Thought I’d get it started.
So far, the pilot is really good. 
I think NBC may give ABC’s 9 pm show, Castle fits this season in the ratings.
I tuned in and caught the mexican stand-off when Gus Fring showed up to take the father away. That was absolutely horrible - I thought I’d want to add this show to my rotation this season, but that scene was not only unoriginal, it didn’t even manage to be *derivative *of the 18,000 mexican standoffs in TV/film history. It was just bad.
I enjoyed it, and I’m going to watch a couple more shows before I think about deleting my season pass. I know there are things that will bother me, like how they are able to find clothes and shoes for growing kids so many years after the blackout that look brand new. I could see them passing clothes around as the kids grew, but wouldn’t they be worn?
The thing that really bothered me, oddly enough, was that both Charlie and the Brit doc were walking around with their long hair all tousled and flowing. Both of them, according to every other thing shown about their characters, were no bullshit women who’d tie their frigging hair back into a pony tail or braids.
Also, everyone had awfully white teeth.
Plus, what’s with everyone lighting up their living spaces with dozens of candles/torches/lanterns? Seems both wasteful (of oil or wax or whatever they were burning) plus dangerous having all those live flames.
I’ll keep watching, at least for a while, but it’s not a good sign that I was obsessed by the two main women’s hair throughout most of the first episode.
I felt the same way about the young teen heroine. Perfect hair, perfect makeup, and clean clothes. All in a world without electricity, which means no laundry, no hair dryers, and where the heck does makeup come from?
But, that’s common in tv. Anytime you have a cute actress they will make her look stunning. Doesn’t matter what the story is. Dr Quinn always looked fantastic in her show too. A western with no electricity or modern beauty products. Cute actresses have to be beautiful in film and tv.
It’s a good start. Some interesting characters. I’ll give the show a few episodes and see where it develops. My biggest issue is why these characters would go chasing after a teenage boy with life threatening asthma. Realistically he wouldn’t live too long anyway. A post apocalyptic world would follow different rules. It’s all about survival and looking after yourself first. You don’t necessarily chase after somebody just because he’s your brother. That’s the rules that dead guy’s brother in Chicago was following before his niece showed up and convinced him otherwise.
Yeah, I felt a twinge of embarrassment for Giancarlo Esposito being in such a crappy, cheesy, sure to be canceled show.
My main “Took me out of the show moment” came a little later. I had just started to make my peace with the previously mentioned observation that everybody is REALLY clean and has perfect clothes…but then why would they be using muzzle loaded rifles? I’ll admit my knowledge of history isn’t as good as I would like it to be…but is electricity required to produce cartridges or machining of breech loaders?
Overall though, I liked the show, and am willing to give it a few episodes. There aren’t a whole lot of other new shows this season that look interesting.
We just finished watching, and neither of us thought much of it. The plotting and dialogue seem to have been done by a 15 year old, and everyone is too damned clean.
That’s probably my last episode.
The teenagers, the entry point characters, were horrid. I have no interest in rooting for them or in seeing how they’re going to make it. I could possibly watch a show with a different point of view - the uncle or ex insurance adjuster, but even they had a lot of moments that didn’t make sense.
Also, the producers don’t seem to understand the ramifications of their premise, which would matter less if the rest of the writing was great, but as the plots weren’t great, I couldn’t help but notice the clothing and sets didn’t work.
At the blackout - cars on a freeway who lose electricity are going to cause a massive multicar pileup - they wouldn’t stop still and evenly spaced. Icecream has been around long before electricity, that shouldn’t have been her last taste of the stuff. No one under 30 should have machine manufactured clothing that fits. They’d be wearing either homemade or hand-me-downs (and teenagers, at this point, would be wearing 15-year-old hand-me-downs). The haircuts and “lost the will to shave” stubble do not make sense for an electricity free world. An asthma inhaler isn’t going to be good 15 years later. Like twickster said above, that many candles is wasteful.
I also don’t care about the big question. Two of the people involved (Kripke and Abrams) have shown that they don’t really know how to build and sustain a series mythology that makes sense (not that I didn’t like LOST, Alias, or Supernatural. But remember Rimbaldi?) I don’t think they have the slightest clue how to get their audience through the mystery of electricity. It would be a nice diversion if everything else was working, but it’s not. So…
No, they had them for several decades using steam engines to power manufacturing. Of course, steam engines could do other things, such as …oh, power the Titanic, trains, etc. Even the reviewer in the Los Angeles Times noted the lack of it and how technologically complex society was before electricity.
Full metal jacket bullets were invented in 1886. One reason I could see for using muzzle loading rifles is their gunpowder manufacturing is missing ingredients for more “refined” gunpowder that could be used to make full metal jackets. So you go with the quick and old fashioned powder and Minie balls
I saw the commercial for the show about 45 minutes before it aired and thought
“That sounds sort of interesting, I think I will check it out.”
I really like the premise. I like the LOST-esque “the mystery will be slowly revealed as the series continues” angle obviously being set up.
But, like the rest of you, I found the costuming was way off the mark. Isn’t a program with such a radical setting (future world with anarchic undertones harkening near-medieval scenarios) kind of playing to a somewhat intelligent viewership? And as intelligent viewers, shouldn’t we be reasonably expected to notice subtleties and nuances in all aspects of the production?
It seems as though the producers just figure “what the hell, the premise is cool; the mystery will be the hook! No one will care about the little details.”
I will give the show a chance, to see if, indeed, the progression of the story arc is sufficient to allow me to overlook the nonsensical details. The main actress IS nice to look at, after all. 
And directed by Jon Favreau? I was surprised to see his name, and disappointed at some of the overwrought action scenes.
I thought this show’s premise sounded interesting, but I don’t quite get it- I missed the pilot. I wasn’t sure if all energy sources were gone, or what. So there’s no electricity- but they can still burn things, so they should be able to run a generator. But I take it the ability to create electricity is blocked somehow, and that is the central mystery of the show?
I feel lonely, I liked it. I can forgive a lot about tv shows, as long as I am interested in finding out what happens next.
Regarding the similarity to Lost all I will say is; Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
I am putting in my wager now that the whole “a physicist (or whatever sort of scientist they claim to have consulted,) says it is totally plausible” is going to have the same outcome as Lost did.
Good point, duly noted.
I’ll give it a couple more shows before I decide. There looks like there might be a story of sorts there.
The lead girl is way too bland to maintain my interest in her story. The ads gave me the impression this was some kind of girl adventure story with a twist but it looks like her roles will be 1) looking pretty 2) getting into trouble 3) being saved from her own stupidity three or four times per episode. I did notice that at one point her designer leather pants got muddy. I wonder if the mud will magically disappear next week.
Nobody else bothered that setting an amulet down by a computer not only powers it up (and a nearby lightbulb) but also the internet to some distant point?
If said amulet is supposed to, oh, block whatever magic turns off electricity, how far is it’s effect supposed to be? Clearly less than a couple of feet, if it didn’t take effect until laid right on the table.
Dr Doom, I didn’t mean to single you out or anything. It’s just that I felt somewhat burned by the producers and writers of Lost and you referenced the story.
Me, I love post apocalyptic tales and will no doubt watch Revolution. I’m just going in expecting the worst. Maybe we will all be pleasantly surprised at the end.
Starving, that’s exactly what makes me fear the worst.
I watched the first 15 minutes (will watch more later), and I agree with a lot of what’s already been said. Two things come to my mind:
- They missed the boat on this show - the real interesting story is what happened in those 15 years after the power went out.
- Why can’t tv make a good post-apocalyptic show? Why is it always so lame instead of interesting and thrilling?
While I can’t disagree with a lot of the comments here, I liked it enough to keep watching, at least for a few more episodes.
The hair/clothes stuff didn’t bother me too much – this is network TV, after all – there’s only a certain level of “reality” I’ve been conditioned to expect.
I agree that the main girl is bland, and kind of irksome, but I’m intrigued enough by the other characters (especially her uncle) to distract me.
But then again I liked Lost – even the last season – so take that for what it’s worth.