Review: 'Revolution' - 'No Quarter': Heard it through the grapevine
Miles and Charlie run afoul of the militia and the resistance
Daniella Alonso as Nora and Tracy Spiridakos as Charlie Matheson in "Revolution."
A quick review of last night's "Revolution" coming up just as soon as I Shawshank my way out of here...
Better.
I'm still not in love, but "No Quarter" was overall a more interesting version of the show "Revolution" wants to be than either the pilot or "Chained Heat." This was more of a straight-up B-movie kind of story, with our heroes under siege from overwhelming odds (a classic trope that "Strike Back" also did well with a few weeks ago), with a good guest performance (and well-written character) from "Lost" alum Mark Pellegrino, and the final scene at the end with the Discman and iPhone briefly flaring to life did the job of conveying just how much a world with power would emotionally mean to these people. And the flashbacks to Miles and Sebastian on the road in the months after the blackout is the first time I've been somewhat interested in the backstory to the show. It's a pretty clear arc they've set up — the two form their militia to do good, then it turns into a dictatorship, Miles splits, etc. — but not a bad one. Also, bonus points for Miles using the alias Stu Redman, the hero from the similarly post-apocalyptic "The Stand."
Still don't love either of the Mathison kids (and I'm not sure what value Danny gets out of not-quite-killing a man who still has all this power over him), but the overall level of execution this week made for an iteration of the show I could see myself watching for a bit.
What did everybody else think? And not that anything about the show's laws of physics make sense, but does anyone want to suggest why some kinds of ammunition work and others don't? (Miles' military-issued pistol fired just fine in the flashbacks, after all.)
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Next 84 CommentsJim
October 2, 2012 at 10:41AM EST Reply to CommentI didn't think they were saying some ammo works and others don't. I thought they just meant that good ammo was an expiring resource (they can't make more), so it's rarely seen in the days 15 years after the blackout. Could be wrong though.
War Chief Shake Zula I recall that comment too. Essentially, he said that since actual bullets were rare and non-reproducable, they don't like to use them too much.
October 2, 2012 at 10:48AM ESTJC I think this is right. It's easy to make ammo for a musket (basically it's just a metal ball), but real ammo that has gunpowder and a casing would be impossible to manufacture. Having said that it seems like it would be wasteful to shoot an individual prisoner when you could just stab him or starve him (or a bunch of other horrible things).
October 2, 2012 at 10:50AM ESTRobin I interpreted the same way Jim.
October 2, 2012 at 10:50AM ESTThe ammo deal was one thing that bugged the crap out of me. So, formerly-Jacob makes a big deal out of the fact that there's an ammo shortage, then he immediately has all his troops fire precious bullets at a storefront, where they have no clear targets and they are essentially wasting ammo? Plus -- why is there an ammo shortage? We made bullets before electricity. If the militia is as all powerful as they like to make it out to be, wouldn't they have commandeered a few abandoned steel factories and figured out a way to get the machinery up and running to create weaponry? They've had 15 years.
War Chief Shake Zula I think the processes that are used to create copper jackets and smokeless powder require electricity to work. At least, that was the insinuation.
October 2, 2012 at 11:06AM ESTsepinwall Ah. I didn't quite follow what Pellegrino was saying, but that makes sense.
October 2, 2012 at 11:09AM ESTCoolpeace Just a clarification, I understood that former-Jacob's group were using muskets to fire at the rebel camp. He makes a comment about having to reload while the sniper can just pick off his men.
October 2, 2012 at 11:31AM ESTNeeraj If what he said about bullets being as rare as diamonds is true (which seems unlikely since there are probably loads of bullets in abandoned military bases or hunting stores etc) then it doesn't make any sense that he would execute the prisoner with a rare revolver bullet when he could have knifed him or used a musket on him. Also, after risking their life for the sniper rifle and proving that it alone could basically hold off a small army, Miles and company were way too quick to give it away again. I guess the sniper rifle was basically a McGuffin, but the entire show sorta seems like a McGuffin.
October 2, 2012 at 11:39AM ESTCoolpeace The sniper had used all the bullets in the bag, so giving it away was not an immediate issue.
October 2, 2012 at 11:48AM ESTIntellectual Ninja Exactly. Since there is no ability to press-out casings for rounds of ammunition to create bullets, they have to use single-shot rifles using what I guess would be Minet Balls, as the North used in the Civil War to gain the advantage over the South who mostly still used smooth-bored muskets.
October 2, 2012 at 12:25PM ESTVery easy to create Minet Balls. Melt down ANY metal, pour it into a mold, and there you are. No fine work needed.
Mark in Omaha Agree about ammo being in short supply not that is doesn't work. Also there shouldn't be a shortage of ammunition, especially military rounds. You don't need electricity to make a brass casing, they did it by the end of the civil war. Where is the steam power? Mini` balls, the south had them also, with a french accent at the end that I can't produce here. The military strategy on this show makes as much sense as the physics. You have sniper guy on the roof, you don't send one guy at a time, you send a 6 guys from all directions with the rest providing suppressing fire. Why didn't the rebels post sentries? Why were they in a building with only one exit? And Miles is supposed to be a military guy.
October 2, 2012 at 6:17PM ESTDave I If it were that hard to reload ammo, they would not sell reloading kits, empty brass, and molds. The rationale for there being no ammo was about as sensible as the military strategy Mark in Omaha noted above; nonexistent.
October 4, 2012 at 3:35PM EST-Cheers
the minister Though I'm mostly a "blue state" sort of guy, I enjoy shooting guns & hunting (like, if you won't kill your own food on the odd occasion, you really don't deserve to eat meat.)
October 4, 2012 at 11:39PM ESTHence, I know a little bit about guns & reloading. Not a lot, but enough to know that fifteen years into that blackout, ***everyone who wanted one would have a modern sidearm & a modern rifle & enough ammo to insure a polite society.***
Nothing whatsoever about reloading ammo requires electricity for anything beyond speed and convenience. A mechanical hand press & a fire will suffice.
Furthermore, there are enough guns in the U.S. for everyone to have one with a good few left over... and that's before you count military stock... and that's before the no-supermarket die-off.
This show is so stupid and so note-choked as to beggar belief. It doesn't demand suspension of disbelief. It demands suspension of sentience.
the minister Oh, p.s. for y'all non-gun folks reading Dave I and I, "reloading" in this instance means taking old cartridges, refilling them w/ gunpowder, then affixing new bullets to them.
October 4, 2012 at 11:45PM ESTIt's not especially difficult, and they've been doing it since before electricity (was widespread at least.) Equipment is very common in the U.S. today.
jeff
October 2, 2012 at 10:50AM EST Reply to CommentI'm going to keep watching this show, but primarily because it's the most unintentionally hilarious show on TV right now. I mean, was their plan REALLY to dig a tunnel, complete with support beams and so forth a la The Great Escape, in a matter of hours, by hand? Just fantastic.
Robin I loved the Shawshank Redemption reference. Did Miles not remember that it took them years to dig out of Shawshank?
October 2, 2012 at 10:52AM ESTCombine that reference with the Stand reference and it's obvious at least one of the writer's is a Stephen King fan.
semicolwin The fact that there is some unseen villain named Randall is another King reference.
October 9, 2012 at 4:49PM ESTA
October 2, 2012 at 10:54AM EST Reply to CommentI too felt like the story is finally starting to suck me in. Until last night I was only watching because there is nothing better on in that timeslot. Still, I'd rather watch the flashbacks then the current story arc. Also, what's the body count so far in the series? I'm all for some action but every episode sees the militia dropping another dozen + members. It makes it difficult to believe that they really are as terrifying as they make them out to be.
Raquel_
October 2, 2012 at 11:20AM EST Reply to CommentFor me it was the opposite, I couldn't get myself to pay enough attention to this episode. I was pleased to see Pellegrino and in a couple other moments (mostly the power is back one), but other than that i just rolled my eyes at Charlie or didn't pay attention at all... The lack of Giancarlo Esposito and Elizabeth Mitchell may have something to do with that because they are the only things i genuinely enjoyed on the show so far. I get that the show is still finding it's way and i see some potential in it, but I think i'm done for now. I'll keep checking reviews and people opinions tho, and if i feel like the story got to a point i'll enjoy more, i may come back some day...
bitchstolemyremote Completely agree. This episode felt no different to me than last week: ludicrous plotting, lack of Mitchell & Esposito and Pellegrino wasn't given much to do (luckily he should be back).
October 2, 2012 at 2:30PM ESTCharlie remains a complete waste - 95% of the time she's one of the dumbest characters on TV. It's only when she gets mad that we see potential.
Our Take: http://wp.me/p1VQBq-1uN
Neeraj
October 2, 2012 at 11:35AM EST Reply to CommentI didn't like the Stephen King references. The show should be like Firefly in that there are new pop culture references (and a new economy and new habits and new expressions) that have developed in the past fifteen years. Instead the characters complain about their present and reference our era as if a time machine had just dropped them off in the year 2027. But it's the viewers that have just stepped out of the time machine, and the show is wasting the opportunity to dazzle us with the new gadgets/compromises/customs of a strange new world.
Other Scott What pop culture is there going to be when the destruction of electricity has basically removed any ability they have to communicate over large distances. There may be very localized expressions and common anecdotes, but in terms of references that anybody no matter where they live is going to understand, or references from sources of entertainment, there simply isn't going to be any.
October 2, 2012 at 11:47AM ESTNeeraj Hi, thanks. Actually that's my point perhaps. They should have come up with new ways of making music or pictures (rudimentary instruments and nostalgia artists) - not just helplessly yearning for discman's and iphones. They should have figured out new ways of making/sharing stories (bards or journalists or postmen that wander through rural villages) - not just referencing 35 year old movies that half the population (including perhaps the Priest, who didn't look that old) will never have seen. They should definitely be using new rudimentary but clever and interesting gadgets, instead of using backpacks and belts that would have long worn out. This show could be an immersion into a fascinating alternative world (e.g., Hogwarts) but instead they keep saying and doing things that make me forget what the title sequence is the only thing that remembers - this show takes place 15 years in the future.
October 2, 2012 at 12:09PM ESTJohn There's actually a whole play, called Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play, that deals with this very subject. Basically it involves people trying to reconstruct the Simpsons episode "Cape Feare" from memory, among other things.
October 2, 2012 at 2:40PM ESTStacy But people make references to old shows/books/movies now and we still have a pop culture. I mena people still references Seinfeld despite the fact that the last episode aired 14 years ago and there have been a whole bunch of sitcoms that have come and gone since then.
October 2, 2012 at 7:35PM ESTAnd now I just made myself fell old.
Ed G. Dear Stacy, people make references to things today simply because the can. For instance, Seinfeld is still on in reruns. But in 15 years from now, without electricity, that will be close to 30 years since the last episode. That would be an entire generation that saw the show that's dead and gone, and an entire generation who've never heard of the show. A Soup Nazi joke would never work.
October 3, 2012 at 4:33PM ESTDear Stacy, people make references to things today simply because they can. For instance, Seinfeld is still on in reruns. But in 15 years from now, without electricity, that will be close to 30 years since the last episode. That would be an entire generation that saw the show that's dead and gone, and an entire generation who've never heard of the show. A Soup Nazi joke would never work.
I like NEERAJ's premise. We still sing Stephen Foster songs even though there wasn't electricity when he wrote "Oh Susannah." Also, I would think that the militia would be hunting down subversives who created printing presses and were distributing protests about the militia. The Guttenberg press is still the greatest weapon against oppresive authority ever invented.
Ed G. Also, if there were no electicity, I wouldn't screw up something as simple as copy and paste.
October 3, 2012 at 4:34PM ESTDavid I don't think Miles is necessarily making the references for other people to get. There are plenty of times when I'll quote something or make some pop culture joke, even if other people don't get it, because it makes me feel better. It reminds me of the show/book/movie/song and makes me feel a bit better. I think Miles is making the references because it gives him that connection to a pre-blackout world (and not just that, but a pre-militia world. It's a lot nicer to think about pre-blackout events than it is to think about how he's responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent people.)
October 6, 2012 at 8:26PM ESTDavid Also, it makes sense that both of Miles references were to books, since that seems to be the main form of entertainment (and I guess education) in this world. We've seen characters reading old books, so why not reference what they read?
October 6, 2012 at 8:57PM ESTOther Scott
October 2, 2012 at 11:50AM EST Reply to CommentI agree with Alan. This was better. I feel like I'm dealing with real people now much more than I did from just the pilot. There is still a lot of groan-worthy lines, and not quite enough humour in the story, but this is turning into a show I can see myself watching and mostly enjoying.
Cousin Larry Appleton
October 2, 2012 at 11:57AM EST Reply to CommentThe stuff with Danny was just pointless. I'm not sure what the hell I was supposed to take away from that, other than Danny is kind of capable. Did we need 4 or 5 different scenes to establish this?
Charlie was once again kind of annoying, but she didn't actively irk me this episode as much as she has in the first two. She has an okay scene with the female resistance member (bad with names), even though it, like most of the episode, was full of tropes.
The stuff with the fat guy and british doctor was okay enough, but did anybody else feel that the doctor really underplayed her joy at seeing her kids again? This was supposedly what she had been living for the past ~15 years.
I really enjoyed the Miles stuff this week. I was kinda shocked the show was able to go as dark as it did in the flashback. For the first time, I'm actually pretty excited to see what happened between Miles/Morgan and the pretty interesting Pellegrino character.
The best episode of the three, but there is still room for improvement.
Robin
October 2, 2012 at 11:57AM EST Reply to CommentI so want to like this show, and there were some things that got better last night. Geek and British chick's storyline is interesting. I like Miles, but he keeps getting sucked into the stupidity of his niece. Danny has some potential. I agree that on a logic basis choking the guy who is still holding you prisoner might not make sense, but at least the kid is fighting back. Perhaps he thinks it might win him points with Giancarlo? I would like to see the story of how Miles, Monroe and not-Jacob started the militia and then split. And I am really curious about the pendants.
As I mentioned in another comment, the bullet thing really bugged me. We've had "modern" bullets (ie, those that come with their own gunpowder and igniter) since the mid 1850's. Bullets are fairly simple things when you get right down to it, and if Monroe's militia is so all-powerful and pervasive, surely in 15 years they would've commandeered factories for ammunition manufacture. It does not take electricity to put together a bullet, especially a bullet for the types of old guns they seem to be primarily using.
The world as a whole doesn't make sense. I know we've only seen a small piece of Illinois, but even Chicago appeared to be living in some sort of pre-Industrial Revolution state, except they had existing buildings to live in instead of grass huts. Why, after the initial year or two of chaos and die-offs didn't civilization come back together? Why haven't we recreated steam power and/or windmill power? Purely mechanical means of locomotion do not require the movement of electrons. Why is there a weird lack of roads (last night was the first time I remember seeing pavement) when roads would take decades to completely deteriorate. And on the flip side, if society really HAS devolved so completely in 15 years, why do we have two main characters who act like they have been living in a bubble for 15 years and don't know how to cope in this big, bad world? Why did the geek go barging into a house where he could've easily been ambushed and killed? Why aren't they more careful with the pendant of power? Why does Charlie act like everyone can be trusted and the militia can be stopped when apparently she watched them raid their town for years? She witnessed brutality and yet she still acts like she's never seen that side of humanity before?
If I cared more for the characters, I would have an easier time suspending disbelief and just going with it. As it is, I'm far more interested in the world at large and the mythology, which is, at best, muddled.
Neeraj Agree
October 2, 2012 at 12:11PM ESTPrintin' Mike Excellent post - I completely agree as well. I'll never understand why such post-apocolyptic shows are almost never willing to expend just a little bit of brain power to make their world believable and relatable to the actual human beings in the audience. Why the cartoonish lack of common sense?
October 2, 2012 at 12:32PM ESTCol Bat Guano " Purely mechanical means of locomotion do not require the movement of electrons."
October 2, 2012 at 12:40PM ESTExcept that burning something, like firing a gun or powering a steam engine with wood or coal is essentially an electron transfer. This show's logic falls apart with even the slightest examination.
tatertot Yeah...this is my ongoing problem with the show. It's obviously been written by people who failed Science class, slept through History class, and never bothered to take a Psych 101.
October 2, 2012 at 1:56PM ESTMaka @COL BAT GUANO
October 2, 2012 at 7:49PM ESTIf electron transfer from chemical reactions don't work, then life doesn't exist. Everybody dies. Game over.
Col Bat Guano @MAKA Yeah, that was sort of my point.
October 2, 2012 at 11:14PM ESTRobin This occurred to me last night, and I'm coming back to post it because it's a biggie.
October 3, 2012 at 10:29AM ESTWhat happened to the nuclear power plants when the electricity went off? There are 3 in the Chicago area alone that would've melted down and contaminated Northeastern/North central Illinois (where our main characters live and are running around) with a heck of a lot of radioactive material--probably enough to make growing food very difficult. It seems to me that if you're going to go to the trouble of using real life places to set your story (which they are...all of those small towns they've been in are real), you should probably think of something like that.
ChampSkins
October 2, 2012 at 12:13PM EST Reply to CommentThe more Lost characters the better...
The show started to finally click for me in last night's episode. As Alan said, a solid backstory that will really start to give us a hint into Miles life, who has now become pretty interesting.
Biggest issue I am having right now is Danny... I could realllllly do without him. Outside of that, I think its starting to become pretty decent.
David You say that now, but wait until the show adds Kate and Jack and Ana Lucia. :P
October 6, 2012 at 8:28PM ESTBalaji K
October 2, 2012 at 12:16PM EST Reply to CommentThe third episode was so boring that I'm definitely giving up this time. There's a major twist and it did nothing for me. Charlie is so self-righteous that I feel like punching her face in every episode. And that Google millionaire and the English woman are annoying. Only interesting parts are the flashbacks to the immediate aftermath of the blackout. The show should have been about that.
evolution1085
October 2, 2012 at 12:32PM EST Reply to CommentThe pilot should have done a better job of explaining why technology that was present during the 1700s and 1800s is no longer viable (why can't the british lady get home to see her family? What, they can't build a boat with sails, Columbus was able to do it after all). Where's steam power? Mechanical power? Ed Bagley Jr can run a toaster by biking after all.
Cousin Larry Appleton I've kind of assumed that the Monroe Republic pretty much has everything on lockdown, and is not allowing these practical things like making a boat and setting sail for the UK to happen.
October 2, 2012 at 1:25PM ESTOf course I'm going on assumption, because the show hasn't done a very good job explaining just how powerful and vast the Monroe Republic is. If they are as tyrannical as the show is proclaiming, how far does their power reach? If they're really capable of forcing people to grow them food, and take down American Flags, how do they hold this much power and control? I doubt that it's simply just because they have the most guns...
The characters aren't exactly great, but the biggest fault with the show through three episodes is the world building. For a pilot, I'm willing to roll with "physic's went nuts". At the very least, there needs to be SOME kernels of what this entails, as the show goes on.
Printin' Mike Sadly, I think the basic answer to your question is: “No, the producers of this show haven’t thought about, nor do they care about, any of those questions or concerns.”
October 2, 2012 at 1:49PM ESTInstead, you get the sense that they didn’t think any further than: “Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if, like, all the power went out and stuff, and people had to live in like tribes and stuff? And, we could, like, have sword fights, because they don’t have bullets anymore?”
Robin I was having that exact conversation last night about the Monroe Republic. We've seen exactly zero evidence that they should be so all-powerful. It simply doesn't make sense. If civilization is going to break down as quickly and dramatically as Revolution posits, then it is fairly unlikely that one militia faction is going to gain enough power in 15 years to completely control a territory as large as the US (especially if they haven't figured out how to make bullets). It is far more likely that there would several militia factions similar to the warlord situation in Afghanistan.
October 2, 2012 at 1:57PM ESTFurthermore, if the Monroe militia was started by members of the US military, was there a military coup? Is that why the military is so anti-US-government?
Donovan The Monroe Republic is only in charge of the Chicago Area. It has been hinted that there are other militias
October 2, 2012 at 5:29PM ESTDavid Do we know if her kids are even still alive? I assume they died a while back.
October 6, 2012 at 8:29PM ESTJabby
October 2, 2012 at 2:01PM EST Reply to CommentThe show seems built around a dumb gimmick, and the whole society is stupid -- as in, everyone behaves as if electricity always existed, as if there are no such things as libraries, or that U.S. society never ran itself. The U.S. Continental Congress happened before electricity. The Roman armies governed the world before electricity. The basic premise is ridiculous.
Cousin Larry Appleton A world being run before electricity "existed" is far different from a world that has - essentially - always had electricity. You cannot expect our technology obsessed society to behave the way the Romans or even early Americans did.
October 2, 2012 at 4:19PM ESTOf course, it's a failing on the shows part to not really explore HOW our technology obsessed society would react without said technology. Instead of taking that central point and finding new avenues to explore with it, the show seems content to give us the same post-apocalyptic tropes that we've seen in so many other, better, scenarios.
Jabby Someone commented that they blew a wealth of dramatic possibility by placing the series 15 years after the initial event. Part of it too, is that I feel like the series is made out of narrative spare parts -- a faux Katniss, with her uncle the faux Han Solo, etc.
October 2, 2012 at 4:42PM ESTMark in Omaha Agree. Would the Amish even notice if the power went out? Wouldn't they be in charge by now?
October 2, 2012 at 6:29PM ESTJabby That would be a funny series! "Amish Nation" The Amish ought to be sitting pretty in Revolution. Imagine if the Amish gave up pacifism at the same time. Giancarlo Esposito would be dead within days.
October 2, 2012 at 6:41PM ESTDave I Funny yet poignant points. First, yeah there should be people especially in the rural parts (not to mention the Amish) doing just fine. I am not sure how far society would collapse. Cousin Larry has a point though. We're too reliant on technology. Still, people would go to the libraries and look up how to do stuff like garden, hunt, sew, reload ammo, etc. Still, meet up with your uncle who knows how to bowhunt or fish, or go to that Amish community outside of town and you should do alright.
October 4, 2012 at 3:51PM ESTAs for the faux-Katniss and uncle faux-Han Solo, I caught that too. It just seems too transparent that's where they were drawing from. Mostly though, the faux-Katniss seems too naive and stupid (or at least sheltered and unimaginative) for that role. They not only took obvious parts from iconic stories, they did not do a good job of making them gel or seem particularly believable.
I think this gimmick COULD work. As of yet it has not done so very well. Luckily for NBC, I have a soft spot for Giancarlo Esposito (and Billy Burke and Elizabeth Mitchell for that matter).
-Cheers
B
October 2, 2012 at 2:05PM EST Reply to CommentI want to like this show .. i do .. BUT I CANNOT stand the 2 kids.. ( mostly Charlie ) . Everytime i see her with her " i cant believe you are doing this or this is happening look " i want to slap her in the face and say wake up ! I'm actually hoping they kill her character off next week. Maybe i'll start liking it more..
Darius
October 2, 2012 at 2:21PM EST Reply to Comment@Robin, they did mention that there are multiple militias in the US and the Monroe militia just controlls a certain region. That is why on the last episode Monroe had his men working to get that helicopter and is hell bent on getting the power restored so he can take over the whole country.
Robin Thanks Darius. Obviously I completely missed that reference. That sets up a range of potentially interesting storylines, if the writers are willing to go there.
October 2, 2012 at 3:20PM ESTMojo CoCo
October 2, 2012 at 2:31PM EST Reply to CommentYou know what I love most about this show? It actually gives us some damn backstory. How many other 1 seasoners have we seen trying to set themselves up as a mystery only to abruptly end without anything being answered.
I hope this is a new trend
evolution1085 What answers have been given exactly? We know nothing about the overall mythology of the show, how the United States collapsed even though existed for over a century without any kind of electrical power, and 2/3rds of the show's characters are either negatives or bring nothing of value to the show.
October 2, 2012 at 3:08PM ESTDavid We know (and saw!) that Miles is responsible for forming the militia and how it began. Yeah, we've yet to see the government collapse, but we've got at least another 19 episodes for them to cover that.
October 6, 2012 at 8:32PM ESTHCarvalho
October 2, 2012 at 4:52PM EST Reply to CommentLucifer is back, allways good to see Pellegrino.
lookout
October 2, 2012 at 6:57PM EST Reply to CommentAm I the only one who noticed Independence Hall in last week's episode? It was used as an establishing shot for the final scene where Monroe talks w/ Elizabeth Mitchell. The association of Independence Hall and President/General Monroe suggest that Philly is the capital of the Republic.
Robin THe person I was watching it with also thought that was Independence Hall. But having Monroe's capital be in Philadelphia would imply his territory is far bigger than the Chicago area.
October 3, 2012 at 10:32AM ESTSusan But, there was also a line that implied that Monroe hadn't seen Elizabeth Mitchell in many years. So maybe she's being held in Philadelphia (which would mean Monroe at least has some influence there), but his main territory is Chicago? Just seems possible that his territory is not that big, or at least not contiguous.
October 3, 2012 at 12:54PM ESTlookout Its definitly Philadeplphia. Come on guys. Independence Hall is not some obsecure building that only the trained eye can recogonize. Plus, its clearly colonial, so its got to be somewhere on the East coast.
October 4, 2012 at 3:56PM EST"In Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the seat of the Monroe Republic..."
-Revolution Episode Guide from NBC.com http://www.nbc.com/revolution/episode-guide/season-1/587593/chained-heat/episode-102/621039/
Tom Galloway
October 2, 2012 at 7:31PM EST Reply to CommentA relatively minor bit as compared to the many other problems, but I'm personally annoyed by the Woz clone who claims to have been an early Googler. So far, he's done nothing to even convince me he's an engineer, let alone a really sharp one. And having worked at Google back in 2003, early ones were pretty sharp. He's not shown any interesting knowledge, hasn't made any cunning plans, hasn't been shown tinkering with anything, any sort of out of the box thinking, etc. They tell us he's a smart early Googler, but so far they haven't shown anything that makes me think I should've noticed him walking around the Googleplex.
Col Bat Guano
October 2, 2012 at 7:42PM EST Reply to CommentSo, did all the high collared ladies t-shirts break down first, leaving only scoop-necked versions for them to wear?
Maka
October 2, 2012 at 7:47PM EST Reply to CommentWelp, this show still sucks.
Regarding the bullet thing, metal cartridges containing bullet, powder, and primer existed well before the invention of electricity. The breechloading repeating rifle demonstrably trumped rifled muzzleloaders decades before Edison Electric Light Station first opened its gates.
Charlie needs to die, because Tracy Spiradekos may very well be the worst actress on tv right now.
FistOSalmon
October 2, 2012 at 10:01PM EST Reply to CommentI like it but I'm getting a sinking feeling. This episode felt a little like they were trying to jam as much story into the bunker to save on production costs. I understand you need to make decisions like that but not this soon, I need a few episodes to get to know the characters before you have them trapped by fire in one of the Galactica's store rooms. At this point you can kill 3/4s of the cast off and I'm still missing the dad played by the creepy ex-boyfriend from Blade more. And they ghosted him in the pilot.
The Girl is an issue. The fact that after three episodes I'm still referring to one of the ostensible leads as "The Girl" because I can't remember her character's name is a bad sign. And way to good looking to be a survivor. She doesn't give the impression she could survive running out of gas, I'm sorry but even in a post apocalyptic dystopian future hot chicks don't have to learn to shoot a crossbow.
They also blew a chance to turn "The Kid" into whatever his character's name is by not having him choke the militia guard to death. For starters it's a stupid move that guarantees yourself another beatdown from the guard as soon as he catches his breath. And how much more interesting would this storyline be if he chokes out the guard, turns around and then sees Neville and gives him a this-could-be-you-next look. Now you've set up the flashback where Miles shoots the WWE guy up to work on another level.
Maybe Neville thinks he can bring him over to the dark side riff or set him up to kill Monroe when he takes him in the tent with a set of unlocked handcuffs on so he can take this whole thing over and run it Fring Style. That's a show I'm watching. This might as well have come with a memo from some asshole network exec saying "The audience has to like the kid, can't he just choke him a little and then let him go so he's not a killer?"
The flashback stuff was good (the only part of the episode I liked) but there needs to be some effort made at making the actors look different ages at different times. Miles is too old in the flashback and Monroe is too young in the present. You can't tell Billy Burke to just play it all wide-eyed and expect it to go, throw some makeup on the guy or at least gel the lens or something. Ideally hire two actors to play the part.
I'm giving it one more week. Not that I don't like it enough to stick with it even with it's flaws, (Hell I still watch The Office albeit the same way I water the dead plant in my living room) I just don't want to end up yet again invested in a network show that is not going to be picked up for a second season and ends with too many unanswered questions because someone with a intriguing idea got pressured into 4 quading the thing by a guy in a suit that needed to sell some car insurance and viagra.
Frankly the episode made me mad, I feel like I'm being reeled in again.
Cousin Larry Appleton It got picked up for a full season. There's been pretty solid retention throughout the first three episodes, and the 18-49 numbers have been really good.
October 2, 2012 at 10:40PM ESTThree episodes is a pretty small sample size, but there's nothing to suggest - yet - that there won't be a second season. Especially considering it being NBC and all...
FistOSalmon Three is a small sample and it did get picked up for the rest of this season but still... I'm getting that feeling. If Warren Littlefield was still running NBC I'd be more optimistic about them giving it room to grow but those people have been all over the map the last few years and the people that cut the crap out of the Tonight Show at Comcast are going to be the ones making this decision too. It's one thing to ink over something you have penciled in and the numbers don't have to be stellar to make an extra nine scripts that are already written on locations you have already scouted with cast and crews locked in. The math is a lot different to start it all over next year.
October 3, 2012 at 12:43AM ESTAnd this cast is a problem. Except for the fat guy, Gus Fring and Miles these people are either blanks or Abercrombie and Fitch models. It seems intended to be a Lost-style ensemble but everyone on that show popped for me the first time they were on screen and it doesn't seem I'm alone in feeling that.
The other thing I'm noticing is visually it feels like Terra Nova when the concept calls for Game Of Thrones. Just small and boxed in and that's something that people pick up on in the long run.
I do feel bad for referencing Terra Nova (which also got a full first season I think) since this show is hell of a lot better than that one. But still...
DiamondMom
October 2, 2012 at 10:22PM EST Reply to CommentThe flaws are making me crazy, but there's enough there that is intriguing me about the premise and the back story of the creation of the militia will keep me watching a little while longer. Plus, the subtle Back to the Future reference (Lone Pine Mall) was a nice pay off.
Susan
October 3, 2012 at 1:18PM EST Reply to CommentStill no love for the erstwhile Carlotta? Maybe after she rescues Danny she'll make him a man.
alan
October 3, 2012 at 8:41PM EST Reply to Commentled zeppelin song titles for the episodes?
alan
October 3, 2012 at 8:42PM EST Reply to Commentled zeppelin song title for episode titles?
rwmcgee
October 4, 2012 at 4:10AM EST Reply to CommentDies the Fire by SM Stirling...why not just adapt THAT?
Dave I
October 4, 2012 at 3:32PM EST Reply to CommentI just caught up with this show.
Considering who is involved, this should be much, much better. It's a world where a walk from Middle-of-Nowhere, IL to Chicago takes ~five minutes, if you shoot somebody running at breakneck speed toward you with a crossbow bolt they fly backward 10 yards, there is no shortage of conditioner as evidenced by Charlie's flawless locks, despite the lack of electricity there are some like-new-in-box designer clothes (Charlie's equally flawless leather jacket).
The ammo makes no sense to me. Haven't any of these people heard of a reloading kit? You do not need electricity to make bullets. I also fail to understand how the sniper on the roof firing a bolt-action (without a magazine?) can rattle off shots like he's shooting a semi-automatic AR15 up there. I'm not in the armed forces, however that seemed pretty fast for a bolt action especially for somebody who presumably does not get much chance to shoot a whole bunch and was firing this gun for the first time. Which seems kind of a stretch until we have somebody (Jacob?) playing Russian Roulette with a prisoner apparently for real without knowing where the bullet was in the cylinder (unless I missed him checking, I thought he spun the cylinder), explaining bullets are super rare, then shooting him anyway after he gave you the information you wanted. Brilliant! It's not like you have a bunch of swords lying around or something.
Ignoring Laws of Physics aside . . . These characters are largely annoying and wallowing through overused tropes on the way to tired cliches. Charlie is so annoying it's almost fun just roll your eyes and yell at her. Almost. She's annoying and she is only the "hero" of the story because they focus enough camera time on her for us to get it that she is the protagonist. She also lacks imagination, not even being able to envision how the fall of civilization might somehow tie her uncle to this militia man and then cause them to split. Except that it means Miles is bad, or something. Otherwise, she sucks. She thinks her dad was a coward? I wanted to slap the ingrate. Her plan to one-up her dad? Charge the armed soldiers! ARGH! Terrible character and not much better acting of said terrible character. Danny is whiny and annoying too. I got why he didn't kill the guy, that actually made sense to me and he probably gained Gus', er, Neville's respect and avoided the repercussions of killing another of Monroe's men. Still, too much of a wussy pretty boy. None of the rest made too much of an impression on me, just the presumed heroes of the story are not compelling at all.
Billy Burke is good though, very solid. His character seems almost self-aware of how ridiculous Charlie is in virtually every line. He's also WAY too good as a sword. Pirates of Penzance good (or so I'd imagine, never saw that). Still, he's likeable and you at least buy he's a capable human being.
Giancarlo Esposito. Amazing actor adding depth to a bad guy. What more can I say? I loved him as Gus and he is one of the only reasons I've stuck with it through three episodes. I could gush about Esposito for hours.
I will give the show credit for not milking out some things out forever. Like Elisabeth Mitchell's character being "dead" for too long, or Tim Guinee's character's actual death. I figured Mitchell was alive since they never showed/explained how she died. It just shocked me they showed her alive in the second episode. On the other hand, the fact I predicted that correctly after the pilot sort of undermines the secret (at least to us) since it was so predictable. Plus, it's Elisabeth Mitchell! She is amazing, so you knew they were not going to just show her in that one flashback then say "oh, she's dead, nevermind how or when just move along." Also, Aaron and the USB drive (or whatever it is) that makes electricity work. If it were that important, why didn't Ben Matheson download whatever to it earlier since power could have died mid-download and he's screwed? Anyway, why didn't Ben play with it a little? Look for buttons, some recognizable plug-in, anything? He's some former Google exec, why not look for some sign of how to use it or connect it? Weird.
This episode was better, however it was still pretty cheesy. The show is awful. I'm sticking in a bit longer because of the cast and some vague hope it might get better along the way. That and camp value. Still, so far this show is flat out not very good and has been a huge disappointment.
-Cheers
Dave I One more minor observation. Everybody looks like they skipped right past the gun shop and straight to the health & beauty aisle at the retail shopping marts for Crest Whitening strips. Seriously, fifteen years later and they've got brighter teeth than J-Lo and P-Diddy sipping Ciroc on ice. Not to nitpick, yet this is the kind of stuff that takes me out of the moment when you're doing a show based fifteen years after everything goes to pot. It doesn't have to be The Road, yet a little awareness of the story you are telling would be nice.
October 4, 2012 at 3:40PM EST-Cheers
Jason >'m not in the armed forces, however that seemed pretty fast for a bolt action especially for somebody who presumably does not get much chance to shoot a whole bunch and was firing this gun for the first time.
October 4, 2012 at 10:11PM ESTHARTMAN: All right, knock it off! Two hundred and fifty feet! He was two hundred and fifty feet away and shooting at a moving target. Oswald got off three rounds with an old Italian bolt action rifle in only six seconds and scored two hits, including a head shot! Do any of you people know where these individuals learned to shoot? Private Joker?
JOKER: Sir, in the Marines, sir!
HARTMAN: In the Marines! Outstanding! Those individuals showed what one motivated marine and his rifle can do! And before you ladies leave my island, you will be able to do the same thing!
(Speaking of outdated pop culture references...)
Dave I @Jason, nice! That scene actually came to mind. I was wondering if somebody would pipe in "But Oswald . . ."
October 5, 2012 at 12:39PM ESTI'd also like to think of Kubrick as more timeless and less outdated though. ;)
-Cheers
Oliver
October 10, 2012 at 2:32PM EST Reply to CommentThis episode was terrible. I gave up half way through, and I don't think I will check back later on Revolution.
That is just not a good show.
Bryan
October 15, 2012 at 11:04AM EST Reply to CommentLots of smart comments here. I think high concept syfy needs to happen more often on TV. I'm with the comments questioning if these guys can pull off the details of this story without turning into a trope machine. Or worse Lost's unanswered questions monotony.
Great point this world is not the same as the pre-industrial age. Our great grandfathers knew how to live off the land because they were taught by their fathers. The few people today who know how to farm and make useful things by hand would likely be overrun by hoards of attorneys, accountants and other such minimally useful professionals in this new world.
The intro featuring a dilapidated Capital building is great. Say Congress was not in session when the event happened. How likely would the body ever reconvene? The members would have to walk back to DC from Cincinnati, San Francisco, etc.. Remember how few horses we have now in comparison to even a hundred years ago. Even if they were in session who would know it?
So far they haven't done anything mind boggling dumb, it's a good bet they will soon... this is network TV. In the mean time, hats of for the concept and first rate action scenes.
willifp
October 17, 2012 at 1:20PM EST Reply to CommentThe only, ONLY, reason I'm watching this show is because Giancarlo Esposito is in it. He was a revelation as Gus Fring on Breaking Bad - and the material he's gotten in "Once Upon a Time" and here in "Revolution" is so beneath him. I keep hoping that he'll once again get material that is worthy of him, but until I can no longer bear the waste of his talent (and the irritating facial expressions of Tracy Spiridakos) I'll keep watching "Revolution."
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