Top 5 Little-Known Revenge Facts
5. The show is loosely based on/inspired by The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. Show creator Mike Kelley originally envisioned the series as a female-led adaptation of the classic saga about a man convicted of a crime he didn’t commit and the people he decides to take revenge on. We’re pretty sure there’s no sassy best friend or icy Hamptonites in the novel, though.
4. The writers originally intended to introduce Conrad’s family from his first marriage in Season 2 — including a handsome first son Emily would target — but they went with Aiden instead, due to Barry Sloane’s strong chemistry with Emily VanCamp. Kelley’s plan, which never came to fruition, was to bring in Conrad’s first family later in the season.
3. Takeda was originally introduced because the show was asked to bring in a Japanese character when it began airing in Japan. I don’t know that introducing the most stereotypical “sensei” type of character is what they had in mind, but they got two seasons out of the character and centered the tie-in novel Schooled in Revenge around his “revenge school.”
2. Tyler Barrol, who was revealed to be the dead body on the beach at Emily and Daniel’s engagement party in the first season, was inspired by The Talented Mr. Ripley. Viewers enjoyed the dangerously unstable character, who at first was fixated on Daniel, but ultimately met his fate at the Fire and Ice Ball and resolved the mystery introduced in the series premiere.
1. Iconic horror writer Stephen King loved Revenge’s first season and listed it as 11 on his “Top 20 of 2011” column for Entertainment Weekly, likening it to Dallas. We’d love to hear what he has to say about the show now…