1.30.2014

Television: Revolution, "Happy Endings"

I kinda don't care any more.

Scratch that. I used to care about Miles—he was, for a long time, the most interesting character on the show. But he's plateaued a bit. There's been no development on that front, and I find Rachel really annoying, and since the writers are shoving Miles/Rachel down our throats . . . And I don't care at all about Gene, either. So that whole story line = meh.

I am kind of interested in what Monroe, Connor, and Charlie are up to. Just how do they plan to revive the Monroe Republic? And what will Charlie do when she realizes that's what they're up to? (And which is the lesser evil: Patriots or Monroe?)

And Aaron and Priscilla have gone to Lubbock, as directed by the nanotech. Would kind of suck if the nanos were just jerking them around . . . But it would be funny in a way, too. Ha! If the nanos had developed a sense of humor? But no, they've sent A&P (har) to where their fellow programmer Peter has taken up residence. And how clever of the writers to give Peter that biblical name, the "rock" upon which Christ built his church. Cuz that's what Peter does now: preaches and heals.

I find Aaron to be something of a drip, and Priscilla is a big, empty non-character at this point. But the Peter guy could be interesting. Someone who was never popular, now with the means to be popular, and perhaps also with a deep-seated faith driving him (it's thus far unclear how much he really believes and how much of it is him enjoying his moment) . . . I think we're about to go down the old road of showing how people who will not listen to reason—people with unswerving faith and set in their minds—are some of the most dangerous in the world. (I won't get into my personal beliefs here except to point you to a post I wrote on it a couple years back.)

Latest development is that Neville and Jason have been sent by President Davis to Willoughby to find and execute Monroe. And Neville agrees because Davis is holding Julia and will execute her if Neville fails. So off they go, and after a snarling match with Truman, Neville hits up Miles and Rachel and says he wants their help against the Patriots. We all know this is not true; Neville's priority has always been Julia. So it's safe to assume he's playing on Miles to get at where Monroe is. Which, as it turns out, is New Vegas (with Bret Michaels and the mummified remains of Steven Tyler), but Miles hasn't told Neville that. Yet.

The show isn't back until late February as NBC pauses for the Olympics. There is potential in some of what is going on, but the lack of character development is disturbing. The writers seem focused more on plot points than anything really interesting with the characters themselves. Even in emotional situations, the characters don't change at all. Monroe found his son! Yet he's the same old Monroe. Aaron can control nanotech! But he's still an anxious schlub. It's not clear whether Revolution will see a third season, but if it does, the writers need to work on character as well as plot. If you can't make them likable, at least make them interesting.

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