Revolution wrapped its fall episodes last night with a victory and a setback for our heroes. The good guys are finally all together, with Miles and Charlie having rescued kidnapped Danny and Rachel. But the devious Gen. Monroe now has the electrical power to command a high-tech military force. What’s planned for the second half of the season? In an exclusive interview, Revolution creator Eric Kripke talks about last night’s hour and how things will change (and improve) for the second half of the season. Kripke addresses the four-month hiatus, reveals what mystery will definitely be solved in the spring, and what key characters will be doing. “We have bigger and better stuff coming,” he promises. Here’s the scoop:

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Was there ever a version in your head where Miles goes, “Yeah, I’m re-joining Monroe”?
Eric Kripke: What we love about Miles is half of him is light and half is shadow. If this story was set a couple years ago he would be the bad guy. You never want to lose sight of that. Just because Miles was able to face-off with Monroe in this particular encounter and maintain the heroic side of his personality doesn’t mean it’s going to happen again. So even though he was able to resist the temptation, that temptation is still there. Even moreso when he starts to fulfill his destiny and becomes a leader for the rebels [in the second half of the season]; he starts to fall into his old bloodthirsty patterns again. … There’s also a lot of important pieces in last night’s episode that move the story forward. We’re setting up how pissed Monroe is going to be in the second half of the season; how personal Neville is going to take Miles’ assault on his wife. And [we hinted that] Rachel and Miles have a very secret history.
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Okay, Revolution, you can stop slipping in the ratings now.

You’ve had your typical new drama series post-premiere ratings slide, and then had your post-post premiere slippage, and now we’re ready for you to knock it off and be the steady hit you’re supposed to be. Revolution was down 7 percent to its lowest adult demo rating to date, but still won 10 p.m. Monday night. The NBC drama delivered 7.1 million viewers and a 2.6 rating among adults 18-49. Here’s its trend in the demo each week since its premiere: 4.1, 3.4, 3.2, 3.0, 3.3 — that last number was seemingly a good sign for the show, suggesting stabilization. But then we got a 2.8 last week and now 2.6.

To some extent, Revolution‘s numbers are tied to the trend of its powerful lead-in The Voice (11.5 million, 4.3). But the musical competition was only down 4 percent this week and no matter how you look at it the reality show gives Revolution a big push. Also, check out last night’s story on how J.J. Abrams pitched Revolution to NBC. READ FULL STORY »

It started with two men sword fighting in front of a Starbucks.

Writer-producer Eric Kripke dreamed up that surreal image last summer. His previous series Supernatural was inspired by a similarly random mental snapshot — “a girl on the ceiling on fire.” Now he had this new idea, the coffee shop sword fight. Kripke didn’t know who the fighting men were or why they were using medieval weapons. He only knew he wanted to somehow take modern-day America and roll it back pre-industrial times, to write a quest story like Star Wars or Lord of the Rings, only in a land peppered by freeways and fast food restaurants.

“I wanted to take everything I love about Lord of the Rings — swords and swashbuckling and quests and damsels in distress — put all that deep nerd fantasy stuff on the American highway,” Kripke says.

So he took the idea to primetime’s reigning master of big concepts, producer J.J. Abrams (Lost, Person of Interest), who saw the potential, particularly the inherent appeal of a back-to-basics rustic setting. “It’s wish fulfillment,” Abrams says. “We’re constantly being bombarded. It’s a silencing of the din that we live in right now.”

Moreover, Abrams says stripping away technology can help a show creatively, just like with the stranded island castaways on ABC’s Lost. “One of the things that’s difficult and frustrating about all the technology we have is it eliminates a lot of potential for drama,” Abrams says. “[Characters] can communicate instantly, they can research things, they can jump on a plane and be anywhere. Writers contort themselves to eliminate cell phones from scenes. And one of the beautiful byproducts of Kripke’s idea is that there’s no longer that immediate access.”

But Abrams didn’t like Kripke’s apocalyptic device for wiping out modern conveniences. Kripke originally wanted to have the country depopulated by a super virus. But that was deemed too familiar, too much like Stephen King’s The Stand. Instead, Abrams suggested an idea his company had been kicking around: Surviving the fallout of a nationwide blackout.

A few weeks later, the duo had a meeting at NBC’s Burbank offices.

Now if you’ve ever wondered how producers sell a TV show, pay attention to this next part.

NEXT: Inside Revolution’s pitch meeting, finding Miles, changing the title

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We asked the producers and cast of NBC’s Revolution which item that’s made possible by electricity they would miss the most if there was an actual prolonged global blackout like on the hit show.

Cars? Central heating? Perfectly formed processed snack foods? Most said the same item they were holding in their hands during the interview — their cell phone — but a few had different answers.

Ironically, not one member of the show’s team said television!

Actor Giancarlo Esposito: Cell phone
“Years ago I would have said my camera, but now that’s part of my phone too. I have to leave my phone from time to time so I don’t get so dependent on it.”

Executive Producer/Showrunner: Eric Kripke: Internet
“I spend so much time procrastinating online. The good news is [after the blackout] I’d get a lot more writing done. The bad news is I’d probably be murdered within 48 hours.” READ FULL STORY »

Revolution showrunner Eric Kripke doesn’t want to hold onto the NBC drama’s central mystery — What caused the blackout? — too much longer. And he’s giving some hints about what the answer might entail.

“We’re talking very seriously about revealing [what caused the blackout] before end of this season,” Kripke tells EW.  The answer is something that’s passed muster from a physicist consulted by the producers. So expect what caused the blackout to be at least somewhat scientifically plausible.

“The sweet spot is to find an answer that’s actually scarier than what you were thinking,” Kripke says. “Like, ‘Oh wait, this is not even just about electricity.’ And that’s what we’re designing. I don’t see any reason to withhold it much longer.”

Billy Burke, who plays Miles on the breakout drama, says Kripke’s blackout answer has managed to assure the actors, who have had many of the same questions about why certain technologies no longer function as fans. “We’re asking those questions on a daily basis,” Burke says. “We have conversations on set all the time — ‘What about this? What about that? Wouldn’t that work?’ There always seem to be a technologically sound answer for the questions.” READ FULL STORY »

NBC’s Revolution‘s ratings surged Monday night thanks to … to …

Not sure, exactly. But this is definitely good news for the post-apocalyptic drama. Revolution delivered 8.8 million viewers and a 3.4 rating, reversing its gradual downward-ebbing trend. That’s up 13 percent from last week and marks a three-week high for the show.

Revolutions‘s powerful lead-in The Voice (12.8 million, 4.6) was perfectly steady with last week’s rating, so that didn’t boost it. Both of Revolution‘s 10 p.m. rivals — CBS’ Hawaii Five-0 (8.4 million, 2.0), up 5 percent, and ABC’s Castle (10.9 million, 2.0), down 9 percent — aired original episodes, so there wasn’t softer competition last night. In fact, you could say there was more competition since Fox (which normally doesn’t program 10 p.m.) had baseball playoffs going late into primetime. So can we credit Revolution itself for this gain then? READ FULL STORY »