History Headscratchers / Revolution

** People do regularly maintain the landscaping around buildings, and repair roads, and clean windows and paint buildings. If no one is doing these things, overgrowth can be expected...probably not the ''LifeAfterPeople'' levels we see in Chicago (except around the Chicago River, which relies upon a complex pumping and lock system to keep it flowing into Lake Michigan rather than the other way around) but certainly it would be noticeable. And the suburbs should be intact for at least 50 years or so (the weather in the Great Lakes region is very hard on buildings, and most modern residential construction is not that durable without constant maintenance). If nothing else, foundations and street layouts would still exist and be noticeable by anyone traveling through the area.

** People do regularly maintain the landscaping around buildings, and repair roads, and clean windows and paint buildings. If no one is doing these things, overgrowth can be expected...probably not the ''LifeAfterPeople'' levels we see in Chicago (except around the Chicago River, which relies upon a complex pumping and lock system to keep it flowing into Lake Michigan rather than the other way around) but certainly it would be noticeable. And the suburbs should be intact for at least 50-100 years. If nothing else, foundations would still exist and be noticeable by anyone traveling through the area.

** Yes, but the U.S. government pre-electricity had all of the things that pre-electricity governments needed to function. Lots of horses and wagons on hand when the tanks and trucks stop running? Steam or sailing ships to replace the diesel- and nuclear-powered Navy? Coaling and watering stations for steam locomotives? Or for that matter carbon paper and manual typewriters, to ensure that the all-important paperwork gets filled out? More importantly, the people who know how to build and use all of these things effectively?

** Yes, but the U.S. government pre-electricity had all of the things that pre-electricity governments needed to function. Lots of horses and wagons on hand when the tanks and trucks stop running? Steam or sailing ships to replace the diesel- and nuclear-powered Navy? Coaling and watering stations for steam locomotives? More importantly, the people who know how to build and use all of these things effectively?

* So the nice lady flips on her anti-anti-tech dingus and her electricity turns on... powered how? After 15 years of no infrastructure there's no power plants running and no fuel to run generators. Solar panels would be conspicuous. Batteries would have run down long ago and would still have to be recharged. Also, her computer syncs up with another using what sounds like an analog modem. Connected how? A secret array of still-working telephone lines all equipped with shielded tech? A radio transmitter with a nice big obvious antenna?

* So the entire U.S. government has fallen? Didn't the U.S. exist for about a hundred years before there was electrical power?

* Why are the soldiers so willing to disobey General Monroe's order to keep the Mathesons alive? Neville probably did not think that his soldier would fire with Ben in the way and is scared that Monroe will have him executed over the failure. However, later in the pilot Nate tells the militia group that Monroe wants Miles alive yet they rush him with their swords drawn and fire their guns at him. Were they simply too DumbToLive?

* Does anyone really believe Chicago would be overrun by vines after only 15 years without electricity? It's not like there are people regularly de-vining the skyscrapers before the blackout. Heck, I know of buildings in rural areas that have been abandonned for more than 15 years that don't have that much plant life growing on them. And what happened to the miles and miles of dense suburbs around Chicago? Even if there's no one in them, there should still be houses there.

* Why is not anyone seen using steam engines or diesel engines? ''Those'' kind of engines can run without electricity. Surely someone in that village (let alone Monroe's militia) would have experimented with steam power, at least.

**** Not at all improbable, actually. It was a small village with a lot of farm land around it, and they also hunted. So long as the crops came in alright, they shouldn't have a problem getting the food they need and then some. His job is to teach, so it isn't physically taxing or anything that would slim him down.

**** You know how some fat people use the "I cant help it, its genetic" excuse....yeah, turns out not all of them are useing excuses. This in turn raises the question of how someone with those conditions could last in those conditions

*** The more interesting question is how the owner of that AC/DC t-shirt can look so well-fed considering he's basically a subsistence farmer.

** I thought the same thing, but i think that it may be somewhat feasible. Maybe they found it in a scavenge operation sealed up in a box a few years after the lights went out. if he kept good care of it, it doesn't seem too unlikely. i have shirts that are fifteen years old.

* The one question I think everyone who watched the pilot is asking: what is with all those nice looking clothes? Can an AC/DC t-shirt survive 15 years in that good a condition?

** There are quite a few modern gun designs that can be made in a basic metalwork shop. Basic breach-loading rifles should not be that hard to make and Sten submachine guns were designed to be made under these types of conditions. That of course ignores the fact that there should be plenty of regular guns lying around that can easily be converted to use gunpowder as propellant.

* What is with the Muskets? I would've bought that Firearms aren't a big deal anymore because the ensuing chaos of the world would've spent the vast majority of the ammo, but i can't imagine a scenario where using Muskets would be viable. Here's the thing: they still have guns (We saw them a few times), they just don't have very much ammo. So, uh, make ammo. it isn't hard. All you need is a casing, a head, and gunpowder. Casings would be extraordinarily easy to find, heads are easy to make. Gunpowder would be difficult, but they obviously have it, because they use muskets. Instead of wasting your gunpowder using an unreliable, inaccurate archaic weapon, why not just make a few shells for a normal rifle? If one of those riflemen would've had a modern hunting rifle but only two or three shots, that would make sense. And this is ignoring where these muskets even came from in the first place. they looked like professionally made muskets, not some kind of hand-made firearm. Nobody makes those anymore! you can find modern black-powder rifles but they don't look anything like that! and they don't have the same reloading process as old muskets, either.

* Why does Miles have so ''many'' torches lit in his room behind the bar?