Before we get into the recap of what happened on the latest episode of Revolution, let’s first take a moment to mark a milestone that was a initially a slight cause for concern. For the first 35 minutes of “One Riot, One Ranger,” there was not a single death or act of violence. But thanks the U.S. government and its propensity to ambush people, we got our fill nicely to round things out.
The double front of Patriot violence sets the stage for both an all-out war between the Texas Rangers and New England Patriots (formerly of Cuba), with all our main characters playing the role of the middling and meddlesome resistance, and moves Tom Neville closer to his quest for vengeance and the safe recovery of his now possibly drug-addicted and brainwashed son.
The Texas Rangers Just Can’t Win
In Game 6 of the 2011 World Series, the Rangers were on two separate occasions one strike away from a championship. And both times, they allowed their opponents to rally and eventually ended up losing. But substitute soldiers for players and bullets for baseballs, and I’m fairly sure we’ll see the same result.
Look, I would never discount Texas, its love of guns and independence or the great nation it apparently set up in the post-apocalyptic future, but I just can’t see them taking on the U.S. government and winning.
The Rangers ride into Willoughby at the request of the now occupying Patriots, who want to sign a treaty to avoid a war. They are still using Titus’ band as a patsy after forcing violence on the town and then coming to its rescue, and they’re keeping the surviving clan members hostage so they can kill them and use the bodies as evidence of a non-existent outside threat.
The Rangers, for their part, just want to know why the heck the U.S. government is tramping on its sovereign soil, a sentiment I expect many Texans feel in the present day. Only right now, physical violence isn’t a viable option or nearly as legal or prevalent as it apparently is in the future. Also, football players would destroy baseball players, and not only because MLB has cut into PED use.
Still, Miles views the Texas Ranger captain (who he once tried to kill) as his best option for overthrowing the town’s occupiers, so he sets up a meeting with his former enemy where he promises to offer proof of the Pats’ sinister intentions. It’s amazing how quickly former combatants become collaborators in this violent future. I guess it’s true, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
An Unhappy Reunion
Charlie and Monroe have been watching the action from binoculars on a nearby rooftop, and they sneak into town and help an unwilling-to-team-up Miles search for said proof, all under the watchful spying eye of the ever-present government. After finding the rail cars that formerly housed the sacrificial prisoners empty and cleaned, the trio follows some tracks directly into an ambush.
Thankfully, Monroe and Miles are a deadly duo, and they take out every soldier with their South Bend strategy of going around back and killing everyone from behind. Is that how Notre Dame does it? They also capture the Patriot who was embedded in Titus’ gang and plan to use him to convince Texas of the imminent danger presented by the Pats.
Neville to the Rescue
The second ambush comes about after Major Tom was added to the secretary’s security detail for a trip to Washington, D.C. Unfortunately, her own people apparently want her dead after she objected to “reprogramming camps” where prisoners live under horrid conditions and forced drug use to brainwash them. Tom jumps in and kills many of the ambushers, but the secretary is shot in the process and tumbles down a hill.
Tom dumps some booze on the wound, but after finding out she’s now a fugitive and no longer a Patriot, he decides to jump ship. That is, of course, until she informs him that Jason is in one of these reprogramming camps, and she’ll take him there if he saves her.
So he douses a knife in liquor and removes the bullet. Anyone else wondering where all the other Patriots involved in the gunfight went? Wouldn’t they look for the woman they were attempting to protect/trying to kill?
An Aaron Flashback Bonanza
Aaron is clearly freaked out that he can make people spontaneously combust with the help of some glowing fireflies, and the visions aren’t helping matters either. U.S. government officials are clearly interested in finding out who can randomly kill their soldiers from a distance with no evidence, so Aaron decides it’s safest for everyone if he skips town. So he packs up his chatter teeth and heads to the abandoned boat yard.
Through a series of flashbacks spanning six and five months prior, we see how a despondent and alcoholic Aaron stumbled into the Willoughby School District looking for a purpose. Now-girlfriend Cynthia didn’t want to hire him at first on account of the despondency and alcoholism, because, you know, she’s a responsible guardian of children’s well being, but she eventually caves because his Jesus beard, pudgy midsection and horrible depression at failing to stop the nuclear attacks that wiped out two major cities is just too endearing to pass up.
Then there’s Cynthia’s husband, Crazy Carl, who more resembles Tuco from Breaking Bad. Seriously, how’d she end up with this dude? He gets a little jellies after she gives Aaron the chatter teeth to induce a smile, and then it gets even worse after Aaron interrupts Carl and some random skank getting it on in the back of an abandoned car in the boat yard (It’s where Aaron likes to go to think).
Carl threatens to kill him if he tells Cynthia, so Aaron agrees, puts his glasses back on and then sets the inside of the car ablaze with his thoughts. I was going to paste in some lyrics from Prodigy’s “Firestarter,” but then I looked at them and realized it’s a horrible song.
Anyway, the townsfolk and Cynthia all think a kerosene lamp inside the car (fire safety 101, people!) ignited, and Aaron initially did too. But after frying the soldiers, he tells Rachel — who tracked him down in the boat yard — he is a menace. So he’s packing up his chatter teeth and his flask and leaving south central to drink his juice in a different hood.
She quickly and easily convinces him to return.
When All Else Fails, Shoot a Guy
On the way back to Willoughby, Aaron collapses and has a vision of Charlie, Miles and Monroe in a barn down by the river. So he leads them there, where they find the trio and prisoner waiting for the Texas Ranger to show up for his proof.
Rachel wants to kill Monroe, but Charlie convinces her otherwise before Miles makes everyone hide so the leader of an army won’t notice four other armed people are at a meeting he’s supposed to show up to alone.
Mr. Ranger arrives and is very disappointed to find that the Titus/Patriot prisoner has killed himself via cyanide tooth. As he asks Miles what the hell he’s supposed to tell his boss to avoid signing a treaty, Monroe blows him away, justifying it by saying that if they can just pin his death on the Patriots, “Texas goes nuts” and Miles has his war.
It’s a sound albeit morbid strategy, though Monroe did describe killing all the Patriots with Miles as “kinda fun,” so the guy is clearly messed up in the head a bit. It doesn’t much seem like it will work though, because the preview for next week shows Monroe arrested and about to be executed in connection with the murder. Definitely a nice try though.
Do you think Revolution will actually kill off Monroe? And where do you see this clash between the Patriots, the Texas Rangers and Miles and Rachel’s “resistance” going? Which side has the best chance of winning, and what happens then? And what are your theories on why Aaron is suddenly the Beastmaster of fireflies?
You can watch Revolution every Wednesday at 8pm on NBC.
Never miss Revolution! Add the show to your own watch-list! Download BuddyTV Guide for free for your phone.
(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
