Revenge Boss on Emily's Mom, Her New Man, the Plane Crash, Jack's Downward Spiral and More!

Emily VanCamp | Photo Credits: Karen Neal/ABC
Emily VanCamp | Photo Credits: Karen Neal/ABC

Just how long can Revenge's Emily Thorne keep her identity a secret, especially when her thought-to-be-dead mom comes back into the picture?

The last time we saw Emily (Emily VanCamp), she thought every piece of evidence that could prove her father's innocence had gone up in flames with the plane carrying Victoria Grayson (Madeleine Stowe). As she stood in shock, Emily's best friend Nolan (Gabriel Mann) dropped another bomb by showing her a video not only incriminating the Graysons, but revealing the mother she thought dead was actually alive. In the upcoming season, premiering Sunday at 9/8c on ABC, Emily will find her long-lost mom, but will continue to painstakingly lie about her identity to keep everyone from finding out she's really Amanda Clarke.

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"What we really wanted to do in Season 2 was expand our world, so we are going to see Emily's mom, we're going to explore some different themes this season like free will and we're also introducing another character from Emily's past," executive producer Melissa Loy tells TVGuide.com.

Keep reading to find out more about Emily's mom, her new man, why Jack is heading to the dark side and when we'll learn what really happened with Victoria's plane.

Mommy dearest

Well not quite. Jennifer Jason Leigh joins the show as Emily's mom, but Emily can't reveal her true identity to her parent. "It's a little bit heartbreaking, and the relationship she starts building with Amanda Clarke is very telling of what she should be doing with Emily because she thinks this other girl is her daughter," Loy says, adding that eventually, "We learn the whole backstory and what happens between her and Emily when she was a little girl and why she stayed away all these years."

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Victoria is ...
No, we're not spilling, but Loy promises "you'll learn details gradually, but you'll know the outcome of it right away." And although at first glance the first scene of the premiere appears to begin with rescuers searching for plane survivors, look closely and you'll see it's another fatal accident. Loy says that event, which takes place in the future, sets up the first half of the season as last year's deadly engagement party did and will be paid off around Episode 14.

Emily's got a new man
Now that her engagement to Daniel (Josh Bowman) is off Emily sets her sights on a new guy, but someone who actually knows who she is. "[Barry Sloane plays Aidan], a possible love interest who will ultimately be part of her plan," Loy says. "The nice thing about the dynamic between the two of them is that he's one of the first characters, besides Nolan, who comes into her world and she can be honest about who she is. He knows what her past is and how badly she's been wronged and he has his own version of a revenge story which we'll learn about."

But she's still got Nolan by her side
Don't worry, Ems will still have Nolan! "Nolan will always be her No. 1 sidekick and sounding board so the nature of that relationship will always stay fun, but there will be a bit of tension built up and hurt feelings when Emily turns her attention to someone else," Loy says. But Nolan will also get more of his own screen time sans Emily this season. "We branch off a little bit and explore his world more instead of it always being Emily's, and there is someone in Nolan's life that comes along, played by Dilshad Vadsaria, who comes in as a misfit kind of like him."

Watch the first promo for Revenge Season 2

Daniel is moving on ...
With Emily's friend and Grayson assistant Ashley (Ashley Madekwe). "It's a relationship that progresses ... but does Daniel feel the way about Ashley that he did about Emily? No. There are still a lot of harbored feelings," Loy says, adding that we'll learn about Ashley's past secret and where she came from.

Jack's on a downward spiral
Lovable Jack (Nick Wechsler) won't be looking so great (we're talking longer hair, unshaven, stinky if we could smell through our TV screens) when the show picks up three months later. "It gets a little worse before it gets better," Loy says adding, "But you're definitely going to love Jack this season. He has to go on a downward spiral accepting all of these new challenges he's facing and eventually he comes out of the darkness — only to find more darkness." And Jack and Emily enthusiasts, you'll like this: "At the end of the day fans will always be able to root for Emily and Jack, but we hopefully have a long-running show so we have some time to bring them together for good."

Revenge Boss: "This season is all about free will versus fate"

The baby's coming
Amanda (Margarita Levieva) is very much pregnant at the start of the season and Emily is not happy about it. (Watch this clip.) But haters may actually not despise her this year. "Amanda does some heroic things this season that redeem her a little bit," Loy says. "She's still the girl that stands in the way of Emily and Jack, but she's not quite as loathsome this year."

Three fun scooplets:
1. We will see a wedding, but we don't know whose it is.

2. You will learn something very interesting about the white-haired man very early on. And you will learn a name.

3. Charlotte is finally sober and very dedicated to remain on that path for many reasons that we'll learn by the end of Episode 1.

Are you excited for the return of Revenge?

Revenge airs Sundays at 9/8c on ABC.