We are now into the fourth episode of the “course correct” and I continue to find myself underwhelmed. I am still hoping for a turn around. I am invested in the Miles and Bass storyline and I really hope that the writer’s room doesn’t take the easy way through this with just killing Bass off. The day after the episode aired I took off and I spent the morning writing up another “Letter to Kripke” regarding my disappointment over the episode. I posted it on my blog, and it appears more than the usual number read, so I wanted to post it up here so everyone could comment. Here is the letter:
Dear Eric,
You know those times when you are just so mad that a calm flows over you? It is an anger almost like depression when you begin to wonder if you really loved what you thought you loved, or if you had somewhere along the line fallen in love with an idea of the thing, and not the thing itself? This is how I am beginning to feel about this “sequel” to the original ten episodes of Revolution.
I say sequel because there was a certain kind of flow in the first ten. We had a huge break, and now we are getting the second ten of season one. But doing the season like this makes it look more like a season one and two. I feel like you are trying to make an HBO series out of this.
You see, HBO generally has a good thing when it begins. As a matter of fact, I would count the first season of Deadwood and the first season of Rome, actually the first season of the Sopranos and of Game of Thrones as well, as not only some of the best first seasons of television, but some of the best seasons of television in general. Ever. Revolution was never HBO quality, but it interested a lot of people early on. It had its flaws, including a power out sequence that made no sense, but there was a lot of good (if not sometimes over the top) stuff in there. Then you decided to use the hiatus to make the show “bigger and badder” than the first half. You wanted to give it that umph you felt was lacking for the first ten. But in so doing, you did something that I, to put it bluntly, just don’t think is working…You turned the second half of the first season into a “sequel”.
One of my absolute favorite movie franchises of all time is Wes Craven’s “Scream” series, created by Kevin Williamson. Through his amazing scripts, and out of the four movies Williamson wrote all but Scream 3, we see so much truth about the industry. We see so much about what it is that movies are attempting to do–the good, the bad and the psycho killer ugly. My favorite movie of the franchise is actually Scream 2, which speaks volumes about sequels and how they are done. Eric, please go and watch this movie, because you are falling into ALL the pitfalls of sequels.
How is this happening? LIke HBO does with their second seasons, you have expanded the world, made more icks, killed more people, showed more fight sequences, brought in more characters. Yet you still only have the same 43 minutes an episode. Sure, you’ve sped up things, but at what cost? I’ll tell you–at the cost of character development. Instead, your characters are taking on a caricature feel–this one is too angry, that one is too crazy, this one is too scared, that one is too out of context for words…
We started off the episode with Monroe opening fire on Neville’s closest assistant. The way it is done is that Monroe doesn’t think he can trust this man any more than it turned out he couldn’t trust Neville. He had given Neville his trust years before and now that was destroyed. But in the end, all you have done is had Bass “shoot the messenger”, a tired cliche of despotic tyrannical leaders. It is the hallmark of a “Big Bad”, of an “Evil Overloard”. You have Bass not only send the nuke to Atlanta, but also approve of its detonation over the wire when Alec was not responding, validating that Bass is in fact the one who wants this done, not that Randall was doing it under the guise of Bass’s wishes.
These horrific acts of Bass’s are supposed to dwarf Miles’s own horrors, sending the man who was like a son to him to die, once again showing Miles’ lack of care over his family. Apparently you want him to be the hero because “he’s trying”? I don’t know where you went to Sunday School, but in my classes, I was told that the “road to Hell was paved with good intentions”. Miles winds up killing this “son” figure, but he wasn’t strong enough to get on the radio and tell Bass he did it.
I hate that you seem to have chosen Miles for a redemption he doesn’t deserve and doesn’t want and left Bass with nothing, sinking further and further into psychoses. How can he not? He has lost everything. You want us to feel that the heroes have the odds against them, but I just don’t see it. To me, everything seems against Bass. Everyone hates him and/or uses him, The minute he tries to be nice people take it as a weakness. Everyone is so in Miles’ corner, the only problem he is having with redemption is that he knows he doesn’t deserve it. If you ask me, the better story would be Bass’s redemption, that he seeks himself, because after all this shit, losing his family, losing his best friend, (next week we’ll probably find out he lost women, too), losing his faith in himself and the country he constructed, and then becoming outright tyrannical, finding himself again on the side of good would be a truly heroic journey.
Instead, I fear you’re going to have Miles hold true to his desire to burn down Philly, and have Bass play the violin while it happens.
I understand that every man has to take responsibility for his own actions at some point, and that blaming what Bass has become all on Miles directly opposes that view, because it would mean that I don’t believe Bass is a man capable of deciding things for himself. This is entirely inaccurate. I hope that Bass will be able to look into that abyss and say that only he can save himself and start down that path. I also want Miles to stop with the pity party and weak attempts and take responsibility. And not in some stupid fabricated way like this new “are you ready to be a general again” crap.
In closing, Eric, please take your head out of your ass and get back to what you are good at, character relationships, before you ensure that a second season is all NBC offers you.
As always, your humble fan,
Nicole
As predicted, NBC did order a season two, so provided everyone makes it through the season, they will have a job next year! I’m overjoyed about the renewal, but I seriously hope someone reigns in Kripke a bit. In my opinion, something just isn’t working for me regarding what is currently going on. Monday’s episode was written by Paul Grellong and directed by Nick Copus.
Monroe does not take Neville’s betrayal well, and people he can trust become fewer and fewer. Miles tracks the nuclear bomb into Atlanta and finds something potentially more dangerous to him than the nuke. Charlie learns a little more than she wanted to know about Miles. Rachel and Aaron’s travels reveal even more about those pesky little nannies.
I already explained a lot about my issues regarding what has been done with Monroe in my “letter”. For me, I feel that there has been a move to the show feeling like maybe they made us too sympathetic to Bass, and now they have to make him seem like a Big Bad Nasty. The truth is, show, it’s too late to pull that. You haven’t given us any kind of a degradation of character. He was coherent, and Miles just would say that he was crazy. We got the impression from the show and from the web series that people thought Monroe was crazy because he thought he could turn the power back on. Instead of people deciding that maybe he isn’t crazy because he did turn the power back on, the PTB still say he is crazy, and it just didn’t make sense. So now we are given this additional information that is supposed to show how crazy and evil he is. Show, you didn’t show me a realistic decline of character. Now all of a sudden, you are telling me I’m supposed to call the man who never really cared for family and has hurt everyone he has met a “hero” and the person who genuinely seemed to care, and lost loved ones, and eventually loses pretty much everyone he has ever had faith in, I am supposed to call a villain. I’m having a difficult time with this…
I will say though that in the scene, Bass’s hurt over Neville’s betrayal and defection was very well done. David brought so much into this scene where others may have just made a two dimensional baddie moment. He was able to portray frustration, pain, a tinge of instability… you knew it wasn’t easy for him–finding out about Neville, or taking out Neville’s most trusted aid. He downed one drink and started on the second before he shot the Captain. It seems he really thought about it, but at this point he knew how it would look that someone as high as Neville defected. Neville was the man Bass entrusted after Miles betrayed him. If he doesn’t gain control over this situation right away, he may lose control over everything.
It could be my Northernness, but I have to admit I found the whole impression of the Georgia Federation a little difficult to swallow. Ok, you got me–yes, it would be warm there. But without electricity, wouldn’t they have problems with refrigeration? Wouldn’t anyone reliant on any kind of refrigerated medicine die? Wouldn’t there be serious issues with keeping crops from rotting? Wouldn’t there be a bug problem with the loss of factories creating insecticides? Wouldn’t there be some kind of lactose deficiency from the lack of any kind of dairy? Where did they get the money to invest in all this steam power? Where did they get the scientists and engineers to construct it? Many of the schools that would create such scientists and engineers are up here in the over-educated North. Wouldn’t it be more likely that we would have created that? Why is it that with the bastion of education the North possesses, the Monroe Republic would seem like a third world nation compared to Georgia? And why would anyone stay in the Monroe Republic if the other republics were really so much better off?
I still wonder if they eat people in the Georgia Federation. I couldn’t help but notice that the scene where the President showed MIles the troops she wanted him to bring into the Monroe Republic bore a scary resemblance to when Saruman showed Grima the Orc Army…I really hope Miles says no.
In this episode we meet another person who, similarly to Charlie, Miles took under his wing. Miles apparently felt close enough to Alec that he gave Alec a family heirloom–a knife that his grandfather brought back from Korea, then his father had in Viet Nam. This says a couple things about Miles actually. First, it shows that Miles thought of Alec like a son. That was the closeness they had. It also means that Miles had dedicated himself to this soldier’s life and he had no intention of having a family of his own to pass on the torch.
Miles thought this much of Alec, but that didn’t stop him from giving Alec up to the Texans. We are given the impression that Miles just decided to give him up because he was identified and they had to give the Texans a fall guy to prevent war. He didn’t consider other options, he didn’t fight to save this soldier that was the closest thing to a son he had, he just handed Alec over. Again in this episode, we see just how little family means to Miles. It does make one wonder just how safe Charlie really is with Miles. He kiddingly says that her mother told him to take care of her so he was going to put her in front of a nuclear bomb, but really, how smart was that?
And then we had Jane taking out the Militia soldiers with that weird “magical” thing she has. Shooting them with an arrow would have done the trick too, and without the LOST element. But anyway, through the Jane scene we did find out more about the nannites. I feel like we need even more back story about that. Instead of shutting down electrical currents in human beings, they actually keep human beings alive? But not really? clearly not all nannites can do this, or no one would have died since the electricity went off. It appears that capsule Rachel took out of Danny had these benevolent nannites that kept him alive somehow. Similar benevolent nannites kept Jane’s lover, Beth, alive even though she had stage 4 cancer. But turning back on the power means killing all these nannites? Including the benevolent ones? If I recall correctly, this miracle surgery that worked with Danny was a couple years before the blackout, which means that Danny had these nannites in his body keeping him alive while the power was still on. How does that work with this new “nannites all die” thing. The writers are parceling out information–we need a lot more.
And…what about Nora? I haven’t really been a fan of Nora at all, but since this “course correct” started, Nora has been given next to nothing to do. I feel like her story was totally side lined when the writers decided to utilize the chemistry that Elizabeth and Billy had in front of the camera together.
Monday’s episode looks like it will be a big Bass and Miles storyline ep, so I’m hoping to love it. Let me know what you thought of the episode! Since I’m a big Monroe supporter, I’m sure there are plenty of Miles fans out there that may have another opinion on the ep. Sound off and let me know what you think is working, and what you think needs to be changed for season two!
Screencaps from grande caps tumblr.
I just read over your letter to Kripke and I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about. Monroe is the villian of the thing, I don’t get what you’re expecting to see. Miles certainly does need to be redeemed and I assume its the relationship with Charlie that does it eventually. Unless I’m reading the thing all wrong — completely possible — if you’re hoping for more/different Monroe than you’re currently getting, you’re going to be disappointed.
I hadn’t heard anything about a ‘course correct’ I’m curious — do you have additional detail aobut that anywhere?
Hi Melanie, Have you checked out the commentaried version of the pilot episode on NBC.com’s revolution webpage? If you haven’t, check it out. Kripke talks about the course correct in there. It has also been mentioned on various interviews with the various stars at WonderCon. You can catch many of these interviews on youtube. Some may even be on this site. Thank you for reading! Differing opinions are always welcome.
As for the other, I’m sure there are people who disagree with me, but sorry, Miles has done too much wrong for me to see him as any better than Bass.
Thank you for the info — I’ll have to check it out.
I think the series has been hurt by the long hiatus- I’ve lost track of a lot of detail — do we know why Miles & Bass broke up the bromance?
Because what I’m assuming may not be the case – I’m assuming that Bass somehow went too far for Miles and Miles ‘betrayed’ him, but Miles couldn’t (as in wouldn’t) kill Bass and so he left — Miles wouldn’t help anymore, but neither did he stand against his former BFF. Until now when Bass has demonstrated he’s gone far enough around the bend that he’d detonate a nuke (which, if he wanted the Georgia Republic for himself, doesn’t make any sense at all) but giving that order is pretty irredeemable to me.
All of that could be factually flat out wrong (except the part about Bass giving the detonate order) but that’s what the situation seems to be to me. What drew me to the show was all Miles. All about his decisions, his actions, the consequences of his actions, present and past, his interactions with all the characters, not just Monroe. The only part that seemed in need of a slight course correct was to de-emphasize Charlie and Danny in favor of Miles and perhaps Neville as the relentless pursuer. (To me, they didn’t need to kill Danny, but I don’t mind that they did.) Anyway – I guess the main difference is, I never saw the Miles/Bass relationship as being the primary plotline, or even something that needed to be explored much more than we got before the hiatus.
I just really don’t understand why NBC thought it was a good idea to have the show (one of their highest rated!) off the air for 5 months. As i said, I think it has really damaged the continuity and momentum of the show.
I was at WonderCon and interviewed the cast and producer David Rambo while there. They talked a lot about how they needed the hiatus to work out creative direction. They were off shooting for just a month though, so I’m not sure what kind of retooling actually happened. The intent was to really change the tone of the show the second half. They have, but I’m with Nicole, it’s been underwhelming so far after they promised so much. I’m still having trouble buying into the whole premise.
The show is still struggling creatively and Warner Brothers is taking action. They just announced that Rockne S. O’Bannon will be Kripke’s number two in season two. He’s a veteran producer himself with a lot of experience. Of course he’s coming off the failure of Cult, but he’s got a ton of genre cred. Also joining the show, Trey Callaway, who’s fresh off CSI: NY. They are really bringing some muscle into this project because there are concerns at NBC over creative direction.
Poor Eric Kripke, he’s found that NBC is a notorious meddler in the creative affairs of their shows. It’s a stark contrast with The CW who do nothing. Remember though, Kripke had a strong set of creative advisers when Supernatural was getting started. Kim Manners, John Shiban, Robert Singer to name a few. I don’t think Kripke has had that same support in season one of Revolution.
As to why NBC put the show on five month hiatus? I get the initial logic. Because they needed something good for May sweeps. NBC knew they had a ton of holes in their schedule and this pairing with The Voice kept that block in tact. The Voice had to go off so Revolution did. Then they cut the episode order by two because the schedule ran long! Now it’s running into June anyway. Yep, it all backfired.
That is wonderful news, Alice! I can’t wait to hear more about it. I loved O’Bannon’s Farscape. Even though Cult didn’t go over well, Farscape had four seasons and a mini series, and some really great characters. I also really enjoyed his miniseries Triangle, too. I can’t wait to see what he brings to the show!
Melanie, I agree that the nuke is deplorable. Also I agree that for someone who wants to possess the land, nuking the people and the soil seems like a less than smart thing to do–Bass is a trained military man, I can’t see why this course of action makes sense at all but for the writer’s desire to make Bass seem evil and show him as worse than Miles. It was like the episodes Kashmir and Nobody’s Fault But Mine happened, and people were supposed to fall in love further with Miles, but a strange thing happened–many people who were Bass-curious full out fell in love with him. I went from loving Miles right at the Pilot to being a little miffed that Bass was so likeable, to finally full out falling in love with Bass and starting to dislike Miles intensely…all over the course of those first ten episodes…and I’m not the only one. It was as if the writers found out that people started falling for the wrong character and decided they had to make Monroe meaner, scarier–but the way they have done it looks synthetic and it doesn’t make sense. It comes off as a desperate attempt to make Bass the Big Bad and make the audience hate him. This is all my opinion of course. But whatever, it isn’t working for me. Kripke said that he pulled the writers in to watch the dailies with David and Billy and told them that the monroe and miles bond was one of the main relationships of the show. Anybody correct me if I misquote, but I believe Kripke said something about how when he watched the dailies he didn’t expect to feel so much for Bass’s character, too. They need to work with what they’ve created, and in my humble opinion, I don’t feel that they really have. Meanwhile, they are focusing on characters that just don’t seem to be getting the job done. I don’t know if you had the opportunity to watch the live action web series with Monroe and Neville. It does speak a little to the backstory, and (again in my opinion), doesn’t make Miles look all that great.
No, I haven’t seen the webseries. I haven’t really seen anything but the show itself. The only show that I follow closely enough to know about the behind the scenes stuff like that is Supernatural.
I get what you’re saying about the Miles/Monroe relationship, but from just watching the series without having heard EK’s comments about it, I personally didn’t get that it was supposed to be the main relationship. For better or worse (and I see the weaknesses, believe me) I got that it was Charlie/Miles I’m supposed to be vested in. I think Charlie started out very weak, but to me, the character has gotten better.
I agree with you that Show doesn’t need to keep bringing worse and worse stuff up about either Monroe or Miles. We get it, they did bad stuff to build the Republic. Order out of chaos will have a price. Different rules in warfare and all that. But if Monroe is supposed to be the villian that I love to hate? Just not working for me at all. I don’t love him — that’s Miles, for me. I don’t hate him, that’s Neville, for me. I wish they’d bring Mark Pelligrino back — I’d love to hate him in a heartbeat.
John Shiban! I still miss his influence in SPN!
Poor Eric– I did see one quote that made me laugh — where he said he wasn’t ever going to talk about a ‘planned ending’ for another show again after the whole (imaginary) ‘5 year plan’ thing with SPN.
Well, I hope it all works out and we recognize the show in the fall!
Thank you, Nicole! I, too, am underwhelmed by the course correct that moved the show from an interesting exploration of character relationships to this mishmash of plots and character deviations that quite honestly don’t make sense.
I’m not interested in the Georgia Federation and let me say, the underpinning stereotypes were glaring. And I know Kripke mentioned Game of Thrones as a point of reference, but he has not done the world building that Martin did for his series.
As to your question, Melanie, there were discussions over the spring hiatus about the show revising its direction. It was specifically mentioned at the Paley Festival for Revolution. I’m sure there is video online.
I, like Nicole, have invested in the Miles/Monroe dynamic and while Miles may be the “hero” and Monroe the “villain,” I believe that the relationship set up in the first half of this season has now been summarily dismissed for this Game of Thrones world domination plot that I would rather go to HBO for.
I don’t approve of this course correction either. What initially drew me to Revolution was Miles/Monroe dynamics. I don’t see them as the black and white hero vs. villain they want to convince us with this second part of the season. To me they are both morally grey and I would like them to delve into that and show us how the ended from being on the same side to being enemies and possibly show us how they could be brought back on the same side. This new, superficial war-games-like world expansion route they are taking does not interest me.
The problem with the show has been stated by the show itself, there are no heroes and the more I see the less likable all of them appear. Someone needs to rise to the top and I know Kripke wants it to be Charlie, but her character is weak, for a variety of reasons that I won’t state because it would sound too harsh.
I was drawn to the Miles/Monroe story because it seemed to be the only human relationship that had a solid history and could be unpacked, but what we have are caricatures.
The lack of heroes is a real problem — and not just on Revolution.
It seems like writers are afraid that heroes are boring or something so they insist on all this morally gray stuff to spice it up, and they don’t know when to quit.