Revolution -- The New Blackout
It's very rare that a show that was really floundering in it's first season from a lot of it's mistakes manages to turn itself around in the second season, but the first episode of Revolution seemed to do just that. I think one of the benefits [even though I was disappointed when I heard the lights were back out] is viewers are seeing how things are emerging with the power off. One of the biggest mistakes was having the show begin so many years after the blackout and not being able to see what happened in the early days without power. So they've kind of reset everything by having the power go off again and eradicating to two big powers of the US. In short, the playing field is leveled and things are starting all over again.
Aaron managed to turn the lights back off but not before the nuclear bombs destroyed Atlanta and Philadelphia where the two big military powers were situated. Savannah now houses a huge refugee camp of homeless people as all the fighting has stopped. Neville and Jason are searching the camp for Julia, hoping she survived the blast in Atlanta. Neville finally faces that Julia is dead and plans to kill himself, but Jason stops him. Then he's given a new focus in life; revenge on the people who killed his wife.
Into the Savannah camp sails a huge ship waving the American flag. The Secretary representing the U.S. government disembarks and spins her yarn about how Monroe and President Foster fired on each other wiping the other off and claims that the U.S. government had wanted to help them in their time of need, but just weren't. Like Randall did before blowing his brains out she declares they're patriots. In short, she comes to sell the starving homeless holocaust survivors some candy and hoping they'll gobble it down.
One person not buying her BS is Neville who knows very well who fired missiles on Atlanta and Philadelphia and figures the Secretary represents the people who killed his wife. So Neville cleans himself up and tells Jason he intends to destroy them from within.
Miles' rag-tag group heads to Willoughby, Texas where Rachel's father Gene lives. Now that everything is over Rachel's had a mental meltdown having to deal with the fact she caused the mass-murder of two cities. After a couple of months of living in Willoughby, Charlie decides to strike out on her own.
One of the big problems on the show was the Charlie character last season, but this Charlie actually seems a lot more likable and without a lot of the problems of the old one. It also helps the show also has a more ensemble feel opposed to trying to build the whole show around one character.
Charlie's all grown up as she has sex with a bartender she picks up. It's just her luck to be in the same town Sebastian's in. When she finds out he's earning his money as a fighter, she begins stalking him, planning to kill him. She fires her crossbow at him, only to watch in shock as some men kidnap Sebastian. The question is will she go rescue Sebastian so she can have the pleasure of killing him, herself?
Meanwhile, Rachel is better now in the six months that have passed. Gene is glad to have Rachel back, but he wants Miles [who is calling himself Stu] to leave. He tells Miles what a wild child Rachel was and he had hopes she was finally settling down when she married Ben. That was until he saw the way she was looking at Miles during her wedding.
Rachel tries to get Miles to stay when he says he's leaving and it's obvious they both still have feelings for each other. However, it isn't meant for Miles to go. As he's about to leave he sees a farm being attacked and runs to the rescue. He returns to Willoughby to warn them that some war tribe is living on their doorstep and may soon move in for the kill on them.
Miles is also keeping a secret. At the beginning of the show we see him emerge bloody form a small wooden building that he sets on fire. It seems likely that Miles killed someone in that building, but who was it?
Aaron seems to have the best life post shutting the power off again. He's living with a woman that seems to love him. However, when he goes out a night he experiences a weird phenomena of a bunch of fireflies gathering around him. This isn't the first time something like this has happened, but Rachel tries to assure him it means nothing.
Everything changes for Aaron when the war tribe attacks trying to take all the women. Aaron is fatally stabbed trying to save his girlfriend and Miles and the Sheriff are taken hostages when they try to stop them. Miles and Mason are taken to the war tribes camp and introduced to their leader, Titus Andover, who says this is his family.
As Rachel grieves Aaron's death Aaron's girlfriend notices fireflies flying around and Aaron suddenly comes back to li.
Meanwhile the dilapidated White House is being refurbished for the President's arrival back home. One has to wonder if he's aware there are six people living that can expose his lies and reveal he was the one behind the bombings of Atlanta and Philadelphia. And if he does, will he start hunting them down to silence them? Could his people have been the ones to nab Sebastian? Having Monroe turn up alive would be a major spanner in the works. He could deny giving the order to fire on Atlanta and that would certainly upset El Presidente's apple cart real bad.
And just who is Titus Andover? Did he target Willoughby because he knew Miles was staying there? Did Miles kill one of his family and start the whole thing up?
On a side note, I was really thrilled to see Stephen Collins turn up as Rachel's father and hope he's made a regular cast mate. The way people get injured on this show, it could really use a real doctor to patch them up.
