Revolution: The Complete First Season

Another network, another show about the apocalypse. No matter if you're at home or at the theater, there always seem to be an apocalyptic movie or TV show you can watch. Hollywood is obsessed with these end-of-world projects. Maybe Hollywood knows something we don't. With the huge success of 'The Walking Dead', 'World War Z', and any other world apocalypse show, NBC wanted to cash in on this idea. So the creator of 'Lost', J.J. Abrams, creator of 'Fringe', Bryan Burk, and the creator of 'Supernatural', Eric Kripke all came together and formed an apocalyptic show called 'Revolution'. This apocalypse doesn't have aliens, zombies, or monsters in it though. But the lack of electricity is what sent our world in downward spiral till its ultimate collapse. The idea is strong with this one, but the execution and maybe the fact that it's on NBC gives this series a less than average rating.

I know it's all about the money, but I would hope that these primetime networks could push out a little more quality more often than they do. And this is supposed to be a gritty end-of-world show, it's completely polished, vague, and suitable for the entire family, which it shouldn't be, given the plot. There isn't anything here that is a surprise, although the show would like to leave you in suspense at every break and fear of what's to come next. But the problem here is that you already know what's coming, because it's so blatantly obvious. If you're looking for that next great show or movie about the apocalypse, then you might want to look elsewhere.

If you're unfamiliar with the premise of 'Revolution', the backstory is that something happened over a decade ago that caused all the electricity to stop. Nothing electronic works anymore. No cars, boats, trains, or planes work. Not to mention TVs, computers, or phones. And since we as a people cannot supposedly function without this (they functioned over 150 years ago), a 'Mad Max' scenario has played out with evil militias and criminals stockpiling weapons, holding out on all the food, killing people, and trying to take over the world with their evil plans.

Unfortunately, there is not a whole lot of epic scope here as the series takes place more than a decade after the fall of civilization and centers on the Matheson family as they try to survive the militias and find a way to restore the electricity to the world. We take in this apocalyptic world through the eyes of Charlie Matheson (Tracy Spiridakos), a young woman who has seen some of her family killed in the huge blackout aftermath, but has formed a group of survivors as they never seem to avoid danger on their quest. Charlie's uncle Miles (Billy Burke) is an ex militia leader and is now a good guy, and the two look for Charlie's younger brother who was kidnapped by the militia. There is also a tech geek who knows science and technology, and a few other people who can handle weapons. It's all very stereotypical, uninteresting, and nothing you haven't seen before.

The creators of this show must have loved Giancarlo Esposito (Gus Fring) from 'Breaking Bad', because they cast him in a villain role, and it's pretty much the same character. Throughout this first season, we see the small history of the blackout, some of Charlie's family members who might have had a role in the blackout, and some decent action scenes throughout the 20 episodes. The set pieces, effects, and talent here are very good. However, the script and storyline hinder all of these. These actors try their best with what they're given, but it comes off as lazy and tiresome. Esposito is fun to watch though.

Sure, some main characters come to their bitter end in the first season, which should be causing shock and awe, but it is very predictable and formulaic throughout. There is not one scene where you would say, "I didn't see that coming." I know this is currently in its second season, but this show just doesn't live up to its competition on other networks.