Revenge: Sacrifice

"Sacrifice" is the fourteenth episode of the second season of the ABC television series Revenge and the thirty-sixth episode overall. The episode originally aired on February 17, 2013. It was directed by Stefan Schwartz and jointly written by veteran Revenge writers Mark B. Perry and Joe Fazzio. The series revolves around Emily Thorne (portrayed by Emily VanCamp), a young woman who returns to the Hamptons after many years to exact revenge on the wealthy Grayson family, particularly matriarch Victoria Grayson (Madeleine Stowe), who framed her father for money laundering to a group of terrorists, and ruined her childhood. In this episode, the flashforward depicting a human hand on the sunken Amanda, Jack Porter's boat is addressed, revealing the identity of the body and how it came to be deceased. The previous episode ended with Nate Ryan cutting the phone line after stowing aboard the Amanda to locate an incriminating laptop threatening his business plans. In this episode, Ryan takes the newlywed Amanda and Jack Porter (Nick Wechsler) hostage, and Emily Thorne races to rescue them. The episode introduces Trask (Burn Gorman) to continue the Initiative storyline following the murder of Helen Crowley (Wendy Crewson) in the previous episode, reveals why Padma Lahari (Dilshad Vadsaria) seems to be working for them, and continues the storyline of Conrad's gubernatorial ambitions. The episode also included the death of the faux Amanda Clarke, Emily's former cellmate, who had been portrayed by Margarita Levieva, a recurring cast member since the seventh episode of the series. "Sacrifice" received near universal acclaim from critics, with commentators hailing the episode as a return to the suspense of the first season and giving particular praise to the end scene. Many viewers had felt disappointed by the second season, finding the storylines to be confusing and unfocused. The Nielsen ratings were the highest they had been since the twelfth episode, "Collusion", aired January 20, 2013.