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TFG1Mike’s TV Series Talk: Revenge Season 1

TFG1Mike’s TV Series Talk

Revenge Season 1

Prologue:

This was on ABC’s pilot season last year. I had nothing against the show, I just didn’t pay attention to it until now. In the 2011-2012 TV Season I had so much I was watching, I couldn’t add this as well. However since then Season 1 has been added to netflix, and I just finished watching all 22 episodes in the last forty eight hours. I did this marathon watch through, because of two reasons. Number one I really wanted to check the series out finally, and number two is that the 2nd season premieres 9/30/12. I wanted to be prepared, and jump on the Revenge train.

Plot:

If you watched Revenge from the beginning, then you are all set for Season 2. DO NOT TRY AND WATCH FROM THE MIDDLE OF SEASON 1!!!! This is a very fluid story, and you MUST watch from the very beginning. I am not gonna spoil what happens for you the readers, because you have to experience it for yourself!!!

I will give the general plot of the series, which is widely known. Amanda Clarke, now Emily Thorne is a wealthy socialite who returns to The Hamptons, to get Revenge on the people that had her father wrongly convicted, and then murdered.

The story is absolutely amazing!!!!! The writers throw twists and turns at you that you will never see coming.

Cast:

Here’s the cast list and their character descriptions:

Main cast

  • Emily VanCamp as Emily Thorne/Amanda Clarke.[1] Born Amanda Clarke, she returns to the Hamptons under a new identity, Emily Thorne – a wealthy socialite dedicated to charity work – to exact revenge on the people responsible for her father’s wrongful conviction for terrorism and responsible for his death. Emily is extremely intelligent and dedicated to clearing her father’s name and bringing down every person responsible for his downfall while doing so, she tries to keep her identity and scheme a secret. Emily eventually becomes romantically involved with Daniel Grayson in order to get closer to his family. She later finds out Charlotte is her half-sister and ultimately chooses to protect her from her revenge against the Graysons. Emily Alyn Lind plays young Amanda Clarke.
  • Madeleine Stowe as Victoria Grayson,[1] the powerful matriarch of the Grayson family, wife of Conrad Grayson, mother of Daniel and Charlotte. Victoria is often portrayed as coldly manipulative and emotionally distant to others. In the past, she was romantically involved with David Clarke and had an affair with him but she was eventually coerced into betraying him and helping Conrad and Frank frame him for Conrad’s crime. Despite not knowing Emily’s true identity, she never entirely trusts her and only thinks of her as another gold-digger. As Daniel and Emily’s relationship grew more serious, Victoria realized the threat of potentially losing her son, the only family member she had a healthy relationship with, to someone else. She began taking conscious steps to turn Daniel against Emily. Although she seems to love her children very much, she clearly favors Daniel and always finds a way to chastise Charlotte.
  • Gabriel Mann as Nolan Ross,[1] genius software inventor and computer hacker and Emily’s trusted ally in her plot for revenge. He was a loyal friend to David Clarke, as he had supported his business and even invested some of his own money into Nolan’s company, NolCorp, which led him towards the life of wealth and success. Emily is initially reluctant to trust him, but over time his involvement in her revenge activities deepens. While Nolan is entirely supportive of Emily’s vengeful intentions, he frequently steps in and offers advice when he believes she is taking things too far. For the most part, Nolan helps Emily whenever she asks, especially when the request includes sending anonymous emails or hacking someone’s computer/cell phone.
  • Nick Wechsler as Jack Porter, Declan Porter’s brother and legal guardian (following their father’s sudden death), Emily’s childhood friend, who becomes the boyfriend of the real Emily Thorne (turned Amanda Clarke). He takes over his father’s bar after he dies. Jack is one of the two men Emily has feelings for (the other being Daniel), and Jack holds feelings for Emily in return.[1] Nicholas Stargel plays young Jack Porter.
  • Henry Czerny as Conrad Grayson, Victoria’s husband, the father of Daniel and Charlotte. He is the current CEO of Grayson Global, as well as David Clarke’s former boss. He was involved in an affair with Victoria’s former best friend, Lydia Davis.[1] Conrad is the true man responsible for the infamous plane crash that David Clarke was convicted of funding, having worked with Frank and an unwilling Victoria to frame Clarke. Emily’s ultimate objective in infiltrating the Grayson family is to access Conrad’s files, where proof of Clarke’s innocence remains, and expose all of Conrad’s actions.
  • Josh Bowman as Daniel Grayson, the eldest son of the Grayson family. He quickly falls deeply in love with Emily, and later in the series they become engaged. Daniel is a student at Harvard, and later business partner of Conrad. Daniel was a wild party boy in college, until a drunk driving accident caused him to paralyze a young woman. In the season 1 finale he breaks off his engagement with Emily. Victoria clearly favors Daniel while she always finds a way to chastise Charlotte. After Conrad told Daniel the real story of David Clarke, Daniel chose to stand by his father and take over the company, rather than expose the truth.
  • Christa B. Allen as Charlotte Grayson,[1] the youngest sibling and only daughter of the Grayson family. She is named after David Clarke’s aunt. She is also Emily’s younger half-sister. Like Emily, Charlotte is intelligent as she defies expectations with her perfect academic record. Charlotte is unlike the rest of the Grayson clan, she has a good moral compass and lacks the rest of her family’s scheming ways. Charlotte endured a lifetime of emotional distance and subtle coldness from Victoria. Charlotte is known to have many features of David Clarke, such as his eyes and laugh. She is the only Grayson who hasn’t done anything horrible for Emily to go after, she is also the only Grayson who doesn’t know what really happened to David Clarke, her father. During the season one finale, Charlotte attempted suicide after believing she had no one to turn to after she finds out her mother’s plane had crashed, but recovering from rehabilitation by the start of season two.
  • Ashley Madekwe as Ashley Davenport,[1] Emily’s best friend and loyal, yet ambitious, employee of the Grayson family. Ashley is so ambitious that she betrayed Emily to gain the trust of Victoria Grayson, which ultimately failed. She briefly dates Tyler Barrol who was Daniel’s best friend. Initially working as Victoria’s party planner and assistant, Ashley became the Grayson family spokesperson during Daniel’s murder trial. After Daniel’s exoneration, Ashley was employed by Conrad to work at Grayson Global. She also becomes Emily and Daniel’s wedding planner.
  • Connor Paolo as Declan Porter, Jack Porter’s younger brother. He becomes romantically involved with Charlotte Grayson. During the engagement party, he and Charlotte witness a grey-hooded man on the beach, who turns out to be Jack. When the prosecution subpoenas Declan to Daniel’s trial, Charlotte tries to seduce him to tell the truth. But in the end, Declan betrays Charlotte to protect Jack, and reveals that she was on painkillers and alcohol the night of the Tyler Barrol’s murder and says there was no hooded man. In the episode “Grief”, he befriends a girl named Jaime, a new student at Collins Prep from Yonkers.

Recurring cast

  • James Tupper as David H. Clarke, Amanda’s father as well as Charlotte’s biological father who only appears in flashbacks. Clarke was a kind and generous man, a successful Grayson Global hedge fund executive and devoted father to Amanda; who was framed by Conrad, Frank and (reluctantly) Victoria, as well as other apparent friends and colleagues he trusted (through bribery or blackmail), as being responsible for funding an infamous terrorist attack – leading to his arrest and imprisonment for life on charges as a terrorist conspirator and mass-murderer. He is later mentioned to have been stabbed and killed during a prison riot by an unidentified inmate. Clarke is now remembered by most as the most hated man in America – a viewpoint Emily is determined to change and expose the truth regarding the conspiracy to frame him. Despite the fact that he never knew Charlotte, he claims when he first saw her he didn’t care about his prison sentence. He said there was something familiar about her, Victoria named Charlotte after David’s aunt.
  • Margarita Levieva as Amanda Clarke/Emily Thorne.[11] Born Emily Thorne, she was befriended by Amanda Clarke in juvenile detention and agreed to switch identities with her. She also uses the name Kara Wilkins (Emily/Amanda’s mother’s name) but reverts to the Amanda persona when seducing Jack Porter. After Emily and Daniel’s engagement party, she was driven away from the beach by Satoshi Takeda to an unknown fate. In the Season 1 finale, Amanda has returned to the Hamptons and is pregnant with Jack’s baby. Margarita Levieva is staying on Revenge for at least seven episodes.[12]
  • Amber Valletta as Lydia Davis (season 1), Victoria’s best friend and David Clarke’s former secretary. After her affair with Conrad Grayson was exposed, her relationship with Victoria deteriorates and they become more distant to each other. In the Season 1 finale, Lydia was killed in the plane explosion.[13]
  • Ashton Holmes as Tyler Barrol (season 1), Daniel’s best friend and college roommate from Harvard, who comes to the Hamptons to gain a position with Grayson Global alongside Daniel. He attempts to network with the business elite in the Hamptons. He briefly dates Ashley Davenport. He and Daniel became involved in a competition for a job at Grayson Global. Later in the season, he discovers Emily’s secret and the truth behind how the Graysons framed David Clarke. He attempts to murder Daniel so that he can frame Emily for the deed, but is killed by Satoshi Takeda.
  • Max Martini as Frank Stevens (season 1), the Graysons’ head of security, who worked alongside Conrad to frame David Clarke for funding terrorists and then coercing Victoria into backing their version of events. Frank had romantic feelings for Victoria and ultimately these, combined with his loss of Conrad’s trust, results in Conrad firing Frank. Frank ultimately uncovered Emily’s secret but was murdered before he could tell anyone, leaving Victoria with just one clue: “Emily Thorne is not who she appears to be.”
  • Jamal Duff as Big Ed, Nolan’s bodyguard whom he hired after Frank threatened him.
  • Hiroyuki Sanada as Satoshi Takeda, powerful CEO in Japan and Emily’s former mentor in her quest for revenge. Takeda’s role was recast to Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa in season 2 due to Sanada’s conflicting schedule.[14]
  • William Devane as Edward Grayson, Chairman of the Board of Grayson Global, formerly founder and original CEO of the company, Conrad’s father. He is dedicated to protecting the reputation and status of the empire and his family name.
  • CCH Pounder as Warden Sharon Stiles, Emily’s former juvenile detention warden. She is later revealed to be working with Emily.[15]
  • James McCaffrey as Ryan Huntley, Victoria’s divorce lawyer in her divorce from Conrad, who aided her in several illegal actions to undermine Conrad’s position in the settlement. Ultimately the loss of trust in each-other results in Victoria firing him. He was also David Clarke’s defense attorney. Initially appearing as a potential target for Emily, he is later revealed to actually be working with Emily, having believed the whole time Clarke was innocent.[16]
  • Merrin Dungey as Barbara Snow, Conrad’s divorce lawyer in his divorce from Victoria.
  • Derek Ray as Lee Moran (season 1), a henchman of Victoria’s whom she employs to recover Mason Treadwell’s tapes from Amanda. Victoria later employs him to stage an attack on Daniel in prison to convince Judge Hawthorne to reconsider bail.
  • Courtney B. Vance as Benjamin Brooks, a lawyer hired to defend Daniel in the Tyler Barrol murder case.
  • James Purefoy as Dominik Wright, a painter and an old lover of Victoria’s before she married Conrad. The pair rekindle their relationship during Daniel’s trial; although Conrad later blackmails him into leaving Victoria’s life again.
  • Roger Bart as Leo “Mason” Treadwell, a famous author who interviewed Emily as a young girl and was paid off by the Graysons to tell lies in his book about David Clarke. During Daniel’s trial, Mason returns to write a blog where Emily manipulates him into reporting that Amanda killed Tyler, and Charlotte’s statement of Jack being on the beach was false, leading to the end of Charlotte’s relationship with Declan.
  • Veronica Cartwright as Judge Elizabeth Hawthorne, the judge presiding over the Tyler Barrol murder case. Hawthorne denies Daniel bail until he is attacked in prison. After Lee’s “suicide”; Hawthorne drops all charges against Daniel – exonerating him.
  • Tess Harper as Carole Lyn Miller, a former secretary at Grayson Global and Nolan’s aunt. Miller investigated Grayson Global for proof that David Clarke was set up, but before they could inform him of their findings, he was killed by an unknown white-haired associate of Conrad Grayson’s. Following this, Nolan faked her death. Emily learns of Miller through a journal missing from her Infinity Box, and poses as a Homeland Security agent to speak to her about her role in David’s downfall. Miller later confronts Emily about her desire to kill the white-haired man, saying that her father would definitely not approve.
  • James Morrison as “the white-haired man”, a white-haired associate of Conrad’s responsible for the murders of David Clarke and Lee Moran. His real identity is currently unknown. Carole Miller informs her that this man visited Conrad a year to the day before Flight 197’s crash, and then on the morning of April 22, 2002, David’s death. Emily becomes determined to track down the white-haired man so that she can kill him.
  • Robbie Amell as Adam Connor,[17] Charlotte’s unfaithful boyfriend, with whom she ends her relationship because she falls for Declan. Charlotte later re-connects with Adam during Daniel’s murder trial, after breaking up with Declan, where Adam also supplies her with drugs, using his doctor father’s prescription pad.
  • Cassius Willis as Detective Robert Gunther, a police detective with the Hamptons police who investigates the kidnapping of Dr. Michelle Banks, and the murders of Frank and Tyler; the latter of which he arrests Daniel for.
  • Jennifer Jason Leigh as Kara Wilkins, Emily Thorne’s mother.[18]
  • Dilshad Vadsaria as Padma[19]
  • Michael Nardelli as Trey Chandler[20]
  • J. R. Bourne as Kenny[21]
  • Wendy Crewson as Helen[22]
  • Michael Trucco as Nate[23]

Season two of Revenge will have new characters, including Conrad’s ex-wife and children, Victoria’s mother, people from Emily’s, Amanda’s and Nolan’s pasts, and Emily’s mother.

That is one helluva cast!!!! I’m loving Emily VanCamp as Amanda/Emily. The acting in the series is very well done, and I’m really surprised where I have seen a lot of the other cast members before Revenge. Most people know the amazingly talent Madeleine Stowe, and she plays Victoria Grayson so well. I found myself after finishing the watch through looking up most of the cast. Gabriel Mann I remember as Augie from 2001’s Summer Catch.  Henry Czerny who plays Conrad was Kitridge in the first Mission Impossible film. Amber Valetta who plays Lydia Davis I remember her as Paula in The Family Man film. The point here is that nearly ever cast member I have seen and liked in other stuff. Even Emily VanCamp who has been in Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Everwood, and The Ring Two. The one thing most of this cast has tying them all together is Law & Order. Whether it be the main series, SVU, or Criminal Intent. They all seem to have appeared in episodes of that franchise. I’m loving seeing VanCamp in a main role, and the character she plays is so interesting.

Music:

The music that’s used in the series fits it so well. Hell even the score to the series is amazing. The little music and sound effects that gives revenge a twang to it, are just awesome. I can’t wait to hear what songs they’ll use in Season 2.

Where the story might go in Season 2:

I HAVE NO IDEA….. I know by what happens in the Season 1 finale that Emily’s mother will be in Season 2. After that I have no clue. I like it that way actually. TV today is so predictable, and I’m glad that this series has given a fresh look on what a TV Series can do with a great story and writers.

Final Thoughts Season 1:

WATCH SEASON 1 BEFORE EVEN STARTING SEASON 2!!!!!!! Watch it from the beginning you won’t be disappointed. You will thank me after checking the series out!!! It’s on DVD and Netflix streaming. I can’t wait until the Season 2 premiere on 9/30/12. Below is a teaser of things to come!!

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TFG1Mike

TFG1Mike is a geek with many interests. He has been podcasting for over a decade, and sees no stopping point in sight. From Transformers, He-Man, Batman, Comics, movies, video games, cartoons, and so much more, Mike has a zeal for the things he loves, and he will bring the hammer down on the things that he has a disdain for. He's generally a postive person, but negativity can creep in there. Mike is all about the innuendos and innuendon'ts too. You'll hear him on many of The GCRN podcasts!

4 Comments

    1. *bows before the master* YES You told me so. In my defense I never said I hated Revenge, just that it wasn’t on my radar last year. Plus I was sooo jaded that Playboy Club got cancelled lolHowever I am on board now, and Revenge Rocks!!!

  1. I don’t know if any of you saw last night’s premiere, but Revenge, in my opinion, is one of the strongest shows this season. I was talking about it with my coworker at DISH, and neither of us anticipated the way they were going to spin this season. I’m a huge Revenge fan, so I saved the entire first season my Hopper DVR, which has tons of recording space. I love that I had season one saved, and was able to watch it as a marathon last night before season two started. They’re really changing things around this year, and even based on the season one finale I didn’t see some of the twists coming. I can’t wait to see how Emily pursues her new direction, and what she’ll do to those in her way.

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