Revolution Episode 1.08 Review And Review: Ties That Bind

In this week’s episode of Revolution, we begin in Freeport, Pennsylvania, 290 miles outside of Philadelphia. Miles, Charlie, Nora, and Aaron are attempting to cross a bridge that is controlled by the Monroe Militia. While it appears that Nora has bribed their way across, they don’t get far when Miles realizes that they are walking into a trap. He orders everyone to turn and run, and gunfire rings out as they do so. As they make their escape, Miles looks back, and sees Strausser.

The group is pursued and manages to hide in an abandoned warehouse. As they listen to the search efforts of the militia, a shaken Miles tells them that they have no chance of crossing the bridge with Strausser there. He admits that when he was in command of the militia, the only person he was ever afraid of was Strausser, and with him in the picture they are in trouble.

The militiamen return to Strausser and the leader of the group admits that they lost Miles and the others. Miles listens, eating an apple, before abruptly stabbing the man to death. He turns aside as if nothing had happened, and orders for “the girl” to be brought out.

As Miles and the others start to leave the area, a flair cuts through the sky, and the militiamen start calling Nora’s name. They go on to add that they have Mia, which causes Nora to turn and run back toward the bridge. The others follow reluctantly with Miles calling that it’s a trap. They catch sight of a girl, gagged and bound to a pole. When Charlie asks who that is, Mia responds that it’s her sister.

We then see the first flashback of the evening. A young Nora hides under a bed with her little sister while a man trashes the room. After he leaves, Nora creeps out from under the bed and admonishes Mia to stay there. She goes into another room and discovers that their mother has been killed. She hides this from Mia, saying that their mother left a note instructing them to head to their father’s house.

Back in Freeport, Strausser calls out to Nora, telling her that all he wants is the pendant and Miles, in exchange for Mia. The group retreats and Aaron wonders how they know about the pendant and the fact that Nora is with them. Miles quickly deduces that “Nate” – who we now know is Neville’ son, Jason – must have provided the information to Monroe. When Charlie wonders how they managed to find Nora’s sister, Miles says that Strausser lives for finding things.

Miles demands that Aaron give him the pendant and attempts to destroy it. After several unsuccessful blows with his sword do nothing to it, Aaron grabs it back. The two men argue, and Nora interrupts them, saying that they won’t turn over the pendant or Miles to Strausser, but she needs their help to rescue Mia and kill as many militiamen as possible.

In Philadelphia, Neville walks in on his son, Jason, being beaten up. When he finds out that Monroe commanded it, he confronts Monroe, and discovers that Jason bribed a stable boy to find out where Strausser was headed. Neville tries to play down the offense as an infatuation that Jason has with Charlie, but Monroe states that it was a betrayal. He tells Neville that Jason has two choices: to join a diplomatic expedition heading to the California Commonwealth – a 3,000 mile journey with low chance of survival – or immediate execution for treason.

Returning to Freeport, the group devises multiple bomb distractions to rescue Mia. After escaping the area, Mia finds out that the group is heading for Philadelphia and scoffs at their plans to rescue Danny. However, when she realizes that the others are heading over 100 miles to the next river crossing, she admits that she knows a “coyote,” only 10 miles up the river; someone who has a ferry and would be able to get them across the river a lot quicker for a substantial bribe.

The discussion ends with the sudden appearance of Strausser, and the group hides in a drainage pipe. As Strausser searches overhead, the second flashback of the episode occurs; four months after the blackout, young Nora and Mia walk along a beach in Galveston, Texas. They enter a house, calling for their father, but the place appears to be abandoned. Mia gets slightly hysterical, demanding to know where their parents are, and Nora admits that their mother was killed, but that they will wait to see if their father returns.

As Miles talks to Charlie and Aaron about the importance of crossing the river, Mia pulls Nora aside and tells her that she was gone for the last year because she took a trip to Texas and found their father. Mia begs Nora to leave with her to go visit him. Charlie happens to overhear the conversation as Mia cajoles Nora to abandon the mission to save Danny and leave with her. Nora responds that she promised Charlie that she would help save Danny, and she’d go with Mia after that. Mia argues back that if Nora goes to Philadelphia, she won’t get out alive, and there won’t be an “after.” Nora then tries to get Mia to go with them, but Mia refuses, saying that it’s a suicide mission. She says she will get Nora and the others across the river, and then head to Texas on her own.

In Philadelphia, Julia enters Neville’s study, and tells her husband that she has found some information that will help their family. She calls in their maid, Rose, who admits that while she was cleaning the house of Colonel Faber, she overheard him and his wife discussing their son, Stephen, who was apparently a rebel. After dismissing Rose, Julia reiterates the seriousness of the accusation, stating that Colonel Faber was one of Monroe’s most senior aides, and she could only imagine what he would do if he found out – especially considering his plans to send Jason to California over a simple stupid question, whereas Colonel Faber’s son was a traitor. Neville says that he can certainly imagine what Monroe might do with the information, before telling Julia that he loves her.

When Miles and the others reach the river crossing that Mia had mentioned, they discover that Mia’s contact is dead and the ferry is gone. The plan shifts back to the Morgantown crossing 100 miles away. Mia decides to head to Texas, and tries again to convince Nora to come with. Charlie overhears them talking once more, and tells Nora to go with Mia, saying that if her father were still alive, she would do whatever she could to see him, and she doesn’t want to hold Nora to her promise if Nora has that chance. Nora decides to leave with Mia, and surprises Miles with a kiss goodbye before the two head off.

Moving back to Philadelphia, Neville and Monroe watch as Colonel Faber is tortured. Monroe tells Neville that he caught (and killed) Faber’s son and seven other Rebels outside the city with enough ordnance to blow up Philadelphia. He says that while Faber claimed to be estranged from his son, Monroe couldn’t take the chance that his loyalties were with his family instead of with the militia. Monroe thanks Neville for providing him with the information on Faber’s son, and tells him that he owes him a big favor. Neville is quick to ask him to reconsider sending Jason to California. Monroe agrees to keep Jason posted in Philadelphia, but warns Neville to keep him in line.

As Mia and Nora walk along a road, Mia jokes with Nora about her and Miles’ relationship. Suddenly, Strausser appears, and he and his men surround them. Nora makes a move to run, but Mia reassures her, telling her its okay. As Nora watches in disbelief, Mia hands Strausser the pendant, which she apparently lifted off Aaron. She also tells Strausser where he can find Miles, Charlie, and Aaron. Strausser thanks Mia for her assistance, and tells Nora that she should be grateful to her sister for saving her life.
After Strausser and his men leave, Mia admits to Nora that her original capture was in fact a setup; that for the past year, she was a bounty hunter for the militia, hunting down rebels. Strausser found her, and offered to let Nora live if Mia would get the pendant for him and also help him capture Miles. When Nora asks Mia if the story about their father is true, Mia admits that she made it up in order to get Nora away from the group.

Nora asks Mia how she could betray the ones that thought they were saving her. She tells her sister that she is going back to attempt to warn Miles, and tells Mia not to follow her or attempt to find her. When Mia accuses Nora of choosing her friends over her family, Nora simply looks at her before turning and running off.

Miles, Charlie, and Aaron are walking along a road when Aaron realizes that the pendant is missing. As he frantically searches his pockets, he starts accusing Miles of taking it from him. They barely begin arguing when gunfire erupts, and they take cover as Strausser appears. He tells Miles that they are surrounded and should surrender. Miles asks for the militiamen to hold their fire and that they will come out; unbeknownst to him, Nora has returned, and she kills a militia man and steals his weapon. Miles walks toward Strausser with his hands up, and Strausser is just ordering him to be cuffed when Nora opens fire on Strausser and his men. She makes her way to Miles and hands him the gun before going to find Aaron and Charlie.

Miles gets Strausser in his sights, but when he pulls the trigger, the gun fires empty. Strausser immediately launches himself at Miles, and the two fight; upon hearing more of Strausser’s men approach, Miles manages to subdue Strausser long enough to escape with the others. They rush through the woods with the men behind them, and come to the edge of a cliff, with the river below. With no other option, they leap from the cliff and are carried downstream.

They manage to escape unscathed, and build a fire to dry off. Miles confronts Aaron about letting Mia steal the pendant from him, and Aaron displays a rare show of bravado by telling Miles off when Miles wants to castigate him for allowing the pendant to fall into Monroe’s hands. In front of the fire, Nora apologizes to Charlie, saying that she should have known that her sister was lying to them, and that a few years ago, she would have done the same thing without blinking an eye. She smiles as Charlie tells her that she wouldn’t do it now, and we see the final flashback of the night: the young Nora tucks her little sister in, and consoles her over her fears about dying. The two sisters promise to look out for each other before Nora climbs into bed next to her sister and they drift off to sleep holding each other.

Back again in Philadelphia, Strausser hands Monroe the pendant and Monroe thanks him for his loyalty, before handing the pendant over to Rachel. In Neville’s house, Julia strokes Jason’s battered face, before going to talk with her husband. She and Neville share a moment of gratitude that their son is safe. Julia starts talking about Monroe’s emotional state, and her worries that he’s no longer fit to lead the militia. Julia says they need a real leader, eluding that she believes Neville should be that leader.

The episode ends with Randall opening the cage that he has Grace imprisoned in, and telling her that she needs to come see something. He leads her to a room that holds several computer monitors. One of them has a map of the United States, and appears to be tracking the whereabouts of the pendants. Randall tells Grace that Ben’s pendant is now in Monroe’s hands; when she asks him what he is going to do about it, he responds that he won’t be doing anything; she will. As the camera pulls back, we see Randall and Grace staring down on a room full of machinery that appears to be functioning.

Thoughts on Revolution Episode 1.8: Ties That Bind

There you have it, folks! What did you think of this week’s episode? Where do you think Randall and Grace are, exactly? Do you think Neville’s loyalties are shifting, now that he’s seen how far Monroe will go to punish anyone he even imagines is being disloyal? Could you imagine what might happen if someone – Rosa, for instance – happened to overhear Julia’s comments to Tom about needing a new leader? Let us know your thoughts about this episode in the comments section!

Responses

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  1. I can see who wears that pants in Neville’s family. I think Julie is more evil then Tom or Monroe, but this girl that works in my office at DISH said that she is just being a mother and trying to protect her child and husband from the maniac. I think they are all crazy! But the season is not over yet and I wouldn’t miss the next episode for anything. I left to my mother’s for Thanksgiving this morning and almost turned around when I realized I forgot to set my DVR to record, lol. But my wife said our Hopper from DISH automatically records the big four networks so it will be waiting for me when I get home and now I can enjoy my vacation.