ComicCon 2013 Revolution Interviews

David Lyons

Giancarlo Esposito

Eric Kripke and Elizabeth Mitchell talk about Revolution's return and the Big Mystery

Long interview with Eric Kripke (creator) and Elizabeth Mitchell (Rachel). They talk in deep about the mysteries and characters of what appears to be an epic second half of Revolution. A must read!

I've been holding this for a week waiting for the first episode to air, so now I can post it. That means this is heavy on spoilers if you haven't watched "The Stand" episode 11 and I recommend not reading this. Thanks to Elizabeth-Mitchell.org

Elizabeth Mitchell & Eric Kripke Tease An Epic Return

When Revolution returns from its four mouth hiatus, there won’t just be power – there will also be answers. At least, that’s what creator Eric Kripke and star Elizabeth Mitchell promised when we talked about the show’s explosive second half of the season, which resumes March 25th.

“For me, the story was never about what caused the blackout,” Kripke said. “It’s not just based on one particular mystery – it’s based on these characters, and this world that the characters have these adventures in.”

That world: a post-apocalyptic landscape 15 years after a blackout destroyed all forms of power. Following the November episode that also doubled as the show’s winter finale, Monroe had achieved enough power to unleash some deadly helicopter missiles on our characters who were on the run from the Milita, having just broken Rachel out of Monroe’s confinement. The action reunited the until-then absent mother with her two children, bringing kidnapped Danny back into the fold.

Kripke, who previously mentioned that he intended on answering what is no doubt the biggest question on everyone’s mind, confirmed that Episode 13 would reveal “pretty much everything there is to know about why the blackout happens. The reality was that as a character, Rachel knew why the blackout happened and now she’s back with our heroes,” Kripke admitted. “We were really wrestling with the question of, ‘why wouldn’t she just tell them? And Jon [Favreau] said, ‘so have her tell them.’ We reveal why the blackout happened, but the card we really have up our sleeve is that we open our door to a whole new world of questions.”

Among those questions – where is Grace? What happened to Randall? And what is the dangerous history between Miles and Rachel? While Kripke mentioned the storytelling would move at an “aggressive red-blooded pace,” viewers shouldn’t worry that Revolution will run itself into the ground answering questions.

Revolution's Return 1x11 "The Stand" First Minute Sneak Peek

Watch the complete first minute of Revolution's return episode, 1x11, "The Stand". Presented by Eric Kripke and JJ Abrams.


New Revolution March 25 at 10/9c on NBC!

10 Things You Need to Know About Revolution's Return

The revolution is about to begin!

On Monday, March 25 (10/9c), Revolution returns after a four-month hiatus — and though it's been quite a while since the show has been on the air, the NBC series will pick up exactly where we left off, with Miles (Billy Burke) & Co. on the run from Monroe (David Lyons) and his fleet of newly powered helicopters. But will they be able to make a daring escape? In short, duh! The show can't end like that! But what's in store for the survivors? The cast and executive producers teased what's coming up at Saturday's PaleyFest panel, moderated by TV Guide Magazine's Michael Schneider. Get the scoop below:

1. The Blackout, revealed: "We reveal why the power went out and we do it early," executive producer Eric Kripke said, noting that it will open the door to a bigger mystery. "It will be fun to see the audience's reaction to it." Rachel (Elizabeth Mitchell) actually knows the real reason, so, "there's no reason she wouldn't say it."

2. The world expands: As Monroe's power grows, so too will the world of Revolution as the group may need to rely on other territories in the fight against Monroe. "This revolution against Monroe really begins," Kripke says. "[They] all join together to take on this evil tyrant." But executive producer Jon Favreau noted that loyalties with these other federations may change as power shifts hands. Among the new faces is Leslie Hope's President Foster, the leader of the Georgia Federation. "She's badass," Kripke said. "She's really steely and strong and has her own management style that is quite different than Monroe's."

3. Charlie's not a kid anymore: Even though Charlie (Tracy Spiridakos) has been reunited with her mother Rachel and brother Danny (Graham Rogers), she will continue to fight for the rebellion, which will put her at odds with herself. "Is she able to keep her humanity through it all?" Spiridakos said. She may find help in that department in Jason (J.D. Pardo), who Spiridakos noted will be around the rebels more in the second half of the season.

20 things we learned from the Revolution PaleyFest Panel

   After Friday night's spoiler-free PaleyFest panel for "The Walking Dead," Saturday night's (March 2) panel for "Revolution" was practically the opposite.

   Eric Kripke, J.J. Abrams and the cast were fairly forthcoming about what fans can expect both when "Revolution" returns to NBC on March 25 and beyond.

   That, of course, means that if you want to go in with a completely clean slate, you really don't want to read the information after the break.

So click through for 20 things we learned from the 'Revolution' PaleyFest Panel.

   20) Nobody on the "Revolution" writing staff cared about the Super Bowl. Remember that whole blackout thing during the Super Bowl and all of the "hilarious" jokes on your Twitter feed about "Revolution"? Well, it turns out that the shows writers weren't even watching the game. They were working on breaking story and one of the assistants read about it on social media. "We all had a moment like, 'Ah. I wish we were airing the next night,'" says Eric Kripke.

   19) They're overjoyed that they've been gone since November. You may miss "Revolution" and NBC may miss the show's ratings, but Kripke and company are giddy. Well, they're not really "giddy," but they're very good at putting a happy face on the break. "I'm very grateful for it, becuase I think creatively it really paid off and I believe very strongly that the second half of the season is better than the first," Kripke says. They said the same thing at TCA Press Tour in January, so it's gotta be true.

   18) Eric Kripke thinks he knows what the show did well in its first chunk of episodes. "I thought we did a pretty great job introducing the characters and these wonderful actors," Kripke says. "Character really has to come first in a show like this and it's more important than the genre and it's more important than the big concept, because stories come and go, but if you can make the characters stick, then I think you have a chance as some longevity and I think we did that well. We got to know them. We got to understand them. They got dimensionalized, they all sorta came to life, which is in a large part due to the incredible job that all of these incredibly handsome people on the stage have done."

Pictures of Revolution Panel at PaleyFest 2013

7 Reasons to be Excited for Revolution's Return

   It's been a while, Revolution. We've missed you. At least those of us who still remember the NBC hit after its seemingly endless four month hiatus. But now Revolution's return is only a few weeks away (March 25 at 10/9c) and the question is: does anyone still care? Creator Eric Kripke sure hopes so. "I think, honestly, it's an engine that's humming better than it ever has," he said. While Revolution was the biggest freshman hit of the fall season, many viewers were left lukewarm by the midseason finale. After taking this time off the air to reevaluate, Kripke now believes the show's return has what it takes to attract old fans, those still on the fence as well as a whole new audience. "We've learned from our mistakes and really sort of figured out what works and what doesn't work," he tells TVGuide.com.

Still hesitant to commit? Here are another seven reasons to be excited for Revolution's return:

1. Things are going to get moving — and fast! With Supernatural's Kripke and Lost's J.J. Abrams at the helm, viewers expected the same quick-paced storytelling we'd come to know from the pair's previous series. Unfortunately, Revolution's first 10 episodes — while a fun ride — moved at a snail's pace. (Ten episodes just to get one kid? Sheesh!) That's all going to change when the show returns. "It explodes into a big ball of fury after this," Billy Burke, who plays Miles, says. "I know [Kripke and Abrams] want to hasten, quicken the pace," Captain Neville's portrayer Giancarlo Esposito says, adding that they also plan to swiftly answer some of the series' biggest burning questions, including why the power went out!

2. There are going to be higher stakes (and an actual revolution) Now that Monroe has power — not to mention helicopters — gone are the days of a simple search-and-rescue mission. "It'll evolve into a really sizeable quest," Kripke says. "I think we really look at the first 10 episodes as the prologue to the story ... now it's time for the revolution to start." But things won't' be so easy for our heroes as they set out to restore power worldwide. "They've got crossbows and swords and [Monroe] has M16s and choppers, so they're woefully overwhelmed and outmanned and outgunned," the creator adds. To help even the playing field, Kripke hints that the rebels might look to outside forces for help. Georgia, perhaps?

3. We'll see a larger, complex world à la Game of Thrones "We've seen personal relationship struggles and personal revolutions happen, but we haven't seen how this particular power outage has affected the whole world. We're about to," Esposito teases. With the revolution finally beginning, everyone has their own role to play, roles that will take them outside of the Monroe Republic. "We'll see the Georgia Federation this season, we'll see the Plains Nation this season — and they're wildly different nations ... We really want this to evolve into kind of an American Game of Thrones." Kripke says. But with the world expanding, don't expect our recently reunited gang of misfits to stay together too long.

Revolution Winter TCA Tour 2013

Pictures from: 2013 Winter TCA Tour, Revolution. Billy Burke, David Lyons, Elizabeth Mitchell, Eric Kripke, Giancarlo Esposito, J.J. Abrams, JD Pardo, Tracy Spiridakos.

6 Tips About Revolution's Return

   "The revolution and the battle against Monroe really begins."

   That was the party line Sunday at Revolution's panel during NBC's winter TV previews, as executive producer Eric Kripke promised reporters that the second half of the series' freshman season will actually begin to deliver on the promise of the title.

   When last we left Miles (Billy Burke), Charlie (Tracy Spiridakos), Rachel (Elizabeth Mitchell) and the rest of the gang, they had escaped Monroe's (David Lyons) clutches only to come face-to-face with his fleet of helicopters — all thanks to Rachel's pendant amplifier, which provided power to his new army.

   Impending battle aside — and there will be many on several fronts — Kripke says that at its core, Revolution is a family show and in the second half of the season, the Matheson family will be tested. "The story becomes about can this family — some of them are related by blood, some of them are just related by loyalty. Can they stick together in the face of these overwhelming odds and this overwhelming danger?" Kripke says. "And can you maintain your soul when you're a warrior?"

   "This is The Waltons with swords," he adds. "We really want to make sure it always has an incredible amount of heart."

   Check out what else is in store for Miles & Co. when the series returns this March:

Revolution's Creator, Eric Kripke, Says Second Half Is "Bigger and Better"

Revolution wrapped its fall episodes last night with a victory and a setback for our heroes. The good guys are finally all together, with Miles and Charlie having rescued kidnapped Danny and Rachel. But the devious Gen. Monroe now has the electrical power to command a high-tech military force. What’s planned for the second half of the season? In an exclusive interview, Revolution creator Eric Kripke talks about last night’s hour and how things will change (and improve) for the second half of the season. Kripke addresses the four-month hiatus, reveals what mystery will definitely be solved in the spring, and what key characters will be doing. “We have bigger and better stuff coming,” he promises. Here’s the scoop:

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Was there ever a version in your head where Miles goes, “Yeah, I’m re-joining Monroe”?

Eric Kripke: What we love about Miles is half of him is light and half is shadow. If this story was set a couple years ago he would be the bad guy. You never want to lose sight of that. Just because Miles was able to face-off with Monroe in this particular encounter and maintain the heroic side of his personality doesn’t mean it’s going to happen again. So even though he was able to resist the temptation, that temptation is still there. Even moreso when he starts to fulfill his destiny and becomes a leader for the rebels [in the second half of the season]; he starts to fall into his old bloodthirsty patterns again. … There’s also a lot of important pieces in last night’s episode that move the story forward. We’re setting up how pissed Monroe is going to be in the second half of the season; how personal Neville is going to take Miles’ assault on his wife. And [we hinted that] Rachel and Miles have a very secret history.

I gotta ask, since I’m seeing this comment on the boards: How could Rachel forget to grab the pendant on the way out of the room?

Kripke: We shot a scene where Rachel goes, “We have to go back and get the pendant,” and Miles says, “We can’t go back, they’re shooting machine guns at us!” We ended up cutting it for time because we thought, maybe wrongly, that when there’s a room full of five people shooting machine guns in your direction that you can’t run toward those machine guns.

How J.J. Abrams Pitched 'Revolution'

   It started with two men sword fighting in front of a Starbucks.

   Writer-producer Eric Kripke dreamed up that surreal image last summer. His previous series Supernatural was inspired by a similarly random mental snapshot — “a girl on the ceiling on fire.” Now he had this new idea, the coffee shop sword fight. Kripke didn’t know who the fighting men were or why they were using medieval weapons. He only knew he wanted to somehow take modern-day America and roll it back pre-industrial times, to write a quest story like Star Wars or Lord of the Rings, only in a land peppered by freeways and fast food restaurants.

   “I wanted to take everything I love about Lord of the Rings — swords and swashbuckling and quests and damsels in distress — put all that deep nerd fantasy stuff on the American highway,” Kripke says.

   So he took the idea to primetime’s reigning master of big concepts, producer J.J. Abrams (Lost, Person of Interest), who saw the potential, particularly the inherent appeal of a back-to-basics rustic setting. “It’s wish fulfillment,” Abrams says. “We’re constantly being bombarded. It’s a silencing of the din that we live in right now.”

   Moreover, Abrams says stripping away technology can help a show creatively, just like with the stranded island castaways on ABC’s Lost. “One of the things that’s difficult and frustrating about all the technology we have is it eliminates a lot of potential for drama,” Abrams says. “[Characters] can communicate instantly, they can research things, they can jump on a plane and be anywhere. Writers contort themselves to eliminate cell phones from scenes. And one of the beautiful byproducts of Kripke’s idea is that there’s no longer that immediate access.”

Revolution Revealed: Episode 8

Burning Questions: The Children's Crusade

Revolution's seventh episode was one of those where the flashbacks far outshined the main story line. "The Children's Crusade" finally gave us a much-awaited glimpse at the story behind the notorious blackout. Check out what we learned and seven other burning questions. [Spoilers ahead]

Where it all began: Creator Eric Kripke wasn't joking around when he said he'd answer questions quickly. Only seven episodes in and Revolution has already revealed the cause behind the blackout (well, to an extent).

Through flashbacks, we see that Ben (Tim Guinee), Rachel (Elizabeth Mitchell) and Grace (Maria Howell) were part of a start-up the couple conceived to attempt to generate clean, low-cost electricity. But, lo and behold, they accidentally discovered a way to inhibit all electricity! (Those crazy scientists. Can't they get anything right?)

In a moment dripping with irony, Ben insists to Rachel that a contract with the Department of Defense is the only option for the struggling company. "Another month, we won't be able to keep the lights on," Ben tells his wife, thankfully unable to hear my amused chuckles.

And though Rachel resists selling the technology to the government, it appears her opposition didn't last too long.

Revolution Revealed: Episode 6 "Sex and Drugs"

Eric Kripke Reveals Important Answers

   Eric Kripke talked about the first season of Revolution and revealed a lot of things about upcoming episodes. Attention, this article contains too many Spoilers!

   Since NBC's "Revolution" has emerged as one of the few true hits of the new season, creator/showrunner Eric Kripke realizes the pressure is on to keep his audience hooked.

   During a conference call to discuss the season so far and what's ahead in the remaining 18 episodes, Kripke revealed he has no intention of frustrating viewers by making them wait for answers. He's got a plan. Even when it comes to the show's central mystery: what caused the worldwide Blackout?

   "You should look for clues everywhere," Kripke teases. "There was a phenomenon that we have up our sleeves as to what caused the blackout. What you see in that globe shot [of the blackout creeping across the Earth] is an accurate representation of what we're working on. Currently, in the writers room, we're talking dangerously about revealing that secret before the end of the first season."

   That decision wouldn't be made simply to satisfy viewer curiosity, it's about what's best for the long term value of the show. "The longer you drag out an answer the more pressure there is that it's the greatest answer given in the history of man," Kripke explains. "Frankly, I'm not that smart. I'd rather answer a question and open a door to a bigger room. Even if we do answer the question of what caused the blackout it leads directly to a bigger and scarier mystery."

Revolution Revealed: Episode 3

Erik Kripke and the cast talk about the perils of perception and best intentions in this week's episode.

Rachel's Original Storyline

   The Cubs “losing” the World Series wasn’t the only tweak made to the Revolution pilot. While the plan was always for Charlie’s mom Rachel to be alive, the way that twist played out in the original pilot, with Rescue Me‘s Andrea Roth in the role, was a bit different. For one, Rachel’s status among the living was revealed at the end of the first episode. Secondly, it originally took place in General Monroe’s tent, when she stepped out from behind one of the privacy screens (see screen grab, right).

   Explaining the rewrite that came with the Elizabeth Mitchell recast, exec producer Eric Kripke told me, “We wanted to establish that character correctly, and my honest problem was that when she shows up in the tent in the [original] pilot, it’s sort of implied that she’s Monroe’s lover. A little. And I don’t know where that story goes! But I do know where a story goes where she’s introduced in a very different way” — namely, as someone clearly being held captive by Monroe’s minions. All told, “We’re launching that story in a different way with a different circumstance,” Kripke says, “which will give us a much cleaner line as we move forward with Rachel’s story.”

Source: TVLine

Episode 2 and 3 details from Eric Kripke

   What’s scarier: Revolution‘s post-apocalyptic, militia-controlled future, or the days immediately following the blackout?

   While Capt. Tom Neville is certainly an imposing and imperious figure, flashbacks in the second episode of the NBC drama (airing Monday at 10/9c) — featuring Elizabeth Mitchell and Tim Guinee as Charlie and Danny’s parents — reveal that the aftermath of the power-down was no picnic either.

   “We get to see them trying to protect their kids a week or two after the blackout, when things are really getting hairy and violence and looting are starting to break out,” says series creator Eric Kripke. And as things get increasingly dangerous on the streets, “it becomes a more gripping, harrowing flashback.”

Eric Kripke Spills Season 1 Secrets

   The power may be out, but the audience was tapped in to last night's series premiere of Revolution as NBC's Best New Show of 2012 won its timeslot by a wide margin. And like all good pilot episodes do, last night left us with hundreds of mega-watt questions about the characters' past, present and future.

   To suss out some answers, I caught up with creator Eric Kripke to talk about the direction Revolution will trek into over the course of season one, how much flashbacks will play into the storytelling and when (or, rather, if) we'll find out who turned the power off!

TheInsider.com: Firstly, what was your goal with Revolution?

   Eric Kripke: My goal in creating the show was to bring to a grand, sweeping epic to television. A real heroes journey. To say that I'm obsessed with Star Wars and Lord of the Rings is an understatement. I wanted to gorge myself on the heroes myth. I wanted 20 Arby's sandwiches at once. We're using the television medium to have the time to delve deep into every character and have a wide tapestry in which to create this journey that's exciting, romantic, adventurous and swash buckling while also giving us characters to love.

Insider.com: So that would make Charlie Luke Skywalker?

   Eric: Charlie is Luke or Frodo or Dorothy. Miles is Aragorn or Han Solo. Although, Aaron is also half-Frodo, because he's carrying the ring.