Dataloungers Please tell me all about US drama series REVENGE. Whats it all about? Is it any good?

OP, dial it back. Your disingenuous is on full blast.

??? Nonsense r1 dial back your venom and stop standing in the way of a potentially good interesting thread.

I have never watched this series, a number of friends years ago said they thought I would like it when it was aired in the UK but for whatever reason I didnt or couldnt get around to checking it out at the time. Its very fertile ground for a good discussion thread on datalounge and if you are not interested or dont like thread then thankfully taking part is not mandatory.

It was loosely based on The Count of Monte Cristo. It should have ended after the first season, but instead the ran it into the ground.

Madeline Stowe's botox budget almost bankrupted ABC.

Thanks r3 So how camp was it and did you stick with it until it was axed?

It gave Madeline Stowe a short lived resurgence. I remember her performance being one of the most praised that year, even getting her an Emmy nomination for the first season.

After season one it lost its critical praise and you didn’t hear about Stowe anymore

Just so you all know OP is always making these threads about shows he personally likes, pretending he’s never seen it etc. to get people talking about it.

He did it recently with SATC too, despite having started SATC threads before and commenting on others about that show.

Like R3 said, it was pretty good in the first season, then it just ran out of steam FAST. Became very repetitive and annoying.

r6 Wrong or an outright malicious lie and if it means much to anyone in terms of importance then they can do some detective work with the blocking button to find out if what you are saying is true.

I am fine with that because big revelation of a hint I know they will find out you are talking nonsense. Now please take your obsession elsewhere.

I seem to recall a long thread on this series in 2020 and yes OP is disingenuous.

Cheers r5 Am I right in thinking Stowe was the one who played Blackie the brothel madam in the original Twin Peaks.I would have liked to have seen more of her character and some development for it if the show hadnt of been axed in 1991 after just two seasons.

r7 What elements in the first season made it good? Thanks in advance.

R11, It's been a decade but here goes. It had a dreary and suspenseful film noir feel--a throwback to old Hollywood with glamorous women and suspenseful "who done it" storylines. I loved Madeline Stowe's rich bitch role and her husband was played by Ethan's boss in Mission Impossible (he was also the pedophile priest in The Boys of St. Vincent). But they were clearly trying to drag the story out longer than it should've...some shows should only be one season.

Tonight, OP is the UK. Last night, he had just moved to Palm Springs and was living with his parents.

It must have been a long travel day. It would only make sense that he arrived in the UK and immediately starts a thread about avtelevision show canceled years ago.

Thanks r12 Did Madeleine Stowe in this role remind you of any particular star from hollywoods old era of film noir? Was her character clearly a 'baddie' or was she more nuanced and layered? Thanks again.

I liked it even in later seasons, and it did have some impressive hunks.

Thanks for reply . r15 Any particular hunk that you would highlight as a favourite? Was there much nudity in the show?

It became less about REVENGE and more about their love lives

What act were they originally avenging r17?

Watch it just to see Madeline Stowe deliver the line “I WILL DESTROY YOU!”

When S1 first aired there was usually a DL viewing/discussion thread that week.

Here's some of the main cast, R16. However, there were more. The guy playing Aiden was a personal favorite.

R18 The protagonist Emily (tries to) avenge her fathers death. He died when she was still a child that made her an orphan. There is backstory of her learning the art of Revenge with some kind of Revenge guru. She goes back to live in her old (rich) town to enact her plan on the people that killed her father.

r19 WOW That one line is just ooozing and dripping in camp!!

Here's Barry Sloane (Aiden)

Thank you r20 that was a hot photo! All those shirtless actors starred in Revenge? Very hot!

r21 Thanks for the foundation stone to the story.Is it very much all about that one characters family ie like Dynasty and Dallas were about one main family and their entanglements or did it branch out more? Are you one of the viewers who believes it lost its magic after season one and if so would you say the change and drop off in quality was quite steep in season 2 and apparent early on in the second series? Many thanks again in advance!

r23 I like VERY MUCH!! Much appreciate the link! Post Revenge did he go on to great things in his acting showbiz career?

I enjoyed S1 a lot, but I’m easily distracted and never returned for future seasons.

R21, Season One was the best, and yes i only watched til Season Three and then i got bored with the storyline. The story revolves mostly around the Grayson family (Madeline Stowe's character) but also Emily's family too. It's a fun show until i lost interest.

r28 Do you ever get curious how it ended and how season 4 played out? Have you googled the details since?

The writers felt they had to come up with ever more crazy cliffhangers. They sank a superyacht one year.

[quote] Whats it all about?

REVENGE.

R5, Stowe was actually nominated for a Golden Globe - not an Emmy.

I've watched all four seasons on Amazon Prime; probably watched Season 1 several times. The structure in Season 1 was unparalleled. So beautifully cast, so well-written. Twists galore. Wonderful dialogue.

Even when Conrad and Victoria were at each other's throats, they'd share a wry smile; you know why they were together.

When Victoria would threaten to destroy someone, like shrink Michelle Banks, Stowe delivered that line on a different level; Victoria had destroyed the man she loved, David Clarke; so, I imagine her take was if I could destroy someone I loved, imagine what I could do to someone I hate.

It was a one-season show; it should have ended with Amanda getting her revenge in the finale.

But the show was a hit, other seasons followed, but that involved re-setting the show a few times. Amanda was always two steps ahead of everyone; it became challenging to throw her off track. I marveled at the end how many people died who were regulars in Seaosn 1. Conrad's takedown was epically masterful.

All the acting was great. Well, I take that back. I could not stand Declan. What Charlotte saw in him, I have no idea. The actor just couldn't make that little snot seem likeable. I imagine Connor was hired, in part, due to his height; it's a rule that younger brothers MUST be shorter and certainly, no taller than their big brothers and Jack, while he has a beautiful face, was not 6'2" 210 lbs.

One of my favorite non-Season1 moments was when the show re-set Victoria as the top dog. Helen, supposed head of a crime cartel, threatens Daniel; orders Victoria to open a safe.

Even when Victoria offers up the safe combination: "1...2.....6,7,3..." she's in TOTALY command.

Sorry, Helen.

A good number of the male actors were exceptionally beautiful, the casting director certainly had an eye.

Season One was incredible must-see trash. Every episode seemingly ended with Goddess Stowe looking down from her mansion balcony onto the murky sinister Southampton waters, with the moonlight shining off her ginormous botox-smoothed forehead like a lighthouse beacon. Fivehead, really.

That chair with the writing on it needed to be burned at the end of season one.

that chair was magnificent; people wanted to buy it.

in later seasons, Lydia, suggesting the room needed a 'splash of color', poured a glass of red wine on it.

later, Victoria got the chair back and blew it up.

With her mother in it.

I want to talk about Revenge, and I want to talk about it NOW!

I wish the gay TMZ like journalist had had a larger part.

I liked the show, & like most here agree that season 1 was the best. I swear, all the men on the show were super hot & sexy, even Conrad. My favorite was Josh Bowman, who Emily can Camp later married irl. Justin Hartley was on one of the later seasons, playing quasi-gay, & showed off his bod a lot.

I loved the show the first season, liked it the second, tolerated it the 3rd, and hated myself for watching the 4th.

One would think this was a Ryan Murphy production based on how quickly it jumped the shark, but it wasn't. Creator Mike Kelley basically admitted he wasn't equipped for writing long term stories.

r39 Sounds heavenly!

r32 Thank you for your detailed reply Would you describe it as super camp ?

If you were serious, OP, just look-up the dozens of threads there have been about this shitty show already.

r41 What was the jump the shark moment in your opinion?

Is there some reason you can’t just watch it yourself?

r46 Is there some reason why your full of snark? I am interested in whether or not it is worth investing in a complete boxset of the serious. Something I alluded to in my opening post and I thought Datalounge would be a good place to get enjoyable but informative feedback. But aside from that discussion of tv shows past and present is a stapke main ingredient of Datalounge.

r47 Series not serious

Here you go OP. Many spoilers within. If you're interested, waste 45mins and watch the first episode. Why do you need so much egging on?

I wouldn't have thought it was possible to purchase the first episode alone to watch r49?

I am torn between buying Riviera, The Affair, Billions or Revenge in a boxset. Revenge is the one I know the least about and I thought dataloungers with the benefit of time and hindsight as the show ended a fair few years ago would be a good port of call to fill in the details and analyze the show without spoiling the storylines and thus help me to make a decision.

I would not pay anything to watch this shitshow. Billions was better. It might be streamable for free, too.

It's streaming on Hulu. Or you can buy one episode for $3 on iTunes. You can get Hulu with ads for $6 a month and cancel at the end of it the month. Or, hell, sign up for Hulu, watch a few episodes and cancel before the trial period expires.

r51 r52 Many thanks 🙂👍

You have spent way more time asking these detail questions and follow-up. His watch it or don’t.

r54 Stop being so pompous and controlling of what other people post. That kind of behaviour is helping kill forums all over the Internet. People complain if royal threads are started, people complain if other kind of threads are posted, people complain if new threads on previously discussed topics are posted, people complain if old threads are bumped, people complain if there is a thread on a subject they ain't interested in , people complain then if the forum is too quiet.

All of this is often done by people who rarely start threads themselves but complain that a lot of other threads are boring, shouldn't exist etc. The narrowing down of what is acceptable for discussion to their own preferences whilst simultaneously not often making the effort to post threads themselves is contradictory and self defeating and definitely not a recipe to help a forum thrive and stay afloat. This thread exists , if you want it to disappear because you think its pointless or boring or whatever then not posting on it will assist things in your direction Some of you are so joyless and squeezing all the fun out of discussions on here instead of scrolling past or starting your own threads that you think will be better. If people heeded everything that habitual complainers on here said about threads on here being pointless or not being started etc then this forum would be so quiet it wouldn't be worthwhile the sites owners keeping it going. Think on folks and learn to ignore , step up with your contribution or live and let live.

R45, it was the season 1 finale. This should've been an anthology series. Emily should've taken her red sharpie to the photo at the end of every episode and when the last one was crossed out, it should've been over and a new story started. I don't care if season 2 DID have Barry Sloane. It just got ridiculous. SPOILERS: Her mother, whom she thought was dead was alive. And then her father whom she thought was dead was alive.

r56 Thanks . Those spoilers which I should have been disciplined enough not to read but wasnt !! do sound very much stretching the realms of even semi credibility! I do think I am more likely to enjoy it as campfest taken with a pinch of salt rather than with any high degree of seriousness. The original Twin Peaks for instance I knew from the off was leftfield and I didnt take the context as believable but did take the writing or rather treat /regard the story ,plots etc seriously. In other words a bit like the attitude you would take to well written science fiction series. Whereas Revenge sounds like I just need to take the whole journey as a ride to enjoy and not take seriously in any regard .

i am still drawn towards Revenge and buying a boxset of it but with a different perspective or mindset than I had originally .I am also rather drwn to buying a complete boxset serious of The Affair which is a very different prospect to Revenge!!

At least The Affair holds up until the end.

r58 Yes I have mainly only heard very god things about The Affair and it does look like a very nuanced multi layered look at human relationships so it is definitely up my street but appeals to a very different part of my psyche and will give me a very different kind of kick than watching Revenge will.

Billions is a far better show, but doesn't have the eye candy. Cum se cum sa.

r60 Better than The Affair?

Loved it at first. Season 1 was amazing and I got my best friend hooked. The third ep or so when she fucked over the therapist was gold. Madeline Stowe’s show son was hot.

Then I think I stopped watching in Season 3? I never finished it and my friend was pissed.

It got wayyyyy too twisty for its own good. The 10-head assistant friend chick in particular was such garbage writing to give her something to do beyond Season 1.

You're much better off, Surviving Angel, reading the original source material, [italic]The Count of Monte Cristo[/italic], by Alexandre Dumas.

All OP had to do was either WATCH IT (which he has, he’s asking to get replies) or use GOOGLE.

R1 needs to chill the fuck out.

I liked the dude that owned the bar (if I recall). He was super hot but also super short.

r63 Gosh that is certainly not a ringing endorsement of the show!!

r66 Would you say he was the hottest actor in the show?

R68 STOP ALREADY.

r62 Yes twists are a tool that should be used wisely in storytelling whether in television, film or literature etc .Overuse them and they kind of render the story meaningless or at least diluted and less impactful.

r69 Stop being so dramatic for gods sake and more to the point get lost trying to police what other people post.

R71 THE POST IS ALL BULLSHIT. You aren’t being sincere in the slightest.

Based on DL lore, it started great in the first season, declined the second, then utterly failed with only a few shining moments.

It does have some good homo action, so there's that.

r73 Where the homo scenes more implied or quite visually erotic? Was there any kind of backlash when the gay scenes aired into the US?

Ah, despite dying on the show she still ended up with him IRL and they’re happy, happy I tell you! She really got the puck of the litter. That is the sweetest revenge!

First Dave Annabelle and now Josh Bowman... What's this homely chick's secret to seducing her co-workers??

She's not homely. At all.

r75 Lucky lucky lady!

OP, just binge it on Hulu.

If you live in America, of course.

Great first season, second season went way off course, but rebounded somewhat.

Last few seasons are ok/good.

Thanks for replying r79 . I have decided I will buy a complete boxset of revenge pretty soon but I will buy a complete boxset of The Affair first. It looks much more serious than revenge but also rather sexy. Revenge will be a guilty pleasure or indulgence after the more meaty and worthy The Affair! 🙂👍