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Judge Robert Barnes, is up for a seat on the Supreme Court. Who is Judge Robert Barnes? Well, just the guy who turned a blind eye to jury tampering during David Clarke's trial, that's who. Because of a letter sent to her father in prison (what else), Emanda's aware that Robert's adviser was taking steps to reveal the jury had been tainted before he subsequently turned up dead. The good news is that Victoria sees Barnes as a powerful ally, and Emanda will get her chance at accessing yet another man who stood idly by as her father took the fall. Man, the Grayons really befriended everyone that was involved, huh?
Victoria reaches out to Ems to ask her to reel her son back in since she's certain Daniel's still in love with Emanda, and the Queen is desperate at this point for anything that can make him accessible. That falls in line enough with Emanda's own plans. She stages a fake-up (Nolan's coined phrase for a faux break-up) with Aiden in front of Dan and is sure to present herself as strong, but wounded when she has 'chance' encounters with Daniel. At dinner with the Barneses, Emanda features prominently when she begins questioning their ties to the adviser that died. It becomes clear to Ems that Robert is abusive to his wife, Patricia, so she exploits that by telling her that Amanda Clarke lived in fear after the ordeal she went through. Empowered by Emanda, Patricia diverts from her planned speech in support of her husband at a press conference, and instead reveals the role he played in an improper trial of David Clarke, as well as his domestic abuse of her. Awesome line she delivers: "The greater the power, the greater the potential for abuse." Robert will not be getting a Supreme Court seat.
The Initiative is becoming more active in the dealings of all involved. Helen gets in contact with Daniel to suggest he dig deeper into Grayson Global to uncover more secrets that can gain him more power. Meanwhile, Aiden gets in contact with Helen, earning a face-to-face with her. She dangles the possibility of Aiden reuniting with his sister if he'll be cooperative. We may care about that later... I guess.
Now technically an employee of Grayson Global, Nolan finds himself in a position to do some snooping. He hacks into the company's system (unfortunately leaving behind some bread crumbs the Initiative might be able to exploit) as his ex-boyfriend, Marco, harasses him to get back together. Nolan's not hearing all that noise, but Marco may come in handy because he's in possession of some very powerful malicious code Nolan wrote when he was younger. Something tells me that will come back into play in the future.
The boring bar drama continues. The Ryan brothers tighten their hold on the Porters, and it's starting to be too much. Declan decides to do some investigating, and uncovers a stash of drugs. Seeing this as an opportunity to involve the authorities and be rid of these con artists, Dec anonymously calls the police. When they raid the bar, they find no drugs in the bar. Instead, the drugs turn up on The Amanda, incriminating Dec. Of course, Jack won't let his little brother do time, so he valiantly/idiotically claims the drugs were his. With Jack locked up, the Ryans remind Declan that it wouldn't be wise to mess with them. Things can only get worse.
Operation "Get back with the fake fiancée" is well underway. All of those tiny interactions between Emanda and Daniel culminate in Dan showing up at her door at night. Ems reiterates her support for him, and they kiss. Victoria watches from her balcony, pleased. Aiden watches from just inside the front door, not pleased.
-- Pablo G. is some guy who lives in Austin, Texas. He used to co-host TWoP's original "Trailers Without Pity" with his brother Omar G. Check out their webcomic Space Monkeys! and follow Pablo's writing at Pablog. Follow him @PendejoJoe on Twitter.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!It's the dead of night out on some cliffs, probably near Casa Emily. In dark hoodies, Emanda and Aiden spar. Emanda voiceover: "Power: born out of nature, coveted by man. Wars rage on and victors are crowned, but true power can never be lost or won. True power comes from within." Ems thoroughly beats Aiden before roll-throwing him and pinning him with her true power from within. He comments on her being in tip-top shape. She has to be, she says. Is it time for round two? Ems has other things on her mind. She tosses off her hood and lays a kiss on Aiden's lips. There's nothing quite like combating your significant other in the pitch dark on some cliff to get the sex juices flowing, am I right?
The morning, Daniel strolls on a busy New York City sidewalk with his briefcase and shades, newspaper tucked under his arm. He's entirely playing the part of the CEO he must believe his dad envisions... or maybe it was something he saw in a movie in college when he wasn't busy getting shitfaced and crashing expensive cars and people into things. Helen's black Initiativemobile rolls up beside him and she beckons him inside for a brief meeting. In the backseat of the car, Dan's a little bit sassy when Helen suggests the Initiative likes to know exactly who and what they're investing in. Daniel: "I agree. It's important to know who you're getting into bed with." Stop it. She's too old for you. What Helen's really getting at is she wants Dan to try his hand at uncovering more secrets within Grayson Global like the Nolcorp coup he haphazardly managed. She figures if he digs around enough, he should uncover secrets that will make him more powerful.
Early morning at the Stowaway. Amily sits alone at the empty bar with a bowl of cereal. Jack enters in a bit of a stupor because his alarm didn't go off. That was Amily's doing. She saw that he was tossing and turning all night, as if a deep, dark secret were weighing on his slumbersleepytimes. Jack admits he's been keeping a secret from her and produces a necklace he made out of the sea glass that he supposedly found with her when they were children (but really found with Ems). He thinks she can wear it at their wedding. Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue all in one. Cute. The cuteness is cut short when Nate Ryan walks in pushing a dolly of big sacks he calls "supplies." Yes, but supplies for whom? Nate orders Jack to clean up the counter and disappears into the back storage room. Ams asks Jack, "Since when do you take orders from the Ryan brothers?" She senses something's not right with them. How perceptive. And speaking of perceptive, Declan eavesdrops on this conversation from yet another backroom (How many backrooms does the Stowaway have? No wonder it's got a problem with stowaways). Somehow, this conversation strikes a nerve with Dec, it seems. I don't know why, since it's nothing he didn't already know.
In a canary-colored polo shirt, Conrad calmly reads the newspaper in the parlor at Grayson Manor. His phone rings unattended, much to Victoria's annoyance. Her nagging only causes Conrad to feign reaching for the phone, picking up his cup of coffee instead. Victoria's irate that Conrad can be so glib as investors hound him out of panic that Daniel is now in charge, and that he can just sit by idly while the Initiative poses a threat to their son. They've already done everything they can to try to get through to Dan, Conrad says. And he's got kind of a point. But in this world of social climbers and glad-handing, there's always more that can be done as far as Victoria's concerned. A Judge Robert and Patricia Barnes will be coming to dinner soon because Victoria purchased the head table at her benefit project, the cause of which is helping those who have been wrongly accused. The irony of that should not be lost on Conrad, and it isn't. "If they sold stock in irony, I would be richer than the Sultan of Brunei," Conrad oozes. Moving forward with her plan despite Conrad's difficulty, Victoria explains that Conrad could easily get his job back as CEO if his image is rehabilitated a bit by Patricia. But what about getting Daniel out of the way? Victoria has that figure out, too. Emanda will be the conduit.
At Casa Emily, Aiden reads a letter aloud that Ems has shown him. It's addressed to David Clarke. After quoting Martin Luther King Jr. on injustice, the letter goes on to reveal that the writer witnessed Judge Barnes act outside of the law and do David a great injustice. Emanda explains to Aiden that she believes the letter was written by James Palmer, the courtroom clerk at David's trial. She thinks that Palmer alerted Barnes to the juror that believed David was innocent and Judge Barnes subsequently alerted the Graysons. Ems heads straight over to her laptop where she has a news video clip queued up of a press conference with Barnes addressing the replacement of a juror. She points out that Palmer is standing behind him in the video and was killed in a subway accident shortly thereafter. Aiden wonders aloud how the Senate hasn't uncovered any improprieties on Barnes as of yet. Ems has no answer and neither do the show's writers, I guess. Aiden takes this as a cue to sidle up to Emanda and take her in a hug from behind. She lets out a long, frustrated sigh... as do I. Emanda's a strong, sociopathic woman, Aiden. She doesn't need your validation! Almost as if to remind him of this, Ems reminds him that he needs to go out the back door if he leaves so that Victoria doesn't spot him. Damn right.
Cut to Emanda standing out on Victoria's balcony perch, looking down at her own home. Victoria brings out refreshments as Emanda comments on the view she has from up there. Victoria: "I hardly noticed." Ha! Ems cuts through the bullshit and asks about Victoria's insistence that Daniel's in trouble. Victoria's concerned that Daniel doesn't have the ruthless temperament it takes to run Grayson Global. On top of that, he's become angry and petulant, walling his mother off. She thinks that Emanda has the power to still reach him before it's too late because he obviously still loves her. If Ems can bring back her son and convince him to let go of Grayson Global, Victoria will stand behind her no matter what. She'd bet her life on Daniel's love for Emanda, she says before extending out her hand for a handshake to solidify an agreement. Ems glares back for a moment before taking Victoria's hand in hers.
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Ems and Victoria come downstairs from their meeting to greet Judge Robert Barnes and his wife, Patricia. Victoria introduces the couple to Emanda, and the four make small talk about Robert being a shoo-in for the seat on the Supreme Court. Ems is making her exit when Victoria throws out an invitation for dinner tonight with the Barneses, adding that Daniel will be there, which might as well mean: "So your ass better be there." Ems accepts the invitation.
At the Stowaway, Declan watches the Ryan brothers through a window as they talk. Dec is practically catatonic as his mind tumbles around all the bad things these two men represent to him and his loved ones. Charlotte's sitting in the background of the shot talking away at Declan, but he's not listening at all. When she realizes this and finally gets his attention, Dec's mind hits the ground running. He asks Charlie for a favor when Kenny and Nate come back in the bar. Cut to Declan going into the back storage room and searching through the "supplies" that Nate brought in. Back out in the bar, Charlotte does her best blabbety acting job in front of the Ryan brothers, talking about how her mother wants to take up the cause of ex-cons. This gets a concerned look between the brothers because... hey! They're ex-cons. Back in the storage room, Declan finds out the bags are giant sacks of coffee beans, which Dec proceeds to accidentally spill all over the place. He might as well reach his hand in the sack then, right? Inside, he finds a plastic bag of drugs. Like, hard drugs. He scrambles to scoop up all the coffee beans and cover his tracks while Charlotte draws out Nate's fake story of being the fall guy for a drug operation. The whole time Nate and Kenny are already suspicious of how long it's taking Dec to bring back a box of bourbon bottles, and Charlie doesn't help by insisting twice that Nate stick around or let her go get Declan. Finally, Nate gets free of Charlotte and heads back to the storage room, but Dec has already managed to clean up. Nate throws his weight around, telling Declan to mind his business about the coffee beans. It seems like Dec's gotten away with his snooping as he leaves the room, but then Nate steps on the one coffee bean Dec missed and stops in his tracks. Busted!
Daniel steps out of his office and lets his receptionist know to hold all his calls because he's heading out to lunch. Aiden is around the corner, finishing up a conversation with some guy, unseen by Daniel as he exits. Aiden walks up to the receptionist and asks for Daniel, knowing he's gone. He declines to leave a message, but instead slyly pretends to know that Dan's off having sushi some place. The receptionist corrects him and divulges where Dan has a reservation. Aiden takes his leave of the receptionist, placing a call to Ems to let her know where Daniel is. That's now where they are headed. Glad that all worked out.
In Jack's bedroom at the Stowaway, Declan and Jack whisper-argue about the drugs Dec uncovered. Jack's livid that Dec took such a big risk snooping around and involved Charlotte, but Declan's sick of living under the shadow of these two criminals. Suddenly, Jack has a bit of an epiphany. He asks Dec if he remembers Eddie Solomon, a guy who used to beat up Declan when Jack was in high school. He's a cop now. Funny how that happens. Jack thinks he might know how he can get them out of their predicament. Involve the cops? Yeah... that can't possible go wrong when dealing with con artists!
Conrad saunters through the lobby of a nice restaurant and out to the outdoor dining area where Daniel's already seated. Dad Grayson teases his son about raising the white flag so soon, but Dan's doing no such thing. He's summoned his father there to get information about secret investments Conrad may have made within the confines of the company. Conrad plays dumb and changes the subject to Aiden and Emanda, whom he can see through the windows of the restaurant. Daniel follows his dad's gaze into the restaurant and is greeted by a staged and heated argument between Ems and Aiden about Emanda presumably only dating Aiden to keep tabs on Daniel. They break up right there on the spot, which prompts Daniel to stand up to go intervene. On his way into the restaurant, Ems hurries by him and apologizes. Aiden comes out a moment later and tells Dan that they've just broken up. Emanda smiles to herself as she walks away in slow motion.
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Daniel enters his office to find Nolan lounging in his chair. It's a surprise to Daniel because when he asked for a meeting with Nolan, he meant for them to schedule it on the books. Nolan: "Books are obsolete." Dan wastes no time asking Nolan if he can help out with tracking down any rogue files in Grayson Global's system. Nolan will oblige in this request since he's now technically on the payroll. With that settled, Nolan makes a bit of small talk, asking where "the London fog" a.k.a. Aiden is. Daniel reveals that he and Emanda just broke up. That's not something that sounds like it's part of any revenge plan he's aware of, so Nolan takes his leave of Daniel to go find out what's really going on.
Frantically, Jack has Declan helping him pack an overnight bag for Amily and Carl. She walks in, and is immediately upset by the idea since she's obviously out of the loop on something major that's going on. She asks Declan to excuse them, then goes into a speech about all the bad families she bounced around to when she was a foster kid. The one thing they all had in common was they lied to each other. Jack comes clean. He explains his plan to have his buddy on the police force bust the Ryan brothers without them knowing he ratted them out. Amily hates the situation, but Jack assures her it's going to be OK, which surely means that it won't be.
This scene is vintage Nolan. He waltzes into Casa Emily, detailing how "Prince Oedipus" just granted him access to Grayson Global's intranet, which will be good for their crusade against the Initiative. He then faux laments Emanda's break-up with "Remington Steele," suggesting that it's better this way because there wasn't room in her sidecar for the both of them. He finishes saying this just as Aiden sneaks up behind him, causing Nolan to jump and simultaneously let out a cool, "Heeeeey, buddy." It takes a moment, then Nolan pieces it together, "What? Wait, wait, wait... You two... [scoffs] A fake-up? Color me impressed. If I didn't know better I'd say Daniels' already thinking [singsongy] make-up." Oh, Nolan... is there anything you can't brighten? And he's not done. Aiden asks Nolan what his chances are of winning back Dan's confidence. Nolan condescendingly: "Well, bros before hos only works if he's not still in love with the ho... bro." I died. Nolan takes notice of Aiden's discomfort as Ems outlines her plan to try and get in and take down Judge Barnes even if it means playing nice with Daniel for a little while. She walks out, leaving Nolan with an opportunity to twist the knife a little bit more on Aiden, pointing out the line between Ems, Daniel and the Initiative has always been blurry. Aiden asks Nolan to do him the favor of helping him stay a step ahead of Daniel and provide any information he uncovers about Helen and the Initiative. Nolan agrees.
Victoria barges into Daniel's office, interrupting a call. Dan tells his mother she's not welcome and he has no interest in mending fences. Dan: "And if I ever need any advice on betrayal I'll give you a call... after dad." This family is so great. Victoria reminds her son of her worth because his father didn't broker his biggest deals in the office. He did it at the parties that she threw for their investors. Dan's not impressed, but Victoria throws out an invitation to the dinner party she's throwing where the U.S. Supreme Court Justice will be in attendance. Oh, and by the way... Emanda will be there, too.
Code sprawls out on Nolan's computer screen. He's doing the hacking all the kids are doing these days with their Facebooks and Tweeters. Marco walks in and notices what he's doing, not believing the entirely truthful explanation that Daniel has asked him to do this hacking of their own system. Nolan swats Marco's annoyance away. Marco: "Nolan, look, we have to stop doing this to each other." Nolan gives Marco side eye like he wants to say, "Doing what to each other? You're a basic bitch." Marco invites Nolan out for drinks, but Nolan declines. A minute later, Nolan is into Grayson Global's system. Nolan says, "Goodnight, Marco" in the tone of voice that really says, "Fuck off." Still, Nolan stares after his ex-boyfriend when he exits the room. Don't do it, Nolan.
Ems enters Grayson Manor and is greeted first by Daniel. They exchange pleasantries, with Daniel offering comforting words about Emanda's break-up. He's sure to mention that he and Ashley also weren't meant for each other. Hmm... convenient. Cut to dinner with Robert and Patricia. An account of Emanda's near brush with law school when she was younger is well underway. It's a surprise to Daniel. Conrad pipes up at this opportunity to deride his son in front of their powerful guests, "Daniel, it seems that your tendency to overlook critical details is not just exclusive to business." Daniel: "The occasional oversight is far less damaging than willful ignorance." Victoria steps in, but it's not necessary because Robert is all like, "Boys will be boys. Blah, blah, blah." Barnes suggests competition is the foundation of America. Ems takes this as an opportunity to attribute that same ideology to James Palmer, who she claims was her professor. The mere mention of his name startles Robert and Patricia. Emanda digs deeper at the Barneses skeletons, bringing up Palmer's death and his involvement with the David Clarke trial. During all of this Emanda notices that Robert has taken Patricia's hand in a death grip because he doesn't seem to like what she's saying and continues to squeeze it tighter and tighter until taking it under the table. The husband and wife quickly excuse themselves from dinner soon after. Emanda furrows her brow.
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Amily arrives at Casa Emily for her stay away from harm, seeming only to serve the function of being there so Emanda can explain her findings about Patricia Barnes. She's unearthed her medical records, which show numerous broken bones and abuse-like injuries. Also, Patricia used to be a protestor alongside James Palmer, which means she likely wrote the letter to David Clarke and Palmer was murdered for it by Robert or someone under his direction. Living with an abusive man responsible for the death of a friend would probably explain Patricia's silence all these years. Probably.
Grayson Manor. Conrad and Robert return from a day on the links where Conrad obviously impressed. Since that's really all that one usually masters during retirement, Robert suggests Conrad think about taking up another hobby -- namely, politics. Victoria's there for the tail end of this conversation and laughs at the idea, teasing Robert not to give Conrad ideas. When Robert excuses himself to go write his speech, Conrad tells Victoria he should maybe be writing his own. He could get used to the idea of being a politician. Wow... that would actually really suit Conrad well. I'm in full support of Conrad's character going that way. Victoria: "Oh, God help us all."
On a couch at Nolcorp, Nolan lounges with his tablet. Aiden enters to ask if there's been any progress on finding things out about the Initiative. Nolan then reveals that he has, in fact, found something. Conrad archives all surveillance footage at Grayson Manor. Nolan found footage of Helen dialing a phone number at the investors' lunch. By enhancing the image, Nolan was able to determine the number she dialed. Who still dials phone numbers? The number leads to a voice-activation prompt, but Nolan can't read Helen's lips in the footage to find out the password. Looks like she's saying "Interpol" or something. "Ingredi," Aiden corrects, "It's Latin for --" "--Entry," Nolan smacks himself. Who still speaks Latin?! Aiden pulls out his phone, dials the number and utters the password. Helen answers, "Mr. Mathis, I presume." Cute. She thinks it's time they meet. Aiden couldn't agree more.
Nighttime at the Stowaway. Jack watches Nate give a pretty, young blonde a drink on the house. "Aren't we in this to make money?" Jack asks. Nate says they'll make more money when the girl brings back all her hot friends to the bar. Fair enough. Just then, the police burst into the bar for a raid. The blonde chick will not be coming back, I think. Nate looks over at Jack who wears a convincing terrified and confused look on his face.
Aiden finds his way down the steps at the Initiative's abandoned warehouse headquarters or whatever the hell that place is that Helen likes to do her dealings. Just as Aiden's entering the large room, Helen emerges from the shadows, declaring Aiden is in deep now. She's wearing her fabulous villainess attire and slipping on some small black gloves to match. Aiden reminds her that he could very easily snap her neck, but that doesn't faze Helen. Why would Aiden do that when she can tell him where his sister is? Aiden thinks she's bluffing, but Helen recites back to him his murder of her kidnapper back in 2006. Helen: "So, tell me, where have you beeeen these last six years?" Aiden's pissed off. He takes a couple steps forward and is about to charge her, but then three red laser dots from assault rifles train on his chest, emerging from the darkness of the pillars behind Helen. "time we meet, you bring your manners and I'll bring an offer. You mention this meeting to anyone and you'll never see your sister alive again. Goodbye, Mr. Mathis."
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The police have search dogs going through the coffee beans in the storage room at the Stowaway. There's nothing there, so Nate smarmily offers to grind up some coffee for everyone. The detective's not too happy about being teased and frankly, he's just doing his job.
Nolan enters his office after hours to find Marco with an exact replica of the expensive sushi dinner they didn't get to enjoy on Thanksgiving all those years ago. Nolan's not hearing all this reconciliation business because Marco knew him better than anyone else back then and still believed that he could aid a terrorist and deny a young girl her inheritance. On top of that, Nolan's now happy with someone else. Where is Padma? Marco insists that Nolan's what he wants and he will wait. He walks up to Nolan and hands over a small flash drive, saying it's the most powerful coding he's ever seen. Nolan instantly recognizes what he's talking about. "Carrion?" he asks. Marco found this program Nolan wrote while cleaning up files earlier and Nolan reacts like it's the plague. "It's cyber-plutonium!" Nolan declares, further adding to the mystique of this program by reminding Marco that he abandoned that project because of the damage it could do. Marco suggests it could maybe be used against Nolan's enemies... like Grayson Global. Before leaving, he makes it clear to Nolan that he's in his corner.
It's Patricia's Liberty Project Benefit dinner. Victoria and Conrad get the news from Robert that Patricia's feeling under the weather tonight, so Conrad will be without an introduction for his speech. Upstairs, Emanda finds Daniel loitering around with a drink. He's surprised they let her in after the fireworks at dinner the night before. That sort of thing gets overlooked when you're a platinum-level donor. Daniel does some more kissing up to the object of his affection, refusing her apology for dinner, and instead saying that it reminded him of how passionate she can be. Just then Patricia walks by, so Emanda excuses herself under the guise of going to apologize.
In The Amanda, Charlotte's trying to be domestic for Declan, frying up some pancakes. "You love breakfast for dinner! What's wrong?" she glows. Dec teases her back, "Nothing... it's just going to suck when you burn this boat down." Oh, you greasy teenager you. Charlotte turns back to Dec and kisses him. And it's actually a really cute scene... until police dogs and spotlights interrupt.
Patricia applies make-up to her red, swollen hand in her dressing room. Emanda enters with an apology for what happened at dinner, but Patricia brushes it off until Ems points out that her excuse of a migraine doesn't account for her bruises. The jig is up. Ems hands over the David Clarke letter from James Palmer and tells the story of Amanda Clarke bouncing from numerous abusive foster homes. She says the letter gave Amanda the strength to endure. Patricia admits the letter wasn't written by James; it was written by her. The letter saved Amanda's life, Ems says, and now Patricia has the opportunity to save countless lives, including her own. Emanda leaves Patricia in tears, having successfully empowered her.
All of the police and Stowaway employees have gathered on The Amanda. Detectives announce they've found narcotics and a handgun on the boat. Nate directs anger at Declan, "My brother gave you a pass and this is how you repay him?" Charlotte asks what he's talking about. Nate continues on, telling everyone about Declan supposedly breaking into Kenny's house and them not pressing charges. The cops begin to place Dec under arrest, but Jack naturally won't let that happen. He yells that the drugs were his. The detective rolls his eyes like this happens all the time and apathetically places Jack under arrest instead.
Benefit Dinner. Conrad's finishing up his speech about being personally affected by wrongful accusations. He plans to lend financial support -- as well as time -- to the cause of ensuring liberty and justice for all. Conrad for president or whatever. Conrad for Comptroller. Patricia takes the stage . She begins with a quote about never being afraid to protest against injustice and everyone applauds. Her face scrunches as she pauses for a moment, accepting what she's about to do. "When I was in college, I met a man named James Palmer." Roberts smile instantly drops from his face. This is the first bomb she drops: James Palmer had information that would've at least resulted in a mistrial of David Clarke. Robert stands up behind Patricia, unsure of what to do. She pulls out the letter written to David and begins reading it. Robert violently grabs her by the arm, "Patricia!" She turns and meets his gaze with fire in her eyes, "Robert." He backs down. She drops the second bomb: "The verdict rendered in the David Clarke trial came from a tainted jury." Murmurs reverberate throughout the crowd. She reveals that she's the one who wrote the letter. "And today, my husband, Robert Barnes, stands to inherit a great deal more power. And... the greater the power, the greater the potential for abuse." Patricia throws off her coat, revealing her arms are covered in deep purple bruises all over. The crowd gasps. Victoria's Botox falls out of her face. Robert simply walks off the stage and through the crowd as flashbulbs go off. Patricia looks out directly at Emanda in the crowd and smiles. Ems smiles back. That's some powerful stuff right there.
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In the aftermath of Patricia's speech, Conrad gives a statement to reporters. He assures them that he will pool his resources to see that Judge Barnes' injustices are avenged. It all sounds very good, but you know there's really no substance behind it. Maybe he does have a future in politics.
Driving home or into a tree or whatever, Daniel takes a phone call and it's Helen. She mentions his parents being a part of national news yet again, but this time, Daniel points out, it's something positive for them. What Helen's really calling about is to get a progress report about Daniel's findings within Grayson Global's system. He reports nothing was found, but in actuality his turning to Nolan was what Helen really wanted. Nolan would have left behind digital breadcrumbs that can be traced back to a big, lucrative secret at Nolcorp she expects Daniel to uncover.
Declan sits alone in the Stowaway, knowing his brother just took the fall for his boneheaded idea. Kenny comes in to ask if Charlotte made it home all right, then takes a seat across from Dec. There's no more games to be played between these two guys. Declan wants Kenny to admit he knows those drugs didn't belong to the Porters. Kenny can only offer up what sounds like a sincere apology for what happened. Nate enters at that moment, kind of solidifying the notion that Nate's the bad brains behind this operation and Kenny might actually have a conscience. "Whoever called the cops today made a big mistake. I just hope they come to their senses or things might get worse around here. A lot worse," Nate booms. Kenny just gives Declan a helpless look before walking out with his brother.
Jack uses his one phone call at the police station to call Amily and explain what happened. He tries to reassure her, but it's hard to discern how Ams takes the news through little Carl's crying. This will all get sorted out, right? Nothing's ever kept a stripper/murderer down, right?
At Casa Emily, Emanda marks a red "X" on Robert's face in a photo of him and Patricia. Been a while since we've seen one of those "X"s, no? Ems VO: "Power can be hoarded by the mighty or stolen from the innocent." She pulls out scissors and cuts the photo in two, splitting the husband and wife, as Aiden yells from upstairs that he's going to take a shower. VO continued: "Power provides the ability to choose." There's a knock at the door from Daniel. VO: "But has a proclivity for corruption." Emanda goes out to talk with Dan on the porch. He tells Ems that he wanted to tell her earlier about the reason he pushed so hard to become CEO at Grayson Global. It's because the only thing bigger than the company's image problem is its charitable foundation. He wants her help diverting resources to charity, but just asks that she think about it before giving an answer. Victoria is watching this unfold from her balcony. Ems says she doesn't need to think about it. She'll help Daniel. They look into each other's eyes, Daniel leans in, and they kiss. Ems VO: "The use of power is not to be taken lightly, for it is never without consequence." Aiden watches the kiss from just inside the front door, jealousy in his eyes.
-- Pablo G. is some guy who lives in Austin, Texas. He used to co-host TWoP's original "Trailers Without Pity" with his brother Omar G. Check out their webcomic Space Monkeys! and follow Pablo's writing at Pablog. Follow him @PendejoJoe on Twitter.
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