Revolution is one of those shows that everyone at times seems to love to hate. Season 1 for that matter got a lot of flak. Despite being a Bad Robot productions series it hardly lived up to the quality of other shows such as Lost, Fringe and Person of Interest. Instead it came closer to Alcatraz in that it wasn’t bad but it felt rushed. Revolution certainly does feel rushed, or at least its first season did. I myself wasn’t a Charlie hater though I did see problems with her role in the series. Instead I tuned in to General Monroe, Major Neville and of course Billy Burke as Miles Matheson totally owning the show. It is strange that even though Revolution had like three Fonzies it still manages to get under your skin when it comes to all the bad stuff.

As for the basic premise, a world without electricity, it was done pretty well but the plotlines that led the characters on at times either felt too slow and then too darn fast. Personally I have fond memories of the second half of the season but I’ll admit I skipped some large parts of entire episodes because I couldn’t stand it anymore (The Love Boat).

Now we have ourselves a second season of Revolution. I was willing to give it a chance until I became aware of all the other quality shows that are airing right now (Person of Interest, Agents of SHIELD, Elementary, Homeland, Sleepy Hollow and so on). By chance I managed to watch Revolution because Wednesday evening isn’t a busy TV evening. Lucky for Revolution and lucky for viewers because the second season so far has been very promising.

6 months on…

Miles, Rachel and Aaron; well… the bombs did drop on Philly and Atlanta. President Foster is presumably dead and both the Monroe Republic and Georgia Federation are consumed by civil war and violence. Our gang heads out to Texas to help Rachel (Elizabeth Mitchell) convalesce from a nervous breakdown. However a marauding army of thugs has settled upon the tiny hamlet where they are staying. They are led by a childish man who before the blackout was schoolteacher and a pedophile (Eric Kripke does know how to make it up). Miles (Billy Burke) is captured and after numerous escape attempts gets his sword hand broken. At the end of the second episode he is being forced into a room where people are drained of their blood. Definitely one up from marauding rapist during the first season.

Aaron (Zak Orth) has his own problems, he was murdered in the previous episode and then came back to live. Presumably this is the doing of the nanites that are everywhere. It may also explain why some of the cast don’t seem to age like other people. At the end of the second episode it is revealed that the nanites/fireflies that saved Aaron may have an adverse effect on animals such as rats.

Monroe & Charlie; Since Revolution started I have found Monroe a intriguing character. He is at times both childish and vain but can also be thoughtful when it comes to planning military operations. However, his darker side have caused him to spill a lot of red on one side of the balance sheet. The question is whether he try will again to become the leader of the Monroe republic or will he try and make amends. To have Charlie (Tracy Spiridakos) join up with Monroe puts her squarely in the firing line. She could hardly team up with the other two groups of characters and so this is the best thing for her. In the second episode I found myself captivated by her determination to avenge her brothers death. In the final scene of the episode she saves the last bounty hunter from Monroe and so we can assume they will try to hunt down Monroe. However, the question remains who the bounty works for, could it be the US government?

Jason & Tom Neville; after the bombs dropped on Philadelphia and Atlanta both Tom (Giancarlo Esposito) and Jason (J.D. Pardo) headed back east to find Julia. Tom quickly fears she has been killed in the blast that hit Atlanta and blames the newly arrived representatives of the ‘US government’ of being behind Randal Flynn. The audience’s suspicion are raised when cages are shown to be moved into the White House in Washington DC. Tom and Jason quickly try to strike against the new US government but first try to gain the confidence of local government official by saving her from assassination. This storyline is sure to bring a lot of violence fueled by revenge. I think Jason and Tom will make  a wonderfully complicated team.

Conclusion

Revolution seems to be infused with three new main storylines instead of just one like the beginning of the first season. If it juggles these well then viewers may just be drawn into them like they were with Lost. The show has a long way to go to be ever as good as Lost but at least season 2 hasn’t sucked so far…

Only Rachel’s storyline has been a bit too dramatic for  my taste

Score; 8.3 / 10.