I read Entertainment Weekly's interview with JJ Abrams after I finished my review of the "Pilot." I thought his idea of the series as optimistic, hopeful, and something about the re-birth of a world that's been lost, was intriguing. Evolution appears before Revolution in the credits. The world devolved after the blackout; now, people want to evolve, to take back what was lost, and to end the tyrannical reigns of republics, especially the Monroe Republic. The birthing process is painful and a struggle, and so too will be the re-birth of the world.
Eric Kripke's vision of a future world without power is interesting and intriguing. Elements of "Chained Heat" seemed designed to shock the audience, like when Neville orders the American flag be burned, or when Charlie learns about slavery in the Monroe Republic. The Militia is written with more depth. They're not the cold-blooded killers introduced in the "Pilot." Capt. Neville is a religious man; a man who comforts a dying soldier with descriptions of an afterlife full of warmth, food and family. The Militia ceremoniously bury their dead. Danny, the uninteresting younger brother of Charlie, scoffs during the burial of their deceased soldier. Neville angrily looks him in the eye and urges the boy to speak with conviction. Conviction, for Neville, separates himself from the likes of Danny and other civilized folk. (I wonder if Kripke watched ANGEL's "Conviction" before writing the scene, specifically the last scene between Angel and the dude).
The Monroe Republic and The Militia are opposed by a group of people known as The Rebels. The Rebels use guns, attack the camps of the militia, and carry around the good ol' stars and stripes. The Rebels want to restore the United States of America. Rebels are killed, or tortured and then killed. In one scene, Monroe preaches about treating a prisoner humanely, minutes before putting a knife in the rebel's gut for refusing to provide information about his fellow rebels; and later, when it's revealed that Rachel lives, Monroe physically restrains her when she tries to hit his face. Monroe uses malice and threats to get what he wants. A sense of how Monroe gained so much power and men is given in a flashback when a man threatens to snap Charlie's neck if he didn't get their food. People were desperate after the blackout, so it seems republics sprung up and took advantage of desperation.
Revolution's seemingly uninterested in the immediate aftermath of the blackout, unless it involves an integral memory of Charlie's. The man who tried to snap her neck ended up dead, shot several times in the back by Rachel. Right now, tyrannical republics exist because they exist. The government fell, people took advantage. I'd like to know how exactly the government fell, and how Monroe gained power. Did he ensnare people with powerful orations and a brutality befitting a centuries old dictator? I'm sure the answer will come during November sweeps.
Aaron and Maggie get their own storyline while Charlie and Miles go off to find a woman named Nora. Aaron's theories about the blackout connect with Monroe's last scene with Rachel. Monroe's confident the Matheson brothers, and Rachel, know a great deal about what caused the blackout, and how to restore power. Aaron's Grand Theory about the blackout is obvious: what if man caused the blackout, since the blackout itself defies the laws of nature? Maggie embraces the hope of the silver pendant. Aaron tells her their road leads to Grace. Grace, though, comes face-to-face with a brute named Randall. Kripke established the emotional journey of Aaron and Maggie. Maggie wants to see her children again; Aaron wants to solve the blackout mystery.
I really disliked the reveal last week about Grace and electricity. I disliked, even more, the introduction of Randall. Revolution depends on its viewers wondering what exactly's going on. Mysteries aren't my favorite parts of serialized shows. Characters are the reasons I stick with a show or I don't. So, yeah, I'm interested in learning about the formation of the republic, but that's different than caring about who's on the other side of the computer. I don't. Will it really matter? Probably not.
Charlie and Miles are the most important characters in the show, and they're entirely uninteresting. Charlie's personal arc throughout "Chained Heat" is driven by her memory of the promise she made to her mother about protecting Danny. Another memory propels her to kill the warden of the Republic slaves. Family drives the girl, which is why she follows Miles to find Nora. It's basically a retread of her arc in the "Pilot." Miles is completely uninteresting. Being a badass sword-fighter whose friend with a smoking Latina doesn't make a character interesting. I still don't know what Billy Burke's doing in the role. Miles doesn't care about anyone. Not caring is a hard trait to give a character, because characters need to care, need to push on and persevere. Not caring can work, but it'll rarely, rarely work on network TV. Thus, we get a weird performance by Billy Burke in which he doesn't care but cares; he's supposed to be layered and complicated, but he's confusing and inconsistent.
Giancarlo Esposito's been great. Elizabeth Mitchell is lovely to watch. But I dislike the rest of the show a lot. I'm not sure whether I'll write about episode 3. There are too many balls in the air right now. No narrative is set besides the overarching one. Revolution needs focus. Revolution needs to settle down with the heavy mythology and mysteries, and spend some time with the characters as they check out their post-blackout world.
Other Thoughts:
-Charlie and “Nate” share a moment when she handcuffs him to a pipe. No, his name isn’t Nate, but he cares for Charlie. Their tortured whatever is about as interesting as watching the Jonas brother’s reality TV show on E!
-Eric Kripke wrote the episode. Charles Besson directed it.
THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK
2 comments:
While I was at the park with the kids I watched both episodes at DISH Online and I agree that Charlie is the most uninteresting person on the show. She just seems winey to me. But personally I like Miles. I think our difference in opinion stems from my belief that being swordfighter that can take 20 guys out does make you interesting. I was talking to this guy that works as DISH with me and he refuses to watch the show because it has no basis in physics, so it’s different strokes for different folks I suppose.
I like Miles as well. While I was at the playground with my offspring, I reflected on the episode while sipping on a refreshing WOLF COLA. I wanted a second opinion so I talked to one of my coworkers at WOLF COLA and he agreed that WOLF COLA is delicious.
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