Revolution returned last night with the best episode in weeks, quite possibly the best episode ever. Without further ado, I'm going to transition to the focuses by characters.
Neville & Family
While I've honestly been a tad confused with Neville's motives for the last few weeks, this episode brought the misguided yet equally cunning mastermind, back to the basics and thrived in it. In this episode Neville learned that his wife, who he thought had died in the nuclear explosion in Atlanta, was actually alive and was living under the pseudonym of Skyler White. Well, not actually that last part, but she is sleeping with the guy who portrayed Ted Beneke (played by Christopher Cousins) from Breaking Bad. The fact that Giancarlo Esposito called him an "ass clown" made the entire episode for me. Even disregarding the fact that there was a mini Breaking Bad reunion, this section of the show worked out perfectly. What's going to be interesting going forward is how Jason reacts to her reintroduction. Since Jason has been so radically changed from the reeducation center, I suspect that writers are using his mother as a way to bring the old Jason back. Julia Neville was obviously the nicer of the two parents for Jason and traveling with his father only brings out more of the primal attack instinct that he was taught at the reeducation center. His mother is that link to the past. Is it just speculation? Yes, but I think it's a pretty good safe bet.
Aaron & Cnythia
Last season if you had told me that Aaron would become to center of this show, I would have said you were totally nuts. That being said, Aaron has very much become the central character of this season. With his powers, he has transformed the way that the action on the show is fought. At the same time, it would appear that the writers have completely stripped Aaron of these powers. I'm not even really sure if powers is the right word for it; it was more of a communication with the nanites. Whatever it was, it would seem that Aaron has angered them for the last time. After killing Horn at the end the nanites refused to heal Cynthia, delivering a truly powerful irony to the show. Again for a little speculation, it will be interesting to see who the nanites next makes contact with. Considering how badly Aaron pissed them off, I wouldn't be surprised if they make contact with the patriots.
Miles & Rachel
Miles, who has ignorantly, yet valiantly, ignored his injury for the last few weeks, is definitely going to need to see a doctor. I'm thinking this is the only reason that they have kept Gene alive (beyond how awesome Stephen Collins is). Originally when it appeared that Miles had possibly died I thought that Aaron would have the nanites bring him back to life, but then that's definitely not going to happen now.
I think the most important part of this episode for Miles was his flashback. We all knew that Rachel and Miles had a fling back in the day, but I never realized the extent of their relationship. Rachel was willing to leave Ben a whole six years before the blackout. Can you imagine how that talk with Charlie would work? "C'mon honey we're leaving Daddy, but we're moving in with crazy Uncle Miles." In the next few weeks I expect Miles and Rachel's relationship to grow more in the present, considering that Ben has been dead since the pilot. If you thought that talk with a young Charlie would have gone bad, imagine how it would go with "post apocalyptic-lost by brother, father, and everyone else" Charlie. Not a conversation I would want to be involved in.
Monroe & Miles
In other Monroe news, has anyone else realized how often he saves everyone else? Just off the top of my head I can count at least 3 times in this season where other characters were cornered and Monroe jumped out (quite like Batman) and saved the day. Beyond the son story line I'm not entirely sure where else Monroe can go. It would seem that writers are finished hashing out the Miles vs Monroe story line, but it wouldn't totally shock me to see Monroe back at the helm of power at the end of the season attempting to unleash holy hell on Miles Matheson. If they do take this route, I hope they take it seriously though because one of them would actually have to kill the other. I would rather them continue to fight as a team.
Episode Rating: 9.6/10
To conclude, I think we can easily expect a bright future in the coming episode of Revolution. Having dispatched Horn and lost the ability to light people on fire, Aaron will be on a quest to bring Cynthia back from the dead. Inevitably, the rest of the gang will be forced to help. I have also noted that without Horn, this show is really absent of a main villain. Last speculation point for the day: Nanites?
Agree? Disagree? Sound off in the comments and let your voice be heard.