- Billy Burke as Miles Matheson
- Tracy Spiridakos as Charlotte "Charlie" Matheson
- Daniella Alonso as Nora
- Giancarlo Esposito ( Once upon A Time ) as Capt. Tom Neville
- Tim Guinee as Ben Matheson
- Maria Howell as Grace
- Elizabeth Mitchell as Rachel Matheson
- David Lyons ( The Cape ) as Gen. Sebastian Monroe
- Zak Orth as Aaron Pittman
- J.D. Pardo as Nate Walker
- Anna Lise Phillips as Maggie
- Graham Rogers as Danny Matheson
Season 1
Revolution [Season 1, Episode 1]
Pilot
Shown 17/Sep/12
This was created by Erik Kripke ( Supernatural ). It is a horrendous mishmash of survivalism, fascism and anarchism, with no solid moral or ethical footing.
The main story takes off 15 years later. The end of electricity meant the end of Government, and all the infrastructure and services it provided. The result is anarchy and a post-apocalyptic scenario. Of note, it is one of the few post-apocalyptic stories these days that does not involve zombies or an alien invasion. Thus, it is more accessible to a mainstream audience.
The local Militia turns up, led by Giancarlo Esposito (The Usual Suspects). They want to escort the scientist to the General. Unfortunately, the scientist's son is a murderous little git. The scientist gets killed in the crossfire, so the murderous thug gets taken in his dad's place.
The murderous teenage boy has a big sister, a more conventionally attractive version of Katniss in Hunger Games . She sets out to find her uncle, Mr Miles Matheson.
The Militia's boss, General Sebastian Monroe (David Lyons - The Cape ) has imposed gun control, to prevent crime and terrorism. This is ironic, since bullets are in short supply - apparently nobody can make home-loads, and there are no stockpiles in police stations or army camps. That said, people can now manufacture an infinite number of muskets and swords!
While en route to Militia HQ, Giancarlo and the boy meet a strange woman. By strange coincidence, it turns out she has a secret of her own.
Revolution [Season 1, Episode 2]
Chained Heat
Shown 24/Sep/12
Uncle Miles takes on a Bounty Hunter (C Thomas Howell - Amazon ). His niece is not keen on his murderous ways, but soon has to make life-and-death decisions of her own. They have to rescue a hot Latina babe, an ex-GF of miles,
Rebel fanatics want to revive the USA. Yes, they want to destroy the Militia - the only functioning Government - and replace it with ... what? Over-reaching Agencies run by big-spending politicians and Corrupt lobbyists? And what does the Militia do wrong? It conscripts young men from each village, so they can do public service for the public good. The Rebels respond ... by slaughtering the conscripts they claim they want to save!
The flashbacks show the young girl with her mommy ( Elizabeth Mitchell ), scavenging for food.
Revolution [Season 1, Episode 3]
No Quarter
Shown 01/Oct/12
Uncle Miles and his two babes reach the Rebel Scum HQ. But the heroic Munroe Militia, led by Mark Pellegrino ( Supernatural ), are en route to save the day.
We discover how Uncle Miles is such a murderous bastard. And in the flashback, we see him start to become a kill-crazy fascist. Since mommy dearest ( Elizabeth Mitchell ) will happily shoot an unarmed man in the back, the real mystery is why this is meant to be such a big deal.
The Nerd and the English woman have been seperated from the others. They stop off at the strange woman's house. She is still MIA, thanks to a mysterious intruder. But they get their first clue about the return of electricity.
Revolution [Season 1, Episode 4]
The Plague Dogs
Shown 08/Oct/12
The divided groups of protagonists meet up again. They are chased and besieged again, this time by a pack of hungry dogs. Luckily, the pretty-boy Militia spy is on the prowl again.
There is a storm coming, so Giancarlo and his prisoner get shelter. This despite the fact that their HQ is only an hours walk (3 miles) away. Strangely, despite being only a day behind them, the protagonists do not seem aware of any decline in weather conditions.
The murderous teenager has to make a decision. Will he finally do something good for a change?
It's Maggie the murderous English woman's turn to have a flashback. She remembers her last Skype-chat with her sons, who had terribly fake English accents. Later she reveals that you can apparently walk from Seattle to the East Coast, but the Militias control all the remaining sail-boats and steam-ships. Transatlantic travel is now virtually impossible.
We see how Elizabeth Mitchell ended up in her current predicament.
Revolution [Season 1, Episode 5]
Soul Train
Shown 15/Oct/12
Captain Neville (Giancarlo Esposito) gets his prisoner to a town. The steam-train is almost working. It has only been FIFTEEN years!
The Latina babe meets local Rebel leader Hutch (Jeff Fahey - Lost ). He wants to blow up the train, killing everyone aboard. Yes, destroying the public transport network (and preventing the re-emergence of civilisation) is the rebels' main goal.
The flashbacks are Neville's. He used to be a wimp, pushed about by assholes. But after the blackout, he had to protect his wife ( Kim Raver ) and his son.
Revolution [Season 1, Episode 6]
Sex and Drugs
Shown 29/Oct/12
The insurgents must get the injured babe to medical attention. This leads on to a stack of Star Wars references. They have to call in on an old friend of Miles. The man is a gangster called Drexel, who is a cross between Lando Calrissian and Jabba the Hutt. He ropes them into his revenge spree against rival gangsters, the O'Halloran clan.
The flashbacks are of the overweight nerdy guy. He feels more self-conscious than ever when the end of civilisation highlights his lack of survival skills. This leads to problems in his marriage to a beautiful trophy wife.
Revolution [Season 1, Episode 7]
The Children's Crusade
Shown 05/Nov/12
The insurgents bump into a gang of Feral children.
The so-called villains this ep are the Militia recruiters who are doing everyone a favour by taking orphans off the street, and giving them a life and a career.
The mother ( Elizabeth Mitchell ) has flashbacks involving a DOD suit named Flynn, played by rent-a-villain Colm Feore ( Chronicles of Riddick ).
Revolution [Season 1, Episode 8]
Ties That Bind
Shown 12/Nov/12
Monroe sends Sergeant Strasser after the insurgent quartet. Miles recruited and trained Strasser, and claims the Sergeant is an even bigger psycho than he is! And Strasser has a secret weapon - the Latina babe's sister is his hostage.
This ep seems to encompass the character development of the subplots of the far superior post-Apocaylpse show, Defiance.
Revolution [Season 1, Episode 9]
Kashmir
Shown 19/Nov/12
The insurgents plan to infiltrate Philly. They get help from the local Rebel scum, who pledge allegience to the USA - whatever that means. Since General Monroe controls all Government services, he IS the President of what's left of the USA!
Rebel leader Reed Diamond ( Dollhouse ) leads the insurgents into Philly through the subway tunnels. This is supposed to be creepy and suspenseful, but is nowhere near as good as the classic Polish film Kanal. However, as they run low on oxygen they start to halucinate.
Elizabeth Mitchell cooperates with Monroe, who hopes to bring back electricity (and with it, civilisation). But she forgets that he no longer needs her - he has Conor O'Farrell ( Dark Skies ). But Monroe forgets something as well - the woman is so ruthless, she will kill for food!
Revolution [Season 1, Episode 10]
Nobody's Fault But Mine
Shown 26/Nov/12
The insurgents are inside Philly, but they need a place to hide out. Neville (Giancarlo Esposito) is after them. But despite having never met until Revolution [Season 1, Episode 5] Soul Train, Miles seems to know a lot about Neville.
Monroe has the hostages and the tech at his top-secret hi-security stronghold. Mark Pellegrino ( Supernatural ) is supposed to be in charge of security, while Sergeant Strasser is guarding the ladies. The insurgents must infiltrate, liberate and evacuate ...
Revolution [Season 1, Episode 11]
The Stand
Shown 25/Mar/13
The Munroe Republic now has choppers. Not modern Blackhawks, but 1960s Vietnam-era Hueys with door-gunners. They don't even have kevlar vests or helmets, so they are vulnerable to ground fire. Worse, Elizabeth Mitchell has a local contact who builds his own rocket launchers.
The Rebels want the return of the United States. But the only surviving Government member is ... Mr Flynn, the arch-villain.
Revolution [Season 1, Episode 12]
Ghosts
Shown 01/Apr/13
Mr Flynn is a more central character now. The flashbacks show his motivation in building the superweapon, to avenge the death of his son in Afghanistan. To further his current goals, he teams up with General Monroe.
Miles offers to lead the Resistance, but he insists on recruiting his Militia officer corps buddies. He and the Latina babe go in search of Bill from Alphas .
Flynn takes a team of gunmen to find Elizabeth Mitchell and her friends. Can Katniss take out a dozen stormtroopers armed with assault rifles?
Revolution [Season 1, Episode 13]
The Song Remains the Same
Shown 08/Apr/13
Major Neville is sent on a secret mission, despite Flynn's misgivings about Neville's complete failures so far. This is unfair - Neville may be unlucky, but the key point is that he is a survivor! Even when his convoy is blown up, he manages to somehow be the sole survivor. Unfortunately, when he gets captured it seems everyone in the Rebel camp wants revenge for some petty personal grudge against him.
It is revealed that the electricity flow has been stopped by nanobots. They also seem to have interfered with the flow of time. For example, the rebels' mirror semaphore system allows them thirty minutes notice of the arrival of trucks. In other words, they can relay a message over thirty miles distance almost instantaneously. Worse, a replacement convoy manages to bypass the rebel spies entirely, but the rebels can walk the same distance on foot at almost the same speed as the Humvees!
Monroe's policy of killing Resistance idiots only makes Miles Matheson's faction more powerful. This will backfire on him!
Revolution [Season 1, Episode 14]
The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia
Shown 15/Apr/13
Miles, Katniss and the Latina babe walk to Georgia, to prevent Munroe's man from detonating a suitcase nuke there. Unfortunately, the man in question is Miles' former protege. Luckily, the nuke has to be manually triggered when the man gets a radio signal from Munroe. Wouldn't it have been easier to have a radio dethonator?
Elizabeth Mitchell and the beardy nerd stop off with some middle-aged lesbians. It turns out that the scientists who caused the blackout also used the nanites for medical purposes, to keep their own loved ones alive. And now they have to choose - are their loved ones worth the price of the blackout?
Revolution [Season 1, Episode 15]
Home
Shown 29/Apr/13
Miles and his goon squad from Georgia continue to slaughter Monroe's conscripts. Their policy is to leave no survivors. Since Monroe conscripts all men aged 18-25, who will be left alive when Miles and his murder-squad take power?
Monroe decides to lure Miles Matheson into a trap. He flies himself, Mark Pellegrino and a couple of conscripts to his hometown. Yes, his plan is to threaten to kill everyone Miles ever knew. This ep was directed by Jon Cassar , best known for 24. Miles Matheson does his predictable Jack Bauer routine, as a one-man army slaughtering Monroe's conscripts.
The biggest twist comes at the end of the confrontation. Miles' old girlfriend has a revelation for Monroe. She never bothered to tell him when it might have done some good, but instead waits until it can make the most dramatic impact.
Elsewhere, Elizabeth Mitchell and the beardy nerd cross the Mississippi and enter the Plains Nation. While passing through a town, Beardy sees his old wife - the trophy wife that he abandoned eleven years previously. It's a miracle that she survived so long, but she seems to have moved on.
Revolution [Season 1, Episode 16]
The Love Boat
Shown 06/May/13
Georgia sends reinforcements - Captain Neville and a Steam boat. They also have a mission. Monroe has a secret lab where a tech is weaponising Anthrax. The mission is to capture the scientist and make him work for the good guys instead.
The rebel scum deliver even more holier-than-thou crap. Neville is meant to be a villain because he had no loyalty to Munroe - but neither did Miles Matheson, who is now MURDERING prisoners BECAUSE of their loyalties.
That said, Neville is also portrayed as a villain because he would rather kill the scientist than let him get rescued by Monroe's men. Yes, all the tech has to do is give a sob story to Katniss, and she will commit mutiny to protect him!
Revolution [Season 1, Episode 17]
The Longest Day
Shown 13/May/13
Monroe manages to get Predator drones operational. Yes, he combines aerial bombardment with a clean-up sweep by ground troops. This does terrible damage to the invaders, whose tactics seem as poor as his own.
Charlie (AKA Katniss) gets trapped under rubble. Matheson and the Latina hang around, machine-gunning inept conscripts until they can save her.
Neville has a public bust-up with his treacherous idiot son. But he is only angry because he loves him. Under attack, Neville goes to extreme lengths to save his unworthy offspring.
Monroe may finally be winning the war, but his paranoia is getting worse than ever. He does not understand why he attracts more bullets than an officer standing beside him, or why an assassin would flee rather than hang around and risk getting caught in order to kill a random nobody instead of the Head of State!
Elizabeth Mitchell snapped her leg as easily as if she were the cheerleader in Heroes . But she is now so desperate, she finds she has a cure. Medical nanites from the chip she pulled out of her dead son can knit the fractured bone as we watch. This would be a great thing to share with hill-billies. But she doesn't give a damn about helping anyone else - she only wants the power back so she can nullify Monroe's advantage.
The flashbacks are of Elizabeth Mitchell when Miles Matheson first had her in custody. She refers to him as a monster - this is the woman who took out every airliner in the world, and who can get the hospitals and food production back again any time she wants. Her selfish and destructive urge for vengeance is portrayed as justifiable, while in reality she is the supervillain responsible for the whole world's suffering.
Revolution [Season 1, Episode 18]
Clue
Shown 20/May/13
Monroe's men take three weeks to get a full statement out of their prisoner. The Witchfinder General could have done it in less than a week, but it looks like Monroe's men are just amateurs. That said, the wench looks in pretty damn good shape considering. Her scars may be psychological, however.
The regular and recurring characters meet in Georgia, a thousand miles from Monroe's torture cell in Philly. They get on a chopper and fly off to beat Monroe to The Tower. However, at their refuelling stop someone starts to bump them off, one by one. Yes, there is a traitor in the cast. At this point it becomes painfully apparent that the regulars and recurring characters have all worked for General Monroe at one time.
Since the characters are all suspects, and all pretty unlikable (except for Neville, who we are apparently supposed to hate) we have nobody to root for. In other words, we just do not care.
Elsewhere, Monroe has taken Flynn hostage. Predictable, really, since Flynn never had Monroe on a leash to begin with. They get to the Tower, but Flynn realises he is not really in control any more.
Revolution [Season 1, Episode 19]
Children of Men
Shown 27/May/13
Monroe gets into the Tower. Unfortunately, the Tower has its own guardians - they use 40mm small-arms, with explosive rather than less-lethal ammo.
Elizabeth Mitchell ends up trapped with Monroe. She wants to kill him because of the death of her murderous son. In all fairness, she has killed as many people as him on a personal level, AND she is a supervillain of genocidal proportions if you include causing the blackout. Hopefully she will decide that she actually has something to live for - her daughter, Katniss.
Miles has a plan to get into the Tower. It means exploiting the beardy nerd and sacrificing the Nevilles, but that never stopped Miles.
Revolution [Season 1, Episode 20]
The Dark Tower
Shown 03/Jun/13
Neville is in the hands of the Militia. But they can trust him more than their own boss, the paranoid sociopath Monroe.
Monroe and Miles finally get a confrontation. But how will it end?
Elizabeth Mitchell and the surviving goodies go for Level Twelve. Can they bring the power back? But what was Flynn's plan? Did he want to bring the power back, and restore the USA again? Would that make him a good guy - or would it mean that Neville was the good guy all along?
Revolution [Season 2, Episode 1
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