Revolution.Follow

Isn't Eric Kripke one of the lead writers? He was behind the first 5 seasons of Supernatural, so I might be willing to give it the benefit of the doubt.

But ultimately it is defeated by simple earthen rust.

Edited, Sep 18th 2012 2:20am by Allegory

It isn't on Fox, so it might get a second season.

Diesel engines. That is all.

Edit:
SpoilerPoint being that combustion engines just need combustion. How the fuel begins the combustion is not really set in stone, and doesn't always require electricity. The combustion that causes a firearm to expel a bullet and the combustion that takes place in an engine to push on the piston and turn the crank shaft follow the same physics.

Edited, Sep 18th 2012 10:52pm by TirithRR

Diesel engines. That is all.

Edit:
SpoilerPoint being that combustion engines just need combustion. How the fuel begins the combustion is not really set in stone, and doesn't always require electricity. The combustion that causes a firearm to expel a bullet and the combustion that takes place in an engine to push on the piston and turn the crank shaft follow the same physics.
What do you think creates combustion in a diesel engine? Sure, it requires more compression, but it still needs Spoilerelectricity. Glow plugs aren't magical.

That makes it even more absurd. You could argue that something like an EMP has broken all the integrated circuits, which would make modern cars and equipment fail. But if a firearm works, then an internal combustion engine will work. You just have to replace the fuel injection system with an old style carburetor and distributor cap. As mentioned earlier, it's fuel, compression, and spark. We use electricity to generate that spark, but that should not be an issue. Only what means we use to control electricity.

Electricity has to still work, or everyone would be dead, not just the technology. So we have to assume that if one takes a magnet and spins it inside a coil of wire, it will produce electrical current. Similarly, the same chemicals used for batteries should be able to hold a charge. If they can't, then all the people are dead as well. So batteries should work (you might have to make new ones), and internal combustion engines should work.



I haven't watched the show, but did they even attempt anything more than "technology doesn't work anymore" for an explanation?

Diesel fuel has a lower (and more even) ignition point, so compression alone can be used to sustain the engine's cycle. Temperature affects that point though, hence the glow pugs. You could do this with a gasoline powered engine, but it's easier to just use well timed sparks to do so due to the particulars of the fuel itself

But yes, your point is absolutely valid. There's no reason at all why firearms would work, but internal combustion engines would not. The only thing that could knock out technology, but not people and guns would be some form of EMP. And that would only affect newer cars (and you can remove/replace the affected components).

A more reasonable model would be that whatever knocked everything out did so effectively enough that they couldn't get things started again. So much of our industry is automated and controlled by computers, that if you can destroy them, we'd have a hard time rebuilding. But it wouldn't be "nothing works". There would be very few things that would, and it wouldn't be enough to maintain the volume of industry required for our modern world to operate. If the argument about cars wasn't a failure of the engines, but a lack of ability to refine fuel, it would make a tiny bit more sense.



Which is probably exactly what happened. Unfortunately, I've seen a trend for TV/film writers to write stuff that makes absolutely no sense (or is straight out impossible) just because it makes for a good story or twist. They go for the "this would be really cool" approach, but then can't seem to noodle out how to make said cool thing happen in a logical and consistent manner, so they just kinda throw up their hands and do it anyway.

The ice was meant to be odd. That and that whole scene at the end.

Stop over analyzing the engines. Sheesh. This is why we can't have nice things or any TV shows that don't consist of someone dancing or singing.

Sad part is that an entire writing staff for the show probably thinks there's nothing wrong with basing the entire show on an event that stopped electricity from working. Which is more or less my point about just how dumbed down TV/film writing has become. You don't notice this (much) when it's the latest plotline for "switched at birth", but it's pretty darn glaring when it's a science fiction show.



Can they fix such a major problems in future episodes though? I mean, lets assume that starting with episode 2, someone with a better knowledge of physics (which is basically anyone with a high school education) pointed out the impossibility of the premise that "electricity stopped working" to the writers, how would they fix this? Just start having folks show up with working internal combustion engines, computers, and whatnot, and claim that it was just that few groups we met in episode one who just thought that electricity didn't work? Maybe aliens really conquered the earth and subjected the population to a mind control device which makes them think that technological stuff doesn't work anymore, but it really (obviously) does.

Hell. That's probably a better plot than they came up with though.

Technically a deisal engine can work off the heat of compression alone. A glow plug makes that much easier in a full size engine, but its possible to start a radio controll airplane sized deisal conversion engine just by spinning the prop without any form of spark. And a glow plug wouldn't technically need to be electric. A small pilot hole for a burning stick like they used to use to light oil furnaces would also work just as well with some safety considerations.

He didn't.