Back with episode five!
This episode opens up in Noblesville, Indiana and Tom and his men are doing some bare knuckled fighting in an old bank. Tom has just beaten one of them and then asks Danny, who was watching, if he wants to go a round. Danny refuses at first but Tom lands a few hits on his face and then he fights back. Though Danny manages to punch Tom in the face he is quickly and severely beaten by Tom, who has a Flashback to the day of The Blackout. Turns out Tom was a meek insurance adjustor at some big company and has just been fired by his boss for actually trying to help people.
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| "The first rule of our fight club Danny, is that you don't talk about our fight club" |
Meanwhile Charlie's group have just buried Maggie and Miles insists that they move on even though it has barely been a couple of hours. Reluctantly the rest of the group moves on with Miles and they make it to the edge of Noblesville where they find out that Tom is ordering the engineers of the town to fix an old steam train so it is ready to go to Philadelphia in the morning. Nora is worried about this because it would mean a huge advantage for Monroe over the Rebels if he has a working train. Meanwhile in Philadelphia Monroe says to Rachael that her son will be with her soon and that she will tell her everything.
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| Next stop; Philadelphia |
Back with the group they have decided to use an abandoned garage on the outskirts if town for a base and, after leaving Aaron to guard Nate, Miles tells Nora and Charlie to leave their weapons and try and find information on Danny's whereabouts without attracting attention. At the bank Tom tries to start a conversation with Danny but he is not interested, probably because of the beating he gave him. Tom has another Flashback to a couple hours before The Blackout and he has just arrived home and his neighbour Rob is throwing a loud party and even though Tom tries to ask him politely to turn the music down Rob doesn't care. Tom his then greeted by his wife Julia (Kim Raver) and his son Jason and Tom decides to have a go on his punching bag before dinner, just when he his showing his son how to punch the power goes out.
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| Not a power outage but the first day of your new life Tom |
In the present Nora recruits the aid of a Rebel in the town named Ken 'Hutch' Hutchinson (Jeff Fahey) to help blow up the train. Hutch tells her he is only Rebel left in Noblesville after the rest, including his wife, where killed by Militia but Nora is still determined to blow the train. Meanwhile Charlie manages to find Tom and, in a rash move follows him, but is quickly found out by Tom who demands to know who she is. Miles then arrives on the scene to rescue Charlie but after a brief fight with Tom decides to flee because of the arrival of more soldiers. Back at the garage Aaron almost loses the pendant to Nate but then Nora arrives with Hutch and tells him of their plan to blow up the train. Aaron tries to talk her out of it because Danny could be on it but Nora insists that the train must be destroyed.
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| Miles Matheson vs. Tom Neville |
Even though they escaped from the Militia Miles is furious with Charlie for allowing herself to be caught and letting Tom know they are here. Charlie is sorry but wonders why her uncle is like this because he was more fun with her when she was a kid before The Blackout but Miles tells her that person is dead. After his fight with Miles, Tom decided to move Danny out of the bank vault and then has another Flashback to six weeks after The Blackout and Tom and his family are still holed up in their house. Julia insists that they try and get out of the city but Tom is hesitant because of the amount of looters who are out there, they then hear a crash down stairs. When Tom investigates he finds Rob trying to steal food from them, Rob then tries to choke him but then Tom, after looking at his son, suddenly snaps and beats Rob to death.
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| Six weeks holed in their house with only a golf club to protect them? I'm surprised they weren't raided sooner |
In the present Nora constructs a bomb inside a hollow log and places it with the train logs so it will explode when it is thrown into the fire. Back at the garage Aaron tells Miles and Charlie about Nora's plan to blow up the train so they have to rescue Danny fast, they try to persuade Nate to tell them where he is but he ends up escaping. In Philadelphia Monroe is going over a new map of America with his Colonel, John Faber and it is reported that the Georgia Federation has made an alliance with the Plain's Nation and are massing troops on the Republic's borders. Faber believes they are taking advantage of their Rebel problems and Monroe says that if he had one Blackhawk helicopter they would all kneel and bow before him.
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| They really should have kept him in the cage, especially since he can parkour his way out |
Miles and the rest finally realize that the bank must be the only place the secure someone but they are too late, worse they hear the whistle of the departing train. Outside Nora has second thoughts about blowing up the train when she sees Danny on it but is stabbed by Hutch before she can do anything however she manages to tell Miles and the rest about the bomb. Miles and Charlie race towards the train on horses; Miles goes after the bomb while Charlie tries to find Danny. Miles succeeds in throwing the bomb off the train but Charlie fails to get Danny when she is thrown off by Nate, Miles has no choice but to jump off after her.
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| Kind of like high jacking trains in the Old West |
Sometime later Miles tries to reassure Charlie but she doesn't want to hear it, probably frustrated with the lack of success, she insists they move on since they now have to infiltrate the heart of the Republic. She moves on ahead through the woods and Miles, Aaron and a still injured Nora follows her. In Philadelphia Julia greets Tom at the train station and Nate who turns out to be their son Jason, in a Flashback just after Tom kills Rob, the family is finally leaving the house. Jason is scared but a now hardened Tom hands him a large knife, tells him he will teach him how to use a gun and that they can never be sacred ever again. The episode ends with Rachael getting a glimpse of Danny and finally promises Monroe she will tell him everything; she starts by telling him that Ben was in charge of the project, quickly draws a pendant and says that turning on the powers starts with twelve of these.
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| I admit that, that is one damn good quick sketch |
It seems that with this episode the subplot with Tom leading Danny to Philadelphia is finally over and it opens the way for other things now.
This episode was another character centred one and this time it was focused on the origins of Tom Neville and because of that this has been one of my favourite episodes so far. The Blackout has changed the lives of everyone on Earth but it was changed for the better for Tom; before this I wouldn't have believed that Tom was so mild mannered, weak willed and polite, it seems The Blackout was the best thing for him. It seems he used to have a lot of pent up anger in his old life from the way he punched the bag until he was in tears and this new world as given him the opportunity to vent it out on people who can't take it.
We also get to see Tom's wife and even though it was only a quick glimpse I can tell that is probably just as strong willed and manipulative as he is. Nate has also been revealed as Tom's son and it seems that he did train him as he promised and trusts him to spy all by himself, though with the looks he was giving him and that he refused to hand Charlie over makes me think that Tom isn't completely satisfied with his son yet.
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| "You better not throw that girl off this train boy" |
We also get another setting inside a town and I really like when it is because as I said in previous reviews the sets and backgrounds is a real draw for me in Revolution, especially the towns and how the people are living in it. Noblesville seems a lot more prosperous than the ones we have seen so far and it has its own steam train so I wonder if we will see it again. At least this also confirms that humanity still has some level of technology available to them even if it is something as simple as steam power. We also get a small glimpse of Philadelphia and as expect for the capital of the Republic it does seem rather busy and more fortified, I hope we see more of it.
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| Operation Snake Eater! |
Since Tom's group and Charlie's where both in the same town it was basically one massive plot instead of the episode shifting from many others however we did get a small one with Nora and Hutch the last Rebel in Noblesville. Like episode three they are really trying to sell how superior the Militia is to the Rebels and I wonder if they will ever get a break. Also I wonder if Nora's choice of saving the train in the end will come back to haunt her because, like she said, Tom and many other high ranking officials where on there and they could have blown them all up. Plus I would like to point out, how does the structure in the Rebels work anyway? Can Nora have this leave of absence to find Danny and re-join any Rebel group she comes across?
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| With no video games, internet and TV people should be thankful they can still print books |
Not much else to say about this episode except that it looks like Rachael has finally given in to Monroe because of her son (the extent of how far she goes in in future eps and you will hate her for it) and it looks like Monroe will have access to power soon. He said he could wipe out all of his enemies with just one Blackhawk helicopter so maybe that is what he will get first but it looks like he needs to go on a pendant hunt first.
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| If only you realised what is was you had in your hand at the time Nate |
Overall I really liked that this episode focused once again on another character and hopefully we will get more as well; we still got Nora and Aaron left. I really enjoyed Miles and Charlie's infiltration of the train and them riding horses to get to it and I also liked the character of Hutch (played by Jeff Fahey, a great actor who I have seen in other roles) and it is a shame he is not seen again. We also get a quick look at the other Nations and Governments and I am dying to find out more about them. Like I said earlier this is definitely my favourite episode since the Pilot.
SCORE: 10/10
Highlights: Tom's backstory revealed
Miles and Tom's confrontation
The action on board the train
Let - Downs: Last appearance of Hutch
The great screenshots of the episodes where provided by the great site Screencapped. You can look for yourself from the link below;
