“Revenge”
ABC’s new soap thriller series “Revenge” is both exciting and likable. The Hamptons-based show has the perfect balance of trashy, upper-class drama and a deep, dark background story.
The main character and narrator of the show is Emily Thorne played by Emily VanCamp. On the surface she portrays an orphan who was willed billions of dollars. But, she has a dark side of which she plays convincing role.
Emily, whose real name is Amanda, changes her identity to seek revenge on those who ruined both her and her father’s (James Tupper) lives when she was a young girl. The most notable character, she wishes to bring down is the Hamptons queen bee Victoria Grayson (Madeleine Stowe).
Emily buys the house next door to Victoria, which also happens to be her own childhood home. Within the first two episodes Emily manages to make her way into Victoria’s elite social circle and catch the eye of Victoria’s very spoiled son Daniel (Joshua Bowman).
But, viewers found out in the first episode that Daniel is not meant to make it through the series, since the first episode begins with his murder at his and Emily’s engagement party.
However, not everyone has forgotten Amanda. Her childhood sweetheart, Jack Porter (Nick Wechsler) still has feelings for young Amanda and even goes as far as naming his boat after her.
The only person who knows her true identity is the town weirdo Nolan Ross (Gabriel Mann), who also happens to be the root of her fortune due to her father investing in Nolan’s company.
While there seems to be a lot of information to take in about the characters, the hour-long shows are actually easy to follow.
The first two episodes were filled with social scenes — lots of beautiful people and stories of adultery, murder and other shady events the people of the Hamptons partake in.
The storyline is intriguing. Each episode begins with a flash-forward of a way Emily has sought revenge on a character and then flashes back to tell the story of how it happened. The vengeance and scheming is certainly something one would not want to miss.
However, Emily is not the only character who schemes and seeks revenge on others. Victoria also seeks revenge on those who cross her. Her character is pure evil and Stowe does a flawless job making the viewer a believer in her sinister ways.
“Revenge” is “not a story of forgiveness,” and rightfully so. There’s excitement stored in what the series is going to bring this season.
“Revenge” airs at 10 p.m. on Wednesdays on ABC. – MD
“Charlie’s Angels”
The “Charlie’s Angels” remake is sexy, exciting and full of action but audiences and critics don’t really see it lasting more than the first season.
Based off of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s hit from producers Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg, the remake had people interested to see if the all new season and cast could live up to the classic show that spawned off one failed spin-off, two hit movies and set the theme and tones of several other popular shows.
The 2011 edition of the show is loaded with changes and twists to make it different while also the same as the original. This all-new season is based in Miami instead of Los Angeles, where the original storylines and the movies, took place.
One big difference to the show regards the history of the characters. Originally, the women, “angels”, were graduates of the L.A. Police Academy who were given trivial jobs instead of the dream positions they all hoped for. After quitting, they were then hired to work as private investigators by a man named Charles Townsend, whom you never see throughout the entire series, because he saw something “more” in the women. This concept was more or less continued into the movies “Charlie’s Angels” and “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle.”
The new series however, introduced the three women as past criminals who Charlie decided to give a second chance. Some of the past crimes included anything from thievery to car boosting.
The less-than-par cast for the new series already saw one angel go after being killed in the second scene of the pilot episode setting up the plot line to bring in a new character. Kate Prince (Annie Llonzeh) and Abby Sampson (Rachael Taylor) are forced to incorporate Eve French (Minka Kelly) into their little band of renegades.
Another new twist to the storyline is for the character John Bosley. In the original series and the movies, Bosley, portrayed by David Doyle, Bill Murray and the late Bernie Mac, was simply the man that connected the angels to Charlie and occasionally helped out on missions. The new role, played by Ramon Rodriguez, is a longtime hacker with a past of his own that the anonymous billionaire gave a second chance that turned into a longtime friendship.
I have always been a big fan of the show and really hope that it does well, but unless the writers and producers can find a way to draw in old and new fans of the original show and bring up ratings, I’m afraid it may not make it to a second season or even past the 12-episode hump. I thought the new plot twists really spiced up the show but I think the producers could have picked a better cast.
“Charlie’s Angels” airs on ABC at 8:00 p.m. on Thursdays. – KA
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