. . . . trying to catch up on an entire month's worth of General Hospital is a gargantuan task not to be attempted in a single weekend. That way lies madness . . . . and cirrhosis of the liver.
This weekend's mini-marathon ended abruptly when Dante got shot (AGAIN!?!) and Michael acted like a complete jackhole about it (AGAIN!?! goes without saying, right?) and I decided that keeping current on Castle, Revenge and Ringer had definitely been the right call all along.
Speaking of Revenge, is anyone else watching? Because, it is deliciously soapy and awesome. I have a hard time imagining how the payback-concept can continue throughout multiple seasons, but for right now I am thoroughly enjoying this show.
The series begins with a literal bang, as gunshots ring out. A man in a white tuxedo jacket falls to the sand dead as fireworks burst overhead, signaling the end of summer in the Hamptons and the start of Labor Day weekend. Nearby, a crowd of well-dressed society folk celebrate an engagement under an elaborate tent: ice sculptures and caterers abound.
Flashing back to the beginning of the summer five months earlier, Emily Thorne (played by Emily VanCamp from Everwood and Brothers & Sisters) is the new kid in town, renting the mansion next door to The Grayson Family which is headed by a fabulously wicked Madeline Stowe as Victoria. Using flashbacks, the viewer learns that Emily (whose real name is Amanda Clarke) spent an ideal summer in that very house when she was eight years old with her widower father, played by the winning James Tupper (he was so simple and charming in ABC's short-lived Men in Trees that I have chosen to pretend that he isn't married to nutbar Anne Heche off-screen, so I continue to enjoy him on-screen).
Sadly, that very summer fifteen? years ago was when Emily's father was arrested and wrongly imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit by Madeline Stowe's character (with whom he was having an affair) and her powerful husband, among many other co-conspirators.
Growing up a ward of the state, Emily believed her father was guilty until her release on her eighteenth birthday (many years before our story takes place) when a socially awkward computer genius who's company her father had invested in years before, delivered a box of her (now deceased) father's belongings. In this box, her father's journals told the story of his betrayal and framing by people he'd believed were his friends.
In the present time, having created a new identity for herself, Emily arrives in the Hamptons (wealthy because of her Dad's investment in the nerd's company) bent on avenging the wrongs against her father.
In episode one, Emily destroys the secretary who falsely testified against her father at his trial by revealing her extramarital affair with Victoria Grayson's husband. In episode two, Emily arranges for the hedge-fund manager who was her father's closest confidant and ultimate betrayer to lose all his client's money in a false stock-tip. In episode three, the prosecutor who condemned her father in spite of evidence proving his innocence is now running for Governor and Emily ends his political career by threatening to expose his affair and soon-to-be baby with a former staffer to the entire world. In episode four, Emily broadcasts therapy sessions of the Hampton's elite society members (including herself, to avert suspicion) thus ruining the credibility of the psychiatrist who had been bribed by Victoria to lock little Amanda away many years ago.
See what I mean about the longevity of the concept? You'd think they'll have to run out of guilty people to punish pretty soon.
In any event, complicating matters for Emily is the fact that the computer geek (Nolan Ross) has decided to summer in The Hamptons this year and he recognizes her as Amanda Clarke immediately. Although he seems eager to help her punish those who wronged the only man to ever believe in him and his company, Emily resents the intrusion and their relationship is prickly at best. Plus, he's hella creepy so I can't decide if he's really on her side or not. It bears mentioning that I am totally on her side.
Another wrinkle in Emily's plans is the presence of her childhood love Jack, who apparently still carries a torch having adopted her yellow lab Sam and named his boat "Amanda" after a girl he knew when he was 8. Is that not the sweetest thing? Swoon.
Side Note: Jack is played by Nick Wechsler who some of you may remember as Sheriff Valenti's son Kyle in Roswell, like a decade ago. Poor Kyle - - he never got the girl (not Liz, not Tess, maybe Isabel off-screen?), he was always getting tossed around both physically and emotionally, and he was always the poor schlub that got stuck being hypnotized into carrying dead bodies out to cars, yada yada. Anywho, he looks great and his chemistry with VanCamp is very spark-y. Here's hoping he finally gets the girl . . .
Alas, standing in Jack's way is Daniel Grayson (Madeline Stowe's son) who appears to be a significant piece of Emily's plan of revenge, as she set about seducing him almost immediately. Unfortunately for Daniel, he also appears to be the dead body on the beach at the beginning of the show. This is unfortunate for all of us because the boy is adorable (I mean, seriously lickable) and so far, the character seems like a fairly decent guy and not one deserving of being shot in the back.
Personally, I'm holding out hope that it's mistaken identity and Daniel's not the one who got killed (maybe his jerk-y roomate instead?). I'm also hoping the fact that Jack was standing over the body is a red herring, because it would totally suck to lose one or both of them.
Rounding out the cast of characters are Jack's little brother and Daniel's little sister who are having a burgeoning rich girl/poor boy romance, Emily's only girlfriend who is an event-planner for the Graysons, Daniel's college roommate who seems to have nefarious motives, and Grayson's head of "security" Frank (the excellent Max Martini, who gave a chilling turn as a hitman on Castle last year) and is currently giving a chilling performance as the man in charge of cleaning up "messes" for the Graysons, so he may have to worry about being type-cast as a killer pretty soon.
Revenge is on Wednesday nights at 10pm on ABC.
And in conclusion, it might be a little while before I'm completely current on General Hospital again.
I LOVE Revenge, hope Jack didn't kill Daniel. Your synopsis was great, I've been watching since the beginning and I forgot some of what happened. The only thing that's kind of funny is that the Sam the dog, who was a puppy when Amanda's father was arrested, is now around 18 and looks great. I'm glad that Jack took him in and I think he recognizes Amanda. I missed last week's episode because our DirectTV was on the fritz, so hopefully we'll get to see the show this week. Welcome back, missed your posts.
Posted by: Sandy | October 25, 2011 at 09:04 AM
I have two guilty nighttime show pleasures that I love much more than Port Charles In Ruins
Revenge...fabulous
and, it's not a soap...but I find Harry's Law an odd combination of hilarious and satisfying.
Posted by: imfunny2 | October 25, 2011 at 11:27 AM
well GH is getting juicy now with another round of Psycho Lisa on the loose (I know...AGAIN? ugh) but this may well be the last round as we have been promised a whodunnit storyline. Still unless I see an actual body dead as a doornail, I'm not holding my breath...
But it is great fun to watch nonetheless, specially since Robin is getting show her tough Scorpio side as she battles Lisa head on. And all the flashbacks of all the crap Lisa has done to Scrubs in the past really heightens the battles (and I gotta admit it was great fun seeing the one of Robin decking Lisa...never see nuff of that one hehehehehe).
In other news, the heralded return of Franco is so far one huge yawnfest. Outside of sending Joss some flowers from Hawaii, killing some random dude we will never care less about since we have no idea who he was and making stupid art that I have seen better in kindergarden classes, the whole thing so far is B-O-R-I-N-G!
Enjoying NuKate and she clicks pretty well with MB (though seeing Sonny bed another woman (again) is like having my fingernails yanked out one by one)...SubMaxie is doing ok and I am eager to see where the new promised storyline where Spinell's family is revealed goes..
Oh and I am royally pissed off at the firing of Lexi Ainsworth! And so are many of her GH cast member friends too-check out SOD's comments from Kimberly McCullough where she reveals Lexi was fired for looking too young and that GH almost pulled the same shaft on HER when she was 13! Imagine the horror if GH had recast Robin!
Anyway keep plugging and catch up on GH...just hit FF through the Franco crap and the dull as dirt over-hyped Jasam wedding where they wound up getting married in their everyday basic black clothes and eating Chinese food at the reception-how utterly dumb and dull can you get? But overall there is a lot on GH worth watching-just gotta know which parts to tune out and which ones to tune in for...
Jenny
Posted by: Jenny | October 25, 2011 at 06:36 PM