Revolution Season One: Nobody's Fault But Mine

Half way through the series now.

This episode begins with a Flashback five years after The Blackout where Miles, Monroe and their Militia are fighting in the ruins of Trenton, New Jersey in a what would later be known as the Trenton Campaign. Monroe jokes about how they would be forced to use swords soon because ammunition is running out but Miles is hurt. He tells Monroe to leave him but Monroe refuses sayings that if Miles dies he will die with him.


Joking about using sword; you got to love unintentional foreshadowing 

It then changes to the present and the group are moving through the streets of Philadelphia at night and Charlie is still feeling bad because of the knock to the head last episode. Miles manages to get them inside the house of an old friend of his when he was in the Militia and then leaves to group to find out where Danny is. In Impendence Hall Tom tells Monroe that Miles is likely in the city (because they found the body of Wheatley) and suggests he moves to their base in Boston for a while however Monroe refuses to run from Miles. Not long after that Charlie, Aaron and Nora are captured by Tom who guessed this was one of the few places Miles would try to hide them.

"All according to my plan"

Charlie is thrown in to cell away from the others, which her mother is also in as well and of course she is shocked to find her still alive. Rachael tries to explain but Charlie does not want to hear it because they need to escape and find Danny. Meanwhile Tom has Aaron and Nora in a separate place as bait for Miles to try and rescue. Tom also recognizes Aaron from computer magazines before The Blackout and says that even though he was a fan of his work, he is glad that a once millionaire is helpless at the hands of a once faceless paper - pusher.

How the tables have turned

Miles goes back to the house but notices the presence of Militia and instead goes to Tom's house before Tom gets back. He holds his sword to Julia's throat and demands that Aaron and Nora be brought to him, which Tom reluctantly leaves to do. Back in the cells Charlie and Rachael try to escape but are stopped by the arrival of Strausser who brings them to a beaten Danny. Monroe then orders Strausser to shot one of Rachael's children if she doesn't finish the amplifier that Jaffe was working on. Charlie insists that her mom shouldn't finish the amplifier for Monroe and even says to Strausser to kill her but Rachael breaks and says that she will complete it. Tom brings Aaron and Nora to Miles though he insists he cannot bring Charlie or Danny but says that they are being held at an old power plant, Miles then locks Tom and Julia in a closet before leaving.

"This is the first time your meeting me Charlie, you should be honoured"

The next morning Miles, Aaron and Nora make it to the power plant and find that it is heavily guarded, lucky for them Aaron knows where the back service tunnel is and Miles and Nora infiltrate it while Aaron stays outside with a bag of explosives to blow the front gate. In Monroe's office in the plant Baker asks Monroe if he can bring himself to kill Miles and we then have a Flashback two years before The Blackout. Turns out Monroe's parents and little sisters where killed by a drunk driver and Monroe is at their grave contemplating suicide however Miles shows up and convinces him out of it insisting that they are still brothers.

"Don't hog all the booze Bass"

Rachael then manages to complete the amplifier and at that time Charlie and Danny have escaped from their cell and Miles and Nora have gotten inside the plant and of course all hell breaks loose. After leaving Charlie and Danny with Nora, Miles goes after Rachael who has killed Strausser and after a tense reunion with Miles leaves with him. Baker however catches up with them but they both escape then come face to face with Monroe.

Now your using cover Charlie!

Miles tells Rachael to go and confronts Monroe himself and in a Flashback we see that the two of them have been friends since they where kids and that the Monroe 'M' actually stands for both of their names. Monroe asks Miles to re-join saying that it hasn't been the same since he left and that he will forgive him for trying to kill him. However Miles refuses believing that Monroe has gone too far and saying that he is nothing to him now, this enrages Monroe who draws his swords. After a truly epic clash they are interrupted by Baker and some Militia and Monroe orders them to kill Miles but he manages to escape. 

Like some epic boss battle

Outside the Aaron manages to blow the front gate and the group, which is all reunited, escapes from the plant. The episode ends with the group running across a grassy field but slowly turns around and stares at UH-1 'Huey' helicopter, imprinted with the Monroe emblem and equipped with an amplifier, takes off in the distance.

Yep you are all screwed

I guess the hunting for Danny arc is now fully over and the end of this episode indicts that that war between the group and a Monroe Republic with power has truly begun.

Now that was quite the awesome episode and that is that after nine episodes of the group making their way to the heart of the Republic they finally made it and it did not disappoint. I didn't expect it to be all fitted in to one episode, I thought they would spend one episode sneaking around the city but they only did that for barely the first half of the episode and they rest was an epic confrontation at the power plant.

They used this shot in the trailer

The first part with Tom capturing the group was really good however I thought it was resolved a bit too fast because Miles immediately found out about the ambush and threatened Tom's wife who then immediately frees Aaron and Nora. Also because Tom was then locked in a closet he was not part of the big showdown at the plant and that was a shame because I think he could have been great there. Maybe because Tom is one of my favourite characters but I wanted to have seen him involved in the latter half of the episode.

Even if it's powerful that is one ugly amplifier

Next is the action that happened inside of the plant and it was some of the best that Revolution has had so far. We got some awesome gun fighting with Charlie and when Miles and Nora first got in but what was truly a standout was the fight between Miles and Monroe. It has been really hyped of a major confrontation between these two characters and it lived up to it; we had them fighting over that rifle, Monroe dual wielding against Miles. It was all shot brilliantly, none of it looked fake and it was not some over the top, jumping all over the place sword fight. We also got more back story on the two of them and that Miles has refused Monroe's offer to re - join the Republic and I have to say that I side and sympathise more with Monroe. When his family was killed Monroe only had Miles and he just tired to kill him and then abandon him, Miles really has to take responsibly that he has influence Monroe in to who he is now.

You wasted your chance Miles

Finally we got a truly awesome shot of that helicopter at the end, it was really cool how they did it; hearing the blades whirl in the background, the group slowly realizing what it is and the look on their faces when they see a helicopter for the first time in fifteen years. One of the best reaction shots in the entire series, even more than when the light house was turned on.

"I haven't been idle these past fifteen years Miles"

Two things that I wished could have been different, and this first one is small, is that I wish we could have seen just a bit more of Philadelphia. As I mentioned above I didn't expect the infiltration of the city to be done in one episode so we didn't get a chance to see what the people are like there and just how the way of life is at the capital. Secondly (and again) Rachael does ruin parts of this episode for me because I can't believe she is the one to kill Strausser, I wanted him to go out a lot better than that I just hate it when Rachael kills people in the series. Its hard to explain but it just feels wrong and makes me hate her even more; like when she killed someone like Jaffe and I just wish someone like Charlie or Miles killed Strausser because they probably wouldn't have gloated over his corpse like she did.

Baker should defiantly have been in the series a lot more

Overall this is one of the best episodes of the series and a great mid season finale because they went on a break for a couple of months when this was airing.

SCORE: 8/10

Highlights: Miles and Monroe confrontation
                   Showdown at the power plant
                   The shot of the helicopter at the end

Let - Downs: Tom not part of the second half
                      Strausser deserved a better death
                      Didn't see as much of Philadelphia as I would have liked

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/

Revolution Season One: Kashmir

Quite a unique episode!

The episode begins in a Rebel base at West Chester and Miles is being beaten up by some of the Rebels. Turns out the group went to the base in hope of finding some help to infiltrate Philadelphia and even though Nora showed them her tattoo, they are still wary of them because of Miles. However Miles manages to convince them that he is their best chance to assassinate Monroe so they agree to give him a few Rebels to assist them which includes Sargent Joseph Wheatley (Reed Diamond).

Nothing like getting wasted before a big mission

The group then makes it to the outskirts of Philadelphia just outside of an old, abandon subway tunnel that Miles says is like a back entrance to the city. After taking out the guards the group make their way inside however Charlie steps on something buried in the ground which Nora reveals to be a land mine. Meanwhile in Independence Hall Rachael is working on a device and explains to Tom and one of his men that is can amplify the power of a pendant. Apparently the pendant only had a range of 9 - 15 feet and can only power small things but the amplifier boosts its range to half a mile and can power jets and tanks.

Why still have candles when the pendant can power the lights/lamps in your area? Just making a fire hazard

Back in the tunnel Nora manages to free Charlie from the land mine but the explosion after seals the entrance to the tunnel so that the group must move on. Along the way Miles thinks he sees a Militia scout but it turns out to be nothing and Nora even thinks that she is dragged underwater by a alligator. Aaron figures out why Miles and Nora thought they saw what they saw; they where hallucinating! The sealed entrance has cut off their air supply so they are slowly suffocating and seeing things, the group decides to move even faster to the exit now.

Would have been interesting if an alligator was really there lol

Later on the group comes across the exit that Miles was leading them to but it turns out that it has been sealed up. Miles does not know what else they could do but Wheatley insists that they move on and try and find another exit. Aaron also has his own hallucination about his lost wife who insults Aaron by saying why he is this strong for Charlie when he abandoned her when things got tough. He manages to snap out of it but shortly after this Miles has another one and sees a door while hearing Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir".

"I really wish I didn't get so wasted earlier now" 

As Miles steps through the door and ends up in Monroe's office in Independence Hall during the day time and the doors are then closed by a smiling Monroe who embraces Miles. Miles says that this isn't real to which Monroe quickly agrees, saying that he is like the manifestation of Miles's thoughts. We learn that the reason that Miles left the Republic was that he tried to assassinate Monroe but couldn't go through with it and the reason he tired was because Monroe went too far and killed too many innocents. Monroe also reveals Miles's darkest secret that he wants no one else to know; that if Monroe forgave him and let him back in the Republic, Miles would most likely accept. Miles denies this but Monroe merely says that he is in his head and knows what he is thinking however this is soon ended when Charlie snaps Miles out of it.

"If this really is a dream.....then this glass will never run out!"

Eventually the group finds another exit to the tunnels however Wheatley turns out to be a Militia spy and quickly kills all the Rebels who are with them. He then moves Miles through the exit at gunpoint and blocks the door so Charlie, Nora and Aaron can't follow. However they do break free and Charlie kills Wheatley but not before being grazed by a bullet and smacking her head on the concrete. She has a dream where her father is still alive and she is safe back at their home but reluctantly leaves after hearing Miles and says her goodbyes to him. The group then prepares to leave the tunnels having finally made it in to Philadelphia.

Yeah don't take cover Charlie, I'm sure the guy with the gun won't shot back

The episode ends with Monroe bringing in Jaffe to look at Rachael's amplifier and Jaffe examines it and says that it is actually a time bomb. Monroe then says that since Jaffe has decided to cooperate Rachael and Danny will no longer be needed; so Rachael, in desperation, stabs and kills Jaffe so that Monroe will still need her.

I really wished you killed the b***h straight away Monroe

Well this episode was certainly different and that was owing to the fact that there wasn't a single Flashback instead we got hallucinations for most of the major characters. While I really like the Flashbacks I must admit that this was a really nice touch and it still provided some more character insight that the Flashbacks usually provide.

Almost a shame, bet Wheatley could a gotten a big promotion 

The best ones where Mile's hallucination and Charlie's dream, firstly for Miles we finally get the reason why he left the Republic. I thought it was going to be something big but it turns out he couldn't do it and maybe he still won't be able to when they finally have their confrontation because that is what the series is leading to (since its has been shown that they where like brothers). Also Miles will also have to make his choice of staying with the group and re-joining Monroe since the Hallucination - Monroe revealed that Miles is seriously considering going back to the Republic. Ones more thing I know Miles left because Monroe might have crossed some line but Miles really has to take responsibly since, as shown in the episode three Flashbacks, Miles was the one who planted the seeds of the Republic.

"Guarding this old subway tunnel is the easiest job in the world. No one ever comes here"

As for Charlie's, even though it was just a dream, I see it as the closure between her and her father that she never manage to get. It was done really well and it is almost like Charlie is finally ready to move on, or a least has to, from her father's death and focus on the mission a head. Plus we get to see Ben again and as I have said before I really like his character and his actor and I'm glad they find ways of keeping him in the show even though he is dead.

Awwww, I'm kind of touched

Now as for what I didn't like about the episode and you have guessed it; Rachael. I'm sorry but her damn annoying and defiant attitude really gets on my nerves in this episode. I really hate that she killed Jaffe, just mercilessly like that and I don't care if she said she was sorry because I doubt she was. I know she was doing it for Danny but if she really was she could have just cooperated with Monroe from the very beginning and saved herself that last few months of backstabbing. Jaffe was only cooperating with Monroe because Rachael gave her no choice, he was doing it for his daughter but did Rachael care? Hell no! You see I just really don't know what they want to do with her character; is she one of the good guys? No because she kills and betrays everyone, even innocents who do not deserve it, all the writers are doing to her character, in my opinion, is turning her into this extremely unlikable person who has no redeemable traits whatsoever. I truly hate her and her actress, this show would have been pure perfect if it was not for her.

Even if Tom is only in the episode for a few minutes it is still worth it!

As for everything else it made for a great episode; Wheatley's reveal of being a spy and killing the Rebels was another highlight of the episode and Aaron dealing with the hallucination of his wife was interesting to see. Also I liked the group's journey through the subway tunnel with the lack of air because you can really see their desperation and you almost kind of thing one of them might not have made it. Overall a unique episode that made from something different with Miles, Charlie and Aaron struggling with their inner demons but Rachael just really let it down in every scene she was in and I was kind of hoping that Jaffe would have been around for a lot longer.

SCORE: 7/10

Highlights: Miles's hallucination about Monroe
                   Charlie's hallucination about her dad
                   The whole desperation of them being in that tunnel

Let - Downs: Rachael
                      The murder of Jaffe

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/