#also when i say joe i mean s4 joe once he's figured his shit out

[therealraewest]

Small brain: cam/joe and gordon/donna

Big brain: donna/cam and joe/gordon

Galaxy brain: cam/donna/gordon/joe

[northbndtrain]

Thoughts on the Revenge sequel

For those who haven’t seen the news, ABC has put into development a Revenge sequel.

What we know for sure...

* Mike Kelley (the creator of Revenge and its showrunner for S1 and S2) and Joe Fazzio (writer and producer of Revenge) are writing the reboot script and producing the show.

* The premise is as follows, from The Hollywood Reporter: “The central character, a young Latinx immigrant, will be guided by a character from the original series. The story follows the lead as she arrives in Malibu to take down a pharmaceutical dynasty whose greed led to the murder of her biochemist mother, the destruction of her family and a global epidemic.”

* Also per The Hollywood Reporter, no actors are currently attached (though, I mean, come on...we all know which original character MK is getting to serve as her guide...more on that below...).

* Per TVInsider, Emily VanCamp (Emily/Amanda) heard about the reboot from MK and JF a month ago and she already knows which character is coming back, though she won’t say anything except this: “I can’t say who, but they’re bringing back a specific person, and I love that specific person. So, it’s exciting.”

* Nick Wechsler (Jack) tweeted the news of the reboot with “Holy shit, right?” and his post was RTed by Gabriel Mann (Nolan).

Okay, so my thoughts below...

I’m cautiously excited about this.

“Cautiously” because, obviously, if they’re only just working out the script and aren’t ready to make announcements on actors, this could go any number of ways -- lots of shows are developed but never make it to air. So it’s not worth talking about this as a sure thing until/unless ABC announces that it’s picked up the show for the 2020-2021 season.

But aside from that, I see a lot of reasons to be optimistic, starting with the involvement of MK. For everything that went wrong in S2 and led to MK exiting the series, we know that he loves this world and these characters...I would have hated to see a sequel to the show without his involvement or, at the very least, his blessing. It looks like he’s steering the ship, and right now, I’m taking that as a good sign.

I’m also hoping that MK’s involvement means that he and ABC, based on the experiences of S1-S4 and especially S2, know exactly what this show should look like and have a clear plan. (I’m going to speculate that there’s a chance that whatever this series looks like that it’ll have far fewer than 22 episodes in its first season, just based on comments MK has made in the past about his preference for fewer episodes in a season.)

As for the story, it’s hard to tell for sure with such limited details, but the plot sounds like a good one -- it’s close enough to the original’s juicy premise (young woman goes up against a powerful family to avenge the death of a parent, which is also tied to a major tragedy), but this time with different particulars, starting with the new main character, who will have her own backstory and a new set of story-beats to play out and new relationships to explore with those in her past, present, and future.

It also seems pretty obvious to me that the new lead’s mentor is going to be Nolan and they’re just waiting to announce GM’s involvement. It makes perfect sense given where we left Nolan at the end of S4, and I’m so excited to see what MK’s got in store for him. How does Nolan become involved with his new protege? What kind of relationship will they have -- friendly or prickly? What has he been doing in the last few years? Has he found a new love interest, or will he find one on the sequel? Has he maintained ties with anyone else from the Hamptons (besides, of course, Emily and Jack)?

Speaking of which, I’ve seen a lot of comments online from fans who don’t want a Revenge without EVC and all of the original cast members. I get that sentiment because I love them, too, and of course I want to see as many of them back as possible, even if in limited/guest star capacities.

However, bringing Emily back as the lead or even in a substantial role would, I think, be a harder sell. Not just because EVC is busy on The Resident, but because we saw how Emily’s story ended...she finally found peace and happiness with Jack and Carl in a post-Graysons world. I wouldn’t want to see the character be yanked away from that, especially when MK has a new story to tell with a new lead, who will need the time and space to be properly established as a character in her own right.

Besides, just because Emily is off living a revenge-free existence doesn’t mean that we’d never be able to see the other characters either popping in and out or in more substantial roles. MK and ABC surely know the value of getting back as many familiar faces as possible. (That’s why they’re bringing back Nolan “character from the original series,” after all.) If they can figure out a way to, say, bring back Charlotte, or Ashley, or Mason Treadwell, I’m sure they’ll do it. Those characters are MK’s own creations, and they’re blank enough slates that he could easily make them somehow involved in some branch of this new conspiracy.

And, of course, EVC sounds excited about the show, and we’ve got public comment from NW on it, so maybe there’s a chance for them to guest star every once in awhile if their schedules allow. (More of Emily, Jack, and Nolan together? Yes, please.)

So, basically...I’m just really curious to see where this goes. Hopefully it won’t be long before they finish the script and start casting for the pilot.

Anyone with any thoughts, please come by my ask box!