Two Views on Post Apocalyptic America: Revolution and Jericho

Jericho and Revolution present radically different visions of HOW America reaches the post-apocalyptic state. They also present different stages of the post-apocalyptic civilization. Arguably, Jericho represents an earlier stage of what post-apocalyptic society will look like, and Revolution looks at post-Apocalyptic society after it has had some time to evolve and develop. Part of this arguably can be explained by the lack of electricity in Revolution's post-apocalyptic society. However, one can argue that the same lack of society will eventually occur in the post-Apocalyptic society of Jericho due to the massive damage wrought by electromagnetic pulses from the 20 nuclear blasts that destroyed American civilization.

There are two main differences between the show's post-apocalyptic civilizations however. The first is that in Jericho, the apocalypse is confined to North America, with the rest of the world unaffected and willing to air drop aid supplies to help survivors. In the world of Revolution, the entire world has been plunged back into the 19th century due the nature of HOW electricity was lost - a new weapons technology that went wrong. The second difference is in how the United States is carved into lesser nations. In both television shows, Texas is an Independent Republic, which is entirely realistic in today's society - it has a wealth of natural resources, a well-armed populace, and a history of independence. However, in Jericho, there are only two other nations: Eastern U.S. governed from Columbus, Ohio, and Western United States governed from Cheyenne, Wyoming and responsible for the apocalypse. In Revolution, the U.S. devolves into a number of other polities. These include the Georgia Republic, which encompasses all of the old Confederacy not absorbed by Texas, the California Republic across the Rocky Mountains, the Plains Nation, which the show implies is comprised primarily of reconstituted and growing Native American tribes, and the Monroe Republic, which encompasses all of New England, the Eastern Coast down to Maryland, and all the states bordering the Great Lakes West to Wisconsin.

In both shows Texas "saves" the other nations from being taken over through hostile action. In Jericho, the hostile action is an impending/ongoing war between the Cheyenne Government and the Columbus government. This war, and the nuclear detonations that destroyed over 20 American cities were orchestrated by an analyst for a "Blackwater/Xe" type private security company. He has now become President of the Cheyenne government and is using the remnants of the U.S. military under his command to wage war against the Columbus government. In the final episode of the show, Texas goes to War against Cheyenne, tipping the balance of power, once they receive proof that Cheyenne was behind the nuclear terrorist attacks.

In Revolution, Texas helps save the other nations from being conquered by the "Patriots," remnants of the U.S. government which fled to, or already were on, the U.S. Navy's Guantanamo military base in Cuba. They plan to take over through manufacturing crises, which they then arrive to "solve," thus earning good will. Their second step is to incorporate themselves into strategic towns, and indoctrinate young people through brainwashing techniques to join their army or become sleeper agents. Two of these agents try to assassinate the President of Texas, which is what bring Texas into a war against the Patriots which also involves the Georgia and Monroe Republics.

The 100: A New Take on Post-Apocalyptic TV

The 100 takes place 97 years after an apocalyptic war on Earth, the known survivors of which were members of several space stations that banded together to form "The Ark." The Ark is a complex network of systems and can only hold a limited population. Most crimes aboard The Ark are punishable via expulsion through an airlock. However there are 100 children/adolescents who were deemed too young for the death penalty and whom live in solitary confinement.

The Ark itself is dying, though that is a secret confined to the ruling council. As an experiment, way to avoid resource depletion, and reprieve from punishment, the 100 children are sent back to Earth to determine whether humans can survive and repopulate the Earth. They make it to the surface with 97 survivors - a poetic number given the number of years for which humanity has been banished off-world. The first few episodes reveal a Lord of the Flies-type civilization that emerges among the children.

What makes The 100 interesting is that it doesn't take on a post-apocalyptic setting immediately or close in time to the apocalypse. Instead it takes places almost 100 years later. And it actually deals with multiple apocalypses - the initial one which made the ground uninhabitable, the diminishing supplies of oxygen and everything else on The Ark, and what has happened to those humans left to create their own post-apocalyptic societies. Some of these humans are "grounders" with whom The Ark survivors must contend, others are the supposed remnants of one of the powers who participated in the War that ended civilization, however we're not yet sure they exist. The plot of the first season seems to revolve around how these groups of humans interact.

Hopefully, this will be successful enough to merit a second season to help us resolve some of these issues.