Revenge: Season 2

[jjj]

The best show on broadcast television and the best show airing this fall is back on Sunday! Online there are a bunch of sneak peeks including the first 5 minutes of the premiere.

We get shirtless Nolan & Jack (not together). A flashforward like the pilot with another dead body this time on Jack's purposefully sunken boat the Amanda - people are speculating it might be Conrad since with the American Initiative in the picture he's not even Emily's prime target anymore . Emily hilariously but cruelly rejecting Nolan's request to stay with her since he sold his place. Victoria supposedly dead, but I highly doubt it especially since the second episode is Resurrection. And a sweet secret sister moment when it seems that Conrad is purposefully keeping Charlotte in rehab, but before the clinic takes her away she whispers something to Emily that shocks Emily. What could it be? Perhaps...Charlotte knows what really happened the night of the season finale? Also, after the finale the creators said there was someone else in possibly deadly peril who we didn't see, but every cast member is present and accounted for besides Victoria, so I dunno what's up with that .

Thoughts while watching:
Ew I don’t like the sight of useless Queen Ashley…I guess this officially makes her the Jenny Humphrey of the show (though Jenny’s actually my favorite Gossip Girl character).
Very good use of mood music/lighting esp in the creepy flashbacks.
I like Charlotte/Emily.
Not a fan of New Takeda, and unsure if I like his sidekick.
I’m not here for the Porters. Coincidentally I find Charlotte more interesting when she’s not centered around Declan.
Lots of callbacks to the premiere, including kicking a woman off the boat.
Obviously the indestructible queen’s alive.
Conrad is far more evil of a parent than Victoria? Quite a competition.
Great ending, though it could be seen coming.

[Jali]

I liked this but it was repetitive, seems that they are looking for the same formula they used in season 1 (Somebody dies at the Amanda and his body is found under the sea, and we won't know who he is until the end of the season). Also I love how everybody in the series has a nice hair, even Jack that is always drunk or working with plumbing, lol.

[erikdean]

I liked this but it was repetitive, seems that they are looking for the same formula they used in season 1 (Somebody dies at the Amanda and his body is found under the sea, and we won't know who he is until the end of the season). Also I love how everybody in the series has a nice hair, even Jack that is always drunk or working with plumbing, lol.

LOL yeah. I think they used this first episode on a new day to introduce new viewers (which it got) so that's ok but it feel a bit eh.

Thank goodness Nolan cut his hair and started working out.

[City Lights]

Tonight!

[dyedred19]

I still think this show is largely pretty terrible, but still very watchable. The acting is mostly atrocious, which really drags things down. A lot of the editing is bizarre and scattered, too.

I just wish they would embrace the campiness of the genre and the storyline. It takes itself way too seriously sometimes.

[jjj]

Padma sucks so far. At least Tyler was generally intriguing, although he had too much screentime.
Conrad is a terrible person. I hope he is the one who showed up dead in the premiere’s first scene.
Victoria is so evil and awesome. I’m reminded of the awesome book Gone Girl , and feel so bad for Charlotte.
Daniel is so stupid. I was excited he might finally grow a backbone. Ugh. BUT unless next week's preview is misleading (which it might be), he might be reducing on the stupid.
What exactly is Emily planning with Amanda? Declan’s plotline is pretty Gossip Girl. Why are these people still on the show?
The end was kinda badass, though I was hoping it was Nolan. And so far I'm not too excited about Mrs. Clarke.

Overall, last week was better.

[Blue Zeppelin]

Padma is pretty terrible, I agree. No need for this character, completely waste of screentime and awful actress.

I love how fast this show goes though. There is so much going on and it is still episode two. Any other show would probably drag this storyline about Victoria for a number of episodes, but not here. Same with Fake Amanda's pregnancy.

Emily's mom seems very deranged, I was laughing hard during her scene with Victoria. I was expecting her to be some kind of Irina Derevko II, but no, it seems she is just completely nuts.

[jjj]

Minuses: Declan and Padma taking up screentime.

Otherwise: Victoria is a hilarious, incredibly effective BAMF and was excited to see her bombshell with the press - what's the fallout going to be, aside from Jack being a pissed off a-hole and what I guess will be this season's promised wedding event (which is not exciting as a prospect, but perhaps it'll help lead to my prediction of Conrad dying). The Graysons as a whole are so fun, effed-up, and beautiful.

Emily's machinations are also awesome, though she can be a terrible person. I feel quite bad for Amanda, but I guess the reveal is how Emily will stay close to the Graysons? Unless Amanda hates Emily now because of Jack being upset.

I think I like Aidin as a love interest? Maybe just because he gets stuff done and isn't stupid, unlike Emily's other romances.

Emily's mother must have serious issues if she's in love with the guy who killed her husband, helped frame him, and led to Emily's terrible childhood. I wonder if she'll hate Emily for causing his death.

[City Lights]

It's about time something finally happened this season. I was beginning to get bored. I was actually taken by surprise when "Amanda" flipped over the balcony and fell to the first floor! Victoria's instant reaction was amazing and hilarious.

[Blue Zeppelin]

Last episode was awesome!

Jennifer Jason Leigh is so bad in this, it's great. I can't wait to see Victoria and Mama Clarke battling. It is going to be epic.

Padma though? And Declan?

[jjj]

Intuition: So the part of the show about the Clarke & Grayson women was really great. The Graysons fight so awesomely, and though Victoria is an atrocious person, she is awesomely so. I feel terrible for Charlotte and even more so for Amily. I also think both actresses have become a much more serviceable compared to when she started on the show. Hopefully with Kara in town and Emanda seeing her collateral damage, Emanda’ll focus more on revenge in ways that don’t destroy people as a consequence of their relationship with her.

Unfortunately, the Porters continue to be annoying, and the Ashley/Daniel/Conrad thing is decent but I can’t bring myself to care too much when Ashley feels so useless and I really hope Conrad is the one to die this season.
Plus, Padma continues to be boring and she seems to have nothing to do with Emily or the Graysons. Except, based on her look, I’m guessing she had someone die in the plane crash. Just overall, the have-nots of the cast feel expendable to me and take up screen time that should be used on the main storyline. B

[City Lights]

Intuition: So the part of the show about the Clarke & Grayson women was really great. The Graysons fight so awesomely, and though Victoria is an atrocious person, she is awesomely so. I feel terrible for Charlotte and even more so for Amily. I also think both actresses have become a much more serviceable compared to when she started on the show. Hopefully with Kara in town and Emanda seeing her collateral damage, Emanda’ll focus more on revenge in ways that don’t destroy people as a consequence of their relationship with her.

Unfortunately, the Porters continue to be annoying, and the Ashley/Daniel/Conrad thing is decent but I can’t bring myself to care too much when Ashley feels so useless and I really hope Conrad is the one to die this season.
Plus, Padma continues to be boring and she seems to have nothing to do with Emily or the Graysons. Except, based on her look, I’m guessing she had someone die in the plane crash. Just overall, the have-nots of the cast feel expendable to me and take up screen time that should be used on the main storyline. B

Padma is definitely connected somehow. Remember that quick, weird look when she's clearing out the storage unit and stumbles upon a check from Emily's dad to Nolan.

[faina]

They are teasing a nasty love triangle for Nolan involving this Padma creature and his HOT ex-bf.

[Shiva The God Of Death]

Wait, who's Nolan's hot ex-boyfriend?

[jjj]

Worst episode of the series so far; full of filler that makes it seem like the writers forgot that this show used to be FUN. I could do without basically all of the scenes that lack both Emanda and Victoria (which is like half the show's screentime now). Especially the storylines that have nothing to do with Revenge and more to do with Business "Intrigue"...Nolcorp, Grayson Global, the Stowaway. Who cares? And stop making Emanda's life revolve around finding then tracking her mother (esp as Leigh is not bringing it) - this is Revenge, not...Parental Issues.

Emanda+Nolan were a fascinating duo, and Emanda/Daniel was rife with layers and chemistry; Emanda/Aiden & Nolan/Padma and Daniel/Ashley/Conrad are comparatively a screen suck. The Porters are the worst. At least last season's characters who took up too much screen time IMO were recurring thus easily killed off and more interesting since they proved to be important figures in the A-story of Revenge.

Next week looks better; hopefully like last season after the first 5 episodes the show will shift into one with more focus on the overarching central plotline.

[City Lights]

GOD. Jennifer Jason Leigh isn't even phoning it in. It's like she fell 20 stories, landed on her head, drank a bottle of vodka, then showed up on set.


I mean...it was like Cleveland Brown post retirement for every line reading.

[Trip Fontaine]

I don't like this Aiden guy. He makes the show seem even more soapy than it already is.

[Trip Fontaine]

Do we believe that a mother would not recognize her own daughter, especially when the young child remembers the mother?

[jjj]

I still care not at all for the Stowaway or NolCorp/Grayson Global storylines, but the usually useless Kara while still being played mediocrely actually made interesting things happen and brought out the fiery chemistry between Victoria and Conrad. Those 2 are kinda made for each other in a twisted, evil way. Hopefully Kara going away sticks at least for a good while though. Still not sure what her purpose was for the narrative aside from distracting Emanda from Revenge for months.

And usually useless Aiden while still being played mediocrely helped lead to some nice Emanda/Nolan moments. That “seems like old times” line makes me want them to recreate those times some more. Though…the only family he’s had? What about Aunt Carol?

I’m ready for certain other characters to be reduced to little to no screentime: extra douche-looking Daniel, Ashley, Jack, Declan, Padma, Kenny. Still, these last 2 episodes have been exciting even if I’m still not sure where the show is going. The next episode being a flashback may or may not help with that.

Oh look obvious death was obvious. A promo poster from before the season started showed the main cast standing around on a pier, with Amily's hands hanging off the railing..like she's gonna plummet to her death and no one's paying attention. Great job at a surprise, show.

At least something finally happened, but it's 2/3 of the way through the season. The most they can do is try to salvage the wreckage to prepare for a possible return to form in Season 3. Why do, like, all ABC dramas have drastic dips in quality after less than 2 full seasons?

[jb]

This season has been a disaster.

The way Fakemanda was able to so easily access Emily's box and correctly guess her password (infinity!) in the latest episode... ridiculous.