Revenge is a dish best served cold

One of my favorite show on television right now is Revenge. The show focuses on Emily Thorne (Emily VanCamp), who has returned to the Hamptons on a  quest for revenge against a family who destroyed her childhood.

Emily, who was born as Amanda Clarke, father was framed for treason when she was a little girl. After a lengthy trial, he was imprisoned for life, and was murdered in prison by agents of the people who framed him. Emily was separated from him after his trial and never saw him afterwards. She has now returned to the Hamptons as an adult to exact revenge on those who wronged her and her father. Her primary target is Victoria Grayson (Madeleine Stowe), matriarch of the Grayson family, who loved and betrayed her father. The show focuses on Emily's plot to destroy every individual who played a role in her father's imprisonment. Along the way, she discovers various facts about her father's past which change her plans many times. As the series progresses, Emily brings in other individuals as allies for her plan.

Though Emily's allies seem to come and go very quickly through the series, the one true friend that always stands by her is Nolan Ross (Gabriel Mann). This is by far my favorite relationship in the show. Nolan is the perfect, comic balance to Emily's more intense and emotional personality. You learn throughout the series that Nolan has always been there for her, even when she didn't know it. He always goes through with her sometimes ridiculous plots, and even when she pushes him away, he aways comes back. This relationship shows true loyalty in that show that centers mostly around deception and revenge.

Composition

Like I said in my last post, I have always been somewhat fascinated by sound design, but the actual composing process and the music design in movies blows me away. My parents could recall me as a child humming the theme song for Indian Jones which was composed by the brilliant John Williams. But as I got older and my musicianship got better, I became more and more intrigued by the composition of music in film and television. 

I recently started a show called Revenge on ABC. The show is about a little girl whose father was framed for a murder he didn't do. When the girl (Emily) grows up, Emily pursues to free her father and serve justice for his fraud. But I wasnt captured by the story, or the acting, I was captivated by the music. The show is composed by Fil Eisler. Fil is a Czech born, raised composer and multi instrumentalist. He has done movies such as My Best Friends Girl, and Redline, but he is most known for the music in the television show Revenge. In his early career Fil was actually hired by Robie Williams who was an ex boy band singer who decided to start a new band with real instruments. Fil was hired as his guitarist. In an interview I watched with Fil, he said that it was the energy that the musicians brought into the studio set the bar for how good music in a television show could be.

Ive noticed while watching the show, the melodic tone really sets the emotion of the entire scene, and this show always has a particular creepy, and haunting soundtrack. For example when one character is walking with a coat and gloves on and he turns off his phone, the music that plays is really creepy with a low cello playing. But when I watched it with no sound the scene just looked like a normal guy walking and checking his phone. It showed how vital the music composition is in a show, because it can make or break it. 

Revenge Hasn't Ever Looked So Good

I don't really know why I'm so into ABC dramas this year, but Sunday nights are turning out to be a pretty big deal for ABC. With Once Upon A Time scoring the network a highest rated drama, I think it's safe to say some network dramas are worth watching. But Once isn't the only ABC drama to be doing well. Airing Sunday nights after Once, Revenge is proving itself to be a drama of its own.

Revenge is kind of like Prison Break meets Gossip Girl. Sort of. Set in the Hamptons during the summer, it centers on a fantastically wealthy family who covered up a crime that left the main character, Emily Thorne, without her father. After blaming a terrorist attack on Emily's father when she was a child, Emily was forced to grow up in foster care, as well as a juvenile corrections facility. It is only when she reaches adulthood that she finds out the truth: her father was innocent.

After years of planning, Emily returns to the Hamptons (her real name was Amanda Clarke, she changed it to Emily Thorne to hide her true identity from her fathers employers) and sets out to get her revenge. 

The whole story is amazingly put together. It is somewhat reminiscent of Lost, however not nearly as complex, and the story is mostly told from the perspective of the main character. In flashbacks more and more of Emily's life is revealed and slowly the puzzle of vengeance is put together. 

It's an incredibly addicting show. I've almost finished the first season and its only been a week. I highly recommend it!