“Revolution” 9/25/2013 (spoilers): Nevilles vs. Nukes

Tom Neville, Giancarlo Esposito, Revolution, NBC

Tom Neville is back. And this time…he’s still mad.

Revolution is back! And this time, it’s sorry if it made you unhappy and it swears it can change!

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“Revolution” 6/3/2013 (spoilers): Charlie vs. the Deadly Depths of Level 12

David Lyons, President Monroe, Revolution, NBCAfter an opening montage of moments from the first nineteen episodes set to the tune of “Can’t Find My Way Home”, at long last begins the Revolution season-one finale, “The Dark Tower” (not the first time they’ve referenced Stephen King). When last we left, Monroe Republic President Sebastian “Bass” Monroe and former best friend Miles Matheson were facing off inside the tower with coilguns at twenty paces. Will this be the duel to end all duels? Here in the first minute of the episode?

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“Revolution” 5/27/2013 (spoilers): Charlie vs. the Emissaries of Explodo

The Tower, Revolution, NBC

There’s this place. It’s called…The TOWER.

GRENADE!

Thus does tonight’s new episode of Revolution, “Children of Men”, begin with a promise of explosions. We ended last week’s episode with Rachel Matheson triggering the grenade she carried with her into President Monroe’s field tent in hopes of avenging the death of her son Danny. Instead of opening this week with Rachel and Monroe both dead — which, let’s face it, would be a true game-changer — the grenade gets kicked out of the tent, exploding outside and destroying some tanks full of movie combustion fluid or whatever. Everyone in the tent is safe, and Rachel is easily captured and embarrassed.

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“Revolution” 5/20/2013 (spoilers): Charlie vs. the Murderous Mole

Jason, Charlie, kissing, JD Pardo, Tracy Spiridakos, Revolution, NBC

Charlie (Tracy Spiridakos) and Jason (JD Pardo) share a moment of true love while a disenchanted Atlanta evacuates in panic.

When last we left the heroes of Revolution, Nora had been captured by the Monroe Militia, spirited away to Philadelphia, and brought face-to-face with President Monroe himself. This week’s new episode, “Clue”, Monroe attempts to lure Nora to his side by giving her a white dress reminiscent of the Master’s maidens in Manos: the Hands of Fate, offering her free romantic dinner, and even wearing some of Miles’ cologne, which I’m sure he stockpiles by the gallon for occasions such as this.

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“The Office”: And They All Lived Happily Ever After

Michael Scott, Steve Carell, The Office, NBC

“There’s a lot of beauty in ordinary things. Isn’t that the point?”
— Pamela Beesly Halpert, May 16, 2013.

Our family spent this evening bidding farewell to the quotidian saga of The Office after seven solidly engaging seasons, one apocryphal season we endured out of customer loyalty, and one mostly improved bonus season to make up for that one. Of all our ongoing TV series, it was the only one we watched unanimously. Whenever the Dunder Mifflin staff spent another work day together, we spent quality time together, like the families of days past that gathered around the old-time radio, the puppet stage, the family plow, or whatever other objects past generations thought were worth gathering around. (Well, at least we did this after my son was old enough to appreciate it and binge-watched the early seasons over one summer vacation.)

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“Revolution” 5/13/2013 (spoilers): Charlie vs. the Drones of Devastation

Aaron Pittman, Zak Orth, Revolution, NBC

Former Google executive Aaron Pittman (Zak Orth), possibly the only sci-fi character in history that I can convincingly cosplay at conventions.

Thousands of curious Googlers can rest easy now that their burning question has been answered by tonight’s new episode of Revolution, “The Longest Day”: yes, this is the episode where Charlie and Jason finally kiss. NBC has been teasing the moment in every other promo for weeks, but tonight was the payoff at last. Their initial meet-hate and subsequent cat-‘n’-mouse run-ins have been forgotten or forgiven for the sake of beginning a relationship based on intense circumstances, despite the advice of Speed to the contrary.

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Every Episode Ever: Thoughts About TV Completism

Persons Unknown, NBC

My son and I liked NBC’s short-lived, suspenseful Persons Unknown so much, we had to watch the last two episodes online after NBC had given up on it, even when we hadn’t. The cast included Chadwick Boseman (42), Daisy Betts (Last Resort), and Alan Ruck (Bunheads!). Not pictured: Reggie Lee from Grimm.

In my childhood, seeing every episode of a TV series was next to impossible. Series were allowed to last for at least a full year, even multiple years — no instant cancellations after two failed airings — which meant you really had to maintain long-term dedication in order to catch a show in its entirety from pilot to finale. Syndicated reruns were kindly kept in chronological order but always skipped episodes. Woe betide the star-crossed younger viewers who found their viewing rituals disrupted by finicky parents who controlled the channel dial. Also, sometimes I liked playing outside with friends instead of keeping appointments with my favorite small-screen characters. No, really. That used to be a thing.

In this present age of DVD boxed sets, TV series completism is easier than it’s ever been in world history. Buy a complete-series set (or collect seasons one by one as funding permits); set aside multiple weekends for binge-viewing; repeat until you’ve become an authority on the series long after it departed the airwaves. Cable networks provide reruns of many series for your catch-up pleasure, if you’re patient enough to wait until the ones you missed take their turn. Even easier to complete are those fledgling upstarts that grab your attention, air two or three episodes, and find themselves axed by ill-tempered TV execs who’d rather be flooding the airwaves with cost-effective reality stunts instead.

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“Revolution” 5/6/2013 (spoilers): Charlie vs. the Sinister Dr. Anthrax

Giancarlo Esposito, Tom Neville, Revolution, NBC

Meet Miles Matheson’s new partner! Can these two dangerous men share a post-apocalypse without driving each other crazy?

Tonight’s new Revolution episode, “The Love Boat”, begins with our man Miles Matheson in the darkest place we’ve seen him so far. Last week his long-lost love Emma, whom we’d just met and didn’t have much reason to care about, was killed after finding herself stuck in the middle between Miles and President Monroe in a hometown gunfight. The episode ended with Miles vowing to escalate the war, which we learn this week is his inefficient, roundabout way of seeking cold-blooded revenge.

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“Revolution” 4/29/2013 (spoilers): Charlie vs. the Love Triangle Trap

David Lyons, General Monroe, Revolution, NBC

If something compels General Monroe to stop sulking in Independence Hall and walk around in open daylight, you know things just got real.

Tonight’s new episode of Revolution, “Home”, opens with our reluctant hero Miles Matheson pouring himself a mug of alcohol after a successful, dynamic raid (shown in three non-consecutive, disappointingly truncated, split-second flashbacks) that earned the Rebel Alliance a new base located in a landfill, albeit with twenty-two casualties. By the end of the hour, it won’t be the last excuse he has for drinking.

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“Revolution” 4/22/2013 (spoilers): Charlie vs. the Nuclear Terror

suitcase nuke, NBC, RevolutionAs of tonight, now we know for certain why NBC tastefully postponed the new Revolution episode “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia” from last week. At first I wondered if the reason would be more scenes of Nora carrying out heroic bombing on behalf of the Rebel Alliance, but no. Even more unnerving, given the events of last week in real life: this week, Sebastian “Bass” Monroe, President of the Monroe Republic, mad with electrical power and incensed paranoia, sends a few henchmen to Atlanta, the capital of the neighboring Georgia Federation, to threaten it with an old-fashioned suitcase nuke. Presumably Monroe and his loyal scientists have been sitting on this portable, stylish WMD through all fifteen years of the blackout, waiting for the opportunity to fire it up and stop postponing WWIII. Luckily for them, most fissile materials have a half-life with a distant expiration date.

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