For the longest time, we’ve gotten used to zombies being one of two types: The shambolic, brain-hungry walkers of “Night of the Living Dead” or the lightning-fast runners of “28 Days Later.” But Syfy’s new series “Revival,” based on the comic book of the same name, hearkens back to another brief flirtation we had in the 2010s with a different kind of undead: The ones that just come back, memories and bodies (largely) intact. “Les Revenants,” “The Returned,” “Torchwood: Miracle Day” and even “iZombie” all feature people or communities dealing with the sudden reappearance of the dead, and how that shakes up interpersonal dynamics and reorders entire civilizations.
“Revival”‘s ambitions are a bit more modest, although its small-town auspices allow it room to play like a suitably macabre riff on “Fargo.” Like the comic on which it’s based, “Revival” begins in the small town of Wausau, Wisconsin, where the recently deceased suddenly sprout back up out of their graves (some of them nude—I guess this is where Corncob TV must have shot “Coffin Flop”) like nothing happened. After a gruesome intro featuring screaming men climbing out of incinerators, “Revival” cuts to 35 days later, where Wausau is finally lifting its lockdown (though the town is still quarantined) and allowing the “revivers” to slowly reenter society. Trust is still low, and questions remain as to why these people are suddenly alive again, and what can be done with them.
At the center of all this is police officer Dana Cypress (Melanie Scrofano, who proved she can capably lead a Syfy show like this in “Wynonna Earp”), who’s one foot out of this one-horse town (and away from her police chief father, Wayne, played by David James Elliott) to start a new life with her young son, when a series of mysterious mutilations put her back on the case. Not only that, she must contend with her little sister Em (Romy Weltman), a high school student dealing with drug addiction and no small number of Revival Day secrets. Together with a newly-arrived CDC scientist (Andy McQueen) with whom she has a will-they-won’t-they friction, Dana carries the weight of an entire town suddenly forced to reckon with the supernatural and the divine, in ways none of them are prepared for.
Creators Aaron B. Koontz (“Scare Package”) and Luke Boyce (“Revealer”) take a slow-burn approach to all of this, taking their time over the six episodes provided to critics to flesh out (sorry) the residents of Wausau and the ways in which Revival Day impacts them all. “Revivers” are treated as second-class citizens, subject to suspicion and discrimination, if not outright violence. (That their wounds heal to effective invulnerability is used to gruesome effect, whether it’s grieving grandmas who climb into their son’s coffins or punk-rock musicians who slice themselves open on stage for sheer stagecraft.)
But the town’s problems start to grow more spiritual, as a sleazy preacher’s son and AM radio jockey (Canadian horror pro Steven Ogg) begins to build a coalition of apocalyptic-minded townspeople determined to do something about the “demons” living among them. In the middle of it all is Em, who has her own noir-esque mystery to piece together about where she was the night of Revival Day.
The show looks flashy enough on a cable budget, albeit plagued by the dimly-lit muck most streaming shows must endure. (The lens flares are a welcome attempt to spice up the show’s visual look, but otherwise the show feels washed out in a way that obscures rather than imposes mood.) It’s really the cast that helps elevate “Revival,” particularly Scrofano, who carries the entire piece on her resolute shoulders.
The spookiest thing about “Revival,” really, is the ease with which the residents of Wausau settle into a kind of normalcy despite the outrageousness of their situation. There’s an uncanniness to the premise that evokes “The Leftovers” and “Twin Peaks,” tales of everyday people staring glassy-eyed in the face of the impossible. No death means no consequences, but it also means no escape from the things you’ve done; one hopes that the show’s remaining episodes will continue to build on the solid foundation the first stretch serves up. And, of course, let’s hope the show (unlike its source material, which lasted a mere 47 issues) doesn’t get smothered in its own crib.
Six episodes screened for review. Premieres June 12th and airs Thursdays on Syfy.
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