Revolution - 1x18 "Clue" Overview & Speculation

Hello Revolutionaries!

This weeks episode uniquely gives us an interesting military spin on the iconic murder mystery game and film, Clue!

I have had a pretty busy week thus far, so I hope you can forgive me in that I'm not going to fully recap the episode this week, as I thought it best to just discuss some things briefly, rather than have you wait till the end of the week for the article!

As I might have mentioned in other overviews, I've always been a sucker for trippy-like episodes and Nora's  drug induced state added another dimension in trying to figure out who starting murdering our team at the deserted military base. 

I have to say I totally didn't see Jim Hudson coming, even though, maybe I should have. In a lot of ways Jim Hudson had been the one thing that went right for Miles over the course of the second half of the season, but this betrayal parallels a lot of the material some of the smaller stories we have in recant episodes and even through out the whole season. In more specific context he's another Alec, but also he's like a lot of the scientists we have seen, as it's the Monroe Republic's M.O. to threaten the people they need with the lives of their families, such as Dr. Jaffy, Dr. Camp, and even Rachel Matheson. -But honestly, for me in this case I think Jim's perspective is a little absurd  only because the last time we checked, Sophie was pretty mad at him for lying about his past, even though he saved her life and tried to explain himself to her. Not that I blame him for wanting to save her life, but beyond that we've had no proof of reconciliation. I'm not sure his rage is really about her, or even if she is worth it?

But setting that aside, Jim Hudson also brought up a pretty good question. He suggested that Miles didn't really look for Nora in the 3 weeks she was gone. We have to ask ourselves as viewers why that would be?

For quite a while now I felt strongly that something ill-fated is coming for Nora primarily based on her hallucination sequence in "Kashmir", but also there have been hints to things relating to Nora's life like Texas, bombs, and bounty hunters, while her character had been looming in the background and now is pushing for the foreground and in the past couple of episodes has been acting a bit spontaneous, flippant, and/or suicidal.

It was also curious how Monroe choose to deal with Nora. He didn't threaten her with family (like her sister), as he has done with others. He tried to be civilized towards her. A tacit we rarely see, which might suggest there's something much more personal here between Monroe, Miles, and Nora. 

At any rate It's true that I don't know for certain if Nora's going to die by end of the first season, but if this alligator metaphor isn't a parallel to "The Plaque Dog's" and the death of Maggie, then what other kind of "unknown" could it be??? I know some fans tend to pick one love interest over the other in shows like this thinking of it as Nora verses Rachel, but I have enjoyed both characters and honestly would be pretty sad to see Nora go, --and not for Miles' sake, but her own. At the same time I can also see that the story is pushing to bring a broken/lost family together through process of elimination with the idea that Charlie is most likely Miles' daughter, and thus she is the the one who must be the force that redeems the wrong of her parents (and possibly a few other characters), but I can't deny despite seeing the writing on the wall that I wish there was some catch 22 with her death. 

And that brings me to what I feel the episode highlights. This murder mystery in the spirit of Clue makes us question the motives of  most the characters. It was hard to figure who did it, as Jason wanted to die pretty badly in last week's episode and now he has a connection to someone we don't know, Nora was severely beaten and on drugs having a hard time functioning normally, Tom has been exceptionally silent, and John Sandborn has been presented as incorrigible or imprudent. It all points out that the reality of Revolution is filled with uncertainty and distrust. And despite that it's true that Erik Kripke's influence seems to give us more straight forward plots and doesn't dwell to long on mystery, I can't deny that even though Jim Hudson is responsible for these specific deaths, that the other characters Jason, John, and even Tom still do not, or in Sandborn's case, did not have possible ill intent.

Thinking about John Sandborn, not knowing if he's just guy who always want to help and will turn on you at a moment's notice or someone who is truly loyal to Randall and his cause, I have to wonder if the drugs he gave Nora were what he said they were, and if they don't do anything else to her other than what we saw in the episode? Probably not, but it was just a thought.

Rachel's march into Monroe's camp was also just something totally unexpected! I have no idea how she or Monroe are going to get out of the situation or if the Nano tech is going to key in her survival to what might normally be considered deadly circumstances, but I guess we'll have to what and see!

And lastly it seems that Randell's 12 level facility most likely is The Tower, especially since the place he brought Monroe to is subterranean and he mentioned earlier to Monroe that there are all kinds of weapons the DOD commissioned that even the last President of the United States didn't even know about! It would go along with what we experienced a few episodes with Grace and the guard attempting to go to Level 12, only to be devoured (??) on Level 7! I'm not sure who's in the Tower and why Randell was locked out, but I'm curious to find out. Ultimately I liked the episode, as it was more character driven, has those trippy-other reality elements, and made us a take a pause to question, before we reach our hopefully climatic season 1 ending!!!

So what about you guys? Did you like the Clue-styled episode? Do you trust Jason, Tom, or the now departed John Sandborn?  Were you expecting Jim Hudson to turn on Miles? What do you think about Nora's drug-induced experience and relationship with Monroe  And how do think Rachel  isor Monroe going to get out of her predicament? Anything else you want to discuss sound off in the comments below!!!!

References: 

Clue or Cluedo is a 1949 board game devised by a children's entertainer from England, Anthony E. Pratt. The object of the game is move around the game board to strategically figure out who murdered Mr. Black in the mansion! In 1985 a film was made based on the game staring Tim Curry, but it also follows the style of other traditional murder-mystery dinner party games like Murder by Death.

Note: The Tower appears to reside in Colorado, and although the Tower is thought to be a reference to Stephen King's The Dark Tower, we also know that Stephen King's The Stand also has been referenced. Many King novels tend to tie into The Dark Tower including The Stand, as they both share extrademensional antagonist Randall Flagg, but also Colorado is an iconic place in The Stand.

Bad Robot Factor

In LOST episode 3x01 "A Tale of Two Cities" Kate Austen was one of 3 prisoner's captured by Benjamin Linus and the Others. Much like Nora in this episode, Kate was given a dress to wear, was forced to eat Breakfast (instead of dinner) with Ben, and was given a speech on why Ben would do this, as unlike Nora and Monroe's relationship, Ben didn't have any prior history with his captive.


Tale of Two Cities Transcript:
KATE: Why did you bring me here? Why did you make me put on this dress? Why are you feeding me breakfast?

BEN/GALE: I brought you here so you'd look out at the water and feel comforted -- comforted that your friends were looking out at the same ocean. I gave you the dress so that you'd feel like a lady. And I wanted you to eat food with real live fork and feel civilized. I did all of those things so that you'd have something nice to hold on tp. Because, Kate, the next two weeks are going to be very unpleasant.
-----
It's unclear if John Sandborn's intentions by bringing Nora back are in any way honorable or helpful for Revolution's protagonists, but given a parallel with this scene and this episode's murder mystery atmosphere, It's still something to consider.

Additionally, especially in the last couple of episode, Nora has been flippant in terms of her emotions. Kate Austen was often considered a character who's intentions were at times hard to see through, because in some cases she also comes off as contradictory, flippant, and/or having double standards. Kate was one of the few character's who's theme reflected the fear of being left behind and sometimes sought to leave others behind, before it could happen to her...

Season 3 and the capture of Kate, Sawyer, and Jack also featured the Dharma Station known as The Hydra! Like the scene with unknown people looking with camera monitors from within onto the outside of The Tower, Ben and the Others (including Juliet) could montor outside the Hydra station.

The Hydra is where The Dharma Initiative conducted experiments on animals, as it was a zoological station. Post the end of the series (Lost Epilogue: "The New Man In Charge") it is revealed that "The Hurley Bird" (Hy-Birds) was a genetically modified animal created there! There is also Room 23 which has brainwashing video. Even though we have seen a few characters exposed to it over the course of the series, it was suggested that Room 23 might not have originally been attended for humans and, besides Ben's claim that this video would help keep Karl from sleeping with his adopted daughter, Alex, fans still speculate at what the video actually does! -It also has a lot of references to Buddhism (Noble Truths), Judeo-Christianity, and evolution, such as "We Are The Cause of Our Own Suffering", "God Loves You, As He Loved Jacob", and "Everything Changes". Additionally the dingy-looking old school tech paired with something advanced is also a staple note of Bad Robot (Ex: Lost -  Dharma Stations with advanced electromagnetic properties and/or exotic matter/Ancient Temple with advanced electromagnetic water. Alcatraz - small dingy building with key pad hidden in the forest being the doorway to sleek highly advanced subterranean state of the art prison. Fringe - Forest with subterranean state of the art record keeping building, ect)

Note: The Tower, although more well hidden, is similar idea of Alias' DSR (Department of Special Research) secret facility that resides in Nevada.

The reason I went out of the way to emphasis things relating to the Hydra station is because of the possibility it could hint at things about to be explored on Revolution, such as the drugs Nora was given and whatever exists on Level 7.

Note: Other Dharma stations such as the Peal Station could monitor other stations such as The Swan or The Flame. The Flame could monitor things near the Island. A surveillance camera is also featured at "The Exit". 

There's a couple of times I also recall seeing an iconic grenade scene. In season 4 of LOST the 815-ers had split up into groups trying to figure out the Freighter groups intentions as John Locke sought to protect the Island and Jack sought to help get people off of it. The freighter group themselves were also split into two groups: The science team who had personal reasons to be there and the missionaries sent to capture Benjamin Linus and kill everyone else. In the beginning of the season the character Miles Straume get's into a predicament with John Locke, as he uses Kate Austen to get access to Ben. John resorts to locking Miles up in a boathouse, ties him up, and places a grenade in his mouth and pulls out the pin, until John retrieves him at a later time. Really when I think about it, LOST season 4 was very much like this Revolution episode and it's clue-like speculation, as it was hard to figure out what anyone aboard the freighter's intentions were.

The second time, also on LOST, is when the Other Mikhail blows up a grenade underwater where The Looking Glass Station resides, causing Charlie Pace to drown and die.