Revolution 2.07 "The Patriot Act" Review: You Can't Choose Your Family

    This week’s episode of Revolution, “The Patriot Act,” was written by Anne Coffell Saunders and Matt Pitts and directed by Omar Madha. Madha has a long history of sci fi and action credits including Caprica, The Secret Circle, Alphas, Grimm, and Defiance. Madha effectively uses the first scene to pick up from the last scene last week with the sound of shovelling but this week it’s from Monroe’s (David Lyons) point of view inside the coffin. Madha uses the technique of parallel shots several times in the episode to link reactions and scenes.

    Flashbacks show Gene’s (Stephen Collins) growing guilt over helping the Patriots, so I believe he’s picked a side – the real good guys – but he’s too weak to go through with it. In the end, he picks his own family – and possibly the safety of the townspeople – over Aaron (Zak Orth).

    I was disappointed in Rachel’s (Elizabeth Mitchell) arc this episode. She finally steps up as Charlie’s mom when she tells her that she saved Monroe because they need him, but clearly more because Charlie asked. We see her be resourceful and clever, especially in the scene with Horn (Zeljko Ivanek), but by the end, they’ve broken her again over Gene’s betrayal, and by the last scene, she’s in tears.

    It was heartbreaking to go from Cynthia (Jessica Collins) assuring Aaron that anywhere they go is home as long as they’re together to being obviously terrified of what he’s become.

    Loved Monroe (David Lyons) in this week’s episode. His woozy rescue of Aaron and Cynthia was still a pretty impressive fight scene, and he’s proving he can be a valuable member of the team. The scene in which he wakes up is particularly good as we see Miles (Billy Burke) with his walls at least partially down as he welcomes his still “drunk” friend back to the living. There’s a nice shot of Charlie (Tracy Spiridakos) smiling at their reunion. It’s always possible that Monroe is simply playing all of them to get to his son, but this scene when his guard is broken down by the drugs and the relief at simply being alive and getting a second chance would seem to make his conversion genuine.

    Tom (Giancarlo Esposito) manages to get Jason (JD Pardo) back and come up with a new plan. It seems like he’s going to use Allenford (Nicole Ari Parker) as a stepping stone to her husband who would appear to be higher up the food chain with the Patriots as well. Esposito is his usually outstanding best as he works both sides against the middle in his scheming. I am disappointed at the turn for Parker, however. Here was an opportunity for another strong female character and she’s essentially stupidly thrown her career away by sending an ill-thought letter to high command. Further, she’s now simply reduced to trying to save her son, who she essentially abandoned – hmmmmm. Does this sound like another character to anyone else? *coughrachelcough*

    Ivanek is doing an amazing job as Horn. He’s obviously got a huge chip on his shoulder – no doubt from being passed over for more brilliant scientists like Rachel and Ben and he’s obviously insane and unpredictable. There is a definite thread of insane or sanity-challenged characters on the show. Rachel and Monroe have been walking a tightrope and there’s no question that Andover was also not in his right mind. Ivanek manages to be slimey, creepy, and scary. He’s also wearing what appears to be a version of the illuminati symbol we’ve already seen. It is often re-imagined into logos. Here’s an interesting quote from an article on the symbol:

“The rays of light are said to symbolize glory. Typically, the eye will also be enclosed in a triangle. One of the most notable depictions of the Eye of Providence is the reverse side of the United States dollar bill.
     Many people interpret the symbol as the eye of God as it is watching over all of mankind. Conversely, others believe it is the eye of Satan or Lucifer who they believe influences and oversees much of the happenings in the world. Either way it is always correlated with control, and the powerful few overseeing and controlling the masses.”  The full article can be read here.

     These comments certainly resonate with the Patriots and the use of the symbol to this point in the show. We’ve seen torture and an enforced police state – based on their blowing up a building in the town. They’ve made it pretty clear who the bad guys are here. I’m pretty excited for Tom to get to Washington so we get to see just who is running this show!

    All in all a pretty satisfying episode that answered some questions, put our characters in more jeopardy and set in motion some on-going story arcs. What did you think of the episode? Is Horn creeping you out too? I’ve tried to keep this review a little shorter – does that work for you, or would you like more detail? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!