Out with the New, in with the Old?

This week I watched a pilot of a new show called Revenge.  If you haven't heard of this show, it's based around a girl whose father was wrongfully sent to jail and now is getting revenge on the people who sent him there.  The show begins with what I thought was a clever saying; "Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves."  Basically throughout the show the main character is trying to kill off people who were associated with her father's false accusations. To me this sounds more like a movie plot, mostly because there isn't much wiggle room for a story line to go.  So, going into this show I did not expect much.  I didn't think it was going to be very good, and honestly was already planning on writing on this blog about how bad it was.  But it surprised me.  It's actually better than it sounds.  I'm not sure if it's a show that I will continue watching, but it definetly had an interisting set-up. 

One thing that really dissapointed me was how much they have away in the plot.  In the beginning I found myself aking questions and wondering when in the the season it will be explained.  This is a common tactic to get more viewers, kind of like in a book when authors end a chapter or a book in a series at a climatic section.  Honestly it was nice to see what was going on, but I think it would have helped them in the long run if they had waited to reveal some of those juicy secrets they were trying to hide in the beginning.

Going into watching this pilot, I knew there was going to be something about this girl killing other people.  So right away I thought about Dexter.  This makes me kind of sad.  Why do shows have to mooch off the success of other shows?  Revenge isn't necessarily copying Dexter, but it probably had the show's popularity in mind when creating it's own.  If you've never watched Dexter, it's about a serial killer who kills other criminals (mostly serial killers themselves.) Dexter works for the Miami Police Department in blood spatter analysis. This is a big help in getting away with his crimes.  But how is Emily in Revenge going to get by getting caught? I'm not sure because I'm still unclear as to what she actually does for living.  The show, though I may be forgetting something, made it seem like she lives off her inheretence in the Hamptons.  Also, throughout his life, Dexter was trained how not get caught by his dad who was also in the Miami police.  And yet, with all of this, Dexter almost gets caught in every season! So how is Emily going to commit her crimes and get away with it? I'm not entirely sure, but hopefully the writers will set up something to make it become a bit more believable.

I know I just made these shows sound fairly similar.  But wait! There are some differences.  Although they both seem like martyrs for a good cause, they sort of are, but in their own unique ways.  Dexter isn't killing people to get revenge.  He has what he calls his "dark passenger."  When Dexter was very young he experienced a very traumatic event (I won't spoil it if you haven't seen the show) that altered his mindset.  His urge to kill is involuntary, and he had no conscience to go along with it.  He also has a hard time with any emotions whatsoever. In fact, he often has to fake being happy for his sister Deb or co-workers. To justify his need to kill, his father created a "code" that he has to follow. This includes killing people that are 100% guilty of a horrible crime, so most of his victims either haven't been caught yet or somehow maneuvered their way out of going to jail.

Because I haven't seen much of Revenge, and I've seen many episodes of Dexter I can't fully compare the two shows.  What I have found is that Emily has specific people that she wants to kill. Dexter just kills anyone within his "code" to fulfill "dark passenger."  That is why revenge is focused around her obviously getting revenge.  Do you see now why this show might not have too many seasons? There really isn't too much to elaborate.  Dexter is constantly finding new victims whereas Emily will only have a set amount of people that caused her father harm.

I hope I'm wrong, and the show surprises me more.  It definetly has an interesting concept, and potential to do well.  If you're interested in watching, it's on ABC every Wednesday night at 9. Here's a clip of the promo: