From our friend Theresa Wiza’s outstanding blog:
Revenge Marathon Before New Season Begins – by Theresa Wiza
If you haven’t already seen Revenge, you might want to consider getting caught up before the new season begins. Why? Because Revenge lives up to all the hype.
After reading lots of FaceBook comments about this show, I decided, since the option to watch all of the first season episodes was available on Netflix, to watch this program. It took only minutes during the first episode for me to become completely immersed in the storyline – so much so that I watched all 23 episodes over the course of a couple of weeks.
There’s something quite delicious about watching evil people get their just desserts. Yes, you can give me the old “Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord” commentary, but a lot of us fantasize about seeking revenge on people who unnecessarily hurt us or one of our family members. Though we don’t always act upon our vengeful thoughts and though we try to take the higher road, inflicting pain on those who caused us pain sometimes can’t help but enter our thoughts. So living vicariously through Emily Thorne appeases our desire to “get back” at our own abusers.
Emily Thorne (played by Emily VanCamp) is actually Amanda Clarke (played by Margarita Levieva) – stay with me here – who, as a little girl, witnessed and heard about the injustices her father endured at the hands of the Graysons. The Graysons are a powerful and influential family who live in the Hamptons. They lived next door to the Clarkes when Amanda Clarke was a little girl.
But Revenge goes deeper than just Amanda’s revenge against the Graysons. The plot and story line delve deeply into the characters of the people who make up Revenge. When Emily buys a home next door to the Graysons, she hides her true identity (Amanda Clarke) from them as she moves into her childhood home. Victoria Grayson (played by Madeleine Stowe), the family matriarch, who does not recognize the now grown Amanda, rightfully questions the sudden appearance of the girl-next-door turned future daughter-in-law when Amanda (as Emily) befriends and then steals the heart of Victoria’s son, Daniel (played by Joshua Bowman).
Very few people know that Emily is actually Amanda. Nolan Ross (played by Gabriel Mann) is one of those people. As a friend of David Clarke (Amanda’s father), Nolan feels a responsibility to take care of Amanda, because of a request made by her father. Nolan takes his job very seriously. A computer genius, Nolan hacks into homes where he can provide “Ems” with ammunition in her quest for Revenge.
Nolan also knows that the real Amanda Clarke is in love with Jack Porter (played by Nick Wechsler), a bar owner, who had been a childhood friend of Amanda’s and who took care of Amanda’s dog, Sammy, when Amanda left the Hamptons. His boat is named Amanda.
But the relationship between the real Amanda and Jack never blossoms due to fake Amanda Clarke who exchanged names with the real Amanda Clarke. And when fake Amanda, the real Emily Thorne, returns to the Hamptons after a short leave and shows up pregnant, the real Amanda decides not to pursue a relationship with Jack (who thinks pregnant Amanda is the Amanda from his childhood – remember he named his boat after her).
Further complications involve Victoria Grayson, who cheated on her husband, Conrad (played by Henry Czerny), with David Clarke (Amanda’s father) before he died. Turnabout is fair play though, right? Conrad cheated on Victoria with her best friend, Lydia (played by Amber Valletta).
The Grayson’s daughter, Charlotte (played by Christa B. Allen), falls in love with Jack’s younger brother, Declan (played by Connor Paolo), to the dismay of her mother (what wealthy high-society woman wants her high-society daughter falling in love with a bar-owner’s brother). And when Charlotte discovers that her father is actually David Clarke, making her the real Amanda’s half sister, the already fragile Grayson family falls completely apart.
For all we know, the Grayson’s maid, Ashley Davenport (played by Ashley Madekwe), might be behind some of the chaos and might expect the Graysons to clean up their own messes.
As Emily (the real Amanda) covers the furniture in her beach house and the Grayson family finds themselves battling each other in court – as they slog through the chaos that visited the Hamptoms upon the arrival of “Emily”, viewers wonder if Amanda’s personal Revenge is over. Has the real Amanda given up?
Absolutely not, and when the real Amanda’s mother surfaces (Amanda thought she was dead) this upcoming season, “the plot (as they say) thickens.” Look for the new season of Revenge to begin on Sunday, September 30 9/8C.
Once again, thank you!