What would happen if one day everything electronic in the world stopped working? Complete global blackout: no cell phones, no email, no air travel, no instagram...not to mention complete lack of running water, heat, or modern medicine. This is the question that is asked in J.J. Abram’s new drama Revolution, which premiered with record numbers in September on NBC.
The show takes place 15 years after the blackout has happened, with flashbacks for character and storyline background. Everything is overgrown and a vigilante militia has ruthlessly taken over and no one is allowed to have guns except them...and so continues the current craze of bow and arrow glory. The two main characters are played by Tracy Spiridakos (“Charlie Matheson”) and Billy Burke (“Miles Matheson”) and embody a girl and her uncle who are on a rescue mission after the militia has killed her father and taken her brother captive. Giancarlo Esposito, who is very good at being bad, plays the menacing Captain Tom Neville, who is much more devious than his name would suggest. There are some friendly faces from LOST (Jacob and Juliet both play characters here that should get more air time as the show progresses) and Twihard’s should love seeing Bella’s dad sans mustache.
The show has it’s strong points: There are juicy details along the way that should make for some really good dramatic irony later on and who HASN’T wondered what a global blackout would be like? Probably the biggest issue I take with the show so far is rendered in a quote Joel McHale gave on Jimmy Kimmel: “It’s an apocalypse where everyone looks AWESOME.” Seriously. Everyone’s clothes seem to fit juuust right and the lack of makeup on the women looks very made up. And in 15 years apparently just the children aged.
The show also has a lot of unanswered questions (A J.J. Abram’s show with unanswered questions??) with the science of it: like how batteries and turbines don’t work and how all the planes dropped out of the sky like they didn’t have wings or momentum. Apparently magnets and newton’s law don’t work in the apocalypse either. However, if you can handle the unlikelihood of this hollywood-esque apocalypse, and have been looking for an opportunity to ask yourself “What would I do if I couldn’t google my way out of a problem?” than NBC’s Revolution might be the show for you.
Megan Geilman has had an on-again-off-again relationship with television since she was young and her parents occasionally let her stay up to watch Star Trek and X-Files. She recently relocated to beautiful San Clemente, CA with her husband, unborn child, and design business. She lives a half mile from the beach and plans on eating a lot of avocados. She occasionally blogs at http://ratedgforgeilman.blogspot.com andhttp://megangeilmandesign.blogspot.com
I have been meaning to watch this! If you're an x-files fan and you're more or less enjoying it, I shall follow you into the Revolution fray. Sweet write up.
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