Unsettled Christianity

The first episode officially premiers 17 September, but the initial preview is available on most online sites that house such things. I have expressed my displeasure at this show because it seems to take off of S.M. Stirling‘s series. Suddenly, electricity dies. “Physics went insane.”

That’s an opening line. It starts in the modern era with the a rushed husband and father coming into the house commanding his woman to fill up the tubs. The power dies.

The show picks up 15 years later. Weeds have overgrown the city. Deer walk the streets of San Francisco.  Like other shows of our period, it is filled with flashbacks. Over all, it is what I thought it would be when it comes to the scenery. A poor attempt at showing an age progression of fifteen years when civilization has ceased. Sure, there is a Prius serving as a flowerbed, and the houses all look new, and the clothes barely worn. I cannot believe the same guy who directed Iron Man and the gam guy who created Lost is behind this.

Abrams needs to stick with Star Trek – no more original stuff. He has grown too puffed up, if you will.

Anyway, the world is overrun with militias, all carrying cross bows that looked like they just came out of Wal-Mart. Also, a gun or two (something not allowed in the Stirling world). The militias have tattoos - something from the Postman (a book from the late Eighties, and a Costner flick). Anyway, after a skirmish, lots of people die. The stars of the show are quickly identified with lots of interpersonal conflict.

Saw and AC/DC shirt and some rubber tires. Really? 15 years and those things survive? Sure, McDonald’s food will survive because of the preservatives, but I doubt AC/DC shirts will.

I think they even have the stone quarry from The Walking Dead as well as the roadside park seen at the end of season two of the same series. In one scene, a church is seen in what is a reclaimed lake, I guess. Religious symbolism? Not sure. I mean, they run across an old airport; I doubt that represents any symbolism related the death of the airline industry. Unlike Lost, there is no sense of mystery. Granted Jericho had a little bit of mystery (and that’s not the only Jericho rip off either), but if you wanted a real show, one based on drawing the audience in, Abrams needed get a bit more Lost. The producers/creators needed supernatural elements. Again, this is the thing Stirling provided his readers – that something beyond us, beyond government conspiracies, beyond our plans, has done this to us for a reason. We need to find that reason, and that is the fun part. Revolution is, for all intents and purposes, a rather boring, atheistic, mundane show. Nothing beyond us, beyond our jealousies, our attempts as control, exist in this show. Sure, we can laugh at the ex-Google executive begging for some two-ply, but honestly, who cares?

The main problem is that they crammed a lot into an hour. They should have developed this over the course of a few shows, or better, never shown the show at all. It is just too similar to other post-civilization shows/books/movies to stand out. The acting is poor, the sets disingenuous, and the dialogue mundane. I do not feel for these characters; they are comical. No heart, no passion, no compunction to care. This show will last 13 episodes, with the last few aired just to air them. The only hope, the only absolute hope for this show is the flashbacks.

Nothing to see here, folks. Just passing through…

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• NBC streams pilot episode of J.J. Abrams’ ‘Revolution’ two weeks before broadcast debut (theverge.com)