Revenge now has had two non revenge of the week episodes after beginning the show with five. Mainly, these two episodes have dealt with Frank and his investigation in Emily. At the end of the episode, Frank is dealt with and no specific knowledge is leaked, though Victoria will surely be more suspicious than ever.
We learn how the real Emily Thorne swapped places with the real Amanda Clarke (the Emily we've been following), and now the real Emily is at fake Emily's house. Yeah, this is going to be more than awkward. Undoubtedly, it'll be very hard to keep things under wrap, especially with Victoria poking around.
Of all the characters on Revenge, Declan is easily the most unlikable. The writers want to make it so that Declan's the only honest guy and that may be true, but being honest doesn't mean he has to be a prick. He doesn't need to that outraged, offensive tone whenever he opens his mouth. How would he like it if everyone told him the truth every time they see him that he's an idiot?
Finally, we learn explicitly what's going on with Tyler. He's gay and Nolan is as well. While Tyler believes he can quell Nolan with sex, Nolan instead tapes it, giving him plenty of future control over Tyler.
Score: 8.8/10
Showing posts with label Revenge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Revenge. Show all posts
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Review - Revenge Season 1 Episode 6 Intrigue
Thus far, Revenge has ridden on a wave of revenge plots, Emily getting back at people in satisfying ways. This week, however, the Emily revenging plot is stretched broadly and instead the episode focuses on the characters. Intriguing they are not.
The love triangle of Emily, Daniel, and Jack is bland at best, with Jack telling Emily what he feels before she turns him down. It puts some stitches into Emily's plan, as she considers what she feels versus what she's obligated to do, but there really aren't any imminent consequences. Unless Emily somehow tells Jack about her plans, I don't see how he could get too involved in the overall plot.
Then there's Nolan, hanging around Emily and Jack as usual. The problem with his character is that we only see him in relation to Emily and Jack, not as a person doing his own thing.
Most bizarre is Tyler. I no clue what he's up to, stemming from his initial lie to Daniel about Emily a few weeks back which was easily figured out. I would hazard a guess that he's gay for Daniel based on the way he straddled him, but then what was the creepy head bashing thing into another lie to Amanda? Hopefully things come together eventually, because his character is just a whole bunch of randomness right now.
The worst character is easily Declan, whose incessant whining isn't doing favors. It also doesn't help that he's a moron who's fine poaching and destroying the livelihood of other non-rich people so he can have some extra money. Tip: ultra-rich girl doesn't care about the difference between $0 and $200.
On the revenge front, Nolan sends the video to Conrad and creates the expected dissent. Frank is out, but he manages to get Amanda thinking about what role Conrad had in this. The audience knows Conrad receive the video from an anonymous source, but Amanda, based on prior experience, isn't fully trusting.
Score: 8.0/10
The love triangle of Emily, Daniel, and Jack is bland at best, with Jack telling Emily what he feels before she turns him down. It puts some stitches into Emily's plan, as she considers what she feels versus what she's obligated to do, but there really aren't any imminent consequences. Unless Emily somehow tells Jack about her plans, I don't see how he could get too involved in the overall plot.
Then there's Nolan, hanging around Emily and Jack as usual. The problem with his character is that we only see him in relation to Emily and Jack, not as a person doing his own thing.
Most bizarre is Tyler. I no clue what he's up to, stemming from his initial lie to Daniel about Emily a few weeks back which was easily figured out. I would hazard a guess that he's gay for Daniel based on the way he straddled him, but then what was the creepy head bashing thing into another lie to Amanda? Hopefully things come together eventually, because his character is just a whole bunch of randomness right now.
The worst character is easily Declan, whose incessant whining isn't doing favors. It also doesn't help that he's a moron who's fine poaching and destroying the livelihood of other non-rich people so he can have some extra money. Tip: ultra-rich girl doesn't care about the difference between $0 and $200.
On the revenge front, Nolan sends the video to Conrad and creates the expected dissent. Frank is out, but he manages to get Amanda thinking about what role Conrad had in this. The audience knows Conrad receive the video from an anonymous source, but Amanda, based on prior experience, isn't fully trusting.
Score: 8.0/10
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Review - Revenge Season 1 Episode 5 Guilt
While "Guilt" is probably the strongest Revenge so far, I have to question an evident plotting problem. The series began in future with Emily's fiance Daniel being killed, before going back to the present and beginning the story of how that got there. Already, I was wondering how well the decision to show that would turn out, as it could have been a potent twist down the line. We almost certainly knew for a fact that Daniel will die, likely in the season finale. But there was always the possibility that how the events eventually played out wouldn't be what we expected. Emily may not have been involved at all as we were led to believe.
However, "Guilt" begins with Lydia dying, much like Daniel did. We are inclined to believe that Emily planned it, because she's been the one causing trouble. In a way it sucks the energy from the later twist of Lydia discovering Emily in an old photo since we can easily reason that because Lydia dies she won't reveal the secret, and indeed that's what happens. Then, there's a twist to Lydia dying, that it was not Emily who did it but Victoria's security guy Frank. So now, if the writers want to play a trick with Daniel's death, the audience will have already seen the Lydia trick. I'm hoping they pull out something really exciting, but it seems like the writers have put themselves into a box.
But other than that, a very solid, satisfying episode with plenty of Victoria vs. Lydia action and all the attitude that comes with it. It's also the first time we've seen cracks in Emily's plan. She's not exactly a ghost, as the picture shows. Who knows where else she'll show up next.
Score: 9.1/10
However, "Guilt" begins with Lydia dying, much like Daniel did. We are inclined to believe that Emily planned it, because she's been the one causing trouble. In a way it sucks the energy from the later twist of Lydia discovering Emily in an old photo since we can easily reason that because Lydia dies she won't reveal the secret, and indeed that's what happens. Then, there's a twist to Lydia dying, that it was not Emily who did it but Victoria's security guy Frank. So now, if the writers want to play a trick with Daniel's death, the audience will have already seen the Lydia trick. I'm hoping they pull out something really exciting, but it seems like the writers have put themselves into a box.
But other than that, a very solid, satisfying episode with plenty of Victoria vs. Lydia action and all the attitude that comes with it. It's also the first time we've seen cracks in Emily's plan. She's not exactly a ghost, as the picture shows. Who knows where else she'll show up next.
Score: 9.1/10
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Review - Revenge Season 1 Episode 4 Duplicity
Each episode, Emily circles her next victim--an act that can seen in two ways: either the writers are being way too obvious when it clear who the next target already, or Emily is mentally disturbed in some way. With the emergence of Emily's therapist and flashbacks to her childhood in which she was institutionalized, I'm more inclined to believe the later. Emily is completely stonefaced when she pulls her gotchas, and then perfectly normal in public. Then, she's scheming in her home and we see how little she cares about people.
The revenging this week took more victims this week than usual, as Emily manages to nab the doctor, force Victoria and Charlotte apart, and embarrass various other Hamptonites. On top of that, the mystery of the email from last week still remains and Tyler is trying to keep Emily and Daniel apart for whatever reason. Again, there's a flashback of Victoria and David seemingly in love--predicated on the fact that Victoria just handed her security David's laptop.
Four episodes into the show and I still don't get why Jack, Declan, and even Nolan are around. I get that Jack and Declan represent the normal people and Nolan is the only other person who knows what Emily is up to, but they're always on the outskirts of the actions, never involved in the plots in a substantial way. They're isolated in their own world which, frankly, isn't that interesting.
Score: 8.7/10
The revenging this week took more victims this week than usual, as Emily manages to nab the doctor, force Victoria and Charlotte apart, and embarrass various other Hamptonites. On top of that, the mystery of the email from last week still remains and Tyler is trying to keep Emily and Daniel apart for whatever reason. Again, there's a flashback of Victoria and David seemingly in love--predicated on the fact that Victoria just handed her security David's laptop.
Four episodes into the show and I still don't get why Jack, Declan, and even Nolan are around. I get that Jack and Declan represent the normal people and Nolan is the only other person who knows what Emily is up to, but they're always on the outskirts of the actions, never involved in the plots in a substantial way. They're isolated in their own world which, frankly, isn't that interesting.
Score: 8.7/10
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Review - Revenge Season 1 Episode 3 Betrayal
"Betrayal" isn't game changing episode, but it's an interesting one in comparison to the previous episodes. Victoria Grayson has been positioned as the final boss for Emily, the last person Emily will take down. Indeed, Victoria has been the queen bee with all the power and influence to pull strings and get David tossed in prison.
This episode, however, turns that around. We see Victoria in the past actually trying to save David by talking to the prosecutor, Kingsly, and changing her testimony. Then, the episodes ends with the implication that she was the one who sent the emails, not Emily, and a flashback showing David giving her earrings which she still has in present day. In fact, Victoria is much like Emily, trying to make up for past wrongdoings. Whether Victoria was the actual person who sent the email isn't confirmed, the editing seemed to indicate that, and I like that twist a lot.
Once again, I'm not sure why Declan and Jack are in the show. There is drama, all right, but on the peripheries of the most important story, Emily's revenge. We still haven't seen why they are important to Emily or the end game.
Score: 8.9/10
This episode, however, turns that around. We see Victoria in the past actually trying to save David by talking to the prosecutor, Kingsly, and changing her testimony. Then, the episodes ends with the implication that she was the one who sent the emails, not Emily, and a flashback showing David giving her earrings which she still has in present day. In fact, Victoria is much like Emily, trying to make up for past wrongdoings. Whether Victoria was the actual person who sent the email isn't confirmed, the editing seemed to indicate that, and I like that twist a lot.
Once again, I'm not sure why Declan and Jack are in the show. There is drama, all right, but on the peripheries of the most important story, Emily's revenge. We still haven't seen why they are important to Emily or the end game.
Score: 8.9/10
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Review - Revenge Season 1 Episode 2 Trust
Following the pilot in which we learned of Emily's adversaries and her motivations, Revenge could have gone down a couple paths--serialized, where Emily concocts a massive plot to take down Victoria, or the procedural route, which Revenge is taking. Both would be unrealistic given the circumstances, but the procedural route is easier to handle, as the audience doesn't really need to watch every week to keep up and the writers don't need an overly complex web of plots.
What we see from "Trust" is an ability to blend the procedural parts--Emily taking down Bill Harmon, a very good friend of her father--and the backstory which still needs filling. The procedural parts bring new people for Emily to destroy and in turn the audience sees what this person did in Emily's past. Put in procedural terms, the somewhat dense mythology seems much simpler. Meanwhile, Emily courts the Hamptonites and endears herself to Daniel who we know is her fiance in the future and will be killed. Victoria digs up Emily's past and there are anomalies found, so this won't be an unimpeded revengefest for Emily.
I'm troubled by the random plots outside of Emily, however. The stuff with Declan, or the Porters in general, seems disconnected from Emily. Yes, Emily knows Nolan, Emily knows Jack from the past, and Nolan is hanging out with Jack, but these connections don't seem to be leading anywhere. Declan, of course, is the most useless of all, with the typical class stratification plot.
Score: 8.7/10
What we see from "Trust" is an ability to blend the procedural parts--Emily taking down Bill Harmon, a very good friend of her father--and the backstory which still needs filling. The procedural parts bring new people for Emily to destroy and in turn the audience sees what this person did in Emily's past. Put in procedural terms, the somewhat dense mythology seems much simpler. Meanwhile, Emily courts the Hamptonites and endears herself to Daniel who we know is her fiance in the future and will be killed. Victoria digs up Emily's past and there are anomalies found, so this won't be an unimpeded revengefest for Emily.
I'm troubled by the random plots outside of Emily, however. The stuff with Declan, or the Porters in general, seems disconnected from Emily. Yes, Emily knows Nolan, Emily knows Jack from the past, and Nolan is hanging out with Jack, but these connections don't seem to be leading anywhere. Declan, of course, is the most useless of all, with the typical class stratification plot.
Score: 8.7/10
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Review - Revenge Season 1 Episode 1 Pilot
To get behind Revenge, one need only to get behind the main character and hang on for the ride, however messy and wild it may get. And with the fresh-faced Emily VamCamp playing the main character (also named Emily), it shouldn't be too hard. She looks so damn innocent, but her actions are the exact opposite, creating a subversive aura around she.
The plot is laid out in a peculiar manner, starting with the death of Emily's fiance, before going 5 months into the past and later, years into the past. The pieces are set for a sprawling guilty pleasure set in the Hamptons, with pretty people abound and money thrown left and right. At the center of it is Emily, whose desire for revenge provides the force behind the show. We see all the things the terrible things these people have done in the past and Emily taking them down one at a time sure feels good.
In comparison to Ringer, Revenge feels like a godsend. We actually learn the motivations of the main character and the pilot doesn't get two caught up on the soapier elements. With the intense focus on the revenge, it doesn't get tangled up along the way and Emily's acts carry a sense of earned justice.
Score: 8.9/10
The plot is laid out in a peculiar manner, starting with the death of Emily's fiance, before going 5 months into the past and later, years into the past. The pieces are set for a sprawling guilty pleasure set in the Hamptons, with pretty people abound and money thrown left and right. At the center of it is Emily, whose desire for revenge provides the force behind the show. We see all the things the terrible things these people have done in the past and Emily taking them down one at a time sure feels good.
In comparison to Ringer, Revenge feels like a godsend. We actually learn the motivations of the main character and the pilot doesn't get two caught up on the soapier elements. With the intense focus on the revenge, it doesn't get tangled up along the way and Emily's acts carry a sense of earned justice.
Score: 8.9/10
