Revolution: Can they ruin it more?

[MikelaC1]

Last year, Revolution was a pretty good show, perhaps could have used less of a Hunger Games feel to it, but all in all, one of the better shows out there. But this year? It really sucks.
You have the magic fireflies who can raise the dead, the computer geek who can set random people on fire, at least 5+ different factions all working at cross purposes and whom are either evil, stupid or both. You cant want any of these sides to "win." On top of that you have the psycho daughter who has never met a plan she cant screw up by being too headstrong to follow it.

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And to top it all off, last night they clearly killed one of the BBEGs, but the ending of the show and the previews quite clearly show him coming back, courtesy of those magic fireflies, no doubt

Its amazing how much networks can ruin a show once they put their mind to it.

[Tyndmyr]

Pretty much all those problems existed from the start. Granted, I really was hoping for more from Gus Fring, and the actor did his best, but at the end of the day, it's not much more than sort-of-magic justifying pretty people killing bad guys with crossbows.

Sort of. It's not as if the main char is competent in any way. Really, the whole show is kind of like a half-baked D20 modern campaign.

[Palanan]

You know, I was thinking about starting a thread with a title like, "Revolution: Did It Ever Improve?" but you've pretty much answered that.

I watched the first four or five episodes, a little ways past when they killed off the British woman, who honestly was the best character in the series so far--she had a heartbreaking story and an almost legendary journey already behind her, and she wasn't done yet. But stupidly, they killed her off, apparently just to convince the viewers that they were Telling A Harsh Story, really.

After that, I watched a couple more episodes, decided it was truly pathetic, and took my eyeballs elsewhere. Recently I looked at a few minutes of one episode, where Miles was being pleasantly surprised by Hot Unrealistic Latina Freedom Fighter Babe, and decided I just didn't care enough to watch any more.

It sounds like it's gone from its cheesy, tottering beginnings to a full-fledged, unrepentant patheticality. This stuff survives, and the few rare gems are always canceled?

[navar100]

I unfortunately agree. I very much enjoyed the first season, but now I'm annoyed. Aside from the power being out nothing about the show is the same. They changed the premise. There is no one to root for. Even taking for granted the Patriots really are the U.S. Government they're a bunch of scumbags as everyone else.

Agreed, it was rather evil to have nuked Philadelphia and Atlanta, but at least there was logic to it. To retake the country they needed to get rid of the Militia power bases. The show needn't have gone all Yankee Doodle Dandy, but it's all so depressing I can't stomach it anymore.

Contrast with The Walking Dead. It too is a depressing scenario but there are defined heroes to root for. You care about what happens to them. They even got me to care about Merle, poor Daryl.

[molten_dragon]

Last year, Revolution was a pretty good show

No, it really wasn't. Revolution was pretty terrible from the start.

Not a single one of the characters was likable. The brother and sister both needed to grow the hell up. The brother in particular had several opportunities to learn to look out for number one and never did.

They kept trying to make the black military guy seem likable, like he was just trying to take care of his family, but he repeatedly treated other people like crap for no good reason.

The uncle came off like he had bipolar disorder. Half the time he loved his niece and nephew and wanted to help them, and the other half of the time he couldn't care less about them.

And the scientific premise of the show was horrible too. It seems like the writers never bothered to learn that the industrial revolution started long before electricity was invented. There were advancements in weapons technology that fell between civil war era muzzle-loaders and modern weapons. Why did no one in the show have a lever action or bolt action rifle?

[t209]

And the scientific premise of the show was horrible too. It seems like the writers never bothered to learn that the industrial revolution started long before electricity was invented. There were advancements in weapons technology that fell between civil war era muzzle-loaders and modern weapons. Why did no one in the show have a lever action or bolt action rifle?

Well, they did have trains, steam boats, and Georgia Federation was actually economically and militarily stronger than Monroe Republic. We did see sniper rifles and automatic weapons but some said that bullets were too expensive to manufacture.

[danzibr]

Well, this thread makes me feel better. I stopped watching it a couple episodes into season 2, when

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they just cross the border into the Georgia Federation or whatever.

Now I can happily not look back.

[Kitten Champion]

I stopped watching after the second episode of the first season. I didn't like the characters generally and found their rather... well maintained appearance to be detracting from the setting they were trying to establish.

It also seemed like it was just going to be one of those endlessly convoluted plots which becomes increasingly insufferable with every season as they need to do more and more to keep your attention.

Although I had begun to question my assertions, the advertisements coming into this season were interesting. Good to know I wasn't too wrong, I'd hate to actually invest in this show and then finding myself doing nothing but complaining about it.

[Hiro Protagonest]

I stopped watching after the second episode of the first season. I didn't like the characters generally and found their rather... well maintained appearance to be detracting from the setting they were trying to establish.

It also seemed like it was just going to be one of those endlessly convoluted plots which becomes increasingly insufferable with every season as they need to do more and more to keep your attention.

Although I had begun to question my assertions, the advertisements coming into this season were interesting. Good to know I wasn't too wrong, I'd hate to actually invest in this show and then finding myself doing nothing but complaining about it.

I watched quite a bit longer than you did, desperately hoping it would get better (because I had coincidentially heard of Emberverse when carpooling to a big SCA event during the time period where they were showing the trailers), but yeah, not being able to stand the character with the most screen time and the other character who's usually on-screen when she's not is a dealbreaking flaw for me.

Plus, the "comic relief" turned out not to be comic relief (not that I really wanted any, although the occasional joke would be good. Utter seriousness is what eventually drove me to stop watching Grimm), just a rather whiny way of portraying both sides of the big plot point.

[Fjolnir]

It really cheesed me off that there was steam powered tech yet no operable lightbulbs, I could understand "computers don't work" or something, but seriously the world would change to 1920's-1960's tech rather than 1850's tech as people go to their local library and figure out that RESISTORS would likely still work so you would end up with large scale mechanical computers the size of warehouses to do the work of the laptop sitting on my desk. but apparently nobody has hooked a steam engine to a magnet yet and saw that it still does eletrocute people...

[Hiro Protagonest]

It really cheesed me off that there was steam powered tech yet no operable lightbulbs, I could understand "computers don't work" or something, but seriously the world would change to 1920's-1960's tech rather than 1850's tech as people go to their local library and figure out that RESISTORS would likely still work so you would end up with large scale mechanical computers the size of warehouses to do the work of the laptop sitting on my desk. but apparently nobody has hooked a steam engine to a magnet yet and saw that it still does eletrocute people...

I figure that the entire world is coated in an EMP field. Don't care what the actual reason is, that's the most sensible one, even if it does mean that nobody's figured out old cars still work.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Kitten Champion
It also seemed like it was just going to be one of those endlessly convoluted plots which becomes increasingly insufferable with every season as they need to do more and more to keep your attention.

I've certainly had that sense from the tiny snippets I've seen here and there.

But really, it was the accelerating awfulness of the first few episodes that really drove me away. When the resolution to an episode requires the toughened survivalist thugs to act like completely naive idiots....

Also, one thing that instantly annoyed me was how people in flashbacks looked exactly the same fifteen years ago as they do now, despite those fifteen years being desperate, hardscrabble times in the best of cases. Years of manual labor out in the sun will age you, but the show never even bothered with minimal makeup effects.

And the techie guy who used to work for Google...how, exactly, does he remain comfortably overweight over those past fifteen hardscrabble years? Even walking around the village will have its effects, not to mention living on grains and venison.

And so on. So much of the show, from what I saw, just didn't even try to think about these things. And when they did they made it worse.

[Coidzor]

I hadn't heard of it before and now I know I'm probably never going to watch this.

[Kitten Champion]

The niece pissed me off quite a bit. These are the values of a 1st world child in a coddled environment, not someone who's seen people descend into madness fighting over the last scrap of meat. When I watch post-apocalyptic fiction I expect values' dissonance, it's part of the intrigue. Being altruistic in this setting means something more when you're aware it could really mean your death... but not when you're just stupid and self-righteous. I don't support people who are good by rote, and condescend to those who've actually been dealing with the **** of the world while you were in your crib.

I might have been okay with that, if they developed her character into something not so infuriating later... but there were too many other hints that this wasn't going to be a very good show.

Also, one thing that instantly annoyed me was how people in flashbacks looked exactly the same fifteen years ago as they do now, despite those fifteen years being desperate, hardscrabble times in the best of cases. Years of manual labor out in the sun will age you, but the show never even bothered with minimal makeup effects.

And the techie guy who used to work for Google...how, exactly, does he remain comfortably overweight over those past fifteen hardscrabble years? Even walking around the village will have its effects, not to mention living on grains and venison.

Yeah, this is pretty big for me.

He looks like he went camping for a weekend, not survived the collapse of modernity. They all do. The sense that their society is at its nadir is sharply contrasted by their well manicured nails, styled hair, supple physique, and generally well-maintained clothing.

I mean, goddamn it... look at them.

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I realize you have to make some concessions to television's vanity, actors are generally going to be physically attractive even when it contradicts realism because that's just how things are... but make an effort to consider what exactly you're supposed to be portraying.

[Hopeless]

I figure that the entire world is coated in an EMP field. Don't care what the actual reason is, that's the most sensible one, even if it does mean that nobody's figured out old cars still work.

I remember an old comic with a similar premise but they explained a satellite network was responsible and was destroyed by a meteor shower so the hero turned on the switch for the old generator system that was used as a church by the theocracy of that future who believed a worthy hero would restore the power.

From what I recall some idiot activated that network of satellites which rendered the advanced technology useless by nullifying their means of generating electricity it still had guns though I don't recall much else of that series.

Yeah, this is pretty big for me.
He looks like he went camping for a weekend, not survived the collapse of modernity. They all do. The sense that their society is at its nadir is sharply contrasted by their well manicured nails, styled hair, supple physique, and generally well-maintained clothing.

I mean, goddamn it... look at them.

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I realize you have to make some concessions to television's vanity, actors are generally going to be physically attractive even when it contradicts realism because that's just how things are... but make an effort to consider what exactly you're supposed to be portraying.

Well it appears barbers, hairdressers, the guy who hosts that fashion show and those that run the clothes business have survived!

And Specsavers also survived the end of the modern world...

As for the guns well it is America!

[Coidzor]

As for the guns well it is America!

We do make guns to last.