Revenge (Footballers' Wives episode)

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"Revenge" is the 35th episode of the ITV1 television series, Footballers' Wives, it originally aired on February 23, 2006. It was also the first episode of the show's fifth season.

[edit] Plot

Bruno arrives home from Spain with Lucy and Angelica in tow. The couple are gearing up for the renewal of their wedding vows but for Bruno, there is one very large fly in the ointment, namely the fact that he is still married to his first wife and the mother of his two oldest children, Joly Salter. One hastily rushed through divorce later and all he has to do is employ a dodgy registrar to word the renewal ceremony so that it is legally binding... oh, and also hope that Lucy never discovers the truth! Although blissfully unaware of Bruno's deceit, Lucy is still suffering from a huge attack of guilt - how is she going to be able to support Amber at Conrad's memorial service knowing that it was her husband who shot him? Amber is still reeling from the brutal shooting of her beloved husband, Conrad and now spends much of her time praying to his 'troubled' spirit and vowing to unmask his killer. She doesn't believe for a moment that Giles Arrowsmith shot Conrad, yes the man was a raving lunatic who very nearly gassed her best friend to death, but to Amber, the whole thing stinks of a cover-up. Why for instance, have the police still not recovered the gun?

Earls Park has a new chairman, the ex-rock star Garry Ryan, and he's a million miles away from the straight talking Hazel Bailey. There's not a dry eye in the house when Garry opens the new Conrad Gates Memorial Stand in front of the players, their wives, and the press. He promises that this will be Earls Park's winning season and after the ceremony, introduces his first new signing, midfielder Tremaine Gidigbi. Tremaine has just served six months in prison for GBH and arrives at Earls Park with his international supermodel girlfriend Liberty Baker and a promise that he will never try to replace Conrad. Although Amber appreciates the new boy's sentiment, Bruno is livid - he has hated Tremaine ever since they played together at Newcastle United and not a week passes without them exchanging barbs in the sports pages.

Tremaine isn't happy about Liberty's decision to employ a live-in PA. Although Urszula has been nothing but pleasant towards him, he resents her presence and the constant interruptions every time he wants to be alone with his wife. But Liberty has put her foot down - Urszula's presence is extremely important to her rising career and anyway, she was excellent company while he was banged up inside, she can hardly chuck her out of the house now that he's back.

Now that Harley is living in Madrid with new girlfriend Katie Jones, Shannon is finding life very tough indeed. Her divorce settlement may have been large, but she's rattling around in her new mansion and desperate to hang onto her status as a Footballers' Wife. She makes it clear to Darius that she holds him solely responsible for her predicament - if he hadn't raped Katie, she and Harley would never have gotten together. But slowly, as she realises just how much Darius regrets his actions, she begins to forgive him. Darius may be sleeping a little easier now that he is making amends for his wrongdoings, but it certainly hasn't done anything to improve his performance on the pitch. Although Roger is willing to give him a fair crack of the whip, Garry is demanding instant results.

Bruno and Lucy are planning to renew their wedding vows in a beautiful and lavish Pride and Prejudice-styled ceremony and put the difficult events of recent times behind them. But nothing is ever easy in the life of a Premiership footballer and his wife, especially now that Amber has noticed the disappearance of Bruno's gun cabinet from the hallway. Could she suspect? Bruno's web of lies untangles even further when Lucy picks up his phone and sees a message from Joly, arranging to meet with him at the hotel. While Lucy rushes off to investigate, Amber turns Miss Marple. Under the guise of a game of hide and seek with Angelica, she searches the Milligan's home and discovers Bruno's gun cabinet in the cellar... with one gun missing!

Although Lucy suspects that Bruno is meeting up with Joly for one last fling before the ceremony, she couldn't be further from the truth. She's there so that he can sign papers pertaining to their divorce settlement - a swanky apartment in Kensington. Outside, Lucy waits until Bruno has left for the wedding in his Mr Darcy outfit before going to confront Joly. She is stunned when she learns that Bruno and Joly haven't been having an affair, they've been getting a divorce! At the church, Bruno waits nervously for his bride-to-be and can't understand why she is storming down the aisle towards him rather than walking sedately on the arm of her father. Before the gob-smacked congregation and the lurking paparazzi, she announces the truth between slaps around Bruno's face - her so-called husband is a bigamist!

As he drinks himself into oblivion in his hotel room, the last person Bruno expects to knock on his door is Amber. Although he has just deceived her best friend, Amber is remarkably sympathetic towards Bruno's plight and invites him to stay at her house; after all, it's only what Conrad would have done. Hardly able to believe his luck, Bruno takes Amber up on her offer, but it soon appears that she has an ulterior motive, namely, employing alternative means to discover the truth... as Bruno discovers when he wakes in the middle of the night to find her in bed with him!

While he watches his wife doing what she does best at a photo shoot, Tremaine falls into conversation with Urszula and discovers that she's not as bad as he thought. Only thing is, the more time he spends in her company, the more he's becoming convinced that she's after the contents of his pants. Liberty laughs uproariously when Tremaine confides in her and refuses to entertain for a moment that Urszula is interested in him sexually. And we soon discover why Liberty is so confident of her PA's loyalty. While he's been banged up in prison, the two women have been having a passionate affair. Poor Tremaine couldn't be more wrong if he tried!

Now that he and Amber are finding comfort in each other, Bruno feels rejuvenated. Who would have thought that Conrad's wife had been carrying a torch for him for years? With his confidence and manhood restored, he's like putty in Amber's hands and soon agreeing with her suggestion that they move back into his house - why should Lucy have everything her own way? Unable to stomach Amber's betrayal, or the prospect of sharing her home with her rival, Lucy takes Angelica and moves in with Shannon. Now that she's safely installed in Bruno's house, Amber makes it her mission to find the missing gun.

Despite Darius's sending off, Tremaine is on form and Earls Park win their first game of the season. The player's lounge is reeling from the shock news that Bruno and Amber are now an item and the wives can't believe her brass-neck when she stalks into the room and orders celebratory champagne. A good friend of Lucy's, Shannon is most vocal in her condemnation and before long; an all-out bitch-fight ensues. Meanwhile, Garry has finally lost patience as far as Darius is concerned, there's another young player he's desperate to sign, but the club has no money to pay for him. With his current run of form it's going to be nigh on impossible to get a decent price for Darius. It looks like Garry may have to rely on underhand methods to get his own way.

Garry has generously hired a VIP suite at a local nightclub so that the players and their wives can celebrate in seclusion. Deciding to put on a brave front, Lucy turns up. Although she's crushed by the sight of Amber and Bruno together, she is cheered when Liberty admires her dress and goes on to express interest when she discovers that Lucy designed it herself. Across the room, Darius has made some new friends and, under Roger's disapproving eye, allows them to talk him into racing shots. But these new friends are not what they seem and, under the guise of seeing their drunken new friend to the toilet safely, they push him down the nightclub stairs and then stamp on his leg for good measure. Darius is left writing in agony and probably out of football for good. Later, Garry welcomes the two attackers into his mansion and invites them to join the party.

Having left the party early, Amber slips a sleeping pill into Bruno's nightcap and, once he's safely asleep, takes a metal detector into the grounds.