Revenge!!

I get addicted to tv shows. In the past this has included the X Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Blackadder and Father Ted. More recently, the It Crowd, Mad Men, Misfits and Sherlock have all made the list. You know, that desperate need to see the next episode to find out what happens and those that you rewatch a million times cause they're just that amazing. 
Well, those are all the tv shows I'm happy to admit to loving. Then theres the ones that are a little more embarrassing, those that are merely chewing gum for the eyes, if you will. This leads me on nicely to Revenge- a show I started watching last week and got so addicted to I watched the entire series within a matter of days (yes, it was 22 episodes and yes, I do have a life). This has been hugely successful in the US and has just reached our shores via E4.

So Revenge (or REVENGE!!- shouty capitals and exclamation marks are how I hear it in my head) is kind of like a combination of Dallas, Gossip Girl and Agatha Christie, which is potentially the greatest mix of all time. It centers on Emily, a rich, enigmatic and beautiful heiress who's just moved to the hamptons and bought a beach house next to Grayson manor- home to the super rich Victoria and Conrad Grayson and their 2 kids, Charlotte and Daniel. Emily is not all she seems, however:

She's actually really called Amanda Clarke and lived in the same beach house she just bought as a child, until her father was wrongly accused and imprisoned for life for participating in acts of terrorism on US soil, causing the death of hundreds in an air plane crash. He was framed for this crime by none other than the Graysons and several others who Emily/Amanda's father trusted and was close friends with. Anyway, he died in prison, Emily/Amanda had a rough upbringing in foster homes and ended up in Juvie. So she's pretty angry. Luckily, when she moves back she finds it fairly easy to start ruining the lives of those involved, with the help of multi billionaire, computer genius and ally Nolan, who promised her father he would help her. Part of her plan is to get herself involved with the nefarious Graysons, to take down both husband and wife, but in particular, Victoria Grayson, who is evil incarnate (and also looks amazing, all of the time, even in the most life-devastating of situations):

She starts to put this plan in motion by getting together with Victoria's son, Daniel, thus ingratiating herself into their lives:

A bit like Joey Tribiani- not bad looking but not a lot going on behind the eyes. Emily/Amanda's character is interesting because she tends not to form any emotional attachments (thanks to her somewhat sociopathic tendencies and 2 years training in Japan to be a Ninja...no, I'm not joking), except to local barkeep Jack Porter, who was a childhood friend of Amandas. They both secretly love each other even though he doesn't know she is in fact Amanda and not Emily. All sorts of obstacles are thrown in the way of them getting together, which is for the best really cause she's a bit mental what with the fixation on revenge and all..I'm not sure he'd understand. Anyway, there's lots of crazy plot twists and turns, fabulous costumes and lots of people for her to seek REVENGE!!! on:

So basically, it's pure tripe. But entertaining tripe...Watch it!!!