Pilot Roundup Part 3: Revenge
Revenge
- Of all the bad things I can say about Revenge, the worst I can say is it doesn’t have a heart. We need to empathize with our main character, and there’s none of that here. Overall, even outside of her character, there’s no real pulse to this pilot - it feels dead already, like a network exec wouldn’t let any one part of the solidly produced episode go wild. It’s just…mediocre, like a procedural, and that’s not at all the intention.
- So our main character, Emily/Amanda, wants revenge, and that’s basically all you need to know. There’s a complicated backstory involving her childhood, but since there’s no emotional connection, it’s not a big deal. Emily VanCamp plays Emily like a robot, which is good if we know a different side of her, but since this is our introduction, it is way too stiff. Yes, it makes her ruthless, but it also makes her boring, and it permeates the entire show.
- The problem is that Emily and Amanda are essentially two characters. We don’t know Amanda, even though we need to to understand Robot Emily. We spend almost all of our time just focusing on what Robot Emily is plotting, and character work is almost nonexistent outside of some morality here and there (which we’ll get to). Emily just stares a lot, and this is a side-effect of the show’s biggest problem…
- Revenge is way, way too serious. It starts with a Confucius quote. It begins and ends with terrible voiceovers contemplating the general nature of humanity in regards to revenge. It treats itself as a philosophical treatise instead of a fun, campy pleasure, and that’s what makes the show no fun. There’s little to enjoy here, if you know what I mean.
- What this show will give, as indicated by the ridiculous poison-in-the-soup flashback, is a soapy plot with rich people doing bad things. It seems pretty good at doing that - I was slightly intrigued, and I usually don’t care for those elements. But plenty of shows do that - what makes Revenge different? I can’t come up with anything obvious.
- Because the show is so serious, even the silly plot feels dragged down. It’s impossible to take the poison scene seriously, but it’s played with such a gravitas that the show comes across as not knowing itself. If you want to stay serious, make some characters. If you want to do a toned-down Dallas, drop the seriousness. I think the show wants the former, but the mix is just…empty.
- The show does moralize a lot, and behind its empty statements in the voiceovers, I think Revenge could eventually make an interesting point. The base is there, I believe, although it’s quite flimsy. There’s a contrast between Emily’s father’s point of view, to forgive, and Emily’s, of REVENGE. I think the show’s trying to look at those two viewpoints, and how revenge will eventually drag Emily down, but I’m not sure the show is subtle enough to make any solid points (a la Breaking Bad). This is the part I’m most interested in, but it’s also the part to most likely be screwed up.
- More troubling is the structure - based on this episode (and reviews of the second) the show plans to take almost a procedural approach, crossing off a face (REVENGE!!!!!!) every episode. This would be okay, but I think it’s a little too clean, going back to how a show like this should never be boring. Tonight’s procedural elements were the most boring part of the episode, for example, and I don’t think they emphasize what makes Revenge work.
- More Victoria, please. She’s the one character that works, and although there’s not much to her yet, there’s a definite shading taking place.
- Something troubling in the show’s overall morality: it seems pretty clear that the bad people are rich, and the good people are the blue collar workers. This is a pilot after all, so it’s tough to distinguish every character, but this is a pretty easy pattern to fall in to. It seems like a type of wish-fulfillment, where the bad rich people get what’s coming to them. For a show that wants to get into morality, that’s entirely too black and white.
- Revenge seems like something fine to have in the background, but right now, it’s tough to recommend it for weekly viewing. Although I was intrigued by some of the elements, I just didn’t have fun while watching it.
Tomorrow: So much. Significant recaps for Community and Parks and Rec (and an Archer joke or two), and then pilot capsules for Person of Interest, Whitney, Prime Suspect, and Charlie’s Angels. Up All Night and other shows will have to wait.
