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[Revenge] Who is Emily Thorne?

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Alias: Amanda Clarke

Personality Traits: Cunning, opportunistic, methodical, loyal, goal oriented

Counterpart in the Count of Monte Cristo : The Count of Monte Cristo, but not necessarily Dantes.

Bio: Emily Thorne (born Amanda Clarke) was raised by her father with whom she spent the summers in the Hamptons—presumably they lived in New York City for the rest of the year.  There has not been very much information about her mother, but it seems as though her father had been trying to groom Victoria Grayson into becoming Amanda’s step-mother, before the betrayal. After the betrayal of her father, by their once close friends the Graysons, Emily was institutionalized in solitary confinement by a request from Victoria Grayson, who also bribed the psychologist at the juvenile detention center.

Nolan Ross was the first person of her previous life to bring her out of center once her term there was over and gave to her a chest from her father detailing the betrayal of him.  In the time after her release, Emily began to build the platform for her revenge. For years, she spied on her targets through social events, organizations and using some spy-quality sleuthing skills. This also built up her reputation, so that she seemed more legitimate facet of the New York elite. This summer, her plans began to unfold.

The story so far

So far she has been picking off her father’s opponents one by one.  I can only wonder if she’s going to run out of people who betrayed her family.

Revenge taken on:

  1. Lydia for being a false witness
  2. Bill Harmon for being a false witness and framing her father
  3. Tom Kingsley for prosecuted her father
  4. Dr. Michelle Banks for institutionalizing her as a child
  5. Frank for getting in the way and being a Grayson henchmen.

Each revenge increases the risk that she’s going to be found out, as all of a sudden this strange new woman appears and everyone in the conspiracy is getting knocked out.  Frank is starting to pick up on the trail that Lydia ran in to, so we will see how Emily decides to finally take care of him.

On the flip side, you can kind of see her wavering focus on revenge as she escalates her relationship with Daniel.  Is their relationship one more cornerstone on her path to revenge? Or is it a convenient break from the scheming and planning? I think that it seems genuine. If it turns out to be a ploy, Emily’s character is going to so much hard to empathize with, since weaponizing love into a form of revenge almost seems wrong.

Then add in the strong relationships she has with other males like with Nolan and Jack.  The friendship with Nolan, which has a side-kickesque feel to it, makes me feel like there’s something behind their bond that Nolan isn’t sharing. Her interactions with Jack Porter so far have been fairly detached, and the affection has been mostly one sided.  I’m kind of wondering how this is going to develop, since her relationship with Daniel seems kind of endearing.

End Game

Destroy Victoria Grayson… will she allow for collateral damage though?

Terra Nova Episode 3

Overall, tonight’s episode was alright.  The plot of the whole series moved forward a little bit, and we’ll see if some of the doors they opened will actually be used.

Things we found out

Apparently there’s a smuggler Tom = smuggler. How do you smuggle people here?

Mark is the army dude with Maddy. They’re totally macking on each other. How old is Mark supposed to be? Because Maddy is totally like a teenager.

Taylor used to have a family but they got killed in Somalia

Josh is working for Tom so that he can bring his girlfriend over, and Skye is helping him. Maybe she wants to have a menage a trois?

Tom is the one who is feeding Mira (Simone from Pushing Daisies) information about Terra Nova.  Apparently he trades medicine and energy for…. sorghum.

Some one was working on genetic manipulation research… interesting.

Dinosaurs like to chew on power wires, like giant rabbits.

The common cold protects against memory loss viruses.

And Plot Synopsis

Welcome to the research station, there’s some dude goggling a scarab beetle looking thing; he seems a bit off and you can hear screams in the background. What is going on…

Oh look, he’s forgetful and infantile like an Eloi. Oh, no there’s a hungry dinosaur, and we have an Eloi staring at a dinosaur.

Back at the basecamp, British Dude/Malcom/Chief Science Officer who is crushing on Elisabeth (the wife) wants to be a hero and go out and see what’s up at the research station.  I guess they forgot to call back or something.

Skye bought Josh a guitar, and they share a moment. She really likes him, and doesn’t seem to care that he’s sort of in love with the old girl friend.  This is an odd dynamic.

I might know a guy who might be able to help you with that – Skye, famous last words

Elisabeth and Taylor (Town Leader) enter the cave/research station, and find crazy writings and people  chained to tables.

Super Creepy Lady who remembers being in Detroit in the winter.

Oh noes, Elisabeth and Taylor are also infected.

Policeman (Jim) is all like, “I’m going to go out there to save Elisabeth.”

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Apparently the virus makes your mind forget sequentially.  First she forgets Zoe then Jim (her husband),but still remembers Malcolm (British Dude). She then points out how life would have been so much easier for everyone to time travel right after the ice age.

Something’s chewing on the power cables. Go look outside Jim.

Maybe it’s a crazy crazy man.

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Hello creepy eyes. Who runs back to Terra Nova and is sonic blasted by Wash.

Oh is Jim magically immune to these gene retrovirus thing?

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Malcolm looses more memory and then gets confused as to why they’re hauling a random soldier back to the infirmary.

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Elisabeth looses the rest of her mind, but has an epiphany that Jim is her husband when she finds some flashcards that she wrote.  Why is their paper see through?

Oh it’s the cold of course. That’s why he’s immune. Obviously, and you can whip up a vaccine/cure in hours.

And just like that we’re all safe.

Now who was doing gene experiments?

[TV] Characters from ABC’s Revenge compared to the Count of Monte Cristo

It’s no secret that ABC’s new drama Revenge is influenced by Alexander Dumas’ the Count of Monte Cristo, so I thought of trying to match the characters that we’ve seen so far in Revenge to an analogous character in the Count of Monte Cristo.  There’s only been one episode so far, so this list will probably change… a lot.

It’s definitely not a straight 1:1 comparison, because I think that Amanda Clarke and her father kind of both embody parts of Edmond Dantes/the Count of Monte Cristo

Protagonists: The Clarke = Dantes

Amanda Clarke : Edmond Dantes  | This linkup is pretty straight forward. We have 2 main characters who were formerly innocents, who got caught up in the wrong crowd.

Emily Thorne : the Count of Monte Cristo |The vengeful aliases of the formerly innocent

David Clarke : Louis Dantes | the dead shamed father.

David Clarke : Edmond Dantes | David had a thing with Victoria Grayson, which hints that she might be influenced by Mercedes and his character by Edmond.

David Clarke : Abbe Faria | Abbe Faria leaves Edmond a crap load of money plus old timely journals, and David Clarke leaves Amanda (Emily) the same

Allies: Porter = Morrel

Nolan Ross : Signor Bertuccio | He’s an ally of the Clarke’s despite being closely linked to the Graysons. This is similar to how Bertuccio has history with the Villeforts and Danglars, but becomes one of Dantes’ allies.

Nolan Ross : Abbe Faria | Abbe Faria is the source of Dantes’ wealth, and Nolan is the source of the Clarke’s.

Jack Porter : Monsieur Morrel | They’re both bankrupt and good hearted.

Jack Porter : Mercedes | Amanda had a thing for him when they were little, and he’s still in love with her.

Neutral

Declan Porter : Maximilian Morrel | The son of the Morrels who dates a Villefort. In this case, the Villefort is a Grayson (Charlotte).

Daniel Grayson : Albert de Morcerf | Proud and noble, he kind of complicates things.  Love perhaps?

Charlotte Grayson : Valentine Villefort | From a wealth family dating a poor boy, aka Declan.

Enemies: Grayson  = Villefort & Danglars

Lydia Davis : Fernando Mondego | First one knocked off. A rival for Victoria’s affection, though in a different way.  Lydia takes over the Clarke’s house, which is kind of similar.

Victoria Grayson : Madame d’Villefort | Strong willed wives that will do anything to ensure their children’s success, such as paying off the family of the girl that Daniel killed.

Victoria Grayson : Mercedes | “David until forever – Victoria” from the locket at the end of episode 1

Conrad Grayson : Gérard de Villefort | Very powerful opponents, who screwed over the Dantes to save their own asses.

Conrad Grayson : Baron Danglars | Potential, we need to find out more about this crime.

Conrad Grayson : Madame Danglars | Probable, because Madame Danglars had a thing with having illegitimate relationships, just like Conrad and Lydia.

And who will be Benedetto? The illegitimate child of Madame Villefort and Baron Danglars? Could it be Amanda?

Project Runway: Episode 7: Bert vs Josh M; “I WILL NOT HAVE IT BERT”

So on our left we have Sylar… errr.. Josh M, and on our right we have Bert, whose fashion sense was solidified in the 90s.

Who wins the pity vote?

Is it Josh M who was wrought with grief over the anniversary of his mother’s passing or Bert who spent years and years grieving the passing of his partner of many decades from AIDs. I would have to side with Bert, since he’s honestly kind of begin. Sure he’s not the cheeriest old man in the group, but he really isn’t vindictive. Back in the day I can totally see Bert as a fiery young queen, but today he’s just living one day at time. Oh by the way, if Bert’s long time partner died of AIDs, does that mean Bert is HIV+?

Quotables:

Josh M: “I WILL NOT HAVE IT BERT!”

Bert: Mumble mumble “where are my clocks”

Josh M: “WE DO NOT CURSE”

 

I can only hope that there will be more moments of joy and peace like that picture in the future.  I feel like Josh M will implode from anger at this rate.  That or everyone he gets mad at will be kicked off the show, a la Becky.

Oh by the way, Olivier’s jacket?

Amazing.  Also apparently, Oliver’s name is actually Olivier.

Project Runway Quotes and Thoughts

Let me just say that, I feel so bad that Cecilia has survivors guilt issues, because I would totally do that too.

Oh no, Oliver tripped.

Oliver Green on the race:

I would have liked to be the captain, unfortunately I have to feel like the bitch.

Josh M on Becky:

Her demographic is 40 to dead

Does anyone else think that Josh C (Mr Clean) and Josh M (Bitchy Josh) are into each other?
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Also isn’t running a little bit unfair to the girls? I used to run track, and running is not a sport that men and women can compete against each other fairly.

Oliver Green on Project Runway 9

He’s one of my favorite characters so far on the show. Part of the reason is that I can’t quite put my finger down on what ethnicity/nationality/background he is… He looks Asian, but has some weird English/Chinese accent plus a totally English name that just makes me think huh?

So riddle me surprised when he lets this bombshell out during Episode 2:

I was born in Columbus, Ohio, when I was about 16 I moved to London by myself. And later on went to Milan Italy for university.

Wait… What?

I used to live in Columbus, and that is not what people from Columbus sound like.  Do you think he’s faking it?

EDIT: I read on a forum that Oliver was born in Ohio, but grew up in San Francisco and Taiwan.  That stint in Taiwan is probably where he picked up the fobby accented English.

V: Pilot, Episode 1

Quick Info

Characters:

Humans in V

Erica Evans (Elizabeth Mitchell): “Juliet from Lost” A counter-terrorism agent for the FBI. She is probably a future leader of the human resistance, after surviving the raid in the warehouse. Her work interferes with her relationship with her son Tyler.

Tyler Evans (Logan Huffman): “Juliet’s Son” Erica’s only child. He has an absent father and a mother that is always working. After becoming enamored by Lisa, the V Youth leader, he forges Erica’s signature and joins the Visitor Ambassador Program. Future traitor; may become the baby daddy to a Human-Lizard hybrid.

Father Jack Landry (Joel Gretsch): “Hot Priest” Doesn’t trust the V’s, but doesn’t seem to want to get into the fray. How long will he continue to be a priest?

Chad Decker (Scott Wolf): “The Reporter” Focused on advancing his career. He doesn’t totally trust the V’s after being coerced into giving Anna a soft interview. Will probably connect with the resistance, may become Anna’s sex slave in the process.

Valerie Holt (Lourdes Benedicto): “Ryan’s Fiancée” Lizard?

Georgie Sutton (David Richmond-Peck): “The Resistance Leader” Crazy and paranoid; this man will have to save humanity.

The Visitors (Lizards)

Anna (Morena Baccarin): “Leader of the Visitors” The charmingly vicious leader of the V fleet. Just wait till she eats your face.

Ryan Nichols (Morris Chestnut): “The Lizard dressed up as a Black Guy with a Fiancée” A spy sent by the V’s. He has deserted their cause and want to live a mainstream life with his future wife Valerie.

Lisa (Laura Vandervoot): “Youth Leader in Sexy Jumpsuit” Gives Tyler the look. Future V/Human babies on the way?

Dale Maddox (Alan Tudyk): “Alpha from Dollhouse” A Visitor spy working as a counter-terrorism agent in the FBI. Presumably dead, but I don’t know how easy these V’s die. The originals could take a pretty heavy beating before passing on.

Factions:

The Visitors (Lizards): Lisa, Dale, Anna

Visitor Worshipers (Humans): Tyler Evans, Older Priest

Rebels (Lizards + Humans): Erica, Ryan, Jack

Predictions:

  • Lots and lots of interspecial hooking up with a couple hybrid babies, like Battlestar Galactica.
  • Anna’s face get’s ripped off during an interview with Chad.
  • Tyler Evans betrays Erica
  • Erica uses Tyler to get to the V’s
  • Valerie turns out to be a V spy keeping tabs on Ryan
  • One of the motherships gets blown up and the resistance is hunted down
  • Erica and Priest hook up, that or the Priest is gay

Project Runway 6 on Lifetime

I am so glad that Logan finally got booted. I swear the only reason that he was kept on the show was because he’s the cute ‘straight’ boy. It’s too bad that every time he opened his mouth to say something edgy he sounded like a 4 year old; like when he said his grandmother had better taste than Gordana. I like how he wears shiny pants to every single elimination challenge as if he wants the judges to stare at his shiny silver crotch instead of his work.

Side note: It has been a little annoying that one trick ponies don’t get called out this season (remember Rami?) because the judges rotate so often.