Revolution -- When The Lights Went Out

Chicago:

A mother is at home with her two young children Charlie and Danny when her husband Ben rushes in telling her to fill all the sinks and tubs with water. She in turn asks if it's happening.

Port Royal, South Carolina:

Meanwhile Ben's brother Miles is returning to base with his friend, Sebastian, when Ben calls him. He warns Miles that everything is going to be turned off and it's never going to be turned back on again. Then the phone goes dead and Miles isn't left to wonder what his brother meant as the cell phone loses power and so does all the batteries in the car on the interstate.

Slowly, lights goes off all over the world one-by-one until the earth is a place without any electricity.

15 Years Later:

It's a very different world without electricity. The government has fallen and a militia has risen in its place. People died without electricity when they were unable to grow their own food. The people that decided to stay in big cities also died. Small communities have arisen where people are raising their own food and being targeted by the Monroe Militia. Ben is living in one such community with his now grown children, Danny and Charlie. Their mother is dead and Charlie doesn't like her father's relationship with a woman named Maggie.

Ben, almost sensing what is about to happen, gives his friend, Aaron a pendant to keep safe. Not long after that the militia arrive to come and take Ben with them. Danny arrives and tries to stop them. In the process Ben is fatally shot and Danny is taken away by the militia leader. With his dying breath he tells Charlie to go find his brother, Miles, in Chicago and to get him to help rescue Danny from the militia's clutches.

Charlie discovers she won't be going alone as Ben's girlfriend, Maggie, insists on going with Charlie, as well as Aaron, who keeps the pendant hidden and a secret from his two traveling companions.

On the road, Charlie meets up with a young guy named Nate, who decides to join their band of merry men, after he saves Charlie from being raped They travel to Chicago to the old Grant Hotel that is now being inhabited by the man Charlie has come to find, Miles. Much to Charlie's shock, Miles refuses to help go rescue Danny. He says they're not family; she's a stranger to him. He also realizes their travel companion Nate is a member of the militia. Nate runs off to alert the militia, while Miles tells them to leave, as he waits for the militia to come for him.

Miles has a flashback of returning to his base with his friend, Sebastian. Sebastian says he doesn't have his ID, but instead shows a tattoo on his arm. The men at the gate are working for him. The militia in control is called the Monroe Militia and Sebastian Monroe is their leader and general.

Meanwhile Danny manages to escape the militia leader before he can be handed over to Monroe. He's taken in by a woman, who ultimately hands him over to the militia when the leader shows up and knows she's lying when she said no one has come to her place in days. As it turns out the woman isn't as innocent as she seems. She possesses a pendant similar to the one that Ben gave Aaron. With it she's able to get a computer running as she contacts someone else who must also possess their own pendant that allows them to operate equipment reliant on electricity.

Miles waits for the militia to arrive and does pretty good as one man against an army. Thankfully, Charlie and her band of rebels show up and help him. Nate also shows up and saves Charlie when she's in danger before running off.

Maggie sews Miles up and he agrees to come with them. And thus the adventure begins.

This show is giving me shades of The Event. It's even on the same day The Event was on, only a different time slot. For some reason shows like this where some event occurs that turns civilization on its ear always fascinate me. One thing going in it's favor that The Event didn't have is the big event has happened. Even after watching the entire season of The Event, I'm still not sure what The Event was. One thing going against it is if the Charlie character is going to be the central focus of the show. She's really not that interesting. It's still early days, so let's hope this show succeeds where others have failed.