Overall and finale 'Revenge' thoughts
So I've never actually posted about Revenge. But in an effort to feature more in my livejournal than 99 posts about The Vampire Diaries and 1 post about ... not The Vampire Diaries, here are quick overall thoughts about the show, and the finale in particular. I've actually watched this one from the beginning and quite enjoy it for the campy,
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I'm with you on Gabriel Mann/Nolan. He is pretty much the only reason I still tune in. No, not pretty much, he actually IS the only reason. He needs a better show somewhere. Sigh.
The rest of it ... they had an interesting premise going, the sort of Monte Cristian out-and-out revenge wish fulfillment. It wasn't brilliant, but it was satisfying to watch Emily tick off those people one by one.
Then they didn't know what to do with themselves, and the show went off the rails completely. And that finale! Oy. The "shadow conspiracy" behind the conspiracy! I get that they need bigger/better target for Emily next year, but .... oy vey. And then Emily telling the guy who killed her father that she was Amanda, and then ... letting him go! With that knowledge. Seriously?
There is a lot of other ridiculousness on the show. The 100 (or so) -year-old dog that somehow manages to run 126 miles between Montauk and East Hamptons. More than once! Even while dying! lol. The supposedly devious people that spent their entire lives cunning others, falling like flies for the equivalent of "hey look! your shoes are untied!" The completely bonkers way the justice system works in this universe. The ridiculous Kill Bill-style Japanese sensei who preaches detachment to Emily yet gets his own hands dirty with murder (way to detach, dude). The complete about-face of Daniel. What happened there, dude? "I don't wanna be bad like my mommy and daddy" when the badness he knew was just arrogance and in-fighting, to "I'm exactly like daddy and proud of it!" once he learns just how heinous a human being daddy (and mommy) is?! Really?
I can go on about all the things that make no sense at all. But I think you hit on the main problems of the show (the plot is ludicrous and the execution is worse, but other shows survived and even thrived on less): most of the characters/actors. Daniel and Jack -- eek. They are so wishy-washy, so bland, so devoid of charm, I literally fall asleep when either of them is on screen. Part of it is writing. And part of it is that they just not that good.
And they aren't the only ones. Decklan is marginally better, and so is Charlotte. I can sort of get a twinge of care about them. But they aren't in there enough. And their marginal problems of addictions/tuitions/siblings-with-big-ass-problems just don't cut it. Victoria was okay. She somehow always looked like she is about to fall asleep -- it could be the eyes, they are just semi-squinty all the time. I get the "viper" emanating from her, but at some point it just stopped being effective. Conrad's okay. He works best when fighting with Victoria. As a single villain, he loses something. Ashley ... I don't like. Yeah, the "friendship" with Emily that wasn't really. I get that. I get that she is an ambitious girl, but there's ambitious and then there's Victoria Jr., which is where they seem to be going with her character. She'll end up marrying Daniel. And scheming. She is welcome to him and to everything that comes with it.
I kind of like Faux-manda. She is over-the-top, but at least her impulses feel real. Like here's this not terribly bright girl who keeps attaching herself to all the wrong people. Who thinks she's tough and can take care of herself, but is still a pawn. Except, of course, they made her a murderer, so it's kind of hard to get invested, when you just know it'll destroy her in the end.
I don't know. Normally I'd watch something like this with half of my brain turned off. But too many things bug me. :)
I will keep tuning in, though. I don't care about Emily, to be honest. I REALLY don't care about anyone else. Except Nolan. I am rooting for this guy with all I've got. :))
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Oy. This show. Is so, so, so ridiculous. It's so bad, it can actually be awesome on occasion. Often unintentionally, but still.
Hahahaha! I have a few people on my flist who watch this and they just love it, love it, love it to bits. Analyzing, seeing bigger pictures, character arcs, stuff and how it's all beautifully playing out and evolving (basically how you are about True Blood, while other people think about TB exactly the way you described Revenge. And the way I am about The Vampire Diaries, and I can't fathom anyone not seeing how awesome it is!). It so is to each their own. Totes the truth there.
For me, I don't think it's amazing, but obviously I like it enough to write about it. I think it's pretty good overall actually, not great, not anything I'd go gaga over it, but I mostly do really enjoy it, and clearly think it's a better show than you do. :nods:
I actually buy the shadow conspiracy because to believe that Victoria/Conrad -- an all-American, rich, shallow couple -- would be secretly funding a terrorist organization so powerful that they were able to bring down a plane? Is it a bit ridiculous, and it was always presented as a tiny bit nebulous, so I totally buy that there were always higher-ups pulling the strings, and that they just played Victoria and Conrad and they just stayed one-step ahead living their carefully constructed lives.
The dog, I'll give you. So should not have been that spry and all that.
The supposedly devious people that spent their entire lives cunning others, falling like flies for the equivalent of "hey look! your shoes are untied!"
Trust me, working in a police department, reading reports and what-not, OH MY GOD! THIS IS SO REAL AND NORMAL, it's frighteningly sad. Really, THIS is how so many people commit crimes. FOR REALS!
The ridiculous Kill Bill-style Japanese sensei who preaches detachment to Emily yet gets his own hands dirty with murder
I don't think you got what he was telling Emily. The problem he had with Emily is that he needed her to be detached so that she COULD kill, so that she COULD do the terrible, awful things when she had to without getting emotionally involved. Which he was right for her revenge scheme, because -- OH MY GOD! she should have killed white-haired dude! While I liked how she walked away, after everything she had told him?! Dude, so not a smart move there, Ems!
TBC
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The complete about-face of Daniel. What happened there, dude?
Someone else said that above, but it actually did work for me. Remember, prior to the show's start, Daniel WAS an asshole and it was just because of the girl's accident that he was trying to change. We were told lots of stories about what a rotten, scumsucking, womanizing, disrespectful, dirtbag Daniel was. He "tried" to change, but tried was the key word. There were a lot of subtle asshole moves he made throughout the season that I noticed it when I rewatched a lt of the first half with my sister, and then took note of when I continued watching. His flip-flopping between Victoria and Conrad, the way he would be so cruel and assy when someone displeased him, the disrespect to Jack, and even Emily in somewhat misogynisitic ways ... and he WAS best friends with Tyler. Which is pretty telling considering what kind of person Tyler was.
I kind of like Faux-manda. She is over-the-top, but at least her impulses feel real. Like here's this not terribly bright girl who keeps attaching herself to all the wrong people. Who thinks she's tough and can take care of herself, but is still a pawn. Except, of course, they made her a murderer, so it's kind of hard to get invested, when you just know it'll destroy her in the end.
Alas, we are definitely in the minority in liking Faux-manda, from what I've read. So I guess maybe we weren't intended to like her? Although, I was "okay" with the, erm, murder because it WAS in character. This is a broken girl who we were introduced to as ultra-violent and mean. We just generally see her nice because she's so attached to Emily, but girl clearly, clearly has a dark side and her attachment to Emily borders on obsession, so her killing Victoria's henchman made perfect sense. But yeah, I don't even remotely expect a happy ending here for her. :( (Which saddens me, because I actually DID really like some of her stuff with Jack, especially the stuff at the end there on his boat.)
I don't care about Emily, to be honest. I REALLY don't care about anyone else. Except Nolan.
Yeah, I definitely like this show more than you, LOL! I do care about Emily, and Jack (outside of the stupid romance with Emily), I LURVE Victoria, and I like that the familial relationships are important. I mean despite not being a big fan of Charlotte, I so felt for her when she thought her mom died on the plane, and was trying to reach Declan. I just do care about most of the characters. Oh, and of course, Nolan. SO MUCH LOVE FOR NOLAN!!!
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