white-haired-man-james-morrison-Revenge

As regular Remote Patrolled readers will know, I love me some Revenge!

At its best ABC’s Sunday night soap is TV’s ultimate guilty pleasure – a fabulous mix of bitching and backstabbing, twisty storylines and double crosses. And since the show’s move to the ‘Desperate Housewives’ slot, the series has seen an upsurge in its ratings, thrashing the pants of CBS’s overrated The Good Wife and cementing its position as one of TV’s biggest shows.

BUT – as much of a fan as I am of Revenge – can I sound a note of caution to the show’s producers…

For me Revenge is a soap opera. Please resist the urge to turn the series into an Alias style conspiracy saga.

Revenge is at its best when it plays like an updated version of Dynasty and Dallas – and for most of season 1 it was just that. I loved seeing Emily Thorne trying to bring down the Graysons, clashing with uber-bitch Victoria, falling for son Daniel, and plotting with her partner in crime Nolan. Along the way there were plenty of great moments – the breakdown of the Grayson’s marriage, psychopath Tyler, Lydia’s rooftop fall and the arrival of troublemaker Faux-manda. All great stuff.

Now here’s where Revenge goes wrong. Pretty much every scene with Emily’s Japanese mentor Takeda, The idea that Conrad and Victoria are part of some grand conspiracy called The Initiative. And the White Haired Man.

For me Emily should be a girl who was wronged, received some training – and some money – and then came to exact her revenge in The Hamptons. I like when Emily makes mistakes and is outwitted – it shows she’s human. I find myself turning off whenever she becomes a Kill Bill style-fighting machine. It just feels kind of ridiculous – and the training scenes reek of hokeyness.

Then there’s the overall conspiracy theory that Revenge seems to want us to believe in. Okay I don’t mind the idea that Conrad and Victoria are part of a larger scheme – but you’ve got to keep it simple. If this Initiative plotline becomes too complicated it not only alienates potential new viewers – it also overshadows the whole story, making Emily’s revenge less personal and more the case of one woman battling ‘the machine’. I’ll be honest – it also kind of feels like the writers are making it up as they go along – and that’s never a good sign!

So far season 2 of Revenge has given us a lot of conspiracy – and not enough soap. Now it needs to reverse the balance. At some point this season I think it’s important that at least one other person discovers who Emily really is – my money’s on Daniel or Charlotte. I also want to see some more storylines with the supporting cast. Ashley has great potential as a mini-bitch in the making – let’s see more of her social climbing and plotting. Let’s reignite the Emily / Daniel romance (which for me is 10 times hotter than Emily and Jack!) I want to see Emily’s mom facing off with Victoria (Jennifer Jason Leigh versus Madeline Stowe promises to be amazing!). And Nolan needs more to do than just being Emily’s sidekick (I’m sensing interesting things are on the way for his character – so hurry them along!) We already know that we’ll soon be meeting Conrad’s ex wife and kids, Victoria’s mother and a face from Nolan’s past… all good signs!

Maybe I’m worrying unnecessarily – but I’d just hate my favorite new soap to crumble under the weight of its own plotting. So keep it simple. Keep it soapy. And keep it coming…

Okay – that’s my take – but what do you think? Do you agree that Revenge should remain a pure soap – or should it add some more conspiracy theory elements along the way? What do you think of season 2 so far? And who would you like to see killed off in the weeks to come? Comment away…