Who will go down as the queen of Revenge in the Hamptons, Amanda Clarke or Victoria Grayson? That’s the question heading into the series finale of the ABC soap, which is ending May 10 after four seasons.
The penultimate episode, “Plea,” didn’t provide many concrete answers about the show’s end game, but it put plenty of puzzle pieces into place ahead of the final hour as Amanda (Emily VanCamp) discovered how, exactly, Victoria (Madeline Stowe) set her up for her murder — and Detective Ben discovered something even bigger.
Find out who helped Victoria pull it off — and who didn’t survive — in Us Weekly‘s recap.
The Escape Artist
At the end of last week’s episode, Amanda was arrested after being framed by Victoria Grayson for her murder. As a result, the beginning of “Plea” is spent with her lawyer (Tom Amandes, aka VanCamp’s Everwood TV dad) arguing for her bail. The judge grants it, but under the strictest conditions: any escape attempts will lead her straight back to the slammer.
As if the judge’s conditions stood a chance of being followed — as soon as her ankle bracelet is snapped on, Amanda begins planning her way out of it. With the help of her trusty Revenge team of Nolan (Gabriel Mann) and Jack (Nick Wechsler), she figures out a method of escaping her house arrest. All it requires is slapping the monitor onto the hand of her concerned dad, David (James Tupper), before booking it out of there to do some investigating.
Her first stop is the trailer park in which Victoria’s co-conspirator, Mason Treadwell (Roger Bart), is staying. She finds the place deserted (outside of a few empty martini glasses) before talking to some fellow trailer park residents, who tell her that they saw Mason leave with a regal woman who had great skin and large sunglasses. Could this possibly be Victoria Grayson?
However, before Amanda can question them further, the Suffolk County police surround her and cuff her once again. This time there’s no escaping jail for Amanda Clarke!
Victoria Grayson: Gone Girl?
With assistance from the investigating done by Nolan and Jack, Amanda is able to put together Victoria’s master plan — which she proceeds to tell her ex, Detective Ben (Brian Hallisay).
After Victoria’s cover was blown on national television, she decided to end the revenge cycle once and for all through her supposed death. To do so, she gathered some co-conspirators — including Mason and Margeaux LeMarche (Karine Vanasse) — and set Amanda up for her murder.
First, Margeaux disguised herself completely and beat Victoria up in front of a shocked Louise (Elena Satine), giving credence to the fact that Amanda was still out for her blood. Victoria then ruined her apartment, created a sloppily forged suicide letter, stole some remains, and blew up the old Grayson Manor to create a plausible murder scene. Later on, with the help of Mason, she planted further evidence of the murder in Amanda’s car. After that, all she had to do was run away to New Jersey and let the Suffolk County police handle the arrest.
It all seems to be working out in Victoria’s favor, since when Amanda relays the plan to Ben, tells her that he can’t believe a word she says and hangs up. Ouch!
A visit from David adds salt to Amanda’s wounds when he admits to his daughter that his cancer has spread to his brain and he doesn’t seem to have much time left. In tears, Amanda begs her dad to use her and Nolan’s resources to keep fighting, but it looks like a lost cause. Things seem pretty bleak for Amanda at the moment.
Don’t Believe It, Just Watch
After encountering Nolan in Victoria’s old penthouse, Louise becomes doubtful that Victoria’s death was as cut and dry as everyone says. This lingering doubt grows even stronger when she finds a suspicious black hoodie located among Victoria’s clothes — the same black hoodie the attacker wore only days before! Louise confides in Margeaux about her worries, and while Margeaux throws her off the conspiracy scent by insisting that Nolan was only trying to play with her mind, she is still worried enough by Louise’s discovery that she calls a mysterious someone for help.
Meanwhile, even though Ben tells Amanda her story wasn’t worth believing, he decides to look into it anyway and slowly discovers that she may have been right after all. Not only does he find a set of remains stolen from a New Jersey crematorium, he finds Victoria herself lounging about in a New Jersey home of the deceased (so, definitely not deceased herself!).
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Just when it looks like the jig is finally up and Victoria’s master plan will be ruined, suddenly Ben is daggered to death. Behind the weapon? White Gold (Courtney Love), the favorite hired hand for all Hamptonites, who sassily growls a reminder to “never go to New Jersey for business” as a shocked Victoria looks on.
Tell Us: Where you shocked by Victoria’s survival? Who do you think will get the ultimate revenge in next week’s series finale?
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