There Will Be Blood (202)

[GateWorld]

REVOLUTION - SEASON TWO THERE WILL BE BLOOD EPISODE NUMBER - 202 Miles finds himself a prisoner of the ruthless leader of a separatist group, while Neville acquires intel about the Patriots. Meanwhile, Charlie attempts to infiltrate those who have captured Monroe, and Aaron's shocking recovery leads to more questions about life and death. VISIT THE EPISODE GUIDE >>

[escyos]

Really liked the inclusion of Andover's backstory. We've already seen that the crazy people of the past found new life after the Blackout (such as the case with Strausser) and Andover's "passions" and his belief that god caused the blackout so they could do whatever they wanted let us know that he really is a crazy and unpredictable person.

Spoiler:

I also have a theory on the rats. Perhaps the nanites are starved for energy and so are starting to find ways to get energy from biological organisms. For those that follow some of the backstory we've learned that birds have been seen flying in perfect quadrilateral forms , cicadas buzzing in harmony and the bright green fireflies. Also the fact that the nanites seemed to turn themselves back on and destroy the equipment at the Tower leads me to further believe they have some amount of intelligence.

[mr_kennedy]

I enjoyed the 2nd episode alot more than the premier

I'm curious to see Neville's Endgame, and also what Munro is going to get up to next, i also want to know more about "the patriots"

[Perelandra]

Spoiler:

The Neville storyline is what is keeping me interested. I really can't wait to see what he is up to and what he'll do next. Great move recruiting that assassin and then killing him to ingratiate himself with the new American leader. What are his plans for her? And what was in that letter she received? I'm really liking Giancarlo Esposito in this show. Will his son take a role in his plan or will he leave(to go find Charlie?)
I know this show is supposed to be SciFi but I'm not sure if I'm liking the nanite storyline. I guess we will have to see how it plays out. As for the rest I'm betting that of course Rachel and co. will bust Miles out of his prison. Did like the creepy "headmaster."

[ZRFTS]

There Will Be Blood

Spoiler:

Do you know what happens when our eyes are fooled, when a certain trick is utilized to the fullest extent of the law; or do you know what happens when our brains imagine something that we really want true, tricking us into believing that it's actually happening right in front of our eyes. It's called an illusion and tonights episode of Revolution just happens to be one of those illusions, although a very good illusion.

People have been praising the recent rise of Revolution to three things; character development, mystery and the seminal inclusions of pop culture to create a more developed world. When it comes to character development; it's okay. We don't get any of the exaggerated stereotypes more than we get characters being characters. This is the case with Aaron who's character seems to be the most executed here, we get to see his struggle between faith and fact, life and death and it's a harrowing one at that; the episode gets oddly philosophical here and divulges into what people believe, what higher power exists, his wife's beliefs provide an interesting backdrop onto the levels of belief of which people are willing to go through. Why do they go through this, maybe it's because they don't want to lose their loved ones, maybe it's because they believe this higher power can do anything. Regardless it's one of the rare moments of the series where Revolution goes deep.

In addition Aaron's wobbly performance almost redeems his missteps from Season 1. The way he steps between the line is one of the most impressive things that have ever come from TV; he's like a dead man walking, one who is aware that he's supposed to be dead yet keeps on living regardless of everything that's been against him. He tries to show the evidence to everybody who's willing to listen but instead they keep believing in faith which frustrated him. Unfortunately it comes at the cost to Rachel who's only chance at character development seems to be her rambunctiousness and her arrogance in trying to save Miles; while she does go around doing the best job that she possibly can, talking to people and trying to lay out a self-imposed debt, she isn't given nearly enough of a platform as Aaron and because of that she suffers despite her performance being good. The only good thing that comes out of it is how devoted she is to saving her friends and that alone serves as a good beneficial character move that's likely to work out in future seasons.

Aaron's good with kids.

The mystery continues to roll on as we get things related to the US Government, the suddenly sentient nanites, the mysterious group that has come to Texas and the missing pieces throughout. This seems like it should be a positive move for Revolution as it sets up core vital essentials such as what happened to all the rats and what are the US government up to but this is an example of what happens when one tries to copy the mystery elements without giving anything interesting in between. You get scenes which focus specifically on one thing and instead of trying to build the characters around them, they instead use them to hook you on the basis of what's behind there; just what is behind that red door of theirs? No characters ever benefit from the mystery and it seems like the only benefit that comes from said mystery is the building up of the US Government as a potential villain/hero what with such things such as an Arabic language and a Illuminati eye. You know, mysteries are supposed to be something that interest you, not something that's used as a gimmick. I want to keep watching because I'm interested in their world, not because there's something forcing me to tune in every week.

Surprisingly, they're somewhat exploiting the potential of the world by having potential villain #5 let out about his religious beliefs and making him generically crazy; by having references to popular shows and movies such as Ghostbusters and Walker, Texas Ranger included (even though I would of pick better shows) and by attempting to develop the town of a character even though that failed. I could somewhat get Miles as he's forced to submit to the whim of a generic crazy evil guy who seems to be more heavy handed than other enemies, what's to expect? Without power people are unfortunately crazy and this leads to the creation of some environments that Revolution couldn't live without. While they still focus on the characters as a whole, they're doing a good job branching out and showing us exotic locations with the activities of the people in the background and the best part about it is that the environments no longer represent a video game, they feel like a real world that anybody can be in even though we could do without the crazy evil guy and how crazy he is; it feels like we've entered a twisted folk world where films and TV shows known now are urban legends to those born into this world.

Good times.

There's also a smaller sideplot between Charlie and Monroe that doesn't seem to do much; sure, it gets to explore the animosity and as an added benefit make Monroe into more of a character than he was in Season 1 but there's nothing beneficial about the two that really works other than we get to focus on a fleeing Monroe and a newly emotional Charlie. I could just imagine how it'd work out had Monroe been more emotional; the potential he showed in the first episode of Season 2 was quite impressive but instead we got a plot that was impressive but could of used more time. The plot that grabbed me the most was Nevil's plot where he seems to be back to his old shifty ways; this can be used more as a grabbing point as we're trying to figure out what he'll do next and what his ultimate plans are. It's amazing that he misleads us in so many ways, one time he's trying to do this and the next he does something else and paints himself out to be the hero. He must have something planned if he wants to make himself look like a hero and as a plus, the acting is as incredible as it was in Season 1 so you won't get tired watching this plot.

This episode is better than episode 1 but not by much. There were better plots such as Aaron and Nevil and there was a mystery aspect to it but the same bad stuff such as boring villains, not enough focus and too many gimmicks. I for one like when a show improves on itself but I don't like when they try to force down mystery and slightly improved character development as major improvements. Still, who can blame the people, they're believing that this is a better show than it actually was and it seems like they really want to trust the words that came out of their mouths but you shouldn't believe in snake skin just because it's better than before, you should believe in a show because it has good characters and an interesting plot. Still, okay episode.

5.5/10

[garhkal]

I enjoyed the 2nd episode alot more than the premier

I'm curious to see Neville's Endgame, and also what Munro is going to get up to next, i also want to know more about "the patriots"

Looking at that letter sent, it seems they might be from the

Spoiler:

middle east, since it looked arabic in nature

[escyos]

Looking at that letter sent, it seems they might be from the

Spoiler:

middle east, since it looked arabic in nature

Spoiler:

Or, you know, they could be using the one language which most Americans had no interest in learning and have a lesser chance for someone to read it.

[ZRFTS]

I have a picture of said language if anybody's interested.

Spoiler:

http://imageshack.us/a/img707/4135/jqtw.jpg

To me, it's middle eastern. It's less likely that it's a code they created mainly because of the use of periods on the top. What type of language do most Americans have no interest in? It's clear that learning Arabic or Hebrew is clearly on the bottom of many people's list.

[escyos]

I have a picture of said language if anybody's interested.

Spoiler:

http://imageshack.us/a/img707/4135/jqtw.jpg

To me, it's middle eastern. It's less likely that it's a code they created mainly because of the use of periods on the top. What type of language do most Americans have no interest in? It's clear that learning Arabic or Hebrew is clearly on the bottom of many people's list.

Yes, but many Americans would equate an Arabic language with terrorism and so would not want to learn it. And after 911 I imagine that less and less people studied it at all, racist as that is, its true.

[garhkal]

I know plenty who are wanting to learn it, to go into the translator field of work..

[escyos]

I know plenty who are wanting to learn it, to go into the translator field of work..

Yes but to the average post-911 American they would not want to learn it at all, because people might see them as sympathetic to terrorism (I'm aware of the dubious connection between the two). It is the one worldwide language that few would learn and more would actually fear. A great choice for a secret code.

[garhkal]

True it would make for a great code.