Revolution: Born In The U.S.A., Review

That’s right, at the end of last season the power came back long enough for nukes to get launched over Philadelphia and Atlanta. So, now…??

We jump ahead six months.

Yes, we play catch up, starting with Charlie (Tracy Spiridakos) being so obviously on her own in the Plains Nation. Charlie, who beds a bartender, is much more tolerable than pouty Team Member Charlie. Charlie who’s hunting Bass Munroe is also pretty tolerable. Did you get the idea that Charlie was intolerable last season?

In fact, the show itself was a running joke around here. “The Best Show On Television” it was mockingly called. With all the characters that were so absolutely critical to the big story of the power-outage, Revolution was an Abrams-Favreau broadcast TV attempt at Science Fiction where the bombast just fell flat. Better than Terra Nova? Well, OK…a little. Has there been a change in the music between seasons? Will the music be different on premiere night from this review screener? Overbearing musical cues can really mess up a show around here. I’m looking at you Under the Dome. (PS. the Abrams-J. Nolan Person of Interest was the best SF show on broadcast TV last year.)

In Willoughby, a small Texas town which evokes The Walking Dead’s Woodbury, Zak Orth’s Aaron has hooked up, so that’s nice. But Rachel (Elizabeth Mitchell), poor Rachel, she’s rebuilding herself after breaking down after the nuke event. Miles (Billy Burke) is helping her, as is her father (Stephen Collins).  Over in a Savannah Refugee Camp, Jason (J.D. Pardo) and a blank-eyed Tom Neville (Giancarlo Esposito) futilely search for the nuke-toasted Julia. Who’s calling who “bitch” now?

The ensuing drama is surprisingly engaging. Woodbury, I mean Willoughby, experiences some mysterious attacks that Miles gets involved in repelling. Is the War Clan’s Titus Andover a creepier, fey version of The Walking Dead’s Governor? Again, yeah. But Revolution taking cues from that show isn’t a bad thing. That President of the United States who clearly ordered Randall to push the shiny red nuke button and was planning to leave Guantanamo Bay for Washington D.C. at the end of the Season One finale? Well, his “U.S.A.” people show up in the Savannah Refugee Camp saying some things that Tom and Jason know are untrue. The slightly slimmer Aaron’s even given a good moment defending his squeeze, but, oh, the consequences!

So shall I say it? Oh, why not. Vive le Revolution (Season 2)! Cheers for a fun Pop-Cult reference! Huzzah for the rebuilding of Rachel! Hear Hear for the one-night-stand-ing and solo bad-ass Charlie! Thank you for the more sensitive musical cues! Even the fireflies are working – so far.

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