Amanda Clarke rolls into the Hamptons after years with a new identity of Emily Thorne.   She has one thing on her mind- revenge against all who had a part in framing her father David Clarke and one target is the Grayson family.   Emily/ Amanda (Emily VanCamp) has an ally in the form of Nolan Ross who wants her to forget this course of revenge, but Emily can never forget and never forgive.   One of her objects of revenge is Victoria Grayson (Madeline Stowe), the matriarch of the Grayson family, and Emily gets close to her son Daniel to allow her to get closer to the Graysons.   Revenge isn’t simple as Emily also has feelings for Jack Porter (who works at a local bar) and her growing feelings for Daniel might cause conflicts as she tries to stay on the path for revenge.

 

REVENGE is an excellent nighttime soap opera which has more opera to it.   Actress Madeline Stowe nailed it on the head that the show is very Shakespearean as you see pieces of Hamlet, Twelfth Night, and the Tempest showing through the story.   Victoria Grayson is conflicted with remaining loyal to her husband and her lingering feelings for the now dead David Clarke while Emily tries to expose the truth like Hamlet.   The Twelfth Night thread comes in the form of switched identity as the real Emily Thorne changed names and became Amanda Clarke.   The story reaches insane storytelling heights as it remains a very addictive show that always looks to top the last insane thing a precious episode did.   

 

My favorite characters have to be Emily and Victoria while the other characters just add to it.   I do agree with creator Mike Kelley that the show is more operatic than soap opera-like.   Plus the show is better than any soap opera due to the ability of the show to ditch dead weight storylines at a moment notice (Declan’s economics partner for example) and change up the story to keep it fresh.   REVENGE mixes drama and emotional storytelling with a season ender that raises the bar with an explosive ending.   I can’t wait to see what is revealed in season two.

 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Over 30 deleted scenes that include some plot points that would have took the episodes in different directions and extra character bits cut for pacing.

 

The audio commentary for the pilot is with executive producer/ creator Mike Kelley and actress Emily VanCamp spoils some stuff about episodes 15 which resolves events to the opening scenes, so skip it until you watched the discs.

 

NOLAN ROSS EXPOSED-

ROADMAP TO REVENGE- interviews with cast, the creator, writers, and the director of the pilot.

AT HOME IN THE HAMPTONS- actress Ashley Madekwe takes the viewers on a tour of the sets for the show and it reveals how they shoot many of the exteriors on a stage against green screen/ blue screen.

HAUTE HAMPTONS: FEMME FATALE FASHION- the costume designer and stars talk about the costumes for Emily and Victoria, and how they use the clothes to tell things about the characters.

 

FINAL ANALYSIS:   REVENGE is an addictive operatic TV series.   Season One had me hooked from the first episode through the season finale.  The deleted scenes and the Roadmap To Revenge are the best extras on the set.  Season 2 can’t come too soon.  I hope it is as good as the first season.

 

This DVD review is (c)8-19-2012 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com