Thursday, November 7, 2013

Revolution: Season 2 Episode 7 - The Patriot Act


Welcome back to the Revolution folks!  Man, this show has been on fire this season.  They've definitely brought a darker, grittier edge to the show.  So much so that last night had to have a warning of disturbing images and scenarios!  That doesn't necessarily make for a better show, but it certainly upped the stakes for what they're dealing with.  Definitely spent more time exploring the central mystery of this season as well which made for an even better episode.  Let's dive in and discuss!

Discussion Points
Similar to my Walking Dead write-up this week, I'm going to skip right past the "RECAP" segment and get right into discussing the things we should be talking about.  (Note: It pretty much turned into a recap anyway! Just in a different format.)  Here is what I found worth noting in the episode. 

  • Well, as we assumed, Monroe did not die and Rachel was the only one in the know.  She didn't kill him basically because Charlie asked her, but she also acknowledged they need him.  So, they did the ol' TV trick of giving a dose of some medication to make him APPEAR dead.  Of course, we dealt with a struggling Monroe all episode which made his later rescue acts comical and awesome.
  • The Patriots are putting a tighter leash on the town by staging their own terrorist attacks and causing panic amongst the residents.  More troops are coming into town to guard the walls making it more difficult for our Rebels to escape.  
  • This became an issue because Dr. Calvin Horne was becoming increasingly more interested in Aaron.  He knew about his resurrection and he also mentioned the burnt corpses (which we knew were sent to him a couple episodes ago).   But, he assumed Rachel was behind the manipulation of the nannites.  He wants to get to the bottom of the ability to unleash the power being absorbed in these quadrillion machines that surround them and live within them.   Someone who could harness that power would be very powerful indeed.  And we learned in this episode, as we assumed, that Horne is a high ranking science lead for the President of the USA (aka Patriot Commander n Chief. We do not know if he's the actual President from 15 years ago).  He discussed his past for working for Randall and also with Rachel.  Rachel didn't remember him, but I had to laugh when he asked, because they paused on the 2 of them for awhile.  All I can think about is, yes you guys were married, divorced and then you were hit by a bus while Juliet was recruited by The Others! Good times.  
  • Long story short, Gene ended up spilling the intel on who was behind the nannite manipulation.  Good ole Aaron.  This happened while Rachel and crew were trying to get Aaron and Cynthia out of the town for protection.  Ironically, protection meant going to stay with Monroe.  
  • We had flashbacks of how Gene got manipulated by the Patriots from 7 years after the blackout onward.  He lost his wife to Cholera, and some guy came with a vaccine and promise of continued vaccines for the town, if he would help them out.  So, he ended up looking the other way while this guy Shaw would torture "traitors" and eventually kill them.   Gene was occasionally summoned to drug them and keep them awake while being water boarded.  Ouch.
  • So, the Aaron escape plan hit a snag when Gene ratted out the plan.  But luckily, Miles sensed something was wrong with Rachel's father and dreaded being right about it.  Naturally, Rachel wasn't in the best frame of mind after the realization but they stuck to the plan of getting the 2 out.  Monroe was tipped off of the escape by some fancy Morse Code signaling of Miles.  So, he was on the other end of a sewer to take out some Patriot guards.  But, it wasn't enough and Aaron was forced to set some of the guards on fire, including one that appeared to be ready to rape Cynthia.  (I'm guessing he didn't intentionally do this, but it's being triggered by his emotions.)   Needless to say, Monroe was impressed and Cynthia was no longer scared of Monroe but her boyfriend.  Maybe Cynthia is starting to believe that this isn't an act of God. 
  • Dr. Horne was very upset by the turn of events and threatened Gene that if they don't find Aaron, he will 1 by 1 kill everyone in the town finishing up with Charlie.  Yowza! 
  • A man-hunt continued for Rachel, Miles and Charlie and they stayed hidden while Rachel took a moment to let it all out.  I guess we can assume that Charlie figured out what happened with her grandfather or she'll be filled in off-screen. 
  • The Tom/Jason/Justine Allen storyline can be summed up pretty quickly.  Tom appeared to get the drugs out of Jason's system and he saved the 3 of them from some more brainwashees.  This gave Secretary Allen an ounce of hope that she could save her son too who is stationed in Ohio somewhere.  But, Tom used the information Allen leaked to him to his advantage.  He knows her husband is a high ranking official in the Patriot Government and now wants to exploit that.  So, their next destination will be wherever that is.  Now, we did have comments theorizing that maybe he's the President, but what if this high ranking official is Mr. Truman who is currently in command of Willoghby, Texas?  Would be a good excuse to get the band back together!  We'd have to explain the different last names.  We know Justine is not a fan of her husband, but she still refers to him as her husband.  Unless it's a case where she was already a government official prior to them getting married and kept her name in Public.  Anyway, maybe that's too convenient, but you'd think these plots would be converging soon. 
  • So, I know I skimmed over it above, but I think a key point with the nannites this week was that they surround them AND "live within them".   I guess that makes sense since they probably breath them in and out.  But, it starts to make sense why Aaron is manipulating them somehow.  I think we still have to go under the assumption that something happened in that tower to cause this, possibly when they turned the power back on.  This might also explain the dead rats.  We had said maybe Aaron absorbed the life force from these rats to come back.  But, maybe it was the nannites that were within these creatures.  I dunno, that's kind of getting into weird territory and theories.   And of course, what is up with the fireflies?  Are they actual living fireflies or are they some kind of mutated nannite that is no longer microscopic to the human eye?   Lots for the show to explain here, and I'm sure they will.  
So, I guess I basically recapped the show anyway, but just all in one section!  But, I'm sure I missed stuff so I'm looking forward to our weekly discussion.  Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week! 

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks again MIke.
1. I missed the part about the nannites surrounding them and living within them. Could be good stuff. But did notice last night that the ground had a circle of fire develop before the guys caught on fire. And so I thought that screen shot may be a clue?
2. My understanding is that a cabinet secretary is higher up the chain of command than a field commander so Truman being the husband will be hard to swallow. Esp since he seems to be not very competent per Bonnie. But it would indeed bring the groups together. Also, I thought that her husband was up North from Savannah in some place like VA? I still think Allen will help.
3.I guessed and missed on the potential scene with Monroe and Juliette where she would give him some ultimatums. Oh well.
4.Gene really does look like he's a crumbling mess. I don't know how long he'll be around esp now that his secret is out.
5.I laughed when Jason asked Tom if he drugged the Sec. Yea, Neville just happened to have on hand knock out drops--LOL.
6.Great line with Neville telling Allen that he was the one she should be worried about.
7.Dr. Horn is the Sr Science Advisor to the Pres so kind of crazy with Rachel not paying him much respect--LOL. He wasn't dressed or acted all menacing this ep. He said some things but it didn't come off as well as in prior eps to me.
8.This ep seemed to be pointing to the old storyline of getting and controlling the electrical power.
9.Interesting that Cynthia was back in the picture with a lot of scenes but left us with the notion she's not sure of Aaron now. Of course Aaron isn't sure of Aaron-lol.

Richard

MJ said...

I always had faith in Kripke. Just hoping it's not too late for this show to have found it's footing and that they get a third year. Remind me - if I ever need comforting don't go to Charlie - cause she sucks at it. LOL Loved the title - Patriot Act - mirroring all the rights that were trampled with our own Patriot Act. LOl on the bus thing. Think they were really trying to establish that like Neville back in the day he was a nobody that a star scientist didn't even know existed. Clever of Miles to figure out Gene was their mole.

Agree - she never says his name so I'm thinking that we know him and they are trying to surprise us. I still hope that Aaron's ability to manipulate these nannites isn't cause he wrote some original code, that there is more to it then that.

Mike V. said...

Forgot to mention the best line of the night. Miles made a reference to Aaron smashing through the wall like the Kool-Aid pitcher. LOL Good times.

Richard
1.) I think the whole circle under them happened the last time too. Yeah...might be a clue, but have no idea to what.
2.) Good point on Truman vs. Allen. Who knows!? I'm sure it will be covered in the next ep.
3.) Yep, all theories can't be winners! lol
4.) Agreed, he seems to have been on a ticking clock since this season started. Not sure how long he'll make it either.
5.) Good call with Tom having drugs to knock out Allen. Maybe he was a boy scout in his prior life! lol
6.) Agreed.
7.) I guess it's crazy, but I don't think Rachel really respects ANY of the Patriots. I think I forgot to bring up in my write-up that Horn was responsible for issuing the Wanted flyers too.
8.) True...controlling power, but in its new form.
9.) Yeah, if I randomly unwillingly set people on fire I might have some doubts about myself too! lol

@MJ - yeah there's always hope that NBC will keep it on the air because the whole network is struggling. Plus, we've seen what Netflix can do for shows like this over the long haul. It might make sense to keep it going and see if word of mouth has people catching up. Agreed on the building of Horn's character. And yes, Miles certainly was clever. Crazy what those writers can conveniently jot down when they need their characters to have clever moments! :-)

LOL on Charlie's consoling. Yeah, I'm sure Aaron's ability will be more than just his original code. I still think it has something to do with being in that tower when things went all haywire. But, we'll see!

Anonymous said...

I just realized that 3 of the shows I'm watching out of say 4 to 5 shows on presently are on NBC--The Blacklist, Grimm, and Revolution.

Yea, Charlie's character isn't necessarily a lot better, maybe it's just that there's a LOT less of it--LOL.

Oh yea, forgot to point out a negative thing--Rachel with a major breakdown over a protracted time about her Dad was WAY overboard for her character. I mean the character has been identified as homicidal. OH no, it just occurred to me--she may kill her Dad??

Richard

Mike V. said...

Lol...interesting thought that she might kill her dad. Guess it's possible!

And yes, I still watch several shows on NBC. Most of the shows they put on these days have niche audiences though outside of The Voice, maybe Blacklist. I watch Parks and Community as well, so looking forward to them both returning.

mj said...

Huh - I did not think it out of character for Rachael, nor do I see her as homicidal. She has sacrificed much for family and loves them. But shes tough and a pragmatist.

Leslie said...

This show is definitely better this season. Don’t have anything to add. You guys pretty much covered my thoughts already.

Anonymous said...

MJ, Elizabeth Mitchell was interviewed about Rachel's character and having homicidal tendencies was one of her characteristics-lol. I don't think she meant purely homicidal.

Richard

mj said...

Oh - lol. Thoughtt you were calling her homicidal. my bad.