NBC's Revolution - Thoughts?

Finally watched the pilot last night -- I'm willing to watch another episode.

It reminds me a lot of Jericho (which I do recommend), particularly what appears to be the conspiracy plotline. The acting was sort've okay, although the former insurance agent is actually the guy who played Gus Freeman on Breaking Bad -- he was monstrously good -- I expect him to do a lot of the heavy lifting as long as the show runs.

As far as general critiques go, I found the build-up to the mushroom clouds in Jericho to be much more dramatic and moving for setting up the atmosphere than seeing the lights go out and planes drop from the sky in Revolution. I think I will tire of the Katniss knock-off relatively quickly -- I like strong female roles, but there's something about her character which bothers me. Several people brought up logic issues, which I won't necessarily rehash, but I do expect that most people in major cities and suburbs would have died off simply because of the lack of access to food (due to no farms or inability to transport food quickly enough) -- i.e., I don't expect to see many people living in their old neighborhoods, especially with the makeshift gardens we saw in the opener.

I would think that in 15 years, an old style printing press and book reproduction would be up and rolling.. Although not demonstrated, the public libraries (and big box book stores) would be gold mines for farming, blacksmithing, and medicine.

I was interested in it, but didn't bother to watch it. After all it's on NBC so I doubt it will see a season two and the story will remain unfinished...

I gave it a pass because the commercials looked dumb... also because it's a JJ Abrams production, and so far I have hated everything he's involved with. Not disliked, not "didn't care for": hated. Even when I didn't know he was involved I would just see red because of the rampant stupidity going on. So I avoid anything he makes now.

I don't know how they stopped all the electronic equipment, but knowing JJ it's probably some sort of magic tech and not an EMP. An EMP would cause widespread death and destruction, but it's a one-time thing that wouldn't end civilization. The magic tech will somehow stop iPhones but allow people to live because of the power of, you know, STUPID.

In better TV news, I started watching Breaking Bad on Netflix streaming, and it is awesome. I missed the first two seasons so I didn't want to jump into the middle of it, but this show deserves all the awards it's gotten. Plus, The Walking Dead is returning soon (Oct. 25), so I won't have time for low-rent Hunger Games knock-offs.

Speaking of The Walking Dead, I swear some of the "wilderness" scenes were shot at the same locations to where our intrepid group of survivors ended up at the end of last season's walking dead. The small waterfall and foundation remnants look very familiar.

And it looks like I'm not the only one that spotted that.

Second episode and the daughter gets stupider and stupider. It's like she WANTS to die. I've seen lemmings with more survival sense than her.

Also, that insurance adjuster looks crazier and crazier. The eye twitch is a nice touch.

It looks like an uninformed plot/storyline Durakken would write. No thank's, I'll pass. The show vastly exceeds my weekly nutritional allotment of Stupid.

Remove the real ramifications of "physics breaking down" it has its good and bad points.

Good- unfortunately the only thing really interesting in the episodes so far is the last ten minutes. And it's those ten minutes alone that keeps me interested.

Bad- I don't particularly like the actor playing the uncle. I don't buy he's some bada$$ killing machine. If you ask me C. Thomas Howell's character felt more like the uncle should.

The fact the uncle didn't kill the guy when she begged is just as stupid as her asking to save the guy in the first place. If he was the killing machine he's supposed to be it would have been over before she said, No don't..............

She'd already killed once before yet they made it like she never had. Then we flash to the story about how Mom did what needed to be done and all of a sudden she's more than willing to kill. Stupid and inconsistent is no way to go through life child.

Nora's shack with the stash to make the gun was completely glossed over and never explained. And sorry, I don't buy that actress as some kind of freedom fighter unless they recruited at the Cat Club right after the power went out.

The Twilightization of Lost.

The HungerGamerization of Lost.

If Jacob 2 isn't cross bolted in an episode or two, these people deserve to die.

Let me guess:

Season 1- Monroe is the bad guy. Until we see how bad it is in another republic. Then we'll wonder if he's really all that bad. Or they'll get captured by the other republic originally thinking they would be better off there and Monroes men will save them.



Season 2- Our team and Monroe will have to ally themselves to fight a potential assault from "insert rival republic that's even more oppressive".

Season 3- The Shadowy people who turned the lights off will end up being the real villains in all of this..............or will they. DUH DUH DUNNNN!

I think the uncle is a believable killing machine. There's a difference psychopathic killing, ala the insurance adjuster, and the guy who does it to survive and has probably done a LOT of it up close and personal. Howell's character, sprinting for the door, strikes me as the opposite. The kind of guy who'll only do it if he's got overwhelming odds on his side and preferably from a distance. I mean, how many people have doddering ol' granddads that they think couldn't have hurt a fly, but find out at some point that were in some of the bloodiest battles of WWII? Looks can be deceiving after all.

The bit with him and Howell in the beginning was probably just his way of showing her that he's right and not to question it further on. It's much easier to show rather than tell.

As for the dollop of eye candy, well, what type of person has a better chance at being an undercover agent or saboteur? Stick in a bit of eye candy that the guards/soldiers wouldn't take for being capable of such things. After all, guys see an attractive face with a nice rack and logical thought goes out the window.

I wanted to like this show, but the lead actress and the writing of her part really is just too irksome.

TiVO season pass cancelled.

I've watched both episodes up to this point. I have always said that for any movie/tv show to be successful, the audience has to be invested in the characters. Part of that relies on writing, and the other part is on the actors' shoulders. Both the acting and the writing seems about middle of the road right now, but after the last episode, I have been left wondering more about the cause of the blackout (both who and what) rather than the outcome of any of the characters. Hopefully, they can change that around in the next episode or two, because I do think that the show has some promise.

How did they explain that whatever shut down all electricity didn't affect those bio-electrical things on the planet? You know the ones made mostly of meat and water, but depend on a small electrical current that runs through their body.
aka Humans.

Obviously there's a current threshold. Below X is okay, above X is inhibited. Of course that would also shutdown ozone production since lightning would be inhibited, unless it's more of a notch filter that a low pass one.

Last night's episode wasn't bad at all. (Granted I was flipping back and forth between it and the Bears thumping the Cowboys.)

Some character development, a little something different on Charlie's face every now and then, but those eyes dominate that face and they just don't change much. I really like Google man - even if they hit on the big electricity secret awfully fast and... randomly...

And once again Charlie's wishes (whether right or wrong) against her uncles advice cost lives and put them in jeopardy. While the episode was ok, if she doesn't wise up even a little bit the show is going to get old pretty fast.

Who here didn't know immediately that the person getting beat up was going to be the officer from the episode?

I get a feeling that Daniel is going to end up indoctrinated by the militia and not want to be rescued by the time they get to him.

Also:

Anyone else think it's weird that Charlie had never heard her uncle was a founding father of the Republic? I mean her Dad told her to find her uncle, which tells me that he knew he'd reformed/left the militia. I get that he'd keep that from her if he was still in it, but since he knew he wasn't why wouldn't he let them know? I mean in a dangerous world like this and as organized as the dad seemed to be you'd think Uncle Miles would have been a potential contingency in case something happened to him and not just a last minute idea.

Well obviously Miles isn't proud what the militia turned into which is why he deserted and became a bartender. Charlie's father probably knew, knew why Miles co-founded the militia and why he chose to escape what it had become. And the rank and file of the militia didn't need to know there was someone other than Monroe.

That Charlie is really getting on my nerves. I would almost think she's bipolar or something, given how she swings back and forth so readily from practically crying over a rebel she just met to coldly shooting a guy with a jury rigged gun. That, and her eyes. Her eyes are creepy as hell IMO. The whole shooting-the-bag bit was stupidly over the top. She's lobing an unfamiliar weighted bolt and managed to hit that backpack dead center at a pretty decent distance while barely aiming? ********.

Would've loved it if Brother had started talking smack about Tinkleton (what I would like to think I would've called him). I don't think he's going to succumb to indoctrination. He's got a little too much hate for the militia, especially the ones that have taken him.

Sniper guy has obviously never learned about target prioritization. You see a guy on horseback with the rest on foot? Shoot the ****** on the horse! I mean, ya, you're going to have to take out the foot soldiers too, but you've got the element of surprise and a tactical advantage to take out your enemy's commanding officer.

Finally, the weapons that the militia were using. I believe those were percussion cap muzzleloaders. They're saying that they can't make the copper casings for bullets, yet they are capable of manufacturing the percussion caps necessary for those weapons to fire (or having a ready supply of the things)? They can accumulate and make mercury fulminate to make the caps, but they can't cast a casing?

Mercury fulminate is dangerous stuff to synthesize. The stuff in it's raw form is pretty darn unstable.

Brother isn't going to succumb to indoctrination, after all the Militia killed his father.

Yes but if he didn't kill the officer we wouldn't have learned about Miles big secret.