SyFy really doesn't put out the best stuff these days but damn if Revival didn't hook me right from the start with its first episode, I was not expecting this series to be this good and have such a great opening. The show kicks off in this small Wisconsin town where dead people just start coming back to life and its not your typical zombie bullshit where everyone's brain dead and walking around moaning. Most of the "revival" come back pretty much normal, which makes everything way more interesting and fucked up at the same time, there are some with scars or body damage but there are also those who seem to have other abilities that we are just starting to discover. Dana Cypress is our main character, she is a cop who us trying to get the hell out of this small town with her kid Cooper but then Revival Day happens and suddenly she is stuck dealing with all this supernatural crap. Her dad Wayne is the sheriff, so that creates this whole awkward situation where she is working for him while also trying to escape the family business, this might sound familiar for some. The episode opens with this crematorium scene where dead bodies just start getting up and walking around, not just walking but talking and action all normal like they were never dead, which was pretty damn creepy and set the tone perfectly for what we are dealing with here, the feeling was so funny because I had just finish Dead City S02E06 episode so my brain set the signal "Zombies" but they are not, they are Revivals.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13951052/
- Platform: Peacock
The mystery aspect is what really grabbed me though because Dana ends up investigating this dead horse situation that turns out to be way more complicated than it seems. There was human teeth scattered around the scene, which is gross as hell but also makes you wonder what the fuck is going on in this town, how and why is all this happening?. She meets Ibrahim, who is this CDC guy that shows up to help figure out what's causing all these dead people to come back and their chemistry is pretty solid even though she initially just wanted to hook up with him at a bar. The way they handle the relationship between Dana and her sister Em is really well done too, you can tell there are some serious family issues going on but they still care about each other, so the series not only keeps building up the hole revival event but also the characters around it, its not just focus on the main event. Em's character is dealing with her own problems, she has got this bone disease called osteogenesis imperfecta that makes her bones break easily but she's also hiding something major from her family, he moment I saw her without knowing I imagine she had to be a revival but nobody is action like she was so the episode does a great job of building up to that final reveal without making it feel rushed or forced, which is harder to do than it looks, it was a real jaw dropping surprise.
The series does great at not only showing the supernatural and horror aspect of what is going on and continues to unfold but there is others in town who get heavily affected by the psychological impact of having dead people come back to life in a small community. You've got people like Mrs. Shaw who lost her husband just one day before Revival Day, so she is dealing with all this grief while watching everyone else get their loved ones back, between the weirdness and creepy you cant stop feeling bad for her, she just had no luck and keeps asking why and if anyone can do something about it, about a situation that nobody has a clue, I think just been her and on top a lonely old woman adds a lot of emotions and really makes you feel bad for her. That's some heavy emotional stuff right there and the show doesn't shy away from showing how it affects people differently from some been scared of the revivers, others want to help them, and then you got people like the mayor who is trying to figure out how to manage this whole situation politically, in my opinion he is just taking advantage of the situation to generate rating for himself. The episode shows how the town is divided about what to do with these people who came back, which creates this tension that runs throughout the whole thing. Wayne's character is interesting because he is trying to maintain order while also dealing with his own family falling apart and David James Elliott does a solid job making him feel like a real person instead of just a stereotypical small town sheriff.
The action sequences are pretty good too, not that we getting car chase or people jumping out a plain but the small fight scenes feel like they belong and fit to the episode and in fact they have been building up as Dana keeps investigation, especially that barn fight scene near the end where Dana had to fight this crazy old lady who keeps pulling her own teeth out and they keep growing back, aside from not understanding the "rules" of revivals she is clearly not mentally ok. This particular reviver seems different from the others, she is violent and has super strength, yup its not only about coming back from death, this right away makes me questions about whether all revivers are really as harmless as they seem, what other powers they have? we already know their flesh can heal from Ibrahim small experiment with Dana back at their improvise lab. The fight scene was simple but started to put down bodies very fast, it felt brutal and chaotic without being over the top and when Em shows up to help her sister, that is when things get really interesting because is WAS dead as I thought but looks like nobody knew about so it is possible she died alone and nobody knew and lucky for her now she is back but there is much more to her dying because she had some romantic problems going on. The series doesnt just Data Dump everything at once, its more complicated than it seems and it doesn't try to explain everything right away but gives you enough information to understand what is happening, like the healing factor that the revivers have is explained pretty well through Ibrahim's character, showing how they can regenerate from new injuries but not from stuff that happened before they died, this are all questions that will eventually start getting answers. This creates some interesting possibilities for future episodes and makes you wonder what other abilities these people might have, almost like now we going to start finding others with abilities aside from super strength and regenerating.
The ending was a jaw dropping moment, HUGE WTF!!! when they reveal that Em is actually a reviver and I think this was handled perfectly because she is screaming IM DEAD but they never specify it before, they even include that she has been missing for some time so it all look normal, even though you could probably see it coming if you were paying attention. Romy Weltman who plays Em does a great job playing someone who is trying to hide this huge secret from her family and when she gets stabbed through the stomach and then heals up is so ironic and that scene makes me laugh because the first words was "dont tell dad" between sisters, it was hilarious. The way she cuts off that crazy lady's head with the scythe was badass, also didnt felt over the top because the cut was very awkward, I though she was going to shop the entire head but it was just the top of the skull and then asking Dana not to tell their dad shows how complicated this whole situation is going to get. The episode manages to balance all these different elements, the family drama, the supernatural mystery, the small town politics and the action sequences without any of it feeling forced or out of place, no wonder why this series 93% from critics and 88% from audience. Melanie Scrofano brings this great energy to Dana's character, she seems tough but also vulnerable and you can see why she wants to get out of this town while also understanding why she stays to help. The episode had good dialogue that feels natural and character development that doesn't feel rushed, which is something a lot of shows struggle with in their first episodes.
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