Emily got back in the revenge business in “Infamy.” With Tyler out of the picture (for now), Emily returned her focus to making those that betrayed her father suffer.
When Mason Treadwell, author of a David Clarke biography, showed up in the Hamptons for a book signing little did he know it was going to end so poorly for him. David trusted Treadwell to get his story, the truth, out to the public. Instead the Graysons bought him off with prestige by bringing him into their exclusive social circle.
Not only did Treadwell betray David, he took away the innocence of the young Amanda with his lies. This made him a bull’s eye in Emily’s revenge target. She ended up taking what was most precious to the author — his memoirs. Another big red X.
With the help of Fauxmanda and Nolan, Emily gave Treadwell the opportunity to save himself, but when he failed the test, she enacted her revenge. He ended up being almost too easy for them to manipulate. I was worried about how Amanda was going to pull of her meeting with Treadwell, but she pulled it off brilliantly with Emily feeding her the lines and information she needed.
Unfortunately, Treadwell didn’t come clean. Nolan’s money and notoriety have come in handy for Emily. Everyone wants a piece of him and he is more than willing to play that role. How long before someone notices that those who meet with him end up with the worst luck? While Nolan was off discussing his own memoirs with Treadwell, Emily took her revenge.
I did have one minor complaint about the story. Treadwell uses a typewriter? An old typewriter … and doesn’t make copies of his work? That seems a bit unrealistic, but then again Treadwell was a bit odd. What pushed the boundaries of believability was that almost 20 years ago he video recorded his interviews with David. That combination … hard to believe. But, in the big picture, I just went with it and enjoyed the ride.
The David Clarke interview tapes provide Emily with a whole new source of information about who was responsible for what, but also will give her better insight into her father. I love that she has those tapes now. But, what about the reveal about Charlotte? Were you surprised or did you figure that was coming?
Charlotte’s parentage was not a surprise to me, but when and how it was revealed was unexpected. To be honest, I figured the truth would come out when Victoria demanded custody of Charlotte. It would be just like Victoria to stick it to Conrad and throw David’s child in her husband’s face. Though, if David knew, is it possible that Conrad already knows as well?
While I’m glad the show got away from the revenge of the week theme that started the season, it was enjoyable to see Emily back in her comfort zone and get revenge.
Odds and Ends
Clacked by Carla Day 
on Jan 12, 2012 @ 00:50 EST5EDT
About what Victoria asked Ashley to do we never really heard what it was, we just assume she told Ashley to say that. But, we’ve seen before Ashley doesn’t actually like any of these people and has felt resentment towards Victoria treating her like a “slave,” so it might just be she was supposed to do something else. Like you say, if Victoria thinks Emily is just trying to grab Daniel for some unknown motive, telling her Daniel needs to marry would just be adding coal to the fire.
I thought she had Ashley tell Emily to try to drive a wedge between Daniel and Emily, plant the seeds of distrust of intentions. But I also love how Emily is sort of forcing his hand to propose with the “no living together until marriage” thing.
Leo Treadwell was an investigative journalist. He seemed honest and sincere at the time, and would have used computers and video recording. When he reinvented himself as Mason Treadwell, the pretentious author, he took on all sorts of mannerisms consistent with that persona. The typewriter and single manuscript, the study full of literary artifacts and rare first editions, were all part and parcel of his new existence.
Didn’t think the Charlotte reveal would come this early in the show.
Loved the scene of Emily in the black hoodie walking in front of the burning house.
From Jack’s point of view, Amanda’s adult personality is a reasonable end result of her traumatic childhood and loss of both birth parents. That she bears little resemblance to how his young friend acted when they were both kids shouldn’t raise any suspicions for him. She’s even admitted to blocking most of her memories from that time.
Victoria doesn’t think Emily’s after Daniel’s money; she knows that the girl is an heiress who thinks of herself as Victoria’s social equal, after all. As Ann said, she’s trying to make Emily think that Daniel is only proposing to her now in order to get his trust and company shares early, rather than solely out of love.