NBC Revolution review

[Michael Stora]

So for some mysterious reason electricity stops working, therefore society falls apart and everyone starts riding horses.

This guy has a point. Where are the bicycles and steam engines? As an expert in post-apocalyptic political economy.... | Daniel W. Drezner

For that matter, I ask where are the Diesel engines?

Mike

[Mike D]

No kidding, imagine Jay Leno as king in his Stanley Steamer!

This one ought to last about as long as the one with the swamp aliens, the other one with the North Pole aliens and the rest of the ones that went away real fast.

[Mustang Man]

Well guys, it HAS been fifteen years since the power went out. I'm sure all of theose rubber tires dry rotted, which is why the militia use those horse drawn carts with wood spoke wheels...

Just sayin'...

Mark

[MJN]

Like a lot of those shows if you start thinking too hard about the details it kind of falls apart.

It's a very interesting scenario though, imagine one or more large nuclear weapons detonated a mile or so above the US creating a massive EMP that would knock out virtually all the (electronic) systems that our daily well being depends on, the power grid, transportation etc. I can see that scenario being far more devastating over a long period of time than a ground detonation.

[Greg_M]

This is all I need to know about it.



http://drezner.foreignpolicy.com/pos...itical_economy

[Jon A]

My area (Western Mass) lost power for about a week in the October snow storm last year. In that short amount of time, there were signs of social order deteriorating (fights at gas stations, raids on stores, etc). I don't think it would take long for things to go south fast in the event of a world-wide black out.

We have watched the first two episodes of Revolution... while the premiss is intriguing, it could be done better. I agree you have to be willing to suspend disbelief to make it watchable. Why doesn't water power or wind power work? Perhaps the writers will come up with a reasonably plausible explanation in time.

-Jon A.

[maddog71]

Originally Posted by Greg_M

This is all I need to know about it.



As an expert in post-apocalyptic political economy.... | Daniel W. Drezner

Well I wasn't planning on watching any of this series... but if she is in it, maybe I could give it a shot

[expat]

Originally Posted by Greg_M

This is all I need to know about it.



As an expert in post-apocalyptic political economy.... | Daniel W. Drezner

And just as much fun in the Dark !!!!!

We were in London UK deep down in a tube/metro station & the power went down for about 15 mins
The groping was an epidemic free for all

[MVM]

Read One Second After by William R. Forstchen.

It's very similar, but it doesn't jump ahead 15 years as in Revolution. You get to read what probably would happen if an EMP incident occurred (it is fiction after all), but it is not quite so pretty and bucolic like the TV show.

[Michael Stora]

Mike

[dukegrad98]

Originally Posted by MJN

...imagine one or more large nuclear weapons detonated a mile or so above the US creating a massive EMP that would knock out virtually all the (electronic) systems that our daily well being depends on, the power grid, transportation etc.

The idea of an EMP weapon or disaster has always been a head-scratcher for me. Given that the radiation dissipates at an inverse square relationship with distance, I've never gotten around to building a Faraday cage around my house.

The diesel comment is a good one, though most modern diesel engines are so electronic and computer-controlled that they would also be affected. I have two fully mechanical diesel engines -- one on a tractor and one on a large genset. As long as I can start and fuel them, they should operate. I guess I'll be able to get somewhere at about 20mph and turn on the lights when I arrive.

Cheers, John

[Cobra Cory]

I watched the first shows. Yawned so hard my jaw broke.
That show is on and they killed shows like Stargate SGU and Firefly? Dedwood?....Huh?

They have a show called Survivor out for the past what? 20 years.....'Bout the same thing. They should make it more like Lord of the Flys or something...

I do like that fact that in this world owning a gun is a terminable offense. Hmmmm, is that not a political enough statement or what?

"The Walking Dead" does this evolution/revolution show in....hands down.

[mn12]

Originally Posted by dukegrad98

The idea of an EMP weapon or disaster has always been a head-scratcher for me. Given that the radiation dissipates at an inverse square relationship with distance, I've never gotten around to building a Faraday cage around my house.

The diesel comment is a good one, though most modern diesel engines are so electronic and computer-controlled that they would also be affected. I have two fully mechanical diesel engines -- one on a tractor and one on a large genset. As long as I can start and fuel them, they should operate. I guess I'll be able to get somewhere at about 20mph and turn on the lights when I arrive.

Cheers, John

That's why you need one of those old time 2 stroke mechanical diesels

[Greg_M]

My favorite show of this type was Jericho a few years ago. No shortage of guns on it

A small town in Kansas is literally left in the dark after seeing a mushroom cloud over near-by Denver, Colorado. The townspeople struggle to find answers about the blast and solutions on how to survive.



Greg

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0805663/

[Mike D]

My favorite show of this type was Jericho

I liked 'Jeremia' too.

This current show is playing off the popularity of 'The Hunger Games' with the swords and spears stuff.

[Darren]

Originally Posted by Cobra Cory

That show is on and they killed shows like Stargate SGU and Firefly? Dedwood?....Huh?

No kidding, not sure why they killed the above. Well airing Firefly out of sequence probably confused people but the shows are awesome. Wish they were still on.

[dallas_]

Another book of this type that was interesting is Solar Flare.

Not terribly well written, but an interesting account of the social disorder resulting from a massive solar flare that disrupts all electricity and motor vehicles.

[rlhobt]

Yet another similar book... "Dies the Fire" by S. M. Stirling. Actually, it's the first of a whole series of books.

Rich

[MVM]

Originally Posted by dukegrad98

The idea of an EMP weapon or disaster has always been a head-scratcher for me. Given that the radiation dissipates at an inverse square relationship with distance, I've never gotten around to building a Faraday cage around my house.

The US exploded some nukes in space so we do have some data on it.

Here's some info about the Starfish Prime test:
"Starfish Prime caused an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) which was far larger than expected, so much larger that it drove much of the instrumentation off scale, causing great difficulty in getting accurate measurements. The Starfish Prime electromagnetic pulse also made those effects known to the public by causing electrical damage in Hawaii, about 1,445 kilometres (898 mi) away from the detonation point, knocking out about 300 streetlights, setting off numerous burglar alarms and damaging a telephone company microwave link. The EMP damage to the microwave link shut down telephone calls from Kauai to the other Hawaiian islands."

"While some of the energetic beta particles followed the Earth's magnetic field and illuminated the sky, other high-energy electrons became trapped and formed radiation belts around the earth. There was much uncertainty and debate about the composition, magnitude and potential adverse effects from this trapped radiation after the detonation. The weaponeers became quite worried when three satellites in low earth orbit were disabled. These man-made radiation belts eventually crippled one-third of all satellites in low earth orbit. Seven satellites failed over the months following the test as radiation damaged their solar arrays or electronics, including the first commercial relay communication satellite, Telstar.[12][13][14] Detectors on Telstar, TRAAC, Injun, and Ariel 1 were used to measure distribution of the radiation produced by the tests.[15]

In 1963, Brown et al. reported in the Journal of Geophysical Research that Starfish Prime had created a belt of MeV electrons,[16] and Wilmot Hess reported in 1968 that some Starfish electrons remained for five years"

Starfish Prime - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-al...lear_explosion

Now if this was directly over a populated area with the current state of electronics (transistors rather than vacuum tubes), who knows what would happen.

[ETriggs]

I too wondered about the diesel motors, but figured that 15 years later, they had run out of diesel fuel. I did find it hilarious that the planes just flat-spun out of the sky. I do like the show overall, but more especially because of that magnificent creature pictured above. I much prefer Walking Dead for everything else though.

[trevor]

modern diesels wouldn't work either. They still depend on a bunch of computers to run. I almost got struck by lightning in my 04 cummins ram and the whole thing shut off. Everything went dead. I thought the truck was trash, all I did was turn the key again, all the indicator lights on the dash lit up, the thing fired right back up. I thought it was strange though.
When ALL your hair stands on end, you know it was a close one!

[bwana50]

I was amused at the Stu Redman / Frannie reference on this week's episode.

[hxly2]

I guess since textile factories, sewing machines, etc. have stopped working people have to wear less clothing.

Originally Posted by Greg_M

This is all I need to know about it.



As an expert in post-apocalyptic political economy.... | Daniel W. Drezner

[Go Hard or Go Home]

Diesel motors aside, how did the Grace chick get a huge field of corn? It appears she lives alone and spends her time IM'ing people. How did she plant such a huge field of corn?