With the emotional pull from the blend of Aaron’s past and present, last week’s “not a brothel” episode of Revolution showed that the show finally knew what it was doing, creating the best episode of the series yet. With the taste for glory and praise now had, this week’s Peter Pan flavored episode proves that last week wasn’t a fluke, providing some of the best writing the show has had to offer yet.
M Is For Mutilated
Every week Revolution starts off with a rather lackluster intro of exposition reminding viewers what happened before the show started, i.e. the power went out for good.
Now cut to the real intro. With Charlie being held down as a man talks about how militia soldiers are made, she horrifyingly watches as the Monroe brand slowly inches towards her wrist. Clearly something is going to happen to stop this madness, right?! MILES! WHERE IS MILES?! It’s just the camera angle that is making it look so close to her skin, it’s not actually going to… OMG! Cut to black as Charlie’s screams die out. Now that is how you start an episode.
Because this was a scene followed by “2 days earlier,” we have yet to see what the repercussions will be of Charlie’s new brand. My guess is mostly just wearing more long sleeves and finding a new jacket since her favorite leather one looks to be forgotten somewhere on the conscription boat. But that’s only thinking short term. Long term is that there is no way that doesn’t come back to haunt her time and time again when it comes to those strongly apposed to the Militia, and those within it as well considering they will most likely deem her a deserter. Most importantly, how will anyone love her now?! Good thing she has Jason, assuming that relationship will actually kick off sometime soon.
The Lost Boys
It’s nice to see that in the future, kids are just as informed about our nation’s history as they are today (not that I can talk considering it is the subject that ejects itself from my brain the fastest). They may not know what the brand means, but at least they’re smart enough to know to be wary of those who have it. Having militia soldiers kill your parents will do that, though.
Even if Aaron is right about how creepy these “lost boys” are hiding out in an abandoned building unaware of the danger the flag hanging on the wall presents, they provide the opportunity for some of the best lines and easiest laughs Revolution has provided yet, as well as numerous moments for each character to be in their element. Miles started it out by telling a rather “intimidating” kid that he was going to poke his eye out with his spear, continuing on to Aaron calling them the children of the corn and pack of hairless Ewoks. However, the best moment had to be when Michael was being rather difficult about doing what was asked of him, reminiscent of a certain female protagonist: “It’s irritating when a dumb kid tells you what to do, isn’t it?” Even Charlie had to acknowledge the truth in that comment…
Irritating or not, Miles did agree with Charlie that it was the right thing to rescue Peter from the militia soldiers, bringing about an expression from Charlie that can only indicate that she has been whispering her side of things into his ear as he sleeps to change his way of thinking. It really is the only explanation for them agreeing, avoiding the typical argument in the process. The Plan
It’s one thing to make the decision to do something; it’s another to actually get it done. Miles sure seems to think the odds aren’t in their favor considering storming a ship in deep water is a rather impossible task, but how can you say no to Charlie’s rather manipulative speech about how she knows that there is a good chance that they may never rescue Danny. Whether she believes this or not, it was enough to make Miles feel bad enough to agree to rescue at least one brother this season. But maybe next time let’s come up with a better plan, one that doesn’t involve Charlie getting punched in the face before being “recruited.” What could go wrong with that?
That actually makes two weeks in a row of planning that winds up getting her punched in the face, but this time around she only really has herself to blame since she came up with the plan herself, including the later, split-second decision-making to catalyze a knockout blow in order to get to the infirmary (and closer to a set of keys). Couldn’t she just feign a sprained ankle? It worked so well for Jason before, and involves far less brain damage.
The effort was valiant, but it is pretty funny that each week when the plan inevitably goes south Miles runs in with sword swinging to save the day. Why exactly isn’t this the plan? It would save everyone a whole lot of trouble, that’s for sure.
Aaron and the Pendant
Granted Miles did have the help of a pretty substantial distraction. The pendant has been quiet for a while now, but it sure knows how to pick its moments. The first time it was feeling rather sentimental and gave Maggie the opportunity to see her kids one last time, and now it saw that everyone fighting their way off the ship needed a bit of help so BAM! Lighthouse back in action.
That pendant is quite the power to hold in your hands, and if there is one thing made clear it is that Aaron should not be the one holding on to it. He’s actually really lucky that it’s still in his possession considering the boy this week wasn’t the first to take it from him. Jason had it back in his prisoner days, and according to next week’s preview this was not the last incident. Way to fail, Aaron. Your cred built up from last week is waning fast, even if you did knock out that guy and save the kids in the lighthouse.
Don’t You Touch My Children!
Maybe it’s for the best that these kids don’t have any parents, because if they were still here they would just be screwing everything up in order to protect their children. Take Rachel: in order to protect Danny from being tortured, she gives up information about the pendants to Monroe. Long story short, this leads to the capture of a pendant owner, as well as their child being kidnapped in order to get information out of him. When you think about it, it seems that the one trick the militia has is kidnapping family members (see next week when Nora’s sister is kidnapped).
This isn’t even the biggest offense caused by a similar situation. During the flashbacks that show a brief glimpse of backstory in the accidental creation of the off switch, we learn that Danny’s asthma (that has seemingly disappeared) was the least of his drama considering he had some rather large issues before he was even born. Longer story short, Rachel caused the blackout in order to save her child, thus presenting the irony in Ben’s statement that the contract for this project was the one thing keeping their power on for another month. Way to go, Rachel. You fail harder than Aaron.
Final Thoughts
With Peter Pan back with his Lost Boys, it’s time to get back on track to finding Danny. In other words, time for another bump in the road to keep the group from reaching the end goal anytime soon. Granted if the show continues on as it has for the past two weeks, it shouldn’t be too painful to keep at the pace Revolution is moving at. But please, give us more time with Grace. The brief glimpse of her locked up and reveal of Randall as the Department of Defense agent from the flashbacks was hardly enough! So what did you think of “The Children’s Crusade”? Let me know your thoughts on this episode, and all things Revolution, down in the comment section below.
