S03.E18: Blood

[Tara Ariano]

Aiden and Emily discover long-buried family secrets; Victoria pays Mason Treadwell a surprise visit as she gets closer to exposing Emily.

[gwlisa]

It was better than last week! This is an upward trend ... Love Mason escaping like he did.

[catmsw]

At the start of the episode I almost didn't recognize Aiden because he was all smiles. I don't think we've ever seen him smile before.

It was great to see Mason again.

[FineWashables]

I'm not sure what direction they're going in or what role Mason is going to play, and that's such a good omen for this show.  After a slow-paced season with a lot of disappointing moments, it's wonderful to be surprised again.  

I don't really understand what visiting Aiden's mother had to do with anything.  I did like seeing Emily and Aiden having some genuine and loving scenes together.  

Looks like Margaux and Daniel are flirting pretty intensely, which is a little odd considering her father and his mother are rolling around in bed together.  I'm having a hard time believing that Pascal is really into Victoria, though.  Maybe that's just because I can't imagine anyone wanting to be touch Victoria.  I am hoping he has his own agenda, and I'm still hoping that he and Emily join forces against the evil empire.

Why have I started liking Conrad?  When did that happen?

[Peanut6711]

An improvement from last week and the week before.   So happy to see Emily and Aiden reunited. They have a lot of chemistry that comes through in their scenes together.  I could do without the Victoria/Pascal love scenes, but please give us more Em/Aiden. 

I liked the development of Aiden’s past with their trip. (And if it was less screen time for Daniel and Victoria who have come to grate my nerves then better yet.) I felt it brought home the connection they share and their common goal of clearing their family name. I want to see them be partners in crime up through her final victory when they clear their fathers' name and find happiness together. 

Loved that Emily got one over on Victoria with the Mason Treadwell escape.  There’s been too many failures for Emily.  I hope she finds a way to use Conrad to bring Victoria and Daniel down. Conrad's line about Emily being his ally as long as she was Vic's enemy was classic.

Edited April 7, 2014 by Peanut6711

[FineWashables]

You're right, Peanut6711, this was the best episode in a while and it's because Emily finally succeeded at one of her plans.  We need Emily to get at least some of her schemes to succeed or it's just not fun.  I'm so glad we get to see more of Mason.  Glad to see I'm not the only one who's somehow skeeved out by the Victoria/Pascal love scenes.

[whyjen8]

I agree this was a much better episode than what we've been getting.  At the beginning it seemed I had missed something though.  What was Charlotte talking about to Daniel about being mad that he had used her to hurt Jack?

I also don't understand why Jack's mom felt responsible for Mason's death.  She thought she was helping him because Emily was paying for her services because she owed Amanda so why would she be driven to drink over guilt because he died?  Also the woman has been sober for a while right?  How did she down half a bottle of vodka and still remain in an upright position? 

And I now am hating Margot.  She doesn't like jealous men?  Last week she was one.

[Tara Ariano]

Here's Matt's post on the episode!

[mac123x]

Emily VanCamp is in Captain America:  The Winter Soldier, so I guess Emily got the face cream for Mason from Nick Fury. That just seems like a weird tie-in.

[FineWashables]

Fun recap, Matt!

Which reminded me: forget for a minute how this jar of miracle cream came to be sitting on the bars of Mason's cell.  Here's what got to me: you're sitting in your prison cell surrounded by dangerous non-white-collar criminals.  An unmarked jar of some kind shows up out of nowhere.  You open it and smell it.  The smell is apparently inoffensive. And so you just slather it on your face like you're a Khardashian and it's pancake makeup.  Most people wouldn't pick up something from a city street and put it on their faces, let alone pick up some random jar in a prison.  Who would do that?  

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Mason bought it at the commissary with the extra money that Emily put in his account.

[joshleejosh]

Most people wouldn't pick up something from a city street and put it on their faces, let alone pick up some random jar in a prison.  Who would do that?

Well, he did keep going on about how bad prison was for his skin. I guess vanity trumps self-preservation. I do always love hearing Mason Treadwell's purple prose, though. If Emily really wanted to do him a favor, she'd let him write the v.o.s that she does at the top of each episode.

I hope Stevie finds a reason to stick around. She has so many connections to various characters that it would be a waste for her to just disappear off to LA, rather than helping to tie together some of the plot sprawl that's been spreading out lately.

Margaux's daddy issues are really boring, but the games they're playing with her hair are kind of fascinating, non?

[FineWashables]

Yeah, the hair is sorta mesmerizing.  It looks good when she leaves it alone.  She never leaves it alone.  I think it's supposed to be Rhianna-like.  Maybe more mid-career Jamie Lee Curtis via mid-career Mary J Blige?  Late Sharon Stone via late Pink?

[FineWashables]

I can't stop thinking about this -- I'm at work, and need something to do with my so-called brain -- and so now I'm thinking: Mondo.  She's got the same hair style as Mondo, n' est-ce pas?