipes his brow nervously.

Commercials

There's a knock at the door at Casa Emily. It's Amily. She apologizes immediately for telling Jack she's Amanda. She follows Emanda through her house a little manically while Emanda remains calm and collected, saying she only cares about Jack not getting hurt. That's what Amily's saying! She says Jack is the best thing that's ever happened to her aside from Emanda. Ignoring the audacity of this stripper, Emanda changes the subject to Amily's problem with keeping up with Jack's memory of their supposed shared childhood. She offers Amily a diary she kept when she was still in foster care. Daniel walks in, so Emanda introduces him to Amily -- extra emphasis on the "Amanda Clarke." Amily runs off, happy to have secrets about her beloved Jack. Dan is disturbed, though. He asks if she's the daughter of David Clarke. Emanda does an uncharacteristically bad job of playing dumb: "Wait. You're not talking about that David Clarke?" But you don't have to try particularly hard to fool Daniel. They sit down on the couch and Dan spills that he knows David Clarke was working for Conrad when he was arrested. The subject changes to Daniel deciding he isn't going to tell his dad about Tyler's underhanded (bad visual) dealings with Nolan. He wants to beat Tyler on his own merits. He'll have a chance to do just that tonight because he's got a dinner meeting with Mr. Takeda. Emanda agrees to be Dan's translator for the night.

Nolan sits by himself among the night crowd at the Stowaway, swirling his sad glass of scotch. Amily hops/skips into the scene and tosses Nolan a cheerful greeting. Nolan's not having it. He sidles up to her stool and puts on his menacing whisper. He doesn't get why she's at a dive bar where obviously nobody wants her when she could be living it up in Paris. Amily corrects Nolan that Jack obviously wants her there and even Emanda has given her blessing. Nolan is thrown for such a loop by this revelation that he looks hurt. Amily teases him for it.

Upstairs, Dec is finishing up a phone conversation about an apartment lease for him and Charlotte, but Jack walks in and catches the tail end of it. He freaks out when Dec admits he's trying to move out to live with his girlfriend. He's not even eighteen yet. Jack gives a typical dad/guardian speech, but one thing he says is out of the ordinary and definitely sticks with Declan. In addition to telling Dec he needs to finish school and take care of his work obligation, he suggests that these things will go toward making him the type of man that a girl like Charlotte deserves. That's parenting. Jack goes back downstairs, leaving Dec to sit in contemplation of this wisdom.

It's traditional Japanese dinner time with Mr. Takeda. Dan and Emanda sit on the floor at a small wooden table with Satoshi. While Dan is sucking up to Mr. Takeda's business practices, Emanda is pretending to translate, but instead is telling her mentor she needs him to make an investment in Daniel. She'll provide the funds if necessary. She continues to relay incorrect translations of fluffy business compliments back and forth while she argues with Satoshi. Guaranteeing success for Daniel will give Emanda opportunities to look at Conrad's files to find evidence of David Clarke's innocence. Takeda worries Emanda is letting her heart cloud her judgment. He advises she doesn't let her fake feelings for Daniel become real. He gets up from the table in a tiny huff and walks off. Body language be damned, Emanda tells Daniel that Mr. Takeda has chosen to invest $50 million. Daniel laughs and kisses Emanda.

Commercials

Nolan finds Emanda having a moment of contemplation down on the beach. He condescendingly strolls up to her in that way only Nolan knows how to do, and asks what the deal is with her allowing Amily the freedoms she's giving. Emanda throws it back in Nolan's face that at least Amily is under control whereas Tyler isn't. Nolan starts making excuses, but Emanda cuts him off to say she's got it all handled. She curtly says bye to Nolan, tosses off her shirt and runs for the water.

At the South Fork Inn, Conrad and Tyler are having some delightfully boring conversation about business in the hotel's little parlor. Dan walks in and Conrad immediately congratulates him on the Takeda deal, of which Tyler wasn't aware. No worries though for Tyler because his commission for his deal with Nolan is already secured, as per Conrad's rules for the competition. Tyler gets up to leave with a comment to Daniel about making sure to give his pretty blonde translator a cut of his commission on any future deals. Conrad notices the animosity and offers up some of that weird advice that blurs the line between that of a father and that of a boss. He tells Dan to use his envy as motivation. This is the last straw for Daniel. He tells his dad he knows how Tyler managed to hook Nolan.

The Stowaway. Amily has Sammy jumping around to get a piece of driftwood she's holding high, giving the appearance Sammy is regaining his memory of her. Jack takes notice. And you know what else? Huh? Huh? Amily excitedly tells Jack she's remembered they used to collect sea glass together, too. He remembers it like it was yesterday that they used to bury jars of it together. They share a kiss. Guh. Sappiness is bad enough when it comes from a genuine place.

Grayson Manor. Victoria has invited Ryan Huntley over for tea to discuss him taking on her divorce case. They talk briefly about Michael Davis moving on from Lydia and being engaged to someone else. About Lydia's attempt at suicide, Victoria only has to say that she reaped what she sowed. Ryan lays out the complete terms Victoria must abide by if she is to retain him for her case. No contact with Conrad at all, complete financial transparency, and she needs to be willing to do whatever is necessary to win -- meaning she might have a significant amount of Conrad's blood on her hands. That's perfectly fine with Queen Victoria.

Charlotte finds Dec upstairs at the Stowaway. She's excited about their meeting with the apartment people, but he tells her he canceled it because he needs to finish school so he can be the guy she deserves. Charlotte offers for Dec to keep the bribery check Victoria gave him, but he gives it back because it's also not his style.

Conrad summons Tyler to his office to fire him for getting Nolan to invest through "less-than-honorable" methods. Tyler doesn't understand what the problem is since he closed a deal worth $20 million. The company's worth 200 times that, and as a result, they try to avoid scandal at all costs. Conrad isn't interested in a deal begot through blackmail. Tyler still isn't sure what Conrad has on him, so Conrad comes out with the fact he's aware of the sex tape with Tyler and Nolan. Conrad repeats again that Tyler is fired. A moment passes as Tyler tries to compose himself before he asks, "Am I?" Conrad sits in silence and awaits what this crazy kid is getting at. "At least when I do business, people don't die," Tyler follows up. He threatens that if Conrad tries to fire him, he will make sure everyone finds out the Graysons were really responsible for the deaths of the passengers of Flight 197. He leans in to Conrad and adds, "I'd think very carefully about the words that come out of your mouth, Mr. Grayson."

Commercials

Daniel comes home to Casa Emily to finds Amily digging around under the house's foundation for something. He isn't cool with this at all and thinks Amily shouldn't be around when Emanda's not there. Emanda happens to walk up just then and says it's OK with her. Amily's like, "Haha, douche-ass!" and leaves. Dan turns to Emanda to say he doesn't trust Amily. He thinks Emanda should be careful with her.

Victoria brazenly sits in front of Charlotte's laptop in the kitchen at Grayson Manor, looking at what her daughter's been up to. Charlotte's reflexes kick in when she walks into the room and she starts immediately yelling at her mother, who ignores the anger and starts asking questions about why Char was looking for apartments. Charlotte admits she was planning on moving out with Dec, but before her mother can go nuclear she adds that Dec decided against it. She pulls out the bribe check and gives it back to Victoria, revealing she knows her mother tried to get her boyfriend to dump her. She adds one of the reasons she's not going to live with Dec is because it's not fair to him since she only wants to get away from Victoria. She plans on leaving to go live with Conrad now.

Nightfall at the Fortress of Solitude. Tyler stands at the glass doors thoughtfully looking out at the swimming pool, a drink in hand. He calls out to Nolan, who's across the room, how plans are coming along for their Monte Carlo trip. About that... Nolan says plans are on hold since they no longer have a reason to celebrate. He's having second thoughts about their deal. They shouldn't mix business and pleasure. Tyler has a slow burn of anger going on here. He accuses Nolan of having set him up all along and sending their sex tape to Conrad. This is news to Nolan. He calmly asks Tyler how much it's going to cost for him to get the sex tape back, which Tyler takes as Nolan trying to be an asshole. He flies off the handle and grabs Nolan by the lapels. Nolan calms him down and leads him over to the laptop on the coffee table where he plugs in the whale camera. The all-too-familiar sex video begins playing. He insists he didn't send it to Conrad. Tyler is so sickened by all of this that he grabs Nolan's laptop, pockets the whale camera, runs out to the pool and flings the laptop in. Nolan is terrified. Tyler calmly walks up to Nolan and says, "We could've been a team. Now you're just as lonely and pathetic as the day I found you."

Amily goes into Poor Porter Bar after hours to find a candlelit dinner waiting for her. She's a little distressed because she couldn't find what she was looking for under Emanda's house -- a jar of sea glass. Jack says that's okay because... voila! He has it. He's so pleased with himself as he explains how he dug it up immediately after Amanda vanished. He kept it all this time in hopes she'd come back for it. Amily declares she came back for Jack. They kiss.

Dinner at Casa Emily. Ems notices something's bothering Dan. He thinks he should go home to make sure Tyler doesn't do anything crazy before leaving because he was acting a little strangely when he saw him earlier. They have a sweet little kiss and goodbye out on the porch, which Satoshi sees from around the corner before walking up to Emanda. He accuses her of being in love with Dan and reveals that he originally didn't want to train Emanda because he thought her emotions destined her to fail. She insists her head is right, but he thinks she's lying to herself. He tells her she's now on her own.

Tyler has the whale camera at the pool house, and watches the video of him and Nolan. He looks through the file folder of other videos on the camera and pulls one up. It's a video of Lydia threatening to expose Conrad's coercing her into testifying against David. Tyler smiles to himself.

Commercials

Victoria sits alone in her parlor with a glass of wine when Daniel gets home. He asks if she's OK, and she blurts out that Charlotte's gone to live with Conrad, like she's been screaming it in her head over and over again since it happened. She feels like she's given everyone in the family a reason to desert her. Daniel raises his concern about whether Tyler left without incident and finds out that Tyler has simply gone to dinner -- he's still staying at Grayson Manor as far as Victoria knows. Worried, Daniel gets up and calls his father to find out what happened with firing Tyler. Conrad awkwardly says it was all simply resolved. This pisses Daniel off. What about ethics? Conrad insists Tyler will resolve this all discretely with Nolan and this is not Dan's call. Daniel hangs up on him. There's a knock at Conrad's door. It's a crying Charlotte. She hugs her dad and tells him she can't live with Victoria.

At a fancy restaurant, Tyler sits alone fidgeting, sipping his wine and nervously looking over the menu. Ashley arrives and asks if the seat across from Tyler is taken. He remarks that she just barely made it in time. Ashley isn't fazed. She says she considers herself lucky then. Tyler notices the bravado and says he is the one who is in fact lucky. They clink wine glasses.

Daniel returns to his mother in the parlor, livid. He asks how she stayed with Conrad all these years. He veritably hates his dad now. Victoria tells Daniel that she's hired a lawyer and doesn't want her son caught in the crossfire of whatever comes out in the divorce. Dan offers his mother that he'll stay with Grayson Global and get any info she needs on Conrad. He also offers to stay the night to keep a watch out for Tyler. You know... in case he shows up and starts throwing shit in the pool.

Casa Emily. Nolan is irate that Ems would expose his tryst with Tyler. He says he trusted Emanda. She fires back that you can't build trust on secrets. There have been secrets kept about Amily, Nolan replies. That may be, but Emanda throws back in Nolan's face that he's always been derailing her plans by toying with Jack. She adds, "And now you've sabotaged our alliance because you fell for a hooker." Nolan points out that the difference is he passed on an opportunity to expose her today. She thinks that's only because he knows she'd follow through on her threat to take him down if he stood in her way. Nolan's done. He starts to leave and Emanda follows to add that she never asked him to be a part of any of this. He invokes David Clarke as the reason he's a part of this, and says David didn't want this for Emanda. Nolan's glad David's not around to see what she's become. This actually hurts Emanda. She wipes away a tear as her phone rings inside the house. She has to compose herself before answering a call from Daniel. He saw Nolan leave the house and asks what that's all about. Reaching for a lie in her distress, Emanda gives a bad one. She says Nolan was there because he was spooked by Tyler earlier tonight, who blames him for getting fired. But he didn't get fired, Dan corrects. Emanda is thrown for a little loop, collects herself and asks if Daniel has any idea why that might be, but he doesn't. He tells Ems he plans on staying with his mom for the night, but she shouldn't worry because he can see her from the balcony in case Amanda Clarke comes back digging around. Victoria overhears this and goes white as a ghost. When Daniel hangs up with Emanda, she asks if she heard him right. He verifies that Amanda Clarke is back in the Hamptons and goes off to bed, leaving his mom frozen.

Emanda sits at her kitchen table with the infinity x infinity box open. She reads through a tiny journal. Emanda voice-over: "My father wrote, 'Always question where your loyalties lie. The people you trust will expect it, your greatest enemies will desire it and those you trust the most, without fail, will abuse it.'" She puts the journal away and pulls out a typed letter. Ryan Huntley voice-over: "Dear Mr. Clarke, I'm writing to inform you that I will not be moving forward with the appeal of your conviction for the crime of treason." FLASHBACK: Teenage Amanda is waiting for Ryan after hours in his office when he arrives. She shows him the letter and angrily asks why he dropped the appeal. /FLASHBACK. Emanda voice-over: "Some say loyalty inspires boundless hope, and while that may be, there is a catch. True loyalty takes years to build and only seconds to destroy." Emanda looks at an old article about Huntley being honored by a charity and puts it away in the infinity x infinity box.

Think you've got game? Prove it! Check out Games Without Pity, our new area featuring trivia, puzzle, card, strategy, action and word games -- all free to play and guaranteed to help pass the time until your show starts.

What are people saying about your favorite shows and stars right now? Find out with Talk Without Pity, the social media site for real TV fans. See Tweets and Facebook comments in real time and add your own -- all without leaving TWoP. Join the conversation now!