ABC’s ‘Revenge’ season 4 winter finale: Josh Bowman speaks out on Daniel surprise

Why did Josh Bowman leave “Revenge” after four seasons? Was it because of the show deciding to go in another direction, or him proclaiming that he wanted out?

In this particular case, we feel like this issue is a little bit more complicated that most others would be. After all, there were quotes out there last year supposedly from Josh Bowman saying that he was interested in leaving the show unless his character tilted in a particular, super-dark direction. This of course led to speculation when Daniel Grayson was killed off during the winter finale that this “desire to leave” was the reason why.

As we suspected, though, those quote back then did not read the way in which they were intended. While Bowman and showrunner Sunil Nayar did decide to write the character out of the show together, it was for creative reasons rather than something outside of that. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly on the subject this week, Josh had the following to say:

“I think I was definitely wrongly quoted by that particular reporter. It wasn’t a plea to leave the show at all. I mean, I love working on the show. I’d do it for six seasons. I had a sit down with Sunil at the beginning of this season, before the writers were in the writers’ room, and we just discussed my character and the arc, where he could go, where he shouldn’t go. We thought it was very important to have him be redeemed and have some sort of heroic last act for Emily. We thought that would bring the character full circle considering where he’s come from. We’d lead him right back to where he was in season 1. By having him save Emily and sacrifice himself, it was the perfect, fitting end for the character. Sunil and his team of writers did a fantastic job. As actors, you always just want what’s best for the story. I think, collaboratively, for the show, we thought it was a good idea to have a domino effect moving forward. It’s not a good thing to leave a show, but it’s a good thing for the story to help move it forward.”

We do think that ultimately, it was the right move to kill Daniel now, regardless of how hard it may be for some fans. There were moments during the first half of this season that the character felt lost, and it is nice for him to go out with a bang before everyone started to question why the character was still a major part of things.

If you want to look even further at the future of “Revenge,” you can do so by heading over to the link here today. Also, sign up now to get some other big TV updates today via our official CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: ABC.)