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A lot of people have their worlds shattered in this one, so let's dive right in. Invitations have gone out for Emanda and Daniel's overtly conceptualized "Fire & Ice" engagement party. This along with news of Conrad and Victoria's divorce brings Grandpa Grayson into town (guest star William Devane). Despite being Conrad's father, he totally has a soft spot for Victoria, and threatens Conrad's control of the company if any of this divorce business sullies the Grayson name. Maybe they should just change the named to "Sully Global." Conrad and Victoria reach a tentative agreement to play nice while Grandpa is in town as long as Conrad patches things up with Charlotte.
Jack stumbles upon the tape of Mason Treadwell's interview with Amanda Clarke that Emanda accidentally dropped under his bed at the Stowaway. After much coaxing, Nolan finally agrees to play the tape for Jack, he and Emanda having planned in actuality to erase the tape magnetically while pretending to play it, thus keeping Jack from finding out the truth. When it gets down to Nolan having to decide whether to stay loyal to Emanda's plan or be a good friend to a heartbroken Jack, he chooses the latter and plays the tape for him. This sends Jack into an angry frenzy.
He shows up uninvited to dinner at Grayson Manor and makes a big scene in front of basically the entire wedding party, accusing Victoria of hiding her affair with David Clarke and keeping Amanda locked away. The majority of the party is very confused except for Conrad who takes every opportunity to place blame on his wife. In an effort to save face, he breaks his agreement with Victoria to keep Charlotte's origin a secret and reveals in front of everyone that Charlotte is David's daughter. He then challenges Daniel's perception that this was the result of Victoria being raped, and clarifies that Victoria had an ongoing affair with David. Victoria is left with no more lies to hide behind.
All of this leaves both Jack and Amily heartbroken, Victoria completely discredited in Daniel's eyes, Charlotte devastated and Grandpa Grayson threatening Conrad's position of CEO at Grayson Global. Emanda is conflicted as she watches everything unfold first-hand, having disillusioned Charlotte and Daniel, who both seem to be pretty innocent bystanders in all of this. When Emanda returns home after dinner, her secret compartment for the infinity x infinity box is open and an RSVP for the "Fire & Ice" party sits propped up in the box with "Will attend" marked. Somebody has a secret revenger.
-- 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 start with a dark red close-up. The camera moves around to reveal we've been focused on the back of a box in Emanda's hand that holds an invitation for the Fire & Ice Ball from the pilot. Emanda voiceover: "Years ago, I met a boy who introduced me to a book -- The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. In it, William Blake writes, 'If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is... infinite.'" Brief montage of everyone's various reactions to receiving the engagement announcement: Ashley happily works on sending them out; Conrad sits in his office, holding it in his hand in contemplation; a maid hands one to Charlotte and she can't hold back a smile; Nolan flicks the faux diamond pendant in the box and sneers. Back to Emanda, sitting up in bed. She smiles when Daniel rolls over into frame, and they start making out in celebration of their love being disseminated to the masses. Emanda voiceover continues: "But in reality our perception is often clouded, by expectations, by experiences. As of late I find my perception is blinded by only one thing... revenge." Cut to an invitation propped upright. We pan over to see a laptop open with more interview footage of David Clarke. He's talking about being convinced that Victoria played no part in his arrest because he's the father of her daughter. Victoria sits at her vanity mirror watching this blankly. She reaches out and caresses David's face on the screen as Charlotte walks in. Her mother immediately shuts the laptop. Charlotte asks if she's seen the invitation, immediately sensing Victoria's disapproval. Never one to pass up an opportunity to attack her mother, Charlotte reminds her that Declan doesn't get much approval either. Victoria is such a broken woman at this point that she doesn't even try to protest.
Casa Emily. In the kitchen, Daniel gathers his things to get ready for work. Ems comes downstairs in all white, as per Victoria's request, for her engagement photo shoot at Grayson Manor. Daniel leaves, and Emanda heads straight for the infinity x infinity box. In her spotless white dress, she sits with her laptop and wears latex gloves. Her laptop is playing David's revelation that he's Charlotte's father again, but Emanda is burning it to a DVD. Her phone rings with a call from Nolan. He naturally opens with a barb about the Fire & Ice Ball invitation. "'Fire & Ice.' Mm... subtle. Were 'Fire & Brimstone' not available?" Then, he gets to the real questions. Last he was aware, Emanda was going to be putting all of her plans on hold. Now he's holding an invitation in his hand that says otherwise. Emanda explains the new wrinkle of Victoria claiming David raped her, and Ems is now waiting for the perfect moment to reveal to everyone Charlotte's paternity. She'll probably do that with the DVD she's just recorded, packed and addressed to Charlotte from "Amanda Clarke." She and Nolan hang up. Then, she happens upon Amily's cell phone in the infinity x infinity box, and sees twelve text messages and seven missed calls from Jack. Sadness.
Porter Bar. We're reminded Jack is still pretty banged up by seeing him shirtless with his ribs still bandaged. Nolan shows up along with some delivery men who are carrying a giant (seriously huge) HDTV. Jack tries to decline the gift, but Dec enters the scene, which means Jack's effortless humility buckles to Dec's effortless grubbiness. Noting his brother's pain, Dec figures he might as well hand him Emanda's engagement announcement now so he can deal with all the pain at once. Jack's still focused on Amily, though. He wants to know if maybe Nolan knows something about where she could've gone since he supposedly knew her father. Poor Jack confides to Nolan he thinks he's the reason she thought she was in trouble and left. You can see Nolan's cold, awkward heart break just a little bit before he tells Jack he should just rest right now. Left alone, Jack contemplates the engagement party invitation, and tosses it at his trash can, naturally missing it. He goes to pick it up and spots the Mason Treadwell cassette tape Emanda accidentally dropped under his bed. He picks up the tape and reads the label, which indicates it's one of Mason's interviews with Amanda. Jack's mind races with the realization his girlfriend might be an arsonist.
South Fork Inn. Conrad and Dan are having a business lunch together. Dad Grayson takes the opportunity to tease his son about the choice of "Fire & Ice" for the engagement party since it matches Victoria's dual personality. Dan's not too amused, and cautiously brings up Charlotte's paternity now that Victoria let him in on the secret. Conrad suggests Daniel can expect the same type of lying and secrets when he's married to Emanda. Just then, Grandpa Grayson shows up. Daniel's definitely happy to see him, but he has to leave to go meet Emanda for the photo shoot. Now that he's alone with Conrad, Grandpa Grayson's demeanor changes. He heard from Victoria about the divorce. Conrad notes that Gramps was always closer to Victoria. Concerned the company and their name is in trouble because of this public divorce, Grandpa Grayson asserts to his son that he didn't build the Grayson Global empire just to watch Conrad ineptly tear it down with poor family values. A little late for that, old man.
Back at the Stowaway, Jack sits in a chair with his phone to his ear and the cassette tape in his other hand. He gets Amily's voicemail, and begins leaving another message, but this one is angry. Jack tells her he's holding the tape as ransom until she agrees to meet face-to-face since he figures it's evidence she torched Mason's house. We cut to Emanda listening to the end of this voicemail. She's pensive hearing her destined-not-to-be soulmate demanding answers she owes him.
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Fortress of Solitude. Emanda paces, irritated that Jack somehow found the tape. She and Nolan go back and forth about how it might've been possible until Nolan volunteers to get the tape back. He's happy to do it since he doesn't want to see Jack get hurt. Emanda takes exception to the implication she's indifferent to Jack's feelings. That doesn't stop Nolan from digging at her for looking too far down the line and ignoring the "mere mortals" involved. Nolan really knows how to give backhanded compliments.
Cut to a large family photo of the Graysons. This portrait is on the wall at the head of the main staircase of Grayson Manor. Victoria stares at it in a malaise. Ashley comes up to her to ask an unimportant question, which gets completely ignored by Victoria. Instead, she asks Ash if she was close to her family and goes on to confide she regrets not really knowing her father. They walk together downstairs to where the photo shoot is well underway. Victoria heads straight for Charlotte, who lounges in a chair. The conversation with Ashley has Victoria longing for some familial connection. She invites herself to maybe have lunch with her daughter and Declan, knowing that offering up some interest in Charlotte's boyfriend might give her an in. Charlotte remains a fortress against her mother's feeble attempts at having a mother-daughter connection. To exit the conversation, Charlotte jumps at the opportunity to be the family member photographed. Daniel replaces her in conversation with Victoria, and advises his mom to tell Charlotte the truth since he would hope he'd be told the truth if it were him in this situation.
Daniel goes back to where Emanda is being photographed and tells her about grandpa showing up. Daniel admits that he never knows what to do when he's being photographed. The photographer suggests they both just think back to the moment they first saw each other. FLASHBACK: Dan drunkenly tries to pick up a girl at a bar with a William Blake poem. Wearing glasses and a beanie that totally signifies she's college-aged, Amanda watches and takes notes. /FLASHBACK. According to the photographer, the photos come out great. When asked, Emanda says she was thinking about the moment she knew Dan was the one. Conrad enters the scene, which gets a rise out of Charlotte because she can't wait to take a photo with her daddy. Poor Charlotte gets brushed aside by Conrad, so she lashes out by inviting her mom to lunch. Way to rebel, Charlie. The reason Conrad was too focused to pay attention to his daughter is because he needs to take Victoria aside privately to reprimand her for involving his father in their divorce. Realizing she has gained some power back, Victoria uses it to threaten she'll show Conrad's father just how dysfunctional the family has become unless Conrad promises not to reveal the truth to Charlotte and remain a loving father. Check and mate.
Porter Bar. Jack shows the tape to Nolan. Nolan: "Wow... dinosaur format!" (Love you, Nolan.) Nolan offers to take it back to his lab and try to find a player for it, but Jack is wise enough to keep the incriminating tape. Trying to take some edge off the situation, Nolan asks if it's a sex tape. Not a good time to tease Jack. After ordering Nolan to track down a video player, he storms off.
Back at the photo shoot, Victoria exits the study and tells Dan and Emanda that despite everything that's happened recently they need to be very welcoming to Grandpa Grayson. Ems asks Dan what that was all about. He figures it means his mother just got what she wanted. Heh. Cue Emanda's phone with a call from Nolan. He's a bit panicked because he wasn't able to snag the tape from Jack, but he figures he might still have a chance to erase it if Jack hasn't watched it yet. Emanda asks what number was on the tape's label. She robotically knows which one it was by just being told the number. It's an interview from when she was 10. Nolan asks what she's going to do. Cryptically, Emanda says she's going to do what she hoped she wouldn't have to do, and hangs up. Ashley walks up to make small talk about the photo shoot, so Emanda suggests maybe they can reshoot the photos outdoors -- an idea Ash would've come up with herself it weren't for Victoria. Emanda asks Ashley to tell Daniel she's going to go run some secret wedding errands.
The phone rings at the Stowaway. It's Amily calling from a motel room. On the verge of tears, she very deliberately and somewhat stilted says she just needs the tape back. She ignores Jack's questions, and just gives him an address before hanging up. Ems stands behind her, not necessarily pleased with herself.
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Back in the motel room, Amily and Emanda have a chance to talk. Amily wants to know how Jack is doing. He's confused, Emanda says. When asked by Amily if they should just tell him the truth, Emanda balks. Jack wouldn't be too pleased with Amily if he found out she was pretending to be Emanda this whole time. Also, he would go after Victoria, and there's no telling what could happen to him. Amily stares back at Emanda like a child, grudgingly trusting her.
Porter Bar. Charlotte and her mother walk in. Victoria has her hair tied back in a ponytail, big, gold hoop earrings and a tight turquoise sweater. She's a slumming chameleon! She takes one look around when they step into the bar, and vomits with her eyes. Declan greets the two ladies, and starts to crack a "two Graysons walk into a bar" joke, but Victoria cuts him off as politely as she's capable of to ask for a wine list. It's a short list -- they have red and white. Victoria needs a bourbon on the rocks. She and Charlotte take a seat at a table, and Charlotte can already sense her mother is disgusted. Knowing how big a deal this is to her daughter, Victoria feigns tolerance and says she thinks it's important to shake up your perspective every once in a while. Also, she wants to get to know her daughter. In that case, Charlotte opportunistically asks if Declan can join them for dinner with Grandpa Grayson tonight. Damn tricky daughters.
Ashley shows up at Conrad's room at the South Fork Inn to pick up the list of invites for the Fire & Ice Ball. Conrad stops her before she leaves to ask what her endgame is. He can't figure out where Ashley's ambitions lie, and he thinks she's hitching herself to the wrong Grayson since Conrad is so confident Victoria is going down. Ash doesn't necessarily disagree with Mr. Grayson.
Jack arrives at Amily's motel. She can't even look him in the eye when she answers the door and he angrily barges in the room, accusing her of planning their getaway trip as an alibi. Amily can't stand the confrontation any longer, so she readily admits to being an arsonist. Jack isn't appeased. He says he's keeping the tape because he wants to see what was worth her throwing everything they had away. He leaves. Ems comes out of hiding from the bathroom to tell Amily she needs to go after him. It's what's best for him. But Amily is done. She sits down on the motel bed and tells Ems that if she wants the tape she has to go after him herself. She gets up and slams the bathroom door behind her.
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Fortress of Solitude. Emanda catches Nolan up on what happened with Amily. Nolan doesn't understand what the big deal is about Jack watching the tape and learning the truth. The big deal is Ems wants Jack's memory of Amanda to be of the girl he left behind. Nolan thinks it's more about Emanda moving on than Jack. Touché. In any case, the current agenda for Ems is now dinner with Grandpa Grayson and pitting Victoria's lies against her. She maintains Charlotte deserves to know the truth. "Who's going to tell her?" Nolan asks. "Our father is," Ems replies.
Emanda arrives at Grayson Manor and hands the package addressed to Charlotte to the help. Grandpa Grayson arrives shortly after, and is totally an attention whore. He has that whole brazen old man thing going. He immediately takes a shine to Dec because he senses the young man is a fish out of water. Later at dinner, he poses the question to Emanda and Daniel, "How did you two lovebirds meet?" FLASHBACK: Back in the college bar, Daniel's conversation with the bar girl has spilled over to Amanda. Daniel asks for advice on how to make a name for himself if he wants to be a poet despite being rich and famous. She advises he be better than his parents. Nothing more poetic than that. /FLASHBACK. Conrad arrives and excuses himself for a call. He asks Charlotte to come with him. Later, Grandpa slow dances with Victoria and asks if her marriage could be salvaged. He doesn't want for her and Conrad to end up alone like he did. Most importantly, he asks Victoria to promise the divorce won't get ugly. Again, too late for that, old man.
Fortress of Solitude. Jack hands the tape over to Nolan. When Nolan jokes about being Jack's personal Geek Squad, Jack admits Nolan has been a really good friend to him and he appreciates it. Nolan levels with him, asking why he wants to watch the tape. Jack figures reality can't be worse than his imagination. If he's going to let her go, he has to know the truth. Nolan thinks for a second, then bypasses erasing the tape and plays the real thing for him. It's little Amanda talking about Victoria's affair with David. She's begging Mason to find Victoria to get help for David. The video ends, and Nolan softly tells Jack he's sorry. Jack is in a complete daze. He gets up and leaves.
Conrad and Charlotte sit in the study at Grayson Manor. Conrad apologizes for taking out his frustrations on her. He claims he just wants her to end up tough enough to handle whatever might happen. Charlottes asks if he remembers when she got dumped at her sweet sixteen party. She was hiding in her room from all her friends when he told her to let her friends wait, staying with her and telling her jokes to make her laugh. He admits her laugh is his favorite sound in the world. Char says she's not afraid of anything as long as she has him. They hug. Ems sees this from the room. She immediately goes and snags the package. Victoria happens to bump into her at that exact moment and causes her to drop it. Victoria picks it up first, but Ems snatches it back, claiming it's a DVD from another wedding planner. Crisis averted
Jack shows up at Amily's motel room again, and keeps banging on the door while she sits inside, crying. He tells her he knows everything and doesn't blame her. Amily can't handle it anymore. She dials Emanda and demands to know why she let him watch the tape. This is news to Ems. She tries to express as much to Amily, but Amily is done listening to her. Amily says she's going after him herself and hangs up. At that moment, Grandpa Grayson snatches Emanda's phone and guides her back to the party since she's being rude. Back at the motel, Amily runs outside after Jack's truck and stops out of breath.
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Grayson Manor. Dan finishes up the story of the night of their engagement. Conversation turns to Emanda. Grandpa thinks Ems reminds him a lot of Victoria. That gets a jaw clench from the queen. Suddenly, Jack shows up and interrupts everything. He's super pissed and pushing past all the servants. He confronts Victoria about her affair with David. When Victoria plays dumb, Jack pulls out the cassette tape to back up his claims. He threatens to reveal the truth about Victoria if she continues spreading lies about Amanda. He leaves. Dan jumps to his mother's defense, and asks her to admit she was raped. That prompts Conrad to jumps in and reveals Victoria is just covering her ass. He sees an opportunity to control the damage of a revelation to Charlotte, and breaks the news to her that David Clarke is really her father. She's absolutely crushed. Charlotte turns to her mother who has no words at all. Charlotte gets up from the table and runs out. Victoria instantly turns to Conrad, declaring she'll never forgive him for this. Daniel is still hopelessly loyal, so Conrad declares the truth about it not being a rape -- that Victoria had an ongoing affair. Dan asks his mom if this is the truth. Completely defeated, Victoria just gets up from the table and walks away. Emanda watches all of this unfold with her eyes welling up with tears.
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Gramps is pissed. Conrad follows him to the front door of Grayson Manor, asking why his father is talking to him like he's the one who slept with David. Grandpa Grayson holds Conrad accountable for making his kids live this charade. He cares more about family than business, and Conrad has lost sight of that. Grandpa Grayson suggests Conrad step down as CEO at Grayson Global and groom Dan to take his place. Before he leaves, he throws his weight around by reminding Conrad he is still chairman of the board. Somebody missed their nap.
Jack's phone rings. It's Emanda. She asks if he's talked to Amily. He hasn't been able to get a hold of her. Emanda suggests Amily probably just doesn't want to be found right now. Jack tells her that she should've seen the tape. He continues, "[Amanda] was this little girl who everyone stopped fighting for." That sends Emanda over the edge. She tells him she has to go just as Daniel shows up. He bears the news that Charlotte isn't answering her phone, and he'll never believe another word his mother says. Altogether not a bad day.
Charlotte is safe and sitting with Dec at the bar of the Stowaway just the two of them. He's trying to suggest reasons her mother might've lied to her, but Charlotte won't even entertain them. She gets up and grabs a bottle. Dec is completely in perfect boyfriend mode for this scene. He tells Charlotte to put the bottle down and suggests Conrad will still be her father even if he's not really her dad. What does Charlotte think about that? She thinks her father is dead. The rich really don't know how to appreciate what they have.
Jack looks out of his window longingly. Emanda voice-over: "Truth is a battle of perceptions. People only see what they're prepared to confront." Victoria walks around the empty dinner table and picks up Charlotte's coat from the ground. She whispers her daughter's name. Emanda VO continued: "It's not what you look at that matters, but what you see." Emanda arrives at Casa Emily while talking on the phone with Nolan. She asks what happened with the tape. Nolan lies about the eraser being a relic that couldn't be counted on. Ems catches Nolan up on the fallout of Jack showing up at dinner. Though Charlotte finding out about her origin was an eventuality, Emanda's really upset at how it all went down. She opens her front door and finds the secret compartment in the floor where she keeps the infinity x infinity box is open. She drops her phone and leaves Nolan hanging. Ems VO continued: "And when different perceptions battle against one another, the truth has a way of getting lost." In the compartment, there's an RSVP card sitting in the box with "Will attend" triple underlined in red and an "X" marked to it. Emanda stands up in a panic and looks around her empty apartment. VO continued: "And the monsters find a way of getting out." Emanda stands barefoot and alone in her living room, staring down at the RSVP card.
-- 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.
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