Revolution Creator Eric Kripke Compares The Show To Lord Of The Rings
Tonight is the series premiere of the highly anticipated new sci-fi drama Revolution on NBC. Revolution is the brainchild of Eric Kripke (Supernatural) and J.J. Abrams (Lost), and the pilot episode was directed by Iron Man‘s Jon Favreau. The pilot received a mix reception when it first screened at San Diego Comic Con this past July. Whether the show will succeed remains to be seen, but creator Kripke is throwing around some pretty hefty comparisons: he says the show is in the vein of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.
In a new interview with Blastr, Kripke discusses the overall journey of the series and where he hopes to take its characters. He contends Revolution will be successful because of its characters and not just its high-concept premise.
The reference I bring up in terms of this show more than any other is probably Lord of the Rings. The idea that it’s a very epic scope and a very intimate focus. You start these things small and simple and slow. She just wants to get her brother back and reunite her family. So the shape of the show is this very epic journey from Chicago to Philadelphia, where her brother is going to be, and the adventures they have along the way and the relationships that grow and fracture, and the people they befriend and meet.
Kripke has mapped out where Revolution will go during its first season (assuming it lasts that long). It’s an adventure series and a travelogue of the new U.S. landscape after the worldwide blackout that has left everything in darkness.
The reason it’s called Revolution is that eventually we’re going to meet rebels, and eventually we’re going to meet a resistance, and eventually our characters are going to be swept up in that and there’s these freedom fighters that are fighting against this dictatorial militia that is controlling things right now. And Charlie (the female lead) is going to be drawn into that, and Miles (her uncle) is going to be drawn into that, and that it’s going to come down to this fight between the good guys and the bad guys for the soul of the country and the soul of the future.
Whether or not audiences will flock to their TV sets tonight to watch Revolution is up in the air. The series has big problems with its narrative, characters, and commitment to their premise. The sci-fi TV pilots like Lost, Battlestar Galactica, and The Walking Dead that really stand out do so because they feel fully conceived and rich, wherein Revolution feels half-baked in almost all of its elements. The characters in Revolution seem too cookie-cutter and bland to care why they want to go on this journey. The series has nothing more to give than its vaguely interesting premise.
Hopefully Revolution will find its footing and not be added to the pile of failed sci-fi TV such as The Event, Jericho, Surface, Heroes, Terra Nova, FlashForward, The Invasion, The Nine, Kings, Day One, Alcatraz, and DayBreak.
Revolution premieres tonight, September 17th, 2012, on NBC.
