Revenge Series Finale Review: Two Graves (Season 4 Episode 23)

While Revenge Season 4 Episode 23, “Two Graves,” offers plenty of dramatic moments and a satisfying happy ending, the whole thing leaves me a bit unsettled.

I’ve said before that the driving force of the show has never really been about Emily and Jack – instead, it’s been about Emily and her father. That’s not to say I couldn’t have been pleased with Emily and Jack ending up together, but the two of them literally sailing off into the sunset together feels false.

Even more than that, it feels false that Emily gets a happy ending, at least of that sort.

Emily has carried the traits of a female anti-hero throughout the series, doing bad things for an ultimately positive goal. And anti-heroes don’t tend to get happy endings — they end up dead or alone.

Several possible endings play out in the rushed finale, with Emily going to a maximum security prison and then nearly dying at the hand of Victoria. Instead, flash-forward a bit to a healed Emily (I know, I should be calling her Amanda by now, but I just can’t do it!) and Jack as they prepare for their wedding day. It’s all just a little too happy and sweet to fit with the overall tone of the series.

By the way – Jack, too, almost doesn’t make it. After he and Emily finally have their night together (also too rushed), she wakes up the next morning to a note that he has gone to get breakfast. Danger, Jack! Danger!

It’s a little too predictable that innocent Jack gets stabbed and nearly dies, particularly since he ends up pulling through. As much as I love Jack, and as much as I wanted Jack and Emily together early on in the series, I’d really have preferred his death over David’s. I’ll get to that in a second.

Jack and Emily as an end-game would have been a great way to end had the entire season been shorter. So much of the series dragged on, and I think the moment was eventually lost.

By the time Jack and Emily finally get together, it feels more like they are thrown together for the sake of making fans happy than because it makes sense for their story to end that way. Perhaps a two-hour finale would have helped matters, but I wish they would have gotten together earlier in the season, at least.

Their happy ending takes the place of the happy ending I wanted for Emily. I simply can’t understand why David needed to get cancer and die after only recently being reunited with his daughter.

That storyline still feels like it was thrown in just in case the series were to get renewed, so that the writers would have something to work with. So instead of Emily getting a happy ending with her father, she’s forced to say goodbye. At least that part of it does feel final. She gets to say goodbye to him properly, and he dies at home on the porch as Emily traces her hand over that infinity carving.

Victoria’s death probably should be the most satisfying part of this episode, — but, it’s not. We’ve already accepted her death once, and it this time, it’s simply anticlimactic.

I also can’t say I am entirely thrilled that it’s David who kills her. On the one hand, it makes sense that he would save Emily from committing that act, but on the other hand, this is Emily’s fight – having him arrive at the right time to save the day and kill her instead, just before Emily pulls the trigger herself, makes it feel a little like Emily is cheated of her final act of revenge.

It does make David’s death a little more worthwhile, since he has no reason not to kill Victoria. He’ll be dead soon, anyway. The only other purpose I can find in David’s death goes back to the wedding.

If David were alive, he’d be the one walking Emily down the aisle on her wedding day. But we all know that’s not how it should go. Nolan has to be the one to give her away.

The wedding feels very final, puppy and all, but perhaps what I appreciate the most about this episode is that we are still left with questions. Does Emily actually have Victoria’s heart beating inside her body? What exactly happened after she was shot?

We’re also left with a pretty amazing setup for a Nolan spin-off, as Emily has arranged for him to help someone new seek justice… and revenge. Please, please can we make a spin-off happen?

Overall, “Two Graves” makes for a good finale, but not a great one. The ending is satisfying despite being a little too forced, but it still wraps things up well and leaves us with enough unanswered questions to keep us talking.

Other Thoughts:

• One of my favorite parts of the finale is Nolan, who not only puts Margaux in her place but also devises the perfect plan to take care of White Gold (Courtney Love). Well, almost perfect – he does sustain a pretty nasty injury to his hand.
• Louise and Margaux are the main reason why the Jack and Emily story feels rushed. They take time away from what could have been more interesting focus on our main characters.
• The final line, spoken by Nolan, couldn’t have been better. Especially once you catch the subtlety. I had to listen more than once.

Nolan: Well played, Ams. Well played.

What did you think of the series finale of Revenge? Was it the right ending, or did you expect to see something else? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Ashley Bissette Sumerel

Ashley Bissette Sumerel is a television and film critic living in Wilmington, North Carolina. She is editor-in-chief of Tell-Tale TV as well as Eulalie Magazine. Ashley has also written for outlets such as Rolling Stone, Paste Magazine, and Insider. Ashley has been a member of the Critics Choice Association since 2017 and is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic. In addition to her work as an editor and critic, Ashley teaches Entertainment Journalism, Composition, and Literature at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.