Revolution is back from winter hiatus, and the series picks up exactly where it left off, without a point, purpose or clear direction. And whereas most shows try to return from an extended break with a bang, “Three Amigos” crawls at a snail’s pace with little of significance happening in the first 50 minutes.
And even when a few important things do occur, they don’t happen with much gusto. The episode starts off with and has several of the show’s trademark gruesome scenes, but it is still mostly exposition, odd after more than a month and a half of buildup.
In fact, there are only three moments I found really enjoyable, but you’ll have to read until the end to agree or disagree (or you can be a jerk and just scroll down, but that’s no fun).
Where We Left Off
The mid-season finale ended with Cynthia’s death after Aaron ordered the nanites to kill Dr. Horn and the Patriots instead of asking them nicely to save her life. But this was after he just told the nanites off, and they didn’t like the mixed signals, so they took their reality-manipulating ball and went home to the air or wherever they store themselves when they’re not creating spontaneous combustion.
Miles was dying from a blood infection, Monroe wanted to find his son and blamed Miles for weird stuff that wasn’t Miles’ fault, Grandpa Gene sold out his family and friends for like the 107th time, Rachel was in love with Miles and Charlie was evolving into Sarah Connor from the Terminator movies.
Oh, and Tom had Roger Allenford kill his traitor wife, then joined his security detail with Jason for a trip to the White House to murder the president and avenge his wife’s death in the nuke attacks. Only she’s not dead, and they bang on a train before agreeing to work together towards some nefarious new goal.
I think that’s it.
In Case You Missed It
If you didn’t watch and want a recap of “Three Amigos,” here’s what you need to know.
After Aaron burned all the Patriots, the good guys break out Dr. Gene, who saves Miles’ life by cutting open his arm with a sanitized-by-fire butter knife and then dumping maggots into the open wound. It’s the only really disturbing visual in this one. Nothing a little blood-letting can’t cure.
Then Dr. Gene repeatedly apologizes to everyone. I imagine Stephen Collins read the script and asked, “Do I do anything but look forlorn and say I’m sorry?” No, Stephen. That is all you do.
Lucky Day, Dusty Bottoms and Ned Nederlander
Miles, Rachel and Monroe head off to find Monroe’s long-lost son Connor, who Miles took to Mexico to live with his now-deceased aunt and uncle all those years ago. It’s interesting that the episode is called “Three Amigos,” because they make use of every Mexican stereotype you can imagine.
There’s day laborers, slums consisting entirely of whorehouses, Mariachi, cartels and plenty of tequila. I guess some things never change, even in a post-apocalyptic electricity-free world.
They are drinking in a bar/brothel when they stumble upon Connor, a leader in the cartel who is more than happy to have a measly 30 men working under him. But this is obviously disgusting to Monroe, who once commanded thousands.
Connor wants nothing to do with the dad he’s never known and thought was a mechanic, but Sebastian sneaks back later, belittles his son’s meager accomplishments and says they should retake the Monroe Republic together, father and son.
Connor responds by hauling Monroe off to meet Mr. Nunez, whoever that guy is. Now Miles and Rachel have to rescue him before they can head back to Willoughby and fight the Patriots for whatever reason they feel makes a four-vs.-army war seem like a good idea.
Aaron Wanders Off, Charlie and Gene Get Bored
The Nanite Whisperer buries his girlfriend and ditches the group for Spring City, Oklahoma, which is where the boy composed of nanites told him to go. There, he finds Grace.
Charlie and Grandpa Gene go looking for him, but all they find are two wagons being brought into town. Charlie kills two Patriots, one with an arrow and one with a knife through the heart, and they find the third wagon (which is a day behind) is filled with oranges.
Later, Patriot command passes out the oranges to the people of Willoughby, promising more delicacies (like tobacco!) in the future. But really, they’re injecting each orange with some type of serum. Mind control? Who knows.
Tom Murders the Chief of Staff
Instead of going after the president, Tom and Julia Neville/Doyle are instead planning to take out the president’s chief of staff, because wifey’s new hubby is next in line for the position. So once he’s in power, he’ll promote Tom and then they can go after the commander in chief.
Tom suspects that his wife is playing him, but he loves her, so he poisons the chief of staff with a liquid that makes it look like a heart attack. No one seems to notice the obvious struggle that preceded said heart attack, because Tom needs only a small towel to wash his hands of this murder. He leaves the towel.
Allenford, meanwhile, is ordering around Tom and Jason, like he’s calling them “boy,” which does not sit well with Gus Fring. But then Allenford gets a memo that leaves him troubled, so Jason sneaks into his room and takes a gander. His eyes widen.
And that’s what we’ve got.
Three Things Three Amigos Got Right
The three moments I greatly enjoyed are when Monroe lambastes his son before Miles breaks the news that Connor is his son, when Miles’ response to Connor’s suggestion that he make his dad an ashtray for Father’s Day, and when Monroe turns Rachel’s genetics argument around on her.
“By that logic, Charlie will end the world.” Brilliant.
What Revolution is Still Getting Wrong
Season 1 was first about rescuing Danny, then it was about turning the lights back on and stopping Monroe. We are now halfway through Season 2, and I still have no idea what the point of all this is. I don’t see how Willoughby, Texas, can be the last-stand battleground when the Patriots are spread nationwide, even throwing hoity-toity mixers at the White House.
And also, how are the Patriots not using every resource to find our “clever” band of outlaws? I mean, they just wiped out like a hundred of your guys and a very high-up dude in Dr. Horn, and they did it by conjuring fire, and you’re like, oh, okay, let’s get those oranges in pronto. And how are they going to react when that third wagon never shows up? The Patriots are like the serial killers in horror movies. They walk when everyone else is running away.
The promo for next week looks promising, but I’m just shocked this was how they reintroduced viewers after six weeks off. Most of the episode was just plain boring, and any action in the final few moments wasn’t enough to save it for me.
I’ll keep watching because I’m intrigued with the premise and find the lack of characters’ development entertaining. Also, I write this blog 🙂 But I do wish the goals were a bit more focused and that mid-season return packed a bit of the punch we saw near the end of the first half. The episodes where Monroe dies and Aaron goes on his burning binge built a decent amount of momentum, and “Three Amigos” flat-lined.
You can watch Revolution every Wednesday at 8pm on NBC.
(Image courtesy of NBC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Emmy-winning news producer & former BuddyTV blogger. Lover of Philly sports, Ned, Zoe, Liam and Delaine…not in that order
