Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Revenge is sweeter...

I was pretty sure that I was never going to forgive ABC after they cancelled "Brothers and Sisters" one of my favorite family dramas last spring all the while allowing "Grey's Anatomy" to continue on as they recycled the same tired will-they won't-they story lines over and over again (yes I still watch it anyway...see my blog post on "The Office" for further understanding of my contradictions).  However, our relationship has totally been repaired because they have brought me one of my new favorite shows of the fall, "Revenge". 

So even though Meredith and Derek are still in turmoil over at Seattle Grace, ABC is really delivering with this new drama featuring Emily VanCamp as Amanda Clarke, a daughter back with a new identity set on avenging the unfair conviction and ultimate death of her father.  

Amanda Clarke now goes by the name Emily Thorne to avoid any suspicion from the seemingly endless group of people she is targeting for being responsible for unfairly putting her innocent father in prison.  The first episode begins with Emily's engagement party as she is set to marry the son of one of those very targets. We immediately go back to five months earlier and it seems like this season could culminate with those first few, very intense, minutes of the pilot episode. 

This show is flawless. It has it all, strong acting, strong writing, beautiful set design and a fresh take on the idea of revenge...sometimes it just might be justified.

VanCamp, who I have loved since her days on "Everwood" (check it out on Netflix if you haven't seen it) and my beloved fore mentioned "Brothers and Sisters" has a way of making you root for her, even as she ruins lives and wrecks families...now that's talent. She is the perfect balance of vulnerability and strength and watching her take down both men and women of power and wealth simply with her brains, tenacity and a little help from her pretty large inheritance, is extremely enjoyable.

Also perfectly cast is Madeleine Stowe as Victoria Grayson, the Queen of the Hampton's who was deeply involved with the situation with Amanda's father. Seeing VanCamp and Stowe in scenes together, the passive aggressiveness and tension is palpable and for some reason it really reminds me of 80's dramas like Dynasty...but in a good way. Fortunately though, I don't think we will see any swimming pool cat fights on Revenge, these women are much too smart for that. I'm loving watching them in scenes together and I can't wait to see how this progresses as Emily gets more and more involved with Victoria's family.

And, if there are any other "Gossip Girl" addicts out there (what? It's a guilty pleasure, try it, you might like it), wondering where brother Van Der Woodsen has disappeared to, he's been spotted in the Hampton's. 

Watch this show. All of the previous episodes are available now on ABC.com so there really is no excuse, well I guess unless you don't have internet...but then how would you be reading this blog? 

1 comment:

  1. I agree, Revenge is one of those rare shows that I don't want to miss and look forward to each new episode. Nice blog!

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