Revolution season 1 thread (1 Viewer)

[mattCR]

My take was that it was software that was really at the core of turning the power back on (both literally and figuratively). Perhaps Rachel has figured out a way to replicate the ability...somehow. Aaron was an exec at Google--maybe he has some programming skills that could come in handy.

What the heck is he going to program without power? An abacus?

Watching several documentaries recently, I just can't get over how universal this is; you would think the effect would stop at a certain point OR that some things wouldn't be effected.. I'm totally unsure of how a steam based engine would be effected, or a hydro-powered grain mill.

But those are minor issues. I'm really just put off by the "let's destroy pendants" angle because if you are right, and she has another plan, why did they risk so much and do all that stuff earlier for pendants? And, if she doesn't have a plan, they just wiped out their only power source.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

REALLY dislike the core concept of this episode, where they destroy the pendants. I may be out. This makes absolutely no sense to me, if he can track the pendants, fine. But destroying them means you have less opportunity to do much of anything.. unless we come up with a breakthrough and she can just smelt new pendants from nothing...
This to me seemed like a way to put major breaks on reaching a turning point; as though someone shifted the traintracks out from under the direction this was going.

Maybe it will work out well, but the switch from "we have to find pendants" to "the pendants will destroy us!" seems like a bit of a cheat

It seemed pretty clear to me that while she destroyed the pendants to prevent Randall from tracking them, she was willing to destroy them because she'd already come to the conclusion that the only way to end things was to find a way to turn all of the power back on.

Great so Flynn’s whole motivation is driven by his inability to deal with his son’s death.

It's better than having him be villainous for the sake of being villainous. He felt that his son died in vain, and he wanted to create a world where people didn't die in vain -- even if that meant a lot more people dying in the short term.

Because he was the assistant secretary of defense, he probably blamed himself in a way that most other parents of fallen soldiers would not.

Obviously Rachel didn’t invent the pendants or know everything about them if she didn’t know that they could be triggered remotely.

She may or may not have had a role in inventing them, but you're right that she definitely didn't know everything about them. Randall didn't either, since he only started activating them to track them after he kidnapped Grace.

My take was that it was software that was really at the core of turning the power back on (both literally and figuratively). Perhaps Rachel has figured out a way to replicate the ability...somehow. Aaron was an exec at Google--maybe he has some programming skills that could come in handy.

That may be the way they're leaning, but as Matt pointed out it doesn't make much sense. Software is just numbers, and numbers on their own can't bend the laws of physics. While there is obviously a software component to the pendants, there has to be a hardware component as well that allows them to do what they do. Rachel was drawing electrical diagrams in that lab.

Watching several documentaries recently, I just can't get over how universal this is; you would think the effect would stop at a certain point OR that some things wouldn't be effected.. I'm totally unsure of how a steam based engine would be effected, or a hydro-powered grain mill.

The show has previously shown that steam engines DO work, or the never could have taken the train to Philadelphia. Presumably water mills would work too. And the electrical impulses in living creatures still work, or every person and animal on earth would have dropped dead. On the other hand, certain explosives and fuses were said to be far less reliable than they'd been before the blackout, so it's not just pure battery and grid-powered devices that are effected.

But those are minor issues. I'm really just put off by the "let's destroy pendants" angle because if you are right, and she has another plan, why did they risk so much and do all that stuff earlier for pendants? And, if she doesn't have a plan, they just wiped out their only power source.

To be fair, all the stuff they did earlier for the pendants was before they joined up with Rachel. It's possible she would have said, "let's destroy the pendants" right from the beginning.

 

[Josh Dial]

That may be the way they're leaning, but as Matt pointed out it doesn't make much sense. Software is just numbers, and numbers on their own can't bend the laws of physics. While there is obviously a software component to the pendants, there has to be a hardware component as well that allows them to do what they do. Rachel was drawing electrical diagrams in that lab.

Right--that was clearly displayed (as in it was displayed in a clear fashion) to show that she was working on the hardware side of things. All I'm saying is that the software is the "hard part" that is better left destroyed than collected.

Of course, Rachel might have, instead, been working on some countermeasure to be placed in the Tower. Hopefully we'll find out before the end of the season. One semi-positive thing this show has going for it is nothing is really dragged on at all. Nobody can say it just spins its wheels: the plot drives forward (some would say too fast, actually).

 

[Josh Dial]

HOLY CRAP! It's finally nanobots!!!

 

[Patrick_S]

….and how are those nanobots sustaining themselves after 15 years? There is no power left to consume and as machines they would require power to survive and reproduce.

 

[mattCR]

….and how are those nanobots sustaining themselves after 15 years? There is no power left to consume and as machines they would require power to survive and reproduce.

They are all solar powered.

Actually, I like this concept, that the medallions just ward them away.. there are problems with this beyond self-sustainment.. primarily that they are running out of control and their methods wouldn't be universal, they could only block what they know or were programmed for.

 

[DaveF]

I don't know if I liked this episode. Runaway nano bots, I'm cool with that. I flashed back to Crichton's "Swarm"But angry mama-bear with Rachel wasn't interesting to me. The torture and info extraction from Neville was, in the end, well plotted. But his escape was equally bad, for me. So uninteresting. I like him chained, immobile, and still having the upper hand through emotional manipulations.

 

[Sean Bryan]

So last week's episode was preempted by news coverage of the bombing in Boston. Does anyone know if that episode is playing this week instead?

 

[Stan]

I don't know if I liked this episode. Runaway nano bots, I'm cool with that. I flashed back to Crichton's "Swarm"But angry mama-bear with Rachel wasn't interesting to me. The torture and info extraction from Neville was, in the end, well plotted. But his escape was equally bad, for me. So uninteresting. I like him chained, immobile, and still having the upper hand through emotional manipulations.

Loved Crichton's "Swarm". Enjoying this show, but still confused as to why Rachel is destroying the pendants. Aren't there only 12? I figured they all had to come together to restore power, but she dunks them in acid?

Sounds like maybe the Leland Orser character and Grace can maybe build new ones, but this is starting to approach Lost "make stuff up as we go territory" and might fall to pieces or lose its audience. I put up with Lost until just before the last season and gave up, it got so silly. I hope Abrams has a full thought-out plan for this story.

Then again, we got "Do no Harm" and "Last Resort", even "Fast Forward" a few years ago which I really enjoyed, but they just wrote themselves into holes they couldn't get out of.

 

[mattCR]

I still don't get why everyone uses swords. Gunpowder would be impacted by the nanites.

 

[todbnla]

So question: the episode shown tonite (4/22) about the nuke, is that the 1st of the return or the 2nd episode since this came back on in the last few weeks?

 

[Josh Dial]

I still don't get why everyone uses swords. Gunpowder would be impacted by the nanites.

Swords are awesome, that's why

So question: the episode shown tonite (4/22) about the nuke, is that the 1st of the return or the 2nd episode since this came back on in the last few weeks?

This was the fourth episode back from the break. It was scheduled to air last week. but was preempted by coverage of the events in Boston.

 

[mattCR]

How the heck on foot did they get from Georgia to Kansas in such a short period?

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I continue to be impressed by how stone-cold they continue to make Rachel Matheson. Elizabeth Mitchell often seemed like she was grasping at straws in her underwritten role on "V", but she's excellent here. She has no hesitation about taking an "ends justify the means" mentality.

How the heck on foot did they get from Georgia to Kansas in such a short period?

The show wasn't very clear on the time line, but given that Miles's leverage over Tom Neville was the numerous battles he'd won as commander of the Rebel-Georgian coalition forces, I think it's safe to say that months have gone by between episode 13 and episode 15.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I don't even care about timelines anymore. This show just barrels through these weird cat-n-mouse confrontations, and trying to shoe-horn in more tragic undertones with these past remembrances of relationships gone sideways.

 

[Greg_S_H]

They should have killed Neville and Camp. I wonder if I was the only one rooting against Charlie's rebellion....

 

[DaveF]

I'm not enjoying the season conclusion. The bone-breaker episode was terrible. It unexpectedly became much more violent, graphic, nihilistic and ridiculous. Rachel should be dead, instead we have new wonder powered nano bots. Miles is becoming Monroe. The characters are moving towards soullessmess.Following that, if there was no doubt, Rachel has a death wish, centered on vengeance. Elizabeth Mitchell is superb in the role, but I don't enjoy the character. And , and yet another mysterious mystery of mysteriousness: why is Aaron in the 'spellbook'? Nora has a brick wall collapse on her, Just shake it off. Oh, and elevator monsters. Then a complete waste of time as we wonder which character for random reasons is killing everyone off.Tom Neville and Jason are the most interesting part of the show, but that's best served in moderate doses. They can't carry the show. I've enjoyed it as a light show. Not great, but entertaining. But it's completely cratering for me now, becoming actively distasteful. Hopefully it turns around in the remaining two episodes.

 

[DaveHof2]

It's getting to the point where it's harder to tell the heroes from the villains - which is not necessarily a bad thing, but there are now so many separate groups with their own agendas (turn the power back on! Keep it off! Conquer the US! Avenge my son!) that it all just runs together.

The preview for the season finale gives me hope that they might develop their premise and not keep the power off just to keep that plot point in place. That's what hurt 'Revenge' this year- Emily could have destroyed the Graysons several times over by now. Hopefully 'Revolution' will be able to evolve like 'Nikita,' which was not afraid to reinvent itself almost every season.

 

[mattCR]

Dave-

Totally agree. The show is "revolution" not "power stays off".. if they bring back the power, the next season would still be about completely rebuilding the world, and the new forces etc. etc.

 

[ChristopherG]

I thought that the most recent episode at "The Tower" was pretty decent. Non stop action and nifty splatter guns...