Revolution (2012): Mormon TV Review

Quality: 

   If The Walking Dead (our review) didn't give you enough motivation to get your one year supply of food storage, Revolution certainly will!  NBC has been posting some of the pilots to their new shows online.  It is how we were able to get our review of The New Normal online before it aired.  It is an interesting tactic, but shows the confidence NBC has in their Fall Lineup.  They know fans we infiltrate the blogosphere with their thoughts on the new shows and feel it will be in their favor.  Right now it is available for free on Hulu.

   Revolution hits the ground running.  We see two kids sitting on the couch glued to TV's and iPads.  30 seconds later Dad, Tim Guinee, busts into the house with all the canned goods he can carry with a warning, "It's all gonna turn off.  It's gonna turn off and it will never ever turn back on."  Two minutes into the show and suddenly all the power in the whole world goes out.

   Then we pick up 15 years in the future.  We see a small community where everything in being done manually, farming, hand sewn clothes, sheep pens, bow hunting. For a pilot the sets are done very well.  It is amazing to see some of the earth reclaiming the land.  

   The 2 minute into really leaves a lot of questions, who caused the black out, can it be fixed, how did the Dad know it was happening.  Many of these answers will be revealed via flashback.  One of my favorite flashbacks takes us back to the night when everything turned off.  Ben Matheson (Dad) is clearing out the freezer and gives his daughter a whole half gallon of ice cream since it will soon melt anyways.  If a touching moment he looks his little girl in the eyes and says, "Slow down.  I want you to really remember what it tastes like."  It is like he is saying, the world is about to become a very harsh place and he wants her to be able to retain her innocence as long as possible.

   The federal government has fallen, and roving militias have formed their own governments run through tyranny and fear.  It feels a lot like Kevin Costner's "The Postman."  If you loved it like I did, you will really enjoy Revolution.  If you didn't you may want to give it a pass.  

Content: 

   The world has gotten ruthless and we see some of the brutality. The violence is not extremely graphic, but we do see blood.  The language is clean with only a few PG curses.  There is a scene of attempted sexual assault, but it is not carried out.  

   Seeing the condition of the world, it makes me wonder what our last days will be like.  I think a similar outcome is possible.  What would you do if you couldn't look up recipes on Pintrest, drive to the store to get milk, Google a fact you didn't know the answer to, or get a message to your loved ones via text, Facebook, Twitter, or email?