The Breakdown
Revolution kicks off with Aaron gasping for breath after dying from a machete wound. Rachel calls for help from her father and saves Aaron. Meanwhile, Charlie continues her hunt for Monroe by breaking into the compound where he’s being held. She’s shot by rock salt bullets while targeting one of the guards.
Miles is being held by prisoner by the war band. He looks on as the sheriff in the cell next to him is executed.
Aaron is confused. His heart stopped for hours, and he should be dead. Aaron believes that the nanotechnology saved him, but he doesn’t understand why it happened.
A lone rider approaches a town. The townspeople warn him to stop, and when they do, they find the sheriff dead on the horse. The town prepares for an attack from the war clan.
Aaron gathers the kids together and tells them the story of the Ghostbusters. Meanwhile, Rachel begging her father for help in rescuing Miles. He refuses because he’s unwilling to risk her life.
Charlie wakes up chained to a wall while being greeted by Monroe. A man walks up to her and treats her wounds. It turns out that they are bounty hunters hired by the now-returned U.S. Government, and they have been hired to bring Monroe in alive. Charlie warns him that Monroe will get away, then they’ll have nothing. She argues that they should just kill him.
Miles works his way out of his cage and attempts to free the female prisoner next to him. He’s attacked by some henchmen, and he nearly kills them all. Instead, Miles is forced to stop when one of the henchmen grab the female prisoner and threaten her life. Miles gives up.
Neville continues his plot to assassinate the U.S. president. He explains to a recruit that the “Patriots” are the ones who dropped the bombs on Philadelphia and Atlanta, which is why he’s looking for help.
Monroe questions Charlie about the night the bombs dropped. He asks if Randall dropped the bombs and takes responsibility because he let him into the Tower. He feels regret because of all the people who died under his watch. Charlie asks Monroe if he ever realized that maybe he “sucked” at his job. Monroe tells her to watch her mouth, but she replies that he’s nothing anymore. He’s just a drunk fighting at a whorehouse.
Miles goes before Titus Andover, the leader of the war clan. He attempts to recruit Miles into his clan. When that fails, Andover crushes Miles’s hand with a hammer to keep him from harming anyone else.
Neville and Jason begin their assassination plot alongside their new recruit. They get close to Secretary Justine Allenford, and just as they are about to fire on her, Neville turns on the recruit and kills him. Allenford looks at him with interest.
The bounty hunter chooses to free Charlie, who returns to her quest to kill Monroe. Meanwhile, Monroe escapes from the hunters and runs for his life. His captors catch up to him, and he’s forced to fight for his life. He kills one bounty hunter, but he’s soon caught by another one. Monroe is about to kill that one, but Charlie saves the man. Monroe overcomes her; however, he chooses not to kill her. Monroe takes the bounty hunter’s carriage.
Aaron questions why he’s still alive. He’s also starting to see things, such as Ben bleeding on a floor. Cynthia finds Aaron on the floor alone. He tells her about what he saw, and then he confesses to knowing why he was brought back to life and why the power turned off. The episode then flashes back to when the bombs dropped on Philadelphia and Atlanta. Aaron almost stops the bombs, but the systems shutdown right before he can stop the missiles.
Miles is placed back in his cell. The guard prepares a sealed letter, which is similar to one we find Allenford burning in her tent. Neville is brought before Allenford, who offers his services to her. She doesn’t trust him yet, but she says that she’ll keep her eye on him.
Rachel and her father come across a large pile of dead rats on their path to the war clan camp.
Miles is taken to a room where blood is being drained from one person into a woman.
Analysis
I’m not going to lie: I’m digging this season of Revolution. It’s a little frustrating to see all of the characters torn apart again, but it’s great to watch how each of them continue to grow.
Furthermore, the writing is a bit more measured and deliberate than it was early in Season 1. I don’t feel like there’s too much going on like I did last year. In short, the writers finally seem to know where they are going with this story, and their confidence shows.
I’m interested in seeing what happens next. Is Monroe changing? Who are the Patriots? What’s going on with Aaron? That’s a good thing; it means that Revolution has plenty of characters and storyline worth tuning in for. Great episode.
I don’t like the Lost-writing approach of this show. Can’t writers go back to writing like regular people anymore? That show ruined TV for me. Now it’s every-single-scene-has-a-mystery-that-will-be-explained-by-adding-a-yet-more-verning-mystery-and-will-never-make-sense kind of writing. Two episodes in and I just lost all hope.