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Now that I've had my bitching and moaning moment and finished my multigrain English muffins with peanut butter, I shall report on my week of geekly delight and disappointment.
I really want to like Revolution. I mean, with it's pedigree, it should be one helluva fine ride. However, while it wasn't enough to make me go, "You are done. You have killed my hopes and dreams, and I can't ever watch you again," neither was it enough to hook my inner fangirl. Worse yet, I believe I can see the cracks in the Kripke/Abrahms collaboration where their styles don't quite mesh, and honestly, only the Abrahms piece is keeping me engaged.
What was good about Revolution? The premise of the entire world blacking out is gripping, and I love a good post-apocalyptic story as much as the next fangirl. The plotline about why the group crashed the world and how their little devices kind of hold the sparks for rekindling it also interests me. Post-apocalyptic Chicago looked cool. Rachel weaponizing the alcohol made me like her. A lot. And, uh, kick-ass, ninja-man Uncle Miles, yeah, he was cool too. That's a short list, I know.
Where Revolution failed was on the immediate story, which felt ham-handed at best and was rife with bad writing at first. Okay, so the story starts with a classic hero's journey moment, that, well, feels like we've seen it one too many times, and Charlie's father's dying declaration seemed a bit ambitious for a dying man. When Rachel and Aaron decide to tag along with Charlie on her quest to find her uncle in Chicago, I didn't really feel the connection between them or quite believe their motivation for leaving the village.
Also, the whole Katniss/Jacob, uh, I mean Charlie/Nate thing? Also, not believable. Either Nate is a spy for the militia thugs or he's not. Either he's the good guy or the bad guy. Granted, characters can change and evolve, but "I need to bring the rebels in!" and "I need to protect this chick who is enflaming my boy parts!" are not exactly goals that can co-exist. Their "chemistry" and his motivation weren't convincing. And honestly, the Big Bad is a militant egomaniac? Could we have had something a bit less cliche?
I think it's pretty clear that fantasy/SF readers are good at suspending disbelief, and I am strong with the suspension. However, I do ask that people not put cracks in it, so when I start thinking, "Okay, there's this expectation that people can flip a switch and the power will come back on, this after 15 years of neglect at power plants and factories," I'm already dropping out of the story. And when Grace helps deal with Danny's asthma with a 15+ year old inhaler, I go, "Oh, hell no!" I know that shit isn't working over a decade after it's expiration date.
So I find myself in this uncomfortable space with Revolution. I want to like it, but I can't quite manage. I want to know more about the group who staged the blackout, but right now, I'm not engaged with the characters or their stories very much, so there's an odd sort of disconnect where I want to just hit fast forward, see the reveal at the end, and be done with it. Alternately, I'd like to exchange Revolution for Alcatraz and get back a show where the writing and characters were compelling.
Since I know that Abrahms is a master of the striptease, the slow and gradual reveal, I'll give the show a few more episodes to find its footing before I black it out of my viewing schedule.
I really want to like Revolution. I mean, with it's pedigree, it should be one helluva fine ride. However, while it wasn't enough to make me go, "You are done. You have killed my hopes and dreams, and I can't ever watch you again," neither was it enough to hook my inner fangirl. Worse yet, I believe I can see the cracks in the Kripke/Abrahms collaboration where their styles don't quite mesh, and honestly, only the Abrahms piece is keeping me engaged.
What was good about Revolution? The premise of the entire world blacking out is gripping, and I love a good post-apocalyptic story as much as the next fangirl. The plotline about why the group crashed the world and how their little devices kind of hold the sparks for rekindling it also interests me. Post-apocalyptic Chicago looked cool. Rachel weaponizing the alcohol made me like her. A lot. And, uh, kick-ass, ninja-man Uncle Miles, yeah, he was cool too. That's a short list, I know.
Where Revolution failed was on the immediate story, which felt ham-handed at best and was rife with bad writing at first. Okay, so the story starts with a classic hero's journey moment, that, well, feels like we've seen it one too many times, and Charlie's father's dying declaration seemed a bit ambitious for a dying man. When Rachel and Aaron decide to tag along with Charlie on her quest to find her uncle in Chicago, I didn't really feel the connection between them or quite believe their motivation for leaving the village.
Also, the whole Katniss/Jacob, uh, I mean Charlie/Nate thing? Also, not believable. Either Nate is a spy for the militia thugs or he's not. Either he's the good guy or the bad guy. Granted, characters can change and evolve, but "I need to bring the rebels in!" and "I need to protect this chick who is enflaming my boy parts!" are not exactly goals that can co-exist. Their "chemistry" and his motivation weren't convincing. And honestly, the Big Bad is a militant egomaniac? Could we have had something a bit less cliche?
I think it's pretty clear that fantasy/SF readers are good at suspending disbelief, and I am strong with the suspension. However, I do ask that people not put cracks in it, so when I start thinking, "Okay, there's this expectation that people can flip a switch and the power will come back on, this after 15 years of neglect at power plants and factories," I'm already dropping out of the story. And when Grace helps deal with Danny's asthma with a 15+ year old inhaler, I go, "Oh, hell no!" I know that shit isn't working over a decade after it's expiration date.
So I find myself in this uncomfortable space with Revolution. I want to like it, but I can't quite manage. I want to know more about the group who staged the blackout, but right now, I'm not engaged with the characters or their stories very much, so there's an odd sort of disconnect where I want to just hit fast forward, see the reveal at the end, and be done with it. Alternately, I'd like to exchange Revolution for Alcatraz and get back a show where the writing and characters were compelling.
Since I know that Abrahms is a master of the striptease, the slow and gradual reveal, I'll give the show a few more episodes to find its footing before I black it out of my viewing schedule.
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I really wanted to like this show.
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