You’ve seen the commercials. You’ve heard the hype. Now there’s only one thing you want to know: Which of the new fall shows are worth watching and which should be avoided at all costs? In this continuing series, we give you the scoop on some of the most highly-anticipated shows of the season, with today’s subject being NBC’s REVOLUTION.
The Boilerplate: Since these pilot presentations may go through numerous rewrites and casting changes prior to premiere, this by no means should be considered an official review. Rather a preview of what one can expect come Fall.
The Plot: 15 year following an inexplicable worldwide blackout, the death of father Ben Matheson at the hands of a local militia results in daughter Charlie embarking on a mission to find her kidnapped brother and discover the truth about her family’s involvement in the catastrophic blackout.
The Cast: REVOLUTION stars Billy Burke (Twilight) as Miles, Tracy Spiridakos (BEING HUMAN) as Charlie, Anna Lise Phillips (TERRA NOVA) as Maggie, Graham Rogers (MEMPHIS BEAT) as Danny, JD Pardo (A Cinderella Story) as Nate, Zak Orth (Romeo + Juliet) as Aaron, Maria Howell (The Blind Side) as Grace, David Lyons (THE CAPE) as Bass, Giancarlo Esposito (BREAKING BAD) as Capt. Tom Neville and Tim Guinee (Iron Man) as Ben.
The Snap Judgment: REVOLUTION is everything one might expect from a J.J. Abrams post-apocalyptic action-adventure. Of course, depending on your point of view, “everything one might expect from a J.J. Abrams series” can be either a positive or a negative. Which is to say, on the one hand, Abrams, alongside co-creator Eric Kripke (SUPERNATURAL) may be guilty of being a bit overly ambitious when it comes attempting to tell a story featuring an ever-expanding cast of characters, some more memorable (Giancarlo Esposito FTW!) than others (Full Disclosure: thanks to TERRA NOVA and V we may have hit our breaking point when it comes to angst-ridden teenagers sporting Bieber-style coifs). On the other, the pilot (Directed by Iron Man’s Jon Favreau) far exceeded our expectations when it came to crafting a compelling story that intersperses daughter Charlie’s mission to save her brother with the mysterious circumstances surrounding that caused the blackout fifteen years prior. In short, REVOLUTION is one of the few Fall hour-longs that has us anxiously awaiting to find out what happens next. Particularly after recent casting announcements that has LOST alum Elizabeth Mitchell replacing Andrea Roth as Ben’s dearly departed wife and FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS’ Daniella Alonso enlisting as a rebel fighter.
The Conclusion:: If the definition of insanity is repeating the same mistake over and over expecting different results (See: THE EVENT and FLASHFORWARD) we’re proud to come out as crazy for NBC’s REVOLUTION.
REVOLUTION premieres Monday September 17th at 10PM on NBC (CityTV in Canada)