Revenge Season 2

DVD Wholesale Quick Overview:

“Revenge” is back and it really does offer a lot more than what we are expecting. I just love this awesome world that ABC has created. I think this series is the ‘resurrection’ of ABC’s rise back to power.

(Big Time Warning: “There will be spoilers! You have been warned!”)

Last season we were left with the shocking discovery of Emily’s mother being alive. Not to mention the “supposed” death of Victoria Grayson. Was that a cliff-hanger or what! We return with season 2 to see Emily searching for mother and putting her revenge plans “on-hold”. I know, something we don’t want to see happen, but we do see some results due to it. To add to the list, Amanda is struggling with her relationship with Jack, especially with her being pregnant. Declan and Charlotte are back together (what a surprise). And we have Daniel, who is grieving for his mother and also “hooking” up with Ashley. Oh, yeah, and Nolan is homeless (thanks to ordeals with Tyler and the White-Haired Man in the last season). The only one who seems to be doing well is Conrad.

Now that we have that all cleared up, lets review on how this season was like. And I will try to keep my spoilers to a minimum (but no promises). 😉

Well, the season starts off not so bad. We see the return of Victoria Grayson (don’t get mad at me for spoiling that, we all knew she wasn’t dead) and also the search for Emily’s mother, which both of these storylines will leave a big impact on the season (at least in their own way). We see the development into the terrorist organization known as the “Americon Initiative”, who have been mentioned in the first season. Also, we meet a new character in this series, someone who Emily has a history with. I will also spoil that we will see pretty good development between Amanda and Charlotte in the beginning of this season. And there is more trouble for Jack and Declan, as they take on a new enemy.

Okay, I will admit that this season doesn’t exactly sound like what we were expecting from how season 1 ended. I completely agree that this season does pull away from the direction of what the first season had in mind and heads down another.

I will admit that there are tons of things that went wrong with this season. First off, the “Initiative” storyline (which is the biggest one). I saw plenty of opportunities to make that story a great mix into the world of “Revenge”. It starts off in a good way, setting up the threat of what the Initiative can do and what they plan to do. But it is the mid-section of the season that really goes down hill with that storyline. It even gets a little confusing. Secondly, the Ryan Brothers. Now this was a storyline that I really loved. I like how we got to see Jack and Declan take on their own enemies and also deal with the consequences of their father. It goes pretty well. Until they add a very familiar face to the picture. I won’t reveal who, but I think you will figure it out on your own. Thirdly, Emily’s rebirth of vengeance. Now, there is a major event that happens by the middle of this season, one that really works and really fits. I won’t reveal exactly what, but I will try to explain. This “major event” makes Emily realize that she has been concentrating on the wrong road and manages to put her back on the right path. At first, we actually think it works. But…. it doesn’t. Instead we see her waiting for the right moment, while also taking on the Initiative. And fourthly, NolCorp. I won’t spoil what happens to Nolan’s company, but I will go a little bit into it. There is a storyline that involves something happening to NolCorp and it really impacts Nolan. But we do see Nolan plan his own “revenge” (title spoiler) for what happened and it is actually a good plan. But we don’t see anything happen with this plan. Nothing happens at all.

Okay, we have went through what was wrong with the season, but now let me explain how this season still holds up and why it isn’t as bad as you think it might be.

In this season, we actually see a couple of characters, that we really like, get killed off (I promise I won’t reveal who). We see Emily go through some hard times that we didn’t get in the first season. We see her struggle as her actions have reactions on the people she cares about. And all of this actually sets-up really well for the third season. If you actually think about it, while this season may have messed a couple of things up, it actually allows a new direction to be opened up to fix all of it for the next season ahead. Now that is pretty impressive. In fact, I think this season was meant to be a showing of what happens when Emily goes off course and doesn’t concentrate on her revenge. It shows that things get out of control and people die because of it. So, in my mind, this season really does offer the one thing we never expected to see: “reactions”. We all thought that season 2 would just continue Emily’s revenge, but really it was just setting up the plot for the consequences of her actions from season 1. Heck, we even learn a dark secret about Jack and Declan’s father, one that comes back to threaten them. Even Conrad has a “really big” secret that comes back to threaten him as well. This season is about reactions, not making more actions.

So, do you think this season is as bad as you think it is? I, for one, don’t think so. Yes, it does go off course and it does head down a new direction that messes a few things up. But it does offer something that seems to fit this season. There is development in this season and it really does adds more to Emily than we know.

Even though it may not be better than season 1, it still holds up as a good season. It could be a lot worse. At least there are some elements that keep it from getting worse. Besides, season 3 gets better and it fixes everything that was done wrong in this season. I say buy it, because no matter what, season 2 still deserves to be enjoyed and watched. Just go ahead and buy it!

-Taylor J. Huston

When my wife & I started watching Revenge via our Roku player, we could hardly wait to see the next episode. We purposely watched one episode each night so we could savor everything. However, after we got into season 2, we found ourselves growing tired of all the numerous side plots that kept popping up at every turn. Finally, we decided that we couldn’t watch another episode because we found that the show had lost it’s uniqueness and had become more like a high-dollar soap opera. This was sad as the plot is very good. I feel that if this story would have been produced as a movie or better yet a mini series, that it would not have lost it’s edge to keep you glued to your TV set.

– Kimo

Students of politics should love this series. Game theorists should too. Actually even ordinary mortals will love it. Although the title is Revenge, power is at the center of every episode. Understanding that power can be defined in terms of its resources, the principle resources in this instance are information and secrecy. It is no surprise that Amanda Clarke (actually Emily Thorn) is dead and Emily Thorn (actually Amanda Clarke) is still alive, although she has come through some close scrapes. It is the secrecy that has saved Emily from the ongoing maliciousness of the Graysons. Clarke was “out” and Thorn was still in the shadows. Of course with the aid of Nolan Ross, a low key tycoon and cyber wizard, Emily (actually Amanda in the shadows) is able to have access and opportunity to observe the mischief of the Graysons on their laptop, and watch the ongoing chicanery unfold. By remaining in the shadows they are able to toy with various Grayson endeavors. The tone of the story is superficial civility masking underhanded, backstabbing and ruthlessness. Even murder is in the vocabulary of malicious action for the Conrad Grayson, but Emily is a martial arts practitioner and capable of pointing a gun and squeezing the trigger herself. Emily (actually Amanda) keeps score by recording an “X” through the faces of pictures of her targeted foes stored in a box of “keepsakes” under her living room floor as she embarrasses or inflicts damage upon her targets. I love this series for its intricacy of the game. I once had a college professor tell me that a characteristic of great art is that it lacks immediacy. This seriously meets that test. There remains much enjoyment on subsequent viewings. I have watched both seasons at least twice.

– wmrohr

DVD Wholesale Main Features:

Actors: Emily VanCamp, Madeleine Stowe, Gabriel Mann, Henry Czerny, Ashley Madekwe
Format: AC-3, Box set, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Subtitles: French, Spanish, English
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only.)
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Number of discs: 5
Studio: ABC Studios
DVD Release Date: August 20, 2013
Run Time: 924 minutes