Trust

Trust is the second episode of Season 1 and the second episode of Revenge overall.

Summary
Emily sets her sights on her next target Bill Harmon, a wealthy Wall Street hedge fund manager and trusted family friend who testified in the trial that wrongfully convicted her father. She uses her connection with Nolan to her benefit, unbeknownst to him, and also manages to go on her very first date with Daniel. Meanwhile, Victoria's suspicions about Emily grow and she starts digging to find out a little more about this new arrival to the Hamptons. And the situation over at the Stowaway Tavern gets even more dire for the Porter men.

Recap
 SPOILERS AHEAD!

Daniel Grayson isn’t fairing well during his polo match. Bill Harmon, head of Wall Street’s most profitable hedge fund, wants to make a friendly wager with his former business associate, Conrad Grayson, on the young man’s second half performance. Conrad won’t take the bet on his son, but Emily Thorne will.

The smooth-talking Mr. Harmon is someone Emily used to refer to as “Uncle Bill” back when she was known as Amanda Clarke. Emily makes it known that she is pals with Nolan Ross. She also lets Harmon know that she’s interested in doing business with this man who testified that her father funded terrorists. He also accused David Clarke of illegal insider trading, a practice Harmon actually engages in with no remorse.

Harmon logs in to his computer to show off a list of his top investors and their profitable returns. Emily soaks in all the info. At a follow-up meeting, Emily fools Harmon into believing she has inside info that Nolan’s corporation is merging with a particular cell phone company. Harmon scrambles to get his top clients to invest based on this inside information. The problem is that Nolan is actually merging with the company’s chief competitor. Uh oh.

Harmon wants to keep the big loss news from his clients. Too bad Emily swiped the confidential phone list from his computer. She proceeds to make calls to Harmon’s top dogs to let them know about all the money they lost thanks to the man they trusted with their investments. Harmon the hedge fund king is ruined. Guess that means Emily can officially cross old Uncle Bill off her X List.

Emily is one of multiple bidders on the sale of Lydia Davis’ house. Speaking of Lydia, she shows Conrad photos of the two of them that triggered the fidelity clause in her prenup. She’s broke. Lydia wants Conrad to write her a check—a big one. As for her house, Emily is furious when she learns Nolan swooped in to buy it. He did it to keep it out of Victoria’s hands. He also put the deed in Emily’s name. Nolan says it’s a gift for Amanda, who is slated to celebrate a birthday tomorrow. Frank, the head of Conrad Grayson’s security team, tells Queen Victoria that Emily Thorne is squeaky clean. If she wants to know more about her, he suggests she go right to the source. A short time later, Emily is invited over to Grayson Manor for tea. As the informal inquest of her guest draws to a close, Victoria is mortified to hear that Emily closed the deal on her new home. This young lady is not going anywhere anytime soon.

Security man Frank manages to dig up some info on Emily. He learns that she was on the board of the New York Landmark Preservation Society with Lydia Davis’ ex-hubby, Michael. There had been rumors that Michael had been sleeping with a young lady during the spring. Could it have been Emily? When Victoria learns that no info exists on Emily Thorne between the ages of 16 and 18, she orders Frank to start following her. She can feel that something is not right with her new neighbor.

Jack completes the sale of his boat to Nolan, who is no sailor. He is, however, the kind of guy who can get his friends onto some killer guest lists. If he had any friends, that is. He offers Jack the position of being his steady buddy for the summer. They’ll be a modern day Skipper and Gilligan. Jack and his new little buddy take the boat out for what will likely feel a lot longer than a three hour tour to the captain.

Declan texts Charlotte Grayson to invite her out for a boat ride. He’s utterly bummed when she shows up with a half dozen of her closest friends. One of the rich kids is a total tool of guy named Adam, who introduces himself as Charlotte’s boyfriend. Things go from bad to worse for Dec when he sees his brother’s boat is not at the dock. Not exactly the best way to impress a pretty rich girl and her highfalutin friends.

Jack’s dad, Carl, is upset when he learns that his son sold his boat to save his bar. The guy’s been hitting the bottle up hard in his office. Down in the bar, Declan is getting ready for a second chance date with Charlotte. Unfortunately, Adam intercepted his invitation text. He shows up with a few of his rich boy buddies to put a beating on Declan. Carl comes down to chase them away. An angry Declan has some harsh words for his plastered pop before fleeing the room, so no one is around when Carl collapses to the floor.

Emily has a nice first date with Daniel Grayson. It looks as if it may end with a kiss on the front porch. But Nolan and Jack interrupt any possible make-out session. They are there for the surprise “Welcome to the Hamptons” party Ashley set up with Daniel. By the way, Jack agreed to pal around with Nolan so that he can get his boat back at the end of the summer.

Jack assures Emily that he’s not stalking her, though he can’t say the same for his dog, Sammy. He says it was good to see her again. Emily doesn’t respond, but the unsure look on her face seems to indicate that she reluctantly feels the same way. At the end of the night, Emily finally does have that kiss on the porch with Daniel. As for Jack, he’s devastated when he returns to The Stowaway to find his dad unconscious on the floor. An ambulance is on the way, but it may already be too late.

Flashbacks reveal that Emily had seen her dad with Victoria Grayson in the past. She also overheard David say that he trusted the wrong person. In voiceover, we learn that Emily believes the only person we can truly trust is ourselves. That’s probably why she sits alone at a table with a birthday candle lit atop a cupcake. Emily says, “Happy Birthday, Amanda” as she blows out the candle. Wonder what she wished for.

Main Cast

 * Madeleine Stowe as Victoria Grayson
 * Emily VanCamp as Emily Thorne
 * Gabriel Mann as Nolan Ross
 * Henry Czerny as Conrad Grayson
 * Ashley Madekwe as Ashley Davenport
 * Nick Wechsler as Jack Porter
 * Joshua Bowman as Daniel Grayson
 * Connor Paolo as Declan Porter
 * Christa B. Allen as Charlotte Grayson

Guest Cast

 * James Tupper as David Clarke
 * Max Martini as Frank Stevens
 * Yancey Arias as Senator Tom Kingsly
 * Amber Valletta as Lydia Davis
 * Matthew Glaves as Bill Harmon
 * Brian Goodman as Carl Porter
 * Robbie Amell as Adam Connor

Co-Starring Cast

 * Emily Alyn Lind as Young Amanda Clarke
 * Diane Mizota as Anchor
 * Elena Evangelo as Valerie

Trivia
 
 * This episode had 8.55 million viewers on its original airing.
 * This the second episode in the series where Emily celebrates her birthday although was the first time in the present day, but ironically Emily did flashback to her 9th birthday the last one she enjoyed with her dad.

Quotes
Emily: addressing Victoria My father always said that our past defines who we are. Victoria: I would say our choices are what define us. Emily: Maybe for the lucky. But sometimes in life we are not given a choice.