'Revenge' season 3: Six scoops!

The upcoming season of Revenge is a clean slate in many ways. Not only do we shed some of the complications that muddled the second season (buh-bye, Initiative!) but the characters will all find themselves with renewed purpose — not the least of which will be Emily Thorne’s new reason to push for the conclusion of her Revengenda.

It all kicks off Sunday with a big episode that will [spoiler!] find Emily Thorne shot in the first 60 seconds. For scoop on that and plenty more, read below for teases from star Emily VanCamp and executive producer Sunil Nayar.

On Jack and Emily’s reunion: 

The new season picks up six months after the events of last season. And during the time we missed, Jack went on a long trip far away from Montauk and all the ghosts that lurk there. But when we return, so does Jack and “we do get to see the moment where they first see each other after he’s learned who she truly is,” VanCamp promises. “It’s a really intense, awful moment between them because he has so much anger — and rightfully so,” she says. “And I think you know in her wildest dreams she’d love for him to understand and is trying to make him understand but you can’t make someone as pure as Jack understand this kind of anger and sadness that she has inside of her that’s fueling this whole plan.” The confrontation, she says, sets the stage for their dynamic the rest of the season. “It’s going to be a really intense ride for those two and kind of a sad one, really.”

On Nolan: 

Nolan (Gabriel Mann) is out of prison as the season picks up and this character, too, receives a bit of a reset, with help of course from Emily. “You know they have so much love for each other, those two. They’re siblings in many ways,” VanCamp says. “He’s always going to go back to her, she’s always going to go back to him. It’s just a partnership. They’re teammates. And I just love the dynamic between them. It’s a really solid dynamic and it’ll be maybe a little lighter this season.” How light exactly? “Emily Thorne cracks a joke one time,” VanCamp reports excitedly. “Can you believe it? But it’s not really played like a joke because she would never really play it like a joke. But you know, funny little quirky moments that are really interesting to see.”

On Ashley’s departure:

As reported in late May, Ashley will not be part of this season. But you will see her in the first episode — and not in a body bag! “Ashley gets an epic send-off worthy of both the character and the actress,” says Nayar, who is marking his first year as showrunner. “And I think it’s wonderful.” He explains that not killing off the character, played by Ashley Madekwe, was part of the show’s goal to “avoid the body count this year.” “Last year, that was part of the dramatic thrust of the season, but we feel like there’s so many great people among [the cast] that to kill them, there’s an element of finality to it that we don’t want to embrace because we want all of these wonderful characters to come back,” he says.

Conrad’s health problems? 

As shown in the trailer for the new season, Conrad is not doing well health-wise. Nayar teases, “I think you’re going to see, he’s been governor for six months, and he’s a fabulous governor. But he’s kind of been working under the pressures of the job and the pressures of coming home. And I think in that really wonderful way that the Hamptons affects a human being, you’ll see the toll his homecoming takes on him, absolutely, in the season premiere.” But be warned: There’s a twist on this arc.

On Charlotte’s pregnancy:

“You’re going to find out how the pregnancy plays out and you’re going to see, really, what it does to Charlotte’s character,” Nayar teases. And it happens quickly. “Having gotten pregnant, having lost the father of her baby, the journey we’ve taken her on in the last months are going to kind of transform her from the young girl we’ve known into the woman you’re going to get to know,” he says.

On who shoots Emily:

The cast may not have known at the beginning of the season who shot Emily, but have things changed? We spoke to VanCamp Friday on EW Radio, Sirius XM 105, and got an update. For the latest and more scoop, listen to our chat here:

[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/112781031" params="visual=true&show_artwork=true&maxwidth=500&maxheight=750" width="100%" height="400" iframe="true" /]