Revival Season 1 Episode 2 Review: Keeping Up Appearances
New players are introduced and viewers get some of Em’s back story on Revival Season 1 Episode 2, “Keeping Up Appearances.” Oh, yeah, and there’s also a super strong, unhinged, indestructible octogenarian on the loose.
About that Cliffhanger
Ok, so before we jump into “Keeping Up Appearances,” let’s step back. We have to talk about Revival Season 1 Episode 1, “Don’t Tell Dad’s” big episode ending reveal. I couldn’t say anything about it in my review of that episode because, you know, spoilers.
Now that it’s safe to talk about the fact that Em is a reviver, we have to talk about the moment Dana finds out that her sister has died and come back to life.
In my review of “Don’t Tell Dad,” I said that there were moments where I knew what was coming, and I still gasped. Em slicing off Mrs. Stankiewiscz’s head and revealing herself as a reviver is the moment I was referencing.
That shocking visual is followed by a flood of emotions on Melanie Scrofano’s face as Dana pieces everything together. It fills the silence with the weight of that reveal. A weight that stays with you after the episode ends and the credits are rolling. It is such a well-executed moment that I couldn’t not talk about it.
Alright, on to “Keeping Up Appearances,” because a whole bunch happens on this episode.
Em’s Backstory
One of the major components of “Keeping Up Appearances” is finding out more about Em. For obvious reasons, “Don’t Tell Dad” kept things kind of vague regarding Em. We got some clues for sure. Anyone surprised by the reveal about her affair with Aaron wasn’t paying attention.
Still, it is only on “Keeping Up Appearances” that we confirm the nature of the relationship, even meeting Aaron’s wife. Oh, and let’s not just brush past the fact that his wife has cancer. As if you needed another reason to hate Aaron.
It’s not a great look for Em either, to be honest. I’m gonna give her the benefit of the doubt here, though, because she was in a pretty bad place during the affair and doesn’t seem like she was making very many good decisions leading up to her death.
As much of a tool as Aaron is, he doesn’t seem to be the one who murdered Em. I mean, I wouldn’t rule out his involvement just yet, but he does seem genuinely surprised to find out that Em is a reviver.
We also get a bit of backstory about Em through the great sequence that switches back and forth between Em’s bar fight and Dana telling Ibrahim about her sister as they look for her.
The juxtaposition of the two scenes deepens our understanding of Em in two ways. First, listening to Dana describe everything Em has been through while seeing her bones break as she takes each punch underscores the physical pain of that moment and the emotional pain Dana is describing.
At the same time, the disconnect of the coddled, delicate little girl Dana describes with the woman taking those punches shows just how little her family understands her.
The sequence helps us understand so much about this character in a short period of time, and gets us rooting for her in a way we might not have been before the scene.
Much of what we learn about Em on “Keeping Up Appearances” is about what happened to her leading up to Revival Day. There are still way more questions about how Em died and what was going on with her before she died. However, we know more now than we did after “Don’t Tell Dad.”
First, we know Em was murdered. To be fair, details Em remembers also make it look like it could have been a suicide. However, Em is pretty adamant that it wasn’t, and I believe her.
We also learn where she woke up, and that when she woke up, she had a ring in her mouth that she thought belonged to Aaron.
Solving Em’s murder seems like it will be the central plot line of season 1 (despite Em’s roommate claiming she knows who did it). We don’t have too many clues right now, but it should be fun to start theorizing as we learn more.
Some New Faces
“Keeping Up Appearances” also introduces us to a couple of new faces who will have significant roles to play this season.
First, we meet Rhodey Rasch. Rhodey is a reviver who saves Em during her bar fight. He is also a musician who uses his new reviver healing powers as part of his punk act.
Rhodey seems like a good dude, but I don’t trust anyone at this point. Maybe he is just a knight in shining armor who swoops in and saves Em. They seem to be setting him up as a possible love interest for Em, which frankly makes me a little more suspicious.
For now, he seems more friend than foe and one of the few people Em can talk to about being a reviver. Let’s hope for her sake he is what he seems. She doesn’t need another jerk like Aaron in her life.
Even more of an enigma than Rhodey is Blaine. He has some sort of agenda or knows something about what’s happening, but that’s about all we know for sure.
He helps Cooper find his way out of the woods, but he also appears to have a history with Wayne, who does not trust him at all. Wayne isn’t a character whose assessment of people I necessarily trust. In this case, though, I think Wayne might be right.
He gives off a pretty ominous vibe, particularly in that scene with he baby in the garage. That man is trouble with a capital T.
Supernatural Scares
Amidst all the character development on “Keeping Up Appearances,” the series continues to deliver some pretty effective supernatural scares.
The search for Mrs. Stankiewiscz is a great through line for the episode, punctuated with some of the episode’s most memorable scenes. The scene of her coming back to life is such a great visual moment (and by great, I mean terrifying). Then there is that scene of her singing to the baby, which is all kinds of creepy.
Mrs. Stankiewicz isn’t the only one offering some supernatural scares, though. There is also a scene in the woods where follows a strange noise into the woods Cooper right before he meets Blaine.
I don’t know what to say about that just yet. It seems likely to be related to Revival Day, and whatever it ends up being, it’s got me intrigued.
What did you think of this episode of Revival? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and don’t forget to leave your own rating!
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Revival airs Thursdays at 10/9c on Syfy.
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Sarah Fields
Sarah is an obsessive geek who likes to get into the weeds and over think things. She is passionate about Sci-Fi and comics and is a giant classic film nerd. Sarah cares deeply about media representation and the power of telling diverse stories. When she's not writing or watching her favorite shows she spends her days working in the non-profit world trying to make life a little better for those that need some extra help.