So there I was, a couple of hours before the new Revolution was going to air, settling in to watch Hitchcock’s “Dial M for Murder” when I decided to check out the David Lyons tag on tumblr…and found out that a Part 5 to the web series had been uploaded! I was surprised considering everything said that the web series was a four parter. Well, that and that the NBCRevolution twitter had done absolutely NOTHING to promote it. Clearly I had to stop everything and watch it. We were left totally in the middle of things with Part 4. It sure didn’t seem like an ending, so I was very excited to find out that we got a Part 5.
At the end of Part 4, Neville was caught snooping in the restricted area under Independence Hall. We were left with sword poised at Neville’s throat. In this webisode, he has been brought in front of Monroe. Monroe asks Neville what he saw in the restricted area, and Neville tells him that he saw a woman. He then asks Monroe THE question…Is it true? Is Monroe really trying to turn back on the power?
Bass is very collected and very rational in his response to Neville’s question. Of course he is trying to turn back on the power. Imagine what would happen if another republic beat them to it? And let’s think about this a minute–He is so right. War theory dictates that the person with the most advanced technology always wins. You have a gun that shoots 150 yards. The guy you are shooting at has a gun that shoots 100 yards. All you have to do is stand 120 yards away and he won’t be able to touch you but you’ll easily be able to shoot him dead. If one of the republics that the Monroe Republic is in open conflict with gets the power back on, or even figures out how to use limited power, That republic could easily take the Monroe Republic out. Bass is thinking strategically, like he has to…especially considering the fact that the Monroe Republic is on the brink of war with several other republics. I think the way this came into the discussion and how Monroe was able to rationalize the motivation behind his obsession with power plays in well as to why Monroe will agree to Randall’s presence in the regular episodes. Obviously, Randall has power. Imagine what would happen if he were to bring his knowledge to one of the other republics? Obviously that would be the end of the Monroe Republic he has worked so hard to build. All of this logical thinking also makes me wonder why Miles would not be on board. Why did Miles think Bass was crazy to think he could get the power back on? Did he lack the vision needed to be a leader? Was that why Bass was the one chosen to lead instead of Miles?
I really loved this webisode. There was actually a lot of little bits that help with movement on the episode that aired last night, too…besides the Randall entrance into the Monroe Republic I alluded to… The woman in cell beneath Independence Hall was Rachel! That’s what I figured with last week’s webisode, but very happy for the confirmation. We also learn that Miles didn’t know she was there. From the new episode, we know that Miles thought that Rachel was dead by that time. I wonder if Rachel’s death is why Miles turned against Bass? It is a distinct possibility, but I still question its probability considering that 1) Bass honestly didn’t seem to know why Miles turned, 2) Miles clearly had been scheming for a while, and 3) Bass says to Neville that if Miles knew Rachel was there he probably wouldn’t be…This seems to mean that if Miles knew Bass was holding Rachel somewhere, he would have killed Bass when he had the gun to Bass’s head and taken Rachel out of there. But if that was the case, it must have been something else that turned Miles, and some other way that Miles thought Rachel was dead. Strausser off the reservation maybe? Or was there some scheme in which Rachel took part where it was made to look like Rachel committed suicide?
Another thing I really loved was Neville explaining why he didn’t think Bass was insane. He said that Bass did the things he said that he would do. Neville felt that if Bass said he would get the power back on, he would. Which he does, so really Neville should be a Bass Man for life…
What I found interesting about Neville’s phraseology though was just how diplomatic and politic it sounded. It sounds as if Bass won over the people to get power by telling them he would do things and getting them done. Awe, that kind of reminds me of the only President this country has ever had that actually did everything he stated he would do in his inaugural speech. Sit tight folks, none of us were alive when he was in office…it was James K. Polk and he settled things like the California Question (whether California would enter the Union as a Free State or a Slave State) and the Nuaces Question (whether the Mexico/Texas border was at the Nuaces River or the Rio Grande). Anyway, we know that Bass said he would put down the other militias attempting to gain power and he would bring back law and order. This talk really makes me feel (like everything I’ve seen lately about Monroe) that he fits that Dark Knight line perfectly: “You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” When did the Republic go from a proud cry that Monroe had saved them to fear and loathing of even his symbol? And is Monroe right now being the hero they need? The dark character that is making them learn to stand up and fight for themselves again? Well, probably not yet. He’s probably not quite ready for redemption…I think that mainly has to do with him not yet seeing the totality of what has happened to the Monroe Republic. He hasn’t been able to get out there and be among the common people. He has been fighting wars and separated from the common people for a long time. I think it will take someone to make him see what his vision has become…I think we need for that to happen before redemption can come…And, just throwing it out there, I’m still thinking that it will be Charlie that will eventually be able to get through to him…
But another thing about Neville. Monroe taking Neville into his confidence, leaving the gun out the way he did, offering Neville a drink and promoting him, I got the feeling that Monroe was officially giving Neville the hammer position that Miles had. Of course Miles was a General and Neville’s promotion brought him to Captain…but I think that is telling with Bass, also. Bass knows he needs strong people around him. But he also doesn’t want to give anyone the level of power over himself and his men that Miles had. Bass doesn’t want to make that mistake again. If a person that high turns, he will be powerless. With Miles, he was powerless. If Bass wasn’t Bass, Miles would have killed him. Bass knows he can’t afford to allow anyone else that level of control.
Neville has proven himself resourceful, and Bass seems to be really good at reading Neville. Again this webisode I got the impression that Neville isn’t very good at lying to Bass. Which of course makes me wonder about that lie that Neville told Bass in the episode last night! I’ll bet Bass saw right through that. Or at least suspects Neville was being less than forthcoming about his son. My guess is that since Bass needs Neville right now, he’ll let it slide, but it also means he’ll watch Neville and probably have a difficult time with trusting him very far. Which plays into what I’ve read about Neville not being happy about feeling like he is being shoved out of Monroe’s inner circle…I definitely think there is a lot to be seen here in Neville’s character. That he was able to talk up Monroe the way he did, makes me feel that he could be very dangerous in the future. He is out in the trenches, and is willing to do some very horrible things all in the name of law and order. Neville doesn’t just torture terrorists, and he can speak well. We saw it in this webisode with Monroe. We saw it when he was getting one of his fatally injured soldiers to take the poison to die sooner. Neville is dangerous, and could become far more dangerous. I do get the feeling that maybe we are seeing the genesis of the real big bad…you know, besides Randall. Now Randall and Neville will be interesting to see. I’ll almost put money on Randall whispering in Monroe’s ear to start locking Neville out…
I love it when I watch shows where every time I watch it’s like seeing another layer of the onion…There are so many different levels and so many different places we can go with these characters! I can’t wait to find out more about this exiting brave new world that has been created. I’ll be working on the episode review, too. I may not be able to finish it tomorrow night because I’m going to a talk about writing for television that David Rambo is giving at a local college!
Let me know what you though of the webisode. It was a great one! I love having David Lyons on my television/computer screen! He brings such depth to Monroe…Giancarlo Esposito is also striking in this episode. The two really work wonderfully together.
And in case you were as blindsided as I was about Part 5, here you go!
http://youtu.be/mnYn8oBoTYU
