Revenge Interview: EP Mike Kelley Previews Season 2

This summer during the Television Critics Association Press Tour, we were able to have the great opportunity of visiting the Grayson Manor, home of the family that, on the show, seems to be the frequent target of Emily Thorne’s, well, revenge on ABC’s Revenge.

While we were there, we got caught up in a scrum around the show’s creator/executive producer, Mike Kelley, who promises that the storytelling techniques that were so well-received in the first season will continue into the second. He also promises that character alliances and motivations will continue to evolve. “You never know what someone’s agenda is, and that’s part of the fun of the show,” he says. “That’s what I love. You never know what somebody’s true agenda is,” he says. Part of that continuing evolution also means that stories will continue to reward the audience. “People need setup and payoff, setup and payoff, or else they’re not going to be interested. You can’t draw it out,” he says.

A particular example of the show’s swift storytelling came late last season with Daniel’s trial. “I didn’t want to turn this into a Law & Order episode. It’s just a different show, and I felt a little bit handcuffed by the trial. I wanted to get out,” he explains. “Winter in the Hamptons is a really interesting feeling to the show. It actually made it feel a lot more substantial than it had, i think, in the earlier episodes, so I wanted to get out and explore. We were talking about it feeling a little bit like The Shining, and the Overlook Hotel, and how you’re kind of trapped in these places, and get to do some character explorations. So that’s what we wanted. The courtroom wasn’t really the place to do it,” he says.

Although there will be nitpicking, Kelley seems proud of what the show’s writing staff has done to keep things straight. “I think, actually, we’ve done a pretty good job, for the most part, really tying up loose ends. We don’t want to seed anything that isn’t going to grow and eventually get cut down,” he promises. With that said, Kelley describes a bit of the process that has gone into plotting a season, for both the first year and the current one.

“I had the first fifteen episodes pretty much very well planned out, through what happened at the beach, at the Fire & Ice Ball. I had to. Because again, I think for the audience that likes deep mythology shows like Lost, and the things I love, you have to make those plans. You have to know where you’re headed. So I did there. There was a little bit more ‘seat of the pants’ in the last few final episodes, though I had a couple of sign posts,” Kelley explains. “It’s the same with this season. I know exactly where I’m going through Episode 14, and then the last eight, I know where the season ends, but I’m not entirely sure how to get there. I liken it to a trip across the country. You know where you’re headed, and you can stop wherever you like along the way, but you don’t have to plan it exactly, as long as you know where you’re headed.”

The success of Revenge appears to be inspiring imitators, as NBC’s Notorious seems to also feature a character exacting revenge on a wealthy family. Does this bother Kelley? “I wish them a lot of luck,” Kelley says. “I really do, because I think any time the genre succeeds, I hopefully have a job waiting for me in the future.” Is there room on TV for more than one show like this? “Yeah,” he says. “Ask The Voice and American Idol. I think the appetite for a good serial drama, I’m sure, is the same as it is for any good show. If it’s good, and I hope it is, then we all win.”

Season 2 of Revenge premieres TONIGHT at 9PM (ET) after Once Upon A Time on ABC. Read some of our other Revenge coverage, which includes images from the season premiere and a cast gallery!