What if the dead don't stay dead? Syfy's new drama series Revival is just the latest in a long line of supernatural horror shows to explore this premise, but it does have a unique twist that could set it apart from other similar zombie-esque series.
Based on the comic book series by Tim Seeley and Mike Norton, Revival is set in a rural small town Wausau, Wisconsin where the a bunch of formerly deceased people come back to life with seemingly no brain-eating tendencies. They're just... alive again, though there a couple of twists we'll get into later. What do you do when you've mourned someone and buried them, only to learn they've returned from the grave?
The series premieres thrusts us into this situation via a moratorium where a recently departed man is about to be cremated. But just as the flames start to lick his corpse, he returns to life, pounding desperately on the door, demanding to be let out. He and every other body in the room sits up, eager to break free. The local cemetery swarms with the deceased who have crawled out of their graves (the show kind of skips over how all of these people clawed their way out of coffins and six feet of dirt but whatever).
That fateful day also introduces us to some of the show's main characters: resident police officer Dana Cypress (Melanie Scrofano) her son, Cooper, and her father, the town sheriff, Wayne (David James Elliott). From the first scene it's obvious Dana and Wayne have a tense relationship. All he does is complain that she's leaving him, she's hidden stuff from him, etc. Honestly, he doesn't make a good impression at all during this episode.
Dana puts in her two weeks notice just as s*** hits the fan. She intends to take Cooper and leave Wausau behind, having accepted a new job in Chicago. But when all hell breaks loose, plans change.
Revival skips ahead 35 days after the since-dubbed "Revival Day." Those people who have returned to life are labeled the "Revivers" and are doing their best to return to normalcy. As you might imagine, formerly dead people going back to work and school isn't well-received by everyone. In Cooper's classroom, the kids bully his friend, a little Reviver girl.
There is tension brewing between people who are mistrustful of the Revivers (Evil Dead 2 exists in this universe so I can understand their nerves) and those who want to try and integrate the Revivers back into the realm of the living. Mayor Dillisch (Conrad Coates) is pushing for the integration, causing him to butt heads with Wayne, who remains suspicious.
With more than a month of time having passed, the lockdown is lifted, but Wauswau residents are forbidden from leaving the regional quarantine area while the CDC conducts their investigation. Since Dana is stuck in this town, she's had to postpone picking up her new job in Chicago, to the point that they retract the job offer, seemingly leaving her stuck in her hometown.
We pivot to a late-night bar scene where Dana goes to blow off steam and hook up with a cute chatty guy named Lester (Andy McQueen). Wayne interrupts their dalliance, demanding Dana investigate a situation involving a dead horse. She finds a bunch of human teeth near the area alongside a different dead animal.
I mention Lester, whose real name is Ibrahim, because we then find out that he and the police department will be working together. Surprise! He's the CDC liasion, adding some awkward sexual tension to his and Dana's first meeting. Wayne picks up on it right away and even asks his daughter if she slept with Lester which is kind of weird. I really don't like that guy so far. But I imagine the show is setting up Lester to become Dana's will-they-won't-they love interest.
They meet up again later to discuss something weird about the horse carcass. It turns out that tje CDC took the horse into their lab for further study and Ibrahim discovered human teeth in its stomach. Dana reveals that she, too, found teeth. Ibrahim realizes they are identical. While in the lab, Ibrahim also reveals something shocking to Dana. The Revivers have a strange healing ability. He cuts through a sample of Reviver skin and it immediately stitches itself back together, suggesting they might be unkillable.
Enter Dana's sister, Em (Romy Weltman). We don't know much about her except she's apparently been wandering around rather aimlessly and seems to have an inappropriate relationship with a collegiate professor. She calls Wayne at one point to tell him she's doing okay, and will try to be better about staying in touch.
Later, while investigating some of the Revivers, Dana notices Em sleeping outside. She picks her up to take her back to her dormitory but on the way Dana stops to investigate the Dittman residence. They claim not to know anything about the dead animals, but Dana becomes increasingly suspicious and starts poking around their barn.
Across town, Wayne goes to investigate a disturbance call concerning a woman named Opal Shaw. She's been keeping her dead husband's body inside of her house, willing him to return to life like the others. See, all the Revivers are people who died within a specific period of time and Opal's husband passed away just one day before that period started. Opal hopes that he might still come back despite missing the cut off and her desperation has driven her a little mad.
But Dana's situation quickly becomes the more dangerous one as she finds a bunch of teeth in the barn, just like in the forest. A deranged older woman shows up and starts pulling out her teeth, babbling about how they "just keep growing back." The woman proves herself to be incredibly strong as she starts attacking Dana and the other Dittman family members who try to stop her.
Dana is quickly overpowered until her sister rushes in to save her. But during the fight, the woman pierces Em's stomach with a scythe. In a final burst of strength, the sisters work together to bring the woman down (permanently?) and Dana watches in shock as her sister's wound heals itself, meaning she is also a Reviver.