Review: Revolution "Chained Heat"

The pilot was entertaining, but had issues. The same can be said about the second episode. Through the first two episodes what we can expect from this series is for certain things to simply not make sense. Such as a petite girl being able to overpower a man that is on top of her and still the aspect of all forms of electricity being out is a hard pill to swallow. Aside from that, the series benefits greatly by ending their episodes on a high note that makes people want to come back next week. They also benefit from the fact that there isn't really anything else on Mondays at 10 PM. Showrunner Eric Kripke is also doing a terrific job of writing dialogue, albeit, that Billy Burke's character sounds very much like another one of Kripke's famous characters from Supernatural. Burke's delivery of lines with the somewhat raspy voice he has resembles Dean Winchester's voice from Kripke's fan favorite television show. Now that is not a knock on Burke, as his character is already turning out to be one of the best on the show.

The episode begins with a well choreographed fight scene between Miles (Burke) and a bounty hunter (C. Thomas Howell). Miles bests the paid hit man and is about to deliver the final blow but of course Charlie has to "save the day". She explains that he cannot simply kill and she will not allow it, but on the flip side Miles tells her that the man will not stop coming after them. Charlie's dopey-eyes foils Miles' resolve and he gives in to her demands. He locks the hunter inside of a train car. The group begins to follow Miles as he decides they need help if they are to go up against the Monroe Militia. His old friend Nora (Daniella Alonso) is just what the doctor ordered. However, in his pursuit of Nora he runs back into the bounty hunter and Miles lets himself be put into handcuffs just to get out of sight of the others so he can kill the bounty hunter. Charlie still sees it, but Miles has the whereabouts of Nora and sets off for her alone. He knew he'd have to kill to get Nora as she was captured by the Militia. Charlie sneaks out the following night to meet up with him and help him get his friend.

Danny had his fair share of trouble, but also saw Neville for what he truly is. Neville can hide behind his honor all he wants, but deep down he enjoys killing. It was nice to see Danny stick up against Neville, but at the same time if you keep poking the beast then eventually it will bite back. As for Charlie, in her pursuit of Miles she came across Nate who was tailing her. Charlie got the upper hand on him by pretending that she was hurt only to handcuff him to a pole. It was nice to see that she wasn't completely incompetent for once. Eventually she caught up to Miles and the two were able to free Nora. However, of course Nora wasn't just some damsel in distress. She allowed herself to get captured only to steal the sniper rifle off of the Warden of the prison camp she was in. Together, they three hatched a plan to get the rifle which put Charlie in a position where she would have to kill the warden herself. Miles didn't believe that she could, but her morality was safe, as she was doing it to free all of the prisoners. It was interesting how they used the flashback to when the electricity went out to when Charlie was walking up on the Warden. When the electricity went out, the Matheson family walked through the city to find safe keeping only to see Charlie as a child put in a dangerous situation. A hungry and desperate man hold Charlie bargaining for their food. Her father was unable to kill the man as he walked away with their food, but Rachel (Elizabeth Mitchell) was able to do so. Just like Charlie, she was able to pull the trigger for the right reason.

Again, it was an entertaining episode and the reveal at the end of someone who we all presumed was dead to be well and alive was a nice touch. Albeit, to the central plot it would be really nice to know exactly what role Grace Beaumont plays in this series as all we have seen her do is house a sick Danny and play with her computer. As for another issue with the show, why did it take Ben fifteen years to finally up and decide to take his amulet to Grace when the Militia came to his doorstep? Why didn't he do it before then? Now, it has only been two episodes into a very promising show, so it is hard to criticize it to hard right now. It's tough to watch the opening season of shows just for the fact that it can take a long time for the show to really gain some momentum. However with a show like this that continues to end on such a high note, it is doing a good job of bringing back viewers every week.