1:25PM: Back again following Saturday’s VAMPIRE DIARIES panel, TV Guide Magazine’s Debra Birnbaum introduces members from the cast and creative team of REVENGE including Nick Wechsler (Jack), Ashley Madekwe (Ashley), Josh Bowman (Daniel), Henry Czerny (Conrad), Executive Producer Marty Bowen, Madeleine Stowe (Victoria), Creator Mike Kelley, Emily VanCamp (Emily), Gabriel Mann (Nolan), Connor Paulo (Declan) and Christa B. Allen (Charlotte)
1:26PM: We just discovered that Josh Bowman has a British accent!
1:27PM: “The plan was it to always be Tyler,” admits Kelley following a first question that has moderator Debra Birnbaum wondering if the plan was always for it to be Tyler’s dead body on the beach. “The audience would have freaked out if we had killed Daniel and turned off the TV in droves!”
1:30PM: “We have an idea where we want this season to end and obviously we’re ending with a cliffhanger!” says Kelley on his overall plan for the rest of the season. “If we’re lucky enough to get a second season we’re going to see another giant event that will resolve somewhat through midseason allowing us the opportunity to play through with the aftermath, which is what you’ll see over the course of the next few episodes this season. With the final two episodes of the season really setting up some new drama, alliances and incidents.”
1:31PM: Since the show isn’t titled LAW & ORDER: REVENGE, the trial of Daniel Grayson will be of the swift variety. Which is to say, following REVENGE’s 17th episode, there will be a time jump to mid-December which will allow for the trial to be wrapped up by episode 19 in order to make way for more exciting stories. Stories such as a pivotal flashback episode that will take audiences back the party where the infamous photograph was taken that saw Emily tucked behind Victoria and former friend Lydia. “We’re doing an entire episode of REVENGE that takes place in 2002,” reveals Kelley. “The reason for that is we wanted to bring back all of the people that Emily has taken down thus far and show how she meets them for the first time.” Adds VanCamp, “To a time when she’s still not completely believing her father [who is in jail], this New Year’s eve party really solidifies what her father’s been telling her, it’s sort of the beginning of it all.”
1:35PM: When pressed by the moderator as to whether or not Emily’s father is still alive, Kelley offers up an understandably ambiguous answer. “I’ve said it once before with regards to REVENGE, if it’s not impossible, we’ll probably do it.” Equally mysterious, the whereabouts of Emily’s mother. “She came up this week [in the writer’s room], and we’ll get to finding out more about where her mother is and what happened to her,” says Kelly. “If we’re able to get into a second season, we’ve got a lot to wrap up, but I think it would be great to find out what happened to Emily’s mother.”
1:39PM: Just how big of an emotional toll will the upcoming trial of Daniel Grayson take on Daniel? “He’s going to become a bit more aware and on the level in terms of ‘Revenge’,” reveals Bowman. “He’ll arrive at a crossroads and be forced to make a decision between good and evil, which I guess you’ll see.” Adds Kelley, reminding us that the Grayson son is no angel himself having shot Tyler at point-blank range, “At a certain point Daniel’s character is going to catch on to what is going around him, amp up his participation…. the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.”
1:40PM: So just how does Madeleine Stowe justify the moral ambiguity of her character Victoria Grayson? “What I love about the Graysons is that it all twists back to some sort of love of family,” admits Stowe, who illustrates her very point by revealing a bit about an upcoming episode that will see her pay some thugs in prison to beat up her son Daniel because she deems a hospital a far safer place for him than prison.
1:47PM: “Hell No!” is how Stowe responds when asked if Victoria and Conrad’s marriage can ever be repaired. “But it makes for great drama and I think part of what works in our dynamic is that we’re always at it.” As per why Victoria is as Stowe so eloquently puts it “a mess,” Kelley promises that all will be revealed in time. “The deep damage and pain at her core will be explained as we go on.”
1:50PM: Also promising to go on, Victoria’s distrust of Emily. “I think Victoria, being the kind of animal that she is knows another animal when she sees it,” says Stowe. “So I will never trust Emily, never like her… unless Mike [Kelley] makes me!” For her part, VanCamp believes Emily and Victoria are far more similar than they probably would care to admit. “They absolutely identify with each other and they oddly have many things in common. My father was her greatest love. We also have this bizarre competition for Daniel coming from very different places. It’s a lot of fun to play.”
1:55PM: But just who would Daniel pick if it comes down to Emily or Victoria! “He’s a bit of a Momma’s boy but I think things are going to change and I’m looking forward to that,” says Bowman. “I’m definitely anticipating a darker turn for Daniel, but I can’t spill too much.”
1:56PM: “My biggest fear in reading the pilot was that she wouldn’t be likeable or that people wouldn’t root for her. But we’ve seen it done before with shows like one of my favorites, DEXTER,” says VanCamp on the subject of her character’s dark side and whether or not she was worried audiences would accept it. “That’s why seeing what she has been through, it’s important to go back in time and see what this family [the Graysons] have put this poor little girl through. Also important is maintain a moral code within the character. Even though she’s doing these horrendous things there’s a sense of integrity about her.”
1:57PM: “This last run of episodes will see Emily confronted with the ultimate line, but will she or won’t she cross it, it will be really interesting to see how far she’ll go,” teases Kelley. “One of the reasons we were so lucky to get Emily is because we needed an actor who at her core came across as someone you could wrap your arms around, your brother’s girlfriend, friend’s daughter, someone you could trust. We could have found some really dark sneering ass-kicker, but we started with this lovely young woman who you all instantly like, and that’s what makes her such a compelling character. We’re rooting for her and we can’t even tell you why.”
1:59PM: It’s triangle time! Specifically of the Daniel/Emily/Jack variety. “I don’t know what she’s going to do,” admits Emily. “In the episodes coming up you will see how much Emily feels for Daniel and get an idea how far she’s willing to go for him as well as for jack. It’s so much fun to play because both of these guys are so brilliant and different.”
5:03PM: “What do you think?” jokes Gabriel Mann when asked if Emily should trust Nolan. “The relationship continues to evolve episode by episode and it’s really hard for me when we’re fighting because I really really like her [Actress Emily, not the character Emily!] Yes I know it’s acting, but the dynamic between us has been one of the great joys of working on the show.” Adds Kelley, “The concept was that you’re [referring to Emily and Nolan] both without family and so the two of who are meant to have somewhat of a sibling relationship which are fraught often. But those warm beets are what we need in the show, otherwise it’s just a lot of nastiness.”
5:10PM: “Victoria happened, the Hamptons happened!” is how Ashley Madekwe justifies her character’s dubious choices! “There’s a duality in her, nobody is all good or all bad and at the moment Ashely is being a little bit of ‘B’!” Teases Kelley, “Ashley will have an interesting shift in loyalty and some interesting stuff coming up. She is going to do something that will have some serious implications for Emily.”
5:15PM: Bad news for fans of star-crossed-lovers Charlotte and Declan. “I don’t think Declan understands the scope of Charlotte’s damage,” admits Connor Paulo when asked how his character plans on dealing with Charlotte’s impending drug spiral. Teases a not-so-optimistic Christa B. Allen, “Charlotte needs someone to step in and guide her in the right direction and it remains to be seen if it will be Declan or not.” 
REVENGE airs Wednesdays at 10PM on ABC (CityTV in Canada) and stars Emily VanCamp, Josh Bownman, Christa B. Allen, Charlotte Grayson, Madeleine Stowe, Henry Czerny, Ashley Dvaenport, Nick Wechsler, Gabriel Mann and Connor Paolo. Catch up on past episodes you may have missed for free online at clicktowatch.tv
Photo Credits: PaleyFest