So Lydia’s in a coma and Emily, though surprisingly regretful about it (apparently that’s not what she wanted to happen, nice to know she does have a heart still), decides to use the footage that Nolan snagged to her advantage. Always the opportunist. She has Nolan email the footage of Frank attacking Lydia to the Graysons hoping it’ll cause tension between the Graysons and Frank.
I guess it really isn’t the Hamptons without an extravagant party. Victoria is planning a traditional Fourth of July, well traditional for the Hamptons anyway. I doubt there will be any burgers and hot dogs. Tyler makes a double date with Daniel and Emily, my guess is he’s hoping for sabotage.
Nolan tells Jack he needs to fight for Emily. Not sure exactly why he is pushing Jack towards her so much. I can’t tell if it’s for the benefit of “Amanda” or if it’s a way to sabotage her. Anyway, Jack takes the bait and shows up to fix Emily’s porch swing. Unfortunately she is on her way out for the double date. Daniel may have won the battle but Jack isn’t going down without a fight. Now Daniel’s boss he puts him on duty starting tomorrow, which happens to be July 4th. Daniel’s bummed, but concedes.
The video of Lydia and Frank has the exact effect Emily was hoping for. Mr. Grayson seems genuinely appalled by the video, especially since Frank claimed that she jumped. He decides to let Frank go, but doesn’t tell him what he’s seen. He simply tells him he doesn’t feel Frank is as loyal to him as he is to Victoria. Victoria isn’t pleased with the news of Frank’s termination, but when Frank explains it to her and shows her the footage she seems to agree with Mr. Grayson’s decision.
The double date is a small stand-off between Tyler and Emily. Not surprisingly Emily wins the match. But Daniel and Ashley, rather than agreeing with Emily and seeing the ridiculousness and inaccuracies in Tyler’s story, they get pissed at her. (How does she know so much anyway?) Emily’s conscious comes out again and she realizes she may have gone too far. Hmmm, I wonder if that was Tyler’s plan all along.
Frank shows up behind the refrigerator door – is this a scary movie?! – and Victoria jumps. Frank does look a little creepy, and honestly I thought he was drunk. He tells her he did it all for her. How romantic, it’s just what every girl wants, a guy to kill someone for her. Not surprisingly she isn’t impressed by his gesture and though he grabs her for a kiss she wiggles free and returns to her husband. Frank is a desperate man now, and desperate men, especially ones with his skill set, are not to be trusted.
Tyler lets it slip (intentionally) that Daniel now has a job as a bartender. Victoria isn’t pleased and she lets Daniel know it. But he stands up like a man and tells her she doesn’t get a say in what he does anymore, especially now that he’s been cut off. Good for you Daniel! Daniel heads off to work, but first a stop at Emily’s house which makes him late because Emily finds him so irresistible.
When Daniel finally shows up to work he has a lipstick imprint on his neck, Jack scoffs at him and puts him to work. Declan, who is trying to save enough money to take Charlotte out on a real date, steals someone else’s lobsters and sells them. When he gets attacked by the guys he stole the lobster from, Jack threatens them with a bat, but Daniel asks them all to be gentlemen (no, he SERIOUSLY said “let’s all be gentlemen about this”) and pays the guys off. Then Jack and Declan decide to pursue the girls they want and go to the Grayson’s July 4th party.
At the party, Emily and Victoria exchange a stony greeting which they cover up with a kiss. Ashley gives her a more obviously hostile greeting. She’s pissed Emily hurt Tyler’s precious feelings. Tyler, the gem that he is, spikes Daniel’s drink, once again sabotaging his supposed BFF. Jack confesses his love to Emily, who has to tell him she doesn’t feel the same way. He believes her, even though the pain is written all over her face. But at least one of the Porter boys wins tonight. Charlotte tells Declan that she doesn’t care that he has no money. Yay for Declan!
When Daniel starts to act funny, Tyler swoops in to his rescue. He gets him to a bed and for a split second I’m pretty sure he’s about to make a move on Daniel. For a moment his motives are clear and I see that he’s in love with Daniel and just wants to die every time he sees him with Emily. But then Daniel pushes him off and Tyler bashes his head against a pole and I’m confused again.
Tyler runs home to Mrs. Grayson and tells her that Daniel, after having a few drinks, punched him. Then he flees to the pool house where Nolan is being interrogated by Frank who saw him on surveillance footage from Lydia’s apartment building. Emily, after making a subtle threat to Tyler, enters the pool house with Tyler and finds Nolan on the floor. Nolan tells Emily he’s done helping her and Frank witnesses their intense exchange. The episode ends with Emily sitting on her newly placed front porch swing (I guess that’s the closest she’s going to allow herself to get to Jack…at least for now), with Frank watching from afar – Creeper!
So Tyler keeps pushing the normal boundaries of friendship. Nolan called it quits in his quest to assist Emily, even though it was his last promise to her father. I thought Nolan would be a little less squeamish, but I guess not. And Emily now has, for the first time, a worthy adversary. Looks like things are heating up, let’s just hope we get to see some ass kicking.
The Ominous Quote of the Episode:
Emily: Frank dug his own grave. All we need is Conrad and Victoria to bury him in it.
But I’m thinking Emily will be the one to bury Frank….