NBC’s ‘Revolution’ season 2, episode 3 review: Blood vs. water

Whoever knew that a title for a season of “Survivor’s” current season would also work when it comes to talking about this current season of “Revolution“? Strangely, it makes sense, as we have a show here that seems to be focused quite a bit about whether or not family matters, and also how much blood they can throw on the screen at once.

What this reminds us of is that “Revolution” really needs to figure out what show it wants to be. It’s almost reminiscent of one of those childish video games that is cel-shaded animation and has goofy characters, but then you pull people’s heads off and watch them bleed all over the floor. With the family themes and the 8:00 p.m. Eastern start time, you would want to believe that this is a program that is family-friendly, but then you have a scene like Jessica going to town on her wrists with a shard of glass, and it’s pretty horrifying. This show is giving “Game of Thrones” a run for its money in terms of violence, and it’s on network TV.

While we could get into why heavy violence is allowed on network TV and a bare behind draws thousands of complaints, that is probably a subject for a different time. It’s just starting to become a complicated problem with the show, since we don’t know if we’re supposed to watch it as escapism, or something meant to be taken seriously a la “Homeland.” Charlie’s bizarre bounty-hunter story also fits that bill, and we cannot see her for even a second entertaining the thought of working with Monroe.

Oh, and this week also brought us evidence that the U.S. Government is already getting itself involved everywhere, almost like this is some sort of dystopian “Minority Report” sort of world. We do like the Neville story, but we wish that he was almost the star of the show at this point and had a few more redeemable qualities. It’s ironic given Giancarlo Esposito’s last place of employment, but we almost want this character to be more like Walter White.

Do you like what “Revolution” is doing this season, or do you think they’re getting a little trigger happy with the violence? (We find that we need to watch something happy for a few minutes after sitting through this.) Be sure to share below! Also, click here if you want to get a taste of what is coming next this season.

Photo: NBC