Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Revolution: Season 1 Episode 9 - Kashmir



Hello Revolutionaries!  Welcome back to our weekly coverage of the little show with a big concept that could.  I still feel that the show is on an upward trajectory with each episode.  Things are getting intense the closer they get to resolving this "Danny Rescue" conflict.  Of course, I'm going to have to give us all a lesson on the Philadelphia suburbs and the SEPTA transit system to clear up any misgivings that the show provided!  But, that aside, this was another solid outing.  Let's dive in!



This was indeed the "Led Zeppelin" episode where they featured 2 songs from the legendary rock band.  Apparently, showrunner Eric Kripke is a ridiculously huge fan of the band so he was thrilled that he got to use their music.   As for any other reason for Kashmir being the name of the episode, other than being the name of a Zeppelin song, well that's up for debate.  There certainly is the Casimir effect that gets into all that fun sciencey talk.  But, I'm not here to educate you in science (wasn't really my best class in school even though it totally intrigued me!).  So, let's just get to the recap.

RECAP
Philadelphia Infiltration (Team Miles/Charlie)

So we find our friends 20 miles outside of Philly in West Chester (Don't worry I can vouch for that estimation of mileage).  There is a rebel base where our 4 heroes currently are planted.  Miles is being beaten for being a former tyrannical general of an all encompassing militia, no big deal.  He came out of the interrogation saying "I feel terrible....." and then "They didn't even ask me any questions."   Okay they really didn't.  But, we didn't see any questions asked and Charlie said "you LOOK terrible".   So, obviously this is Empire Strikes Back in reverse, right?   That's a stretch I know, but the whole Garbage Compactor scene reenactment later isn't! 


Long story short, Miles sways the Colonel and Sargent of the rebels to help them infiltrate Philadelphia, get to Monroe and rescue Danny.  We get to meet this Sargent guy and Ashley (basically Katniss with a bow and arrow.  Seemed even more accurate than Charlie.)  And they all embark on a 20 mile underground train tunnel walk to Philadelphia.  Now, maybe I missed something where they traveled further towards the city to get to where the SEPTA Trains go underground.   But most of the trains heading to Philly are above ground until you get to the 2 or 3 stops in Center City.   There is a Girard Subway stop on the Broad Street line but I don't think you can wak to it from West Chester!  Plus, it runs north and south through the city and West Chester is, unsurprisingly, "WEST" of the City.  But, whatever...lecture over!  But, whatever.  24 was filmed in Los Angeles and couldn't even reflect accurate traffic of the crazy city!  


So anyway, here are some things that went down. 
  • Lots of bonding took place on the route to Philly.  Miles was nervous about coming face to face with Monroe.  Charlie investigates why but is convinced that things will work out as Miles always finds a way.  
  • There was an encounter with a land mine that Charlie of course stepped on.  I'm sure there was lots of cheering out there for her character to blow up.  But, I found it funnier when Norah told Charlie not to move.  I wish she said "Don't move a muscle in your face!" because I definitely would have known that wouldn't be a problem!  24/7 constipation look is still going strong.  (Although, I will say she is improving or I'm just getting used to her.) 
  • Norah is able to delay the mine or dismantle one of them and give them enough time to run away.  It was nice to see that the 3 rallied around Charlie and refused to move on without her.  Naturally, it's not logical but on a show like this you know they won't blow up ALL of their main characters in one fell swoop!  Would've been pretty funny if they did though.  


  • So when the mine blew up in created a cave in that started cutting off everyone's oxygen.  They all started hallucinating which allowed for us to see the inner thoughts of our characters out in the open.  Neat tactic, but I'm not sure how realistic it is that one cave in in an underground subway system will cut off air.   Of course, the militia did close up a lot of the exits.  (The Girard exit was supposed to be open but it was sealed off as well).   Anyway, we'll go with it! 
  • Aaron started seeing his wife.  And we learned that he is mad at himself for being so strong for Charlie and being brave on this quest.  But, he couldn't be brave for his wife.  He fears that his wife hates him because he was a coward and probably would hate him more if she knew about his braveness of others.  And of course this translates to him thinking she probably things he never loved her.  

  • Norah reenacted the garbage chute scene from Star Wars, minus the garbage chute and minus the actual creature that pulled Luke into the garbage swamp.  But, Norah hallucinated that she was seeing an alligator that bit her leg and took her under.  Quite an imagination!   (Guess I forget to mention that part of the subway system was flooded and they were walking through it).  

  • Miles had the craziest imagination where he saw himself facing his largest fear and having a reunion with Monroe (set to the wonderful sounds of "Kashmir").  Miles is basically worried that Monroe will make him an offer that he can't refuse.  To rejoin the militia and sell out his friends in the process. 

  • When they reached an exit, the Sargent turned on them and started shooting people left and right.  He was under deep cover for the militia for 2 years, but broke his cover to bring Miles in to Monroe.  Ashley couldn't get her amazing arrow shot off but Charlie did.  She took out the Sargent but got shot in the process.  A bullet grazed her head, but combined with the lack of oxygen she went all Harry Potter on us.  She had a crazy hallucination/dream of meeting her father in a place where she didn't feel any pain and felt very welcoming.  She didn't really want to leave and neither did her father.  He felt very alone.  But, outside of this dream we had Miles begging for her to wake up and promising to rescue Danny.  Inside the dream, Charlie realized that MILES was real and this hallucination, while tempting to stay in forever, was fake.   She hugs her Dad and tells her that she misses him and then wakes up.  






  • YAY, everyone survived!  Okay, well that's the funny part of this story.  Our 4 heroes survived, but the 10 other people that went on the trip all died.  Quite convenient!   
Anyway, welcome to Philadelphia everyone!  If they're near Girard on Broad Street, then they're about 2 miles from Independence Hall.  They're planning to run right into a Militia Trap as they rise out of the darkness and to the surface.  But, we'll have to wait until next week to see that go down! 




Philadelphia Exploitation (Rachel/Monroe)

Meanwhile, we find Rachel working with a power drill to the sounds of Led Zeppelin to create some crazy device.  All of this able to be done with the power of the pendant.  


  • Rachel explains to Major Tom (I wonder when Ground Control is going to try and reach Major Tom?  Awful joke I know, and I can't believe I didn't think of it until now after his promotion to Major!) and Captain Burke (Reference to "Juliet Burke" perhaps?) what she is working on.  She claims that it is an amplifier to increase the power of the pendant to a half mile radius.  Without an amplifier it only works for 9 feet.  

  • Apparently Neville suspects foul play here and rats Rachel out to Monroe.  Monroe doesn't like being played with so he brings Rachel's friend Dr. Jaffe to examine her work of art.  He immediately knows that Rachel was working on a bomb that would specifically blow up when Monroe was in the vicinity and she wan't.  Crafty Mrs. Mathesson! ]


  • Monroe is furious and is THROUGH with Rachel.  She is being taken away but we are assumed she will be killed.  Monroe doesn't need her anymore since he has Jaffe to work on his amplifier. So, I guess we should be shocked but not upset with Rachel when she takes a knife and stabs Jaffe to death with a screwdriver.  If we've learned anything about Rachel through flashbacks, she's a survivor!  Still, definitely was shocking.  She did express regret as she was taking the life away from her old friend.  Of course, then she turned stone cold when she met eyes with Mornoe and said, "Now, you need me."   YIKES!! 



Things are getting crazy in Revolution Land!  Very exciting too.  Always exciting when story lines are about to meet up.  We're seeing the same thing happen on The Walking Dead.  Guess, it must be November!  (Gotta love the Sweeps Episodes!)   Anyway, let's discuss some interesting things learned in the episode. 


INTERESTING TIDBITS
  • Apparently, Philadelphia is now surrounded by 30 foot walls armed with machine guns.  Hard to imagine some crazy Great Wall of Philadelphia being built.  I'm sure they'll never show us this wall either.  Or, if we do, it will be up really close.  I guess at some point they're going to have to ESCAPE from Philly! 
  • We learned that Miles left the militia because he attempted to assassinate his best friend Monroe.  In his thoughts, we learned that Miles thought things went too far and he had enough of it.  So, the man did always have a heart! Monroe must've gone on his power trip and Miles felt he needed to end it for the good of mankind.  But, I'm sure we'll see more flashbacks into that conflict. 
  • Interesting information learned with the pendant.  We still don't know how it's turned on and off, but the 9 foot radius is interesting.  And needing an amplifier to power Monroe's Tanks and Helicopters was a nice touch.  But a Half Mile Radius?  Is that going to be enough for Helicopters and Jets?   Maybe Choppers just keeping an eye out from above.  But, I foresee some choppers going up and accidentally out of the radius and crashing.  Actually, that could be pretty fun.   
  • I also wonder if that giant crazy CERN looking thing that Randall and Grace were standing in was a giant AMPLIFIER that powers things larger than a half mile.  Or it could be just the machine that is keeping power drained for the rest of the world.  
Anyway, that's all I have for today!  Looking forward to more Revolution next week!  11/26 will be the last episode of the year, and then I believe we're on hiatus until March.  Though, IMDB has an episode listed on January 7th, I don't think that is accurate.  It will be interesting to see if the viewers come back to this one after a long break.  Fringe is on a little bit of a break too but we do have a Walking Dead episode next Sunday, so I'll be covering that as well.  Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week! 

9 comments:

Leslie said...

Nothing really to add, but with the 9 foot radius, how did the pendant turn on the lighthouse?

Major Tom and Ground Control! Good one! lol

MJ said...

Wasn't it supposed to take them weeks to get to philly cause they had to go way west to get to a bridge or something ? LOL - just making fun! LOL on Katniss with Bow and Arrow. I should have known the Sarge would be a double crosser. I'll say no more (since you might one day watch the Shield) that this actor is often that guy. LOL. But I knew you'd mention the 'underground subway' that doesn't exist at that part in Pennsy - I said the same thing. Did someone call Monroe Madison? Is his name Madison Monroe? And LOL on Ground Control ! You still have Bowie on the brain. I was shocked Rachael shot that guy though ! Damn !

MJ said...

I think they were in the light house - but then why did it shut off ?? They were still in the radius !!

Mike V. said...

@Leslie - Wasn't Aaron IN the lighthouse? Pretty sure he was.

And thanks lol.

@MJ - Hmmm...I can't exactly remember but didn't they find out of another way across? Plus they jumped into those rapids so that may be the way they crossed in the end. lol Well, I think you may have said enough on THAT GUY for me to know something about The Shield! I did watch some of season 1 of that show, so maybe I even saw that (if he was in season 1. lol) Nice on the "subway" lol Rachel did call Monroe by his first name, but I forget what he said. Surely his name isn't Madison Monroe! lol Definitely had Bowie on the brain after FRINGE. :)

Rachel didn't shoot him, stabbed him with a screwdriver! Oh well, end result is the same! :) lol

Corey said...

@Mike It's funny you should mention not being so annoyed by Charlie this ep...I was feeling same way. Maybe there's hope after all.

Great "twist" at the end with Rachel killing the guy to stay needed. I was envisioning some dragged out bit with her worrying about being executed then having to devise some escape plan. This is much better! It moves things right along and shows her survival instinct. Makes sense for what we've seen of her character.

MJ said...

Well - he was in the very first ep of the Shield - he was killed by Mackey which told us all that it was not your run of the mill show. It was Breaking bad and Justified before those types of shows existed.

Don't know why I said shot ! LOL

Mike V. said...

RIIIIIGHT! I actually do remember that. lol

Anonymous said...

As far as the lighthouse, among other things, I don't think our 4 know how to turn it on or off.

Richard

Mike V. said...

Richard, they don't. But I think the question was based on knowing about the 8 foot radius or something like that how was it able to power the lighthouse. My thought was that he was in the lighthouse.

Working on last nights recap now!