The show picks up some three months after the events of the Season One finale, which had our merry band of heroes turning the power back on, only to have Rachel's (Elizabeth Mitchell) old boss and series villain, Randall Flynn set off a bunch of nukes in the name of "patriotism." Huh? They tried to shut the power back off, but it wasn't in time to prevent the destruction of Atlanta and Philly. At this point, Rachel has moved back to her childhood hometown of Willoughby, Texas to assist her father, Dr. Gene Porter (Stephen Collins) in his medical practice. Miles (Billy Burke) is living there as well under a pseudonym and Aaron (Zak Orth) is teaching at the local school and has found love again in the form of fellow schoolteacher Cynthia (Jessica Collins), while Charlie (Tracy Spiridakos) is out west in the Plains Nation searching for Sebastian Monroe (David Lyons) to exact revenge. Meanwhile, Tom (Giancarlo Esposito) and Jason Neville (JD Pardo) are searching the survivor camps in the hopes of locating Julia, their missing wife and mother, respectively.
It seems the United States government is alive and well and has returned to the US after a stint hiding out in Cuba. They call themselves The Patriots, but they aren't exactly what they seem and they have their tendrils deep in many citizens all over the country. Over the course of the season, unlikely alliances will be made, trusts will be broken, and several family members thought lost forever will re-emerge. Although the show mainly stays focused on Willoughby, there are occasional road trips to Mexico, the Plains Nation and Austin, Texas. Many discoveries will be made about the supposed Patriots and Charlie, Miles, Rachel and the others will find themselves once again donning the hats of freedom fighters, only this time they won't be fighting against the Monroe Republic, but against the former USA. To add some crazy fuel to the fire, it seems the nano tech has evolved and likes hanging out in Aaron's head (among others) and wreaking havoc. It's quite clear that the showrunners had a lot in mind for the next season with this ever-developing nano, but it just wasn't in the cards for the show.
I'm not sure why, but Revolution: The Complete Second and Final Season just didn't grab me the way the first season did. First off, I really enjoyed the "road trip" aspect of the first season, which is something they really tried to get away from according to the special features, but yet they still did a good bit of travelling. Second, the storyline just wasn't as cohesive. It just felt all over the place at times, like they were at a dull point, so they would throw in another character or scenario to spice things up. Also, I found the anti-American sentiment pretty disgusting. At a time when so many horrible things are going on in our world, the America-bashing just didn't sit well with me. Sure, there were a few lines towards the end of the season about how the Patriots were nothing like the true America, but I just got tired of hearing how they all wanted to bleed those "red, white and blue bastards" all the time. I love my country and I also don't always agree with our government, for sure. I just really didn't appreciate the way in which it was portrayed and it left a bad taste in my mouth.
I am disappointed that Revolution was cancelled, but I just wasn't riveted to the show the way I was last season and perhaps I am not the only one, as it was ultimately cancelled. Sadly, nothing is resolved and the show ends with much left hanging that will never be resolved. It's quite clear that Eric Kripke (Supernatural), Jon Favreau (Elf) and Rockne S. O'Bannon (Defiance) didn't know the show was set to be cancelled as they are very excited about the future of Revolution in the special features. I did enjoy watching the featurettes, especially the one on the Comic-Con panel, but Revolution has come to an end. Hopefully, some of these great actors will pop up in other shows in the near future. If you saw Season One, it's worth your time to see how it all ends, but go in knowing there's no resolution and that this season is far weaker than its predecessor.
