Revenge, A Review

Even though Revenge finished over 3 years ago, I have always been an avid binge watcher of TV and was excited to finally start this as it has been on my list for years.

Revenge follows Amanda Clarke (Emily Vancamp) who has assumed the role of socialite Emily Thorne in order to exact her revenge on the Grayson family and those involved in the David Clarke scandal. When Amanda was just a little girl her father David Clarke (James Tupper) was framed for a terrorist attack in which flight 197 was downed, killing 250+ people. The Grayson family were infact responsible for the terrorist attack and Conrad Grayson (Henry Czerny) chose to frame next door neighbour David all because he was having an affair with his wife Victoria (Madeleine Stowe). Now 20 years later Amanda/Emily has returned to the Hamptons to make the Graysons pay for what they did to her father- by inserting herself into the Grayson fold and destroying them from the inside.

With the help of her hacker best friend Nolan (Gabriel Mann), who was a close friend of her father’s, the pair work together to destroy the Graysons- now including their two children Daniel (Josh Bowman)– who Emily attempts to seduce in order to gain access to the Graysons, and Charlotte (Christa B. Allen) who is later revealed to be the product of David and Victoria’s previous affair. Emily must do all this without revealing her identity to anyone, even childhood love Jack Porter (Nick Wechsler)– who runs the local bar with brother Declan (Connor Paolo).

What I liked the most about Revenge is that niether Emily or Victoria are shown as a hero or a villian and both characters are very much morally grey- Victoria framed David for terrorism but was forced into it by Conrad and is now left mourning the man she once loved. Whereas Emily, although trying to avenge her father is by no means a good person and often goes to very questionable lengths in her plans of revenge. Both characters are incredibly strong, intriuging women, and often the scenes between Emily and Victoria are the most entertaining- even before Victoria learns the truth about Emily there is still a very clear tension.

Revenge was a very entertaining watch across its 4 season run with its intriuging and powerful characters and plotlines- I enjoyed watching Emily in her takedown of the Graysons all leading to the final showdown between Victoria and Emily and I highly recommend this modern day inspired Count of Monte Cristo story set amongst the 1% in the lavish Hamptons setting.