Madeleine Stowe says nothing is off limits in the Revenge season finale

IT’S time for tears, terror and payback in Revenge – and nothing is off limits according to Madeleine Stowe and Emily VanCamp.

REVENGE - "Execution" - Nothing is off limits as Emily and Victoria are dead set on destroying each other. Lives will be lost and fates will be altered, but who will rise victorious?, on the season three finale of "Revenge," MADELEINE STOWE, EMILY VANCAMP Revenge’s Madeleine Stowe and Emil VanCamp’s season-ending staredown. Picture: Supplied by Channel Seven

MADELEINE Stowe is smiling with delight. Revenge is back on track and hurtling towards a season three finale featuring two shock twists including a major death.

Stowe’s character, rich matriarch Victoria Grayson, has endured a year from hell as all of her fears and doubts have come to fruition.

In the season-ender, nothing is off limits with Emily Thorne (Emily VanCamp) and Victoria set on destroying each other.

“We’re really hitting our stride now,” Stowe says.

“This finale is the culmination of all three years. Victoria does the worst possible things you could imagine her doing.”

One of the reasons Revenge is back on track after a shaky second season is that it returned to the 10pm timeslot in the USA, which gave new show-runner Sunil Nayer more scope to explore darker, more salacious storylines.

STOWE REVEALS: How Revenge went off the rails

Nayer spent the first part of the season getting Emily’s storyline sorted. The second half has seen Victoria back at full throttle.

Victoria believes Emily is responsible for the death of her fiancé, Pascal (Olivier Martinez). It was actually Conrad (Henry Czerny), but she doesn’t know this and will stop at nothing to avenge his death.

But with Conrad awaiting trial, Emily will only be happy if she can take down Victoria as well.

Victoria has come closer to learning Emily’s true identity. In last Monday’s episode, she tested baby Carl’s DNA with Charlotte’s (Christa B Allen) to see if Amanda was really who she claimed to be.

Surprises to come ... the finale episode is called "Execution". Picture: Channel Seven

The results cemented Victoria’s suspicions about Emily and why she’s out for revenge.

“Sunil’s directive was to really just come back and make it more character-oriented,” Stowe says. “What was interesting about Victoria in season one was that she would do really radical things like have herself beaten up.

“She had a really strong drive — and we have recaptured that.

“In the back half of this season, Victoria has been in on everything. She’s always been onto Emily but now it has been a real putting your finger to the flame kind of thing.

“You have two women on this parallel course.”

The role of Victoria has given Stowe some of her juiciest acting opportunities. She dropped out of movies in 2003 to settle on a Texas ranch with husband Brian Benben and daughter May, after a string of major movie credits including Stakeout, The Last of the Mohicans, Blink and We Were Soldiers.

Revenge lured her back to acting — a decision that has seen Stowe receive some of the best notices of her career, including a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress — Television Series Drama.

By the season three finale, Victoria is so bereft over the loss of Pascal that she has started to descend into madness. Emily’s desire for revenge has seen her mentally disintegrate.

“If you just trust your characters and come back to your characters, the audience will follow,” Stowe says. “We all see components of ourselves in these people.”

Meanwhile, VanCamp promises the episode will leave her character Emily Thorne — and viewers — in tears.

Has it been worth it? ... Emily VanCamp who stars as Emily Thorne.

Shock twists ... Revenge stars Madeleine Stowe as Victoria Grayson.

Revenge is no stranger to cliff-hangers, but this goes a step further with two shock twists, including the death of a favourite character.

“It will leave Emily asking: ‘has this all been worth it?” VanCamp has said.

Speculation is rife about potential victims, with fans pointing to Jack (Nick Wechsler), Nolan (Gabriel Mann), Aiden (Barry Sloane) or Charlotte (Christa B Allen).

The rollercoaster romance between Emily and Aiden has been central to the intrigue of the season. They were secretly engaged but that turned sour. Aiden moved to the Caribbean but she followed him and they reconciled.

Last Monday’s episode was a corker, with Aiden admitting to Jack the relationship with Emily wasn’t working, and then telling Emily that they belong together.

Revenge has been a huge career boost for Sloane, who grew up in Liverpool and started in British soaps including Brookside, Holby City and Casualty, and recently starred alongside Russell Crowe in Noah.

“The scope and darkness (of this season) has been great,” he says.

“Every one of us lives in fear (of being killed off) because it is Revenge. Everyone’s on borrowed time.”

REVENGE

MONDAY, (June 9) 9.15PM, SEVEN

Originally published as Madeleine Stowe says nothing is off limits in the Revenge season finale