Skip to main content

PILOT REVIEW: Revolution

REVOLUTION












Starring: Billy Burke, Tracy Spiridakos, Giancarlo Esposito, Zak Orth, David Lyons, Anna Lise Phillips, Graham Rogers, JD Pardo, Tim Guinee, Maria Howell, and Elizabeth Mitchell

Created by Eric Kripke
Written by Eric Kripke, Directed by Jon Favreau

Revolution is an apocalyptic new sci-fi drama from NBC about a world without power. A mysterious blackout occurs that wipes out everything - lights, phones, etc. The show picks up 15 years later where militias have taken over and the planet has resorted back to a farming society. The cast includes the Matheson family - Dad Ben (Tim Guinee) knows more about the blackout than most and is killed early on by the militia when his son Danny (Graham Rogers) tries to save him. His daughter Charlie (Tracy Spiridakos) and his love interest Maggie (Anna Lise Phillips) are joined by former Google executive Aaron (Zak Orth) as they set out to find Ben's brother Miles (Billy Burke), who is also being pursued by the militia. Other characters include the Monroe Republic warlord Sebastian Monroe (David Lyons), a former friend of Miles', and Monroe Republic captain Tom Neville (Giancarlo Esposito). Rounding out the main cast is a militia soldier Nate Walker (JD Pardo), Charlie's supposedly dead mother Rachel (Elizabeth Mitchell), and a woman (Maria Howell) who tries to hide Danny after he escapes but who also has a big secret and twist at the end of the episode. I won't spoil it!

THE GOOD: There's a lot I really liked about Revolution. It's not like anything else on TV. The whole ambiance of the show is very cool with its throwback feeling set in the future. The opening was intense and set up an interesting storyline while some of visual scenes, such as post-blackout downtown Chicago, were very interesting. Some of the characters are early standouts but none more so than Giancarlo Esposito as the villainous captain. He commands every scene he's in. Despite all the good points to the show, I wasn't sure if I was going to stick with it in future episodes until the very last scene. Now I just have to come back so props to the writers for setting up future episodes with that twist.

THE BAD: Not everything about the pilot worked and unfortunately it was the main characters' quest that I enjoyed the least. I want to like Tracy Spiridakos but she wasn't that believable in this pilot. Her speech to Billy Burke's Miles that ended with "because we're family" was downright bad. She just didn't see driven enough or interesting enough. I hope she grows in the character because it seems like she'll have a lot to do in the weeks to come. I also wasn't a huge fan of Anna Lise Phillips. And my constant fear with a show like this after an intriguing pilot is where will it go from here. It has to tow the line of staying interesting and twisty while not creating too many questions without answers. It's always tough for shows like this, we'll see if Revolution can do it.

BOTTOM LINE: I'll be eagerly awaiting the ratings from Revolution because it is one of the biggest question marks of the season to me. It's good and it's interesting, but will it appeal to all audiences? And can it keep up the quality after the high octane pilot? Like the plot itself, the show is one of the biggest mysteries to me this season and how it does might show if the audience is ready for the next epic mystery or if it will be seen as another dud in the post-Lost era.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

EPISODE GUIDES: That 70s Show Season Seven

On Thursdays, I go through classic series with a critical look at each season. Today I am looking at Season Seven of  That 70s Show ! THAT 70s SHOW: SEASON SEVEN 2004-2005 25 episodes The seventh season of  That 70s Show  is the final season with Topher Grace as a series regular and also the final full season for Ashton Kutcher. Despite still having both of those cast member, the show finds itself flailing especially with Topher Grace's Eric, who is stuck in a terrible arc for most of the season. The show also brings many characters back at one point or another but everything just feels tired. This season actually graded out the worst for me. Even worse than the often maligned final season (more on that next week). Every title this season is named for a Rolling Stones song. Starring Topher Grace as Eric Forman  (25 episodes) Mila Kunis as Jackie Burkhart  (25 episodes) Ashton Kutcher as Michael Kelso  (25 episodes) Danny Masterson as Steven Hyde  (25 e...

EPISODE GUIDES: Rhoda Season Five

On Thursdays, I go through classic series with a critical look at each season. Today I am looking at Season Five (the final season) of  Rhoda ! RHODA: SEASON FIVE 1978 13 episodes Rhoda' s final season was a truncated one as the show was cancelled in December 1978 after only 13 episodes had been produced (and only nine had aired). This feels like a continuation from season four in many ways except with the ill-advised split between Ida and Martin (more on that below). While  Rhoda  has an occasional good moment and even a couple decent episodes, it is a show that seems so wildly different from season one and not in a good way.  Rhoda  could never figure out what it fully wanted to be and only made it four and a half seasons as a result. Starring Valerie Harper as Rhoda Morgenstern  (13 episodes) Julie Kavner as Brenda Morgenstern  (13 episodes) Ray Buktenica as Benny Goodwin  (11 episodes) Kenneth McMillan as Jack Doyle  (9 episodes) Nancy Wa...

SCHEDULES OF THE PAST: 1995-1996 Thursdays

On Tuesdays, I take a look at schedules from yesteryear. Here's a look at Thursdays in the 1995-96 season! ABC 8:00 8:30 9:00 10:00 Sep Charlie Grace The Monroes Various Programs Oct Murder One Nov Various Programs Dec Various Programs Thursday Night Movie Jan Feb World’s Funniest Videos Before They Were Stars! Mar Apr May NBC was the powerhouse on Thursday nights but ABC still gave it the old college try in the Fall of 1995 with a trio of new dramas that they hoped would help them cut into the Peacock's dominance. Headlining their night was Murder One , a high profile new show from Steven Bochco that received much of the network's attention before the season started. The series focused on one murder case for an entire season, whi...