Previous recap: Disclosure (October 5)
The fire inside the Stowaway raged as an unconscious Emily remained motionless on the floor. People gathered outside, and Jack tried to run in, but someone advised him that the fire department was on the way. Jack raced into the flames, and his eye was drawn to the mementos on the bar before he spotted Emily. An explosion erupted, and Jack picked up Emily as the firefighters arrived. Jack heroically carried Emily out and yelled for help, and as Emily awakened, a panicked Charlotte looked on among the gaggle of spectators.
Ben asked if Jack was okay, and Jack chugged from a bottle of liquor and said that he would be. Ben joked that the job didn't pay extra to run into a burning building, but Jack replied that he was glad he had, and he looked over at Emily, who was on a stretcher. She told the authorities that she had seen the fire and had gone in to try to put it out, but it had been out of control, and the next thing she'd known, Jack had been carrying her out. A firefighter asked if she'd seen anyone else inside, and she insisted that she had been the only one there.
Daniel and Margaux had passionate sex, and she noted that he was at a loss for words. She remembered a summer when she hadn't been able to get him to shut up during sex, and he claimed that he was a different person. She started to get dressed, and he invited her to stay, but she said that she had a big morning with an emergency board meeting to manage her brother's exit. Margaux grumbled that going through three CEOs in six months made her look like an idiot, and Daniel declared that his assault on Wall Street would begin the next day. He pulled out his phone and saw multiple messages from Charlotte.
David broke into a cabin, and Victoria worried about an alarm, but he pointed out that there was no security sticker on the window. They entered the cabin successfully, and he turned on a light and closed the shades. She assured him that it was only temporary, and she'd see a banker the next day to look for a place of their own. David insisted upon going with her because of the threats Emily had made, but Victoria reasoned that there would be questions about Conrad once the world knew that David was still alive, and she didn't want to share David until she had to. He drew her into a tender kiss.
The next day, Victoria ran into Daniel at his hotel, and he groused that he'd been too busy ducking reporters to reply to her postcards. She swore that she'd never abandoned him, and he coldly asked what she wanted. She said that all of her accounts had been frozen or seized by the government, and she needed access to the funds he'd hidden for a rainy day. He barked that she'd caused the monsoon six months before, and Victoria promised that she'd make the family whole again. He revealed that Charlotte had been hanging out with drug dealers and that she had almost taken a leap off the hotel roof, and he stalked off. Louise, Victoria's fellow patient from the psychiatric facility, watched the exchange.
On the street, Louise yelled to Victoria, who stated that she hadn't intended to leave Louise at Claremont. Louise reported that Dr. Miller had been dismissed, and his replacement had determined that Louise had been wrongfully committed. Louise suggested that they celebrate together, but Victoria replied that she couldn't. Louise wailed that she had nowhere to go, but Victoria tersely said that her children were in distress and that she had no resources. Louise chased after Victoria, who advised Louise to go home to her mother. Victoria sauntered off, and Louise looked upset.
A friend from business school showed up at Daniel's hotel room, and Daniel jokingly asked if the restaurant had given away their table, but the friend replied that he preferred to talk privately in a place where no one could spot them. The friend relayed that he'd tried to get Daniel into his firm and that he'd made some calls, but people had shut down as soon as they'd heard Daniel's last name, and no one would even meet with Daniel. The man encouraged Daniel to wait until people had moved on to the next scandal.
Later, Daniel informed Margaux that no one would hire him, and Margaux offered to spin his departure to executives who owed her favors. Daniel refused to damage her credibility, and she said that she didn't care, but he insisted that she'd worked hard for it. He added that it was nice to have one thing in his life that wasn't a complete disaster, and she wondered if he considered their relationship to be an incomplete disaster. "So far," he said.
Daniel returned to his hotel room, where he found the staff packing up his things, and he asked if there was a problem. The concierge informed Daniel that his bill hadn't been paid in two months, and Daniel's credit card had been declined, so they had packed up his suite to check him out. The concierge wished him the best of luck, and Daniel asked if he was still welcome in the bar. The concierge replied that he was, as long as he paid cash.
At the hotel bar, Louise loudly complained over the phone about someone selling off her stock, and she ordered a glass of wine from anywhere but California. Daniel griped about the volume of her voice, and she snapped that he should go to a cave if he wanted to ponder life in complete silence. He got up to leave, and she apologized for taking out her anger on a stranger. Louise insisted that she usually didn't get crazy except when her family was involved, and she added that the secret to life was not to be born rich. She informed him that her financial advisor had sold off her portfolio without telling her, and when Daniel mentioned that his background was in finance, she asked if he hated it when people asked for free advice. He replied that it depended.
Charlotte was about to pop some pills when Victoria knocked on her door, and the women embraced. Victoria acknowledged that she hadn't been there for her daughter, and Charlotte disclosed that she knew that Emily was really Amanda Clarke. Charlotte asked if Victoria had known, and Victoria said that she'd suspected it, but Emily had denied it when Victoria had confronted her. Victoria called Emily a pathological creature who would get what she deserved, and Charlotte confessed that she'd tried to kill Emily by starting the fire at the Stowaway, but she was afraid of what Emily was capable of. Charlotte added that Emily had kidnapped her, and she anticipated that Emily would go after her again, but Victoria said that "they" would protect her. Victoria divulged that David was alive.
Emily sat at a computer at the manor, and Nolan entered with balloons that he'd bought to spruce up her hospital room, but he'd found that the room had been empty. She informed him that she'd checked herself out, and he lectured that the doctor had said that her lungs had sustained damage. Emily huffed that doctors exaggerated, and Nolan reported that Victoria had just emerged from her hole by showing up in midtown Manhattan. He noted Emily's lack of reaction, and she stated that she had something else to do that day. A stunned Nolan wondered what was more pressing than the return of her archenemy, and he quipped that he wouldn't want to be number one on Emily's to-do list that day.
At the remains of the Stowaway, Jack told Nolan that old wiring behind a wall had caused the fire, and he regretted that he'd always had something better to do than to repair it. Jack lamented that he didn't know where to begin, and Nolan recalled that when he'd gotten stuck while coding new software, he'd asked himself what single part had seemed to be the most important. Jack's first thought was to salvage the mementos, but as he looked at a photo of himself with Declan and their dad, he murmured that some things would be irreplaceable. A man entered and apologized that he'd told the firefighters that no one else had been in there during the fire, but he'd only been relaying what the young woman who'd worked there the previous summer had told him. Jack realized it had been Charlotte.
Later, Emily entered the Stowaway in response to a message she'd received from Jack, and he hoped she could help him understand what had happened. She replied that she'd given a statement, but he pointed out that she hadn't said anything about Charlotte being there, even though a witness had seen Charlotte running out. Emily questioned whether she was talking to her friend or a cop, and Jack contended that he'd watched his life go up in flames, so he deserved to know why.
Emily explained that Charlotte had called her and had asked to meet at the bar, but she hadn't foreseen Charlotte knocking her out and setting the bar on fire. Jack wondered why Emily was covering for Charlotte after Charlotte had left her for dead, and Emily reasoned that she'd put Charlotte through a lot. Jack asked what he was supposed to do with the information, but Emily stood by the statement she'd given to the authorities, and she suggested he do the same thing.
Emily returned to the manor, and Nolan chided her for knocking his security system offline while she'd been researching details about a certain address. He surmised that she'd tracked Charlotte down in order to get payback, but Emily swore that she'd never hurt Charlotte. Nolan thought it would be an even worse plan to try to talk to her sister after Charlotte had rejected Emily, and he pleaded that he'd almost lost Emily. Emily conceded that she had no plan, but walking into the line of fire was sometimes the only way in.
On the way to the cabin, Charlotte asked if Victoria could tell she had been crying, and Victoria insisted that Charlotte looked beautiful. Victoria counseled Charlotte not to overload David, since he was fragile, and there were some things they couldn't ask or tell him yet. Victoria made it clear that David would eventually get the real story about how his other daughter had dedicated herself to the Grayson family's destruction, but she was sure that David would love Charlotte. The door opened as the women approached the porch, and David's face lit up. He smiled at Charlotte, and Victoria told him to meet his daughter. David and Charlotte tentatively hugged.
David said that he remembered Charlotte's eyes, and Victoria explained that she'd taken a baby Charlotte to the courthouse during David's trial. Charlotte questioned how he could be sitting right in front of her, but David insisted upon knowing more about her. Victoria explained that the past few years hadn't been easy, but Charlotte had always been her touchstone whenever she'd wanted to give up. Victoria added that Charlotte had been determined to prove David's innocence and that Charlotte had elicited a confession from Conrad for the world to hear.
David went out to get some firewood, and Charlotte confronted Victoria about lying. Charlotte questioned whether the person she really was wasn't good enough, and Victoria wished that Charlotte could see what she saw, since the real Charlotte was even better. Victoria thought that Charlotte was running on fumes and should get some rest, and Charlotte cuddled up with her head in Victoria's lap.
Victoria spotted Emily walking up to the cabin, and she brandished a rifle and warned that Emily was close enough. Emily said that she was there to talk to Charlotte, and Victoria threatened that Emily wouldn't talk to anyone ever again unless she left. Emily refused to go, and she called out to Charlotte and promised that what had happened during the fire would stay between them. Charlotte peeked out from behind the window shade, and Emily apologized for helping to put Charlotte in a bad place. Emily observed that Victoria kept looking into the woods as if she expected someone to arrive, and she dared Victoria just to end it all right then. Victoria snarled that she owed Emily much more than a quick death, and Emily turned to leave.
Ben inspected Emily's empty car, and Emily startled him when she asked if she could help. He said that he was glad she was doing okay after the fire, and he explained that he'd been investigating a report of some kids drinking in the woods when he'd found the abandoned vehicle. He admired her taste in cars, and she assured him that it hadn't been abandoned and that she hadn't been out drinking. He inquired about what she had been doing in the middle of nowhere, and she claimed that she'd taken a walk in the woods to clear her head. He suggested that he join her sometime if she ever wanted company, but she replied that she probably wouldn't.
Ben entered the Stowaway and joked that he was digging the bar's new look, and Jack said that he was going for a post-apocalyptic theme. Ben reported that the fire had been ruled an accident, but he offered to keep the investigation open if Jack wasn't ready to close the book on it yet. Jack stuck to the story of the bad wiring, and Ben suggested that Jack use the insurance settlement to upgrade the whole place.
Victoria told David about Emily's visit, and he wondered why Victoria hadn't called out for him, but Victoria claimed that she'd been afraid someone would find them if she'd fired a warning shot. Victoria explained that Emily had wanted to get to Charlotte and to destroy the whole family, and they needed to look for another place to stay. She mentioned that she had one resource she hadn't tapped yet to get some money, and she urged him to stay there and protect their daughter. After Victoria left, David pulled out a hunting knife and put it in his pocket.
Victoria caught Margaux working late at the office, and Margaux asked how Victoria had been holding up through the entire nightmare. Victoria compared it to watching a train wreck and being part of it at the same time, and she expressed concern about her children. Victoria added that she would always think of Margaux as a daughter, and Margaux was touched. Victoria lamented that she felt powerless, since Conrad had wasted their family's financial assets, and her children were penniless. Margaux revealed that Daniel hadn't let on that things were that dire, and she offered to write a check, since that was what family did for one another. Victoria protested, but Margaux told her to consider it a loan.
Emily informed Nolan about her encounter with Victoria and the rifle, and she said that Charlotte had been the only reason she hadn't stayed to finish things with Victoria. Emily added that she thought Victoria had something planned, and she'd watched the Graysons' every move for three years, but she felt like she was missing part of the picture. Nolan repeated Victoria's statement about owing Emily more than a quick death, and Emily suspected that Victoria knew something Emily didn't. Nolan insisted upon crashing at the manor for a couple of nights to reboot the security system and to keep an eye on Emily.
Jack stopped by to see Emily, and he presented her with something he'd found when he'd been cleaning out the Stowaway -- a childhood picture of them with Sammy. He mused that the photo had been on the wall for over 20 years, and she said that it would go back up after he rebuilt, but he confided that he was contemplating not reopening the bar. She volunteered to help financially, but he said that the bar had been his dad's dream, and Carl had wanted Jack to have a bigger life than that. He explained that being a cop during the day and a bartender at night hadn't left room for much else, and he figured that perhaps he needed to say goodbye to the Stowaway to make room for things that mattered. He wished Emily a good night as he headed out, and she called after him and thanked him.
As Emily slept, David scaled over the fence, while Nolan reviewed security footage downstairs. David entered Emily's room and slowly advanced toward her with the knife. Nolan suddenly burst in and fired a gun at David, who jumped out the window. Nolan asked if Emily was hurt, and Emily wondered if he'd seen the intruder. Nolan said that he'd seen a knife and that the man had been wearing a sweatshirt, but he'd barely seen the culprit's face.
Previous recap: Disclosure (October 5)
