‘Revolution’ 1.11 Episode Recap and Review: The Stand

WOW. When you think back to the fall finale of Revolution, it seemed like things were finally looking up for the group in that they had all managed to unite and escape. And then a helicopter – powered by the amplifier Rachel had been forced to complete – arises, and the group is its focus. As finales go, it seemed to spell doom for the group when they had just gotten back together.

However, as the new episode begins and we watch the helicopter guns start spinning, the group race across a field with the helicopter in pursuit, firing but seemingly unable to strike them (I am going to assume it’s from the men inside not being familiar with hitting moving targets). The group enters an old building, and this time the helicopter fires a missile. The building explodes, and the helicopter hovers a moment, watching it burn, before turning and heading back toward Monroe’s base of command.

Within the building, Miles and the others had miraculously been able to get into a metal-walled interior room that shielded them from the blast. With fire and blackened debris scattered all around, they exit the building quickly, knowing that Monroe will come looking to make sure they are dead.

Back in Philadelphia, Neville informs a battered Monroe that, as Miles predicted; the militia had searched the building and hadn’t found any remains. They both agree that even if the intensity of the blast made remains too disintegrated to confirm, they shouldn’t discount the prowess of Miles. Monroe then blames Neville for letting Miles and all of the others escape, telling Neville that he had been taken advantage of and that this displayed a troubling weakness. Neville apologizes, and Monroe is quick to forgive him, focusing instead on the fact that, now with power, they have the ability to wipe out not only the rebellion, but also other established “nations”. He tells Neville that the entire former United States would be the Monroe Republic, “from sea to shining sea,” before dismissing him.

On the outskirts of Monroe’s camp, Charlie and Nora, dressed in Militia clothing, drive a horse-drawn wagon full of crude caskets, within which are hidden Danny, Rachel, Miles, and Aaron. They are hailed by militiamen, who demand to see the “cargo” due to the recent events and the potential for escapees. Charlie tries to brush them off by flashing her branded wrist and stating she is just following orders, but this doesn’t sway Monroe’s men. One of the men pulls back the tarp covering the caskets and randomly picks one to be opened. Thankfully, some of the caskets do contain dead soldiers, and the one he picks reveals actual remains. The wagon is allowed through, and the group makes their escape.

They keep going until morning, before finally stopping the wagon and opening up the caskets that the others are hiding in. Now that the immediate threat is behind them, Danny, Rachel, and Charlie have a small reunion, hugging and comforting each other. Nora rushes over to Miles and kisses him; Rachel happens to glance over, and then looks away with an odd expression.

Now able to talk, Aaron expresses amazement that Rachel is alive and tries to quiz her on her knowledge of the pendants and their function, as well as what she knows of the blackout, Rachel promises to enlighten the group in time, telling them that “it’s complicated.” Before anyone can argue, the sounds of a helicopter are heard, and the entire group runs to hide under tree cover. They watch as the helicopters fly overhead, and Miles comments that they appear to be heading toward Westchester. Nora reveals that there is a rebel camp in that city.

Unfortunately, Westchester does become the first rebel camp that Monroe decimates with his newfound power. The rebel group that is hiding there is found afterwards by Miles and the others, all dead. Nora informs Miles that she needs to go to the rebel Central Command, located in downtown Annapolis, Maryland, so they can be warned. Nearly everyone agrees that they want to go with her; only Aaron tries to dissuade them, pleading that they’ve accomplished what they intended to do, which is regain Danny. He tries to convince them that they need to return home; however, his objections are quickly shot down as it is made clear to him that “home” no longer exists, especially if Monroe is already using his new weapons to destroy resistance.

Rachel lays blame where blame is due – with herself – over Monroe’s new power, and states that she has to fight back. She reveals to them that she knows of another person, nearby, who has a pendant – as well as massive weapons that could counteract what Monroe has.

The group returns to where they left the wagon and horses. Nora, Danny, Charlie, and Aaron head to Annapolis, while Miles and Rachel take the wagon to hopefully bring back power and weapons to them. Before the two groups part ways, Rachel tells Danny and Charlie that she’s proud of them and that she’ll see them soon. Danny responds by asking that she make sure she does, in fact, return this time, and Rachel promises that she will.

We move to the very first flashback of this episode, a year before the blackout, where Rachel and a still-alive Ben are at a hospital while a much younger Danny is being put under for a surgical procedure. He is being soothed by Rachel, who promises to be there when he wakes up, and tells him that she loves him “to the moon and back.” As nurses wheel Danny away, Rachel has second thoughts about the upcoming procedure, and Ben reminds her that nothing else has worked, and that even though this procedure is experimental and Danny is the first one to undergo it, it’s their last hope for him.

Back in the present, Jason Neville and his father watch while a building is in flames. Jason questions the destruction, telling his father it was a slaughter. Neville scoffs at his son, asking what kind of enemy would hide behind its women and children, and says the destruction was necessary. He then turns to where a teenager is kneeling, obviously beaten up and bound, and begins questioning him on where the next nearest rebel camp is, while Jason watches, obviously conflicted.

Nora and her group arrive in Annapolis and make contact with the rebel group there. The commander of the group, Ramsey, admits that they have no plan now that Monroe has such power, and that the resistance is basically over. Charlie says that they can help, and when Ramsey mockingly asks her how she will do that, Nora interjects and states that they won’t, but Miles will.

Meanwhile, Rachel and Miles have stopped for the night. Miles asks Rachel if they will ever talk about “this,” eluding to some history between them. He insists that he wouldn’t have left the Monroe Militia if he’d known she was still alive, stating that he saw a body and believed it was hers. He asks her if Monroe hurt her, and when Rachel turns away, her silence an affirmation, Miles grabs her arm and tells her that everything that happened to her was his fault and he takes full blame. He apologizes and says he will never be able to make it up to her. Rachel’s only response is to ask Miles to step back.

The next day, Jason and Neville are scouting the Annapolis rebel camp when Jason spots Charlie through his binoculars. Neville also spots her, and gloats to Jason that the “Lord works in mysterious ways” before telling Jason they should return to Philadelphia to plan the air strike. Jason hesitates, and the two argue. Jason tells his father that with the helicopters, they aren’t fighting, they are simply butchering, and he didn’t sign on for that. Neville tells his son that it’s not his place to question orders, and when Jason still refuses, Neville punches Jason, and tells him that he is a shameful disappointment to him. Jason attempts to defend himself, landing a few punches himself, but Neville quickly beats him to the ground, and tells his battered son never to return home, before walking off.

Rachel and Miles arrive at their destination, and Rachel greets her contact, a man named John. He nervously asks her where she’s been all this time, and tells her he hasn’t heard from any of their other associates, particularly Grace, whom Rachel asks after specifically. Rachel admits that she was a captive of Monroe’s, and built him an amplifier, and needs John’s assistance in helping fight back. John leads them down into his basement, and with a flick of a switch turns on overhead lights, revealing a room filled with weapons and machinery. Miles, like a kid in a candy store, starts sorting through some of the weapons. He picks up one item that resembles a showerhead, and John quickly takes it away, stating that it’s a sonic cannon that can knock a target out cold. Miles moves on to another weapon, and while he’s messing with it, Rachel watches John get more and more nervous, and asks if he is okay. He tells her honestly that he is not – and then reveals that he does, in fact, know why he hasn’t heard from Grace: she has been taken by Randall. He then admits that Randall got to him too, before knocking Rachel and Miles out with his sonic amplifier. When they come to, they are tied together in chairs. While Rachel pleads with John to let them go, Miles quietly works on their bindings. John tells Rachel that Randall wants her, and is on his way there now to come get her, as he has “big plans” for her. When Rachel keeps arguing, reminding John about how dangerous and unbalanced Randall is, John agrees, but says that is why he must aide him. He tells Rachel that Randall has managed to get into “the Tower.” It is because of this, John says, that they have no choice in the matter, and that they both know what will happen if they don’t work with Randall.

At that moment, Miles gets freed, and he attacks and subdues John. Miles asks Rachel about Randall as they start gathering weapons, and her only response is that he really doesn’t want to know.

In the Tower, Randall walks into a room where Grace is working to repair what appears to be a wall of electric lines. Randall tells her that he needs to take a trip, and she will be under the guard of a man named Austen. Grace calls Austen an animal, and seems visibly afraid of the man, who smirks at her from behind a Maxim magazine. Randall responds to Grace by saying she simply needs to get the elevators working, particularly down to level 12, or face whatever Austen might want to do to her.

Back in Annapolis, Charlie is out gathering water. Jason approaches her, and admits who he is, and warns her that his father is heading back to gather an air strike and that Annapolis only has about 12 hours before they will be attacked. He proceeds to tell Charlie that he’s finished with the militia, and while he doesn’t say it, his very expression seems to plead for some sort of guidance. Instead, Charlie thanks him for the warning, and tells him frankly that he can’t come with her. As she walks away, he stares after her, clearly at a loss on how to proceed.

Charlie brings Jason’s information back to the rebels. After listening to Charlie’s story, Ramsey votes that, instead of fleeing, they make their stand, and use the time remaining to fortify their position. If Miles and Rachel do not return with the heavy machinery needed, they will still fight, and show Monroe that no matter what, they will go down as Americans. He asks for a group of volunteers to be the first line of defense against the choppers. Unsurprisingly, Danny, Charlie, and Nora are part of the group that raises their hands.

In Philadelphia, Neville tells Monroe of the Annapolis group, and Monroe orders the air strike. When he asks why Neville seems upset, Neville responds that his son is dead.

As the rebels in Annapolis prepare for the upcoming battle, Charlie watches Danny as he helps to form barricades. Here, we receive the second flashback of the episode; a younger Charlie is awakened by the sound of Danny, coughing and gasping for air. She leaps from her bed and cuddles her brother, advising him to watch her and breathe like she is. As Danny watches her, he starts to calm down and breathe better.

This memory prompts Charlie to walk over to Danny, and she tries to get him to promise to stay inside when the helicopters come. Instead, Danny tells Charlie that he has to do this, for their father and for Maggie, and that it’s not her job any longer to look out for him. Charlie looks like she wants to argue, but at that moment the sound of helicopters fills the air.

The rebels get into position, and do their best to disable the helicopters, or at least the gunmen within them. Miles and Rachel show up in the nick of time, and Miles quickly grabs a heavy artillery missile gun. Rachel points out the helicopter that she believes is using the amplifying device, and Miles takes aim. However, another helicopter fires a missile, tossing Miles into a wall and temporarily dazing him.

While the others are focused on Miles, Danny picks up the artillery gun, and fires it at the helicopter. He manages to destroy it, which in turn causes the other helicopters to lose power. However, as one goes down, it still keeps shooting, and Danny is struck repeatedly across the midsection and killed.

Afterwards, Rachel and Charlie sit within a room. Rachel starts talking, blaming herself for Danny’s death, saying she should never have let him fight. Charlie ends up comforting her mother, saying that nothing could have been done differently, that Danny wanted to fight. She tells Rachel that the only thing they can do now is to finish what he started, by helping the rebels and going after Monroe.

We return momentarily to Philadelphia, where a visibly upset Monroe sits in his office. He is told that he has a visitor that he will definitely want to see – as he drove to their camp in a Cutlass Sierra. Monroe gets up, and opens the door to his office – revealing Randall, with John behind him. When Monroe asks Randall what he can do for him, Randall smiles and turns the question back onto Monroe, offering his assistance.

This episode concludes back in Annapolis, with Rachel standing over Danny’s body, quietly crying. She kisses him, and tells him that she loves him “to the moon and back.” Then, she picks up a knife, and opens up an old scar on Danny’s abdomen. As her crying deepens, she reaches into the incision she made, and pulls out an object that looks like a bullet – that is emitting a blue pulse.

To quote a tweet by @ThreeIfBySpace: “So we wrap up the episode with a little OMG, with a dash of ‘You Couldn’t!’ and a whole lot of WTF?!” I must say, this episode started with a bang (literally) and just kept running. To finally have saved Danny, only to lose him – talk about heartache. And what exactly did Rachel retrieve from Danny’s body? What is Randall doing aligning himself with Monroe? Let us know your thoughts about this episode in the comments section!

Responses

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  1. I like this TV Show. The weekly show plots are somewhat predictable. It does seem to be getting more complicated and integrated both in plot and characters. Never expected Danny to be killed and I can only guess what his mother withdrew from his body will be used for. I really Like Billy Burke as an actor. “Miles” has much restitution to make up for his part in the creation and aftermath of the MONROE Army and pending Dictatorship.

  2. Yep, Rachel, Miles and the rest of the group escape to live another day. Revolution became interesting once Elizabeth Mitchell’s character, Rachel, became more involved in the storyline. Let’s hope that continues.

  3. Yes, it will be interesting to see what develops between Miles and Rachel, or what may be rekindled perhaps?