Revolution: Episode 4, Jump the Shark?

Can it be that the show has already jumped the shark?

Lets break it down.

At the end of episode three they previewed the death of a character. Obviously they were not planning on a very long series run, so planned as much bang for the buck as they could get for the first order of 6-9 episodes.  What better way to keep viewers interested after three episodes than kill off a character!

Killing off characters is another trick used by TV series to maintain interest. They will dangle a cliff hanger, usually right before a seasonal break, and milk the shit out of the hype until they air the results.  Does any one remember Dallas in the 80s?  Who shot JR?  I was just a young kid then, but even then I remember every single adult I encountered was discussing it.  It turns out it was Maggie Simpson.

This episode had a mini Who Shoot JR style played out in a Death Triangle Mystery.

So in the previous episodes preview they warned that one character may die


Well in this episode, they played it up so that one of three main characters was about to bite it.

Charlie:  Pleas god please let it be her!

Polo Fritos: The Breaking Bad chicken guy. I still havnt learned his name, I guess I will call him captain.

And british mommy.

The show used a bunch of fantastical plot twists to put each of these three characters in peril, only to resolve who was going to die right at the very end in a very melodramatic scene.

Captain:  A freaking giant tornado? How often are there massive "Twister" like tornados in Chicago? So the kid took advantage of the chaos of a army platoon trying to take shelter from a super tornado and escaped. Then Captain chased him down and tackled him and started beating the shit out of him. Then the two see that the tornado is just about upon them, and run into a shack.  The wind builds up, and the tornado forms and begins creeping towards the shack, which is collapsing, while Captain tries to show some heart with some predictable dialogue, and the shack begins to break down. Finally it mostly collapses just as the tornado dissipates, leaving Captain pinned under a beam with a giant appliance about to fall on him. The kid is then forced to make the choice, save the captain or let him die.

British: Some how the crew is reunited and makes their way into an amusement park. I missed the first 20 minutes.  They are immediately beset upon by dogs and an angry carnie who claimed that they killed one of his dogs. In the hectic race for safety, British is grabbed and stabbed in the leg by the carnie and released, later to be found by Miles. (Who easily slipped in and out of the diner they were holed up in, despite the fact that no one else could.)  So British is dragged into the diner, while Miles and Explosives chick go looking for dog owner to get him to take away the dogs. Meanwhile carnie slips in and captures Charlie. Upon Miles return, he then releases Nate and takes him along for some reason, leaving explosives to help Google tend to British. Google is about to perform surgery on the severed artery in British's leg. She is losing blood fast and in great peril.

Charlie: So carnie kidnapped her and tied her up, then set an elaborate trap using her crossbow and a string attaching it to a door.  While in the midst of setting up the trap, explains that his daughter died because looters took his meds and she got tetnis and kicked.  Then he stops and asks Charlie to stay with him, weirdly explaining that she could enjoy being there with him.  When she refuses, he gets crazy again and completes the trap. Meanwhile Miles is busting into doors to set the precedent that this special forces guy only busts through doors rather than opening them silently to see what is on the other side in an attempt to surprise it.  (He is going to set off the trap.)  So after he busts open a couple doors him and Nate are beset upon by carnie who is then killed by Nate with an arrow jab to the chest, and Charlie has rocked the chair back and forth, loostening it maybe just enough to dodge the bolt at the last second when Miles opens it?  Please let her get a bolt in the face!

Any way, the plots play out. Kid saves Captain because captain convinces him that it would be evil to let him die and his father would have saved him, and Charlie dodges the bolt.  Leaving poor british to bleed out and die on the floor of a pristine 15 year old diner after some terribly sappy lamenting by Charlie.

And with that, Revolution has already jumped the shark. I will continue to watch this train wreck just out of morbid curiosity, like a rubber necker on a high way. But that will be the last time I skip a session of online gaming with my friends to do it.

Jawaballs