DVD Review: Revenge The Complete First Season


Release Date: August 21, 2012

Rating: TV PG

Running Time: 924 minutes

Almost twenty years ago, Hamptons’ wealthiest elite destroyed a young girl’s life. Relive Emily Thorne’s (Emily VanCamp) quest for revenge and uncover every deep, dark secret. The complete first season includes exclusive bonus features including an in-world sit-down interview with the infamous Nolan Ross in “Nolan Ross: Exposed,” “Lifestyles of the Rich and Dangerous”; “Hamptons Bound: Preparing for Life at the Shore”; “Haute Hamptons: Femme Fatale Fashion”; bloopers; deleted scenes and insightful episode commentaries.

If you want to watch a show that will make you think, watch Revenge. If you want to watch a show to figure out what not to do… or the most clever way to do the wrong thing for the right reason, watch Revenge. If you want to watch a show with phenomenal acting, phenomenal visuals, and phenomenal writing, watch Revenge. Revenge has it all. The writers have thought of it all! I am telling you. There is not one flaw that I can find from this show, it is just that good. Worried that this will be like watching a soap opera? I’m here to tell you that you have absolutely nothing to worry about. There’s depth here. These are what could be real people in real situations in real pain… pain that has reached the core of their being. So much so that they cannot even function without getting revenge.

“I think it’s been established that you’re capable of anything.” – Victoria

You’re telling me to watch a show all about revenge? That doesn’t seem right. No, it’s not right because it’s not all about revenge. It’s about the journey of many on the road of revenge and all the ways that your heart can break even when it appears to be beating its strongest. These characters many times are not even aware of the damage that they are doing to themselves as they seek out revenge. Revenge happens when there’s no forgiveness amongst other things, and seeing how that plays out, wow. Just wow. The episode titles will clue you in about what you can expect each time around as can the introductory and outro voice over from Emily Thorne… how fitting for her last name to be Thorne. But trust me, you haven’t seen a villain until you’ve met Victoria Grayson. That woman has issues. What a fascinating character the writers have created here. There could seriously be a class curriculum for this show, that’s how complex these characters and these situations are. Revenge is easily the best drama that ABC has had in years so if you’re not watching already, you must pick up the DVD. Don’t say I didn’t tell you!

Special Features:

Commentary – The commentary for the “Pilot” episode is conducted by Creator, Mike Kelley and Actress, Emily Vancamp. There’s tons of insight and behind the scenes fun facts that any fan of Revenge will appreciate very much. There’s so much goodness fans will get out of this commentary and it helps that Kelley and Vancamp are genuinely having a good time, have good chemistry, and know how to keep a commentary rolling. Great work!

Nolan Ross Exposed (4 minutes) – Nolan is easily my favorite character on this show so to be able to watch a bonus scene revolved around him… this is the ultimate gift for this Revenge fan!

Roadmap to Revenge – (Approx 15 minutes) This is a fun look into the world of Revenge from the cast and crew’s perspective. It was especially great to see Mike Kelley point out the brother-sister like relationship between Emily and Nolan because even after all we see these two go through, I always wondered why Emily kept going back to Nolan… and this is the perfect way to describe why. Now what’s the biggest rule when getting revenge? What’s it like re-writing on location in between shots? What’s it like bringing all of these pieces together in one of the most complicated shows ever? Watch this feature to find out! There’s so me good stuff here.

Appearing in This Feature:

Creator, Mike Kelley

Pilot Executive Producer/Director, Phillip Noyce

Co-Executive Producer/writer, Mark B. Perry

Executive Producer, Marty Bowen

Consulting Producers/Writers Jay Beattie, Liz Tigelaar

Actors, Emily Vancamp, Ashton Holmes, Gabriel Mann, Ashley Madekwe, Henry Czerny, Madeleine Stowe, Hiroyuki Sanada, Connor Paolo, Margarita Levieva, Joshua Bowman, Christa B. Allen

Producer, Melissa Loy

Writer, Joe Fazzio, Ryan Scott

Supervising Producer/Writer, Elle Triedman

Producer/Writer, Nikki Tosacano

At Home in “The Hamptons” (Approx. 10 minutes) – Ashley Madekwe takes viewers on a tour of the sound stage 18 and 25. Sound stage! Who knew that Revenge wasn’t on location as much as we thought. Who knew? I was in for quite a shock when I saw all of these sound stages and discovered that the show shoots in Marinara Del Rey and Manhattan Beach. Why was I under the impression that the show actually shot in the Hamptons? Wow. Had me fooled. Job well done. Also appearing in this feature: Creator, Mike Kelley, Production Designer, Bruce Miller, and Cast Members, Emily Vancamp, Madeleine Stowe, Henry Czerny, Christa B. Allen, Gabriel Mann, Nick Wechsler, and Connor Paolo.

Haute Hamptons: Femme Fatale Fashion (9 minutes) – Costume Designer, Jill Ohahhenson takes fan on set as she gives us the details for creating Emily’s look and disguises as well as Victoria’s look. While Ohahhenson does a fabulous job showing us what goes into finding a consistency for these characters’ looks, I was also hoping to dive into the show’s wardrobe as a whole. Regardless, this is still a very insightful and fun feature to watch. Creator, Mike Kelley and actors, Emily Vancamp and Madeleine Stowe also appear in this feature.

Deleted Scenes – There are 38 deleted scenes on the DVD. There are two very good reasons to watch these deleted scenes. With a show as complex as this, it’s great to get as much content as possible to expand your understanding. The other reason? It’s eye-opening to see just how certain characters were prevented from being portrayed at a certain point in time in the season. It’s amazing what one scene can do for a character (mainly speaking about Victoria) or story line. Watch the deleted scenes!

* Bloopers (4 minutes)

* Music Videos – “Distance” by Christina Perri and “For You” by Angus & Julia Stone

Own Revenge The Complete First Season on DVD today.