Contributor: J.M.
Written by Matt Pitts
Directed by Charles Beeson
It’s remarkable that despite all of the inherent flaws in the underlying backstory to “Revolution” and the terrible dialog that exists and poor characters and hand waves that they can still string together some promising episodes. The series itself is also tightly plotted, keeping the stories from wandering all over the map, focusing quickly on two main threads: Monroe’s plot to get a hold of the pendants that turn the power back on, and Charlie’s gang trying to get her brother back. This dichotomy is demonstrated pretty strongly in this episode, and it’s pretty clear which is the stronger of the two plots as well.
The simple fact is that Monroe’s storyline is far the most engaging, and the characters there far more devious and interesting, and the ability of Monroe to manipulate is far better and more interesting television to watch. Unfortunately, that does not say a lot when you’re competing with the dreck that is Charlie’s meandering attempts to save her brother. Despite the deft manipulation by Monroe and Neville, who almost enjoys his work too much, there are just too many underlying problems with the chase for the pendants to get any kind of deep enjoyment out of it.
This brings us to the titular side quest of the episode: the quest to rescue someone else’s brother from the clutches of the Monroe Republic. The circumstances may have changed, but this is essentially the same plot, rinsed, washed, and repeated from most of the episodes, particularly the last one. Charlie discovers the need to go into the enemy territory, makes of mess of her mission, and then has to get rescued by Miles. The only thing really worth mentioning in this plot line is that Charlie is now branded with the Monroe Republic sign, and that somehow the pendant mysteriously activated itself in order to save the group.
While it would be wonderful to be able to write something new, “Revolution” seems unlikely to improve or change. There are simply too many issues and problems to make the show enjoyable, and what few points of promise get drowned out by mediocrity.
Score: 6/10