Revenge: Truth, Part Two

“I’m Amanda Clarke.”

The best season finales have to accomplish quite a bit. They need to wrap up the season’s story arcs; they need to get rid of characters that are not working; they need to structure the remaining stories and characters in such a way that we are impatient for September to see where the story is going to take us next. Revenge had more to do than most and it accomplished that feat -- in spades.

Revenge: Truth, Part One

“There are two paths to revenge. One is failure. The other will set you free at your journey’s end.”

Revenge is a show that suffered rather severely from a sophomore slump. Although I enjoyed it, it strayed too far off course, bringing in too many characters and too many stories that sunk into melodrama and ignored what had worked so well in the freshman season.

Revenge: Engagement

“Engagement can be a commitment to love or a declaration of war.”

While Emily’s initial voiceovers can be a bit much, this one was right on the nose. In this episode, the narrative structure was built around the celebration of Daniel and Emily’s betrothal, yet the underlying theme was the various declarations of war the characters are making, not only against each other but against themselves.

Revenge: Identity

“Then marry the son of a bitch, and take them down once and for all.”

It’s no secret that this show has floundered in its sophomore year. Instead of staying with what worked, Emily taking down everyone in sight and then red X-ing him or her from a photo, it has evolved into a bit of convoluted mess. Filled with conspiracies, hidden agendas, lost children and secret hackers, the story has become so unreal it can be difficult to watch without rolling one’s eyes and groaning over the convoluted machinations of its characters.

Revenge: Masquerade

"You're right, it's just a seasonal trifle. Not unlike yourself."

I've always defended Revenge when critics were quick to call it a soap opera. Sadly, I feel I can no longer denounce that claim.

Revenge: Victory

"In the art of war, if you know your enemy and you know yourself, you need not fear the approaching battles."

Well, at least this was an improvement over last week's misfire.

Revenge: Illumination

"I can handle anybody who operates in subterfuge, present company included."

I'm not sure how I felt about this one. It had some intriguing elements, but it just never really came together as an exciting, cohesive whole.

Revenge: Retribution

"How did I get so far off track?"

Indeed, Emily. Sometimes I feel like Revenge is a shadow of its former self. Season two has had some admittedly great moments here and there but as a whole, it's been a convoluted mess - annoying conspiracies, redundant double-crosses, mindless subplots and a whole lot of treading water.

Revenge: Sacrifice

"Poor girl. She chose the wrong enemy."

There was a lot riding on this one. I so wanted to love this episode as we'd been building up to it all season long but too many things pissed me off. Nevertheless, I won't deny the impact this hour will have on the rest of the show as it was a necessary step in Revenge's evolution.

Revenge: Union

"I promise I will take a wrecking ball to every bit of this pathetic life you've chosen."

Oh lord, this was astounding. In fact, it was the season's first perfect episode.

Revenge: Collusion

"Say yes and I'll buy you a house."

I take back pretty much every negative thing I said about Revenge this year. Yes, the first half of the year could have been more compelling, but Mike Kelley was obviously just rearranging the chess pieces for a season that could potentially blow last year's stunning debut out of the water.

Revenge: Sabotage

"Every plan has a fatal flaw. Sometimes it's the heart."

And thus Revenge continues its splendid course correction of an arguably uneven sophomore season. There were times when I felt the show lost its way this year, but Mike Kelley is thankfully showing us that he was merely reorganizing the chess pieces for an ever wackier year of vengeance.

Revenge: Power

"The greater the power, the greater the potential for abuse."

This morning, I read an interview with Mike Kelley, the creator of Revenge, and he promised that the second half of the show's sophomore season would return with a renewed sense of purpose. It's no secret that I wasn't impressed by the first half of the year but after watching this episode, I have to say that it looks like Kelley genuinely plans on fulfilling his promise. This was indeed an immensely satisfying hour of Revenge.

Panda's Best of 2012

2012 was an odd one. Quite a bit happened in TV land, yet not a lot at all in some ways. We saw a heap of shows really hitting the ground running and churning out some seriously great material (see Once Upon a Time, and The Vampire Diaries' third season), the birth of some promising newbies (Arrow), the death of potentially amazing ones (The Secret Circle :( ) and some shows have run themselves into the ground entirely. Some things didn’t change at all, though, like Ringer’s sucky second half and the Walking Dead’s proclivity for the disgusting and gory. I guess all this is pretty standard every calendar year in television. So, here are my thoughts on 2012, and what 2013 needs to bring.

Revenge: Revelations

"I'm not destroying lives, Amanda. I'm righting wrongs."

I had a lot of expectations going into this mid-season finale. All of my shows will be going on hiatus for a month or more now, so I really want to be blown away with twists and cliffhangers. Sadly, this wasn't the most exciting hour of Revenge.

Revenge: Lineage

"You may think I knocked you down, but you landed on your feet."

Towards the end of last season, Revenge set a whole episode in the past and I found it to be spectacular (contrary to public opinion). Eight episodes into the show's sophomore year, and we get another time-jump hour. While this episode wasn't as impressive, it had enough intriguing moments to make the trip worth it.

Revenge: Penance

"When the time comes, I say we drag them to hell with us."

Although I still groan every time somebody mentions “The Initiative”, this was another solid hour in Revenge’s reinvigorated sophomore season.

Revenge: Illusion

"You win with the steely eyes."

While this hour was not as thrilling as last week's stunner, it was still a very solid offering from a show that's slowly but surely finding its footing again after a somewhat rough start to the season.

Revenge: Forgiveness

"I needed someone, you walked through the door. Don't let it get to your head."

Finally! This was the first truly great Revenge episode of the season, and I couldn't be more pleased. I was starting to lose my passion for the show, but this hour singlehandedly proved me wrong by weaving together a splendid web of intrigue around several moving developments.

Revenge: Intuition

"When at a crossroads, my father was fond of saying 'go with your gut'... intuition always has our best interests at heart."

My faith in Revenge has finally been restored after a rocky start. I really wasn't loving the first half of this episode, but it looks like the writers finally know what they're doing.