WonderCon coverage continues, as I got a chance to sit down as a part of a round table interview with actor Stephen Collins (7th Heaven, Star Trek: The Motion Picture) and then with writer/executive producer Rockne S. O’Bannon. I also covered the Revolution panel, and have a similarly formatted interview with star Elizabeth Mitchell. In other words, it was a Revolution-inspiring Friday.

SPOILERS FOR SEASON 2 OF "REVOLUTION" FOLLOW.

First up was Stephen Collins, who joined Revolution in season 2 as Dr. Gene Porter, Rachel Matheson’s father. He also just so happens to be a traitor, as we find out he’s been secretly working for the Patriots. Not coincidentally, the show got much better once the veteran actor gifted the ensemble with his presence.

But enough about Revolution, let’s go back 35 years to Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), a film in which Collins played a character by the name of Decker. What kind of legacy has that role left for Collins? Stephen’s quick to point out that when the first movie came out, there had been only 3 seasons of the original Star Trek TV show, and it had been nine years since. All of the actors on set were excited and thrilled. DeForest Kelly (or Bones to you) befriended Collins on set, and gave him sage wisdom: “Star Trek will always be part of your life.”

That wherever Collins goes, that Trek fans will follow. Collins has written books, produced music, and whenever he does events, even now, 15-20% are Star Trek fans. He calls them the “smartest, most thoughtful people.” At the time, the movie was perceived as a failure. Clearly, it wasn’t, since it spawned a slew of other movies, TV shows, and a franchise that will remain with us forever. I could’ve listened to him talk about Star Trek forever; what a fascinating point to be enmeshed with the franchise; a fulcrum of cinematic and TV history, a period when Star Trek wasn’t yet more than just the original cast.

Jumping to the present: what can he tell us about the last four episodes of Revolution‘s second season?
The “Patriots are gonna pull out more stops; they’re making their final push.” The pure element of survival comes into play. At this point, if Stephen himself was a character, he’d be ready to go. “Just shoot me,” and he’s not referring to anything to do with David Spade. In fact, he admits that if Revolution happened in real life, “I’d be gone so fast.”

Like Elizabeth Mitchell, he’s quick to point out how hardened the survivors have become, from being continually pushed hard against. It’s hard not to see the parallels with The Walking Dead in how the survivors are discussed, and the notion that “anyone” can die.

What would you like to see happen in Season 3?The coolest stuff Collins revealed had to do with some awesome sequences upcoming with a steam locomotive. They found one three and a half hours from Austin, and moved set there for a week to shoot scenes on it, producing a “really cool action sequence.” They built a crane to shoot the scene, and according to Collins, it was the biggest crane ever built for filmmaking. Collins described the scenes “like playing cowboys and Indians at the richest kid in the world’s house.” The 8 year old in him loved it.

“I would love to see an episode all about water, [and] answer the question about water in this world.” He’s fascinated by where they get water in the town. Is there good or bad water? Water would seemingly be the commodity, and whomever possesses it would have a tremendous amount of power. It sounds like a smart and interesting way to squeeze more out of this post-apocalyptic world, and it’ll be interesting if Stephen’s idea is touched on.

What’s he up to during the show’s hiatus?
Now that he’s older, he’s not trying to jam in another job during a break. It’s been nine days since they stopped shooting, but to Stephen, it feels like one. He’s happy to take it easy…though he won’t shy away if Martin Scorsese comes calling.

Following Stephen was one of the new writers and EP’s on Revolution for its second season, Rockne S. O’Bannon (Farscape, who’s about to be a lot busier).

What’s your take on the last four episodes of season 2?
The nano technology storyline dove tails and comes together with everything else that’s been going on, as the Patriot subplot amps up. We can expect every character to have a huge life changing event. Following Charlie’s fatal shooting of Jason, the reverberations for Charlie and Neville will be felt throughout the show. Rockne describes Neville as a father who was fine beating on his son (literally and figuratively), assuming he’d always have time to make amends and patch things up. That opportunity was robbed of him, and now he’s lost his entire family over this season, and we’re going to see what that does to him.

Are there any more casualties to come?
“No one is safe.” You never know, and we will see that in the last four episodes.

How are the show’s ratings?
They are incredibly consistent, and “NBC seems behind us to tell stories,” and are “excited to see scripts,” which in turn, makes Rockne excited. That said: “We’re not out of the woods.” Creator Eric Kripke (Supernatural) is pitching season 3 as we speak, which is kind of spooky.

What happens if NBC doesn’t want Season 3? Would it go elsewhere?
Rockne obviously doesn’t want to find out, but “it’s the kind of show” that could translate to other networks and have the fan support to survive, but he doesn’t know. Revolution isn’t an inexpensive show, but he’s proud that it “looks like nothing else on network TV.” It’s a possibility to have legs beyond NBC, should that be necessary.

Lastly, a fan question ended our afternoon sojourn with Revolution. Who is older: Miles or Ben?
This even stumps Rockne. “I don’t know.” He guesses Ben, but he does so as a fan himself, and not with any certainty.

Before this weekend, I had a fair amount of certainty that I was done with Revolution. The panel and this round table discussion has revitalized my interest, making my to-binge list even more unwieldy. Thanks a lot, WonderCon.

Elizabeth Mitchell is a wonderful human being. We’ve known and loved her since she burst onto the scene of LOST as Juliette, and gave Sawyer (and us) someone to fall in love with. But she’s been all over the map, with V, ER and even Santa Clause 2 on her varied and impressive resume. She currently lights up our TV on NBC’s Revolution as the mercurial Rachel Matheson, which airs on Wednesdays at 8 PM.

Revolution was all over WonderCon for Friday, with an exciting panel, a press conference and a round table chat featuring star Elizabeth Mitchell (LOST), Stephen Collins (7th Heaven) and writer/executive producer Rockne S. O’Bannon (Farscape, Cult, The Twilight Zone). I luckily managed to be apart of that round table, and the following are juicy nuggets from the conversation with Elizabeth Mitchell, as she teases the upcoming final four episodes of Revolution‘s second season, what she wants to see in season 3 (should she and the show survive), her nerd upbringing and thoughts on LOST, conventions and more!

The following questions were not asked by me unless otherwise noted.

After a brief discussion of nail polish (she debated wearing Moss from Butter, if you must know), we launched into Revolution.

Mitchell: “Hi, WonderCon!”

“What’s the experience like for you going to Comic-Con, and being at Wonder-Con? Do you get to walk the convention floor?”

Mitchell: “I have never been able to walk the convention floor, yet. I think if I walked in my sweats and baseball cap, I’d be fine. But given that I’m 6 foot 3 in my heels and would be followed by security people,the walking floor hasn’t happened yet for me. But I could do it!

“Have you ever thought about wearing a mask?”

Mitchell: “That’s such a good idea…I’ve always thought about the mask! I could dress as a guy, I’m tall enough to pull it off. That’d be awesome! Yeah, I could do that. And I love both. WonderCon is always slightly easier, it’s lower key. But at the same time, there’s a lot of stuff in it. It’s chewy enough. There’s plenty of things going on. It doesn’t feel like a madhouse and you’re able to do the things that you like to do. Meet the people you like to meet, see the people you want to see. Lower key is always good for me.”

“You don’t get to enjoy the con?”

Mitchell: “No, no. And that’s the thing isn’t it, especially for me…I’m a fan of everything. I grew up reading Frank Herbert, and went on to comic books from there. I think I read every science fiction book, I got my comic books every week. I’ve always been a huge believer in sci-fi/fantasy because I think it’s where we try out our versions of the truth. It’s fun…The way I was in high school and grade school…I couldn’t have been beat up more. I kind of hung out in the girl’s bathroom in the stall, reading a book. Sad, but true. But then you get older, and ha, that’s kind of cool actually. It’s better than ‘Oh, everybody loved me my whole life!’ What fun is that? Where do you go from there?”

“You have four episodes that have not aired yet. What can you tease about the upcoming four episodes?”

Mitchell: They’re very exciting. A lot of things happen. We enjoyed filming them….and, um…

“You should be a politician.”

Mitchell: I’ve been told that, but I’d be terrible, because I also tell the truth….that apparently gets you in trouble. You just have to ask me the right question… the second to last episode is probably one of my favorite ones we’ve done. Billy gets to do some extraordinary stuff, and I love watching him, so that’s really fun for me. And Charlie has even more good stuff coming up, and I’m enjoying watching her, both because I’m crazy about Tracy, and I’m enjoying how much the character has grown. I think she’s a very interesting character. There’s a lot of big stuff coming with her. The second to last episode is packed, packed with good things. And the last episode is, as always with Revolution, devastating, and kind of creepy, and somewhat inspiring, so we’ll see. Some people, it’s fantastic. Some people, they don’t get out alive, obviously because it’s Revolution…It sounds so cliche to say that, but it’s true.”

“Assuming you make it out alive, assuming, what would you like to see in season 3?”

Mitchell: I’m a geek, I wanna see more nano stuff. That stuff is really fun. I mean, the nano in the last four episodes, is one of my favorite parts of the whole show, so far. The stuff they come up with, where there minds go with it, and visually, it’s stunning. So I’d like to see more of that. Everybody is different with what they like…With Revolution, they tend to throw it all against the wall. What does Stephen [Collins] call it…the Sophie’s Choice episodes, where you have to make impossible choices in every episode, and I like that. I think it’s really interesting. It means you’re always in danger, always on the cusp of something. It’s very hard, simply to coast. There’s no coasting. So yeah, we try to put all the different colors in there. Of course, everyone’s like battle hardened warriors now, so in some ways we don’t show all the things that happen…They are really tough.

Recently, you killed someone off. For those that haven’t caught up, I won’t mention any names. I think, as a fan, it’s important to constantly change characters, and if characters don’t die…

Mitchell: There are no stakes. No risk. I think it has to happen that way…You don’t want to watch a show and think “That person’s never gonna die…” and that’s not how Revolution is. Anyone can die at any time. The thing is, the power went out. Yeah, we have this Matheson family, the whole thing has always been this band of survivors. I like that it keeps it very real, keeps us wondering…it makes it feel like it’s not safe. It probably shouldn’t be. It’s more entertaining that way.

Seven Inches of Your Time: How do you compare the two fanbases of LOST and Revolution? There’s probably a lot of overlap…

Mitchell: Yes and no. I think there’s some overlap, but then there’s also not. I have found that there are people who watch Revolution that I have never met before. A whole new kind of fanbase. And then the people I have met before, from LOST, and the core sci-fi fantasy watchers that you meet. Then on the other side of that, a lot of is different. We’ve roped in my Mom and Dad, who are completely different. My Mom is independent movies and Dad is Conan the Barbarian, and you kind of feel  like..Okay, they both like it. It’s different. I don’t know how to say how it’s different. LOST had a lot of high intellectual how-do-you-figure-this-out way of thinking and people were continually stumped, whereas Revolution is more swashbuckling, like a true adventure. I think that’s where the difference lies, and why it attracts different people.

You’re on hiatus now…and given how much you work on Revolution when the show is filming, how do you weigh adding more work to the mix, or do you just want to sit on your ass for two months?

Mitchell: I have an 8 year old. Ass sitting is not something I do on a regular basis, because normally it’s “Mom!” the moment I sit down. I also have a massive 100 pound mutt…so he usually tries to sit there first, and he’s so big, he’s on the couch, I’m on the floor. As far as other projects go, when you’re doing something that’s 16 hours a day, and all-encompassing, it’s hard to take on something else, it is, because you kind of feel like where’s your time to collapse on the floor. Yeah, it’s hard.

Are you thinking about taking something on now?

Mitchell: I might. I just optioned a book actually. I’m putting that together. And that just happened last Monday. 

So you’ve signed the paperwork?

Mitchell: I’ve signed the paperwork. 

So you can say what the book is.

Mitchell: It’s called Dolls Behaving Badly. 

Do you have a one liner?

Mitchell: Well, actually, I have to work on that, because I was telling the guys at work, and they were like “I’m already sleep,” whereas the women were like, “That’s fascinating!” So it’s a bunch of messed up people trying to figure out their lives, but it’s done in such a clever way, it’s incredibly funny. I would hope to put together a group of darkly comedic people, which are some of my favorite people.

Is this something you’d like to write?

Mitchell: I would like to write it. I’ve written plays, I’ve never written a screenplay. I don’t want to have a tremendous amount of hubris about it. I will try my hand, and then I’ll definitely say, “Hey! Help!” But it’s so beautiful on the page…I laughed out loud and thought it was phenomenal. It’s a bunch of different kind of amazing characters. I’m hopeful it’ll just kind of be there.

How are the ratings on the show? Where does it air around the world? How does it do?

Mitchell: Good question. I don’t know where it airs around the world, I should, but I don’t. The ratings are steady…but they’re not terrific. But they’re steady. Most people do not watch us on the night. And because they don’t, your show doesn’t really get credit for being watched….It’s such a hard thing to tell people, because people always say, “My favorite shows get cancelled!” I never watch anything live, I always watch it on my DVR. And the plus 7 numbers count, but nothing beyond there. Your Hulu doesn’t count, Netflix doesn’t…they count that, but it isn’t marked down. We have a huge amount of people watching us in the playbacks, and our DVR numbers are kind of crazy. We have a lot of people watching us, but it’s hard to tell that until a few weeks after we air. But then people will put it together and go, “Oh! A lot of people are watching that show. So, they’re alright. They’re steady. 

When people run into you, in like Starbucks, what is it they want to talk to you about?

Mitchell: It depends on who they are. Some kids just want to tell me what they want for Christmas, which is nice. And then some people want to tell me how disappointed they were with the LOST finale and some people want to tell me how they obviously did the right thing. A lot of people want to tell me about when Juliette fell, and the sadness of that. Some people just want to talk about different stuff with Revolution, with me, it depends on who I run into. The coffee crowd is huge, it crosses all the demographics.

The first season of NBC’s Revolution was one of the more frustrating TV experiences I had last year. The second season brought with it many changes, including new cast members, a massively different status quo, a shift in tone, and a different stable of writers in the writer’s room working with creator and executive producer Eric Kripke (Supernatural). They were all promising moves for the Bad Robot show, though I’ll be honest, I fell off the wagon about 9 episodes into the second season, even though it’s clear the show improved.

Fast forward to now, and we’re four episodes away from the end of the second season, with Revolution a solid, stable performer for NBC, but no certainty to return. Revolution thrives on its lack of certainty, however, with its “no character is safe” mantra being tested again recently, when, SPOILERS AHEAD, Jason was shot and killed by Charlie. Wowza. With that all in mind, here comes the Revolution panel.

We begin with an awesome sizzle reel, which is when I wrote down: When did Revolution get good? Right after I stopped watching it, clearly. The video is filled with bloody deaths, quippy one liners and pop culture references, and it’s badass, including the exclusive, never before seen preview of what’s to come. Hint: it involves a train heist, a very pissed off Tom Neville, and Rachel smacking Priscilla (Maureen Sebastian) around.

Eric Goldman from IGN.com is our friendly neighborhood moderator, joined by writer Rockne S. O’Bannon and stars Elizabeth Mitchell (LOST) and Stephen Collins (7th Heaven, Devious Maids).

The change in tone, which clearly transformed the show for the better, is immediately addressed. Writer Rockne joined the show in season 2, and is credited as one of the key components for its turnaround. He was a fan of the show on season 1 (the only network show he watched), and then was asked to write for the show in season 2. Isn’t that nice for him? I’ll write for Arrow next season, in case anyone is wondering.
Earlier in the season, Stephen’s character, Dr. Gene Porter, was found out to be secretly working for the nefarious Patriots, right under Rachel and Miles’ noses. Rachel is his daughter, but she tried to kill him anyway. Stephen was genuinely hurt after he watched the episode. Apparently it was far more serious and threatening on screen than when they filmed it on set. Of course, he kind of deserved it, Patriot loving scum (though I’m lumping the Patriots with the sports team, as well).

Goldman mentions and lauds the increased sense of humor in season 2, including many a pop culture reference. Rockne’s response: “Eric’s other show Supernatural had that…and it becomes natural, organic and satisfying.” For Stephen, the humor “lets the show breathe,” because the show is normally the stark contrast of life and death, and the humor brings much-needed levity to the proceedings. As an audience member himself, Stephen loves it, including Billy Burke’s “8,000 ways” he can say, “He’s such a dick.”

The show apparently has “very little ad-libbing.” Collins tell us a story when there is some, however. When we found out that Gene was having a relationship with the bartender, because Billy Burke found her character so attractive, he responded: “Good for you, Gene,” which was not in the script. I couldn’t tell you who the bartender is, but apparently everyone finds her hot on set.

One of the things that the writers on Revolution do consistently…”is justify my bad acting?” Elizabeth quips. No, they don’t give characters an easy out. Stephen refers to it as the Revolution Sophie’s Choice: characters are given a horrible choice, and an even worse choice.

On the subject of Gene’s turncoat reveal, Rockne believes that “Gene’s heart is in the right place, but his mind is end justifies the means.” Interestingly, when Stephen signed on to play Gene, he had no idea he was a bad guy, which he think helped make it all the more surprising and believable when it happened.

What will happen in the aftermath of Jason’s death? Rockne on the death: “Any character is vulnerable, and it really makes the stakes of the show very real. Losing a character as important as Jason is a very difficult decision, but it had such an emotional resonance, going back literally to the pilot, it was the right decision for the show at the time…and spins Charlie in a very unusual way, not what you’d expect.”

Tom lost Julia this year, and is the “definition of loose cannon,” so clearly Tom Neville will be pretty upset now that he’s alone. In the sizzle reel kicking off the panel, we see Neville aiming his gun at Charlie…so it’s safe to say that might not end well.

As Mitchell says, Rachel isn’t the best person to go to with your problems, “but she’s trying” to provide good support, to Charlie.

The second season has split the characters up (a decision Elizabeth and Stephen both loved, giving a chance to work intimately with other actors), with Aaron off on his own, Neville on his own adventure, but now they’re all coming together for the final four episodes. Rachel is “the lightning rod” for both stories: the nano’s and the Patriots.

What does that make Rachel’s role in the last four episodes? Mitchell “…loves the nano’s [plotline],” and is thrilled that Aaron is back. It’s fun to be the person in Aaron’s world and battling the Patriots, because she gets to see what everyone is up to. As the sizzle reel showed, she “smacks Priscilla around a little.”

Gene’s role in the last four episodes? Collins explains that the show asks a lot of the actors, that the fatigue that sets in, reflects in the character (and he loves the drain). The characters can look as beat up as we feel. “Gene is trying to figure out how to survive another day…What gets you through?” He loves how the writers are pushing the characters, and testing their faith. He has some “deep, elemental” scenes coming up, including one in particular that Elizabeth was in awe of.

Then the group got to gushing about the “Aaron Matrix” episode, or “Dreamcatcher,” which was a solo flashback episode featuring Aaron (Zak Orth). According to Rockne, the episode was Eric’s idea, and they just needed to figure out when they could do it organically in the season. It was unique for the show because it focused on one character, and they had to figure out how to put the other characters in it. Afterwards, because the actors actually got to wear makeup, Stephen came up to Liz and told her: “Liz, you’re really attractive.” Apparently, the last part of the makeup process on the set of Revolution is normally the “dirtbag” phase. Not so on “Dreamcatcher.” Throughout the episode, Liz was trying so hard not to laugh at drunk Miles and his side comments, and loved Zak’s performance. He’s the everyman, clearly a very funny man, but such a dramatic actor. I’m sure somewhere, Zak Orth is touched by the affection.

The wonderful thing about watching panels on shows you’re not up to date with, is you get questions that mean absolutely nothing to you, are mindboggling, and endlessly intriguing. Like this one: How much more will we be learning about California and Governor Affleck? Um, what? Apparently the California colony is up to something, and the writers have been slowly teasing it out over the second season. They were very comfortable letting the whole thing be at arms-length, but are introducing “itty bitty hints” in the next four episodes. It’s mentioned that J.J. Abrams (executive producer) knows Jennifer Garner (from Alias), so perhaps Ben Affleck is a possibility….

Now to the fan Q&A…!

Fan Question #1: How much of the characters shifting alliances were organic or already planned?
Rockne: 30-40% were planned, the rest of it “is what’s going to surprise us, and by extension, surprise everyone else.”

Fan Question #2: What are the possibilities for the 3rd season (if they get one)?
Rockne: Literally at this moment, Kripke is in Burbank pitching season 3 (“and we have a live camera!”). At the end of this season, everything comes together (Patriots, nanotech) and explodes apart, and something is whispered into Rachel’s ear, and those words change what you think was behind the blackout.

Fan Question #3: The guy really loves this show, but he wonders about all the violence in the 8 PM family slot.
“It doesn’t seem like an 8 o’clock show, does it?” Mitchell responds. Mitchell is consistently asking if they can do the things they do. The show was originally a 10 PM show, of course, but when they switched it to 8 PM, it wasn’t about the content, and NBC didn’t ask them to change what they were doing. Rockne calls the show a “wonderful hybrid of sci-fi, some fantasy and adventure.” To which Mitchell adds “swashbuckling.” Every show needs swashbuckling. Mitchell thinks it got bloodier since it moved. “A lot of casual death,” as Collins puts it. Rockne thinks its fun to be on the cutting edge with nanotech, but loves that the show is grounded, with the answer to what we’d do for survival without power.

Fan Question #4: Since the nanotech has taken the form of other humans, including dead characters, is there a possibility that we’ll see dear old Danny again?
Answer: Mitchell is on board with the idea, and Rockne reveals that the writers talk about Danny all the time in the writer’s room. So…maybe. Am I the only one who could care less about Danny?

Fan Question #5: Is anything going to happen between Miles and Rachel?
Mitchell’s answer: “Gosh I hope so. I think they’re made for each other, sadly. In a good way as well. We have a good scene coming up that we both enjoy…”

Fan Question #6: What drew you guys to the post-apocalyptic world?
Answer: It’s Kripke’s creation, so they’re the wrong ones to ask, but Rockne explains that like most Bad Robot shows, it’s a different/alternate version of Earth. As Mitchell puts it, the show asks “my favorite question…What if?” Collins has worked on Falling Skies, another post-apocalyptic show, but unlike that show that has aliens, Revolution is real…except one huge ingredient of our lives has been removed, and Revolution seeks to answer what civilization would look like afterwards.

Fan Question #7: Are we going to see more of how Miles and Sebastian conquered the world?
Answer: “That’s a big open field for us, that we talk about all the time, especially as we get into Monroe and his son trying to rebuild what was once there.” (Rockne) They’re taking the opportunity of Monroe and his son reuniting to give us a glimpse of what happened the first time (though they’re judicious with their use of flashbacks), and want to see how that impacts the relationship between Miles and Monroe. Once they saw Monroe together with the group this season, they knew they had to keep him there.

Fan Question #8: Could Rachel ever forgive Bass?
Answer: Mitchell thinks about that a lot. “I don’t know, I kind of hope so.”

From there, it became a gush fest about the set and the location, as Revolution films in Austin, a city that everyone raves about, always. They also shoot in Bartlett, a tiny town an hour or so away that is a perfect setting for a place without power, filled with delightful townsfolk. After watching this panel, the audience of Revolution has added back a hopefully delighted viewer (that’s me, if that wasn’t explicit enough).