Line #53 YMMV/Revolution


1	* AlasPoorScrappy: [[spoiler:Danny. What makes it especially jarring is that he dies ''mere seconds'' after an epic DyingMomentOfAwesome that got him RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap]].
2	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Rachel. Is she a grieving mother who is using [[spoiler:Danny's death]] to fuel her desire to keep the rest of her family (and the world) safe, or is she a whiny, selfish hypocrite who only cares about herself and is exploting [[spoiler:Danny's death]] whenever someone questions [[WhatTheHellHero why she does anything that's logically smart, but morally wrong?]]
3	* AuthorTract: As of the end of the first season, it's clear the writers have a thing against "Patriots", using [[StrawCharacter the NSA goon]] who started the whole nanite weapons program as a convenient DeusExNukina in the first season finale, and [[{{Anvilicious}} repeating the idea that technology is bad]] in every other episode. The only thing that seems to be missing so far is a HannibalLecture about how Global Warming will now go away, and one of the gun grabbing militias being called the Tea Party.
4	** A subtle nod to the global warming thing might be the North America satellite map in the Tower: the snow cover is extremely advanced over large parts of Canada and the US in something like either March or October (''especially'' October). (See [[http://imgur.com/e8OFizG here]] and [[http://imgur.com/sNxBowP here]] for some still shots.)
5	* DamselScrappy:
6	** ''Charlie''. What were the creators thinking making her the main protagonist? Taken up to eleven in "Soul Train." There is something seriously wrong if '''''Danny''''' has to save your ass from getting choked to death. Then again, she hasn't received proper combat training, and she was taking on TheDragon and ScaryBlackMan Captain Tom Neville, so she needed help!
7	** They've started redeeming her; Spiridakos seems to be a little less wooden now, and the character is really becoming effective with her weapons. Besides, the target demographic of the show is at least 20 years old, so Charlie is the protagonist in order to draw in viewers of that age.
8	* DesignatedHero: Charlie, increasingly. She began as just whiny, but took [[TookALevelInJerkass entirely the wrong lesson]] from [[AntiHero Miles]], and ended up deciding that she was better off being jerks to her friends to ''make'' them go forward to Danny... who they lag behind because of the below-mentioned MotiveDecay. Then there's also the fact that, even after learning [[HeelRealization how bad the deed she is supposed to do in "Sex and Drugs" is]], she still decides to go through with it anyway rather than try to get the victim's help, while Miles, her "role model" for getting tough, takes the higher road and tries to go and stop her to TakeAThirdOption.
9	* DesignatedLoveInterest:
10	** "Nate" saved Charlie's life once, and yet is seen as a heavily implied StarCrossedLovers situation in progress. Aside from that one instance of saving her ([[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil which only really made sense if taken from a certain angle]]), he didn't show any real compassion for her for the most part aside from what even Tom Neville realizes is a crush... which sort of makes ''Charlie'' a DesignatedLoveInterest as well.
11	** Ditto in both directions. [[spoiler:Though Nate/Jason may end up subverting the shallow part, now that he's revealed to be Tom Neville's son.]]
12	* FanficFuel: Miles coup against Monroe, and how it only failed because he couldn't bring himself to finish him off.
13	** On a related note, how different the world would have been for just about everyone if Miles ''had'' managed to steel himself and finish Monroe off.
14	* FanNickname: Aaron's name hasn't been stated much by episode 2, leading some to refer to him as "Google Guy". And there's "Bratniss" for Charlie.
15	* FanonDiscontinuity:
16	** There's room for some of this towards the comic book third season, given that it diverges from a planned third season that was described by the show runners.
17	** Fans unhappy with the official confirmation that The Georgia Federation and the Monroe Republic were wiped off the map so suddenly might also feel this way about the second season.
18	* GrowingTheBeard: Some reviewers believed that the new status quo established in the second season along with a far more ruthless organization the patriots marked a MAJOR upswing in quality.
19	* HarsherInHindsight: The original trailer showed Wrigley Field with 2012 World Champion Chicago Cubs on it. The Cubs had one of their worst seasons ever in 2012 losing over 100 games. This was changed by the time the pilot aired.
20	* HesJustHiding: There are those who think (or at least hope) that President Foster survived the nuking of Atlanta in the season one finale.
21	* HoYay:
22	** [[spoiler:Peter seems to love putting his hands on Aaron.]]
23	** Miles and "Bass" Monroe. Even before the Blackout, they had a HeterosexualLifePartners vibe. And then it turns out that [[spoiler: prior to the events of the series, they founded the Monroe Militia together.]] One of the militia even remarks that Monroe was never the same since Miles left. And in "Home", the flashback reveals Bass, by himself, watching Miles and [[spoiler:Emma]] snuggling before they ship out. One gets the definite vibe Bass wishes ''he'' was the one being kissed.
24	** Miles and Tom Neville seem to have something like this going on. Miles tried getting information out of Neville, and Neville responded that he's not just going to spread his legs for him and tell him everything. Perhaps Miles inspires a EvenTheGuysWantHim reaction.
25	** Just try reading this exchange without context! [[spoiler: Several weeks after the Blackout, Miles decided to go looking for his family and Monroe decided to go with him.]]
26	--> '''Miles''': I'm not dragging you into this. It's my family, my problem.
27	--> '''Monroe''': And you're my family. That makes it my problem.
28	** Eventually Neville tells Bass right to his face that he has "a borderline erotic fixation" on Miles. Plus, their separation has some serious bad break-up undertones, one which neither of them really got over.
29	** And then there's this line from Neville later in Season 2:
30	--> '''Neville''' (to Miles, about Bass): Are you ''that'' blinded by your man-love for that son of a bitch?
31	** [[spoiler: "Dreamcatcher" has Miles and Bass living together in a cheap hotel room. Apparently Aaron's been shipping them as well, as the Nanites are pulling from his subconscious to manufacture the dreams.]]
32	** And then, in "Why We Fight":
33	-->'''Gene:''' I cannot listen to another second of these two bickering like sorority girls!
34	** In "$#!& Happens":
35	-->'''Connor:''' (to Bass) Go find your boyfriend.
36	** In "Tomorrowland" Rachel [[spoiler: actually breaks up with Miles temporarily over his devotion to Bass. Although it was a fake-out, the fact that even Rachel addresses it shows how aware the writers are of one interpretation of the dynamic between Bass and Miles.]]
37	** In "Memorial Day" the characters don't even try to hide the fact that they think Miles and Bass are practically life partners, and openly discuss the two of them with distinct undertones of "you guys should just go somewhere and kiss".
38	* LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt:
39	** Did you really think [[spoiler:Aaron]] would get killed off ''that'' early? Even with what happened to [[spoiler:[[TonightSomeoneDies Maggie]]]].
40	** Since the show had no problem killing off [[spoiler:Danny]], it's safe to say that they could ''and would'' do it.
41	** It's notable that by the time Season 2 rolls around, after the death of [[spoiler: Nora]] in the Season 1 finale, the audience is accustomed enough to the show's AnyoneCanDie attitude that it manages to ''subvert'' this trope by [[spoiler: killing off Aaron and then having the nanites immediately resurrect him]]. (Or it's just ContractualImmortality played straight. Hard to say.)
42	* MemeticLoser: Many persons say that Charlie Matheson is the biggest loser in the entire show. This is in spite of the facts that she helped get Miles Matheson back into the game, put a sniper rifle in the hands of a rebel group, and took down a number of Monroe militia members like Lieutenant Slotnick and [[spoiler: Sergeant Joseph Wheatley]].
43	* MoralEventHorizon:
44	** Whatever Monroe did that turned Miles against him must have been really bad.
45	** Major Tom Neville crosses this in episode 11, [[spoiler: because he showed no qualms about systematically killing off all the rebels. Then when his son Jason raised reasonable human objections over this and refused to call in the air strike, Neville tried to bully him, then he beat the stuffing out of him, and disowned him]].
46	** In episode 17, Rachel reveals that she has no qualms about letting a boy die just so she can get her revenge against Monroe. She would even abandon Aaron to do that.
47	** The season finale reveals that, in-universe, Miles viewed Monroe killing a rebel's entire family to send a message as this for Monroe.
48	* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap:
49	** Despite being one of the scrappiest of scrappy characters on television, Danny manages to pull this off in one of the most spectacular ways possible. [[spoiler:Miles is knocked out by a chopper missile during an attack on a rebel HQ while attempting to take it out. Danny makes a run for the rocket launcher, and successfully destroys the chopper carrying the amplifier, resulting in the other chopper losing power and dropping as well. Unfortunately for Danny, he is torn to shreds by stray machine gun bullets not ten seconds after. To reiterate, Danny not only saved everyone at the rebel HQ, but destroyed Monroe's only power amplifier, so possibly ''thousands'' of other lives as well.]]
50	*** [[spoiler: According to Jason, the story of Danny's last stand has spread and inspired many other people--possibly other defectors from the militia--to join the rebels, reinvigorating their cause after it was nearly destroyed.]]
51	** Charlie is (albeit slowly) starting to get rescued too. She's not whining nearly as much as she used to, and she's finally starting to live up to her title of being the ActionGirl for the series, alongside Nora.
52	* TheScrappy:
53	** Charlie is shaping up to be this. She's rude, combative, ungrateful, incompetent, and whiny.
54	** Danny is a scrappy of scrappies. He started the altercation that got his father killed, even though the people in his village recognized the Monroe Republic as the legitimate sovereign authority, and that there was nothing to indicate that Monroe wanted Ben Matheson dead. Most likely Ben would have been released after being questioned and found to know nothing, and returned to the village (with Neville or another Monroe agent monitoring him). But then again without his death there wouldn't be a series. The Matheson family, sans Miles, appears to be an IdiotBall team.
55	** Rachel. Her daughter rightfully chews her out for abandoning her, and she ''slaps her''. And that's just the start of it. Throughout the show, Rachel becomes obsessed with turning the power back on and is willing to kill/abandon/harm anyone that gets in her way, even if they don't pose much of a threat. Whenever someone calls her out on it, she just whines about how the militia [[spoiler:killed Danny]] as a means to justify her actions. If that's not bad enough, in the Season 1 finale, she lets ''[[spoiler:Nora die]]'' [[LeeroyJenkins because she was more concerned with getting the power on]]. It should be noted that [[spoiler:Charlie ''begged'' her mom to save her, and that they had the chance to save Nora ''and'' get the power on so that everyone would be happy. Instead, she leaves her daughter and Nora behind (which nearly gets Charlie killed).]] And fans thought Danny was an annoying character...
56	** '''Mia'''. When she first showed up, all she did was whine ''over and over again'' about [[ItsAllAboutMe how much she missed her sister Nora and that they should only be looking out for themselves]]. And then [[spoiler:she betrays Charlie's group and nearly gets them all killed]]. When she explains to her sister why, she promptly starts whining ''again'' and gives the same tiresome excuse. Thankfully, she's PutOnABus after the only episode she shows up in ends.
57	* SpiritualAdaptation:
58	** The overarching story is very similar to the Literature/{{Emberverse}} series. Except while Creator/SMStirling wrote in lots of ''[[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Lord of the Rings]]'' references, this show is more tailor-made for ''[[Literature/TheHungerGames Hunger Games]]'' fans. That said, the BigBad has sent his chief minion to hunt down members of a family who possess a trinket MacGuffin, prompting a cross-country trek. Also, unlike Emberverse, ''guns'' are used in this show. So far, only the BigBad and his minions seem to have them, but that's because civilians aren't supposed to have guns.
59	*** And (at least so far) magic, psychic powers, and divine intervention have not played a major role in events.
60	** The series is ''loaded'' with references to the work of Creator/StephenKing, especially ''Literature/TheStand'' and ''Franchise/TheDarkTower''.
61	* {{Squick}}: Titus, revealing himself to be a former Headmaster at a private high school, reveals that he had been about to be arrested the night of the Blackout:
62	-->'''Titus:''' Get this... the night of the blackout, the police were coming to arrest me... me! Simply for [[PornStash images]] I had on my computer, [[JailbaitTaboo for art.]]
63	-->'''Miles:''' (obviously skeeved out) Um... yikes.
64	* StrawmanHasAPoint:
65	** The Monroe Republic might be a violent group of thugs, but they are also the closest thing to law and government in this part of the wasteland. The writers are clearly well aware of this; all of the villains have sympathetic motivations, and their families are frequently mentioned.
66	** Miles might be a {{Jerkass}} AntiHero, but he not only survived the last 15 years in good shape, but he went from being the leader of the Monroe Militia to becoming completely anonymous, despite living (undisguised) in the middle of a city with a whole army hunting him. The characters don't take his advice as much as they probably should.
67	** The Texas government has been portrayed as an antagonist throughout Season 2, but their actions are completely justified in every case: the Monroe Republic has been hostile toward them in the past, so Miles and Bass are high priority targets (and very unlikely to be believed). The Patriots [[spoiler: until the mustard gas deployment in "Tomorrowland"]] have given Texas no firm reason to distrust them, and [[spoiler: via the FalseFlagOperation have even cleared out some troublesome groups of raiders]]. And [[spoiler: Miles, Bass, and Charlie were all present at the attempted assassination]] so the ''best'' thing they could have done was hand themselves over to the Rangers and tell them everything they know [[spoiler: about the Patriots' reprogrammed agents and their plans to start a California-Texas war]].
68	* TakeThatScrappy: Charlie finally giving her mother TheReasonYouSuckSpeech in "Dead Man Walking", where she called out Rachel on how selfish she's been acting and then snidely remarking that she's always right, [[SarcasmMode when she knows damn well she's been anything but]].
69	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter:
70	** [[spoiler:Maggie.]]
71	** [[spoiler:In "Kashmir" they introduce a new minor character called Ashley, an (admittedly rather cute) girl fighting on the side of the rebels. Her very first scene depicts her sniping two militia soldiers in quick succession using a longbow, and later on we even learn a bit about her background. Sounds like she could even shape up to be a better version of Charlie. Unfortunately, she gets unceremoniously killed off toward the end of the very same episode.]]
72	** Arguably, [[spoiler:Danny. See RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap above.]]
73	** [[spoiler:Nora, who ''also'' had a sudden and random death despite being liked.]]
74	** President Foster was an effective leader and interesting foil to Monroe, who could have also filled that role towards the Patriots in season 2, but her fate in the season one finale can best be described as UncertainDoom.
75	** Sean, Priscilla's potential love-interest in the flashbacks to ''Sex and Drugs'' was apparently KilledOffscreen despite his competence, and could have at least been the father of her daughter.
76	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Many were disappointed that the show completely skips over how people first reacted to living in a world with no electricity, and how they adjusted. We do get flashbacks, but imagine how great a whole show about it could have been.
77	** One of the most common criticisms of the show is how the ''post-electricity survival'' plot was abandoned almost by the end of the first episode and replaced with the magical lockets quest and Danny's rescue. A lot of this series could have worked in any other AfterTheEnd universe with only scant changes.
78	* TooBleakStoppedCaring: The problem with making your core protagonists into anti-heroes is that you have to be damn sure that there is enough of the ''hero'' part to balance out the ''anti-'' part of that equation. Rachel and Miles are guilty of so many crimes against humanity that certain viewers just couldn't care less if they lived or died. Charlie spending season one as TheScrappy didn't help either.
79	* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: It's pretty obvious that Creator/TracySpiridakos is trying hard - perhaps a bit too hard - to inject some sort of life into her character, but the writing makes her out to be a whiny, incompetent {{Jerkass}} with a penchant for getting captured and starting brawls.
80	* ToughActToFollow: As Creator/EricKripke's new show after leaving ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', there was great hype due to the show launching his career beyond the loyal confines of ''Supernatural''. While lasting two seasons, notice how people on websites like Website/{{Tumblr}} and this very wiki are more prone to talking about ''Supernatural'' than ''Revolution''.
81	* ValuesDissonance: Doesn't come up nearly as often as it should, but seen briefly in "Sex and Drugs" when Aaron confronts Charlie about helping Drexler, who's growing opium poppies, [[spoiler: kill the neighbor who's been burning his fields]]. Although opium would be useful in this setting as a source for morphine, [[spoiler: Drexler is behaving like a stereotypical drug lord--ruling with violence, exploiting young women, and living in as much opulence and decadence as the setting can afford. That his neighbor--described by Drexler as a no-good drunkard Irishman--was a ''police officer'' pre-blackout only highlights the situation.]]
82	-->'''Aaron''': If the only thing they are doing is [[spoiler:torching Drexler's heroin]] we shouldn't be trying to kill them, we should be sending them a fruit basket!
83	* {{Wangst}}: Rachel. [[IronWoobie She has her reasons]], but at times her whining gets very annoying.
84	* TheWoobie: As of episode 11, [[spoiler: Jason Neville]]. As a result of refusing to call in an air strike, his father beats him up and disowns him. He confesses everything to Charlie and warns her about the air strike occurring in 12 hours, but she does not take him in. It's not easy being him.
85	** [[spoiler: Jason appears to have joined another rebel outfit that didn't know him, and has since hooked up with the main party for good--even helping to interrogate his own father and killing several militia soldiers on the raid resulting from that intelligence. The HeelFaceTurn appears to be for good.]]

Context YMMV / Revolution