Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Revolution: Season 1 Episode 11 - The Stand


Welcome back everyone to the Revolution!  It's been a loooooong hiatus for the show.  You would hope that NBC has a plan for keeping the ratings champ alive and well after such a long break.  Bringing it back on the same day as their other big hit THE VOICE, is probably a good idea.  We shall see.  We didn't lose any momentum plotwise though.  Things picked right up where we left off.  While it still felt like the show of old, you can sense some of the retweakings at work.  They had a long time to think about the direction of the show and retool.  Eric Kripke and J.J. Abrams have not been bashful about talking about said tweakings.  I've heard comparisons to Game of Thrones when talking about the political aspect of the show.  I'll believe it when I see it.  But, so far, I'm still enjoying this show and they packed quite an emotional punch in the end while eliminating some dead weight at the same time.  When we last left this show, I believe I was still giving this the full blown "Mike V. Recap Treatment" with pictures, sections for subplots and so and so.  For now, I think I'm going to go to the "Mike V. Breifcap Treatment" with just a list of bullets of observations from the episode and things worth noting.  If you are reading my Walking Dead recaps, it shouldn't be anything new.  Time is short these days, but I still want to have discussions about these shows!  So, let's get to it!

  • So, we picked right back up with the helicopter on our entire reunited band of heroes.  Naturally, they were able to run out of that situation without getting shot.  Instead they made their way to a nearby diner and hid in the freezer while the helicopter fired rockets at the place.  My favorite part of this whole thing is that no one has manned a helicopter in 15 years, yet this guy was flying like he has been doing it blindfolded every day for 20 years.  Maybe it's like riding a bike!
  • We immediately see Elizabeth Mitchell's role in the show increased as Rachel takes charge of the situation.  She feels responsbile for giving Monroe power.  Monroe plans to wipe out the rebels and anyone that stands in his path of coast to coast domination.  He has power, they need power.  She knows someone in the area that has one of those fancy necklaces and some weapons that can take on those choppers.  Miles and Rachel volunteer to make that trip while Nora leads the others to Annapolis.  The main Rebel HQ.
  • We learn a little more about Rachel and Miles's history.  She didn't look too pleased when she saw Nora kissing Miles.  And when Miles apologized for leaving her with Monroe, he looked ready to lock lips with her until Rachel told him to step back.  Kinda disturbing that she may have had a relationship with her husband's brother!  Anyway, Miles said she saw a dead body and it was her and that's why he left.  Perhaps his reason for leaving the militia all together? 
  • Monroe sends Neville to do his dirty work and take out the rebel encampments.  He also says to kill Miles and crew if he runs into them.  He also mentioned he's aware of Neville's weakness when he wouldn't sacrifice his wife to capture Miles.  He didn't make that mistake again when his son asked him to not call an air strike on the rebel base.   He called in slaughter.  These people are defenseless against those choppers and they're just taking them down.  Jason refused to go along with it anymore.  And after a nice fist fight with dad, he was left and disowned.  Naturally, this gave him an opportunity to warn Charlie of the coming attack.
  • The rebels prepared themselves as much as they could but they'd need power to have a fighting chance.  Charlie has a moment with Danny asking him to sit this one out (uh oh).  Danny says that she has to stop looking out for him.  He's part of this fight and wants to fight, yada yada yada. 
  • Miles and Rachel go see Rachel's pal (Joe was it?).  We quickly find out he has been living in a basement with power and assembling lots of fun toys (weapons that is).   Of course, we also find out that he's under the forceful employ of Randall, just like Grace.  He used some sonic gun to knock out Miles and Rachel, apologizing all the while.  Of course, when he wakes up, Miles is able to escape his bindings and take down ol' whats-is-face.  They grabbed some weapons, the power pendant and headed out.
  • The battle begins.  Nora is able to take down one of the shooters in the helicopter but they are seriously outgunned.  Thankfully, Miles and Rachel show up with the goods.  Miles gets knocked down by a rocket blast though when he was getting ready to fire his rocket launcher.  So, Danny makes a bold decision to grab the rocket launcher and take down the helicopter with the amplifier.  BOOM!!!! Of course, the celebration is short lived becase as chopper number 2 loses power and is crashing, the barrel gun starts firing away and fires several shots right into Danny.  Yes, we spent 10 episodes on a mission to rescue this guy, and once we get him back they wrote him off the show!!   Don't get me wrong, Danny has become a catalyst for them to move forward and take down Monroe.  His capture was the cause of assembling this group that we have and his sacrifice will never be forgotten.  But, it is kind of funny that it happened this way.  Funny, yet still emotional.  I may have ALMOST wept a tear when it happened.  I think this is the right move in the long run.  There wasn't going to be much for his character to do.  We only need one whiny Mathesson (which they are forcefully trying to put an end to...the whining...not Charlie!).    So, RIP Danny, and nice shot!
  • We are left with quite the doozy of a cliffhanger.  We thought Randall was coming to town to get to Rachel.  But, no.  He came to offer his services to Monroe.  So, they may have lost their amplifier, but he still has power, and lots of it. 
  • One little piece of mythology on the POWER mystery.  We learned the name of the place where Randall and Grace have been is called "The Tower".  And gaining access to this place seems to spell trouble based on Rachel's reaction to him getting in there.   I think it's pretty clear that whatever caused the blackout, the Tower played a major factor.  We shall see!
And that's all I have for today.  Let me know if I missed anything!  Hopefully, people still are watching the show.  I think it will only get better from here.  Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week!

12 comments:

Mike V. said...

http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/03/26/the-voice-return-ratings-shakira-and-usher-debut-strong/

"The return of Revolution, however, is bit less sunny. After a four-month break, the freshman adventure-drama returned to 7.2 million viewers and a 2.7 rating. That’s down 13 percent from the show’s prior average, yet was still easily enough to win 10 p.m.
"

Well, it's not wonderful, but it's better than other similar shows that returned after a long hiatus.

MJ said...

Just throwing some comments out - will now go read your recap.

And yikes on the ratings. But Monday is now tough with so much sunday to catch up on - at least for me. Still haven't gotten to Once or Revenge.

Revolution: No surprise that Neville's son wants to join the rebels, but I was surprised they killed off Danny. And ewww on Rachael for digging that thing out of him. I really hope they are not going to 'Miles loved Rachael and her faked death is what drove Miles and Monroe apart' thing. I had hoped Bad Miles helped get Rachael taken - explaining her animosity towards Miles. Aaron was funn - he thinks they can just go back to the farm ? Rachael was reminding me of Juliette with all the non-answers by the way. But Kripke is like that at times but he does reveal eventually. Loved how the Fringed their was from West Chester Pa to Annapolis ! LOL

Mike V. said...

OMG...I totally forgot to bring up her digging that thing out of him! Probably the biggest key moment of the episode. lol Good call!

Absolutely...Rachel definitely seemed like Juliet in this episode. She was even wearing a blue shirt! lol

Kripke did say that the answers would be coming quickly. I think I heard that we're going to learn about the blackout like as soon as next week. lol (don't know for sure...but I know it was soon after the return) I guess...the blackout could be just a premise for the first season and what caused the new political landscape. They could potentially return power early in the series...and the rest of the show would be about taking the country/world back. Of course, they lose a lot of the simplicity of a world without power if they do it too quickly. Like they put it...when they find a commodore 64 in this world...it's MAGIC.

So, back to the capsule they removed from Danny. I wonder if that was the precursor to the pendant. I'm guessing the flashback to his surgery is when they put that in him and it supposedly cured him. They saw the potential of this technology they were creating, but of course it became used as a weapon instead.

Yeah, Aaron wanting to go back was pretty funny indeed. As for Miles and Rachel....I'll reserve judgement until I see what they have in store!

Anonymous said...

I think the capsule she dug out of Danny was under power, it certainly was glowing. So, it's probably related to the power somehow.

I'm wondering if the Rachel/Miles thing was an adjustment. It keeps Miles involved with the alpha female.

Danny dieing after the rocket launcher was predictable and closes that chapter as you said.

Randle combining forces with Monroe will be formidable. Makes the rebels job that much more difficult. When Juliette(oops-Rachel) responded to Miles--"would a rocket launcher help"--basiclly, it brought to mind the concept of a arms race.

Was this show on at the 10PM slot last time?

Richard

Mike V. said...

Agree Richard...I think the capsule is related to the power stuff too.

Interesting on the arms race...I'm sure that definitely will be the case with this show in some form.

Yep, the show was always at 10. It's a little too late in my opinion, but that's how they have monday nights set up. The Voice for 2 hours then Revolution. I don't know why I have such a hard time staying awake these days! I think even if my son wasn't sick, I would've fallen asleep watching it! lol

mj said...

Kripkes MO with supernatural after first year was a different large threat a season so u could be right about the no power being fixed in s1 finale and s2 having another arc.

Leslie said...

Charlie did seem to be making fewer weird faces this episode! John was Rachel's friend. I don't know if it will be important, but Neville reported to Monroe that his son was dead. What was that capsule supposed to cure Danny of? Did I miss that?

Mike V. said...

@Leslie - I think in another flashback we see Charlie helping Danny through an Asthma attack. So, maybe it was his asthma? But, I definitely think the technology in that capsule was a precursor to the technology in the pendants and whatever shut the power off.

I think Neville was pretty much saying his son was dead "to him"...but yeah, Monroe doesn't know that so it could have reprecussions!

As far as Charlie...i was going to put in the recap that she definitely was doing less of Joey Tribbiani's "Smell the fart" acting...but I couldn't find a good clip of it on Youtube where he explains what that is...so I nixed it! lol

Leslie said...

Mike - yeah, I saw Danny with the asthma, but didn't know if I missed something there.

That's what I meant about Neville telling Monroe. Could come up if Jason is helping Charlie and the gang.

LOL on smell the fart acting! I always think of one of your comments last year that she looked constipated! Noticed you got a yada, yada in there, too! lol

Mike V. said...

Naaa, I don't think you missed anything. There could be more flashbacks coming. Or if Rachel explains why the power went out, then that might be part of the story. Or just the fact that she has that capsule probably requires her to explain where she got it and what it's for.

Absolutely on the Jason/Neville/Monroe stuff. I agree!

Yep, constipated...she definitely still has a hint of it. I think "smell the fart" acting kind of falls int he same category! lol :) As for the yada yada yada...yeah, I definitely think of Seinfeld every time I type it, but I really was just too lazy to explain whatever I was typing about! LOL

Anonymous said...

Yes, I think Monroe is going to find out Neville's son is not dead and there will be some friction.

Also, Monroe needs Randle, since the tech he had for power was destroyed in the heli.

Richard

MJ said...

LOl on the fart acting.