Revolution - 1x15 "Home" - Overview & Speculation

Hello Revolutionaries!

This weeks Revolution continues on with love triangles gone wrong and a continuous loosing streak for people Miles cares about, but also may provide a turning point for Monroe and/or sow some seeds for season 2.

Our episode starts out this week shortly after a successful battle, as a Georgia Federation Captain, Captain Dixon, along with some soldiers, was sent to watch over Miles and help aid the rebels launch attacks against the Monroe Republic. 

Monroe and Jeremy discuss Mile's success and although Jeremy downplays Miles' attempts to take on the Republic, Monroe's paranoia quickly surfaces as he demands Miles be killed "now", as opposed to any other time. He then explains he knows how to make Miles come to him...

 Miles tries again to take on a fatherly role to Charlie telling her she did a good job in battle, but Charlie less than enthused cuts him short and again demands he explains what he did to Rachel. The possible conversation was also cut short, as a Monroe Republic soldier has been found and demands to speak to Miles. 

The young soldier tells him that Monroe has gone back to Miles' and Monroe's home town and that Miles needs to come alone before dawn or Monroe will kill everyone in the town. Soon after Miles sneaks out and sets out "home".

In the meantime Rachel and Aaron make their way to The Plains Nation. Rachel pays with a pouch of diamonds to cross the boarder. The next day they spend the day in an open market place. Rachel sits down and begins deciphering the equations in the book Jane Warren had given her in the last episode. Aaron offers to help, having two doctorates from MIT, but Rachel dismisses him. Aaron then panics when he sees Priscilla from across the market place! He spends the rest of the day looking for her...

Charlie and Nora soon discover that Miles had left and have Jim Hudson interrogate the young Monroe soldier for answers. Soon they too set out with Captain Dixon to track down Miles. 

In Miles and Monroe's home town (Jasper, Indiana), Monroe rounds up the towns people, but is quickly confronted by Emma, Miles once fiance' and seemingly one night stander of Monroe! He initially lies to her about his attentions making Miles out to be the villain, but Emma knows he's lying while also witnessing a friend being brutally beaten by the Militia. They take Emma away with several townspeople and lock them in a church.

Later Emma confronts Monroe again, begging him to stop this fight with Miles, explaining that she loved him once. Monroe had also visited the grave site of his family--his parents and his sister earlier in the day. He had noticed someone had been leaving flowers for them. He asks her if she was the one remembering his family and she nods yes. For a brief moment we really see Monroe deflect, but like always he only lets himself do that for SO long before he quickly snaps back into his commanding role. He tells Emma that the person he once was is DEAD.

We catch up to Aaron who has explained to Rachel that he has seen Priscilla. Rachel has been walking with him, but keeps downplaying his pursuits, suggesting that maybe he imagined it, but Aaron finds her sitting at a bar with a large blonde man, named Steve. Priscilla is happy at first, but turns rather cold towards Aaron, telling Aaron that she has moved on, has married Steve, and basically pushes him to leave. Aaron, still with Rachel, is stunned and walks away. We see that Priscilla was being held at gunpoint under the table. 

Aaron thinking about it a little longer immediately realizes that something was very wrong and vows he will not leave Priscilla again! He soon finds her being placed on a wagon by Steve. When he approaches Priscilla tells him that Steve is bounty hunter, that she is wanted for murder for stabbing a Monroe Republic officer to death. It takes Aaron a moment to get his wits about him, but he pounces in Steve and attempts beat the hell out of him, but Steve is obviously a good fighter and almost bests Aaron, until Priscilla comes and beats him over the head with a pipe!

It's not a happy ending for Aaron, however. Priscilla really did  move on. The stabbing she had referred to was in relation to protecting her now 11 year old daughter. Priscilla is trying to make her way to Texas to be her new family.

Monroe then sets the building with Emma and towns people inside ablaze! Miles quickly reveals himself and goes inside the building, but the Militia close in and start firing making it impossible for anyone to get out alive! Emma and Miles briefly reunite, but neither says much to the other. They think this could be the end, until suddenly Militia members are taken out by Nora, Charlie, and gang, allowing everyone to escape the building. Miles tells Emma to go and hide in the woods behind the high school, but doesn't make it very far as Monroe grabs her and holds her at gun point.

Miles knows he could take the shot and kill Monroe, but refuses also knowing most likely Emma would be shot too. Charlie, unsympathetic, offers to take the shot, but Miles warns he will kill whoever takes the shot...Emma then again tries to plea to Monroe and reveals that she had their son! Monroe deflects again almost deeper than the viewers ever have seen him have, but we will never know if he would have killed Emma or not anyways, as Captain Dixon, who really doesn't care about anything accept killing Monroe takes the shot, killing Emma, but not Monroe! Monroe's men grab Monroe and drag him in rage against Miles to the helicopter and fly him back to Philly. Miles kills Captain Dixon and goes to hold Emma in his arms. 

The final scene shows Georgia Federation soldiers updating President Foster. She seems to accept Dixon's death as no real loss, as she tells them to send somebody else, some one who can better work with Miles. As I had predicted some time ago, Captain Neville will always play for the side that he knows has a chance in winning, especially if that side will protect his family. President Foster asks the well dressed Neville if he is ready to get back in the battle field!

Last week I predicted that our episode title, a song title reference, would come into play in turns of love triangles turning into murder plots and although it may not be as cut and dry as the story in the song, it definitely still shares subject matter in terms of Emma's death and Monroe and Miles' back story.

Additionally I continued to mention my worries towards Nora by saying this:

"I'm still worried about Nora too. She has been written to be SO subdued these past few episodes since we have returned. My worries continue now more so in that we have made a connection with Georgia (alligator metaphor in "Kashmir") AND because a war with TEXAS was also mentioned in regards to Alec and the Monroe Republic in this episode's flashbacks. Just a reminder: Nora and her sister, Mia, were residing in Texas when the lights went out and that they/Nora seem to have unresolved issues in finding their/her father and fact that someone might have murdered their mother...Really given Nora's aptitude for bomb knowledge, she should have been more highlighted in this week's episode, but most likely, within the next few episodes, a big light might shine on her."

This week's episode continues to feature things pertaining to Nora, as Priscilla's story highlighted the occupation of bounty hunters via Steve, as this was once Nora's occupation and her sister's current occupation, as seen in "The Ties That Bind". -But also Priscilla is trying to get back to her family in TEXAS. The Mississippi River/Crossing the Plains Nation Boarder scene definitely made me think of alligators too, as there are alligators in that river...

Speaking of The Plains Nation, there didn't seem to be anything too distinct about it compared to the Monroe Republic, except for touches of Native American and Bohemian aesthetic, such as the rugs that hung in market place and gypsy-like tents. But considering we the viewers have just arrived here and because we're right on the boarder, might we see something pretty drastic in the next few episodes. After all the Tower is in this region somewhere and I'll be surprised if Aaron and Rachel arrive there without a hitch. (Speaking of that, wonder what Randall is up to???)

One thing I really liked in the episode was the imagery/sequences of Miles' battle flashbacks. I don't think it was used very well in the episode, but I could see it be used better and with more frequency down the line, as it kind of goes hand in hand with Miles refusal to acknowledge what he did to Rachel (and President Foster), his denial of continuous losses representing a fog-like state to keep him from going back to Monroe and to keep marching on!

But what the episode really asks is the famous, "Can we ever really go HOME again?"

On a first glance just looking at this episode, the answer would be no, but it is a "no" for a very complicated reason, as the flashbacks don't actually represent something wholesome and/or innocent in terms of the three characters' youth, but instead cheating on behalf of Emma and great loss on behalf of Monroe, who's family, we were reminded, all have been laid to rest here. This isn't a place of comfort or true love for these characters. So it may not really be what "home" is/should be to begin with.

But looking at the question posed from the series so far, the answer is much harder to come up with, as one episode title contradicts and/or proves the possibility of it, as "the song remains the same" means that things keep going on as they always have gone on. In that sense, at least for Bass, might have gone home again, as things are still the same for him there, despite believing that he is a different person, as Emma claims.

However HOME is much bigger and even a spiritual theme that continues to be explored through the series. I have mentioned before that I believe Charlie may have an ability that might relate to nanites and/or 'the fate of this universe' in that she is a sort of prophet-like character who is working towards creating a better future for all of humanity, (Tagline: "Hope will light the way") as she has the capacity to bring out the better sides of people, such as Miles, providing roads to redemption.

.

Besides Charlie being able to just get in the zone physically during battle scenes, we have seen her comfort the dying, such as Maggie, who's death sequence ("The Plague Dogs") gives us insight that she wasn't dying in utter pain, but rather in joy, as she was able to go home again and be with her kids! This is also complimented with the hallucination sequences in "Kashmir". IMO Charlie's vision was not a hallucination, but rather her near death experience (being grazed by a bullet and hitting her head against the wall falling down onto the stairs of the stairway leading out of the subway tunnels), might be an allusion to "A Stairway to Heaven", as I think Charlie "crossed over" and visited her father on the other side, as he tried to get her to "lay to rest" and come back "home" to him, but she knew she has work to do in the corporeal world and that this wasn't her time to quit. We also can assume she might have subconsciencely known Danny would die, as she asked him to not be outside when the fighting begins during the final sequences of "The Stand".

But more over the series also has Wizard of Oz references and parallels, which The Wizard of Oz tells the story of a girl who thinks she is sick of being home, but ends up on the adventure of a life time only become home sick, suggesting the moral of the story is that we need to leave home in order to appreciate what we once had. On the other hand there is also the famous saying, "Home is Where the HEART is", suggesting home isn't really just a location, but a place that we exist in where we know we are loved. -It's about the people you are with and in Revolution's case, it's possible that the truth is that some of the characters haven't found that or have fought truthfully for that yet, except for Charlie who often does wear her heart on her sleeve.

And lastly, I just want to say that I enjoyed seeing Annie Wersching appear in the episode. It's too bad she's a bit of a throw away character, but her story really opened up a lot, especially for Monroe. (In fact it's sort of interesting how the writers have kept us away from the previous generation of Mathesons and only have focused on Miles relationship with Bass). Personally I think Emma is telling the truth about having a son. I think this will plant seeds for the second season, as this might be something that changes Bass's tune and/or may introduce another force to be reckon with depending on who this boy has become! (Maybe we will see Emma in flashbacks!)  Also I could see him as a possible love interest for Charlie making the family saga more complexly entangled. I predict that he might be reminiscent, in some way(s), to Danny. It was also fun seeing Mark Pellegrino's "Jeremy" again. I hope he gets a bigger part next season! As for Neville, I can't imagine he'll stay loyal to anything other than Julia for long, but it's hard to say if Neville would consider getting close to Miles only to hand him over to Monroe later, or if he's pretty much done with Monroe, since we don't really know a lot about their relationship to begin with, but I'm looking forward to Tom being on the same side, even if just for a little while!


Well that's it for now! Did you enjoy the episode? Anything you guys want to chat about? Sound off in the comments below!

The Bad Robot Factor:

We were briefly introduced to a Georgia Federation Captain, Captain Dixon. Dixon is the last name of a main character on Alias, Marcus Dixon. The two characters have one thing in common (Episode 2x18 "The Truth Takes Time"), such as attempting to take a certain established villainous character out that unsuccessfully results in killing a love interest of said villain, and not the villain himself. Marcus Dixon attempts to shoot Arvin Sloane, but is distracted by the helicopter that flies overhead and accidentally shoots Emily Sloane (Arvin's wife), who is running across the lawn with her husband. The difference is that Monroe held Emma close at gunpoint and Captain Dixon's shot was not an accident. Additionally the scenes in both series parallel as Irina Derevko drags a very emotional Sloane to the helicopter and escapes the CIA, which is the same as Monroe's soldiers dragging Monroe away to their helicopter, but another difference is that we are not sure if Monroe truely cared for Emma and wanted to get back to her body only for answers, as oppose his affection for her, as he also immediately lunges for Miles, where Sloane wants to hold onto Emily. -It takes a bit of reflection for Arvin to strive to plan his revenge on Marcus Dixon.  

This again may support the idea Nora will die before the season ends, as Arvin Sloane hires Allison GEORGIA Doren to kill Dixon's wife (car bomb) in retaliation for killing Emily. -It may then be that Nora's death will involve Monroe (and a bomb?) in some way.

Note: Emily and Emma are first names that start with the letters Em. Felicity, LOST, Fringe, Once Upon A Time, and Revolution all reference The Wizard of Oz. Dorothy's aunt is nick named Aunt(ie) "Em" for "Emily". 

Additionally, as I have noted in The Bad Robot section of Pilot recap, I pegged Captain/Major Neville as a cross between John Locke and Marcus Dixon, as I believe like John he struggles with authority and gets carried away with his beliefs trying to prove himself special, but like Dixon is someone who truly believes themselves honorable and on the side of justice (despite, like Dixon, not always being the case), cares about his family, and is force to be reckon with. But unlike either men, Neville has yet to see the failures in his ways and like the smoke monster/Man In Black impersonating Locke is still completely ruthless.

Note: Terry O'Quinn is well known for his role as LOST's John Locke (and later versions of The Man in Black), but he also has played Agent Kendall on Alias, which includes one of many appearances in the episode "The Truth Takes Time".

Emma is also the name of a minor reoccurring character on LOST. She and her younger brother Zack where traveling from Australia from visiting their father on Flight 815 back to Los Angles to their mother. Emma and Zack surely parallel young Charlie and Danny, as just like them, from a young age were they stripped from their technology-filled lives and be raised on the Island by flight attendant, Cindy Chandler, who all eventually become Temple Others, -A specific group of Others known to prefer living without modern technology...

This also then provides a a segway to Once Upon A Time. Last week I brought up Once in relation to Revolution and LOST, explaining that although Once is NOT a Bad Robot production, it creators (former Lost and Felicity writers) continue on in the spirit and tradition of Bad Robot works with the exception that Once, with it's fantasy roots, and bombastic in nature compared to other Bad Robot works.ever expanding family tree, and loads of plots and large amounts of information given every episode, makes Once more manic and bombastic!

With that being said Once's main protagonist is character named Emma Swan. This new possible plot with Monroe having a son that is introduced as a new character and/or potential love interest to Charlie could then become more like Once in the sense that characters would be more ridiculously entangled in a family saga.



Additionally last week I mentioned the possibility that Rachel going to the Tower might parallel/mirror Juliet going to Swan site in "The Incident". Some proof of that might also relate or rather lightly string together Emma Swan with those things I mentioned last week about Once, Lost and the futuristic laser/taser-tech-Star Wars/Star Trek like devices Revolution and Once share. Emma Swan is played by Jennifer Morison, who also played Wynona Kirk (Captain Kirk's mom) in the opening sequence of Bad Robot's 2009 Star Trek film. The sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness is out May 17th (in the US) and reintroduces original series characters Alex & Carol Marcus. It should also then be noted, that in the previous time line, Carol Marcus has a brief romance with Captain Kirk that results in having his son (David Marcus) and not telling Kirk about it util many many years later, as the couple parts ways. It's unclear given that Bad Robot's Star Trek takes place in an alternate time line, if their relationship will follow suite, or if there will some kind of variation. But this is a VERY similar situation to Emma's in Revolution. -Emma Swan also has a son (Henry) and does not tell his father (Baelfire/Neal) until some years later.

Note: Emma is name that shares name pattern with other Bad Robot characters such as Fringe's Ella, Etta, and Nina.

Speaking of Fringe, Aaron had mentioned that he has two doctorates from MIT. Peter Bishop has a falsified degree from MIT so he could pose as a chemistry professor.

There's also the pouch of diamonds Rachel gives a Plains Nation boarder patrol officer or just random boarder pilferer. A pouch of diamonds is most iconic in LOST relating to the back story of Nikki and Paulo, but also Sawyer and Miles.


-But pouches of diamonds are also seen in Alias, Undercovers, and Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol. In Alcatraz there are similar style pouches, but instead of diamonds they contain special keys!

And lastly the bounty hunter after Priscilla was named Steve. Steve became this horrible inside joke on LOST, as main characters kept getting "Steve and Scott" confused, playing to the idea that they had formed a little click group of people, who didn't actually know everyone outside of their immediate group.Also Marcus Dixon's son is also named Steven and is the name of a main character on Undercovers, Steven Bloom.