Revenge Plot

Amanda Clarke (Emily VanCamp)’s happy childhood with her father David (James Tupper) was destroyed when her father was betrayed by his girlfriend (the married Victoria Grayson – played by Madeleine Stowe) Victoria, her husband Conrad (Henry Czerny), their security consultant Frank (Max Martini), Clarke’s secretary Lydia (Amber Valetta) and pretty much whoever else  he trusted. He was tried and found guilty of funding a terrorist organization whose acts resulted in the death of a plane full of passengers. Amanda was taken away from her father and it was made sure that she spent the rest of her childhood and teenage years away from her father, in correctional facilities.

As her father rotted away in prison, she grew up believing he really was guilty. However as Amanda got her freedom at 18, she was met by an eccentric rich entrepreneur named Nolan (Gabriel Mann)- who told her a few surprising facts: Her father was innocent, and he had the whole story written in his journals, along with information about everyone and everything related to the case. He had also been the only person to believe and invest in Nolan’s company, and he owned almost half of the company- and now it was all Amanda’s.

Enraged that his father had been betrayed so horrifically, she decides to use the information and money to take down everyone responsible. After that, she changes her identity to Emily Thorne, pays for a whole different past, makes the connections and moves to the Hamptons as the new rich girl. She starts dating Victoria’s son Daniel (Joshua Brown), and while a clueless Daniel is falling in love with her, she is taking her revenge.

But of course there are complications: Victoria thinks that no one is good enough for her son and starts digging deep into Emily’s past; Nolan keeps interrupting her plans by trying to bring her together with Jack (Nick Wechsler) – her childhood friend who doesn’t know that she’s Amanda but he is increasingly drawn to Emily; and her other adversaries might be more resilient than she originally thought…

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Is it any good?

Revenge is such a compelling drama with many satisfying avenging moments that I just can’t call it a soap opera. Granted, in some ways it is a modern soap opera. But the acting isn’t over the top, dialogue is fun and the characters are really gray. I personally love justified revenge stories- and having grown up in the 90s, it is a lot fun to see Madeleine Stowe in a starring role again. It is also a pleasure to see that the sheriff’s annoying son from Roswell (Nick Wechsler played Kyle in the series and pissed off people with his behavior towards our aliens in the beginning) has grown up to be a very handsome guy that you can’t help but root for. Of course the rest of the cast also rocks, especially Amber Valetta as the backstabbing bitch, Max Martini as the overly loyal security man who’ll do anything for the  Grayson’s and Gabriel Mann as Nolan who is reminding people more and more of James Spader’s younger self. Nolan’s attitude and personal agenda also bring comedic relief to the show and make it more interesting.

So yeah, I like Revenge. Would I have started watching had it not been for Madeleine Stowe? I doubt it. But I am glad I did. It is very entertaining and having seen all of the broadcasted episodes so far, I really hope they keep it up…

Strongly recommended, especially to the fans of Madeleine. ABC show Revenge is currently rated at 8.2 on IMDB.

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Fun Facts about the Cast:

* One of Madeleine Stowe’s most popular movies is the Tony Scott movie Revenge from 1990. Interestingly enough, she was both taken revenge upon and avenged in the movie. Details are in my Revenge movie review, but let’s just say that her husband Anthony Quinn lost it when he found out she was having an affair with husband’s much younger and hot friend Kevin Costner. But of course when Anthony hurt Madeleine, it was Kevin’s turn to go mad…

* Declan (Connor Paolo) who plays Jack’s younger brother played the brother of Blake Lively’s character in the drama series Gossip Girl.

 

All Posts on Madeleine Stowe

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When adultery is okay: Revenge starring Kevin Costner, Madeleine Stowe and Anthony Quinn