Revolution 1×11 – The Stand

I think Revolution just turned into a great show.

Four months is too long a hiatus, and I’ve been very wary of NBC’s decision to take the show off the air for so long. Thankfully, it seems the time-off has provided Eric Kripke and his team with some much needed insight, as the show is back and more confident than ever.

There was a lot of welcome forward momentum in this one; Monroe went on ahead with his rebel-massacring, and Rachel is now firmly part of Charlie’s gang. Of course, the highlight of the episode was the insanely bold decision to kill off Danny of all people! We spent ten episodes following Charlie on her quest to find her brother, only to have him stripped away from her so brutally. I can’t stress enough how much I loved this development, which should provide even more narrative thrust for the second half of season. This little twist is bound to have an explosive effect on Charlie and Rachel, and I gotta say I’m extremely pumped for the rest of the year.

I’m also pleased that the series wasn’t retooled during the hiatus and the flashbacks are still an integral part of the show. I was touched by Rachel and Ben bidding goodbye to Danny before his surgery, and now I’m positively stoked to discover what the hell they had implanted in his body (which Rachel savagely carved out of her dead son in the episode’s harrowing final moments).

Speaking of Rachel, Elizabeth Mitchell undoubtedly elevates the show whenever she’s on screen, and I’m fascinated by her dynamic with Miles. Are we to assume the two were having an affair when she was still married to Ben? There’s obviously a lot of layers here, made even more compelling by Miles’ guilt over leaving her for Monroe to torture (and God knows what else at the hands of Strausser). More of these two please.

Another show would have easily stretched out Jason contemplating turning on his dad for the remainder of the season. So imagine my surprise when Jason had an all-out brawl with Neville that left him viciously beaten. For the first time, I’m actually interested in the guy and the rapport he’ll undoubtedly develop with Charlie.

On top of everything else, this hour managed to do a lot of effective world-building. We were introduced to another one of Rachel’s pre-blackout cohorts (Jon), and we got to see some more of the creepy Randall who’s holding Grace captive in “The Tower” and trying to gain access to the ominous level 12. In addition, Randall looks like he’ll be teaming up with Monroe so things are undoubtedly going to get messy with these two demons uniting.

Revolutionary Bits

– I was beyond ecstatic to see that the show got rid of that horrendously cliche opening (someone to light the way).

– Mightily impressive set-piece with the opening chopper attack. NBC is obviously pumping a lot of money into this one.

– Monroe massacring the first set of rebels was brutal.

– God Elizabeth Mitchell is gorgeous. Those eyes… seriously!

– Jon knocking both Miles and Rachel out with the sonic-weapon thing was badass.

– I’m not sure that Neville telling Monroe his son is dead was the brightest idea.

– I can’t stress enough how epic Danny’s death sequence was. It all starts with Miles about to take a shot with the rocket launcher only to get blown back, culminating with Danny grabbing the weapon and taking down two choppers before dying. I was sure the kid would remain with Revolution until the very end so my jaw literally dropped when he got riddled with bullets. And the cinematography throughout this sequence was superb. It just felt like a season finale.

Dystopic Digs

Rachel: Monroe has power. Let’s get some of our own.

Jason: That was slaughter.
Neville: I prefer decisive.

Conclusion
A spectacular episode that singlehandedly elevated Revolution to another level.

Nad Rating
A