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20 things we learned from the 'Revolution' PaleyFest Panel

How soon will we learn why the power went out? Very!

By Daniel Fienberg Sunday, Mar 3, 2013 1:15 AM

<p>"Revolution"</p>

"Revolution"

Credit: NBC
After Friday night's spoiler-free PaleyFest panel for "The Walking Dead," Saturday night's (March 2) panel for "Revolution" was practically the opposite.
 
Eric Kripke, J.J. Abrams and the cast were fairly forthcoming about what fans can expect both when "Revolution" returns to NBC on March 25 and beyond.
 
That, of course, means that if you want to go in with a completely clean slate, you really don't want to read the information after the break. 
 
So click through for 20 things we learned from the 'Revolution' PaleyFest Panel.
 
20) Nobody on the "Revolution" writing staff cared about the Super Bowl. Remember that whole blackout thing during the Super Bowl and all of the "hilarious" jokes on your Twitter feed about "Revolution"? Well, it turns out that the shows writers weren't even watching the game. They were working on breaking story and one of the assistants read about it on social media. "We all had a moment like, 'Ah. I wish we were airing the next night,'" says Eric Kripke.
 
19) They're overjoyed that they've been gone since November. You may miss "Revolution" and NBC may miss the show's ratings, but Kripke and company are giddy. Well, they're not really "giddy," but they're very good at putting a happy face on the break. "I'm very grateful for it, becuase I think creatively it really paid off and I believe very strongly that the second half of the season is better than the first," Kripke says. They said the same thing at TCA Press Tour in January, so it's gotta be true.

18) Eric Kripke thinks he knows what the show did well in its first chunk of episodes. "I thought we did a pretty great job introducing the characters and these wonderful actors," Kripke says. "Character really has to come first in a show like this and it's more important than the genre and it's more important than the big concept, because stories come and go, but if you can make the characters stick, then I think you have a chance as some longevity and I think we did that well. We got to know them. We got to understand them. They got dimensionalized, they all sorta came to life, which is in a large part due to the incredible job that all of these incredibly handsome people on the stage have done."
 
17) Eric Kripke thinks he knows what the show did less-well in its first chunk of episodes. "I don't think we moved the story fast enough. I think we were treading water once or twice too often," he admits.  "I felt like it was just time to open it up. I started feeling as a viewer towards the last couple like a certain impatience of like, 'I'm ready for this story to go.'" 
 
16) We're going to learn why the lights went out. Soon. Very soon. "It's almost avant garde it's so crazy," Kripke says. "We reveal why the power went out and we do it early. I don't know a genre show that's given up their big mystery that soon, but I think that's sorta the television landscape now and it's my own personal taste. We don't get precious with the answers. We deliver it and we ask a bunch more questions and I think the mystery still continues, but it just keeps evolving and shifting." He seemed to indicate that the answer would be coming in Episode 13.  The March 25 episode is the season's eleventh, so mark your calendar as appropriate.
 
15) Jon Favreau was responsible for making them give the power answer. Rachel (Elizabeth Mitchell) is with the main group and the writers agreed that Rachel would know the answer, so it because a question of how to keep giving her reasons not to tell everybody what she knows. Favreau apparently came into the writers' room and asked "Is there any reason she wouldn't say it?" And nobody had a good answer. If you remember all of the circumstances on "Lost" in which complicated mysteries could have been solved if people would just ask the right questions, this is almost... revolutionary. 
 
14) Those aren't the only answers fans will get. "Every question that has been asked in the first 10, we answer it before the end of the season," Kripke promises. Among the answers we will get: Why did Rachel slap Miles? Where's Grace right now? What was the big event that turned Mikes and Monroe against each other? Plus...
 
13) Aaron (Zak Orth) is reunited with the wife he abandoned. Nobody mentioned this initially when they were mentioning the big upcoming moments between characters, but an audience member asked about it and Kripke was more than happy to answer. "He sees her again and they're able to work out their issues and they do have a face-to-face," he promises. "She's in present day and you catch up with what she's been doing for the past decade or so and then you deal with Aaron. And Zac murders it. He's so good and he's so emotional."He makes it so real, everything he does, so huge props to Zac.. He left her because he thought he was protecting her, but he was a coward to do it and since then he's found his strength and so now he sees her again and so what does that mean for them?"
 
12) Monroe and Nora may have a scene together and that may be notable. Everybody was being very free on the panel talking about collaborations and all of that stuff, but when David Lyons said he just worked with Daniella Alonso, everybody cut him off. So make of that information what you will. Or not.
 
11) Charlie is going to get to be funny. Maybe. A little. Asked about favorite moments, nearly every actor said that their favorite moments are still to come, because that's what you say at things like this.  Tracy Spiridakos' response: "I love right now where I get to see a totally different side of Charlie, which you guys will get to see. She even has a little humorous sides of her. She's evolved into a woman." Wait. Humorous? Charlie? Seriously? But it won't all be humor and womanliness. Charlie's also going to have "a lot of anger and resentment" towards her mother. Expect plenty of answers there as well.
 
[No. 10 - No. 1 on the next page...]
 
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Dan-feinberg-sm
Daniel Fienberg
Executive Editor
A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.
Related Searches: PaleyFest, PaleyFest 2013, Revolution, J.J. Abrams, Eric Kripke

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  • Default-avatar

    Peter D Wilson

    If the first couple episodes was them getting the character stuff "right", then I'm definitely out for this second half. The fact that it's been so long since the last episode only makes it easier for me to drop it and never look back.

    March 3, 2013 at 2:55AM EST Reply to Comment
  • 3_talkback_profile

    Intellectual Ninja

    The only thing Tracy Spiridakos needs to work on is acting.

    Be better at acting.

    Either that, or Revolution needs to find a way to kill her off. Quickly.

    Because she's horrible at acting.

    March 3, 2013 at 2:57AM EST Reply to Comment
    • Default-avatar

      George I agree. Spiridakos character isn't a very believable, or likable for that matter. Much of that has to do with her poor acting, and maybe one poor writing.

      March 3, 2013 at 5:41PM EST
  • Geekfurious_avgf_3d_3_talkback_profile

    Razorback

    The thing they got very right was the flashback stuff. Hell, the whole show should have been that, not 15-years later.

    March 3, 2013 at 3:13AM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    Mojo CoCo

    I REALLY, really hope that Abrams can recognize that this is pretty much the only show since Lost that has been successful with that big mystery angle and it's specifically because they weren't going for a season 7 reveal on everything.

    I'm almost to the point where I wont watch a show anymore if they start trying to go for a long reveal before they've even been picked up for a second season. So hopefully he realizes that and pushed people away from it. Not every show has to be a f'in masterclass in mystery and intrigue

    March 3, 2013 at 10:56AM EST Reply to Comment

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