Television series

Revolution

Name: Revolution
Genre: Action, Adventure, Science Fiction
Released: 2012
Cast: Billy Burke, Tracy Spiridakos, Giancarlo Esposito, David Lyons, Zak Orth

Other titles called Revolution: the 1968 film.

Revolution imagines a permanent blackout across the world and follows a family navigating through lawless territories to find answers. It's a high-concept adventure with real stakes, earnest characters, and the appeal of watching capable people survive impossible odds. For anyone who loves post-apocalyptic stories with heart and momentum.

TVMaze rating

3.8

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like a post-apocalyptic quest where the mystery of the blackout matters as much as the set pieces, and you don't mind a show that leans into pulp.

Skip it if you want a tight, grounded mystery; this one is pulpy, sometimes goofy, and its explanations for the blackout stay vague for a long stretch.

What it asks of you: Hour-long episodes across a complete two-season run, with a brisk plot-driven pace and plenty of travel between set pieces; it rewards sitting through several in a row.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

The Last of Us2023

A family separated by catastrophe, brutal landscapes, and the question of what we owe each other. Infinitely more sophisticated than Revolution, but it shares that same engine: survival as character study.

But Relentlessly bleak. If you want hope or lightness alongside your apocalypse, this will exhaust you.

Yellowstone2018

Giancarlo Esposito aside, this shares Revolution's love of fierce family dynamics and people fighting for power in ungoverned spaces. It's a modern ranch instead of a dead world, but the DNA is there.

But Increasingly soapy and repetitive. The later seasons lean on melodrama more than storytelling.

The Expanse2015

Political intrigue across a fractured world where no single authority holds total power. Epic scope, ensemble cast, the same willingness to kill characters you care about, and an ending that actually lands.

But Dense mythology and slower pacing in the first season. You need patience before the payoff arrives.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Revolution

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Station Eleven2021

Both ask what society becomes when the familiar world ends, but Station Eleven suggests we build something better with the wreckage. Revolution fights to survive; Station Eleven fights to live.

Post-apocalypse through a completely different lens: what if the disaster was the beginning, not the ending? Art, connection, and meaning after collapse. Searingly beautiful and structurally brave. Malick-adjacent in ambition.

But Refuses plot momentum and conventional narrative. If you want A to B to C, this jumps sideways and backwards. Some viewers find it pretentious; it is patient.

Dark2017

A mystery that reframes everything you've already seen. Intricate plotting, an ensemble cast linked by fate, and a genuine sense that the stakes are civilizational. Immensely satisfying.

But German sci-fi with subtitles. Also genuinely heavy—no escapism here, just dread.

Into the Badlands2015

A post-apocalyptic feudal world with stunning fight choreography, charismatic antiheroes, and a warlord structure that echoes Revolution's militias. Visually gorgeous and morally murky.

But Cancelled on a cliffhanger. You'll want closure that never arrives.

Snowpiercer2020

Survivors of apocalypse locked into hierarchy and desperate inequality. Taut political thriller with complex motivations and a lean, propulsive narrative that moves much faster than the film.

But Heavy-handed about class struggle. Sometimes the metaphors smash you over the head.

Manifest2018

Mystery-box storytelling with a large ensemble cast discovering something impossible happened to them. If you liked the confusion and scale of Revolution's central mystery, this scratches that itch.

But The mystery drags longer than the plot can sustain. Answers arrive disappointing after years of buildup.

The 1002014

Teenagers crash to a hostile Earth and must negotiate between clans, militias, and survival. Raw, willing to make brutal choices, with real chemistry between leads and actual consequences.

But Tonal whiplash between YA earnestness and dark brutality. Some seasons collapse under their own ambition.

For All Mankind2019

Alternate history where the space race never stopped. Ensemble cast, political stakes, world-building that lets you see societies fracture and reform. Thoughtfully executed, genuinely intelligent.

But Slower burn than Revolution. Patient worldbuilding won't appeal if you need immediate action.

Jericho2006

Both are about people in isolated regions discovering the old rules no longer apply. Jericho's smaller scale makes the human cost immediate and intimate in ways Revolution couldn't achieve.

A small town after nuclear strikes cut them off from the wider world. Real community dynamics, credible politics, and characters forced to grow up fast. Criminally underrated and deserves a second chance.

But Cancelled twice. The ending feels incomplete, and you'll wish it had run longer to properly resolve its questions.

Delicatessen1991

Both explore how communities function when society collapses, but Delicatessen finds beauty and absurdity in the mundane. It's the art film answer to Revolution's action-adventure—same skeleton, completely different music.

A dystopia built from visual storytelling and dark comedy rather than plot. Surreal, poetic, and deeply human. If you want post-apocalypse that feels like watching a painting move, this is it.

But French, completely weird, plotless by conventional standards. The tone is deadpan dark; some won't recognize it as funny. Visually dense and demands engagement.