Friday, February 28, 2014

Revolution, Season Two, Episode Fourteen: Fear and Loathing



In New Vegas, Connor and Monroe are dragged and dumped into a chain-link cage.  Charlie who is still free, moves along the outskirts and she follows Duncan Page. Gould reveals that he knows who Bass is and announces that Connor and Bass are going to fight.  When Connor agrees, Bass informs Connor that this is a fight to death. Monroe reaches through the fence and puts a knife to Gould's throat and Gould tells his soldiers to shoot Connor if Bass does not let him go.  With no options, Bass withdraws and Gould says that the fight is tomorrow and if they try to throw the fight, he will shoot both of them on the spot, before walking away.  Connor asks how they are going to get out and Bass asks if he has any ideas. Connor points out that Charlie is still free, but Bass is not hopeful and instead informs Connor that he is going to teach him how to kill.

Neville, Miles, Jason and Rachel are at the site of the old field hospital and it seems that the Patriots are making renovations.  When Rachel asks about Doyle, both Neville and Jason deny knowledge of who he is. Miles suggests picking up Doyle to find out what the Patriots are up to.

Outside of Duncan's camp,  Charlie makes her way through the crowd.  She is stopped and grabbed by two men.  Duncan refers to Charlie as Monroe's bitch and asks where her diamonds are.  Charlie says that there is a delay and that Gould has Monroe.  Charlie asks for help getting Bass out and Duncan says that she is not going to make things worse for herself  Charlie points out that without Duncan's help, Monroe will die and adds that she cannot do this alone.  Duncan orders Charlie taken away.

Alone, Jason tells Neville that Doyle is building a re-education center and he is keeping cadets in barrels. Neville points out that they don't have a choice but Jason reminds Neville that Doyle took his mother. Neville reminds Jason that their job is to find Bass and kill him and that saving his mother is their top priority.  At a distance, Rachel and Miles talk about the sense of trusting Neville and Jason.  Miles says that if the Nevilles have actually turned that they would make a great addition to the team. Miles informs Rachel that he wants her to stay behind when they go to grab Doyle and Rachel replies that he needs to stop worrying about her.

In Lubbock Texas, Aaron and Priscilla are still locked in a room.  Aaron paces while Priscilla sleeps. When Aaron looks in the mirror, the nanos appear in the form of Cynthia and repeatedly say, "save us."  Aaron tells the nanos that he is sick of their crap.  The nanos reveal that they are dying and then disappear.  Priscilla wakes up and says that she saw her father who said, "save us," and asks what it means

Back in Vegas, Monroe is coaching Connor on how to fight.  Monroe quickly defeats Connor and then informs him that he has a blind spot in his left eye and tells Connor to come at him from the left.  Connor puts down his weapon and suggests they should make a run at the guards.  Bass makes it clear that this is not a good plan because they are surrounded by men with rifles.  Bass tells Connor that he has to take him down for real because Gould will know.  Connor refuses to participate saying that he is not going to kill Bass. Miles tells Connor that he should want to kill him because he got his mother killed by dragging her into gunfight where she got shot, bled out and died in his arms. Connor does not believe what Bass is saying so Bass asserts that this is the truth and asks how Connor feels about him now.  Connor picks up a weapon and attacks and this time he quickly over powers Monroe.

Miles and Neville watch the patriot camp where Doyle is walking around giving orders.  Neville says that he and Miles are quite a team and Miles tells Tom that he never liked him.  Miles sympathisez with Neville's loss of Julia and Neville says that there''s nothing he wouldn't do to see Julia again.  Jason shows up and says that he has found a place with a better vantage point.  Before they leave, Neville snarks about Miles getting together with Rachel.

Peter walks into Priscilla and Aaron's room and asks, "what save us," means.  Priscilla asks if they should pretend that they are all friends again.  Peter apologizes saying that the nanos wanted them there and that there is something is wrong with the code. Aaron admits that there must be a problem with the code and that eventually the nanos will become corrupt and die.  Peter calls them blessed and adds that everything that has happened has led them to the opportunity to save the nanos.  Aaron points out that there are not a lot of computers around.  Prisicilla asks what happens if they refuse to help, and Peter says that they don't have a choice and cannot fight fate.  Peter adds that the nanos are alive who answers their prayers and heals and is therefore a new God.  Priscilla refuses to help and adds that she wants the nanos to die because it is too powerful. Peter asks them not to force him to do anything he doesn't want to do.


Connor and Monroe are given food which Connor refuses causing Bass to tell him that he needs his energy. Monroe apologizes about his mother and adds that he loved her.  Bass says that he has hurt a lot of people and killed his way to the front of the pack but it didn't mean anything because he was alone.  Bass tells Connor that he needs him to get out and get the Republic back because it will mean the terrible things he has done will mean something.  Bass begs Connor to do this and then find himself a girl other than Charlie and have kids so he doesn't end up alone.  Connor grabs the food and starts to eat.

Charlie is still prisoner and she is presented to Gould by Duncan as proof that she is on the level.  Duncan declares that she and Gould are square now.  Gould asks Duncan if she wants in on the odds between Monroe and Connor.  Charlie is placed in Gould's wagon and is then guarded by two armed men.  Gould tells Charlie that they are going to get a lot of use out of her. Gould has the wagon drive right by Connor and Bass's cage and Monroe snarks, "so much for that rescue."  Gould tells one of the men to get close to Duncan at the fight and kill her because he doesn't believe she didn't know about the heist.  Charlie is thrown into a room and told to clean herself off and get dressed.

Priscilla and Aaron argue about helping the Nanos.  Aaron says that Peter is nuts and that the nanos are listening and watching them.  Priscilla declares that she is not afraid of it and adds that she can make her own choices.  Priscilla says that all they have to do is not fix  the code and the nanos will die on its own. Aaron reminds Priscilla that when he pushed the nano away, Cynthia died and now he is afraid of losing Priscilla. Aaron begs for her help and Priscilla says that she is not sure that she can.  Outside, lightening crashes and Aaron tells Priscilla that he is not sure she has a choice.

Bass and Connor are being led into the tent for the match and Bass is introduced as General Monroe.  The crowd is excited and screaming, as Gould locks them in a cage.  Duncan is at ringside and she notes Gould's men, as there is a call for spectators to take their place

Charlie is handcuffed to a bed and is attempting to break her restraints.  A man walks in who says that he paid top dollar to get the first crack at her and Charlie says that she is closed for business.

Monroe tells Connor not to let this be for nothing and Connor promises him that people will remember his name.  The bell rings and father and son begin to fight.

Charlie is tossed on the bed by the man and he tries to rape her, so she uses her chain to strangle him

The fight continues and now swords have been tossed in the ring. Charlie manages to kill her rapist, as men begin to surround Duncan while Gould watches.  Charlie sneaks up on Duncan's would be assassin and kills him, then tells Duncan that she owes her.  The fight continues on in the cage and Monroe indicates his blind side to Connor.  Connor manages to get Monroe in a position for the kill but when he is about to strike, gun shots go off. Charlie frees Connor and Monroe and Duncan shoots Gould in the head.

Aaron and Priscilla go to see Peter and agree to help him fix the nanos.  Peter says thank you and bless you. Aaron points out that they are dealing with thousands of lines of  code they wrote thousand a years ago. Suddenly, Peter's computer lights up and displays the code.

It's night now and Miles and Neville are outside of the the new re-education camp.  Doyle is riding in a wagon filled with Patriot soldiers and informs them that he wants Miles taken alive. Miles puts his gun to Neville's head and tells him to let the wagon roll right on by.  Miles asks Neville if he is working for them and Tom calls him paranoid.  Miles says that he knows that the wagon was weighted down and knows there were men waiting for them.  Jason appears and orders Miles to drop the weapon.  Miles is shocked to see Jason and asks if he knows what the Patriots have done.  Rachel comes out of the bushes with a gun and points it at Jason   Neville asks if Rachel has been following the the whole time and Rachel calls it a typical night out.  Miles asks what is going on and Neville reveals that Julia is alive and the Patriots have promised to kill her unless he turns over Bass.  Neville promises that he will come back and help fight the Patriots if they hand over Bass.  Miles refuses to do it adding that Monroe with them now. Neville asks if Miles is blinded by his "man love."  Neville reminds Rachel that Monroe killed her son and that it is absurd that she is protecting him.  Neville says that they will never be able to trust a guy like that.

Duncan and Miles talk about the fact that Charlie had to twist her arm to help.  Duncan tells Miles that he is not half the good lay he thinks he is.  Duncan then hands over five men saying that she is repaying Charlie. Miles argues that he could use more and Duncan tells him to say thank you.  Miles grabs his stuff and tells the guys to move but they don't. Duncan informs Charlie that the men take orders from her and that she is way better than Bass deserves.  Charlie gives the order to move out and Bass watches with an astonished look on his face as the men follow her orders.

On a white board, Aaron, Peter and Priscilla start to work on the code.  Aaron notices that there is a memory leak in the code and Priscilla confirms this idea.  Aaron says he thinks he can fix it and sits down at the computer.  Priscilla whispers in his ear and asks him not to but Aaron says that he doesn't have a choice. The nanos appear and say that Aaron is trying to kill them and ask why.  Aaron knocks Peter out while the nanos beg them not to kill them.  Aaron introduces a virus, as the nanos beg and the lights begin to explode.

Suddenly, Aaron wakes up to an alarm and the clock says 6:30.  He finds himself lying in bed next to Priscilla. When he turns on the news, it is March 05/2014 and the world outside appears normal.

The season has become so tedious.  I am sick to death Monroe's angst and redemption train.  How does Connor restarting the Republic give him any kind of redemption?  When Monroe was in charge he was a cruel dictator by all accounts and nothing he does now changes that.  This is all about making Bass acceptable to the fandom so that they can squee about Milo.

I like that Neville always the realist pointed out the ridiculousness of Rachel in particular defending Monroe. I don't like his attack on Miles regarding "man love." I found the comment to homophobic and it screams of more Milo slashbait to me.

Charlie seems to be coming into her own and is quite a different character from the first season.  She is strong, independent and able to handle herself in a tight spot.  Bass doesn't want Connor to have any connection with someone other than himself and he knows exactly how capable Charlie is.  I don't like that she is being written like Yoko Ono breaking up the Beatles.

Alright we all want to know what is going on with Aaron and the nanos.  I don't quite get yet how this storyline fits in with all over the others and it continues to make Revolution feel fractured.  Obviously, they have shifted back in time with Aaron and the only questions is, is this for real, or is Aaron in some sort of freaky dream.