Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Revolution: Season 1 Episode 19 - Children of Men


Hello everyone and welcome back to the Revolution!  Definitely an enjoyable penultimate episode to the season finale.  Lots of action, some interesting reveals, good conflict.  All you could ask for out of the TV show.  You can kind of see hints of where season 2 is headed, but we still have 1 episode to go.    Let's dive into our quick recap!

  • So, we left off last week with Rachel arming a grenade in Monroe's tent.  I don't think any of us were surprised by turning 5 seconds into a super slow minute of last "second" heroics.  Everyone lives, yay!  But, that just resulted in taking Rachel to the tower to try out her hand print.  Rachel kept playing dumb about her knowledge of the tower as she does so well.  
  • Of course, when Rachel's handprint worked, it led to Randall and Monroe questioning her on everything.  But, she was truly shocked that she was able to get access.  Randall assumed Grace was free of her constraints.  (turns out it he was sort of right)  
  • Randall had enough time to explain what the Tower can do before meeting their new adversaries.   They can spy on the world, attack the world, you name it.  But, most of the power and secrets of the tower are on level 12, which is what Randall has been trying to get to for years.   We also saw screenshots of how the blackout affected the rest of the world.  It looked like the Tower Bridge in London was in shambles, but the Eiffel Tower looked okay.  
  • Meanwhile, the rest of our heroes are outside trying to get in.  Aaron got found by Neville and then brought to Miles.  Miles was all kinda of annoyed with Miles for letting Rachel go blow herself up.  But, they were aware that she's still alive and in the tower.  
  • We saw a hint of jealousy in Norah when Tom asked Miles if he was "sweet on that girl" meaning Rachel.  
  • Flashbacks revealed how deep Ben and Rachel were in causing the blackout and even working on the operation to invade Afghanistan from the tower (I think that was what it was, right?  It's been a few eps and I know I misheard it the first time!).   Rachel fought hard against it and ultimately gave in to her husband.  But, it took a toll on their marriage and she was talking of spending time apart.  Not sure if they were trying to indicate a timeline of when she was with Miles.  That doesn't make sense though since their affair was years before the blackout.  Of course, we do know that Rachel leaves her family AFTER the blackout so maybe it was a nod to that.  
  • In the Tower, the Level 12ers (for lack of a better term), led by 24's Aaron Pierce (or Landry's Dad from the sub-par season 2 of Friday Night Lights), use their sonic non-electro-magnetic steam powered guns to attack Monroe's Militia.  I'm pretty sure they eliminate everyone except Monroe and Rachel (this includes Randall).  But, it all happened so quickly, I may have missed a key shot of him exploding from the inside.  Rachel knew about a hidden bunker in the tower and Monroe forced his way in.  She yet again tried to kill him, this time with scissors.  But, he was able to defend himself.  
  • Outside, Miles led the attack on the Tower entrance.  Tom and Jason created a diversion by blowing up their amplifier and the tent that went along with it.  Lots of explosions and battle scenes ensue resulting in our heroes in the tower (thanks to Aaron using an override code in Faraday's Journal.  oops wrong show.  But, I think I did catch a 42 in there.), but Tom and Neville stuck outside.  We caught a glimpse of Charlie's constipation as her main squeeze is locked outside.  (Nope, I didn't use the wrong word there!)  
  • Okay, so there was the Tom/Jason sub-plot where Tom tries to work over their security detail and overthrow the Monroe Militia.  He succeeds in getting themselves free and 15 people at their service.  Jason asked his father what his angle was.  Now, I would have assumed this was pretty obvious.   But, maybe that question was thrown in there to make us think that this sub-plot will come in to SUPPORT the Miles campaign in some way.  I always thought season 1 of this show would be the conflict against the militia, but then they'd all have to somehow align for phase 2 of the show against a new threat.   A potential new threat was introduced this episode, but it's tough to tell if they're a threat or allies at this point.  So, I guess there's the possibility of a newly led Militia in season 2 could be the adversary.  I can see it going both ways, so we'll just have to see. 
  • Rachel and Monroe had a chance to do some soul searching in Dick Cheney's bunker.  Hey, there's a picture of G-Dubbs on the wall!  As if Monroe had to ask Rachel why she was so intent on killing him, Rachel decided to explain that Monroe's actions led to the death of her son.  Duhhh....  Monroe went with the "I wasn't even there" defense.  Eventually, Monroe unraveled talking about how he never wanted things to end up like this.  Just a few weeks ago, he was speaking of world domination!  That doesn't sound like a character who wasn't enjoying his actions.  But, whatever.  He has a son now, and that has made him rethink his actions, I guess.  If they're going to keep The Cape on this show next year, he's probably going to have to become their ally, so it looks like they're starting to work that angle a bit.  Once Rachel sees that Charlie has entered the tower, she has no choice but to work with Monroe to get out of this jam.  She unlocks those crazy powerful guns, Monroe promises to save Charlie, and they head out into the battle.  Monroe does just that and saves Charlie.  But, when he comes face to face with Miles, it's ON.  I'm shocked that they saved their 2nd face off for the season finale, aren't you?  (Does sarcasm come through on these blogs?)  Surely, it won't end in someone's death.  In fact, I'm sure it will somehow get interrupted and they'll move onto the level 12 conflict. 
  • So, Charlie, Aaron and Rachel do end up getting caught by the 12ers and brought down there.  What they end up seeing is a fleet of people.  Men, women, and children of men. (see what I did there?)  They've been living here since the blackout and defending the tower, in particular, level 12.  Aaron Pierce's actual name is Dan (but, I thought for a second Rachel was going to say, DAD?).  I guess he was working there the day the lights went out.  But, they all have family there and have had children there and are intent on sticking to their resolve.  Basically, they're like the protectors of the grail from Last Crusade.  
  • Grace is now one of these people and apparently she knows about Aaron.  (obviously, someone did from that journal)   But, Aaron has been looking for Grace for a long time too.  HUH?  I guess we'll find out more about that later.  
  • Of course Rachel still wants to turn the power back on and give the world a fighting chance.  But, that doesn't stop Dan from burning the book. Noooooo!   I'm sure Aaron has some kind of photographic memory, Olivia Dunham style and that will somehow come into play.  Anyway, there was one little secret that Rachel has been sitting on this whole time about turning the lights back on.   There's a slight chance they may just set the world on fire.  Literally.  Guess that might explain why Rachel didn't mind blowing up in a tent!  She was about to blow up the planet anyway! 
Well, that's an interesting twist, right?  You'd think this would be a way to prolong the blackout for the entire series.  The fear of turning the key in the hatch, afraid of what it might do to the rest of the world.  But, I just have a feeling that isn't where this show is going.  I think the blackout was the start of show and the setup for this world that they're now living in.  But, it feels like to shift this show into a phase 2, they need a new playing field.  Giving the world power, or some twist on the world's power, would seem like the next logical step.  Maybe there will be power but there will be spontaneous explosions all around them like in the jungle from The Princess Bride.  I guess we will see a hint of things to come next week!  

That's pretty much all I have for this week.  Already wrote more than I thought I could.  So, hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week! 

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

OK, this time I didn't even start to watch the ep, just read your great recap. I may watch later--lol. Anyway, Monroe was the one character that seemed like someone you could count on to be normal, that is NOT bipolar--lol. Oh well, guess the writers got to him to.

Loved your references to other great shows. "the 12ers", that's good too. Children of men vs corn??

Richard

Mike V. said...

lol...yep, they're certainly working on the Monroe 180. We'll see if that's where they continue to go.

Dunno about the Children of Men vs. Corn....the name of the episode was Children of Men so I just called it out in the recap. But, they could be a little creepy! Who knows? Children of Men was a good movie though...lol

AUStarwars said...

I believe the "entering the bunker" scene was a clear reference to Return of the Jedi..so much in fact I expected Aaron to be shot in the arm and Miles to have to hotwire themselves in..oh well

great episode..i dont want the lights to turn on though, what I like about the show is the apocalypic feel...

Mike V. said...

lol on the ROTJ reference. Funny I didn't pick up on the similarity. I agree about the apolcalyptic feel being a huge part of the show, but I don't think that would necessarily change with people getting power. The people in charge of the country has been redistributed based on 15 years with no power. So, introducing power into that world would make for some interesting stories of where the world goes from there. I think it would be chaos once again.

That's why I also mentioned maybe a new "twist" on power. Maybe power won't be restored globally...but maybe it will be utilized in the show differently. The show is called "REVOLUTION" not "LIGHTS OUT" or something like that. That makes me think that the power outage is just "chapter 1" of the story. I could be totally wrong with this though. lol

MJ said...

Been a crazy week and weekend - finally watched Revolution. Really good ep - spared no
expense with the gore special effects. Boy those folks in the tower were pretty bad-ass ! Felt a little sorry for them that they have been stuck living in there. I can't remember - do we know how Aaron knows Grace ? I recollections are we knew Grace knew Rachael and her husband. Never mind - see now that you were puzzled by that too. And for all of you who have been dissing Charlie all season I thought the actress really nailed it when she thought that blonde woman was her mother. Knew there would be an issue to having power back but did not think it would be destroying everything. Great to see Pierce from 24. LOL Said it before - they are writing Rachael just like Juliette - she sorta tells the truth but not really, she kinda can be trusted but then not really. It was reminding me of TVD in that they spend ep afte ep trying to get someone dead or someone safe and then all the plans just blow up and what they didn't want to happen happens. That is the total season plot of TVD ! Agree - Monroe changing so suddenly and now feeling bad for his past actions was pretty thin - just cause you find out ou have a kid you don't change your whole personality. I guess that he wasn't always this person though - so technically his personality changed once the militia started and was changing on him. I dunno.

Them entering the tower reminded me more of the last Terminator - esp when we got into the bunker - than star wars actually.

Mike V. said...

@MJ
Agree..the gore was pretty nuts!

You know what...I forgot. Weren't Aaron and that other girl that died looking for Grace at one point before Randall caught her? So, Aaron knowing Grace does make sense. The fact that Grace knows about Aaron is still something interesting that we need to dive into.

It's just fun to diss Charlie! lol But yeah she wasn't too bad in that scene. :)

Yeah, I think we all can agree that there are similarities between the Juliet and Rachel characters.

Good point on TVD comparisons! lol

Yeah...I'm willing to go along with the Monroe story without too much criticism. Just had to get it out of my system! lol

And I can pretty much assume any time we make a star wars reference, you'll find a different one! :-)

mj said...

Lol on your assumption - probably 9 times out of 10! Just because its fun, i am a fan of star wars afterall

Mike V. said...

lol...Oh yeah, I know. Actually, I never saw the latest Terminator movie. I heard mixed things and never got around to it.

Leslie said...

Finally caught up last night. Good episode! Those guns were wild! Funny when Aaron said he saw them on Mythbusters! Yeah, I do remember Aaron and that other girl looking for Grace in the beginning. Charlie has been less irritating this second half of the season. So, will someone fall in the Miles/Monroe showdown? Neville is ready to take over. Love the Aaron character. Not as lovable as Hurley, but he has some good comic relief lines.

mj said...

Like Charley Aaron has improved this second half. Idoubt either Miles or Monroewill die - but ya never know, they killed Danny afterall

Mike V. said...

Danny was expendable though. Of Miles and Monroe, I'd say monroe is MORE expendable, but I see him joining the team in season 2 with a bit of a twist I'm sure. A Ben Linus-esque twist but not as exciting as that of course. lol

Agreed, Charlie and Aaron both have improved. Still fun to make fun of Charlie though!