“Revival” by name, revival by nature. Syfy’s latest original harks back to the mid-2010s when a glut of dramas presented zombies not as rabid, Romero-esque monsters hellbent on devouring flesh, but entirely civilized, regular-looking humans capable of reentering society. Well, at first anyway.
Australia’s “Glitch” plucked seven individuals out of the grave, the American “Resurrection” and France’s “Les Revenants” (and unnecessary English-language remake “The Returned”) resuscitated entire small-town cemeteries, while the UK’s “In the Flesh” explored the aftermath of a zombie uprising in which the “surviving” undead could be scientifically restored to their normal state.
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Of course, based on the acclaimed same-named comic book series launched by Tim Seeley and Mike Norton in 2012, “Revival” essentially predates this mini-phenomenon. And as you’d expect from its home network, its tone is grimier, gorier, and, at times, unashamedly goofier.
Created by low-budget horror favorites Aaron B. Koontz (“Scare Package”) and Luke Boyce (“Revealer”), the eight-part series wastes little time bringing the dead back to life. Within five minutes, an on-fire cadaver has sprung out of an incinerator, a mortuary’s newly deceased have awoken from their body bags, and a whole host of long-gone souls who luckily opted for burial rather than cremation have risen beyond their tombstones.
This supernatural occurrence is later coined “Revival Day,” a phenomena where everyone who recently died within the rural Wisconsin town of Wausau gets an unexplained reprieve. Not only do they maintain their prior characters, memories, and appearances (including any scars or blemishes caused by their deaths), they come equipped with a self-healing body tissue which practically makes them immortal.
Skipping forward 35 days, when the town is still under quarantine but no longer restricted by lockdowns, “Revival” introduces leading lady Dana Cypress (Melanie Scrofano), a worn-down single mother detective just two weeks away from leaving for pastures new with her young son. As is tradition for any screen cop about to surrender their badge, however, she’s about to (literally) stare death in the face.
Indeed, while the resurrected initially appear placid, the discovery of a fatally mauled horse suggests their presence may be more malevolent. And following a violent barn house showdown in which a diminutive, yet completely feral, octogenarian visibly grows new fangs, such suspicions are confirmed.
Alongside impossibly strong grannies, Dana must also contend with a dangerous prisoner now enjoying some posthumous freedom and a gun-toting drug dynasty with one almighty grudge. Meanwhile, pressures from her sheriff father Wayne (David James Elliott), a will they/won’t they with new arrival scientist Andy (Ibrahim Ramin), and a combative relationship with her brittle-boned recovering junkie sister ensure her personal life is as messy as her professional.
Having previously battled more traditional zombies as the lead in “Wynonna Earp,” Scrofano was always going to make for a convincing heroine. Indeed, whether tackling crazed convicts in the dead of the night or trying to keep troubled sibling Em (Romy Weltman) on the straight and narrow, Dana remains the glue that holds the apocalyptic drama together.
It’s the other members of her dysfunctional clan, however, who are given more to chew on. Her cantankerous dad undoubtedly gets the best zingers. “We cut off her head, baked her to a crisp, and she’s still kicking, does that sound like a person to you,” he barks during a tense operational meeting about the undead’s human rights. His advocacy for segregation over integration and general skepticism of science also suggests a place in the Trump administration awaits.
Meanwhile, Em is at the heart of a much more grounded mystery which forces the show to veer from fantastical horror to gritty crime noir. It certainly pulls both off far more effectively than her star-crossed romance with Rhodey (Kaleb Horn), a revived rock singer who capitalizes on his unfortunate demise to give Alice Cooper’s stage antics a run for their money. “The irony for me is that I had to die to feel alive,” is just one of several groanworthy lines which threatens to turn “Revival” into a navel-gazing sub-“Twilight” mopefest.
Luckily, the show largely recognizes the wider picture is infinitely more interesting, exploringthemes — albeit on a surface level — of political unrest, grief, and, most notably, the power and hypocrisies of faith. In one heartbreaking scene, a returned young girl is brutally dismissed by her devout Christian parents as an unwelcome deviation from God’s plan (“She came back wrong”). Then there’s Steven Ogg’s Blaine, an evangelical pastor’s son who gleefully exploits the situation for his own nefarious cultish gains. Although relatively quiet in the four episodes available for review, his malignant influence will surely further pervade.
Splatter fans might be slightly disappointed that there’s far more talk than action which, as you’d expect from a Syfy original, is of the cheap CGI variety. Still, there are at least a few memorable set-pieces, most notably a funeral interrupted by the deceased’s rejuvenated, murderous mom who subsequently climbs into the coffin for one combustible family reunion.
Time will tell whether “Revival” can continue to keep balancing its many plates. Syfy’s tendency to prematurely cull its own suggests it at least won’t suffer the same slow death as its source material (whose readership had fallen 78 percent from its first issue to its 2017 last). But for now, its quirky spin on the walking dead shows encouraging vital signs.
“Revival” premieres Thursday, June 12 on Syfy, with new episodes airing weekly.
