Thursday, October 3, 2013

Revolution: Season 2 Episode 2 - There Will Be Blood


Welcome back to the Revolution!  We got another solid episode to continue this already better season 2 last night.  The bad news is the ratings were not too great.  The good news is that it's NBC and the ratings are pretty much on par with what it was doing by the end of season 1.  The ratings are also better than what was airing at Wednesdays at 8 last year for them as well.  So, maybe there's a chance the show could stick around.  Shows like this don't traditionally increase viewers when the decline starts, but if word of mouth continues to bring a positive buzz around the show you never know.  With the Netflix model and people able to catch up on what they missed, anything can happen these days.  Just look at Breaking Bad's ridiculous momentum gain in the final 8 episodes.  (Totally different shows and no way am I even attempting to compare quality here!)

But ratings aside, the momentum of season 2 is pretty good and Charlie isn't making me want to scratch fingers on the nearest chalkboard for relief from bad acting.  So, we're in good shape!  And the mystery around the nano tech malfunction is only getting more interesting!  Let's dive into what went down.

 Recap
Georgia Federation

Long story short here.  Gus Fring..err Tom Neville errr "Edgar Crane" has found a way to Javert his way into the United States Patriot government.  (Yes, I may be the first to reference Victor Hugo and Vince Gilligan in the same sentence and I'm quite proud of myself)  Of course, his covert operation came at the expense of one of Jason's rebel friends who thought he was helping out the cause to assassinate Secretary Allen.  The slo motion "assassination attempt" was pretty hysterical with all the head nodding going on only to be capped off with Tom shooting down the rebel guy to earn Allen's trust.  She didn't buy it hook line and sinker, but she's going to "keep her eye on him" for potential security detail.  I'm going to guess that "Edgar" will get his detail.   He knows that the Patriots are up to no good and that they are behind the nukes.  They nuked 2 cities and are coming in masked as the saviors from these tragic events.  But, Tom wants to know their end game. 

Plains Nation

Monroe has been captured by bounty hunters working for the Patriots.  Their orders are to bring him in alive.  Charlie is still trying to kill Monroe, but gets shot with rock salt by a piece of bounty hunter man candy.  One thing is for sure, Revolution isn't subtle about setting up their "love interests" for Charlie.  Of course, Charlie thinks our very own Boba Fett is much "dumber than he looks" because there is no way keeping Monroe alive is a good idea.  But orders are orders.  Charlie and Monroe get to have a conversation during their captivity which pretty much ended in Monroe comparing Charlie to her mother.   He surmised that there was a falling out between Charlie and the rest of the crew.  Charlie told him that he sucked at his job and even though they hate each other, you can sort of see the development of an odd couple alliance.  But, this will take time.  First, we needed to see Monroe escape which pairs up Charlie and Pretty Boy bounty hunter for a few episodes.  We'll see where this goes! 

Texas

Aaron spent the entire episode reflecting on his resurrection.  Can you blame him?  He was dead for 2.5 hours and now he's back and any trace of his wounds or scars are completely gone.  Of course, while the visible scars are gone, there are some psychological issues going on.  He started having visions of things that weren't really happening.  He heard Ben get shot, and then saw him bleeding out and talking to him.  What on earth!?  He attributes the nano tech as what saved him, but they were never intended to do such a thing, so he's calling it a malfunction.  We'll discuss this more later. 

Rachel spent the episode trying to recruit people to rescue Miles.  She eventually succeeded in getting her dad and a couple of his people that owe him favors.  Rachel insisted to her father that Miles is absolutely worth saving.  That's all he reluctantly needed to hear.  Considering how much time they spent on the fact that Rachel doesn't want her father to come with her and how much he insisted he wouldn't let her go without him, I'm thinking something bad may be in store for him.  But, we'll see! 

Miles spent the episode trying to escape from Titus's compound.  And he would've gotten away with it too if it weren't for the little humane voice inside his head that told him to save another captive woman who has been there since her son was brought beyond the red door and supposedly was killed.  We got some history on Pre-Blackout Titus.  He ran a boys home and was about to be arrested for child pornography (or art as he called it).  But the blackout gave him a new lease on life and a bunch of young men, far from home, at his disposal to create an army of sorts.  Titus has other plans for Miles other than killing him and he starts with bashing his hand with a hammer.  OUCH!  By the end of the episode, he was being taken beyond the red door where there was some girl who looks like she's been locked in there for a long time.  And that's where we left him for this week. 

Rachel and crew were on their way to rescue Miles but stumbled across some fireflies.  Something triggered Rachel to request a torch.  And when the lit up their surroundings, what they saw may have grossed out a bunch of viewers.  Thousands and thousands of dead rats!!  WHAAAT!!?!??! 

Discussion Points 
  • Okay, clearly something is going haywire with nature.  Is it strictly the microscopic malfunctioning nano tech in the sky that is causing this?  For now, that's what we have to go on.  But, is perhaps nature finding a way to fight back?   But why would all the rats on earth just up and die?  Even more interesting, why did they commute to this one area in texas and all up and die?  Where did they all come from?    

  • So, we saw a dead rat earlier with Aaron and this could have easily been dismissed if it weren't followed by the thousands later.  Aaron made the comment, "guess you weren't as lucky as me."  I guess we still have the question to if it's just Aaron that will experience this miracle or if others are impacted too.   Granted, we've seen other people die in these 2 episodes and no resurrections have happened.  The key difference was that fireflies were present for Aaron prior to his event.  And of course, fireflies were present at the rat cemetery as well.  Maybe there was some kind of transference of "life force" from 1000s of dead rats to Aaron?  That's kind of disgusting, right?   Well, it's obviously up for debate and I clearly don't have the answers! 
  • This episode brought about the opportunity for the ol' Science vs. Faith discussion.  Aaron being a non-believer and his girlfriend assuming that it was a miracle from God that cured him.  This led to him mentioning that he knows how he was cured and what caused the blackout.  
  • We had one additional scene from the tower where we saw the aftermath of the bombs being dropped.  We saw them watch helplessly as 2 cities were blown off the map.  Tom and the militia were not far behind as the blew the door down.  And then, everything started going haywire.  There was a blackout and then electrical surges all around them.  I'm guessing this is a brief glimpse explaining why the power is not on again, and maybe why the tower will never be able to restore the power ever again.  But, we certainly didn't get the full story.  And weren't they like 12 levels underground?   If the power goes out, how on earth did they going to get out of there?  Guess we need more flashbacks.
  • One of Titus's henchman wrote a letter and stamped it with the pyramid from the back of the dollar bill.  This letter (or a letter with a similar seal) was received by Secretary Allen.  So, we have to assume that Titus is working with the Patriots.  The letter also had some strange handwriting that almost looked Arabic (and I apologize if it looks nothing like that, but it certainly was not the A-Z english/latin alphabet!)  So, obviously there's lots to question there.   The pyramid being used reminds me of the Dan Brown book The LOST Symbol that covered the secret society of Free Masons and the shady stuff they were up to.  Naturally, I googled the pyramid and it is called the Eye of Providence.  It traces back to egyptian mythology and represents an "all seeing God".  But it is also associated with Free Masons.   So, maybe they're going to pull the whole free masons secret society into this Revolution mythology.  Could be an interesting way to go!  





  • The show is finding new ways to reference older pop culture but in humorous ways.  We have to remember this is 15 years beyond our present day.  And that's 15 years where people had no power and couldn't watch reruns of television or movies or whatever.   So, when the sheriff tells Miles that he wanted to become sheriff because of tales his father told him of Walker Texas Ranger, that was pretty hysterical.  And Miles saying "his legend is known far and wide" may have been his best quip yet.  Aaron telling a "scary story" and it ending up being Ghostbusters was pretty humorous too.  There was also a Lord of the Flies reference.  The stuff worked though and is much better than the cheesy humor they had going on last season.  Hopefully, it continues!
Well, that's about all I have for this week.  I'm sure there's more to discuss and I open the floor to everyone to do just that!  Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week!  

9 comments:

MJ said...

Yikes - rough episode for Miles/Stu ! And Aaron is crazy now - nice ! threw me off to see Ben again. Thought it was dream but did not see it coming that it was like a vision. Hope they aren't going where I think they are - folks making Aaron into some sort of prophet or something. Pretty good ep really. Liking season 2 so far. But all those dead rats - yuck. That was just nasty/creepy. The guy holding Miles was on HBO's Big Love and he played a good creepy guy there too - does it well. So they tested Miles and the sherrifs blood - didn't like the sherriffs so killed him and later took Miles thru the red door where they are apparently taking some peoples blood? Hmmm. Laughed at Neville's plan to save the Patriot Lady - couldn't tell if his son was aware that the guy he brought in would be killed though. Loved the Walker Texas Ranger and Ghostbusters jokes. But that all seeing eye is a Masonic symbol - are they going all National Treasure on us ??? But I'm guessing that Titus's right-hand man is acting alone when he's contacting the Patriots and that the 2 groups are not aligned.



Anonymous said...

1. AS I said in the general post, this was possibly a great ep compared to most other shows even.
2. That writing could have been something like sanskrit too, certainly I think meant to portray an ancient maybe even mystical vibe. Yea, that all seeing eye is on the dollar bill, always been a point of debate/discussion.
3. I recall Aaron saying he know what healed him ,not how. I was listening for the how and quite frankly I came away thinking he wasn't sure how and so that was perhaps intentional to add to the mystery. And yes, the dead rat he saw made him wonder.
4. MJ, funny about what grosses you out, I was actually thinking how some may be grossed out by the shot of the rats yet watched Dexter or the Following without a problem--LOL.
5. Yea, when I saw the pretty boys teeth, I said to myself that this is probably a future love interest--lol. How does someone have good let alone perfect teeth after 15 years of no power--lol. But, hey Sleepy seems to be getting away with Ichibod wearing a 250 year old buried outfit(what is now becoming an uniform)--lol
6. To me, the scene at the end ties into the blood test. That is, this girl is needing transfusions.
7. I'm with you Mike, the Dad and maybe all the rest are soon to be removed from the show.
8. I don't think Neville's son knew about the plan to kill the friend.
9. Great recap Mike, thanks.

Wow, I'm actually enjoying commenting on this show now! Hope more eyeballs come to the screen--lol.

Richard

Mike V. said...

@MJ - You went national Treasure, I went LOST Symbol. lol But yeah I also made the Masons connection as well. I think Jason did NOT know what his father had planned based in the glance he gave him afterwards. But we'll see.

Yeah, I pondered if maybe only the henchman (right hand man) was connected to the patriots and ot Titus himself.

Yeah...they could be going the "perceived prophet" route with Aaron too. Depends if he's the only one that gets cured...of course if he starts curing other people that could get crazy. (i.e. if he's around when Miles' hand starts healing out of nowhere lol)

Definitely liking season 2 so far. Glad I stuck with it for now!

Mike V. said...

@Richard - I'm with you. Last year I recapped the show in a "making fun of way" while still enjoying the episode on the surface. But I find myself slowly changing my tune. Still too easy to make fun of Charlie though and her man candy crush. lol (even if her acting or the editing of her acting has improved)

1. Agreed...it was very good. I won't put it up on the pedestal with the greats yet, but it has dramatically improved from season 1.
2. Agreed
3. Yeah, I don't think we know how the nano tech healed him...but they know it's related.
4. My wife has a phobia of rodents and becomes literally petrified when she sees one. She kept asking me if it was safe to look at the TV yet...(when she asked is when they had the overhead shot of the 1000s of rats)...I was like...um no....it got worse. lol
5. Good point on the dental hygiene. Of course, people made the same arguments with LOST and how the hot girls kept their hair looking so good. And how the men weren't lumberjacks like Dexter after a month. And how Hurley stayed pleasantly plump (but they at least answered that one lol)
6. I totally forgot to discuss the blood test in the recap...so good call MJ and Richard. lol Good point with the girl maybe needing transfusions. Makes sense.
7. Yep!
8. Agreed!
9. You're welcome and thank you!

Forgot to also bring up (did in the general post) how Rachel is still wearing Juliet's Blue outfit from LOST. I mean she looks identical to Juliet for a majority of LOST's run. I need to do a side by side screen shot. lol

mj said...

Richard - yeah I handle faux violence and gore pretty well. See lots of horror movies too. But I get squeamish with dead animals, bugs and drooling/vomiting. Lol. I could not watch Pet Cemetery and cannot bear the Indy Jones scene where they are covered in bugs and she has to put hand in a hole full of them to save Indy. But I'm ok with seeing a head chopped off.

Ah - I thought they were taking her blood not giving hetr some.

Don't be dissing the man candy now!

Anonymous said...

I'm thinking the fireflies are more special then maybe we realize. That is maybe they have somewhat/somehow replaced the notion of the nannites. Not saying they are manmade--just saying somethings up with them. The nannites can also be in existence alongside them?? Also their effect on Aaron could be related to what happened in the Tower. Other people have died in the show like the sheriff in TX

The pervert and his crew are in TX for a reason, maybe something to do with the fireflies??? But to me that best explains why there is communication between them and the patriot gang. Could have something to do with Aaron too. The rats likely died for that reason too??

OK, going out on a limb here, I don't think the nukes made something special happen in TX or the fireflies???

Richard

Mike V. said...

Yeah...I've been thinking the fireflies and the nannites and what happened in the tower are absolutely related. And the rats dying too. I mentioned in the recap a outlandish theory (maybe not so outlandish) that maybe there was a transfer of life force from the rats to Aaron or something weird like that.

And I agree...I think the nukes are not related. lol That was just a way to reset the game board a bit.

Bryan said...

Good episode and recap :). After being overseas most of last year, I am finally up to date on a show you recap and can participate in the discussion again haha.

I agree that vampire-like transfusions seem to be what they are wanting us to believe is going on at Titus' place.

Not sure if someone already said this but I think it is possible the nanites are evolving into more advanced entities and possibly that is what we are seeing as fireflies. If that is the case, one could argue that they are acting to protect their creators. Programmers often include their name and information in code they create so Aaron could be known by name to the nanites since the entire tower (and the nanites themselves, presumably) run on his operating system.

The Walker Texas Ranger reference was perfectly done, loved it!

Mike V. said...

Hi Bryan, welcome back! Glad you were able to join in on the discussion!

I don't think anyone approached the fireflies from that perspective yet, at least here. Interesting theory! I like the idea that the "computers" evolved and are taking on a life of their own. There definitely has to be some connection to what happened at the tower and Aaron's resurrection. I just think it's great that it's a week later and we're still talking about it! lol Never would've happened last season.

And yes, the Walker Texas Ranger line was great. I'm assuming we'll have more of those type of jokes coming our way. The more the better!