Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Revolution: Season 1 Episode 10 - Nobody's Fault But Mine


Hello Revolutionaries!  Well, they certainly left us on a cliffhanger for this "Mid-Season Finale" didn't they?  Will it be enough to bring us back in March?  Maybe.  I was more excited by the previews for the 2nd half of the season than the cliffhanger.  But, this episode was definitely a nice payoff for everything that was building in the 1st half of the season.  Lots of nice character building with our rivals Miles and Monroe and some good action sequences.  And of course, a few more "subtle" Star Wars references to mention.  Let's get into it!


Okay, I've been busy in the mornings lately so the recaps have been taking a hit.  So, we're going to go for the Short Short version today!  ("Do you?"  "Yes"  "Do you?" "Yes"  "Good you're married, now kiss her!") 

Flashbacks (Miles and Monroe)  

We got a look into what makes Miles and Monroe's relationship so deep and complex.  They've been friends since childhood.  They served in the military together.  Months into the blackout, they were fighting together joking about having to take up sword fighting because the ammunition is running low.  But, there were 2 real kickers.


  • We find out that 2 years before the blackout that his parents and little sister were all killed by a drunk driver on the way to see a Harry Potter movie.  Meanwhile, he did 2 stints in Iraq and never was injured.  Monroe was going to have a few drinks and shoot himself at the grave site.  But Miles talked of their friendship and that he's nothing without Monroe.  This bond had lasted over the years. 
  • Weird note:  There were recently dug 4 graves.  Did I miss a 4th person being mentioned in the accident?   I doubt the drunk driver would have been buried with them!

  • We also learned where the Militia tattoo came from (Maybe not as complex as Jack's tattoo but definitely took a shorter amount of episode time!).  The 2 M's stood for Monroe and Mathesson.  Whew...mind blown!

The Battle of Philadelphia
So lots of action going on here, switcheroos and reunions galore.  Miles contacts a friend for safekeeping all the while knowing that Major Tom would find them.  So, he sneaks out and grabs Tom's wife Julia while the rest of his friends get captured.  Charlie is brought to Rachel and makes the same face she's been making all season when she finds out Rachel is alive (don't worry, we see a new facial expression at the end of the episode!).   They are brought to Danny.  Everyone is all smiles even though Danny had a few shots to the face (probably due to Rachel's killing of Jaffe).   Rachel is persuaded to work on the amplifier due to Monroe having seen the end of The Dark Knight.  He had Strausser threaten to kill one of her kids, to which Charlie volunteers. (protesting the creation of the amplifier and willing to sacrifice herself)  Rachel cannot stand the stress and agrees to work on it.  






Danny and Charlie break free of their prison cell and Charlie gets a nice fancy machine gun.  She shoots a few people and Luke and Leia work on their escape from the Death Star.  But, not before they rescue their mother.  They run into Miles.  Miles is shocked that Rachel is still alive.  When he runs into Rachel he gets a nice slap in the face.  (history there? You bet.  But, he also was the former Militia Head, so she doesn't know of his turn to helping his family.)    Did I mention Aaron has Norah's Macgyver bomb to blow a hole in the wall at the Power Plant?  (I wonder if this was supposed to be a PECO plant.)  




Forgot to mention the almost rape scene with Strausser and Rachel.  Long story short, Rachel killed the dude!  Now he is freed up for Justified again!


It all builds up to the inevitable meet up of Monroe and Miles.  Monroe has his militia which Miles naturally takes out.  Then they are forced to face each other which Miles has dreaded this whole time.  Monroe makes the offer to forgive everything and have Miles join him by his side again.  Just when you think he's going to accept the offer to free his friends, he tells Monroe he is not the man he knew anymore.  Fist fight starts, then the lightsabers come out!   Of course, LOST's Jacob (keep forgetting his name on this show) has been around this whole time too and offered to take out Miles earlier since Monroe's feelings are conflicted.  He came in the middle of their fight and tried to take out Miles with a gun.  Miles escapes.








Aaron blows the wall and Rachel, Charlie, Norah and Danny all run out of it.   Charlie just stands there waiting and hoping for Miles to come.  And, of course, he does!  Best line of the night goes to him when he tells Charlie to, "Run, you idiot!"   But, Charlie's smile was the biggest expression she has made all season.  I'd say it was almost earned at this point!   (She also made a mention early in the episode that it was a long trip and she grew along the way)






So our entire band of heroes have escaped the power plant, but not so fast!  Monroe climbs to the roof to oversee his new power.  One of his choppers, powered by the amplifier is in the air and ready to take on prey.  We see the gun start revving up and BOOM....REVOLUTION!!!  (doesn't have the same ring to it, does it?) 








That's where we head into this hiatus.  A gun is about to fire on our heroes and come on, we know they're going to run and avoid it somehow!  But, the turning point in the show here is that Monroe now has power and a fleet of helicopters.  (we saw them escorting one of the choppers earlier in the season when Miles and Charlie freed Norah)  It's a game changer that we knew was coming.  And now our heroes will have new threats to face and will have to make some discoveries of their own.   Overall, I'd say this half season built very nicely and definitely has me interested for its return in March.  We'll see if anyone else comes back too! 

Oh, and the Star Wars references?  Sure I made a couple references above, but the biggest one was early in the episode when they told Miles to "be careful" and he said something like, "Hey, it's me!"  It was paraphrased but the same kind of line was used in Return of the Jedi when Han (recently freed from Carbon freeze) and Chewie went to take out some Biker Scouts.    I know, that line has been in lots of stuff, but knowing these guys are huge Star Wars buffs and the fact that Miles was modeled after Captain Solo, it fits!

Also, when the amplifier was powered up, was it be or did it sound like the Carbon Freezing Chamber in Empire Strikes Back?  I may hear what I want to hear, but I'm sure I wasn't the only one!

Anyway, that's it for now.  We'll be back in March, or whenever the show returns.  In the meantime, tune into our Final Fringe recaps, Walking Dead Recaps and our weekly discussion posts for all other shows!  Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next year!

17 comments:

MJ said...

haven't watched show yet but read the return date is 3/25

Mike V. said...

Wow..that's later than I thought! Thanks for the heads up!

Mike V. said...

Interview with Kripke: http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/11/27/revolution-finale-interview/

Mike V. said...

Forgot to discuss in the recap about Monroe's talks of war with Georgia. That seems like it could be a bigger conflict in the works for the 2nd half of the season, or maybe even next season (should there be one). I just get the feeling that this whole Band of Rebels vs. the Militia is a season 1 thing, then somehow they're on the same side fighting a larger foe. But, I could be totally wrong there.

Leslie said...

Yeah, I was glad to finally get the backstory on the relationship between Monroe and Miles. Now I want to know more about the Miles/Rachel story considering that slap. Pretty cool that Rachel took out that Strausser guy considering he was such a scary guy according to Miles. I didn’t notice 4 graves; they only mentioned 3 people dying.

BOOM….Revolution. Nope, just doesn’t cut it! lol

Anonymous said...

The first Harry Potter movie came out in 2001 & the blackout was supposed to happen 15 years ago on Revolution. The flashback scene where we find out about Monroe's sister takes place 2 years prior to the blackout, so essentially 17 years ago. Are we supposed to assume then that it's the year 2018(at the earliest) currently on the show, because we don't know which Harry Potter movie Monroe is talking about.

Mike V. said...

The present day of the show is actually 15 years into the future. The blackout happened in 2012 or the near future. And Harry potter movies were being releases as late as 2011. So I think the math works! :)

Mike V. said...

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8670609/alan-sepinwall-origins-lost

Gonna post this everywhere. This is chapter about LOST from the book I'm reading right now. It's good stuff!

Mike V. said...

Correction. Just an excerpt of the chapter in that link. I do recommend the book though!

PJ Carz said...

If you called the guy anything other than Jacob from Lost or Jacobfer, I wouldn't know who you were talking about. Love that actor.

Mike V. said...

LOL, nice PJ. I totally agree. I could learn his name, I just don't want to! :)

Anonymous said...

Mike V...thanks for clarifying. I didn't realize that & then also found it on the revolution wikia page about Monroe with dates, etc. http://revolution.wikia.com/wiki/Sebastian_Monroe
Thanks again.

Mike V. said...

No problem! That's what I do:) lol. Thanks for the link!

MJ said...

Loved them laughing at having to use swords to fight ! Wasn't surprised how deep their friendship was but glad they showed it. if we had any doubt that Tom's wife is the one with the ba**s in the family that's been cleared up for us. Yay Strausser is dead ! Miles face was classic when he heard that Rachael was alive - like 'oh s**t'! I know alot was going on but you'd think that Tom would have been thrilled to have 'the google guy' and have sent word to Monroe right away - cause ya know, he'd be handy to have with all the electronics that will soon be working. Just saying ! Thought it was very sweet that Charlie waited and waited for Miles to come out - and his 'run you idiot' made me laugh. Loved the scene with Miles and Bass - very tense and emotional. Very Kripke really, the bros Wincheaster have alot of these.

I love Mark Pelligrino (the actors name who played Jacob) - wish they used him more.

MJ said...

Oops - meant to add that I think the Rachael/Miles thing will be around her getting taken by the militia - I think Miles orchestrated it or at least told Bass to take her.

Ok - going to read the Kripke interview - thanks for that Mike.

Mike V. said...

No problem for the link. That actually suggested there might be a "secret history" between Miles and Rachel. So, we'll see what that's all about!

Good point that they should've tried to keep the "google guy" around!

I totally know Jacob's "ACTOR" name...just not his name on this show! lol But yeah, I'm a big fan of his work too. Of course, I can't speak for his work on Supernatural. But Dexter and LOST? You bet. There are other guest spots I've seen him in too.

MJ said...

Oh - the character name! LOL I don't know that either.