Season 1, Episode 12:
Eye to Eye
Regaining possession of something long-lost, Gloria reasserts old power. Fenton returns and is stunned to see his sons in the middle of secrets that he, too, has uncovered. Frank enters an uneasy alliance, and climactic events are set in motion.This episode contains examples of:
- Anger Born of Worry: After previously asking his sons to get off the case so they'd be safe, Fenton is very unhappy and gets quite a bit of this when he returns home and learns they've still been investigating anyway.
- Bait the Dog:
- Downplayed since Kanika is shady by default as a Circle of the Eye leader, but she seemed to be a case of Even Evil Has Loved Ones by hiring Fenton to find her nephew, as well as a Benevolent Boss to Nigel, while not really doing anything villainous onscreen (and in fact, Gloria was the aggressor against her by having her piece stolen). Then we find out here that Kanika herself was actually responsible for Rupert being captured and beaten up with the intent to kill him, and her asking Fenton to look for him was a Uriah Gambit to get rid of him, too.
- Stacy hates the Circle and claims to want to expose them like Laura did, believing they had her father killed. She also seemed genuinely concerned when Joe went missing in the previous episode and gave Frank assistance that proved vital in finding him. But it's all-but-confirmed Stacy did hit the Tall Man on purpose, and once Frank realizes that she's just as bad as the rest of the Circle and refuses to continue working with her, she goes off the deep end completely, culminating in her and her Co-Dragons kidnapping Callie.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Frank gets a couple:
- A short-and-simple one: Fenton is telling his sons to stay out of further investigating and states they never should have gotten involved at all. Frank shortly replies, "You weren't here," and then asks if he expected them to just sit around and do nothing.
- Calling the (literal) old woman out: Frank suspects JB stole Joe's piece of the Eye for Gloria, and gets to her house right on time to see him turning it over to her. After reaming him out for this, Frank follows it up by yelling at her for stealing from her own grandsons, and hiring JB of all people to do it, the guy who previously used Joe as a hostage against her right there in that very room. Ironically, though Gloria remains unmoved by this and just states she got tired of waiting for him to hand it over, JB himself actually gets a Heel Realization from it.
- Cliffhanger: Stacy lures Callie to Wilt's so she can abduct her, and the final scene is her goons dragging Callie kicking and screaming into the van.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: What Gloria tells Frank in response to his anger with her over having JB steal the piece, stating he chose to not give it to her and claim he didn't have it (unaware that he didn't have it all along and genuinely didn't know where it was until the end of last episode once Joe was found). Frank clarifies that part of his frustration is because he already was going to give it to her, only for her to steal it first.
- Double-Meaning Title: The title refers both to many characters having tension between them and conflicting, colliding opinions and goals—in other words, not "seeing eye to eye"—and to the villains' goals of putting the pieces of the Eye back together.
- Dragon Ascendant: Gloria seems to have been some kind of a cross between this and The Starscream, as she called Sergei and Ahmed when George tried to flee Bridgeport with his piece of the Eye. They had him killed, and she took over the family.
- Dramatic Irony: Now that Frank and Joe have the piece of the Eye back, they agree for Frank to give it to Gloria as part of The Infiltration. Gloria, not knowing this and thinking that the boys have had the piece and/or known where it is the whole time and were just holding out on her, hires JB to steal it back from Joe, which pisses Frank off about this betrayal from both her and JB.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Played with. JB's not actually evil, just a self-motivated criminal, but he's incredulous and a bit disgusted that Gloria wants him to steal something from her own grandsons. Still, he does do it anyway, even though he considers one of said grandsons to be a pal, because he ultimately just wants to get paid and get out of Bridgeport. However, once Frank furiously calls him out on this, JB has a Heel Realization and feels bad enough about it to attempt to make up for it, as seen in the Season Finale.
- Evil Aunt: Kanika Khan is revealed to be this. She's pretended all season to be concerned about the welfare of her nephew, Rupert, and hired Fenton Hardy to find him, but it turns out that she was the one who tried to have Rupert killed, and hired Fenton to get him out of Bridgeport (with the intention that he would die as well) so neither of them could threaten the Circle of the Eye.
- Evil Is Not a Toy: JB has learned his lesson and snapped out of his Power High after his disastrous attempt to steal a second piece of the Eye from Stacy last episode, which resulted in his own piece being stolen and receiving a serious beating that's left his face covered in bruises and a black eye. He doesn't make the same mistake again when Gloria hires him to steal her piece from Joe, turning it over to her without any visible temptation of double-crossing her to keep it for himself, and the next episode has him make it clear he wants nothing more to do with the Eye.
- Flashback: A couple to flesh out the backstory a little bit:
- Gloria recalls the day George left for the final time in 1961. He realizes his partners are coming for him and prepares to escape with his piece of the Eye; Gloria asks him to let her help, but he tells her that while he will always love her as his daughter, she'll never be part of the Circle. He adds that it's not her fault and hopes she understands someday, but she's still crushed by the rejection.
- As Fenton, Joe, and Trudy listen to the tape George left for Laura, we see Sergei and Ahmed arrive at the Estabrook home after George's funeral. Gloria kicks a teenage Laura out of the room, then the three of them have a discussion heavily implying that the two other men arranged for George's plane to crash and kill him after Gloria tipped them off about him fleeing. Though they tell her she cannot be a proper member of the Circle without her father's piece, they're impressed at realizing she shares their views about the Eye and acknowledge that George underestimated her wisdom. As they leave, it's shown that Laura eavesdropped on the whole conversation from right outside the door.
- The Glomp: Joe gives one to Fenton when the latter finally returns home. Frank's hug, meanwhile, is more like a bear hug.
- Heel Realization: JB seems to have one when Frank shows up at Gloria's home to confront both of them about stealing the Eye. He looks ashamed when Frank yells at him over betraying Joe and can barely look him in the eye as he goes to leave, and hearing him then admonish Gloria for hiring someone who made Joe a target and used him as leverage gives JB further pause. The next episode follows up more on this.
- I Did What I Had to Do: How Gloria justifies her underhanded route of hiring JB to steal the piece of the Eye from the boys, since she (mistakenly) believes that they've just been refusing to give it to her—putting themselves in danger in the process—and lying about not having it all along.
- The Infiltration: Frank, knowing that Gloria wants him to be her successor in the Circle, pretends to side with her and agree to this, complete with giving her George's map and journal, in the hope that it'll give him a better chance to eventually destroy the Eye, as he and Joe now both want to do, while also Playing Both Sides with Stacy too. He pulls it off so well that Gloria buys it even after he was just chewing her out for stealing the piece, partially because he states truthfully that he was going to give it to her anyway before she stole it, and partially because he tells her exactly what she wants to hear. Only Joe knows he's undercover, though, and Frank is clearly unhappy at having to lie to his own father, among others.
- Internal Reveal:
- Callie tells Frank that she saw Stacy kiss him. He tries to tell her it was Not What It Looks Like, but it leads them to exchange some harsh words, resulting in a hurt Callie storming out.
- Fenton comes home and discovers that his sons have been looking into their mother's murder as well, solving the case from different angles than him. He's not pleased.
- Gloria and Kanika learn of the existence of Stacy as the daughter and successor of Viktor Nabokov, and meet her in person. Kanika also finds out from her that Gloria was the one responsible for the theft of the Khan piece.
- Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: When Frank tells Stacy she's the same as the rest of the Circle she's working against and refuses to cooperate with her anymore, she undergoes this, abandoning all pretense of being one of the good guys and abducting Callie in response.
- Kick the Dog: Stacy arrives at Wilt's right as Callie is angrily leaving after arguing with Frank about her. Naturally, she's a total bitch about it in the ensuing conversation with Frank.Stacy: You know, it's funny. I'm actually starting to enjoy all the silly high school drama. Like, no wonder her boyfriend dumped her, right? (After Frank turns to glare at her) Come on. Everybody knows.
- Kick the Morality Pet: Despite not particularly wanting to, JB agrees to steal Gloria's piece of the Eye from the Hardy Boys so he can finally get paid and leave Bridgeport. He persuades Joe to let him inside his room again, only to search his stuff and steal the piece while Joe is out of the room distracted by Fenton arriving home.note Frank is furious about this and chews him out over betraying his brother, and despite JB answering that this was the job he was hired to do, Frank's words to him and Gloria give him a Heel Realization.Frank: You know, Joe's probably the one person on Earth who actually liked and trusted you. He helped you, and this is what you go and do?!
- Lured into a Trap:
- Fenton's entire plotline turns out to have been an example from Kanika; see The Uriah Gambit.
- Stacy leaves Callie a fake message from Frank, apologizing for their earlier argument and asking to meet her, to trick her into coming to Wilt's, then goes there herself and reveals the deception, so she and her Co-Dragons can capture Callie once she leaves.
- Moment of Weakness: Frank and Callie both go for pretty low blows when they argue about if he's being too trusting of Stacy. She's still hurt about the kiss and implies that he's only working with Stacy because he's attracted to her, not realizing it's more complicated than that. Frank is annoyed and goes below the belt in response, and he instantly regrets it and tries to call her back as she storms out, to no avail.Callie: But that girl is using you. You can see that. Right? Or are you actually just like every other guy the second a girl shows him the slightest bit of attention?
Frank: (scoffs) That's actually not what's happening, but if you want to take it out on me because Chet broke up with you, then you, you go right ahead.
Callie: (glares at him for a long moment) You know, for such a smart guy, you can be pretty dumb sometimes. - No Man Should Have This Power: What George Estabrook came to believe about the Eye when thousands of people died as a result of its misuse, as shown by the tape he sent to Laura. He broke the Eye into three pieces and planned to make sure his piece was lost forever so it could never be fully reassembled. His power-hungry partners disagreed, and arranged for his death. Laura believed in this as well, which is why George chose her instead of Gloria to be his successor.
- "Not So Different" Remark:
- Stacy to Frank when attempting to persuade him to work with her, stating they have the same goal of getting revenge on the ones who killed their parents.
- This exchange between Stacy and Kanika, who lampshades that Viktor wasn't any less ruthless of a Circle leader than she and Gloria are:Stacy: [My dad said] that you're both vipers.
Kanika: And what sort of snake did he say he was? - And soon after, Frank to Stacy as well when he recognizes that, rather than her being similar to him as she's tried to claim, she actually has much more in common with the other Circle members she despises so much, directly telling her, "You're the same as everyone else." Stacy attempts to insist it's not true, but Frank isn't fooled, and she doesn't take it well.
- Papa Wolf:
- When Trudy tells Fenton that there's a man (JB) in Joe's room, he barges in and demands to know who he is. Joe tries to salvage the situation by claiming he's a friend, only for Frank to refute this and insist that JB kidnapped Joe; hearing this, Fenton promptly storms back into the room to confront JB, only to find him already gone.
- After listening to George's tape to Laura—wherein he warned her to never let Gloria get his piece or reassemble the Eye—Fenton immediately rushes over to Gloria's to get Frank away from her (though Frank refuses to leave because he's gone undercover).
- Playing Both Sides: Frank tricks Gloria into believing he's accepted her desire for him to succeed her in the Circle and will become The Dragon and help her reassemble the Eye; meanwhile, he lets Stacy think that they're a team in trying to destroy the Circle, though he's in danger of his cover being blown when he has to be in the room with both of them at once. Initially, Frank thinks Stacy's goals might genuinely align at least somewhat with his, as she herself says they do, until he realizes that she also wants the Eye for herself just like Gloria and Kanika, and ends any further pretense of them having a partnership on the spot.
- The Reveal: The person behind Rupert Khan's abduction and murder attempts was Kanika, his Evil Aunt who only hired Fenton to look for him in a Uriah Gambit to get him to leave Bridgeport, not intending for him to actually succeed.
- Sketchy Successor: Inverted; the quite-sketchy Gloria chooses straight-arrow Frank as her heir to the also-shady family legacy. Frank doesn't actually want any part of it, but plays along to gain Gloria's trust so he can eventually get the opportunity to destroy the Eye.
- Stealing from Thieves: Lampshaded by Stacy when telling Kanika how she came into possession of her piece of the Eye.Kanika: You're the one who stole it.
Stacy: No, she did. (Points to Gloria) I stole it from the thief she hired when he tried to steal mine, too. - Thicker Than Water: Frank claims to Gloria that Joe begged him not to give her the piece yet and invoked this by stating they had to agree on what to do because they're family, while Frank countered that Gloria is their family as well. It's a lie to gain her trust as part of The Infiltration, and while Joe wasn't thrilled with the idea of giving her the piece, did agree with Frank to do so for the sake of the ruse.
- Third-Act Misunderstanding: Occurs when Callie and Frank talk about Stacy kissing him. It looks to her like Frank is being taken in by Stacy more than he truly is, despite her being (from Callie's point of view) Obviously Evil; however, Frank is really trying to play nice with everyone for now until he can figure out whose goals best align with his with his and Joe's, so her words sting, and he fires back even more harshly in a Moment of Weakness (see above), only to immediately feel bad when he sees how hurt Callie is and she leaves angrily.
- The Unfavorite: A non-siblings variation. George Estabrook did love his daughter Gloria, but he recognized that she was as power-hungry as his partners and outright told her that she would never be part of the Circle, instead passing on his secrets to her daughter and his granddaughter Laura, who shared his disgust of and desire to distance themselves from the Circle. Gloria's jealousy at being passed over led to her alerting George's partners of his plan when he tried to run away with his piece of the Eye, resulting in them murdering him and Gloria succeeding him instead. This is lampshaded by Sergei noting, "We know you were not his chosen successor."
- Uriah Gambit: Fenton's whole case. Kanika told him about her nephew Rupert working together with Laura on her story, claimed he'd been kidnapped possibly by the same party who had Laura killed, and hired Fenton to find him. It turns out Kanika herself had Rupert abducted and hired Fenton just to get him out of Bridgeport so he wouldn't interfere with the Circle's schemes, and intended for both of them to die.
- Vehicular Kidnapping: The episode ends with Callie being restrained and dragged into a blue van by Stacy's goons.
- We Can Rule Together: Stacy tries to convince Frank to side with her, bring down the Circle in its current form, and rebuild it "the right way" with her as a Ruling Couple. This makes him realize she doesn't actually want to destroy the Eye, but reassemble and keep it for herself, commenting that this is just like what the other Circle leaders want to do, and when Stacy tries to protest that she's nothing like them, Frank remains completely unmoved and turns her down, and she becomes a Woman Scorned in response.
- Woman Scorned: Stacy truly is attracted to Frank and wants them to team up and become a couple to bring down the Circle and get revenge on their parents' killers. Frank soon sees that she's just as evil as the other Circle leaders and rejects her, and she responds by abducting Callie, the girl she knows he really cares for.
- You Are What You Hate: Stacy despises Gloria and Kanika, and has asked Frank several times to help her bring down the Circle of the Eye. However, Frank notices that her rhetoric about how "we'd be different" than the original founders and could "start again the right way" is similar to Gloria's, when in reality, both women want the Eye for themselves for mostly selfish reasons and to increase their own power. He calls out that, for all her talk, Stacy's just like the other Circle leaders, and she ultimately proves herself to be at least as bad, if not worse, by kidnapping Callie (not to mention what a Bad Boss Stacy is, in contrast to Gloria and Kanika by all appearances being Benevolent Bosses).
- You Have Failed Me: A retroactive example. Once the Hardys found out previously that Stacy is actually a Nabokov, Joe speculated that her running down the Tall Man wasn't really an accident. It's made clear here that this is true: Stefan and Gloria learn that the Tall Man was a known associate of Viktor's, meaning that Stacy was his female employer on the phone who tried to fire him after he kept failing to get the piece of the Eye. When the Tall Man responded by promising to take the piece to another buyer instead of her once he got it back, she warned him that this was a grave mistake, and then ran him down when he attacked the Hardys and pretended to freak out over the "accident".
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: In keeping with her Benevolent Boss tendencies, Gloria actually averts this with JB—who, by now, has tried to betray her once and failed to deliver what she hired him to steal at least twice. She could have easily had Stefan hide nearby to murder him as soon as he gave her the piece in punishment for this and so that she wouldn't have to pay him, but does nothing of the sort, holding up her end of the bargain by giving JB his money as promised once he delivers and just coolly dismissing him afterward.
