ABC's Revenge with Madeleine Stowe and Emily VanCamp

Yes, I enjoyed this modern version of "The Count of Monte Cristo".

That 1st season was incredible, and Madeleine Stowe was so damn good as Victoria. Grayson. I was also in love with Josh Bowman, who played her son Daniel.

It's one of those series with a brilliant first season that balanced ridiculous fun and suspense, and then promptly fell flat on its face, got up and stumbled around drunk and disoriented for several more seasons.

I'm not sure I remember everything exactly right but in my memory, the characters were great at first and then (SPOILER!!!) *of course* there were dumb plots about a pretty, skinny girl with a secret twin who is a martial arts assassin trained by a Japanese guru...I mean...was all that really necessary?

But Josh Bowman was gorgeous and the flamboyant gay dude was kind of fun for a while. And Justin Hartley kissed a guy.

Agree that it was such a good show to start with, which turned to crap that I literally couldn't keep watching it and missed like the last season of it so I have no idea how it ended up. R3 Nolan (the flamboyant one) was bisexual, not gay. He dated women as well as guys.

R4 I'd care about the distinction if the writing had not been such a mess. I kind of feel like the writers probably didn't write him intentionally as bi but probably just forgot he had been written as gay. It got so sloppy and unhinged.

Emily VanCamp has starred in three of my all time favorite shows, Revenge, Brothers & Sisters and Everwood. I didn't even realize she has a show on TV right now, The Resident on Fox.

I only knew VanCamp from Brothers & Sisters, and part of the appeal of Revenge for me was seeing the actress who played that girl play out a revenger's tragedy. It was really goofy.

Loved the first season. Stuck with it for two more, but it lost its mojo in season two and never recovered

The first season was so fun...

The show plummeted downhill after that.

[Quote] Ten years ago this fall the ABC sudsy nighttime drama REVENGE began.

Jesus.....it's really been [italic] that [/italic] long??

Season 1 was sublime - camp as hell. Then, the show runner “left” and the resulting shitshow is what happened. Fun fact, creator Mike Kelley was the brains behind beloved by DL Swingtown.

The story was supposed to end, not be dragged out for X number of seasons.

One of my favorite characters was Lydia Davis...Amber Valletta looked the best she ever has and the way Victoria/Madeline tormented her was delicious.

Bringing the father back from the dead was the nail in the coffin for me.

I WILL DETROY YOU!

Always had a thing for Henry Czerny.

I always thought Emily VanCamp was batting out of her league, but they're still together so what do I know.

The problem for me was I couldn't root for Emily's character. She was so smug. Stowe and Czerny stole the first season (and Stowe in general).

Like Desperate Housewives, a great first season and then diminishing returns.

Yeah, S1 was great, and then it promptly went off the rails. Fast. Never could stand EVC. She sucks the life out of my TV.

r11, Mike Kelley was still the showrunner in Season 2 and was responsible for the shitshow it became. He "left" (got fired?) after season 2.

It reminds me of Homeland - great first season, second season ok, then became unwatchable.

I believe Kelly was noted to death by the network during the second season.

Perhaps, this should have been a one-season show. Emily brings down the Graysons in the finale.

The season one cliffhanger -- Emily's mother -- still being alive was a shock; the casting wasn't so hot...

It was revealed that there was a group more powerful than Conrad, but then later, it was revealed that Conrad was the mastermind after all.

The show's look and characters enabled ABC to get four seasons in total, but it was clear after a time that the show had gone off the rails; I recall Emily throwing all the evidence she had against the G's in the ocean -- she had BIGGER plans! WTF

One highlight after the first season was Victoria's showdown with Helen when Helen demanded some evidence that Victoria had in the pool house safe.

It's nearly every mother in law's fantasy to give their daughter in law to be a beautifully wrapped empty box because she knows her son will change his mind. That was a cool moment in season 1.

Even the way Victoria read the combination to Helen (to distract her) showed how often she was in control.

I was thrilled when Declan was killed off.

that guy was super annoying, tho, I wondered how much pain Jack could take losing his dad, Sammy, and his brother.

Declan is a Bernie-Bro.

This was Madelines show. The rest were just bit players. I also stopped watching after season 2 .

he stopped growing but he's continuing to age; there's a window that actors like that have...he was playing 17 on Revenge. He's 30 or 31 now...

I'd seen him in a Law & Order: SVU ahead of its time where he had a web cam show that made a ton of money; one of his patrons kidnapped him and tied him to a bed, raping him until Elliot came in and saved him.

Was that an episode of L&O, R26, or just a regular Saturday night for Connor?

WHET Madeleine Stowe?

I was the original Victoria in the pilot, but when the show got picked up, I was contracted to a Broadway run.

Wasn't Connor Paolo a gayhater? I remember reading he quit Gossip Girl because he couldn't stand that his character, Eric Van Der Woodsen, was a preferrer of pole.

[quote] Wasn't Connor Paolo a gayhater? I remember reading he quit Gossip Girl because he couldn't stand that his character, Eric Van Der Woodsen, was a preferrer of pole.

Just another self-loathing closet case trying to divert attention away from his sexuality.

WHET Madeleine Stowe, She had a 10 episode minor role in something called Soundtrack in 2019 and one other role in one episode of another TV series in 2016? She was the star of Revenge and almost nothing after that. What the hell.

I honestly can't remember Connor on Revenge. I only know him as Eric on Gossip Girl.

Loved this show. It definitely got bad towards the end but the first two seasons were extremely fun.

10 years ago? Fuck I'm old.

Supposedly, ABC brass messed with the show a lot after S1. The Shonda Rhimes formula was being applied liberally to every ABC show - over the top soapiness - and apparently a lot of the changes for S2 were the network.

I can't believe it's been 15 years since The Sally Field Programme. Like Revenge, I liked EvC for one season there, and then she worked my nerves.

Madeline Stowe was one of my last female crushes before I hit puberty and hopped on the gay train. I remember being mesmerized by her in Last of the Mohicans. Looking back, had I been an adult when that came out I would’ve gone nuts seeing Madeline and DDL (both at the peak of their beauty) together.

I loved this show. The last 2 seasons were shitty, but I still loved it

Emily VanCamp films the Resident in a studio across the street from my job

Brothers and Sisters was a mess throughout the show's five seasons. Remember the show introduced a long-lost Walker (love child) son named Ryan...only to drop him only a few episodes later.

Does anyone remember Red Widow? It's time slot was after Revenge.

It starred Radha Mitchell and the hunky Goran Višnjić.

Too bad it only lasted for one season. I actually liked it.

Whoops, brain fart. Trying again.

Emily VanCamp is the WORST actress!

Love season 1, pretend it's the only season. That said, Season 3 had a perfect ending and should've been THE END.

Connor was only cast, because he made tiny Nick Wechsler, who played his brother, look taller.

i loved season 1 and 2 after that it sucked. I hated Declan too.

I forgot all about this show until recently when the chick who played Madeline Stowe's daughter complained that she wasn't invited to the upcoming reunion. After making it public, the producers invited her.

I remember the outrage on DL that the dog was still alive (so it could recognize Emily).

I've never watched this. I saw it available on Netflix. Is it worth it?

It really wasn't as grand as OP makes it out to be in this thread opener. Just glossy fun for 1 season. Sheesh!

R49 watch season 1

I wish they cast someone else in the lead role. The problem is EVC is not a very strong actress. She didn't have the chops or the vulnerability to make you root for her. Stowe was so strong and brought so much to Victoria that sometimes you rooted for her simply because Victoria was a much more interesting character.

Emily doesn't seem to have trouble finding work. Don't think she's too popular with the Marvel fandom though.

I loved this show the first couple of seasons, and hung in all the way to the stupid end. Amanda and Daniel got married IRL a year or two ago.

Emily gives me strong Ivanka Trump carefully modulated speaking voice vibes.

is Gabriel Mann (Nolan) gay IRL?

[quote] is Gabriel Mann (Nolan) gay IRL?

Exhibit A.

The prosecution rests.

I had great hopes for this show but, yeah, too bad about all the subplots and revelations that were too tedious to take in. It was fabulous when it first started out. Sad when they dropped the ball. I really wish they could have saved it. Got really stupid at the end.

This Emily woman has been dating Josh Bowman for a decade now, married to him for 2 and a half years, is 35 years old and STILL childless. What ever happened to modern females? Their grandmas used to have 4 kids, their moms 2 and all they have instead is a couple miscarriages and a pup. Useless woman!

Nick Wechsler, short king

I loved the soundtrack. They always featured some great songs to fit the vibe.

I always wished they had used the Eurythmics' song Revenge at some point. It has that dark sauntering aura.

61 replies and no mention of Barry Sloane?

For being a shitty actress, EVC has certainly had a pretty good career.

I think they made a big mistake with the secret society / international conspiracy plot and turning EVC's character into some sort of Batman anti-hero (being trained by some Asian martial arts master guru who specializes on people out for revenge).

I would have been perfectly happy with a local cat & mouse feud between Emily & Victoria while Emily checks off her revenge list one by one and then realizing that none of it mattered in the end and she screwed herself over with her life remaining empty and bitter (having pushed away Jack, Aiden, and Daniel with her blind obsession with revenge).

I never watched this in the first run, I'm now early in Season 1. Madeleine Stowe is SO beautiful.

ABC must have forced her to lose weight for the series because Emily Van Camp was a fatty in Brothers And Sisters

Remember when Josh had that lol summer fling with Amy Winehouse in the Caribbean?!

I loved this for the first couple of seasons…I don’t even remember if I watched it to the end. I hated that Margarita chick who played Amanda. Hated her on The Deuce, too.

It's odd. I was actually a fan of Madeleine Stowe and I don't remember there was ever such a show as Revenge. Even though it came on directly following Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 which I always watched. Overall 2011 was a lousy year for television.