The review for the four episode of Revolution.
The episode opens up with Charlie running away from a Militia soldier because she stole some food from him however she is caught. This turns out to be a trap so that Miles could learn the whereabouts of Tom's convoy and they are glad to hear that they are only a day behind them. It then changes to Aaron and Maggie who are waiting at the place they agreed to meet up and Aaron tells Maggie that they should tell no one about the pendant because people would kill for that kind of power. Maggie has a Flashback to the day of The Blackout and she is getting ready for conference in Seattle, Washington and talking to her kids back in England through a laptop but then all the power goes out.
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| Got a bad feeling about this |
Back in the present the group is reunited and Aaron and Maggie are glad at how close they are to Danny. During the night when they are making their way out of the ruined city they are attacked by a pair of wild dogs, the group makes a run for it but as they are climbing a fence one of the dogs bites Aaron's leg but Maggie shoots it before it can do any serious damage.
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| This kind of reminded me of the zombie dogs from the classic Resident Evils |
It then changes to Tom's convoy who are on their way to Noblesville but Danny suggests that they should take shelter because he feels the incoming storm is something serious, Tom looks to be considering his suggestion. In the Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Rachael is drawing something in a notebook but quickly stops when Monroe comes him. He asks her for the last time for information on what she and Ben where working on before The Blackout before Danny arrives but she still refuses. Strausser then comes in with his torture equipment and jokingly apologizes in advance.
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| "Guess what I am going to do to you with these.....then I'll tell you what I am really going to do." |
Back in Lowell, Indiana the group is cutting their way through an abandoned amusement park and, while they are alone, Miles confides in Nora that he is planning to just leave. Nora tries to talk him out of it but Miles insists that he owes nothing to Ben, Danny or Charlie, however Charlie has overheard the conversation. We then get a Flashback three years after The Blackout and Rachael is leaving her family, the young Charlie cries for her to stay but Rachael ignores her and just keeps walking. Back with Tom's convoy they are seeking shelter in a barn because the dangerous storm has appeared, Danny notices a broken window. When Danny escapes outside however Tom catches him but because of the approaching tornado they are forced to seek shelter in a nearby basement.
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| "Save all the booze!" |
Charlie and the group are still making their way through the amusement park when Miles notices someone watching and manages to capture Nate who is ordered to spy on them, Miles grudgingly agrees with Charlie to take him prisoner. A while later Maggie tries to talk to Miles about how important it is not to abandon family and we see a Flashback of how she tired for years and years to get back to England but was unsuccessful. While attempting to commit suicide she was stopped by Ben and was welcomed in to his family and that gave her a reason to live again.
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| Don't hold them back, let them fight! |
Almost immediately after this they are attacked again by the wild dogs and they make it inside a diner however Maggie didn't make it and is stabbed by a man, Miles manages to get her inside the diner. All is not well; the pack of dogs must actually be trained to attack by the man and Maggie has been stabbed in an artery and is bleeding out. Miles and Nora go to the roof to see if they can find the man while Maggie tires to get them to leave but Charlie refuses, instead they try and stich up her artery. However while they are doing this the man captures Charlie and drags her outside of the diner.
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| You can't beat crazy - dog man |
Meanwhile Danny and Tom are waiting out the storm and to make conversation Tom says that Danny reminds him of his own son, Danny is surprised to learn that Tom has a family. Tom says that he really isn't much different than Ben in wanting to protect his family but Danny argues that his dad didn't kill people. Tom finds this hard to believe and thinks he shouldn't judge with because of how chaotic is was during the first years after The Blackout when Danny probably was too young to remember much of it. Just then the roof collapses on Tom but he manages to convince Danny to help him get free, he then handcuffs Danny quickly so that he won't escape again.
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| You are far too trusting Danny - boy |
Back at the amusement park Miles decides to go after Charlie and takes Nate along with him and it is revealed that the man who captured her, Ray, has her strapped to a chair that is rigged to a crossbow. Ray reveals how he doesn't trust people anymore after his daughter died because of lack of medicine when thieves took IT all and then leaves Charlie to go after Miles. He is however killed by Miles and Charlie manages to move the chair out of the way before the rigged crossbow can kill her. They return to the diner but unfortunately Maggie has lost too much blood and dies after thinking about her lost children.
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| Stings a little, doesn't it? |
The episode ends with Monroe telling Rachael that Danny will be with them soon and comments that she must have been a terrible mother to abandon her children so easily. We then get a Flashback to three years after The Blackout again and it is revealed that Miles was the one who must have persuaded Rachael to hand herself in. Rachael asks Miles if he can promise that she can see her kids again but Miles only silently orders some soldiers to take her away.
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| You really should have just killed her then Miles |
It was quite the surprise in this episode that we got the death of a character so early in the series and I admit I didn't see that one coming. With the death of Maggie it kind of shows that this series does not mind the killing of major characters though it probably won't be in the same league of Game of Thrones. However even though Revolution already has established that it has a very serious overall tone I kind of felt that it might have been too early to kill off a character. We barely got to know Maggie that much so the audience probably hasn't got that much of an emotional attachment to her at this point for it to be that much of a blow.
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| At least she got to see a lot of the countryside |
However I got to say that Maggie's death was done well and I am glad that the majority of the episode was given over to her past. It was a really tragic and sad back story and I think the music along with her explaining her plight during the Flashback was a nice touch. It adds to how much The Blackout affected the world because millions of people where probably separated from each other and have never known each other fate. Also I think her death will have an affect on Miles because he did say that he was not going to leave at the end.
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| Live or dies Charlie, its your choice |
Another good thing was that the plot with Danny and Tom was a lot better than it was last episode because we get to learn a little bit more about Tom as well. Sure he is still as manipulative as ever when he convinced Danny to free him but he find out he has a family as well; so he isn't just in the Militia for the killing like Strausser, in his own (maybe more violent) way he just wants a better life for them. Also arrogance must run in the Matheson family because Tom was right in saying that Danny probably barely knew just how harsh it must have been just after The Blackout, so he can't judge Tom if he had to kill people to survive during those times.
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| These will always be the same, Blackout or no Blackout |
A few let downs in the episode was of course Rachael and that is because I really do not understand why she left her family in the first place. It is obvious that she never told Miles or Monroe anything during her 12 years in their captivity or else Monroe wouldn't have ordered Tom to get Ben in the first place. I'm going to say it's because of her stupid high and mighty attitude that she never told her anything, are we really supposed to believe she is that strong of a person that she didn't utter a word in all that time? Also this episode is where I really, really start to hate her damn face, I just hate her annoying facial expressions and half smiles. For example when Strausser comes to torture her with some very sharp knifes all she does is put her hands behind her back and roll her eyes, that is just some bad acting decisions.
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| Never seen Miles actually use a bow in this, probably not his forte |
Something I wished they didn't do in this episode was give Ray a sympathetic back story about his daughter, like they want us to feel sorry for him. I felt like that was just shoved in there so he was given some kind of reason for doing the things he did. I really liked the use of attack dogs because they can't really fight them like humans but I wish their master was just some crazy serial killer, I think that would have been better.
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| Simple but even these little touches is why I like the backgrounds in Revolution |
This was a solid episode with the Maggie subplot being the highlight of it and, as I just mentioned above, I liked the use of attack dogs in it. Overall though it was let down by the annoying Rachael and I didn't care much for how they tired to flesh out Ray's character.
SCORE: 7/10
Thought I'd say I may really hate Rachael buy I am not going to mark down every episode she is in, just the ones I feel that the stupid things she does is something I can't overlook and drags the episode down.
The great screenshots of the episodes where provided by the great site Screencapped. You can look for yourself from the link below;
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