Revolution

Revolution Information

Revolution is an American post-apocalyptic science fiction television drama series created by Eric Kripke. It is produced by J. J. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions for the NBC network. It debuted on September 17, 2012, and airs on Mondays at 10:00 pm (ET). The network placed a series order in May 2012. Film director Jon Favreau directed the pilot episode. The pilot episode was viewable on Hulu and NBC.com, prior to the series' broadcast premiere. On October 2, 2012, NBC picked it up for a full season of 22 episodes, which was later reduced to 20 episodes.

The show is filmed in and around Wilmington, North Carolina. Many of the scenes were shot in historic downtown Wilmington and on the campus of UNCW.

Setting

Revolution takes place in a post-apocalyptic dystopian future. Fifteen years earlier, an unknown phenomenon disabled electricity on the planet and effectively all devices powered by it, ranging from computers and electronics to car and jet engines. People were forced to adapt to a world without electricity. Due to the collapse of government and public order, many areas are ruled by warlords and militias. The series focuses on the Matheson family, who possess a special device (a mysterious pendant) that is the key to not only finding out what happened fifteen years ago, but also a possible way to reverse its effects. However, they must elude Sebastian Monroe, the General of the Monroe Militia and President of the Monroe Republic who wants to possess that power for himself for conquest of the former United States of America.

Opening Introduction:

In Season 1 Episode 5, "Soul Train", a map of the former Contiguous United States is shown. The map showed the former continental United States divided into six parts: the Monroe Republic, the Georgia Federation, the Plains Nation, The Republic of Texas, the California Commonwealth and the Wasteland.

The same episode also indicates that the Georgia Federation and Plains Nation have allied against the Monroe Republic. Border skirmishing in southwest Illinois, near St. Louis, is mentioned.

According to the wife of Captain Thomas Neville (Julia) in a letter to her husband, the Monroe Republic capital of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is relatively safe; however, life outside west of Pittsburgh is subject to Rebel attacks and other dangers.

Cast

Main cast

Billy Burke as Miles Matheson, a former US Marine Corps sergeant turned tavern owner and pursued by the Monroe Republic Militia. As Ben Matheson's brother, he is later revealed to be one of the founding fathers of the Monroe Republic, having established it with Sebastian Monroe after the collapse of the United States. He was also the Commanding General of its Militia; and is responsible for making them as brutally efficient as they are now. However, Miles later became disillusioned with the Republic, unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate Monroe, and deserted. The Militia now considers Miles a traitor and seeks his capture, as well as the rest of the Matheson family. Miles is shown expressing regret for his role with the Militia, although not without conflicted feelings about his former best friend Sebastian Monroe, and agrees to help his niece in her quest to save her brother from the Militia partly out of an attempt at redemption.
Tracy Spiridakos as Charlotte "Charlie" Matheson, the only daughter to Ben Matheson and Miles's niece who manages to locate her uncle from her father's instructions given at the time of his death. Miles described her initially as unusual, insisting that it's not meant as an insult. Charlie has strong remorse for the things around her in the new world and is very caring, but is increasingly at odds with trying to find a balance between concern and self-preservation in the post-blackout society, often choosing to emulate her Uncle Miles more than her own family. After Rachel left she took responsibility for looking after her brother, whom she is actively pursuing. She is reunited with her mother and brother in the mid-season finale.
Elizabeth Mitchell as Rachel Matheson, Ben's wife and Charlie and Danny's mother who is initially believed to have died following the blackout but later revealed to be alive and working under duress for Monroe; threatened, she has told Monroe about the pendants and provided other information to the Militia.
Graham Rogers as Danny Matheson, Charlie's brother who gets captured by the militia. Danny is asthmatic and before being kidnapped, was constantly watched over by his sister. Similar to Charlie, Danny feels sympathetic for various people and in a moment when Capt. Neville was vulnerable, chose to help free him and get recaptured rather than to escape and let the Captain meet a swift demise from collapsing rubble. He is currently in Philadelphia with Rachel, being used by General Monroe to coerce information about the blackout and her involvement from Rachel.
Zak Orth as Aaron Pittman, a former Google executive and friend of Ben Matheson. Aaron was a teacher in the community, educating children about life before the blackout. He abandoned his wife after feeling unable to protect her from looters and thieves, leaving her with a group they were traveling with. Aaron has a great deal of suppressed guilt and remorse over abandoning his wife. Just before Ben's death, Aaron was secretly entrusted with a pendant flash drive that Ben downloaded files onto from his computer just before the blackout. Aaron and Maggie decided to keep the pendant's existence as a secret from the rest of the group, fearing Miles' reaction and complicating the pursuit of Danny from his captors; the others later discover the pendant's existence and it is eventually stolen by Nora's sister (a double agent) and handed over to Sebastian Monroe.
Daniella Alonso as Nora Clayton, a woman who has a history with Miles from a past relationship. She has connections to the rebels, who fight against the Monroe Republic to restore the United States. Her primary expertise is in explosives.
Giancarlo Esposito as Captain/Major Tom Neville, a former insurance adjuster who joined the Monroe Republic militia after the blackout. Capt. Neville is the first antagonist in the story - his troops are responsible for both Ben Matheson's death and Danny's capture. He is very calculated and committed to the militia, seeking primarily to survive and to keep his own family safe. Originally a mild-mannered and compassionate family man, the blackout forced him to become more ruthless; he is frequently encouraged to be even more ruthless by his politically-ambitious wife who wishes for him to replace Sebastian Monroe as General. Upon his return to Philadelphia with Danny, Monroe promotes Neville to Major, and appoints him to head the Militia's intelligence and interrogations.
J. D. Pardo as Lieutenant Jason Neville (originally known under the alias "Nate Walker"), the rebellious son of Tom Neville and a soldier of the Monroe Militia tasked with tracking down Miles. While loyal to the Militia and his orders regarding Miles, he develops feelings for Charlie, which drives him to protect her on several occasions.
David Lyons as Sebastian "Bass" Monroe, a former US Marine Corps sergeant who co-founded the Monroe Republic. He is the President (de facto dictator) of the Republic as well as the Commanding General of the Militia (assuming that additional role when Miles deserted). Monroe and Miles were best friends prior to the blackout when they served together in the military. Monroe knew the Matheson family well before the blackout and believes Rachel is the key to turning the electrical power back on. He holds her captive at his headquarters at Independence Hall in the Monroe Republic capital of Philadelphia.
Tim Guinee as Ben Matheson, Charlie and Danny's father. Along with Rachel and Grace, Ben was a part of the team that initially developed the technology that caused the blackout. Meant as a method of cheap green energy, it had the unintended outcome of suppressing electronic activity within a given radius. Ben was able to warn his family in Chicago and his brother Miles just before the blackout occurred. He was murdered in the first episode by the Monroe Militia, and shortly before his death he sent his daughter to find his brother Miles in Chicago in order to help her find and rescue Danny.
Anna Lise Phillips as Maggie Foster, a British medical doctor who became stranded and separated from her children following the blackout. She became Ben Matheson's girlfriend following his wife's supposed death. Maggie's relationship with Charlie is often strained, since she is her de facto stepmother, but Maggie cares for Ben's children as her own. She came to the Midwest and met Ben after failing to find a boat to cross the Atlantic to return to her own family in the United Kingdom. She is killed by a bandit in the fourth episode.

Recurring characters

Maria Howell as Grace Beaumont, a woman who hides Danny from the Monroe militia and also has a pendant matching the one Ben Matheson gave Aaron. She is in contact via a computer with an unknown party. Randall (who also possessed a pendant and an Electric Shock Baton) captures her. When Aaron and Maggie discover the house she lived in, the pendant she possessed was missing and her computer destroyed.
Kim Raver as Julia Neville, Captain Tom Neville's wife and Jason's mother.
Colm Feore as Randall Flynn, the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Defense who was the DOD employee working with Ben Matheson and his team to fund and support their project to develop an energy removal technology for military purposes. After the blackout, he attacks Grace in her home in the episode "Chained Heat".
Mark Pellegrino as Jeremy Baker, a militia captain, and former friend of Miles Matheson.
Jeff Fahey as Ken 'Hutch' Hutchinson, a member of the rebels. Nora meets and bonds with him because they both are a part of "the resistance". He later stabs her to prevent her from removing a bomb on the train the militia had headed out of town. His name is actually the same as that of David Soul's character on the '70's ABC hit crime series Starsky and Hutch .
Leslie Hope as President Foster, the president of the Georgia Federation.

Production

Executive producer J.J. Abrams told the Los Angeles Times Hero Complex blog that series creator Eric Kripke "came to us with an idea that was undeniably good. It was such a great premise for a series that it was just that feeling of the misery that you'd feel if you had a chance to be part of that and didn't take advantage of it. I'm really looking forward to that show. He's so obviously the real deal, and we're just really lucky and honored that he wanted to collaborate with us on it."

The series debuted in the United States on September 17, 2012. On October 2, 2012, NBC announced it would pick up the series for an additional nine episodes after achieving an average of 9.8 million viewers for the first three episodes. After November 26th, 2012, Revolution will go on hiatus for a holiday break and to catch up on post-production, expected to resume broadcast on March 25th, 2013 for the remaining episodes.

The role of Rachel Matheson was originally played by Andrea Roth until she was replaced by Elizabeth Mitchell.

A portion of episode 4 of season 1 was filmed at Freestyle Music Park in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Series overview

Seasons of *Revolution*
Season		Episodes	Originally aired		DVD and Blu-ray release date
Season		Episodes	Season premiere	Season finale	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
	1	20

Episodes

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No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Production code	U.S. viewers (million)
OriginalAirDate =	ProdCode = 296830	ShortSummary = In the series premiere, an American family struggles to reunite in a world devoid of electricity for fifteen years. After a tragic attack by the Monroe militia seeking her father, Ben Matheson, Charlie, Aaron and Maggie start their journey to Chicago in search of her uncle Miles who they hope will help rescue her asthmatic brother Danny, who's been taken by Captain Neville from General Monroe's militia. Along the way they meet Nate, someone who helps them out of trouble and is found out to be a soldier of the militia. Upon reaching Chicago they find that The Grand has been converted to a tavern owned by Miles. Following an altercation with the militia the group sets off to find Danny. Meanwhile, Danny escapes and meets Grace who is later shown using a pendant similar to Ben's to power a computer and communicate with an unknown party. The militia go to Grace's house and recapture Danny. Before he is killed by the militia, Ben gives Aaron his pendant. Flashbacks: Ben rushes home to warn his family that "It's happening." He urgently downloads something onto a USB pendant and tries to warn his brother Miles. Miles, who is in the Marines in South Carolina, is on his way back to base with his friend as he is contacted by Ben, but the blackout happens. Miles and his friend return to base, and it is revealed that his friend is Sebastian Monroe, General and President of the future Monroe Republic.	LineColor = 006699 }} </ref>	OriginalAirDate =	ProdCode = 2J7102	ShortSummary = Charlie, Miles, Aaron and Maggie continue to travel together looking for a way to find Danny through Miles' friend Nora who has been captured by the militia. Charlie and Miles split up from Maggie and Aaron, who shows Maggie the locket that Ben gave him. Danny continues his journey with the militia and is forced to watch as they execute a man for owning a gun and an American flag. Monroe tortures a member of a rebel group that are trying to bring back the United States. Nora escapes with Miles and Charlie and they return to rescue the slaves she was held with. Charlie kills the warden and kills another man when rescuing the slaves. Having rescued the slaves and found what Nora was looking for, the group learns that Nora is working with the resistance who are trying to restore the United States, much to Miles' unhappiness. Meanwhile, a man shows up at Grace's house wearing a necklace just like hers. His name is revealed to be Randall. It is revealed Monroe has Rachel and she is very much alive and is working with Monroe under duress. Flashbacks: Rachel killed a man who was trying to steal the family's food while Ben was getting his work from the University of Chicago on their way out of the city.	LineColor = 006699 }} </ref>	OriginalAirDate =	ProdCode = 2J7103	ShortSummary = Now fleeing from the Militia, Nora leads the gang back to camp, only to find many of the fighters are injured from an earlier trap. Besieged by the Militia, they try to dig up a tunnel to escape, while the rifle Nora stole keeps the Militia at bay, but the tunnel finally collapses. They capture the Militia's commander, Jeremy, to use as leverage, but Jeremy quickly reveals the truth behind Miles' involvement with the Monroe militia: he used to be their General. Miles gives himself up to Jeremy in exchange for Charlie, Nora and the others getting away free, but Charlie and Nora ambush the Militia on a bridge to rescue Miles. Meanwhile, Aaron and Maggie go in search of Grace, but find her house empty since someone, who also wore a pendant, attacked her earlier. Aaron finds it strange that she had a computer, but can't make it work. Later, the pendant powers up unexpectedly, making Grace's CD player and Maggie's iPhone work for a moment, but then it goes dark again. Danny, on the other hand, gets physically abused by a soldier bent on revenge, but manages to even things out. Flashbacks: Miles and Monroe go AWOL in search of Miles' family. While on the road, they find a couple who have been killed and some time later they come across a group of men who are attacking a man. Miles realizes they're the same men who killed the couple, and kills them, much to Monroe's shock. The man they rescued is Jeremy.	LineColor = 006699 }} </ref>	OriginalAirDate =	ProdCode = 2J7104	ShortSummary = Charlie and Nora meet back up with Aaron and Maggie. Unknown to them, Nate has escaped and continues to track Miles and Charlie. After running into a group of what appears to be stray dogs, Aaron is injured and Maggie is forced to kill one of the dogs. Miles sees and fights Nate and the group capture him. It is discovered that the dogs are the companions of a man who attacks the group and stabs Maggie in revenge for her killing one of his dogs. The group tries to save her, and Charlie is captured by the man. Miles frees Nate, and he and Miles go to find Charlie. Charlie has been tied to a chair with an elaborate, crossbow booby trap that will go off if the door to the room is opened. She escapes just as Nate and Miles enter the room. They return to Aaron, Maggie and Nora just as Maggie dies. Danny continues his journey with the Militia and they are forced to take shelter during a storm. Danny escapes and is quickly recaptured by Captain Neville. While taking shelter in a storm cellar, the roof falls in trapping Neville. Danny rescues him only to be put back into cuffs. Rachel continues to be a captive of the Militia and it appears she is being tortured for information on the blackout and Ben's involvement. Monroe taunts her with the knowledge that her son will arrive shortly. Flashbacks: Over several years, Maggie searches for a boat to return home so that she can be reunited with her family. However, all the boats have been lost or destroyed in the chaos following the blackout. As she is about to commit suicide, believing she will never see her family again, she is found by Ben, Charlie and Danny. Some years after the blackout, Rachel tearfully leaves the family "to look for supplies". For unknown reasons, she travels to the Monroe Militia where she is put into handcuffs almost immediately while a silent Miles in a Militia uniform looks on.	LineColor = 006699 }} </ref>	OriginalAirDate =	ProdCode = 2J7105	ShortSummary = After catching up with Captain Neville and the Militia at Noblesville, Indiana the group discovers a working steam train being prepared to take Danny to Monroe at the Capital of the Monroe Republic in Philadelphia. Charlie and Miles set off in town to look for Danny and Charlie runs into Neville. Miles and Neville fight and Miles escapes. They return and discover Nora has gone to find the local resistance and plans on blowing up the train. They are about to question "Nate" when he escapes and returns to Neville who moves Danny to the train and brings his departure forward and plans on leaving right away. Nora plants her bomb in a log and plans on it being set off in the furnace of the train but after seeing Danny on the train, has second thoughts and is then stabbed by a member of the resistance who wants revenge on the Militia for his wife. Nora is found by Charlie and Miles and they chase after the train and Miles manages to get rid of the bomb before it explodes. Charlie finds Danny and Neville on the train and they fight. Nate joins the fight and captures Charlie but helps her and Miles to escape. The train arrives where Monroe has been discussing border skirmishes with the Georgia Federation and Plains Nation. When he shows Rachel that Danny has arrived, she explains she was also part of the project that Ben was working on and she draws a picture of the Pendant, explaining that twelve of them exist and that they are the key to getting the power back on. It is revealed that "Nate" is in fact Tom Neville's son, Jason. Flashbacks: Tom Neville is shown to be a sensitive man who is reluctant to stand up for himself and instead takes out his anger on a punching bag. A few weeks after the blackout, his next-door neighbor attempts to loot the house and winds up trying to kill Tom. A shocked Jason, who had been taught by his father never to hit another man, watches as Tom kills the assailant in self-defense. As he recovers from the brutal reality of the post-electricity world, Tom insists that his young son should also learn how to defend himself.	LineColor = 006699 }} </ref>	OriginalAirDate =	ProdCode = 2J7106	ShortSummary = Nora's condition worsens on the journey to Philadelphia; the party must find antibiotics in order to save her life. They are forced to turn to a drug kingpin named Drexel, who provides medical treatment, but not without a price. In return, Charlie is tasked to assassinate the head of a neighboring family who has burned down Drexel's fields. Miles escapes from Drexel's compound to rescue Charlie, and stops her before she completes the task. Drexel is furious and makes Nora and Aaron fight each other to the death, but Aaron comes up with a ruse which leaves Drexel dead instead. Miles, Nora, Charlie and Aaron reunite and continue on the trek to Philadelphia. Flashbacks: Aaron recalls his experiences on the night of the blackout and in the months that followed. He and his wife succeeded in fleeing the city and joining up with another band of survivors. He leaves his wife and the rest of the group because he feels that he doesn't have anything to contribute to the group. \| LineColor = 006699 }} </ref>	OriginalAirDate =	ProdCode = 2J7107	ShortSummary = Rachel and her son reunite and more information is dragged out of Rachel and her old "friends" before the black out. Charlie and the gang run into a group of children whose parents were killed by the militia about eight years ago. Miles feels responsible so he and Charlie devise a plan to get their leader, Peter, who was captured by the militia and sent to a militia ship. Though they want to do it alone, some of the children follow them, including Peter's brother Michael. Charlie lets the militia capture her and becomes a conscript. She escapes with Peter, but she is branded with the Monroe Militia symbol on her wrist. Miles and Nora also come to her aid, but Michael sneaks in, is captured, and used against them. Back at the lighthouse, where Aaron and the children are staying, Aaron's pendant randomly starts working, lighting up the lighthouse whose light distracts the crew of the ship while Charlie, Nora, and Miles kill the crew and free everyone. Back in Philadelphia, one of Rachel's old coworkers, Dr. Bradley, is captured because of his knowledge of the blackout thanks to the information Rachel provided. His daughter is hurt and captured, to force him to reveal all he knows about the blackout, including the location of his pendant. Miles asks Aaron for an explanation about the lighthouse and he is forced to reveal the pendant to Miles and Charlie. Meanwhile, it is revealed that Grace is being held captive by Randall. Flashbacks: Prior to the blackout, Rachel, Ben and Grace worked for a company trying to create renewable free green energy, however their experiments have the opposite effect and instead cause a blackout in a localized area. Demonstrating this to Randall, a member of the US Department of Defense, they are promised contracts to experiment further, but Rachel has reservations about the experiment being weaponized. But the son she's expecting is gravely ill, and Randall offers her a chance to enter a maxed out medical program that may save him.	LineColor = 006699 }} </ref>	OriginalAirDate =	ProdCode = 2J7108	ShortSummary = When Nora encounters a close relative, she must make a difficult choice between family and a promise. Meanwhile, one of the most ruthless members of the Militia is tracking Miles, Charlie and the gang and General Monroe hands Major Neville a stern warning. The locations of numerous pendants are revealed on a working computer screen in the unknown location where Randall is holding Grace prisoner. Flashbacks: Nora is shown to have been a teenager at the time of the blackout, as well as having a younger sister. Living in Texas shortly after the blackout, the two flee the home of their mother for their father's home in Galveston, Texas. When they arrive, their father is nowhere to be found.	LineColor = 006699 }} </ref>	OriginalAirDate =	ProdCode = 2J7109	ShortSummary = Charlie and the group get closer to rescuing Danny. With the aid of the rebels they use abandoned subway tunnels to get under the walls of a heavily defended Philadelphia. However, their efforts are impeded when they begin to hallucinate due to oxygen deprivation after a subway tunnel collapses. During his hallucinations it is revealed that not only did Miles attempt to assassinate Monroe, but also that Miles fears that if Monroe asked him to rejoin the Militia, he would abandon his friends and do so. Meanwhile, Rachel, still under duress by Monroe, purports to be building a device to enhance the radius of the pendant devices, but Rachel's former colleague Dr. Jaffe reveals it to be a bomb. In order to maintain her usefulness to Monroe, Rachel kills Jaffe. Flashbacks: Unlike other episodes there are none for this episode. Instead the characters hallucinate. Miles hallucinates about seeing Monroe again and him asking him to rejoin the Republic, Nora about being bitten by a crocodile and Aaron sees his wife again. Charlie, having passed out since she hit her head on the stone floor due to a bullet graze, dreams that her journey so far has been just that, a dream.	LineColor = 006699 }} </ref>	OriginalAirDate =	ProdCode = 2J7110	ShortSummary = Aaron, Nora, and Charlie are captured while hiding at the home of a friend of Miles after the four infiltrate Philadelphia. Miles takes Neville's wife hostage and exchanges her for their safe return. Neville returns Aaron and Nora, and directs Miles to a defunct power plant where Charlie and Danny have been taken. Charlie reunites with her mother, Rachel, and her brother, Danny, at the plant. Rachel successfully completes the pendant amplifier before killing Strausser when he attempts to assault her. As Miles and Nora rescue Danny and Charlie, Miles faces off with Monroe. Monroe forgives Miles treachery and pleads with him to come back and join his side. However, it ends up in a fight and Miles makes a quick exit when Monroe's soldiers appear. All of them escape after Aaron blasts a hole in the exterior wall with Nora's pipe bombs, but stop in their tracks when they hear a thundering sound and see a militia helicopter take flight and spool its minigun. Flashbacks: The life-long friendship of Miles Matheson and Sebastian Monroe is explored in a series of flashbacks working backward through time. Five years after the blackout, Miles and Sebastian are fighting in "The Trenton Campaign". Miles is injured and he wants Sebastian to lead the soldiers. Sebastian doesn't leave his side and pledges his life to Miles. During the next flashback, Miles comes to Sebastian who is drinking and completely depressed near four freshly dug graves that belongs to his family, its two years before the blackout. Miles talks Sebastian into giving up his gun to him. During the next flashback both of them are playing together as kids. The mark of the Monroe Republic, the deep origin of the "M" insignia is revealed.	LineColor = 006699 }} </ref>	DirectedBy =	WrittenBy =	Viewers =	OriginalAirDate =	ProdCode =	ShortSummary =	LineColor = 006699 }} </ref>	DirectedBy =	WrittenBy =	Viewers =	OriginalAirDate =	ProdCode =	ShortSummary =	LineColor = 006699 }}	ProdCode =	ShortSummary =	LineColor = 006699 }}	ProdCode =	ShortSummary =	LineColor = 006699 }} </ref>	WrittenBy =	Viewers =	OriginalAirDate =	ProdCode =	ShortSummary =	LineColor = 006699 }}	ProdCode =	ShortSummary =	LineColor = 006699 }}

Ratings

A total of 24.2 million American viewers watched all or some of the premiere episode and/or the encore two days later.

#	Title	Ratings/Share (18"49)	Viewers (millions)	DVR 18-49	DVR Viewers (millions)	Total 18-49	Total Viewers (millions)
1	"Pilot"	4.1/11	11.65	1.8		5.9
2	"Chained Heat"	3.4/9	9.21	2.3	4.87	5.7	14.08
3	"No Quarter"	3.2/8	8.32	2.1	4.48	5.3	12.79
4	"The Plague Dogs"	3.0/8	8.01	1.9	4.22	4.9	12.23
5	"Soul Train"	3.3/9	8.61	1.9	4.10	5.2	12.71
6	"Sex and Drugs"	3.0/7	7.90	1.7	4.13	4.6	11.84
7	"The Children's Crusade"	2.8/7	7.34	2.0	4.72	4.8	12.09
8	"Ties That Bind"	2.6/7	7.10	1.8	3.99	4.4	11.09
9	"Kashmir"	2.6/7	7.02	1.8	4.41	4.4	11.43
10	"Nobody's Fault But Mine"	2.9/8	8.59	1.7	4.03	4.6	12.63

Broadcast

In Canada, the series airs simultaneously with the American broadcast on Citytv. It premiered in Australia on Fox8 in September 2012. It premiered in New Zealand on TV2 on October 16, 2012. The series is being broadcast by DSTV in South Africa and to the rest of Africa via satellite. The broadcast is delayed by a week from the USA broadcast. In France, TF1 broadcast the show in 2013. In the United Kingdom, the series will air on Sky 1 from March 29, 2013.

Advance screenings

In the summer of 2012, NBC had a voting campaign on Revolutions Facebook page where visitors could vote for which American city should have an advance screening of the series' pilot in early September. The top-10 markets selected were: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York City, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City and Seattle. New York City's screening was held on September 4 for 1,000 guests; 80 of them seated on stationary bicycles to generate electricity for lighting. The remaining cities' screenings were held on September 6, 2012. The pilot episode is available for download in Apple's iTunes Store and is also viewable on Hulu.

Critical reception

The first season currently has a Metacritic score of 64 out of 100 based on 32 reviews, indicating generally positive reviews. Glen Garvin of The Miami Herald described the show as "big, bold and brassy adventure, a cowboys-and-Indians story for end times". Dorothy Rabinowitz of The Wall Street Journal praised the production quality of the show saying "if the quality of this one, so irresistible in its vitality and suspense, does fail to hold up, its creators will have delivered, at the least, one remarkably fine hour". Ed Bark observed that the show "has the overall look and feel of a big budget feature, delivers some consistently terrific action scenes". Many have compared the show to Dies the Fire, The Hunger Games and Lost.

Verne Gay of Newsday however, gave the premiere a neutral review saying "There's an almost overwhelming been-there-seen-that feel to the pilot, which doesn't really offer any suggestion of 'well, you haven't seen this.'" Other reviewers were much more critical, with Mary Ann Johanson summarizing her review with "Revolution is science fiction for people who don't want to be bothered with any of that tedious thinking stuff that tends to go along with true science fiction, and just want to get to the action. And the action isn't all that fabulous here, either, frankly."

Awards and nominations

Awards and nominations for *Revolution*
Year	Association	Category	Nominee
2012	People's Choice Awards	Favorite New TV Drama	Crew
2013	Saturn Awards	Best Network Television Series	Revolution
		Best Actor on Television	Billy Burke
		Best Actress on Television	Tracy Spiridakos
		Best Supporting Actor on Television	Giancarlo Esposito