Everything Changes When the Past Refuses to Stay Buried

Read Time:4 Minute, 58 Second

TV SERIES REVIEW
Revival
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Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Supernatural
Year Released: 2025
Runtime: 10 x 45m episodes (review based on first 6)
Showrunner(s): Aaron B. Koontz, Luke Boyce
Cast: Melanie Scrofano, Romy Weltman, David James Elliott, Andy McQueen
Where to Watch: premieres June 12, 2025, on SyFy

RAVING REVIEW: Death stops meaning what it used to when the people you’ve mourned walk through the door like nothing happened. That’s the unsettling starting point for a story that doesn't scream its horror but lets it crawl slowly up your spine. What could’ve easily been another reanimated-body horror fest takes a more calculated, character-driven route, where the supernatural is just the backdrop for something more personal.

Set in rural Wisconsin, the show follows a community thrown into confusion after the dead inexplicably come back, fully intact, seemingly normal, and unchanged. But this isn’t about blood and carnage. It’s about the uneasy space between grief and fear and what happens when both are forced to coexist. The show filters the undead concept through the lens of a murder mystery and social paranoia, reshaping the familiar into something harder to categorize.

The tone is methodically quiet, almost muted, but never dull. The creative team leaned into the Midwest's stillness, with grey skies, faded buildings, and lingering shots that suggest something unspoken lurking beneath the surface. There’s little hand-holding in these first six episodes; viewers must connect the dots alongside the characters. That kind of trust pays off, at least partially, by creating a more immersive and thoughtful experience.

At the center of it all is Dana Cypress, a local cop juggling her job, her family, and now, the uncomfortable truth that death no longer means closure. Melanie Scrofano brings a worn-in realism to the role. There’s no overacting here—no desperate monologues or overplayed reactions. Her strength is in how she holds it together just enough, playing Dana like someone who's used to being the calm in chaos, even as the ground shifts under her feet.

Her strained dynamic with her father, Wayne, the town’s sheriff, adds more tension. David James Elliott plays Wayne as someone clinging to control while the rules of his world crumble. Between them is Em, Dana’s younger sister, portrayed by Romy Weltman with the right mix of skepticism and suppressed resentment. Their scenes together never push too hard but always feel charged, grounded in believable history.

What makes the show stand out isn’t the resurrection itself—it’s how the town reacts to it. People don’t panic in the way you’d expect. Instead, they scramble to apply logic to new impossibilities. Introducing a registration system for the revived becomes a quiet but powerful narrative thread, suggesting all kinds of uncomfortable real-world parallels. There’s something disturbingly believable in how quickly fear morphs into policy, and how bureaucracy becomes a shield for collective anxiety.

Religious overtones begin to seep in as well. A fringe group starts whispering about divine purpose, judgment, and salvation. These ideas aren’t fully fleshed out yet, but there’s enough to spark interest. If the series chooses to build on this arc, it could provide a rich avenue to explore how belief systems adapt—or fracture—when confronted with the inexplicable.

The supporting cast does its job without demanding the spotlight. CM Punk (Phil Brooks) fits surprisingly well into this world, his rough-edged presence working as a low-boil menace that doesn’t disrupt the overall tone. Other recurring characters feel lived-in, more like residents than set pieces. That commitment to authenticity goes a long way in helping the audience stay grounded in a world that’s anything but normal.

Perhaps most interesting is how the show doesn’t rush to explain itself. There are no long-winded scientific breakdowns—just people stumbling through a situation no one prepared for. By the end of the sixth episode, the story has become more than just a supernatural whodunit. It’s laying the foundation for broader questions—about identity, belonging, and how communities hold to structure when the rules no longer apply. The show doesn’t need to answer every question right away. It just needs to keep making us ask the right ones.

The show focuses on what matters most: the people. This isn’t about who’s dead or alive. It’s about how we react when the lines between the two stop mattering. That’s where the show finds its edge—not in the spectacle, but in the aftermath.

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[photo courtesy of SYFY, BLUE ICE PICTURES, HEMMINGS FILMS]

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