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Revenge S02E17: "Masquerade"

Happy Halloween! Yes, while we were stuffing our faces with Peeps and jellybeans, Emily Thorne was busy unearthing skeletons (metaphorical and… not) in honor of All Hallow's Eve.

And "Masquerade" was full of tricks (even Jack was playing!) and treats, making it one of Revenge's most satisfying episodes this season.

The writers didn't skip all way to Easter, but the Revenge storyline has wisely jumped ahead six weeks: just enough time for Emily to set the wheels in motion for her latest scheme—and Nolan Ross to fall completely apart.

In his desperate search to crack the Falcon's code and save Padma, his beautiful mind was shattering like Carrie Mathison's before her electric shock treatment. 

But even though he hadn't seen a cravat—or a shower—in weeks, a concerned call from Emily "Start Your Revengines" Thorne was all he needed to clean himself up, head to the Stowaway, and offer his support to Jack the Plumber.

See, while pretending to coach Conrad Grayson about his working-class constituents, the blue-collar barkeep was secretly plotting to sabotage the gubernatorial candidate's town hall Q&A. Nolan helped by spiking Conrad's earpiece with a recording of Conrad and Nate Ryan plotting against Amanda Clarke—just as a townie was posing an unvetted question about her father. Conrad recovered by promising to request a presidential pardon for David Clarke.

It was great to see Nolan using his styling products again, but this seemed like an awful lot of work for an empty campaign promise. Emily wouldn't even uncap a ballpoint pen, much less her Sharpie, for this.

As usual, Emily had much bigger plans. First, she and Aiden would draw out the Initiative by attacking their financial holdings. It worked: After Grayson Global's newest board member "torpedoed" their investments, Trask visited the office to officially sever ties with Daniel—and walked out scoffing at the idea that the Initiative would threaten Daniel's relationship with Emily with a silly photo and a couple of harmless bullets.

But moments later, Trask found himself looking at some very lethal bullets—tucked away inside Aiden's gun. Aiden forced the smarmy Initiative rep to lead him to Padma. Or, to be more precise, her corpse. Trask revealed that he killed not only Nolan's girlfriend—hours before—and her father, but Aiden's sister, too. To make him pay for his crimes and that awful hairstyle, Aiden broke his neck.

Elsewhere, Daniel totally Gossip Girl-ed Mommie Dearest by sending his lunch date photo to Page Six. Then he asked Emily to join him at the Masquerade Ball, after Victoria had deliberately snubbed her.

Although Emily didn't receive an invitation, she RSVP'd anyway—as Victoria's "loving son," in a card postmarked 1973. Victoria's hysteria escalated when Emily sent her an anonymous bouquet of 11 black roses with a card reading: "I'll be wearing the 12th rose. —Your loving son."

Before the masquerade, Victoria admitted to Conrad that she'd starred in 16 and Pregnant—or could have, if the MTV series had existed in 1973—but insisted she'd had an abortion.

Her famous nerves of steel failed her at the ball. To Emily's satisfaction, Victoria scanned the ballroom nervously, in search of the black rose, and finally spotted it in the lapel of a masked man hired by Emily. While he slipped out, Mrs. G mistakenly grabbed Aiden—and dramatically fainted to the floor at his feet.

(I truly believe that the scene in which Charlotte punched a girl was manufactured specifically for this episode's teaser reel, which made it appear like she was knocking out her mother.)

The Grayson matriarch's collapse was a moment the Revengers should have celebrated—but instead, Aiden and Emily broke Nolan's heart instead.

In the wake of Victoria's histrionics, Nolan's quiet collapse at the terrible news was even more poignant. (Gabriel Mann's understated, powerful performance should make Nick Wechsler blush.)

Ems said, "I'm not leaving you alone, Nolan," when her bestie tried to bail, and he replied, "I love you, too."

That was enough to prove that we haven't lost Nolan completely to grief. Whether his freedom will remain intact is another question, however: The detective who fielded his endless calls about Padma's disappearance now seems to suspect he's involved in her homicide! (Please, no. Not another silly storyline to sidetrack the Revengers from their mission!)

In the end, Victoria managed to get herself to a nunnery without bursting into flames on the holy grounds. A flashback confirmed that Victoria did have the baby, and gave him up to the orphanage she was now visiting 40 years later. Reuniting with the nun who took her son, Victoria learned that he did come looking for her once, without learning her identity.

That's about to change, though: Emily—sporting her "I Mean Business" hoody—took Vicky's place on the bench and told the nun that she's pregnant and has nowhere else to go.

QUESTIONS:

– Why would Emily use such an elaborate ruse to get intel on Victoria's firstborn?

– Gabriel Mann: Wow?!

– Does Jack get his swagga back? (Did he have any to start with?)

– What did you like most/least about "Masquerade"?

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Person of Interest S02E03: "Masquerade"

After the epic arc of losing Finch and finding Finch that spanned the incredible Season 1 finale and the solid first two installments of Season 2, Person of Interest finally settled into its well-pressed suit and newest incarnation in "Masquerade." With this most recent installment, the show returned to its case-of-the-week format (which is oddly comforting), and the new and improved formidable friendship of five: John Reese, Harold Finch, Joss Carter, Lionel Fusco, and Bear the attack dog who will eat your enemies.

Reunited and it feels so good! And we aren't the only ones who would say so. "Masquerade" almost felt like a party for Reese, who was so happy to have his friend Finch back that he just couldn't contain his joy and opened his robotic lips to set personal bests in smiles and number of jokes cracked. As compared to the dire circumstances of previous episodes, "Masquerade" was a hoot, its humor much more overt in a manner of celebratory gusto. I mean, come on! Reese's pickpocketing of his job competitors' wallets and passing them out to their owners in the waiting room was funnier than anything I've seen on Partners this season (though to be fair, someone should throw that show out a window).

This all goes back to Person of Interest's prime directive, which is to entertain. And it entertains from so many angles! Characters are never idle. By all means, Finch's scenes where he's sitting in his office in front of a computer should be as bland as unflavored paste, but the show always adds something extra to punch them up. Last night, it was his developing relationship with Bear, the cuddly throat-shredding dog, which went from cold and detached to playful and open to ball-tossing. But that wasn't enough; there was also Finch's desire to keep his fondness for Bear secret from Reese. The whole thing was arced perfectly. Finch called Bear an "it" early on and used a napkin as a germ barrier to touch the tennis ball, and by the end of the episode he was taking Bear for a walk. That kind of execution is what makes this show work so well. Not too hard, not too fast, just right. Plus Michael Emerson knows just how to underplay affection for maximum effect. The joy didn't come from seeing Finch warm up to Bear, the joy came from us being able to see the warmth peeking through Finch's cracks. It reminded me of a condensed version of Reese and Finch's friendship, which has grown to become one of the best partnerships on television because it's so adorably uncomfortable.

There was similar excellence with Fusco, particularly when he was introduced to this week's person of interest, the Brazilian super-model-quality daughter-of-a-diplomat Sofia. Fusco's eyes doubled in size when he saw who he'd be looking after, then his face went into a landslide when she started giggling at him. But that was instantly reversed when she said she was laughing because he reminded her of her uncle, who was nicknamed "Stud." It would have been so easy to play that meeting by painting Fusco as a shlub compared to Reese, but Person of Interest likes to hand out the little victories, and that's especially important for characters like Fusco who don't always get the respect they deserve. Fusco is well past his sketchy days, and has really developed into an alternate option for comic relief.

Sofia's case of the week managed to be both engaging and convoluted, but that's pretty much standard issue for Person of Interest. This week, the fake breadcrumbs led us to believe that she was the target because her dad was a political bigwig, when in reality she was the target because she partied with the wrong crowd of clubbers and small-time drug dealers and zzzzzzzzzz... As long as we're being honest, I miss the old cases where the fun was figuring out whether the person of interest was the victim or the perpetrator. Thankfully, Reese was able to carry the case as her undercover bodyguard, and Sofia's transformation from "hot spoiled bitch" to "just plain hot" kept things interesting enough. But by the time it was revealed that the bad guy was her boyfriend—who immediately fit the bill of the irredeemable sort of douchebag that Person of Interest is fond of using as villains—I just wanted to spend more time with Bear.

In other news, it appears that this Alicia Corwin case is going to be the season-long story, and maybe I was dropped as a baby or something but I'm having a hard time following along. The bad guys from Washington ripped a microchip out of her arm, Reese's old partner Kara wants information about her, and Agent Snow is being tasked as Kara's errand boy with an explosive fanny pack (which is pretty cold, btw) that keeps him in line!? I know we're not supposed to have all the details of this case, and that's part of the fun, but it all feels so distant from Reese and Finch at the moment that I'm finding it difficult to keep the details straight. However, I have no doubt that it will all pay off in a few weeks.

"Masquerade" was a perfect example of why Person of Interest is able to perform at high levels from week to week. The case was ho-hum, but the show's unique style of humor elevated it to a level of hypnotizing watchability. Jonathan Nolan and Greg Plageman have created a simple recipe that's hard to mess up, but then they add flourishes of complexity that reward those who are truly invested. Carry on, Person of Interest.

– Reese, Finch, Carter, and Fusco are really working well together as a team and they all share the same goal. And it's Reese and Finch calling the shots. This can't last forever, but let's enjoy it while it lasts.

– That was The Black Keys' "She's Long Gone" as the end song. No one can complain about the music choices on this show.

– Reese: "My hands are full at the moment." Of shopping bags! Oh Reese, you kill us. But please don't kill us.

– Looks like Carter is really picking up some of Reese's techniques! First she shot a guy in the leg (yes!) and later she crashed her car into bad-guy Monty's car, sending him skidding across the pavement. She's learning from the best. But how does she explain all that to the police department? Maybe we just shouldn't think about it.

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