Season 3 of Revenge ended on a very unsettling note for multiple characters. We lost two major players in the Hamptons in the finale; Aiden Mathis was killed by Victoria Grayson, and Conrad Grayson was left in the middle of an empty road dying, brought down by the already presumed dead David Clarke. Yes, that David Clarke, Emily’s father who was killed in prison for taking down Flight 197, and the man that Victoria Grayson — who is now knows Emily’s secret but is locked up in a mental hospital — loved before falsely accusing him of terrorism. Yeah, it’s a lot to wrap your head around.
So with the introduction (re-introduction?) of David Clarke (James Tupper), the lives of the characters are sure to be turned upside down. Tupper, who had made appearances as David Clarke in flashbacks for the first three seasons, has been made a series regular, so don’t think that Conrad’s empty road death scene with him was just a dream; David Clarke is very much alive. So what do those behind the series have to say about bringing back such a big character? Showrunner Sunil Nayar told People magazine, “David Clarke is alive, but he is not at all the man that Emily or Victoria thinks they knew.”
And of course David Clarke isn’t the man they think they knew. After all, he was accused of terrorism and taken away from his family, before faking his own death and then keeping a super low key profile for 20 years. He is most definitely not the same wood carving man that Emily remembers him to be. His absence for the past 20 years will be a huge focus for the upcoming season. Show writer, Aaron Harberts, told IB Times, “The character David Clarke is going to cause a lot of problems, because he is definitely a point where these two women’s lives [Emily and Victoria] intersect.” It will be interesting to see these women coexist when the leading force in their hatred returns to their lives.
Speaking of coexisting, now that Aiden has died and David Clarke has returned into her life, it seems that Jack Porter (Nick Wechsler) will be involved a lot more in Emily’s life. Harberts told TV Guide, “As we get to know more about Emily/Amanda, she also has to start confronting all of these things she’s left undone and how she is going to clean up messes with the people who have taken such good care of her. As we launch into Season 4, Jack becomes the center of that journey.” Are Aiden’s death and David Clarke's return what Emily and Jack need to finally get together, especially now that it seems Daniel Grayson and Emily will never ever ever get back together, a la Taylor Swift?
But don’t worry; the show is by no means going to get soft on us. With David's return to the Hamptons, Emily’s sense of revenge might seem foggy, as she spent the last 20 years of her life seeking retribution for someone that hadn’t been dead all along. But now that Victoria has killed Aiden, Emily will most likely find a new sense of purpose for destroying the Grayson’s lives, a new sense of Revenge if you will. And for the record — since we can’t seem to trust the whole "dead" policy on Revenge — it actually does appear that Sloane’s Aiden Mathis is dead, as he will be starring in the upcoming Sci-Fi drama The Whispers on ABC.
Unfortunately, Season 4 of Revenge starts September 28, so we've got two months of questions before we finally get a morsel of an answer.
Images: ABC/Colleen Hayes; ABC/Richard Cartwright
