As the season draws closer and closer to the end, the stakes get higher and higher!  I also seem to wind up drinking more and more in preparation for the episodes…Everyone must know by now how much of a huge Sebastian Monroe fan I am, and with his friends becoming fewer and fewer, I fear for my t.v. boyfriend.  This episode proved to be a lot of fun, and I really loved Monroe in it.  I feel like he is getting close to hitting rock bottom and then strength of character, and luck, will prove if he makes it to next season, maybe possible redemption, or falls under the crushing weight of his obsession…One thing is for sure though, for such a huge bomb dropping, like the one Emma dropped on him regarding the existence of a son, it is only a matter of time before that comes up again.  Everything we have seen about his past, and even about his focuses now, show us how important family is to him.  How much he has been looking for just this kind of thing.  I cannot fathom him letting this slip by.  I cannot imagine the idea of finding his son hasn’t become a fixation for Bass.


The episode title is “Clue” and much like the board game, or the 80‘s movie starring Tim Curry based on the board game (Tim had a major stroke this week.  Best wishes on a speedy recovery.  Apparently he is doing well.), this episode has the “who done it” vibe.  Written by Paul Grellong and Oanh Ly, “Clue” is a fun hour of television, even if one of the chraracters they try to make you feel may be the one who did it couldn’t possibly be the traitor…

 
By that I mean Nora, because the comment about the possibility of a traitor was noted in last week’s episode, “The Longest Day”, where it was commented that the only way Monroe could know where the rebel/Georgia bases were would be from an insider.  If the drugs made Nora delusional and problematic enough that she could be killing without knowing, she would not actually be the traitor because their location was given away prior to Nora being given the crazicakes drugs by John Sanborn.  
 
Jason is also made to look like a strong possibility, but I never for one moment suspected anyone other than Jim Hudson to be the traitor.  He was conspicuously absent when the bombings of the bases began, and I never understood why he went with Miles in the first place. In all honesty, no further vilification of Monroe was needed by us finding out the Militia threatened Jim’s wife.  Jim already had plenty of reasons why he would turn on Miles.  The only true question raised is why Miles trusted him in the first place….

 
Miles and Co. may have made it to Atlanta, but Nora has been captured by Monroe and after refusing to willingly give Monroe the whereabouts of Miles, Neville and Rachel, she is tortured for three weeks until she is broken.  When Monroe learns of the existence of The Tower and Rachel’s attempts to go there, his reasons for distrusting Randall are confirmed…He doesn’t know what Randall’s agenda is, but one thing is certain:  He loses any tactical advantage he may have if Rachel turns on the power for all.  Sanborn shows up in Atlanta with Nora and once Miles finds out that Monroe knows everything, he joins the race to the Tower to save Rachel from Monroe…unfortunately for all parties, open agendas stand to potentially be derailed by the hidden agendas of others involved…

 
I have already said it once in this review, so I won’t babble on and on about it.  We are all very aware of my desire to have a certain Sebastian Monroe redeemed.  Now I have mentioned before that redemption, the way I mean it, is more something that is given to you by others–it isn’t something that you decide for yourself. One can be their strongest critic or their biggest supporter.  In other words, I could arbitrarily decide I am redeemed, but since redemption is more about external perception, I can try to sell it all I want.  That doesn’t necessarily mean anyone is buying it.  Redemption, the way I read it, is more about the external perception of others regarding your character–that yeah, you did horrible things, but you’re a “good guy” now, or you’re “trying to be a good guy” maybe…I guess this sense of redemption can come after you are dead–the idea that you will be remembered for the good you did, not for the monster you were for a time…For Bass, I hope that he is given the opportunity to try to make himself a better person, to choose another path.  I believe though, that if you feel that you’ve been doing the right thing–If you feel like you’ve been staying with the ideals you always did, like at times it seems like Bass thinks, then you first have to come to the conclusion that your earlier suppositions are flawed.  With Jeremy’s death, I think that Bass may have gleaned a little portion of this.  Jeremy told it to him straight. Even if Bass wasn’t ready to listen, I imagine the words weigh on him.

 
I think that is why I loved this episode so much.  In this episode, Bass felt the darkest and most unhinged yet.  He didn’t seem unhinged with his officers.  He actually seemed very together, the military leader–and one very much of our old colonial style…and I think that is how he has justified his actions…
 
The thing that raises my eyebrows about the entire rebel cause is their idea they want to bring the United States back.  This baffles me.  Not only did the United States government fail these people in every possible way, but its own Department of Defense created the very thing that caused the problem in the first place. What amazes me about how Revolution has chosen to vilify the Monroe Militia is that they have used the very tactics that our own military have used.  Take Bass’s line in this episode when he is told that a couple local Plains Nation tribes will not be happy they are there– “So give them some small pox blankets and call it a day…” Harsh?  Yes.  And reportedly what our colonials used against the native population during the French and Indian War (1754-1763).  Or how about how we as a country decided to send the native population of the east to the west because we didn’t want them in our industrialized east (Trail of Tears–Forced Relocation following the Indian Removal Act of 1830)?  The entire set up of the Militia, reeks of our early days.  Sadly, not even just our early days.  The Monroe Republic has been at war with surrounding territories since its inception.  During times of war, certain liberties are taken away.  We do that now too.  Luckily, we haven’t as a country seen this too much of it since it has been about 150 years since we fought a war on our soil.  But the truth is, we had concentration camps set up for people of Japanese heritage during WWII.  We called them DOJ Interment Camps.  About 62 percent of the people interred were American citizens.

 
We have always felt as a country that desperate times call for desperate measures.  Even look at our handling of the Boston Marathon bombing.  I actually saw the Boston Police Twitter stated that: “ CAPTURED!!! The hunt is over. The search is done. The terror is over. And justice has won. Suspect in custody” .  When did suspect become synonymous with “convict”?  My understanding of our rights is that everyone is innocent until proven guilty by a jury of one’s peers in a court of law.  But that isn’t what was said here.  I don’t feel that was handled properly by the media.  They should have been all over how much of a breech in our civil liberties the labeling is, as well as the fact that they shut down the city for a day to find the suspects. 

 
My point is that we seem perfectly willing to set aside our liberties if it means we will feel protected.  We are comfortable giving the government power over us because we don’t believe that it will ever come back to bite us.  The Rebels seem to not have learned this lesson.  They have idealized what was and vilified what is without seeing how things fit into the landscape.  It seems that of course people are going to allow a militia to take over, to restore some kind of justice.  This land appears to have been at war more or less since the power went out.
 
Even though I feel that the Rebels’ reasoning is flawed and their decision to try to return something that failed them so horribly before ill conceived, I can’t help but love the fact that finally after fifteen years people are clearing the cobwebs from their eyes and are willing to fight for themselves.  They are willing to make a step toward taking back control of their own lives and not just allowing someone else to make the world better while they cower in a corner somewhere…

 
…or are they?  That’s where I am right now.  Because really we seem to have people now who want Miles to fix everything again, because they are complaining about how he fixed things last time…or maybe it is more accurate to say that they have forgotten what he did and want him to fix what Bass is doing now.
 
Anyway I didn’t want to really go into a rambling diatribe on United States war time philosophy, or start a debate on same, I merely wanted to point out that our own inconsistencies can be seen heavily in how the Monroe Militia is depicted.  The Militia is vilified for these very things…and yet the Rebels wish to bring back the United States…this all seems very ironic to me…but it is true that America is more than our political philosophy, or our military practice.  In our 237 years of existence, we would like to think we have been an example of hope for a better tomorrow, that our past doesn’t necessarily govern our future, and that determination, perseverance and heart are worth more than power, money and manipulation through fear. Although speaking to people in other countries, the perception is out there that we utilize those very corruptive things ourselves…much like the Monroe Militia has done…

 
But back to Bass, because in this episode, he was creeptastic in his scenes with Nora.  The white dress in a box, it was like Nora was Marion in Raiders of the Lost Ark and Bass was Belloq.  Nora tried to hit him with an expensive bottle of liquor, and refused to drink with him though…she would have been better off playing it like Marion did, pocketing the knife and trying to drink him under the table, but…oh well…It seriously made me wonder if something did happen between Nora and Bass in the past…or maybe with Miles too…Just that conversation could be taken so many ways…But we have confirmation that Nora was a bounty hunter like her sister…

 
David Lyons had quite a bit to work with in this episode and he was dark scary awesome.  I really enjoyed dark Bass.  In this episode, he seemed darker even than when he ordered Jeremy’s death.  But unlike some of the things we have seen this second half where they are just throwing stuff out there that Monroe and his militia have done that are evil and didn’t make any sense, here we see that Bass is really getting dark.  I’m hoping this is that dark time before day breaks because I’m really not ready for him to go gentle into that good night…
 
As you can see, I didn’t write one of my “Letters to Kripke” this time, but I did write a sonnet!
 
Sonnet to Sebastian
 
I know you need to hit rock bottom still,
You have become so focused on your goal,
Your hope that power will the void soon fill
And give you back what Fate has wrongly stole.
 
But now the closer that you come to end,
You find that you are now sadly alone,
Away from you has run your lifelong friend,
With words severe that he now wants you gone.
 
But Bass, for you I know hope still remains,
For somewhere in this future world of scorn,
Your thirst for power hopefully soon wanes,
Because you know your child Emma’s borne.
 
So much goes on, far more than what it seemed,
It gives me hope that you can be redeemed.
 

 
This episode we finally saw the Tower!  Bass makes the comment about it being faulty advertising.  Randall assures him it goes down half a mile…wait, is Umbrella Corp’s Hive down there too?  Or at least Cheyenne Mountain because it did remind me of the SG-1 base where the Stargate was kept. Oddly enough Randall couldn’t get in–were those strange figures staring at the surveillance equipment keeping him out?  And who is in the tower?  All I can say about that is that Bass’s son had better NOT be in the Tower.  Doing something like that just to close up a storyline would aggravate me greatly…

 
We have been told that someone in the core group dies at the end of the season.  My money is on Aaron.  We know that for some reason he is in that journal.  We know that for some reason he is needed to turn on the power.  Since turning the power back on would ruin the premise of this show, we know that can’t happen.  Therefore, I am of the belief that Aaron probably doesn’t survive and the chances of turning back on the power are destroyed.  We can’t keep the Tower.  Now that the cat is out of the bag, others will come, trying to turn it all back on.  It would seem that it has to be destroyed. Additionally, Aaron’s storyline concerning his wife, what happened to her, and getting out his apologies for not being strong enough to take care of her is over.  We know that she has a new family and that they are done.  Aaron’s storylines could be completed, his character arc finished…He could show one last act of bravery taking out the tower with himself in it.  So that’s my two cents on that for what its worth.

 
I think that Nora probably will survive if just for a love triangle storyline next season.  IT was a nice touch that Miles sided with Nora, but I can’t help feel that it has a lot to do with him feeling a little guilty for not searching for her.  She was tortured for three weeks and is only saved because Sanborn brings her to Atlanta.  Somehow that seems very wrong to me.  I understood why Nora felt that she let them down in telling Monroe everything, but I can’t help but feel that Miles should have gone after her instead of going back to Atlanta.  Just another thing about Miles I’m not liking.  He is rushing to the Tower to back Rachel, but Nora he just left for dead.

 
Jason has proven his loyalty to Charlie and to Miles, which almost makes me feel it is entirely possible that he may die…I also feel that his death could push Neville into darkness.  I don’t think that Neville and Miles will be on the same side long.  Personally, I prefer Neville evil…
 
On a side note, I have issues with the North falling into a military regime, and I have issues with the depiction of the South as well, but I actually like the depiction of the Plains Nation. I like the whole prairie justice thing it has going for it.  It reminds me of the way that the wild west was seen in in Louis L’Amour books like “Comstock Lode”.

 
Monday night is the penultimate episode of the season!  According to a tweet by David Rambo, it is the first part in the season finale.  I wonder if they will have a “Road So Far” sequence with a rock song.  I know it isn’t a JJ thing to do, but this is way more Kripke’s than JJ’s baby and I always feel the blood pumping when I see that intro with Carry On Wayward Son playing for Supernatural.  I’d love to have a moment like that for Revolution.
 
We need to find out what happened with that pin and Rachel in Bass’s tent!  I hope they don’t do a cheat sequence like the one mentioned by Annie Wilkes in Misery…that would make me unhappy.  But what does happen???
 
Let me know what you thought of this episode!  Screencaps from grande-caps tumblr.
 
 
 

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