Revolution: Farewell

Revolution aired the last of its episodes in its two-year run tonight.   Lots of it was excellent, and made me sorry the series was ending.  But one thing - the very ending - was just the opposite in every way.

Among the good things:  Charlie's talk to Miles about getting together with Rachel - made sense and would have been fun to see in a third season.   Bass keeping his word to Miles was a high point in both seasons.   And the Texas Rangers getting the jump on the President, preventing a war with California, was a fine piece of futuristic television, too.

But the ending ... well, I've been saying all season that the nanites were bringing the series down - whether in the sky or in people.  The only good nanite episode was Aaron believing he had gone back in time.  Otherwise, the nanites were as trite and obvious as you can get, not to mention that they had no intrinsic connection to the good post-apocalyptic black-out story.

Tonight's ending, I hate to say, made me glad this was the final season - because only nanites taking over my brain would have gotten me to watch more of what we saw on the screen at the end.   A walking dead zombie cadre which, as a nanite voice tells us, will make the Patriots look like bumbling children.  The only inviting thing about that storyline was the location of the zombie central - Bradbury, evoking the great Ray.

And so Revolution ends.  It had lots of potential, beginning with Charlie and her resonance to Hunger Games, and lots of other strong and memorable characters.  And a fine, sarcastic near-future repartee, like the mention of "Hillary" a few weeks back.   It's too bad it never found its footing - the nanites were to blame - but everyone associated with the show can be proud for the two good seasons it gave us.   Science fiction is a tough sell on television, and Revolution gave it a good shot.

See also Revolution 2.1: "The Last Surviving Friend" ... Revolution 2.2: Reanimation ... Revolution 2.4: Nanites and ... Maybe Aliens? ... Revolution 2.7: Firestarter Aaron vs. the Creepster ... Revolution 2.9: The Boy and the Attitude ... Revolution 2.10: Mexico and More ... Revolution 2.11: Captives and Nanites ... Revolution 2.12: Eugenics and Lubbock ... Revolution 2.13: Steve Tyler, Mummy ... Revolution 2.14: Time Travel! ... Revolution 2.15: Not Time Travel ... Revolution 2.16: The Manchurian Post-Blackout Candidate ... Revolution 2.17: Arabic Writing on the Wall ... Revolution 2.19: No to Nanites, Yes to Post-Apocalypse ... Revolution 2.20: Hillary

And see also Revolution: Preview Review  ... Revolution 1.2: Fast Changes ... Revolution 1.14: Nanites and Jack Bauer ... Revolution 1.15: Major Tom and More 24 ... Revolution 1.16: Feeling a Little Like the Hatch in Lost ... Revolution 1.17: Even Better Nanites ... Revolution 1.18: Whodunnit? ... Revolution 1.19: Cheney's Bunker ... Revolution Season 1 Finale: Good Pivot

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