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Revolution (TV series)

Revolution is an American post-apocalyptic science fiction television series that ran from September 17, 2012, until May 21, 2014, when it was cancelled by NBC.[1][2] The show takes place in the post-apocalyptic near-future of the year 2027, 15 years after the start of a worldwide, permanent electrical-power blackout in 2012. Created by Eric Kripke and produced by J. J. Abrams' Bad Robot for the NBC network, it originally aired on Mondays at 10:00 p.m. ET,[2] and did well enough that NBC ordered a second season shortly after the first-season finale.[3]

Not to be confused with The Revolution (TV program) or The Revolution (miniseries).

Revolution

United States

English

2

Michael Bonvillain

43 minutes

NBC

September 17, 2012 (2012-09-17) –
May 21, 2014 (2014-05-21)

Film director Jon Favreau directed the pilot episode. In October 2012, NBC picked it up for a full season of 22 episodes,[4] which was later reduced to 20 episodes. Season 1 of the show was filmed in and around Wilmington, North Carolina. Many of the scenes were shot in historic downtown Wilmington and on the campus of the University of North Carolina Wilmington.[5] On April 26, 2013, the series was renewed by NBC for a second season of 22 episodes to air in a new time slot of Wednesdays at 8 p.m. Season 2 of Revolution was filmed in and around Bartlett and Granger, Texas. The second-season premiere aired on September 25, 2013, and the finale aired on May 21, 2014.[6]


Fans started a petition to renew or relocate Revolution, and as of January 2018, the petition had gathered over 101,358 signatures with a goal of 110,000.[7] The TV series was never renewed, but a four-part comic book series appeared in May and June 2015, and wrapped up the story.

Miles Matheson (), a former U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant-turned-tavern owner, pursued by the Monroe Republic Militia. As Ben Matheson's brother, he is later revealed to be one of the founding fathers of the Monroe Republic, having established it with Sebastian Monroe after the collapse of the United States. He is also the former commanding general of its militia, and is responsible for making them as brutally efficient as they are now. However, he later became disillusioned with the Republic and unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate Monroe. He deserted, and becomes dependent on alcohol over guilt of the Republic's atrocities against civilians. The militia now considers Miles a traitor, and seeks to capture him as well as the rest of the Matheson family. Miles is shown expressing regret for his role with the militia, although not without conflicted feelings about his former best friend, Sebastian Monroe, who offered him his old job back after liberating Rachel. After rescuing Danny, Miles resolved to defeat Monroe once and for all when he realized that the various pendants Rachel and Ben invented can grant Monroe massive firepower (including nuclear capability) against countless people who are reduced to fighting with guns, swords and bows and arrows after the blackout.

Billy Burke

Charlotte "Charlie" Matheson (), Ben Matheson's daughter and Miles's niece. Miles described her initially as unusual, insisting that it's not meant as an insult. Charlie has strong remorse for the things around her in the new world and is very caring, but is increasingly at odds with trying to find a balance between concern and self-preservation in the post-blackout society, often choosing to emulate her Uncle Miles more than her own family. After Rachel left, she took responsibility for looking after her brother, Danny, whom she actively pursued in the first half of the season. After her brother's death, she was determined to assist Miles in stopping Bass Monroe, while attempting to reconcile with her estranged mother. She had a small relationship with Jason Neville. She shot Jason Neville when he was in soldier mode in self-defense. In the comic book series it is later revealed that Charlie is Miles' daughter as the result of his and Rachel's long on-and-off relationship.

Tracy Spiridakos

Rachel (née Porter) Matheson (), Ben's wife and Charlie and Danny's mother, who is initially believed to have died following the blackout, but later revealed to be alive and working under duress for Monroe. She has told Monroe about the existence of the pendants and provided other information to the militia concerning them and a need for amplification in order to enable vehicular use. Later, it is revealed that Rachel had been equally involved in the blackout as she and her husband know the exact science behind why it has happened. After learning that activated pendants can be tracked by Flynn, she sought instead to destroy them as they are found instead of using them to counter Monroe. In the comic book series, Rachel was later killed when she sacrificed herself after realizing she had been selfish.

Elizabeth Mitchell

Aaron Pittman (), an MIT graduate, former Google executive, and friend of Ben Matheson. Aaron was a teacher in the community, educating children about pre-blackout life. He abandoned his wife after feeling unable to protect her from looters and thieves, leaving her with a group they were traveling with. Aaron has a great deal of suppressed guilt and remorse over abandoning his wife. Just before Ben's death, Aaron was secretly entrusted with a pendant (flash drive) onto which Ben downloaded files from his computer just before the blackout. Aaron and Maggie decided to keep the pendant's existence a secret from the rest of the group, fearing Miles' reaction and complicating the pursuit of Danny's captors. The others later discover the pendant's existence, and it is eventually stolen by Nora's sister (a double agent) and handed over to Sebastian Monroe. Once reunited with Rachel, Aaron is concentrating on the study of her notes and any information concerning the blackout. Rachel suspects that Ben deliberately cultivated a relationship with Aaron because unknown to Aaron, some of his early work in programming at MIT may have been used in the development of the nanites.

Zak Orth

Major Tom Neville (), a former insurance adjuster who joined the Monroe Republic militia after the blackout. As a captain, Neville is the first antagonist in the story – his troops are responsible for both Ben Matheson's death and Danny's capture. He is very calculated and committed to the militia, seeking primarily to survive and to keep his own family safe. Originally a mild-mannered and compassionate family man, the blackout forced him to become more ruthless; he is frequently encouraged to be even more ruthless by his politically ambitious wife who wishes for him to replace Sebastian Monroe as president. Afterward, he is promoted to major. Following the capture of Danny Matheson, Neville loses favor with Monroe when his son defects and he is subsequently captured by the rebels (he later escapes). This prevents him from completing a critical mission for Monroe. Realizing that Monroe will kill him for his failure, Neville and his wife defect to the Georgia Republic, where he is rewarded for the intelligence he provides with a commission as a major in the Georgian militia. He now works with Miles Matheson, who is leading the rebel forces fighting Monroe and is allied with Georgia. In the season one finale, he leads a coup against Monroe.

Giancarlo Esposito

Jason Neville/Nate Walker (), a lieutenant of the Monroe Militia tasked with tracking down Miles. He travels incognito calling himself as Nate Walker so he can travel with Charlie to find Miles. He is the son of Tom Neville. Initially loyal to the Militia, he develops feelings for Charlie, which results in him choosing to protect her on several occasions. When the militia start hunting down the rebels with their helicopters, he defects because he views the massacres as inhumane. He joins the rebellion to fight alongside Charlie, with a reluctant Miles refusing to trust his motivations until he agrees to help interrogate his own father. He has an extremely difficult relationship with his father, Tom, until the end of the first season. Throughout season 2, Jason travels with his father and remains loyal to him even after having his memories altered. Jason died when Charlie shot him in self-defense in the episode Austin City Limits in season 2.

J. D. Pardo

President/General Sebastian "Bas" Monroe (), a former U.S. Marine Corps sergeant who co-founded the Monroe Republic. He was the president (de facto dictator) of the republic, as well as the commanding general of the militia and serves as the main antagonist of Season 1. Monroe and Miles had been best friends prior to the blackout, while they grew up and served together in the military. Seeking at first to defend innocent people and restore order to society after the collapse, they used their combined military experience to organize a standing militia. Monroe knew the Matheson family well before the blackout. After Miles defected, he kept Rachel in seclusion for many years, letting the world believe she was dead. She was key in turning electrical power back on. After Rachel's escape, Bass cooperated with Randall Flynn, who has a supply of pendants and amplifiers, allowing vehicles and weaponry to work under Monroe Republic control. He loses power in a coup and some of his men try to kill him. In Season 2, he later teamed up with Miles and the others to fight against the Patriots.

David Lyons

Nora Clayton () (season 1, guest afterwards), a woman who has a history with Miles. She has connections to the rebels, who fight against the Monroe Republic to restore the United States of America as part of an organized rebellion. Her primary expertise is in explosives, and Nora's connections to the rebellion help at various points throughout the story. Upon learning that her sister was alive and wanted to return to Texas to seek out their family, Nora was going to leave Miles, Charlie, and Aaron to assault Bas. After her sister betrayed the Matheson family to the militia, however, Nora returns, rescuing them and leaving her sister to travel alone. While trying to help the group at a critical moment, she was killed in the season one finale, from massive blood loss after being shot.

Daniella Alonso

Dr. Gene Porter () (season 2), one of the civic leaders of the town of Willoughby, the town doctor and the father of Rachel Matheson. First working for the Patriots but later switching sides as he finds out what kind of people they are. He is instrumental in saving Bass during his execution.

Stephen Collins

Danny Matheson () (episodes 1–11), Charlie's brother who gets captured by the militia. Danny is asthmatic and, before being kidnapped, was constantly watched over by his sister. Similar to Charlie, Danny feels sympathetic for various people, and in a moment when Capt. Neville was vulnerable, chose to help free Neville and risk recapture rather than escape and let the Captain die from collapsing rubble. Danny is killed from random fire after shooting down a helicopter. Post-mortem, Rachel pulled a device out of Danny, which has a faint blinking light that is still working, years after the blackout. It is later learned that the nanites helped power the device to keep Danny alive.

Graham Rogers

Grace Beaumont () (series regular: 1 episode, recurring thereafter), a woman who hides Danny from the Monroe Militia and also has a pendant matching the one Ben Matheson gave Aaron. It is revealed that as one of the scientists who worked at the Department of Defense, she is in contact via a computer with an unknown party until Randall Flynn abducted her. When Aaron and Maggie discover the house she lived in, the pendant she possessed was missing and her computer destroyed. Randall keeps her in captivity with other scientists fixing equipment at the Tower to further his pursuits. After Aaron, Rachel, Miles, and the others restore the power from the Tower, Flynn detonates bombs that drop on the Monroe and Georgia Republics. After this event, Grace moves to Spring City, Oklahoma. The nanotech leads both Aaron and Priscilla to Spring City where they meet up with and seek information from Grace before traveling to Lubbock, Texas.

Maria Howell

Ben Matheson () (season 1, guest afterward), Charlie and Danny's father. Along with Rachel he initially developed the nano-robot technology that caused the blackout, which was researched and developed by the other scientists including Grace, John and others. Initially meant as a method of cheap green energy, the project's failure had the unintended outcome of suppressing all electronic activity within a given radius. After the U.S. Department of Defense deployed the nano-robots at an area of conflict, Ben was able to warn his family in Chicago and his brother Miles moments before the blackout occurred as the nano-bots spread out of control. Fifteen years later, he was murdered in the first episode by the Monroe Militia, and shortly before his death he sent his daughter to find his brother Miles in Chicago in order to help her find and rescue Danny. Ben's past involvement in the story is revealed throughout the first season.

Tim Guinee

Maggie Foster () (episodes 1–4), a British medical doctor who became stranded and separated from her children following the blackout. She became Ben Matheson's girlfriend following his wife's supposed death. Maggie's relationship with Charlie is often strained, since Maggie is Charlie's de facto stepmother, but Maggie cares for Ben's children as her own. She came to the Midwest and met Ben after failing to find a boat to cross the Atlantic to return to her own family in the United Kingdom. She is stabbed and killed by a bandit after she shot the bandit's dog during the pursuit for Danny.

Anna Lise Phillips

Release[edit]

Broadcast[edit]

In Canada, the series aired simultaneously with the American broadcast on City.[28] It premiered in Australia on Fox8 in September 2012[29] and re-screened on free-to-air on Nine and Go! from November 2013.[30] It premiered in New Zealand on TV2 on October 16, 2012.[31] The series was broadcast by DSTV in South Africa and to the rest of Africa via satellite; it was delayed by a week from the US broadcast. In the United Kingdom, the series started airing on Sky1 from March 29, 2013.[32]

Advance screenings[edit]

In the summer of 2012, NBC had a voting campaign on Revolution's Facebook page where visitors could vote for which American city should have an advance screening of the series' pilot in early September.[33] The top ten markets selected were Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York City, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, and Seattle.[33]


On September 4, 2012, New York City's advance screening was held for 1,000 guests, with 80 of them seated on stationary bicycles to generate electricity for lighting. The remaining cities' screenings were held two days later, on September 6, 2012.[33]

Digital comic[edit]

In May 2015, DC Comics started releasing a new digital comic book which picks up where the television series left off.[47] Eric Kripke announced the digital comics revival on April 15, 2015. Between May 4 and June 15, 2015, four separate digital chapters were released fortnightly. Each of the four chapters have a specifically designed cover, all illustrated by DC Comics artist Angel Hernandez.[47]


The four chapters were available on comicbook.com as well as on the TV series' Facebook page.[48][49][50][51]

Survivalism in fiction

Dies the Fire

One Second After

Ravage (novel)

The Changes (TV series)

Power symbol

, a movie ending with a worldwide blackout.

Escape from L.A.

an event that almost caused a worldwide blackout in real life.

Solar storm of 2012

Official website

at IMDb

Revolution