Emily's foster brother pays a visit, and decides to stay. Meanwhile, Nolan's former arch-enemy resurfaces, straight from the Hacker's Legion Of Doom.
Kristen Stewart - The Early Years
We start with Emily showing up at Aiden's house. Wait... what? Aiden has a house? I always pictured him living in a van outside of Emily's house, waiting for the first sign of trouble to swoop in, in between pints of ale and warmed up plates of bangers and mash.
But actually Aiden's house is pretty swanky, although I expected more ... rugby paraphernalia (Manchester United! Yeah!). Emily tells him about seeing her foster brother Eli at the cemetery, and she tells him the story of her early life, pre-juvie. She and Eli were in the same foster home, and known as "The Invisibles," because they weren't ideal candidates for adoption. They were both too old, had emotional problems, oh, and Emily wore the crown of Junior Miss Pyromaniac. Eli was her protector, and she promised him they'd always stay together ... until she burned the house down.. (And i'm not sure where this foster house was located, but I'm guessing just a few miles down the road from Dystopia. At one point their foster mother punishes Eli by telling him to "get in the bin!")
Over at the Grayson Estate, Charlotte is proud as can be of her parents, who have decided to start a charity foundation in honor of Amanda. I have to say, this is a surprising turn of events, but I gueSs it's possible for anyone to tun over a new leaf, and Conrad and Victoria should be commended for ... oh wait. Never mind It turns out that the Amanda Clarke Foundation is going to be a front, where the Graysons can hide their fortune in case the feds want to freeze their assets. Well, it's the thought that counts.
Victoria call Jack and tells him the good news about the Foundation, but he's more concerned with uncovering the truth about who saved his life the night Amanda died. He can't figure out who would take him to the hospital, but not leave their name. Declan tells him, "I'm still trying to figure out why Nolan told me you two had checked into the hotel at Nantucket." Jack's suspicions are raised.
"I've gotta go. I'm going to be late for my 10 a.m. wedgie."
Emily visits Victoria to present a hefty check for the Foundation, and asks to be co-chair. Victoria tells, "I'll take your offer under consideration," which is code for, "Bless your heart." Their awkward bitch brunch is interrupted by Eli, who has arrived to introduce himself to Victoria. Charlotte invited him to the funeral, but sadly, he missed it due to the fact that was en route from London as part of his business, which he describes as "rare books," prompting a hot eyeroll from Emily. Victoria introduces the two of them, but Eli immediately senses something ... familiar about her. Emily reminds him about meeting at the cemetery, but it's clear Eli has already pegged her.
Emily rushes off to meet the Nolan, and asks him to investigate her former foster brother. She's sure he must be up to something to just show up out of nowhere. Nolan asks "Do you think this could be another Tyler?" If only! I would love to have another Tyler on the show, but I fear what we have here is another ... Kara.
"I assure you I am no way uncomfortable right now."
They might want to touch that up. It looks like a dead snowman.
Emily decides she needs to try to get to Jack before Eli does, but she's too late. When she arrives at The Stowaway, Eli is already there, and has talked to Jack about being Amanda's brother ... and other things, apparently. Emily asks Jack if there's anything she can do to gain his forgiveness, and he says, "You can start by answering a question. When you and Amanda were in juvie, what was the opinion she had of her father? I got her foster brother here, and he says that the entire time he knew her, she hated her dad. If that's true, why would Amanda risk everything to prove that the Graysons had David Clarke framed?"
Before she can stammer out an answer, Eli comes over and interrupts. Jack walks away, and Eli turns to Emily and says, "The guy's got the weight of the world on his shoulders. Not all the footloose dock boy you told me about, is he ... Amanda?" Eli grabs her hand and turns it around, revealing her infinity tattoo. "That's a nice tattoo. You're looking pretty good for a dead girl."
The two take a stroll on the boardwalk, with Eli wanting to know what the con is. Emily explains that there is no con, she's just trying to make a fresh start, and she can't do it if reminders of the past are buzzing around. She wants to know what it'll take to get him to leave. He mentions that the "rare book" thing is a con to bilk dumb rich people out of their money, but maybe he could use some help with his multi-state arrest warrants?
At the Foundation Gala, Emily and Nolan approach Eli with the deal. He'll get a check for a 100 grand, and Nolan presses a button and instantly erases his arrest records. Now will he leave? Eli agrees, but he wants to enjoy the party first. Nolan is suspicious.
"And we'll throw in this disembodied hand, too."
Emily tries to head off any Eli betrayal by telling Ashley to tell Victoria that he is not to be trusted, and when Ashley goes to Victoria with this bit of gossip, and Victoria learns it comes from Emily, she says, "All the more reason to welcome him with open arms." At the dedication, Eli tells his story of Amanda starting the fire, but he thinks she did it because she was about to adopted, and wanted to ruin her chances so they could stay together. It's because of her brave spirit that he wanted a check to the Foundation ... for 100 Grand. Emily is about ready to jump out of her skin, but Victoria is touched. So touched that she names Eli as co-chair of the Amanda Clarke Foundation. Which means he'll be sticking around for a while.
Meanwhile, Daniel is having a rough go of it. He's goaded into fisticuffs with an asshat, but is saved by Aiden. At the Gala, he confronts his father about Aiden being appointed Treasurer of the Foundation, and Conrad lets him in on the secret. The Charity is a front, and Aiden is being set up as the fall guy. Unable to cope with all of the subterfuge and conniving, Daniel, in a most of desperation, decides to spill everything to Emily. He tells her about the fake foundation, and how the Graysons are moving all of their money in to it. Emily can barely conceal her zeal.
Jack has taken his suspicions to the docks, and finds the guy who was there when he was brought in. The guy admits he was paid off to keep quiet, and sold the title of the boat to a guy who was "Tall, with sandy hair and blue eyes."
I knew it.
Jack accuses Nolan of betraying him, and suspects that he and Emily know more about Amanda's death that they're letting on. Later, Nolan visits a wallowing Jack, and shows him that the title of the boat (after some Nolan manipulation) is registered to Kenny Ryan. Jack is ready to rampage murderously, but Nolan convinces him to let it go. He has a baby and a brother to look after. One is whiny, constantly gurgling, and can't fend for himself ...and the other is Carl.
"I apologize for my grief boner."
"Have a good day at the office, hon. On your way home, could you pick up milk, bread, and some brass knuckles?"
Back at Aiden's house, there's a hilarious and disturbing scene of domestic bliss, as Aiden leaves for the office, and Emily kisses him goodbye, ala a 50's sitcom. We get the best Nolan-ism of the night when Nolan appears and says, 'So this is where Aiden-son waxes off?" He and Emily sit down to use Carrion to get in to the Foundation's finances. They're hoping to completely bankrupt the Graysons in one fell swoop, but they weren't counting on ... Falcon. See what i did there? One fell swoop ... Falcon? Oh c'mon.
As the web page transforms into the Matrix, and an image of a falcon starts to appear, Nolan has a flashback to the last time he saw this image. It was when he was trying to help David in prison, and all of his evidence was eaten on his computer by that same image. Emily is shocked, because she thought that Carrion was invincible, but she forgets that ... birds of prey eat carrion. Dammit, Nolan, why couldn't you have named it "Bird-Eating Giant Lizard" or something.
So after all these years, Nolan's hacker arch-nemesis is now protecting the Graysons again. But who could it be?
This isn't the "Falcon Video" I usually watch online.
Okay, I'm still not sure about the Eli storyline. We just got rid of the albatross that was Kara, and I'm not sure another figure from the past is going to work. But I am looking forward to Nolan Vs. Falcon, which should be a lot of fun. What do you think?
