Amanda Clarke
By Aaron Welsh
Background: Amanda Clarke is an old friend of Emily’s from juvenile detention. When these two women first met, Emily was known as Amanda and Amanda was known as Emily. At first they hated each other, but Warden Stiles told David Clarke’s daughter that she should make friends with the troubled girl. In the warden's opinion, Amanda should make the situation work for her instead of against her. After they were both released (and friends because of the warden), Amanda accepted an offer of $500,000 dollars to switch identities with Emily.
Season One: Amanda Clarke was first introduced in episode 107. Frank Stevens, the Graysons’ right-hand man, was doing a little digging into Emily Throne's past. His investigation led him to Allenwood juvenile detention center and eventually to a strip club where Amanda Clarke was working. She had become a stripper because it had taken less than 8 years for her to blow through all the money Emily had given her. Frank told her what Emily was up to and where she could find her. What Frank didn't count on was that Amanda would still be loyal to Emily, even after all these years. Before Frank could reveal what he had learned to Victoria, Amanda killed him by hitting him over the head with a tire iron. After the murder, Amanda shocked Emily by making her way to the Hamptons.
Armed with the knowledge Emily gave her years before, Amanda was able to find a place for herself in this affluent community. Number one on Amanda’s list: Jack Porter. In the joint, Emily told Amanda about her childhood friend. He turned out be everything Amanda wanted(and more) and soon these two soon became hot and heavy. One day on Jack’s boat, Amanda revealed that she was Jack’s long lost childhood friend. The “truth” about Amanda’s past spread like wildfire throughout the community, even to Grayson Manor. Victoria was troubled that her former lover's daughter might be back. She needed proof that Amanda was who she claimed to be. Victoria invited Amanda over for afternoon tea and collected a DNA sample from a spoon she had used. She later had her lawyer compare to Charlotte’s (David Clarke’s other daughter) and he indicated that they were biological sisters. The test would have surely come up negative, but Emily was able to intervene and make sure te the test would come back in her favor. Even with this supposed “truth” out, Amanda’s presence stilled threatened to derail Emily’s plans.
Amanda resurfaces shortly before the murder on the beach. Tyler kidnapped her and stole Emily's Infinity Box. In a attempt to switch Amanda's allegiance with Emily, he showed her Emily's secrets in her Infinity Box. He would come to regret that decision because Amanda belted him in the face, snagged the ransom money, took the Infinity Box, and escaped before Tyler could do anything about it. Later, she ended up at the beach after Tyler was shot. Jack discovered her hovering over the bullet ridden body, covered in blood. Jack panicked and did what he thought was right; he protected the woman he loved. He gave her his car keys and told her to go. Amanda was on the run, but she didn't get very far at first. Jack's truck broke down. This might have been it for Amanda if not for Emily's old teacher, Takeda. He picked her up and wisked her away from the crime scene. At the very end of the first season, Amanda resurfaces CLEARLY pregnant. Is Jack going to be father?
Season Two: Amanda was settling into her role as an expectant mother. She moved in with Jack above the Stowaway, but Jack was having a hard time with this transition. Jack asked Amanda for a paternity because he wanted to ease his fears that he might not be the father. Amanda obliges, but was nervous because there was a possibility that he wasn’t the father. In character, Emily made sure the test said that Jack was the father. Emily then told Amanda that she had to change the test results to reflect this, even though it was a lie.
On the Grayson front, Charlotte revealed to a reporter that she was the daughter of David Clarke and Amanda’s sister. Victoria decided that the best course of action would be to embrace this truth and publicly welcome Amanda into the Grayson fold. Jack was uneasy with this. He was overjoyed that he was going to be a father, but was unsure of his relationship with Amanda if she was going to be a Grayson.
Even being pregnant didn't stop Amanda from helping Emily with her plans. After the whole press conference, Amanda stopped by Grayson Manor and confronted Victoria. She proposed trading David’s journals, at the behest of Emily, for information about Kara, Emily’s mother. This tense conversation was cut short by Charlotte. Victoria had to think fast and said Amanda was there because they were planning a baby shower. This negotiation was to be continued. At the baby shower Amanda again confronted Victoria, this time with hard evidence. She showed Victoria the matching signatures from a check she had signed and sign in sheets where Kara was a patient. Victoria clearly had visited Kara Clarke shortly before the hospital closed down. A loud argument ensued where Victoria revealed that Kara had tried to kill Amanda when she was a child. Amanda was shocked and was not ready when Victoria violently yanked the journals from her hands. She became unbalanced and fell to the ground from a 2nd story balcony. On the way to the hospital Amanda fell into a coma, but thankfully the baby was okay.
While on her way out of town, Kara overheard what happened to her supposed daughter and rushed to the hospital to be by her side. It was touch and go for awhile, but Amanda finally came out of her coma. Mother and daughter had a heart-to-heart and Kara came clean about everything while Emily was listening at the door. Amanda did something for Emily that she couldn’t do for herself; she told Kara that she forgave her. The two cried and hugged while Emily was nothing but tears. Emily thanked Amanda in her own way by revealing that she had lied about the paternity results, Jack really was the father of her baby. It couldn’t get much better for Amanda because not too long after this, Jack proposed to her!
Everything seemed to be going well for Amanda. She was getting everything she ever wanted, but things just couldn’t stay like that forever. Nate and Kenny Ryan were brothers who were up to no good and had managed to worm their way into owning part of the Stowaway. It turns out years before Jack’s dad was involved in the murder of their father and now they have returned and were looking for payback (Jack’s dad didn’t kill him, but helped the man afterwards). Amanda was wary of these two from the beginning, but when they caused Jack to be arrested, she had enough. At first she wanted to take the high road. With Charlotte at her side, they visited Conrad and asked him if he could help. He initially refused, but Ashley convinced him that if he got Montauk’s golden child out of jail, it would do wonders for his public image and future political aspirations. Amanda was elated when Jack returned unannounced. Conrad even went one step further and offered to buy the bar from the Ryans for $50,000. Kenny reluctantly agreed, but Nate was not happy. Retribution was something you couldn’t put a price on…at least not $50,000. With this transaction, Jack and Amanda had simply traded one vile partner for another.
Emily was truly concerned with the deal. Having Conrad as a partner could potentially be worse than being in bed with the Ryans. Emily gave the couple a no strings attached check to get them out of debt with Conrad. Jack reluctantly agreed to accept the check from Emily, but Conrad would have none of it. He had plans to turn Montauk from a backwater vacation spot for the elite to a gambling hotspot that would one day rival Atlantic City…starting with the Stowaway.
Amanda knew they needed out of the deal and Conrad wouldn’t budge without the right leverage. She broke into Emily’s house, stole her laptop, and then showed Conrad the damning conversations Emily recorded of him, Victoria, and others talking candidly about their involvement in the David Clarke conspiracy. As far as Conrad was concerned, Amanda was the one who had been meddling in their lives from the beginning and he had no choice but to accept the deal.
Amanda thought all her problems were behind her at this point. She and Jack were the sole owners of the Stowaway, she had a healthy baby boy, and she was getting married. The marriage ceremony was small and presided over by Nolan with close family and friends in attendence. It was a joyous moment for all. But that wouldn’t last for long. Jack and Amanda set sail on their honeymoon and were scheduled to check in to their hotel on Nantucket a couple of days later. Nate Ryan had other plans though. He was hiding in the cabin when they set sail and emerged with a gun the next morning. Earlier, Conrad had insinuated to Nate that if he took care of the Jack problem, the casino plans could move forward. During the unavoidable fight, Jack and Amanda made a desperate attempt to escape in an inflatable raft, but Jack was shot in the process. Amanda knew Jack had zero chance on the Amanda (since Nate was still there with a gun), so she did what she had to do to save her man. She put Jack on the lifeboat and let it drift away while she dealt with the Nate problem. Luckily for Amanda, Emily knew something was up and was already on her way to aid her friends.
After her arrival, Emily and Amanda fought desperately with Nate on the boat. During the fight, Nate fired a gun that punctured a propane tank. In the end, Nate was beaten by Emily and shot by Amanda, but if he was going to die, he was going to take as many people out with him. In his last villainous act, he took out his lighter and lit the propane tank. The boat exploded just as Emily and Amanda jumped to safety. Emily came out the fight unscathed, but Amanda wasn’t so lucky. In her last moments, Amanda asked Emily to take care of Jack and her baby. After she passed away, Emily let her slip under the waves. R.I.P. Amanda Clarke (a.k.a. the original Emily Thorne)
Actor Bio: Named one of the most beautiful New Yorkers by 2005 by New York Magazine, this actress is quickly becoming one of the hottest tickets in town. You might recognize her as Marcy from the television seriesVanished, Julie from How to Make It in America, or Reggie from The Lincoln Lawyer.
Stats:
• First appearance: Episode 107 "Charade"
• Emily worked as a stripper in summer 2011 in Bethlehem because the money Emily gave her ran out.
• Amanda was Emily’s roommate in Allenwood.
• In 2011, when Frank Stevens approaches her about exposing Emily, she feels a need to protect Emily and kills Frank. She thinks of Emily as a sister.
• Has never left the U.S.
• When Amanda is released from Allenwood, Emily is there, "just as she promised." Emily purposed to switch identities in exchange for half a million dollars
• Truly cares for Jack, left town when she learned her presence put his life in jeopardy
• Drink of choice: The Black Dahlia
• Amanda is the mother of Carl David Porter
• Amanda becomes Jack fiancé in episode 206 "Illusion"
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