Sex and Drugs
2.5/10
Spoiler:
The world of Revolution may be poorly conceived but at least it has one thing going for it, the shady underground filled with drug lords and shady people which is what this episode aims to exploit.
To be honest the best part of the episode is the revelation of the fact that there are people out there who can grow drugs and have some idea on how medicine works. For much of the show we have seen a world were people seem incapable of building stuff with their bare hands and even stuff like printing presses and steam powered machines are rare; the intention was to create a sort of world where it's tossed over it's ear but common logic dictates that there should of been people who knew how to make stuff without the need of automation or electricity, these types of things have been established since the dawn of time, heck many of the worlds famous buildings were made without the modern tools of the day and to me that just makes the world seemingly unrealistic and ignorant. (Are the books which describe this thrown out, do the electrical distractions make us forgo past methods?)
To see this type of stuff is amazing because it shows that there are people out there who are willing to do this stuff, who know how to do this stuff. A doctor who knows the methods and uses the tools of back then, who knows how to grow his own stuff by scratch, it's one of the aspects that make the world much more than what it is; and the person playing him is good, he may have some of that mob boss mentality in him but he's snarky, he's determined and he's got a good energy to him. He's one of the guys who even though is designed to be disliked from the getgo, you can't help to like; he's got skill, he's got a business going on and he's even got struggles of his own. It is a real shame that he's killed at the end, it's good in terms of the plot but it's bad because it shows that the intelligent people who know how to do this stuff always die at the hands of the lesser people.
The wonders of medicine.
What happens in this episode furthers that notion; this episode seems to be trying to give us a platform for our characters. We got a drug lord who doesn't care much for our heroes, Nora in a situation of life & death and Charlie in the usual position and while this may seem perfect, what happens contradict this; they insist many things, that the drug lord is abusing the woman, that the rival gang is innocent, that there's a gang war going on and that's it, everything is insistence. How are we to know if he's actually abusing the woman, we don't see anything in their body language to insist abuse, his tone doesn't tell us anything and the only sign is when he slaps Charlie (which had the opposite intended effect for me.) which doesn't even mean anything in the long run and the irish gang; they keep pushing that they're innocent, showing us things like a son, a history as a police officer, a humbleness from the guy himself, even our heroes themselves push that they're killing innocents but they barely show us anything that even enforces that innocence.
This raises the question, are we supposed to believe in what we're told despite the insufficient information, are we supposed to take the minor hints and form them into our own possible conclusions. Without anything established or any real reason for why the two are fighting, the conflict feels hollow and this spreads to our characters; especially Charlie who seems more "righteous" than ever. She seems to be trying to gain an audience for herself, showing us the stuff like tearing up her photos, having her assassinate someone while being uncertain about it but every word that she says, every action that she does, every emotion that she tries to show is forced and we know that you're trying to create an innocent character that's thrust into the world of darkness even though she doesn't want to do it but you know what'll convince me, making a better character.
Miles and Aaron show the objectionable side, which is reasonable given that someone has to stop Charlie from doing something. Miles care for her sister is admirable but it's inconsistent with the way he's been treated and the way he's treating her; It makes me wonder what he's thinking about when he's saving her, why he's even doing it in the first place; if two family members act as if they're aren't family then it dilutes the bond and makes his actions worth less, there is some hint of his dark side that rectifies some of his flaws but it just pushes towards the obvious assumption. Aaron does seem like he's better at being emotive; there seems to be a plot in proving his worth, tagging along trying to seem contributive; who wouldn't blame him?
And the flashbacks reflect this as well; seeming caring, trying his best to survive, wanting to at least something to his wife. It's nice to know that he doesn't want to be seen as empty but the problem is not with the acting or the story, but with the character itself. Geeks on this show are somewhat stereotypical, they focus on new technology neglecting the old and they're obviously weak and unable to do the simplest things; it didn't come to them that he might have knowledge of how machines work and that knowledge would of been worth a lot in the world, electricity being gone doesn't mean that the knowledge is worthless, if only the creators can just realize that... He does hatch a plan to kill a guy but to me it just seems like a menial thing, one to make him happy; I'm not doubting his actions but the intention is for him to find something to make him worthwhile and that comes with purpose.
The contrast of murder.
It's nice to see some of the world and some of the characters are good but the main problem is with the premise which has a ton of holes which makes the whole thing unappealing. There is a lack of common ground, we're forced to draw our own perspective on what's going on and those conflicting perspectives get in the way of the characters. With some grounding of what's happening, we might be able to connect with the characters more but since everything is uncertain, it creates a murky area that brings the episode down thereby ruining it's good intentions. This ultimately turned out to be insubstantial as a whole.
To be honest the best part of the episode is the revelation of the fact that there are people out there who can grow drugs and have some idea on how medicine works. For much of the show we have seen a world were people seem incapable of building stuff with their bare hands and even stuff like printing presses and steam powered machines are rare; the intention was to create a sort of world where it's tossed over it's ear but common logic dictates that there should of been people who knew how to make stuff without the need of automation or electricity, these types of things have been established since the dawn of time, heck many of the worlds famous buildings were made without the modern tools of the day and to me that just makes the world seemingly unrealistic and ignorant. (Are the books which describe this thrown out, do the electrical distractions make us forgo past methods?)
To see this type of stuff is amazing because it shows that there are people out there who are willing to do this stuff, who know how to do this stuff. A doctor who knows the methods and uses the tools of back then, who knows how to grow his own stuff by scratch, it's one of the aspects that make the world much more than what it is; and the person playing him is good, he may have some of that mob boss mentality in him but he's snarky, he's determined and he's got a good energy to him. He's one of the guys who even though is designed to be disliked from the getgo, you can't help to like; he's got skill, he's got a business going on and he's even got struggles of his own. It is a real shame that he's killed at the end, it's good in terms of the plot but it's bad because it shows that the intelligent people who know how to do this stuff always die at the hands of the lesser people.
The wonders of medicine.
What happens in this episode furthers that notion; this episode seems to be trying to give us a platform for our characters. We got a drug lord who doesn't care much for our heroes, Nora in a situation of life & death and Charlie in the usual position and while this may seem perfect, what happens contradict this; they insist many things, that the drug lord is abusing the woman, that the rival gang is innocent, that there's a gang war going on and that's it, everything is insistence. How are we to know if he's actually abusing the woman, we don't see anything in their body language to insist abuse, his tone doesn't tell us anything and the only sign is when he slaps Charlie (which had the opposite intended effect for me.) which doesn't even mean anything in the long run and the irish gang; they keep pushing that they're innocent, showing us things like a son, a history as a police officer, a humbleness from the guy himself, even our heroes themselves push that they're killing innocents but they barely show us anything that even enforces that innocence.
This raises the question, are we supposed to believe in what we're told despite the insufficient information, are we supposed to take the minor hints and form them into our own possible conclusions. Without anything established or any real reason for why the two are fighting, the conflict feels hollow and this spreads to our characters; especially Charlie who seems more "righteous" than ever. She seems to be trying to gain an audience for herself, showing us the stuff like tearing up her photos, having her assassinate someone while being uncertain about it but every word that she says, every action that she does, every emotion that she tries to show is forced and we know that you're trying to create an innocent character that's thrust into the world of darkness even though she doesn't want to do it but you know what'll convince me, making a better character.
Miles and Aaron show the objectionable side, which is reasonable given that someone has to stop Charlie from doing something. Miles care for her sister is admirable but it's inconsistent with the way he's been treated and the way he's treating her; It makes me wonder what he's thinking about when he's saving her, why he's even doing it in the first place; if two family members act as if they're aren't family then it dilutes the bond and makes his actions worth less, there is some hint of his dark side that rectifies some of his flaws but it just pushes towards the obvious assumption. Aaron does seem like he's better at being emotive; there seems to be a plot in proving his worth, tagging along trying to seem contributive; who wouldn't blame him?
And the flashbacks reflect this as well; seeming caring, trying his best to survive, wanting to at least something to his wife. It's nice to know that he doesn't want to be seen as empty but the problem is not with the acting or the story, but with the character itself. Geeks on this show are somewhat stereotypical, they focus on new technology neglecting the old and they're obviously weak and unable to do the simplest things; it didn't come to them that he might have knowledge of how machines work and that knowledge would of been worth a lot in the world, electricity being gone doesn't mean that the knowledge is worthless, if only the creators can just realize that... He does hatch a plan to kill a guy but to me it just seems like a menial thing, one to make him happy; I'm not doubting his actions but the intention is for him to find something to make him worthwhile and that comes with purpose.
The contrast of murder.
It's nice to see some of the world and some of the characters are good but the main problem is with the premise which has a ton of holes which makes the whole thing unappealing. There is a lack of common ground, we're forced to draw our own perspective on what's going on and those conflicting perspectives get in the way of the characters. With some grounding of what's happening, we might be able to connect with the characters more but since everything is uncertain, it creates a murky area that brings the episode down thereby ruining it's good intentions. This ultimately turned out to be insubstantial as a whole.
2.5/10
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