You think that with the pendents being revealed; the show would go into a better direction. Well it does in this episode but some how it's still
stuck in it's shackles.
But it is
decent...
The premise of them being followed by one of the militia's most ruthless leaders
Strauser isn't exactly a good premise; while the fear of them being hunted by a person who is willing to do anything to kill them is a good one in theory, as shown previously in Revolution these types of situations don't exactly provide the tensity which engages people but it does provide some
good action. Just when you think it's going to be another episode, bam! You get gunshots, people chasing themselves through a city and even explosions galore; it's definitely an unexpected surprise which should take it's audience by storm and hook them though the ever disappointing times.
I think the problem lies with Strauser; he's built up to be an unstoppable, menacing foe and that's what he is, just a menacing foe without any convincing character or background. There's
nothing to make us think that he's any different from any of the milita guys we've faced except for the fact that he's seemingly everywhere and one step ahead of our heroes; even his backstory is disinteresting in that he was locked up in a mental asylum, while it does explain his personality, it doesn't make him memorable one bit. He does have
one defining trait though and that is the deviousness that he shows in setting up situations to get what he wants, tricking the characters and destroying friendships in the process; that one scene shows the potential of that character but then again, it's
only one thing that stands out from a bland few.
I have to say, the characters here acted better; Miles seemed to be somewhat into it yelling out emphasisms with a bit of emotion and definitely showing his gruff side and Charlie, let's just say she
wisely stays out of the way knowing her limitations and her inability to emote.
Less Charlie equal better episode I say; they really helped to provide some entertainment value and keep people engaged and maybe,
maybe that'll translate to future episodes and even Nevil gets a chance to show his fatherly side by going against the abuse given towards him and even protecting him in the process shafting a commander or two (it really shows how he takes his position and his family seriously, makes him almost human.) but the
real stars here are Nora and her sister who manage to bring out the acting chops and finally prove their characters.
Though the plot is common; the emotion they put on is really charming, you can feel their bond, the hopes that their father might be alive, the desire of Nora to save Miles brother, the insistence of her sister; even though I think otherwise of Charlie and her family, it is the sweetness that makes it all convincing, that makes you forgoe the flaws and just think of what's on screen and the flashbacks featuring their younger selves are equally as good if not
better. I don't know why the younger counterparts act better than their older ones but they
do, the way her sister asks questions and make faces is exceedingly cute and the way Nora takes care of her younger sister, trying to reassure her through these hard times, it's a nice sign of the devoted nature that her character would later have in the future.
However, the episode seems to go off on a tangent in the last few minutes and it seems to consist mainly of
padding with possible questions for the future. Many questionable inclusions are included here like the scene with Strauser and Miles; considering what he had I'm
surprised he went back and gave them a chance to take it, especially considering that the crew was able to at least get close to Strauser. This would threaten to
undermine the series but luckily the writers managed to rectify that though in the poorest way possible. The scene involving Nora and her sister is a nice show is emotional heartbreak but it's placing in the plot felt like something meant for Act 4 rather than Act 3 and it's impact is
lessened because of it. There's also more setups here than plot, we have a scene with Monroe and Rachel, we have a scene with Nevil and surprise, surprise, a scene with Grace and Randal which shows us a bit of their operation.
It raises many questions like "
will Nevil rise up and take control of the Militia?", "
just what is Monroe going to do with the pendent?", "
what is that weapon shown in the end?" and all of those questions seems interesting but the real question to me is this. "
Do these instances have any weight?" Miles definitely seems to hint constantly at how Monroe will use the pendents but he only gives us insistence after insistence with no clarity. Adding to that is the
lack of exploration into Miles' past; he was the founder of the militia, he supposedly killed tons of people and yet there is barely
anything about that which gives weight to his words. I understand if you want to keep this a secret but for us to care about the pendents, we have to know
more about him and they're going to have to reveal it sooner or later because saying Monroe is evil (though he himself isn't helping) isn't exactly going to hold up.
This isn't as what NBC made it out to be but it's still
decent. There wasn't much in the premise overall but it did have a cute plot with Nora and her sister and at least Charlie stayed out of the way. At least we're getting, getting somewhere now.
