Revenge's Biggest Death Ever: Why It Happened and What Comes Next

Showrunner Sunil Nayar and star Josh Bowman talk about Daniel's "tragic" demise on the ABC hit's fall finale

By Tierney Bricker Dec 08, 2014 8:00 PMTags
RevengeABC/Bob D'Amico

Well played, Revenge. Well played.

Redemption, thy name is Daniel Grayson (Josh Bowman). The ABC hit pulled off its biggest death and greatest feat yet on Sunday night, offing the Grayson family's prodigal son while completing his journey toward redemption, a task which seemed almost impossible after he shot Emily (Emily VanCamp) last season. The fact that he died taking a bullet for his former wife made his journey all the more poetic. (And did we mention that he had just learned he's going to be a father?! Sob!)

"We wanted the death to mean something in a way that it invoked sympathy and sadness in our viewers, so I think we told the story really correctly and I think the performance Josh gave in all the episodes this year to redeem that character is amazing," showrunner Sunil Nayar told E! News. "We're going to miss him, but I think it was the creative right thing to do."

ABC

Nayar said the decision to kill Daniel was made "right at the beginning of the season really," and was a "real creative collaboration" with Bowman.

"Josh and I spoke about it and we really just wanted to do something big going into our big mid-winter break and in talking to him, he was just really on board in finding a way to have Daniel's journey be one of redemption by the end."

Calling Daniel's death "Shakespearean," Bowman told us, "They really redeemed him and I think it was very fitting to have him sacrifice himself for Emily and it couldn't have been done any other way. I think he's always been the tragic character of the show."

Last season, Bowman made headlines for saying during an interview that he wanted Daniel to be killed off the show, but the actor said his words were misinterpreted.

 "I'm extremely appreciative of the show. I had a lot of fun and I completely come from a character point of view, not a selfish Josh point of view. My point of view is to move the story forward, it's great to have a death on a show and I think if anyone was going to die on the show it was going to be my character. He's the sacrificial lamb, if you like."

Nayar seconded Bowman's story-first attitude, saying his comments last season didn't play a part in the decision to off Daniel.

"It was sort of strictly storyline. I remember he said that last year and that was right when he found out he was shooting Emily. And he thought, how the hell do I get redeemed from this, and I said, ‘Trust us, I think we can find a way,'" he explained. "And he trusted us and we got through it and we got to the end of the season, we spoke at the beginning of this year, it wasn't motivated by a desire to get off of the show, but it was informed by an idea that we could finish his journey really correctly. I don't think even on Josh's side it was, ‘I need off of Revenge.' It was, ‘OK, if this is the way we're going to do it, let's go for it.' So he was completely supportive of it."

ABC/Danny Feld

The first episode back in 2015 will be "a direct pickup, so you'll see exactly what happens off of this," Nayar said. "It's obviously a devastating loss for Victoria, especially for Margaux, but one of the other things we wanted to make sure we did was when the characters had to reflect on it, mostly David, Victoria and Emily, that each of them could blame the other for what happened to Daniel. But each of them also knows they have a hand in what happened. In a sense, nobody doesn't have Daniel's blood on their hands, even if they are using those hands to point at other people."

Bowman, who appears in flashbacks in the episode, teased that the murder may be pinned on Emily or Jack (Nick Wechsler), who shot and killed Kate (Courtney Ford) after she murdered Daniel. "They have to come up with some sort of story for the cops, because they want to keep the Malcolm Black thing under control."

Richard Cartwright/ABC

While Bowman loved having Daniel's journey come "full circle," there is one thing he wished he got to play with more before leaving the show: the dynamic between Daniel and Emily after he learned she was really Amanda Clarke. "I would've loved to explore it maybe a little earlier, that dynamic, but I think it's good. You give the audience the tip of the iceberg and you sink the ship and that's how you leave them wanting more."

And Nayar said one of the writers' goals this season was to bring the two characters back together, "so the audience is now thinking, wait a minute, is there a chance that these two people, one who shot the other, can maybe get together?" His response when we said we were bummed we didn't get to see hate-sex between the former couple? "Gosh, I wish it could've gotten there! [Laughs.]"

Still, it would've made Bowman's choice of epitaph for Daniel Grayson just a little awkward: "I should've been a Clarke."

Revenge returns Sunday, Jan. 4 on ABC.