Another great episode last week! Actually, I think this one was my favorite so far this season. If you want to hear me Ramble about my disgust regarding the ratings, here is a little ditty I did up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtcmrGOOvXs
Written by Anne Cofell Saunders and Paul Grellong and directed by Charles Beeson, “Patriot Games” was a great action packet episode that is steering us toward the gang getting back together! I’m very excited for this for several reasons–first we will get some tightening up of the story lines. Sometimes it feels like there are too many storylines so we can’t get enough from any one. Second, the scenes with Miles and Bass are so great, I can’t wait to see them fight together. Third, this Charlie/Monroe could-be-fun-with-friction thing will even be BETTER when mom disapproves intensely! But moving along…
Charlie was done a serious disservice by not being able to watch Batman Begins. Clearly, she never learned to mind her surroundings, or she would have noticed she was the only woman in the bar…Or maybe she did realize this and she thought she could handle anything. This reminds me of a common theme in my favorite show of all time, The X-Files. As a strong, independent woman, the thing we seem to fear most is the idea of being victimized. That all our strength, determination, intelligence will come to nothing because we will always be physically inferior to our male counterparts. There are situations in which we cannot prevail alone. There are situations where we will always need to be saved. Of course another reading of it is that Charlie was targeted because she was a woman, but vulnerable because she was alone. Maybe even if she was with another woman she would have had someone that could have watched her back. There were quite a few people in there!
Charlie was drugged, and was holding her own until the drugs kicked in. Monroe came in just in the nick of time and saved the day. Me being a big Monroe fan, I definitely was all excited about this…I will say though that I could hear “Danger Will Robinson” in the background. Why? Because maybe showing up in the “nick of time” is a little too convenient. Was Monroe lurking outside, hiding from her? Did he really just get there at that moment? Did he find out she was there and pay someone inside to start something with Charlie so he could rush in and save her in an attempt to earn her trust?
Charlie hasn’t been very stealthy with Monroe, it is difficult to tell if she is just so consumed with anger against him she cannot think rationally, or if she is attracted to him in spite of herself, or maybe a cross between the two…Monroe is all kinds of hot…and he is a lot like Miles. Charlie does have a lot of affection for her uncle. I did like Charlie’s “can you make your eyes water at will” line.
I also wonder why Monroe had to essentially kill everyone. It was an awesome display of swordsmanship, but was that level of violence really necessary? Is his heart really in the right place? My initial feeling is that his path to goodness will include some windiness, and missteps–possibly even ducking off the path down dark hidden trails… If he just all of a sudden goes good, then I wouldn’t expect his character to survive the season. After all, once he’s redeemed, what is he really needed for? It is a journey we are watching…finally reaching the destination is dry and story less. I’m invested in seeing a real story full of missteps and learning to find a better way…Like Spike’s progress on Buffy…
Going back to the theme of woman and victimization, we have Rachel. I really loved Rachel’s story in the episode. I loved how she had to do something. I understand that. No matter how bad things get, I can only allow the indulgence of feeling sorry for myself for a brief period of time–then I have to do something. It may not work, but I have to try. I love that Rachel is like that. She has come out of her pity party and now needs to do something. She needs to try to set things right. Sure she is going to misstep at times. She has underestimated the deceptive abilities of others, she has overestimated her own intelligence and her ability to control a situation, but she is out there fighting whatever way she can…and learning from her mistakes…in her own way, even though her father doesn’t think she is learning in a way he deems appropriate.
The Patriots set up Titus’s people and then hung them out to dry, utilizing them as a way to get into the good graces of Willoughby. I had some questions on this…certain things I noticed that seemed interesting. 1) why Willoughby? Some random town in Texas, just why? 2) Bass found those bounty hunter signs indicating that Rachel was wanted alive by the “US Government”, but those Patriot guys under the command of Ed Truman haven’t pulled her in for questioning yet…although Truman did say “So you’re Rachel Matheson” making it sound like they knew who she was. More questions: Was there a Wanted poster for Miles? we didn’t see one. Miles is going by a fake name, so he apparently thinks he would be a wanted man, but they have been using Rachel’s name–even knowing her connection with Randall…which seems odd to me. Of course this seems to be her home town, they would know who she is…so that must be why. But if dad knows who Miles is, shouldn’t others? Especially since Rachel keeps calling him Miles whenever she thinks they’re alone? She’s going to mess up and call him Miles in front of the wrong person…I just know it.
As predicted, Titus was still alive. Miles needed to get a little nugget of information that would let him know that Titus was being manipulated by these Patriots!
Rachel opens up to Ken, someone she knew back before the blackout…only to find out that he has been a Patriot for the last seven years. These plans have been going on for a while–which we guessed because of Randall, but here is more proof. It also sounds like they were hand picking certain people in certain locations–maybe those closest to certain persons of interest–to firm up their plans and make sure things run smoothly. Clearly there is a lot going on here that we have yet to find out…
And speaking of, what is that link with the fireflies and Aaron? So where the fireflies are, Aaron can see–at least when he is unconscious. Is Aaron himself some kind of organic computer now? If another program is running, does his main program go into hybernation? I feel like I need to watch that episode a few more times to try to get the mechanics of that…and watch the other episodes as well. Hopefully we will keep finding out more about this! It looks like Aaron made those Patriots spontaneously combust to save Miles!
And even with all this going on, I haven’t yet mentioned the Neville storyline yet. Neville has no idea what they have sent Jason off to do. Even though he agreed these Patriots could send Jason to do whatever it was they wanted him to do, Neville wants to find his son. Neville finds Cooke’s weakness–drugs, and follows him to a drug tent, paying diamonds to get two hours alone with Cooke. Neville cannot extract any information on Jason’s whereabouts from Cooke, but he does get Cooke transferred…He steps up to the plate, and shows how good a leader he is, earning himself a better position within the Patriots’ ranks. Neville’s ability to work his way into things is truly disturbing. He is not someone whose bad side I’d want to be on.
Let me know what you thought of the episode last week and what you hope to see this season! Screencaps from grandecaps.tumblr.com
