Revolution Season One, Episode Six: Sex and Drugs

In the last episode, Nora had been stabbed, so this episode begins with them putting her in a wagon and racing away with her to get help because the wound has become infected. Aaron tells Charlie that it's going to be okay, but Charlie says that's just an insane lie that people say to comfort each other.  Miles has to tell her that this is enough. Charlie has clearly become incredibly jaded by everything that she has been through.

For the first time, we get a flashback for Aaron.  He is in a limo drinking champagne with his wife. She tells him he does not have to be so extravagant but he replies that this is just a perk of being married to him.  Suddenly, the power goes out and their limo stops and a truck crashes into their car.

Danny has arrived at the Monroe settlement and Monroe says that he knew Ben and that Neville will be dealt with.  He tells Danny that he is his guest and that he can have anything he wants - food, women all for the asking.  If I didn't already know that Monroe is an asshole, this would settle it for me. You don't offer people as a perk. Danny is escorted out, leaving Neville and Monroe alone.  Neville apologies for the death of Ben and Monroe tells him to drop the formalities and promotes him to major. He is now heading up intelligence and interrogation. Monroe says that this will make his wife happy because she wants to have him home more.

Miles arrives at a compound and Aaron notices a poppy field. It seems that this compound supplies the heroin for the Monroe area. Drexil comes out and says that Miles has a lot of nerve showing up there. Miles tries to explain that he has a sick friend but Drexil is not interested. He demands that Miles get on his knees, puts a gun to his head and starts to countdown.  Drexil was only playing a game and orders everyone to put their hands down, though he does demand their weapons.  Everyone is escorted inside and Drexel clearly has an eye for Charlie.  When Aaron suggests that they should all stay together, Drexel asks if they are turning down his hospitality.

Aaron is alone in his room and he pulls out a flask and takes a deep drink.  We get a flashback to him walking with his wife Priscilla.  He is telling Priscilla not to worry, though she is clearly not feeling well and that they need to get out of the city. They have to stop because Priscilla is in pain and a man named Shaun approaches asking what is wrong with Priscilla.  Aaron says that it's her stomach and so Shaun asks if Priscilla drank from the lake.  When Aaron answers yes, Shaun says that sewage pumps stopped working and it all flowed into the lake, which means Priscilla probably has dysentery.

Nora needs blood and because Miles is o negative he prepares to do a transfusion. This is necessary because Nora is in septic shock.  As the blood transfusion begins, Miles takes her hand.  Upstairs, Charlie gets into a tub and she flashes back to the day that their mother left them and her promise to protect Danny.  Charlie gets out of the tub and in a rage, rips up all of the postcards she has collected.

Back at the Monroe camp, Jason enters the room.  Monroe tells Jason that his report was great but Neville tells his son that it was light, especially the part where he was helped captive by the Matheson girl. Monroe has to tell him to go easy and asks about Nora and Miles.  Monroe shows him a picture of the pendant and Jason says that Aaron has it.  Monroe places an order for Strausser to track it down and this alarms Jason because Strausser is not known to leave people alive.  Monroe tells Jason that they don't need anyone else. Neville stares down his son and says, "dismissed." It's clear that things are going to come to a head between Neville and Jason.

Strausser is sharpening his knife and talking to a boy about how to butcher a person and praising his father. This is clearly to remind us how cruel Strausser is. He is approached by Neville, who tells him that he has a job for him. Nora is lying on a bed and Miles starts packing up to leave and get Danny. Miles believes that they shouldn't stay there too long. Drexler enters the room and is upset that they are leaving and Miles says, "we owe you one".  Drexler tells Charlie and Aaron that he met Miles when he was head of the Militia.  It seems that Miles helped him eliminate his competition and in return, Drexler filled his chest with gold.  When Miles defected, Drexler was treated poorly because of his association with Miles.  He tells Miles hat he owes him for so many things and orders him to come with him. Drexler takes Miles outside to talk about his burned poppies. It seems that Drexler wants Charlie to take out the  head of the O'Halloran family for burning his crops. Miles says that it's impossible but Drexler says that Miles won't be able to get in.  Drexler says that Charlie does it or he is going to start by strangling Latina barbie.  Charlie gives in and agrees to do it.

Charlie is an off the shoulder dress staring at herself in the mirror and Miles approaches her to say that it is his fault. Miles promises that she is not going to walk out the door but Charlie points out that if she doesn't do it, then they are all going to die.  Aaron asks if she is just going to kill some random guy but Charlie points out that she has done it before. Aaron is shocked and asks why she is talking about this and points out that this isn't some militia guy.  Aaron says that they are innocent and this murder but CHarlie yells back that she doesn't have a choice.  Charlie tells Miles that he was the one always telling her toughen up and that he is right, the world is not a bunch of pretty postcard.  Drexler enters and gives her a weapon to shove in Bill's eye and that she is to say that she is one of his regular girls and she is tried of being roughed up.  When Charlie asks what he means by roughing her up, Drexler punches her.  Miles grabs him by the throat but gets a gun pointed at him for his trouble. He pauses in front of Aaron to ask if he has something he wanted to say but Aaron is silent.

'Revolution' and Aggressive Masculinity

Revolution is like many other dystopian fantasies.  Once again, we have White man saves the world with people of colour in servant roles when they do appear and of course, the invisible gay canaries. By that I mean no gay people, because somehow they are always the first ones to die when the world ends. With the strong White male leader, normally we get a heavy dose of hyper masculinity and the viewer is expected to accept the rightness of an alpha male leader and embrace it. Consider for a moment Rick from The Walking Dead, and Tom Mason in Falling Skies. These two men both fit the mold for leadership that we have come to expect in a dystopian setting. Revolution takes the mold and expands upon it to make hyper masculinity not only the preserve of leadership but a necessary attribute of masculinity.

From the moment we meet Captain Tom Neville, he is savage and, in fact, a sadist.  He rides into Ben’s small community with armed men and demands instant surrender on behalf of the militia. Tom uses violence and fear to keep his troops in line and the only person he seems to fear is Monroe. In episode five, for the first time we get a little insight into Neville’s backstory. We learn that Neville used to work as an insurance adjustor and lost his job when he gave clients coverage for a fire that they hadn’t actually paid for. In his boss's office, he was passive and his body language was absolutely submissive, when he was fired. When Neville returns home, he tries to ask Rob, his neighbour to keep the noise level to a minimum but is ignored. Instead of being active and pursuing a confrontation in both instances, Neville enters his home and starts to take his frustrations out on a punching bag. He tells his son, Jason, that it’s good to punch but he must never punch people.This pre blackout Neville bears absolutely no resemblance to the tough captain we have learned to be wary of. When Tom breaks into his house looking for supplies, Neville beats him to death with his bare hands and in this moment, Captain Tom Neville is born. It’s not simply a case of the strong survive but a case that this is the appropriate behaviour for a real man. For Neville, a man protects his family, and a man shows power and does not back down. He has learned that a passive masculinity has dire repercussions and strips a man of his self worth.

Passive masculinity is also represented by Aaron.  Pre black out, Aaron was an extremely powerful man - not because of his physical strength but for his wealth. Though he was beat up in the school yard as a child, for Aaron, revenge came in the form of a company with 300 employees, four homes and a private plane.  In episode three,  he expresses to Maggie the fear he feels in the world as it is today because the same type of people who bullied him in the school yard, are in power today. He calls it a joke, but clearly the loss of power and value as a man is something that haunts Aaron.  He is desperate to get the power turned back on in the hope of returning to some semblance of the former power structure.  Men like Aaron are dependent upon others for safety and he is barely functional with a weapon. His character exists often as comic relief on the show.