Episode Title: “One Riot, One Ranger”
Writers: David Rambo and Ben Edlund
Director: Frederick O. Toye
Previously on “Revolution:”
Don’t mess with the Texas. That’s the message Miles (Billy Burke) wants to send to the Patriots, regarding their occupation of Willoughby and he’s willing to team up with old pal/mortal enemy, Monroe (David Lyons) to do it.
Well, at least until Monroe decides to shoot Texas Ranger, John Franklin Fry (Hey, it’s “Deadwood” and “Supernatural’s” Jim Beaver) to incite a war between the Patriots and the Texans. After all, that is what Miles wants, right?
The problem is, Monroe just doesn’t get it and Miles and company probably shouldn’t expect a person he described as a “dark pit” which Miles crawled out of to not shoot anyone he can find an excuse to. And yet, here we are again. After spending the night trying to find hard proof of the Patriots’ crimes for Fry to bring back to the Texas general, Miles, Monroe and Charlie (Tracy Spiridakos) have nothing. The one Patriot hostage they manage to take in a shootout commits suicide with a cyanide tooth.
As deranged as he may be, Monroe’s plan to frame the Patriots for Fry’s death will probably yield better results than whatever Miles had in mind. But even with all of Texas to back them up, if our little band of “Revolutionaries” can’t stop squabbling about who’s friends with whom this week, their resistance may prove futile.
For starters, Miles isn’t happy to see Monroe when Charlie brings him to him, but he does need all the help he can get to take on the Patriots. Rachel (Elizabeth Mitchell) is also pretty upset with Charlie for teaming up with the man who had her father and Rachel’s husband killed. Meanwhile, Aaron (Zak Orth) is freaking out about the fact that the little robots in the air have turned him into a cross between the Hulk and “Firestarter.” Yes, somehow, Aaron can set people on fire. Now there’s a good person to have on your team.
Over in Georgia, Secretary Allenford (Nicole Ari Parker) has Neville (Giancarlo Esposito) join her security detail on a trip to D.C. Things go awry when they’re ambushed by a band of Patriots and Allenford is shot. She explains to Neville that she sent a letter of protest to D.C. regarding the “reprogramming center” she’s been forced to send people to in the guise of a plush new settlement, which obviously didn’t sit well with the establishment. Honestly, a little LSD and some light brainwashing doesn’t sound so bad, given the present circumstances. But when Neville finds out Jason is there, Allenford offers to take him in exchange for saving her life.
Neville switches from caring father to heartless sociopath so often it’s getting harder and harder to buy into it when he shows concern for Jason. He knew Allenford sent his son somewhere “special” which means it’s probably pretty awful. But hey, at least there’s LSD. At any rate, Neville is suddenly concerned about Jason again and off they go to find him.
Another inconsistency comes from Aaron, who it seemed was done playing the cowardly lion role only to ditch Cynthia for fear of setting her on fire, or something like that. Aaron tells Rachel the incident with the Patriots isn’t the first time he’s put the heat on someone. We see in a flashback to six months earlier, when Cynthia (Jessie Collins) was married to a real jerk, which the episode makes very, very clear over the course of a couple of scenes. When Aaron randomly, and somewhat inexplicably, encounters him at night in a car with another woman, he knocks Aaron to the ground and warns him not to tell Cynthia. He doesn’t. Instead, Aaron sets him on fire inside the car.
Fortunately, Rachel finds Aaron and brings him back to town. He has another vision, this time of Miles and Charlie in a cabin and leads Rachel to them. Inside, there’s the squabbling I mentioned earlier and Miles sends everyone to their room before Fry shows up or Aaron sets anyone else on fire. Fry arrives shortly and Monroe shoots him once he realizes Fry won’t be able to help them.
On the plus side, this episode feels a lot less fractured, with most of the characters now in Texas, preparing to go to war with the Patriots. Character-wise, “Revolution” is still pretty thin, though the dynamic between Charlie, Monroe and Miles is fun to watch at times. However, beyond taking out the Patriots, there’s no endgame in sight and all we’re getting about what’s behind Aaron’s powers is that it’s the nanotech. There’s got to be more to it than that if “Revolution” wants to hold our interest.
