“Everybody leaves me”
Sorry I’m getting this review up a lot later than I had hoped to! I went to a horror convention this weekend and had a great time. I know what I want to do for a YouTube Ramblog episode on my feelings on the horror genre, but I feel like I need to script it because I have so much to say….But moving along…
I absolutely loved last week’s episode of Revolution. I will admit that I was a little dubious when we saw a flashback of Maggie speaking on the computer with her children at the time of the blackout. I mean it was dark in Seattle at the time of the blackout. We already know from the pilot it was dark on the East Coast at the time of the blackout. AREN’T HER CHILDREN IN ENGLAND???? IT IS EIGHT HOURS AHEAD FROM PST THERE!!!! So, Maggie, are your children vampires? Do they go to sleep at dawn? Ok, so slight writer/director snafu that no one caught, but other than that, the episode was glorious! Running from evil dogs, putting key characters in peril, enemies working together–some successfully some to their detriment…and Wizard of Oz references galore.
“Plague Dogs” was written by Anne Cofell Saunders, who was a writer/producer for Smallville and Battlestar Galactica. Directing was Felix Alcala, who also did some BSG directing, as well as Southland, ER and Covert Affairs. I loved how fast paced this episode was, even with the traumatic in depth slower scenes. As far as killing off a main character is concerned, I wasn’t surprised who it was considering I knew that Anna Lise Phillips’s character was downgraded and was going to be written off the show after Elizabeth Mitchell was confirmed as a series regular. I will miss Maggie, as I did like her character–and I can’t help but think in a future where we have gone back to caveman status, having a doctor in the group can only be an asset…I am so very happy that Elizabeth’s character Rachel will be staying with us. I can live with losing Maggie as long as we have Rachel! The episode did the mixing from one storyline into another quite well, and I didn’t feel that any part of the episode dragged. I even loved the Danny and Neville portion of the storyline this week. With Maggie’s flashbacks we saw her actually talking about Baum’s book, while in Danny’s storyline, he literally had to survive a tornado by getting down into a basement by hatchway…
I’m becoming partial to Charlie’s usage of the “naive girl” stereotype to give her an edge. She has used this three times now when dealing with militia and it has been effective each time. I like how she is using this against them. It actually makes me re-evaluate my own process when I was that age of wanting people to see how tough I could be. This new idea of utilizing people’s sexism against them seems like a good plan and hey, if they’re stupid enough to keep falling for it…well then, can’t really blame a gal for using it, right? Also, I have to say that every week I love Charlie’s hair a little more. That’s actually close to what my hair is like naturally…although I’m really red right now….Well, we always want what we don’t have. Since this episode was a very emo filled, intense episode, I didn’t really have any problems with Tracy’s acting either. I admit she has shown some trouble with the middle, but the low and the high seem to work fine for her. I think the rest will come with more experience. I loved how she handled this episode. Her reaction at the end of the episode to Maggie’s death made me ball my eyes out. Every time…even this last time, in McDonald’s, downloading my iPhone update. Crying….
I have a dirty secret, that I just have to get out. I am completely, hopelessly, irretrievably , in love with Miles. I can’t help myself. I may be falling in love a little with Billy’s acting too, because I love when Maggie is telling the story and instead of focusing on her telling it, they are instead focusing on Miles reacting to it. LOVED this. And I loved the story. We found out a few things from Maggie’s wanderings. First off, we find out just how determined Maggie was to get home to her kids. She walked all over America. All the way to the East Coast, up and down the East Coast, could’t find a boat and so decided to die in Wisconsin. Ok, Wisconsin seems to be a bit out of the way after giving up on finding a berth on the East Coast, but I think more important than Maggie winding up in Wisconsin was that it was where she met Ben. Our initial ideas are confirmed with this–Ben didn’t stay in Chicago after the blackout, he took his family away from the area. He comes back again later, which I’m guessing was because if you want to trick them, go to the most obvious place…So he wound up going back to the Chicago area…nice.
But back to Miles. I loved how Maggie told him that maybe Charlie would be better off without him, but would he be better off without her? I loved seeing Miles react to the story. I love the complexities of his character. I love that he plays the reluctant hero with a big heart. And I love that he has a big sword….In my own humble opinion, Miles has all the wonderful complex simplicity we have come to love in our macho Kripke heroes. Every episode I fall in love with him a little more…
And Kripke, damn you for making me like Sebastian Monroe…because I really do. Again, so much complexity. Where MIles looked from the beginning like he was willing to kill to protect what he stood for, Bass seemed less likely to do so. So why is it that Miles walked away from the militia and Bass has stayed on, torturing to get answers? Is it something that Miles saw elsewhere? Did he decide that maybe what they did didn’t do the good he hoped it would do and found that other areas of the country were more successful in just letting people do what they wanted to? Did something happen between Miles and Bass? Miles and Rachel?
That actually leads me to another question. I am seeing such amazing chemistry between Miles, Bass and Rachel. Truly I think all three actors are wonderful and there seems to be a sizzle (well, for me at least) when two of them are on screen at the same time. I wonder if there was ever something going on there? Was Miles having a thing with his brother’s wife? QUICK, FANFIC!!!! PLEASE!!!
Ahem…As previously stated, I really enjoyed the storyline in “Plague Dogs” with Captain Neville and Danny. Apparently Danny is quite skilled in getting out of hand cuffs…that’s my good Kripke hero-type! He gets away, but the obsessed Neville sees that he is gone and hunts him down. Danny has to save Neville, which you knew he would, and then winds up back in the handcuffs. Danny should have seen that coming. He knew how obsessively Neville watched him before this happened, he had to know he’d be back in the cuffs…
But what about Not-Nate? He’s becoming a complex piece of work that is growing on me. I’m wondering if he will do a defection. He is part of the militia, but so was Miles. Actually, Miles commanded the militia, so maybe Not-Nate will start to idolize Miles a little. Clearly he is already torn because of Charlie. He claims he is after them because of Miles but has already saved Charlie twice himself and once now with Miles. At the end, unlike Danny’s experience helping “the enemy”, Not-Nate is NOT in cuffs again, and he is still there, worried about Charlie. “Everybody leaves me”…maybe this got to more people than just Miles…
And what about that arrow booby trap that almost took out Charlie? That was intense. One of those additions that heightened the intensity of the episode.
The scenes with Rachel leaving Ben, Charlie and Danny were heartbreaking and begged so many questions, too. What did Ben know about Rachel leaving? We know that the “going for supplies” was a cover, but did Ben know it was a cover as well? I would venture a guess that he did know. Which leads to the next question, if Ben was shacking up with Maggie, he must have really thought that Rachel was dead. So how did Ben find out this misinformation? Did someone tell him she got killed on the way? Did he think the militia, and therefore his brother, killed her? Rachel has been with Bass for apparently quite a few years, so what is it about now that is causing the push for answers?
I can’t wait to see what happens on Monday’s episode entitled “Soul Train”! Catch the promo here:
http://youtu.be/h3ZxzzFpqOk
Let me know what you thought of the episode. Thanks for reading!
Stills from www.revolution-show.com
