Revenge, Season 1

Emily:
When I was a little my understanding of revenge was as simple as the Sunday school proverbs it hid behind. Neat little morality slogans, like 'Do unto others' and 'Two wrongs don't make a right.' But two wrongs can never make a right because two wrongs can never equal each other. For the truly wronged real satisfaction can only be found in one of two places: absolute forgiveness or mortal vindication. This is not a story about forgiveness.

Victoria:
Don't let them see your weakness. That's the first thing they'll use against you.

Nolan:
What a waste of humanity.

Nolan:
Welcome home, Amanda.

Emily:
Amanda Clarke no longer exists.

Emily:
When everything you love has been stolen from you, sometimes all you have left is revenge. Like I said, this is not a story about forgiveness.

Emily:
Trust is a difficult thing, whether it's finding the right people to trust or trusting the right people to do the wrong thing. But trusting your heart is the riskiest thing of all. In the end that you can truly trust is ourselves.

Lydia:
Thanks for picking me up on the street corner like a prostitute.

David:
The worst betrayals come from those we trust the most.

Nolan:
What I want is someone to hang out with this summer, like Gilligan and Skipper. But this little buddy can get you on some killer guests lists.

Frank:
Why are you so interested in this girl anyway?

Victoria:
Because she's interested in my son.

Emily:
It's hard to know who to trust when it comes to money.

Conrad:
I stopped playing games with you when I fired you 18 years ago.

Charlotte:
I'm sick of the same. I want different.

Victoria:
Charlotte, it's 11 o'clock.

Charlotte:
Yes mother, it happens twice a day.

Victoria:
Trust is the one luxury I cannot afford.

Nolan Ross:
Evening, kitten.

Nolan:
You scare me.

Emily:
Good.

Nolan:
I have to know... how did you do it? How'd you get your hands on a sex tape?

Emily:
I bought the building that his mistress lives in. As part of the renovations, I had cameras installed.

Nolan:
Uh... wow. That's commitment. And now?

Emily:
I release the videos to the press.

Nolan:
Why? You already got what you wanted, you destroyed a man's career.

Emily:
I want to destroy his life. If he had done the right thing, he would have saved my father. He chose not to, so down he goes.

Nolan:
[to Emily] Show's startin'. Correct me if I'm wrong but, I smell the distinct aroma of retribution in the air.

Emily:
The greatest weapon anyone can use against us is our own mind by preying on the doubts and uncertainties that already lurk there. Are we true to ourselves, or do we live for the expectations of others. And if we are open and honest, can we ever truly be loved? Can we find the courage to release our deepest secrets? Or in the end, are we all unknowable, even to ourselves?

Emily:
Emily: Most of the memories I have from childhood are happy ones. Warm summer days filled with love and light, and the certainty that even the darkest storm would eventually pass. And for a while at least, they always did.

Emily:
The greatest weapon anyone can use against us is our own mind.

Nolan:
Come on down. Testosterone's on the house.

Nolan:
What are frick and frack doing here?

Jack:
Getting loaded.

Nolan:
And laid by the look of it.

Victoria:
Sometimes I wonder if having a second child was a mistake.

Nolan:
I smell the distinct aroma of retribution in the air.

Tyler:
I'm pretty sure the ball was out.

Emily:
I'm pretty sure you're lying.

Emily:
In revenge, as in life, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. In the end, the guilty always fall.

Nolan:
What's my little girl with the infinity tattoo up to today?

Emily:
Suddenly she's thinking of filing a restraining order.

Nolan:
Well, isn't that the pot calling the kettle black.

Emily:
Guilt is a powerful affliction. You can try to turn your back on it, but that's when it sneaks up behind you and eats you alive. Some people struggle to understand their own guilt, unwilling or unable to justify the part they play in it. Others run away from their guilt, shutting their conscience until there's no conscience left at all. But I run toward my guilt. I feed off of it. I need it. My father died never knowing if I would ever come to believe his innocence. For me, guilt is one of the few lanterns that still light my way.

Emily:
They say vengeance taken will tear the heart and torment the conscience. If there's any truth to it, then I now know with certainty that the path I'm on is the right one.

Emily:
Like life, revenge can be a messy business. And both would be much simpler if only our heads could figure out which way our hearts will go. But the heart has its reasons which reason cannot know.

Nolan:
[showing Emily the video of Frank's attempted murder of Lydia] That thud you hear... is the sound of Lydia hitting the roof of the taxi five stories down.

Emily:
I can't believe she survived.

Nolan:
I can't believe I survived.

Frank:
[on the video] Victoria, it's Frank. I have some bad news to report. Lydia Davis just jumped off her balcony. Call me when you get this.

Nolan:
You know, if I'd shown up one minute earlier, that psychopath would've caught me.

Emily:
Yeah, but he didn't. And you made it out with the list and the video camera.

Nolan:
[handing Emily the photograph Lydia was going to use to expose her] And this.

Emily:
We got lucky.

Nolan:
You might want to revisit your definition of "lucky" in the dictionary. Lydia might die because of us.

Emily:
If Lydia dies, it's because she sold her soul to the Graysons. This wasn't supposed to happen. I didn't set any of this in motion, they did.

Nolan:
Fine. Let's say she survives. Wakes up tomorrow remembering only one thing: this picture. Eventually, someone's gonna find you out.

Emily:
Not if they believe it's all been Frank. As far as the Graysons know... Lydia attempted suicide. When they see this video, they'll know that Frank lied to them.

Nolan:
Let's send a copy to the police.

Emily:
No police. Frank dug his own grave. All we need is for Victoria and Conrad to bury him in it.

Emily:
[Ashley is planning Victoria's 4th of July party] Ashley, this looks fantastic. Very festive.

Ashley:
Thanks, although I have to admit it is slightly humiliating having to plan a party celebrating the defeat of England. I don't do well with rejection.

Emily:
Obviously. That was over two hundred years ago.

Emily:
As Hamlet said to Ophelia, "God has given you one face, and you make yourself another". The battle between these two halves of identity... who we are and who we pretend to be... is unwinnable.

Nolan:
[to Tyler] Ah, ambiguous sexual identity - I get it. I'm about a three on the Kinsey scale.

Emily:
Just as there are two sides to every story, there are two sides to every person. One that we reveal to the world, and another that we keep hidden inside: a duality governed by the balance of light and darkness. Within each of us is the capacity for both good and evil. But those who are able to blur the moral dividing line hold the true power.

Emily:
Tyler never showed up for dinner. I'm impressed. How'd you do it?

Nolan:
Well, I can't take all the credit. I took a page from the angel of revenge herself. Dug up some dirt, used it for leverage.

Emily:
What's the dirt?

Nolan:
Suffice it to say our boy is a bit of a con man. What he doesn't know is you can't con a con.

Tyler:
Gay? Eh. Hustler? Maybe.

Nolan:
My first solo takedown.

Emily:
There's an old saying about those who cannot remember the past being condemned repeated. But those of us who refuse to forget the past are condemned to relive it.

Emily:
This wasn't part of the plan.

Nolan:
Neither was aiding and abetting your evil twin.

Emily:
The past is a tricky thing. Sometimes its etched in stone, and other times its rendered in soft memories. But if you meddle too long in deep dark things, who knows what monsters you'll awaken.

Victoria:
What part of get out are you having trouble with?

Victoria:
Looks like your not the only one flaunting last night's dress.

Daniel:
Oh the walk of shame.

Ashley:
More like a bloody knuckle crawl.

Conrad:
Good thing I was here when she woke up.

Victoria:
Oh, it's a miracle.

Nolan:
She's just delivering her dose of daily hell a little earlier than usual.

Emily:
Its been written that a lover is apt to be as full of secrets from himself, as is the object of his love from him. For my father, the secrets withheld by the woman he loved proved powerful enough to destroy him. I'm just beginning to now understand the enormity of that burden.

Emily:
We all have secrets we keep locked away from the rest of the world: friendships we pretend, relationships we hide. But worst of all is the love we never let show. The most dangerous secrets a person can bury are those we keep from ourselves.

Emily:
I fear I'm losing control.

Satoshi:
As you were warned, revenge is a stony path. Remember, inside the viper's nest, you must be a viper, too. How can I be of service?

Nolan No "thank you?"

Tyler:
Of course. 20 million of them

Tyler:
Side out, bitch.

Emily:
My father wrote, "Always question where your loyalties lie. The people you trust will expect it, your greatest enemies will desire it, and those you treasure the most will, without doubt, abuse it.". Some say loyalty inspires boundless hope. And while that may be, there's a catch: pure loyalty takes years to build, and only seconds to destroy.

Conrad:
Envy can be a powerful motivator.

Daniel:
I think my Dad would rather have Tyler as a son than me.

Amanda:
Memory lane isn't exactly a road I like to go down.

Ashley:
You kiss a billionaire once you make 200 grand. I've been kissing Victoria's ass all summer and I'm lucky she lets me call her by her first name.

Emily:
One thing you can count on. I never forget.

Emily:
Defense lawyers use the term duress to describe the use of force, coercion, or psychological pressure exerted on a client in the commission of a crime. When duress is applied to the emotionally unstable, the result can be as violent as it is unpredictable.

Emily:
I googled friendship on the interwebs. Apparently when you have a fight with a friend you're supposed to apologize.

Nolan:
Word of advice, leave the joke cracking to me., you suck at it.

Emily:
And the apologizing, how am I doing there?

Nolan:
I'm not expert but, I think an apology involves the words "I'm sorry"?

Emily:
Duress impacts relationships in one of two ways: it either tears people apart or strengthens their connection, binding them tightly in a common objective.

Emily:
For the average person leading an ordinary life, fame holds an hypnotic attraction. Men would sooner perish than exist in anonymity, but the unlucky few who've had notoriety forced upon them, infamy can be a sentence more damning than any prison term.

Emily:
People are fond of saying that you cant un-ring a bell, and while that may be true, you can certainly smother its ring to the dull world of conjecture and lies. But some words ring out like church bells, rising above the din, calling us to the truth. Some words are immortal. Long buried or even burnt, they are destined to be reborn like a phoenix rising from the ashes. And when they do, they can literally take your breath away.

Mason:
I've always been amazed at how you can make 20,000 square feet feel warm and inviting. Still, without Conrad, it feels somehow empty. Now, rumor has it, he's moved into the South Fork.

Victoria:
And good riddance. This is one village that won't miss its idiot.

Nolan:
Bad girl.

Nolan:
Spineless, seer-sucking dilettante! I haven't been this disappointed since Phantom Menace.

Emily:
Some say that our lives are defined by the sum of our choices. But it is'nt really our choices that distinguish who we are; Its our commitment to them.

Emily:
This seat taken?

Nolan:
It's a free beach.

Emily:
Amanda's gone.

Nolan:
Yeah, well, kudos to you. Looks like the ends finally justify the means, or should I say meanness.

Emily:
Are you finished?

Nolan:
I don't know. Are you?

Emily:
I'll never be finished. But after what happened to Jack I think it's clear I need to minimize the fallout from what I'm doing. I think it's a good time to press pause on all of this.

Nolan:
And do what?

Emily:
Regroup. Maybe there's a better way to level Victoria than by marrying her son.

Nolan:
And what do you plan to do with Daniel?

Emily:
I'm gonna give him his ring back. Tell him that I need to give marrying into his family some more thought. That's actually kind of true.

Nolan:
For once. [puts his arm around her] Baby steps.

Emily:
Don't do that. [he takes his arm back]

Emily:
For some, commitment is like faith, a chosen devotion to another person or an intangible idea. But for me, commitment has a shadow side, a darker drive that constantly asks the question - How far am I willing to go?

Emily:
Years ago, I met a boy who introduced me to a book 'The Marriage of Heaven and Hell'. In it, William Blake writes "If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is - infinite". But in reality, our perception is often clouded by expectations, by experiences. As of late, I find my perception is clouded by only one thing - revenge.

Emily:
Jack saw the tape, Nolan. What the hell happened?

Nolan:
What's on the revengenda this evening, hmm?

Emily:
Truth is a battle of perceptions. People only see what they are prepared to confront. Its not what you look at that matters, but what you see. And when different perceptions battle against one another, the truth has a way of getting lost, and the monsters find a way of getting out.

Conrad:
As soon as you think she's going to let you fly, she clips your wings and puts you back in your cage.

Emily:
It could be nothing or it could be Pandora's box.

Nolan:
Fire and Ice. Subtle. Was fire and brimstone not available?

Victoria:
It's just an engagement. Anything can happen.

Emily:
As of late I find my perception is blinded by only one thing. Revenge.

Emily:
There comes a moment in each of our lives when the control that keeps us sane slips through our fingers. Most of us aim to seize it back. The best way to fight chaos is with chaos.

Emily:
Chaos, by its very definition, cannot be controlled. Once introduced, all order and intention is rendered useless. The outcome of chaos can never be predicted. The only certainty it brings is the devastation it leaves in its wake.

Nolan:
Sail away. Fall in love. Go make little volunteer babies.

Tyler:
How do I look?

Amanda:
Under medicated.

Jack:
I should have left months ago but you know, life gets in the way.

Declan:
It's been a weird summer and you're nursing a heartache and some broken ribs.

Victoria:
One day you may or may not become Daniel's wife but I will always be his mother.

Daniel:
Just promise me one more time. No secrets of any kind, ever.

Emily:
My father's false imprisonment taught me that in a crisis, you quickly find out who your real friends are. Tragedy and scandal, it seems, have a unique way of clarifying people's priorities.

Emily:
Adversity creates unexpected alliances. But treaties of this nature seldom form within an equality of power. Loyalties forged in apprehension and mistrust...easily broken when held up to the unforgiving light of the truth. But in the darkness of our most desperate hours, its often these loyalties that lend us the strength to do what we know must be done.

Emily:
A conflicted heart feeds on doubt and confusion. It will make you question your path, your tactics, your motives. When you stare ahead and darkness is all you see, only reason and determination can pull you back from the abyss.

Nolan:
Y'ever notice how, whenever you want her to leave, girlfriend keeps popping up like the homicidal-stripper version of Whac-a-Mole?

Emily:
Doubt is a disease. It infects the mind, creating a mistrust of people's motives and of one's own perceptions. Doubt has the ability to call into question everything you've ever believed about someone, and reinforce the darkest suspicions of our inner circle.

Emily:
Nature can be cruel. Predators are everywhere. Those who don't need to be protected from outside forces often need to be protected from themselves.

Emily:
In society, women are referred to as the fairer sex, but in the wild, the female species can be far more ferocious than their male counterparts. Defending the nest is both our oldest and strongest instinct. And sometimes, it can also be the most gratifying.

Victoria:
Mason Treadwell's blog is front page news, and the damage is already done, but I want to hear it from you. Did you take pills the night of the party?

Charlotte:
Declan lied about everything. He saw someone on the beach, same as me.

Victoria:
Did you or didn't you?

Charlotte:
No, I told you.

Victoria:
Charlotte, look at me. You're high right now, aren't you?

Charlotte:
So what if I am on drugs? My father's a mass murderer. My half sister is an arsonist. Guess the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree, does it?

Emily:
Clarence Darrow, one of history's greatest lawyers, once noted "There is no such thing as justice, in or out of court." Perhaps because justice is a flawed concept that ultimately comes down to the decision of twelve people. People with their own experiences, prejudices, feelings about what defines right and wrong. Which is why, when the system fails us, we must go out and seek our own justice.

Emily:
Justice, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. Some see an innocent victim, others see evil incarnate getting exactly whats deserved.

Victoria:
You're going to catch your death.

Daniel:
That seems inevitable.

Jack:
I don't know if she's screwing with me or she's in serious trouble.

Nolan:
You bugged the Queen's castle?

Nolan:
Sorry to interrupt your regularly scheduled plotting.

Nolan:
When has anything Amanda's ever done made sense?

Emily:
Absolution is the most powerful form of forgiveness; a full pardon from suspicion and accountability. Its the liberation of a stolen future, a future my father never lived to see. Absolution is a mercy the people who killed him will never know.

Emily:
Absolution is the washing away of sin, a promise of rebirth, and a chance to escape the transgressions of those who came before us. The best among us will learn from the mistakes of the past, while the rest seem doomed to repeat them. And then there are those who operate on the fringes of society, unburdened by the confines of morality and conscience. A ruthless breed of monsters whose deadliest weapon is their ability to hide in plain sight. If the people I've come to bring justice to cannot be bound by the quest for absolution, then neither will I.

Nolan:
Rough day at the office?

Emily He's one of them, Nolan. Conrad confessed everything to Daniel before the interview.

Nolan:
"Everything" everything?

Emily:
Daniel could've come clean. He could've... ended the whole thing. But instead...

Nolan:
He doubled down on Grayson. So what are you gonna do now?

Emily:
I'm gonna marry him. And I'm gonna track down the man who killed my father.

Nolan:
And what are you gonna do when you find him?

Emily:
I'm gonna kill him.

Emily:
When deception cuts this deep, someone has to pay.

Victoria:
For a man with a penchant for writing letters, you would think that Roger would have left a suicide note.

Conrad:
It's perverse, don't you think? Destroy the man you love then weep for him eternally?

Frank':
I wouldn't say an anonymous threat was a sign of towering strength.

Emily:
Don't you have any friends or family of your own to harass over the holidays?

Lydia:
What are you coveting, Sweetie? Is it the Dolce or what's underneath it?

Emily:
Destruction is in my DNA. Take it up with Darwin.

Nolan:
The guy you just toilet capped at the club, could press charges.

Emily:
They say grief occurs in five stages. First there is denial, followed by anger. Then comes bargaining, and depression. For most, the final stage of grief is acceptance. But for me, grief is a life sentence without clemency. I will never accept, and I will never forgive, not even after the man who killed my father lies dead at my feet.

Emily:
They say grief occurs in five stages. First, there's denial, followed by anger. Then comes bargaining, depression, and acceptance. But grief is a merciless master. Just when you think you're free, you realize you never stood a chance.

Ashley:
Please don't say you're sorry. You so clearly are not

Charlotte:
Mom, what have you done now?

Victoria:
Nothing I wouldn't do again.

Conrad:
You look like a demonic succubus.

Jack:
You think I don't see right through this?

Daniel:
See through what Porter? It's a check not a shoe bomb.

Nolan:
Don't do anything revenge-y until I get there.

Emily:
In every life, there comes a day of reckoning. A time when unsettled scores demand their retribution. And our own lies and transgressions are finally laid bare.

Gordon:
I trust you had a pleasant nap, Miss Clarke. Rather than waste my time on a wild goose chase, I thought I'd give you the opportunity to tell me where you've hidden Grayson's evidence. In return, I may even let your friend here live.

Emily:
Actually, he doesn't concern me.

Nolan:
[sarcastically] Gee, don't surgarcoat it, Ems.

Gordon:
Well, if that's the case, I take back my offer.

Emily:
The evidence that you want is in locker 428 at the Port Authority bus terminal. The orange key from my keychain will open it.

Gordon:
If that's true, what's to stop me from killing you right now?

Emily:
I could be lying.

Nolan:
She's really quite good at it.

Lydia:
You must come from a family of polar bears because that water is ice cold.

Emily:
Only at first... Then you can't feel anything.

Lydia:
Sounds like my marriage.

David Clarke:
[in his letter to Amanda] If you're reading this, then two things have come to pass: I'm finally able to provide you the life you were unjustly denied. And sadly, I won't be able to share that life with you. I hope these journals provide answers to the questions you've had all these years. I am not the man they say I am. I did not do the things they say I did. All I ask is that you promise to do the one thing that’s been so hard for me to do. Forgive.