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Revolution: Nobody's Fault But Mine

Monroe: "See, it's like Miles always said. A good hostage works every time."

And yet more hostage-taking of family members, which is apparently Revolution's most enduring theme du series. It was Miles's turn this time; he went right to the Neville residence and put a sword to Julia's throat. (Good sword work by Billy Burke. He kept slashing it around and changing the angle, but he did it convincingly. I kept thinking he would actually hurt Julia with that thing, which I'm sure is what they were going for.)

Not to be outdone, Strausser actually went for Sophie's Choice with Rachel. I have to give Charlie points for a convincing self-sacrifice, even though of course, it didn't happen. One of the best moments in the episode was Rachel taking out Strausser, right before Miles happened by to rescue her. I mean, Strausser got really up close and personal with Rachel when there were tools within her reach, and she killed a man with a screwdriver in the previous episode! What was Strausser thinking?

Hey, as long as she survives the helicopter machine guns, Elizabeth Mitchell is finally in play. And since the first thing Rachel did was slap Miles, it's obvious there's some history. I want to know what it is. And we had a massive mother and children reunion. Blonds everywhere. Was anyone else noticing how many blonds there were in this episode? Julia Neville, Jeremy, Monroe, all three of the Mathesons, it was like a skewed demographic.

I didn't think it was possible, but the flashbacks to Miles and Monroe's long friendship actually made me feel bad for Monroe. He lost his entire family before the Blackout, and he and Miles weren't just friends -- they were exceptionally close since they were kids, drawing double M's on their arms as fake brands. I thought that the flashbacks and the confrontation meant one of them was going to die. But no.

But that was okay, because there was a lot of cool stuff in this fall finale. Rachel getting deadly again with Craftsman tools. Aaron setting off the explosives, in exactly the same way he failed to light a campfire earlier in the season. Miles rolling out that window. I am finally starting to like Miles.

And despite the fact that it's been uneven and there's a boring character or two (sorry, Nora, that's you), there's been a lot to like about the first ten episodes of Revolution. It has a great premise, and I've liked the characters a little more with each episode. I'm still not a real fan, but I'll be interested to see where they go with the second half of the season.

Bits and pieces:

-- War with Georgia. That made me smile. Like sending ambassadors to California.

-- Major Kipling. Points for a great name.

-- Neville recognized Aaron. Aaron Pitman, the Wizard of Google.

-- Mark Pellegrino (Jeremy) was back. He didn't get a lot to do, but it was fun to see him again. Maybe in the second half of the season?

-- When the power went back on, I was envisioning all of the machinery in the plant turning on. Sort of a Terminator moment.

Quotes:

Nora: "Miles, we're in Philly. There is nowhere safe."

Monroe: "How good could he be?"
Neville: "Against Miles, how good is anyone?"

Julia: "I'm not the beg-for-your-life type."
And I really, really believe that.

Aaron: "They have got some very serious guns."

Monroe: "Miles is Ben Matheson's brother, Rachel Matheson's brother-in-law. He probably knows something about the electricity."
Jeremy: "It's just that Miles sucks at math. What's he gonna know about hardcore electric engineering?"

Jeremy: "Miles, you are like a bad penny, man."

Probably the best episode so far. Three out of four bad pennies,

Billie
---
Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

3 comments:

  1. Amazing mid-season finale. I loved every minute of it and, more than once, I gasped.

    I may be really over-thinking this, but does anyone else suspect that Charlie is Miles' daughter? The first time I watched this episode, the thought entered my mind so I watched it again. I'm convinced. Mostly because of the first conversation Charlie had with Rachel. The language Rachel used was careful, but when she asked Charlie if Ben had said anything before he died, the pieces seemed to fit. Not to mention that slap which, as you say Billie, seems to imply a bit of history.

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  2. Great review of an amazing mid-season finale!

    I too was imagining all the machinery in there "turning on" once the amplifier was on. You think Rachel could have grabbed the necklace on her was out!!! sheesh! :p

    ChrisB, that thought never even crossed my mind! For me her rage was related to the flashback when she left her family and turned herself into Miles and Munroe and told him "Promise me I'll see my family again". A broken promise until now.

    How on earth are they going to escape that chopper? Unless someone forgot to load the ammo... :p

    I too felt pretty bad for Monroe once we knew the full extent of their ties! Poor guy, pity he's such a sadistic bastard!

    No Jason/Nate. Thought he might appear.

    And yeah, a lot of blonds! How about a redhead to change things up a bit? :p

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  3. Best episode of the series in my opinion, 'cept for the first episode of course.
    Although I did find two annoyments in this one.
    1. Why post guards outside a house that they might assume Miles will be coming back to?
    2. Why in THE HELL didn't Miles and Rachel take 5 seconds from their busy schedule and swipe the pendant from the amplifier or just simply smash the amp?

    All in all, this episode saved the series for me - especially since Charlie finally started kicking ass!

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