'Revolution' Season 1, Episode 1 Review/Recap - 'Pilot'

If you missed the season premiere, head over to the 'Revolution' show page and watch it now!

To follow up "Lost" is a big challenge, but you don't have to tell that to J.J. Abrams. The producer, who brought you that beloved sci-fi series about a mysterious island, hasn't had a ton of luck in his more recent attempts to get a TV show to take off. "Revolution," Abrams' latest, might not be his savior either.

The premise behind "Revolution" is promising: the show is set 15 years after a catastrophic event that shut down any and all electronics: cars, computers, phones, planes, power plants and even batteries are now useless. In a way, that's a very similar idea as "Lost": here are human beings, stripped of any conveniences, who must at times revert to a more primal state to deal with the issues at hand.

Unfortunately, where "Lost" had a simplicity to it at first that gradually built to the complicated, intricate construction/mess that we knew at the end, "Revolution" does not. The show doesn't have the luxury of revealing a little bit about this world at a time, since everyone here has already been dealing with it for 15 years. We aren't making discoveries and scratching our heads at mysteries along with the characters, which is where most of the joy from "Lost" came from.

Here's the story: the episode starts with a surprisingly quiet intro that shows the moment the lights went out. Headlights flicker out down the line of cars on the freeway, cities go dark and airplanes fall blinking from the sky. One man, Ben Matheson, knew this was coming. We focus on him as he frantically attempts to download information to a zip drive while he calls his brother Miles to warn him.

Cut to 15 years later, Ben is living in a quaint little technology-free village with his son, Danny, and his daughter Charlie. Everything is fine until the evil Monroe Militia shows up to take Ben away, and Ben is shot and killed thanks to the rash actions of Danny.

Danny is taken away, and Charlie returns to the village to find her father dying. As he does, he tells her to go to Chicago to find his brother Miles and ask for his help.

Charlie sets out with the town doctor (also sort of her stepmother, which doesn't go over well with Charlie) and the town's teacher, a former Google billionaire by the name of Aaron (clearly our Hurley). Along the way they meet Nate, a handsome man with a bow who saves Charlie's life and earns her trust.

When the gang reaches Chicago, they meet with Miles, who tells Charlie that Ben knew why the lights went out. However, he wants nothing to do with the quest, and turns Charlie away. His hand is forced, though, when he reveals Nate to be a member of the Militia, all but guaranteeing a wave of troops arriving soon to take him away.

One thrilling sword fight later, Miles changes his tune and decides to go with Charlie. And, through a flashback, it is revealed that the head of the Militia is Miles' old buddy from the Marines, Sebastian Monroe.

Meanwhile, Danny manages to escape his captor, the ruthless Captain Tom Neville, but suffers an asthma attack in a field. He is taken in by a woman named Grace, but very soon discovered. Grace is later revealed to have a pendant similar to the one that has Ben's zip drive, a pendant that provides her with a bit of electricity, allowing her to communicate via computer with a yet-to-be-revealed user.

The story within this episode was clean and straightforward, and contained enough emotional depth to make it personal. Unfortunately, the acting is not so great on the part of our heroine making it difficult to connect at times. Thankfully, there's always the magnificent Giancarlo Esposito (you may know his as Gus from "Breaking Bad"), who plays Capt. Neville. Neville has a Gus-like genial nature that turns dark quickly, making him seem a very dangerous villain, which is welcome in this world that seems otherwise fairly lacking in danger.

The questions, though, lack a bit of oomph. The over-arching question is "Why did the lights go off?" but at times we don't even care that much. Things seem to be working out okay, save for the ruthless Militia. Plus, everyone gets to use crossbows and swords and stuff.

Obviously there will be more to "Revolution" as we go, but viewers are a fickle bunch: things need to happen pretty quickly. Can "Revolution" make it far enough to deliver on its premise?

What did you think of the premiere? Let us know in the comments.