Why are TV shows these days so desperate to be massive? They want, more than anything, to be set in a movie-type universe where crappy fight scenes go on and on, where they can get away with using 'Two Steps From Hell' music in their trailers and where the mysteries and plot twists are prioritised high above character development. Whatever happened to a TV show taking advantage of the fact it's small and focussing on the people, emotions and then gradually building the tension until the story gives its makers no other choice than to make it get bum-clenchingly epic?
Revolution is being dubbed the next best 'high-concept' TV show since Lost (and Flashforward, and The Event...). Now, Lost worked because it's main focus was always the characters and their story, their journey and their discoveries, not about the island they were stranded on but about themselves - so much so that the show stuck a middle finger up at everyone watching who was demanding logical answers to questions like, "why the fuck does everything revolve around a magic garden?"
Revolution looks as though it'd be a far better show if it was less obessesed with how the world turns out '15 years later' and a little bit more interested in how the world reacted '5 minutes later', and then how the world adjusted for the next 15 years. Endless scenes of people accidentally flicking light switches, forgetting they've no electricity would probably be more exciting than what we'll end up with.
After reading everything that's written above this next comment, you may react a touch confused, however - the mystery element of Revolution actually looks set to be the most exciting part. Everybody loves a conspiracy, especially a global one, and if said mystery is on a grand enough scale to force the characters who are tangled up in its mysteriousness to become even vaguely interesting, we may end up with some quite gripping telly to watch. Who knows?
Roo