Show review: Revolution

I don’t watch a lot of TV and what I do is on either Netflix or Hulu. A while back a friend of mine, knowing my love of post apocalyptic fiction, told me about this show. The plot summary for Revolution via IMDB is:

“Our entire way of life depends on electricity. So what would happen if it just stopped working? Well, one day, like a switch turned off, the world is suddenly thrust back into the dark ages. Planes fall from the sky, hospitals shut down, and communication is impossible. And without any modern technology, who can tell us why? Now, 15 years later, life is back to what it once was long before the industrial revolution: families living in quiet cul-de-sacs, and when the sun goes down lanterns and candles are lit. Life is slower and sweeter. Or is it? On the fringes of small farming communities, danger lurks. And a young woman’s life is dramatically changed when a local militia arrives and kills her father, who mysteriously – and unbeknownst to her – had something to do with the blackout. This brutal encounter sets her and two unlikely companions off on a daring coming-of-age journey to find answers about the past in the hopes of reclaiming the future.”

The show airs on NBC on Mondays at 10/9c and the next day on Hulu.

First Impressions

So far I’ve seen the first two episodes of this show and will probably watch the third today. Probably not definitely though. I enjoy parts of the show. Just enough to have watched two episodes and possible the third. I have had a hard time connecting to any of the characters. Mostly because the character development has been slow and poor. I really don’t know much about them yet and am not very intrigued to learn more. The acting is not very good either. The protagonist Charlie (Charlotte) is very dull and uninteresting. For some reason I have a hard part believing any emotion from the entire cast. The sets though look believable and gorgeous. This show has some serious plot holes though.

Broken Physics

The world revolution is set in has no power of any kind. That means that batteries are dead, gas and diesel engines don’t run and any sort of electrical energy seems to have broken. Some mysterious man-made event broke the laws of physics. Chemical reactions are selectively nullified. I have not seen it but am assuming that gas does not combust?! Batteries that had energy is no longer accessible. To me it seems that all electrical energy has been removed from the world and any reaction to produce it does not work. Other chemical reactions still seem to work though. Gun’s, although now a limited commodity, still fire. I also have not seen any steam power. My suspension of disbelief can only go so far and a man-made power nullification field (I made that up) around the entire earth that completely breaks the laws of physics is too far for me. I try watching and paying attention but mostly I am thinking well this is crap. I can deal with minor breakage of physics in shows. The more unrealistic the show is the more I can tolerate. Shows based in our reality that break them this hard though, not so much.

Environment

This is where the show shines. The sets and environment are gorgeous. I can definitely envision an post apocalyptic America looking somewhat like this. The return to an agriculture based life, smaller villages and nature destroying the dominance we’ve imposed in it. I love seeing the overgrown cities and landscape. The show takes place 15 years after the blackout and nature is grown a lot in that time. I really think that the show creators spent a lot of time on this aspect of the show. Another thing I like is the re purposing of no longer useful parts of life. In the first episode I saw a car being used as a raised bed garden. It’s almost like the old world has become ruins. Similar to inhabitants of the dark ages looking at the marvels of the Romans.

Conclusion

Not to be too hasty but I’m going to give this show one more shot. I’ll watch the third episode later today. If I’m not hooked by then I’m giving up. Poor characters development, bad acting and plot issues are a lot to ignore. To be honest I may have only continued watching so long because of the lush environment. That’s just not enough to devote my time for. Let’s hope for something exciting in episode #3.

Have you seen this show? Whats your thoughts on it? Agree or disagree let me know in the comments.

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