Courtesy of NBC
After a tragedy-related week off, Revolution returns with a bomb-themed episode (too soon?) that advances the show’s mythology in leaps and bounds. So what does the detour into the Georgia Federation mean for Miles (Billy Burke) and co.?
Let’s bitch it out…
+ (Pros)
- Atlanta: The trip to diffuse Monroe’s (David Lyons) nuclear bomb before he can initiate an all-out war with Georgia is a good narrative direction for the show to pursue. Not only does it allow the series to explore more pertinent cases of the week wrapped in larger arc goals, but it really opens up the world of the show and reinforces the impact of the black-out beyond the simple Monroe vs Miles dichotomy presented in the first ten episodes. Plus: the idea of war between the neighbouring states promises lots of juicy conflict. Keep it up
- Charred bodies: Call me sick and twisted, but the scenes when the two rapists get crispified in the woods is pretty awesome. The only thing that could have made it cooler is if it was caused by a giant magnifying glass
– (Cons)
- The Alec (Dayo Okeniyi) backstory: I really struggled with whether or not to consider this a straight-up con or an “on the fence”. Ultimately I settled on con because the backstory with Alec fails to tell us anything new about Miles: we knew that he was an a*shole back in the early Monroe republic days so it’s no surprise that he screwed over Alec. Does it give me a little tickle of pleasure to see him plant the seed of mistrust in Charlie (Tracy Spiridakos)? Oh sure…but ultimately we know that Miles won’t treat her the same way, so there’s no real threat
- The nuke: In theory the idea of Monroe blowing up his enemy is sound. In reality, it’s pretty dumb. 1) For starters, people running to escape the city? Umm…it’s a nuclear bomb. Pretty sure that detonating that anywhere in or around the city is going to end everyone. 2) It’s not as though Nora (Daniella Alonso) actually needs to defuse anything – they simply need to power down the amulet. 3) What prevents Monroe from simply doing this again (aside from the lack of available nukes)? In reality they haven’t prevented anything, they’ve merely delayed the strike.
Courtesy of NBC
~ (On The Fence)
- Georgia aesthetic: When we learn that Miles, Charlie and Nora are headed to a different state, I was excited to see how Revolution would visually distinguish the two. Apparently the sole distinguishing characteristic of being in a money state is some slightly steampunk inspired clothing. Disappointly Atlanta is more or less just our modern world. It’s fun to see steam powered cars and actual trade taking place, but I did hope for more
- Jane Warren (Kate Burton): Another eccentric scientist? Oh Revolution – make it stop! Thankfully Burton infuses Jane with a bitter, sarcastic streak (calling Zak Orth’s Aaron a fatty is plenty amusing). She even throws in some GLBTQ content to shake up the hetero landscape. On the con side, though, it seems unlikely we’ll ever see Jane again and we don’t really learn anything about the Tower, so this reads like a bit of a delay tactic to slow down this side of the story
- Nanites: Apparently “flipping the switch” at the Tower will kill all of the nanites, which are not only suppressing the power, but keeping some people alive (hence the gadget Rachel dug out of Danny). Cool? Sure. Important? Who knows?
Best Lines:
- Miles (when Nora doesn’t seem confident that she can defuse a nuclear bomb): “Your confidence is overwhelming.” Well it is a freakin’ nuke, Miles!
- Aaron (when Rachel and Jean just begin talking): “Umm, hi, are we just not going to talk about the magically charred bodies?” Keep cracking the jokes, fatty
What did you think of the expansion of the Revolution universe? Excited for all out war? Do you care about Miles’ past? Do you want Rachel to get to the damn Tower already? And what kind of work environment do you think all of these scientists had before the blackout? Talk it out below
Revolution airs Mondays at 10pm EST on NBC