Will 'Revolution' Ever Make Sense?

“What am I watching?” I ask myself this every week after seeing the latest Revolution episode. And I never have an answer since nothing on the show ever makes since. It’s like Prometheus in a way. The visuals are well done, but like the scientists who manage to get lost in a ship shaped like a donut, the characters are not real in any possible way. In this week’s episode, Ghosts, Aaron (Zak Orth) is surprised when Rachel (Elizabeth Mitchell) removes a flash drive from the magical electricity pendant by pressing a button on the device. The only problem is that there is only ONE button on the freaking thing. It’s no wonder Rachel keeps him in the dark about her knowledge of the blackout. Aaron is dumb as rocks for a former computer genius.

It doesn’t get better as we learn more about the mysterious Randall Flynn (Colm Feore) in the latest episode. His backstory includes a somber moment where he learns that his son has been killed while serving in Afghanistan. We also learn that it was he who ordered the use of Rachel and Ben Matheson’s (Tim Guinee) power-depleting tech, which ended up causing the blackout. But all that still doesn’t add up to why he is such a villain now. He does, however, add another character whose facial expressions never change.

It’s not just the characters. The world that Revolution creates doesn’t make any sense either. In Ghosts, there’s a strong disconnect in weapon use between different groups of people. It’s strange to see scenes where Miles (Billy Burke), Nora (Daniella Alonso), and new pal Jim Hudson (Malik Yoba) (and former Monroe Militia legend?) duel militiamen with swords while elsewhere in a concurrent battle, Monroe soldiers are dressed in Kevlar and armed with assault weapons.

And by "battle" I am describing how Randall and his new Monroe allies are trying to hunt down Rachel’s power pendants. There is hardly any gunfire as the rebels abandon their base due to the sudden loss of their assault weapons and explosives that they used in the last episode. Instead, crossbow bolts fly through the air as Charlie (Tracy Spiridakos) becomes the only rebel with a projectile weapon (No wonder the rebels are so ineffective).

It’s fitting that Ghosts ends in a way that perfectly sums out everything that is wrong with the series which in my eyes had such a compelling premise. Elizabeth decides to tell Aaron everything because he “deserves to know what is going on,” even though the eleven episodes before have depicted him as fairly incompetent. “There’s this place… It’s called the tower,” she begins, and then dramatic music plays out as the screen fades black signifying the end of the episode. Afterwards, previews for the next episode reveal that the tower houses a creature called the “smoke monster…” If you couldn’t tell that the “smoke monster” isn’t and won’t (hopefully) be a part of Revolution, don’t worry you aren’t the only one. It appears that the writers want to create another Lost situation. But America isn’t “The Island,” and it is not wrapped in fantastical allusions. But apparently the writers think so even though it is ruining the show.