Revolution Season One: Sex and Drugs

Review for episode six is here.

The episode opens up with the group stealing a Militia wagon and racing off through the woods as fast as they can; Nora's wound from the previous episode is infected and Miles says he knows someone who might help. Aaron tries to reassure Charlie but she, most likely still angry with Maggie's death and losing Danny, vents her frustration out on Aaron. Aaron then has a Flashback to the day of The Blackout where he and his wife Priscilla Pittman (Maureen Sebastian) are celebrating their anniversary in their limo when the power goes out and a truck crashes into them.

Say goodbye to your fabulous lifestyle Aaron

In Philadelphia Tom hands Danny over to Monroe who greets him and says that he knew his mother, Danny is curious about this but Monroe orders him taken away. Monroe then promotes Tom to Major, asking him to head up Intelligence and Interrogation, Tom is pleased with this because he can now work closer to home and his family. Back with the group they stop outside of a mansion surrounded by burnt poppy fields and Aaron is annoyed that they are seeking the help of a drug dealer. They are let through to the mansion where a man named Drexel angrily pulls out his gun and orders them on their knees, he points the gun at Miles's head and pulls the trigger - except it was empty and he was playing a joke!

You have one sick sense of humour Drexel

Drexel let's his doctor see to Nora and she is given a blood transfusion by Miles and Aaron has another Flashback two months after The Blackout and he and his wife are struggling. Priscilla is ill but luckily a man named Sean comes across them and treats her with some medicine. He explains that some lakes have become contaminated because the sewer pumps stopped working and says Aaron should be more careful. We then see Charlie having a bath but, haunted by her father's and Maggie's death and her recent failure, gets up to rip up her postcards of Pre - Blackout cities.

We get some side - boob action here!

In Philadelphia, Monroe is pleased with Jason with his recent work and report and shows him the drawing of the pedant and asks if the group has it, Jason answers that Aaron has it. Monroe says to Tom that Strausser should retrieve the pendant which Jason is not happy with because Strausser doesn't leave survivors but Monroe doesn't care about that. Back in the group they are getting ready to leave because Miles does not trust Drexel enough for them to stay any longer but Drexel then bursts into the room. It turns out he worked closely with Miles when he was with the Militia but when Miles left anyone who was associated with him lost a lot of reputation and now he wants payback. He wants to get rid of the head of the Irish O'Halloran family that have been burning his poppy fields and wants Charlie to do kill him because they will least suspect her. Miles volunteers to do it but Drexel says he will kill them all if Charlie doesn't go, she agrees.

"My beautiful poppies, all ruined!" 

Charlie is dressed in an slinky dress and given a hair pin that contains a needle to stab O'Halloran with; she is to pose as one of Drexel's girl who is sick of been roughed up, Drexel even smacks her for good measure. Aaron then has another Flashback and it is eight months after The Blackout and Aaron and Priscilla have joined up with other survivors but their camp is currently being raided. Priscilla is captured and Aaron his beaten up when he tries to rescue her but Sean comes back for them, fights off the bandits and even breaks the neck of one of them.

I guess hand to hand combat isn't really your thing Aaron

When Charlie leaves, Drexel gives Miles a pouch full of gold and says he never expected her to come back alive, Aaron then begs Miles to rescue Charlie and leave him with Nora. Charlie then makes it to the O'Halloran mansion and it turns out they are all a family of ex - cops and their head, Bill, is burning Drexel's poppy fields because his daughter overdosed on the drugs produced from them a while ago. Charlie manages to knock him out cold and begs forgiveness when she is just about to stab him however Miles manages to stop her.

 

Just in the nick of time Miles

Back at Drexel's place Aaron, and a now awake Nora, are brought in to the yard where Drexel gives them each a gun and says they will have to shoot each other but he will let the one who shoots the other first go. Aaron has another Flashback shortly after the raid on their last camp and he is unable to start a fire and he confides to Priscilla that he cannot do anything to protect her now however Priscilla doesn't mind any of that. In the present day Aaron says to Nora that she should shoot him because he can't protect anyone but when she refuses Aaron shoots himself. A satisfied Drexel steps forward but is then shot dead by Aaron who managed to shoot himself in the flask he keeps in his breast pocket, Drexel's guards then just let them go.

"Did I fire six shots or only five......it was one"

The groups reunites outside of Drexel's mansion and Miles decides they should move on. Aaron has another Flashback to the morning after his conversation with Priscilla and he has decided to leave her, leaving a note saying that she is better off without him. The episode ends in Philadelphia where Rachael is reunited with Danny after twelve years.

"Sorry for almost getting you all killed....so lets just forget it ever happened"

I guess they decided to do another character centred episode and this time they gave Aaron the spotlight.

Aaron has always been one of my favourite characters so I am glad we now get an insight in to his past just like Maggie and Tom did in the last two episodes. It is quite sad seeing how someone who had the money and the power to do anything before lose everything in a single day. I have read other reviews for this episode and many people have criticised Aaron for abandoning his wife but I sympathise with him a bit more. The world of Revolution may have somewhat stabilized now fifteen years later but from the Flashbacks we see in this episode (and the ones with Miles, Monroe and Tom) it must have been a small hell at first. Maybe Aaron did make a stupid and selfish move but at the time survival was a lot more harder so he did what he thought was best for his wife, he didn't care about his own life.

I wonder how long Monroe can just make him stand there?

Drexel turned out to be a completely lunatic and a great small antagonist for this episode, he was what I hoped Ray who controlled the dogs was like; completely crazy with no need to create sympathy for his character. So overall I liked the events what happened at his mansion and the crazy shoot out game he made Aaron and Nora play at the end, even though I didn't expect they would kill off another main character already.

"That's right kid; there no one crazier than me"

One think in the episode that I was not to sure there was a point to was Charlie trying to kill Bill O'Halloran. Don't get me wrong I really like the surprise that they where ex cops all trying to do the right thing (I thought they where rival drugs dealers at first!) and it showed that there is good people in this world. However I just didn't see the point in the end with making up that elaborate plan with Charlie when Miles managed to sneak in, most being completely off screen, in what seemed like no time at all. Not to spoil anything but this isn't the first time this will happen; where a big chunk of the episode is given over to something but Miles ends up doing it easily. I have to mark the episode down when it does this because even though it shows how awesome Miles is, the whole plan before then could have been screen time for something else.

Now that is one kick ass chair!

Overall I am glad that one of my favourite character gets his own episode and Flashbacks even though it was not as strong as Tom's was. Also just like Tom's episode it mostly stuck with the group because it barely jumped to any other storylines. I'm guessing that now that Danny is in Philadelphia those are the only two main plots that will jump back and forth to each other, and that is actually a good thing for me because now some characters will get more screen time like Monroe. It also looks like we will see more of Strausser soon because Monroe has sent him after the group, can't wait to see what that's going to be like.

SCORE: 7/10

Highlights: Aaron centred episode and past revealed
                   Drexel as the villain for the episode
                   Drexel's sick game at the end

Let - Downs: Wasn't as strong or exciting as Tom's was
                      Charlie's mission was pointless in the end because Miles could have done it

The great screenshots of the episodes where provided by the great site Screencapped. You can look for yourself from the link below;

 

 





http://screencapped.net/

TV Series Review: Game of Thrones Season Three

With the fourth season over half way done I thought I should finally get the review of season three out of the way. As always there are spoilers but its been ages since this has aired so I assume everyone has watched it by now.

This season takes place almost immediately after the events of season two; Stannis has been defeated, the Stark house is in ruins and the Lannisters are more powerful than ever before thanks to the union between their house and the Tyrells, the only other house that could have matched them.
In King's Landing Tyrion Lannister has lost his position as Hand of the King to his father and most of the other power had despite leading the garrison against the enemy, Joffrey Baratheon is to wed Margaery Tyrell and there are many on both sides who agree and disagree with this.
In the Riverlands Robb Stark has broken his marriage contract with the Freys and his army falls apart around him, Jamie Lannister is being escorted home by Brienne of Tarth through the war torn land and Arya Stark has escaped her captors only to fall in to the hands of the Brotherhood without Banners.
In the North Theon Greyjoy is being tortured by an unknown sadist (though it was obvious for those who read the books), Bran and his group run in to the Reed siblings who wish to help them and Jon Snow has infiltrated Mance Rayder's army in an effort to learn their plans.
Meanwhile in Dragonstone Stannis Baratheon is a broken man from his defeat on the Blackwater but becomes more obsessed with the Lord of Light while his loyal companion Davos Seaworth sees only evil in the religion.
Finally Daenerys Targaryen has decided that she must have an army in order to win the Iron Throne and sets sail for slavers bay to by the Unsullied, the most disciplined soldiers in all the world.

This season is based on the first half of the Storm of Swords books which are all two of my favourites in the Song of Ice and Fire series and just like the last two seasons it adapts from its source material almost perfectly. This season also includes some of my most favourite events from the books such as the infamous Red Wedding and the burning of Astapor but also includes some original stuff which is really great. I will now go in to detail about all the highlights of this season and say what was good and what was bad in my opinion.

Firstly there is the Brotherhood without Banners, a group of Robin Hoods basically and who capture Arya near the start of the series. Now in the books if I am honest I really, really hated this group mostly because it just seemed to drag on with them going to different places and not advancing the plot, it just felt like filler and I didn't care for much for their members like Lem and Tom O Sevens (They just annoyed me). However I did like them here in the series because they narrowed down the main members to only three, Beric Dondarrion, Thoros of Myr and Anguy and they cut out a lot of their pointless travelling. Thoros of Myr was the standout of the lot as a drunken red priest who has found his faith again, Paul Kaye did a really convincing job of it; he was funny when he was drunk, serious when he had to be and his conversation of Melisandre was one of the best from the season. It was original for the series but I was really glad they added it in because we have not had two red priests confronting each other in the books yet. Also the fight between Beric and the Hound was done just as I imagined from the books as well so I enjoyed all the scenes with Arya and the Brotherhood.

Next what an interesting change from the book was the scenes with Theon Greyjoy and his torturer Ramsey Snow in the North. Those who read the books would know that after Theon's defeat at Winterfell we don't see him for ages and when we do he is already in his new persona of Reek we don't see any of the torture. So this was also a great addition to the series and again some great casting with Iwan Rheon as the psychopathic Ramsey.

Also in the North we finally get the introduction of the Reed siblings Jojen and Meera who should have been at Winterfell during the last season. However they were added in to the plot now quite nicely and we also get more of an understanding of Bran's powers (Which again should have happened during the last season if the Reed siblings were there).

Finally in the North is the events that happen beyond the wall and I have to say there are a few disappointments here. My disappointment with beyond the wall actually started during the very first scene of episode one when they skipped over the undead army vs the Night Watch entirely and after the huge set up they had at the end of season two. Then there was the character of Mance Rayder, while Ciarán Hinds did a good job as him he is quite different than he was in the book. A lot more serious and quiet and he does not even sing! However there were still a lot of great parts; the climb up the wall, the fight between Jon and the wildings, rebellion at Crasters and all the scenes with Sam were great.

Something else I was let down on was during the story with Daenerys across the Narrow Sea. Don't get me wrong when she gets her Unsullied and defeats Astapor and Yunaki those parts were all badass, just like in the book, but it was the re - introduction of Barristan Selmy. While I am glad to see him again because he is one of my favourite characters I did not like that they removed to part from the book were he hid his identity as a man called Astran Whitebeard for a time and was accompanied by a former pit fighter named Strong Belwas. Strong Belwas is gone entirely and while Barristan saves Daenerys like in the book he reveals himself straight away. The subplot of Astran Whitebeard and Strong Belwas, while not crucial was something I was looking forward to.

However something that was absolutely perfect was the journey of Jamie and Brienne through the Riverlands. Some of the best scenes throughout the entire season is with these two, they have such great chemistry together and the way they keep talking back to each other is so amusing. Also when Jamie loses his hand you can really see the character change in him and you even feel like even someone like him can redeem himself and change for the better despite what he has done before.

Before moving to the Red Wedding on I just want to say that something that really annoyed me the most in this season was the death of original character Ros played by Esmé Bianco. I really liked this original character she was so sexy during her nude and sex scenes from season one and during season two when she became more of a business woman of one of Little Finger's brothels she can still be a great character. Esmé Bianco is such a good actress and even though her death portrays more of Joffrey's cruelty it is such a same she had to go because she really fit in to the world of a Game of Thrones.

Now finally on to the Red Wedding, one of the most iconic moments in written history and now one of the most iconic television history! It was so brutal, they held nothing back in terms of the violence during this scene and I'm glad they didn't or it wouldn't have that much of an impact. Compared to the book it may have felt a bit short but that is mostly because most of the background characters who are killed have names and bigger roles in the book and spent more time with their deaths. However something I did not expect was the such brutal murder of Robb's wife; she was stabbed right in her pregnant stomach whole Robb looked on, talk about no mercy. And of course we get the death of Robb at the hands of Rose Bolton and Catelyn by the Freys and I really liked the chilling music of Rain's of Castamere playing in the background while everything was going on. So ends Robbs rebellion against the Lannisters, someone should have told the wolves that "a lion still has claws and mine are long and sharp my lord, as long and sharp as yours".

Very quickly just want to mention some great new additions to the cast; I have already mentioned Ramsey, Mance, the Reeds and the Brotherhood but we also have Anton Lesser as Qyburn (Can't wait for this character to have a bigger role later, those who read the book know what I mean), Clive Russell as Bryden Tully, Tobias Menzies as Edmure Tully, Diana Rigg as Olenna Tyrell (a match even for Tywin) and Kristofer Hivju as Tormund Giantsbane (perfect casting there).

Overall this season was probably the best one in the Game of Thrones series so far (though the currently airing fourth season is doing really good so far), while it did not have a big battle like in season two I think the introduction of Unsullied and the Red Wedding are just as great. The only let downs were the death of the character Ros and the removal of the Astran Whitebeard subplot but I admit they are only small inconveniences in an otherwise perfect season.

SCORE: 9.5/10