Thursday, November 14, 2013

Holding Out for a Hero - Revolution, Season 2, Episode 8

Miles has managed to beat and torture a Patriot soldier who tells them that the Patriots' HQ is now in an abandoned paper factory, and Dr. Horn is there.  I'm sure bringing a known firebug like Aaron won't cause any problems in a building filled with old paper.  Miles and Charlie arrive just in time to see Dr. Dad blame all Willoughby's troubles on "Stu", officially blowing Miles' cover in the bargain.  Dr. Dad tells the Patriots that Miles pulled a Patty Hearst on his daughter Rachel and granddaughter Charlie, and Ed Truman nods comfortingly as Dr. Dad instructs the Patriots to bring his family back to him unharmed.  So you know the Patriots have no intention of letting those two alone.  The Patriots are still scouring a very little town bounded by walls for three outlaws who are still together in various run-down hide-outs.  Seriously, I could find a needle in a haystack faster.  And the Patriots even have dogs.

In the meantime, Dr. Horn is still threatening Dr. Dad, but now he wants to know where Aaron is.  He still will kill Rachel and Charlie if he doesn't get what he wants.  For once, Dr. Dad stays calm and reminds Horn that threats aren't going to make anything appear by magic.  Horn actually threatens to just level the town; this is too much for Ed Truman, who bitches about how hard it is to be a control freak in Willoughby. Dr. Horn belittles his work, and tells Ed that his way means reclaiming the U.S. will take years; Horn's way reduces that to months.  I think Horn's work will literally blow them all to smithereens, but neither Ed or Dr. Dad have figured that out yet.

Tom Neville shows up at an old plantation home in NC, base for a certain member of the Patriots' High Command, and presents Justine's engagement ring, which gets him in to meet Roger Allenford, and bargain with Rog for a spot with High Command.  In exchange, Neville will help Roger bring in Justine as a traitor, preserving the family within the Patriots.  Roger, who might actually care more about the paintings he is evaluating than his own wife, agrees.

Monroe, Aaron and Wifey have relocated to the old dry-dock boatyard, but Aaron isn't reminiscing about his old, fabulously wealthy life now.  Monroe is itching to leave Team Miles behind, as they haven't arrived.  Aaron panics as he convinces Monroe that Miles will come.  Aaron then tries to confront his wife, reassure her that he's not a psychopath, but Wifey has just figured out what happened to her first husband, and Aaron has to confess that he did, sort of accidentally, in a fit of anger, kill the first Mr.Wifey.  Wifey isn't happy, as it means she's been sleeping with and loving the guy who killed her asshole husband.  Hey Wifey, don't you remember they found two bodies in that car?  He wasn't even faithful. Find some lucky stars to thank.  However, the scene really isn't resolved because Monroe starts to leave, and as Aaron tries to keep him here, we find out that Miles has promised to tell Monroe where his kid is if Monroe keeps Aaron and Wifey safe.  However, Monroe is convinced that Miles isn't coming, and Monroe will be on his own finding the kid anyway, so he may as well leave.  They're interrupted by Patriots arriving at the boatyard, and Monroe is a serious badass as he takes out two small scout groups on his own.  But more Patriots are arriving, and Monroe can't kill them all.  What's more, Monroe is supposed to still be dead; he can't risk being seen anymore.  So Monroe abandons Aaron and Wifey, who are quickly captured.

Neville and Roger Allenford are traipsing through the woods.  Roger loses his nerve, pulling a gun on Neville and arguing with Neville on whether he and Justine could just make a run for it.  Neville argues that he and Justine would never make it, die together, and their son would be punished for their treason.  As they're arguing, Boy Band catches Justine trying to get out of her cuffs, and when she reminds him that he went to that re-ed camp because his father gave him up without a fight, Jason almost chokes her to death.  Justine Allenford realizes that Boy Band isn't entirely deprogrammed, and we see through his eyes that she's right.  Boy Band is probably only 80% conscious of what he's even doing at any time.  But he does remember to tighten the bonds on Justine, who is now crying as she pleads to be set free.

Meanwhile, Miles tells Rachel where the Patriots are, and confirms that Horn is with them.  Rachel is convinced they must kill Horn, before he can torture Aaron or do any other creepy experiments.  Miles tells Rachel that Dr. Dad is in and out of the HQ, and any bombs might kill him too.  Rachel is barely hesitant; Dr. Dad betrayed them, and can die with the Patriots.  Charlie's a little put out by Rachel's attitude, but Miles just shrugs his shoulders. The Doctor isn't his dad.  Charlie tells Rachel that she had to forgive Rachel eventually for abandoning the family to be Monroe's prisoner, and for sending Nora to her death.  Rachel has no use for forgiveness.  Later, we see Rachel and Charlie cooking bomb materials together.  It ain't cookies, but Rachel seems pleased that they're finally having some quality time.  She explains the plan to Charlie.  She'll pour the bomb ingredients down a vent shaft from the roof.  Charlie will help her by distracting the guards and their dogs with a dog whistle, which is perfect.  The dogs lead the Patriots away from the building, allowing Rachel to get to the fire escape of the building and access the roof.  Rachel sees her dad while on the fire escape. After a second of hesitation, she keeps going, so Miles and Charlie know that Dr. Dad is expendable.  But wait! A new wagon drives up, with Aaron and Wifey!  Oh NO!  Rachel can't see 'cause she's already on the roof, approaching the vent shaft with her brewskies.  She hesitates a couple times as she's about to pour and combine them, but just as she moves, Miles stops her from behind, telling her that Aaron is inside.

Neville and Roger arrive before Allenford can say anything else to Boy Band.  The Allenfords have one of the calmest, politest spats about treason and whether their son will live that any couple has ever had.  Allenford still thinks she can convince somebody, anybody, to just let her go.  Roger contradicts her by shooting her in the chest.  She dies, after arriving in Georgia with humanitarian aid, trying to prevent people from being sent to re-ed camps, and making good on her promises to Tom Neville.  Poor Justine, dead because her husband is really who Tom wants a deal with.

Aaron and Wifey are immediately separated in the basement of the Patriots' HQ, and Aaron is strapped uncomfortably into a dentist's chair.

Come on, even the airlines have seat belt extenders

Dr. Dad wants to stay and offer what little, incompetent protection of Aaron he can, but he's dismissed.  Dr. Dad is leaving the Patriots HQ when Team Rachel kidnaps him and interrogates them.  Unlike Rachel, he actually has a justification - where does Rachel think the medicine they've been using in that clinic for the last six months came from?  Santa?  Dr. Dad throws Rachel's past actions in her face, which is fair - Dr. Dad didn't get two major cities nuked, nor was he ever Monroe's second-in-command.  Dr. Dad is fine with Team Rachel hating him, as long as they realize they're still alive because of him.  Even Charlie starts hating Dr. Dad.  When the Patriots show up,  Dr. Dad offers to distract them, which he does by getting the jump on Ed Truman just long enough for Miles, Rachel and Charlie to escape out the back.  Is there a reason Ed didn't have all entrances/exits covered? I mean, he's dishonest, but not incompetent.  Later, Team Rachel crouches behind an old car (why weren't they hauled away and scrapped years ago???), and Rachel tells them they'll find a way to extract Aaron, Wifey and Dr. Dad from the Patriots.

Mistakes? What mistakes?

Horn cuts Aaron repeatedly, trying to understand how his nanites heal him.  It's extremely painful and Aaron would usually be able to light Horn up, but Horn has drugged him with downers, making it impossible for Aaron to concentrate on anything except what an asshole Horn is.  We see through flashbacks that Horn is compensating for the loss of his mother when his extremely religious father refused her medical help.  In 1994.  Really.  Anyway, Horn became a doctor because he no longer believed in miracles.  Except that now, Horn needs a miracle as he has terminal cancer.  Horn really should have talked to Wifey, who could have told him Aaron is more of a firebug than a miracle.  Instead, he has Wifey brought in, and injects Aaron with huge uppers to get his emotions going and see who gets burned.  Horn leaves, thinking he'll be safe out of Aaron's sight (I've got two dead Patriot bodies that prove that theory wrong, dumbass).  Aaron, desperate not to torch Wifey, is casting around for anyone else to take the brunt of his injection.  The episode cuts as fire leaps into the air.

So we see Secretary Allenford sacrificed for Neville's advancement, just as she is the only one who's figured out that Boy Band is still a problem.  And Aaron is really letting loose.  If the promos for next week aren't completely misleading, Team Rachel didn't need a bomb after all.  Did Dr. Horn survive his own stupid experiment?  Where did Monroe run off to?  How are East Coast plot and Texas plot going to come together?  By the mid-season finale?

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