let's talk revenge

It has been a long, long time since I have been enamoured with a tv show. I loved Buffy and I loved Angel (only after it went off the air though). I loved Due South. But there hasn't been a show I have been excited to watch every week for what feels like forever.

Revenge is filling that void. (Also see: Pan Am) There is something about this show that makes me giddy. I can't wait for Thursdays to arrive because I know there will be a new episode of Revenge for me to watch on CityTV!

The best thing about this show is how much you need to suspend your disbelief and just go with it.

Take for example, Sammy, the Magic Labrador. In the flashbacks, Emily/Amanda is what, 8 years old? For her 8th or 9th birthday she gets Sammy, a loveable puppy for a gift! And it's said that she's been away for 17 years (I thought I heard 18 in one episode). Yet, Sammy is still alive and well and very spry for a 17-28 year old Lab! I know that it's possible for some dogs to live longer lives, but I think this is pushing it a little bit. This dog runs and jumps and although he has some white around his snout, he doesn't look anywhere close to 13 years old, let alone almost 20!  Sammy The Magic Lab, I call him.

There's also the fact that Emily/Amanda seems to be everywhere at once. I'm guessing that each scene is supposed to have some time passage between them, but it doesn't particularly seem like there's all that much, and yet, Emily/Amanda gets around. She kidnaps people, hides them in sneaky places that you'd think would be difficult to get to. She can hack computers, break into high security offices all within the blink of an eye. She's like a comic book superhero! (Or, villan?)

Emily/Amanda (Emilanda?) also keeps all of this highly implicating information on her laptop and in a box - both of which are always in plain sight on her table or desk. WHAT IF SOMEONE BREAKS IN AND LOOKS FOR IT? They'd be all like "Oh, well, THAT was easy!" I guess it's possible that Emilanda hides the box (that doesn't lock) somewhere when she's not in the house, but still. That Victoria Grayson is one suspicious lady and I am shocked that she hasn't had her Frank (security dude) break in and search Emilanda's house yet! She's already had her followed!

There's something about Emilanda that I love and hate at the same time. She's so calm and calculated all the time and just once, I'd like to see her emote. But still, she's an interesting character to watch.

Nolan Ryan - now there's a fun character! I don't know what his deal is, but I don't trust him. I do LOVE how oddball and unique he is. There's got to be something in it for him when he helps out Emilanda with her schemes. She won't let him in (I don't know why, so this will hopefully be divulged in a future flashback) but yet, he still helps her.

Daniel Grayson - I actually really like this character, which is sad because if the way the pilot episode started is the real deal, he's not going to be around after this season. The actor is a complete hottie though and when he smiles, I just get weak in the knees. So what if his parents are evil, it's no reason to take it out on Hottie McHottypants.

Jack Porter - well, I like him only because he still has Sammy The Magic Lab. I guess he inherited him after Emilanda was stolen away by a SWAT team and her father sent to prison. Otherwise, I find him one of the least developed characters and sort of dull. Declan, his younger brother, is annoying and I can't stand him.

Victoria Grayson - Madeline Stowe needs to find some extra facial expressions. As much as I like Victoria as the evil arch nemesis, I feel like both her face and voice need to fluctuate a little more. Like Emilanda, she needs more emption. There's only so much cool and calculating I can take from a person before they seem uninteresting.

I am waiting for Emilanda to mess up, too. Each episode has been just a little TOO perfect. How is it that Emilanda is able to take down each of the people responsible for the downfall of her family so smoothly? (I might have to add Emilanda into my spell check dictionary, because it really doesn't approve of my use of the name!) I see that this week's episode might have found a crack in the perfection with the arrival and deviousness of Daniel's Harvard buddy (whose name I can't think of for the life of me. He reminds me of Reggie from the Archie comics. Ugh). For some reason that I can't figure out (jealousy?) he is sabotaging the Emilanda and Daniel relationship. Of course, as the pilot episode shows, there's a pending engagement between the two, so obviously something works out. But what are Reggie's motives? I need to know more!

(Side note - Daniel is totally adorable when he's drunk. That smile! *swoon*)

I really hope that this show does well and isn't cancelled. It seems like a lot of people are liking it, so I have my fingers crossed.

PS - I just noticed that Television Without Pity has created an Emily/Amanda hybrid name, too! haha! They call her Emanda.)

(Unrelated PS - It has come to my attention that the fancy Google Fonts I am using for my post titles doesn't work if you use FireFox. Looks the best in Google Chrome and IE shows the proper font, but no shadow. So if you're using FF to look at my blog, then I apologize for the Comic Sans font that the post title shows. I'm using a much cooler font than that, yo!)