Revolution (on NBC)

[Gumby]

For those who missed it, the latest J.J. Abrams TV show, Revolution, premiered this week. It's sci-fi/drama about what life would be like if electricity ceased to work.

http://www.nbc.com/revolution/

The story starts 15 years after the lights went out — and nobody knows why it even happened. Needless to say, all investment portfolios disappeared in a poof of static. Not much talk of gold (yet), but everyone either has a knife, a gun or a bow. And there's a weird rogue militia that controls everything after the government fell.

[craigr]

... but everyone either has a knife, a gun or a bow.

...and of course:

[Dieter]

How was it? Sounds similar to the "Dies the Fire" SF book series by S.M. Stirling, although more stuff stops working (anything high pressure) and SCA folks (Society for Creative Anachronism) try to take over....

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dies_the_Fire

[Pointedstick]

I think the Amish would rule the Earth.

[Gumby]

It was ok. Seeing planes drop out of the sky was a bit jarring. Other than that everyone seemed to be pretty comfortable without electricity 15 years later. The weird thing is seeing the children grow up without electricity, but they hear stories about electricity and nobody is able to explain to them why the blackout happened and why electricity doesn't work anymore. The cities of the world were all overgrown and crumbled, so photographs from before the blackout seem surreal to them.

The thing about J.J. Abrams shows is that they go on for years and every question that gets answered just leads to 10 more questions.

All of the actors, including the lead female character, are beautiful — perfect hair, flawless makeup, beautiful skin and stylish clothing that fits perfectly — but you'd think a lack of electricity for 15 years would cause people to look like they've been through hell. At least on Lost, people actually looked like they were stranded on an island.

[Dieter]

Thanks. I might need to look for it. I guess no TV and the lack of EM fields causes everyone to be beautiful.... Now is this show related to the gun thread and the scheduled end of the world in late December?

[dualstow]

The story starts 15 years after the lights went out — and nobody knows why it even happened. Needless to say, all investment portfolios disappeared in a poof of static. Not much talk of gold (yet), but everyone either has a knife, a gun or a bow. And there's a weird rogue militia that controls everything after the government fell.

That sounds really interesting, kind of like prepper fiction.
MT mentioned watching Jericho in the past, and I always wondered what that was about. I've seen a few minutes of it here and there, only because it always seemed to be on when I turned on the tv at night while visiting my folks. Is that similar?

I love Stephen King's novel, The Stand, in which a virus wipes out most people (but not animals), leaving a small population with clean air but no power grid.

[Gumby]

One interesting aspect is that "the militia" that rose up into the power vacuum demands taxes in the form of food. Those who don't pay get punished. Kinda sucks.

Oh, and no mention as to why all reactors and the spent fuel pools at all the nuclear power plants haven't melted down and irradiated the planet, without electricity to keep them cool. But, since it's sci-fi, there was a mention that "physics went insane overnight" so maybe they explain it somehow (though, I doubt it).

[Lone Wolf]

...and of course:

(Picture of Lone Wolf getting ready to go out last Friday night)

One can hope!  We've got this show queued up on Hulu so I did some background research.  I was disappointed to see not one pair of leather chaps in any of the promotional shots.  I guess I'll just have to suspend my disbelief.

I was pleased to see that the excellent Giancarlo Esposito (who played Gus Fring on "Breaking Bad") is a cast member.

[Gumby]

No chaps, but a fair amount of snug leather...

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Oh, and cross-bows and swords. Forgot about those too.

[craigr]

No chaps, but a fair amount of snug leather...

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Oh, and cross-bows and swords. Forgot about those too.

Why is she holding the crossbow the wrong way? Is it reversed that way to make it easier to shoot sticks of dynamite? I am happy to see the other guy carrying a sword though. That's what I'd want to have in post-apocalyse America. Nobody charges a guy wielding a sword without carefully considering the alternatives.

reversed bow Cross bow.. it got me curious here is what i found.. http://www.horizontalbowhunter.com/Columns/AllHBMNews/tabid/136/ctl/ArticleView/mid/575/articleId/41/CROSSBOW-CRITIQUERDT-ARCHERYS-SCORPYD-CROSSBOW-By-Geoffrey-Toye-HBM-European-Correspondent.aspx

[dualstow]

From the picture, it looks like Gustavo is alive and well!

[dualstow]

# I streamed the pilot episode and enjoyed it.
# Why didn't you tell me that the beautiful woman from Lost was- oh, never mind. :-)
# In BearBones' gun suggestion thread, I've often thought we should be talking about bows and not firearms. Now I really feel that way.
# I'm looking forward to a Carve Your Own Bow youtube video from Craig someday.

Oh, and no mention as to why all reactors and the spent fuel pools at all the nuclear power plants haven't melted down and irradiated the planet, without electricity to keep them cool. But, since it's sci-fi, there was a mention that "physics went insane overnight" so maybe they explain it somehow (though, I doubt it).

It reminds me of Lost when they failed to type on the numbers in the hatch, activating the deadman's switch.

[MediumTex]

I think the Amish would rule the Earth.

[MediumTex]

One interesting aspect is that "the militia" that rose up into the power vacuum demands taxes in the form of food. Those who don't pay get punished. Kinda sucks.

Militia staging area:



"If you don't have any food your punishment will consist of watching us perform a scene from Magic Mike."

***

There seems to be a homosexual overtone to many post-apocalypse thug organizations.  Has anyone else noticed that?

[smurff]

You can watch the pilot online:

http://www.nbc.com/revolution/

[MachineGhost]

For those who missed it, the latest J.J. Abrams TV show, Revolution, premiered this week. It's sci-fi/drama about what life would be like if electricity ceased to work.

http://www.nbc.com/revolution/

The story starts 15 years after the lights went out — and nobody knows why it even happened. Needless to say, all investment portfolios disappeared in a poof of static. Not much talk of gold (yet), but everyone either has a knife, a gun or a bow. And there's a weird rogue militia that controls everything after the government fell.

I didn't know it was a JJ Abrams production.  I just finished the first episode and thought it was merely OK.  A wee bit of Jericho or Falling Skies reminescence here or there, but not even remotely on the same level.

I was actually expecting a clone of The Hunger Games.

If this bombs like Alcatraz did, JJ Abrams may want to stay out of TV and stick to rebooting movies.

Canadian actors have a terrible track record for a show's indication of network success.

[MachineGhost]

There seems to be a homosexual overtone to many post-apocalypse thug organizations.  Has anyone else noticed that?

It is probably only hindsight bias due to Rob Halford coming out of the closet.  Unless you're going to make a claim that a lot of homosexuals were on movie sets and in dressing rooms in the 80's and had a secret agenda.

[Reub]

In this future world are they still circumcising?

[Gosso]

Canadian actors have a terrible track record for a show's indication of network success.

She did alright:

[dualstow]

In this future world are they still circumcising?

Yes, but you have to have your wick snipped under candlelight.
(I wrote this before, but there must have been a hiccup in the server software because it disappeared, and I cannot imagine anyone deleting such a wonderful reply).

[dualstow]

I guess I'm going to bail on this show as it's more Xena Warrior Princess than it is Lost or Preppers IMO.
Still, after watching the second episode, I'm tempted to print more photos rather than merely leave them in electronic storage.

[Gumby]

I agree it's not great, but I'm going to watch a few more episodes for the heck of it. A few things I found interesting...

- The militia that took over, after the government fell, banned the ownership of guns. The punishment for anyone who is caught in possession of a gun is death.

This is why everyone carries a sword, a bow or a crossbow.

- The militia also has "militia gold" and one of the rebels was imprisoned for stealing some. Not sure what "militia gold" is yet, but it sounds like the militia confiscated everyone's gold or something.

Remember, the militia also collects taxes in the form of food.

- There "rebels" are trying to bring back the United States government. Rebels often have tattoos of the American flag, but they have to keep their tattoos and rebel affiliation hidden for fear of retaliation from the militia. Anyone who disobeys the militia is either killed or sentenced to labor camps.

As bad as the show is, it's still an interesting post-apocolyptic premise. It would definitely suck if the government fell and everyone's gold (and guns) were stolen in exchange for sparing their lives.

[dualstow]

- The militia also has "militia gold" and one of the rebels was imprisoned for stealing some. Not sure what "militia gold" is yet, but it sounds like the militia confiscated everyone's gold or something.

When Miles was looking for Nora, it looked like he handed over an odd-shaped piece of gold to the informant.

[Pointedstick]

I agree it's not great, but I'm going to watch a few more episodes for the heck of it. A few things I found interesting...

- The militia that took over, after the government fell, banned the ownership of guns. The punishment for anyone who is caught in possession of a gun is death.

Makes sense. Guns democratize force. Oppressors are usually in the business of violence so guns never benefit them as much as they benefit those who have not invested as much time in learning the trade of violence. They could still oppress people even without guns, but the oppressed have a much harder time resisting this oppression without guns of their own.