Revolution 2.11 Review: Knowing One Another

This is a reminder for all those that have yet to watch last night’s episode of Revolution, entitled ‘Mis Dos Padres’, that now would be the time to divert your eyes from this screen. As always, this is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I love this series. The writing is consistently well done, the acting more or less superb, and the world is just so intriguing. Sure, there are still some convoluted plot points (the whole Patriots thing), but they’re the kinds that keep me on the edge of my seat as I watch this show.

Again, while I do love this show, this week’s episode very much felt like a filler episode. It makes me think that a lot of this stuff was written in to get from point A to point B, and that makes me less satisfied with the overall product of this episode and hungrier for more next week. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the episode thoroughly, but I’m a little disappointed Miles, Monroe, Rachel, and Connor weren’t able to get back to Charlie and Gene this week, although I do understand the pacing wouldn’t have been right. I’m excited to see Connor and Charlie meet each other, although I’m under the belief they may have a Rory and Jess first meeting (Gilmore Girls characters, for all you not in the know). I do hope that they still go the Monroe and Charlie route, though; those two have mad chemistry.

One thing I am hoping for soon is that the Neville’s interact with the rest of our heroes/antiheroes. It’s been too long that these characters have been away from each other, and I’m really feeling like it’s time that the show melds together. I’m fine with leaving Aaron on his own little solo tour – as long as it doesn’t overwhelm an episode – but the rest of the characters really need to come together. As much as I’m enjoying each piece to the puzzle these characters are creating, they’ve all been half a season apart, and I feel like they’ve only got a couple of episodes left in them before it feels like they’re dragging these characters apart too much.

All in all, I really love this show, and getting to wolf it down every week. I always love when Wednesday’s come around and being able to get home from work so that I can watch this show. I’m even beginning to like Rachel, in her downgraded role of not being the sole focus of an episode. I even found myself enjoying that “Hey!” and then groan, bang move she did to that Mexican cartel soldier with a pot. The fact that I’m becoming able to cheer on one of my least favourite characters just goes to show how wonderful this series really is. Honestly, I’ll be heartbroken if they don’t get a third season. Really, we should all just send light bulbs to NBC like Roswell fans did with Tabasco sauce to get another season of that show. I need more Revolution; it’s just getting into its prime.

My rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“It’s like Donald Trump threw up on Scarface.” – Monroe remarks on Mr. Nunez’s humble abode.

“You’re a dick.” – Miles tells Bass (aka Monroe, for all you not paying attention to this show).

“Oh, shut up! You’ve been his dad for five minutes, all of a sudden you’re Cliff Huxtable?” – Miles criticizes Monroe.

“How did you know I was here?” – Gene questions. “Because you’re exactly like mom; neither of you listen.” – Charlie responds.

“Welcome to the SyFy channel.” – Aaron states.

“He’s pretty good, huh?” – Monroe enthuses about his son. “Shut up and focus.” – Miles replies.

“This poker face is my face.” – Tom says.

Oh, and don't forget:

Okay, I’m off to catch up on last week’s review of American Horror Story: Coven, and afterwards will be Nashville and this week’s episode of American Horror Story: Coven. Stay tuned.

Revolution 2.10 Review: Family Matters

This is your one and only friendly reminder from me to you that, if you haven’t watched tonight’s episode of Revolution, entitled ‘Three Amigos’, then now would be a splendid time to go and do so before proceeding ahead. For this is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

Honestly, I’m somewhat surprised at just how much I am enjoying this season of this series. Sure, I liked the first season a great deal, but I’m loving this season. This year is continuously growing into something addictive that I keep feeling the need to devour, and yet I am still hungry for more. That’s just how great this series is becoming, and this week’s episode was no exception.

This week’s 2014 premiere episode after the Christmas break had Charlie and Monroe rescuing Rachel’s dad so that he could save Miles’s life. Monroe did this so that Miles would tell him where he’d hidden his son, to which Miles takes Monroe on the trek towards Mexico, taking Rachel along in fear of what might happen with just the two of them involved. They eventually find his son Connor, a twenty-five year old man (which likely puts Monroe at about forty-three, forty-four – despite the actor’s actual age of thirty-seven) in charge of thirty men apart of a drug cartel. Now, Monroe only wants to talk with his son – and why wouldn’t he when he didn’t even know the kid had existed until just a few months ago? But Monroe is mostly hoping that he can help the kid pick up where he left things off with the Republic he’d been in control of, even though the guy seems to want nothing to do with him. Now, we didn’t really get to see much interaction between this father and son duo, but already I’m excited for more. Still, I’m kind of hoping they don’t try the route of setting things up between Charlie and Connor – who is cute, but the dazzling chemistry between Monroe and Charlie needs to be explored. Besides, despite how they are similarly damaged Charlie and Connor are, I think Charlie needs a more mature man in her life because let’s be honest, she was the caretaker of her brother and thus took on a motherly role with him. And after that, there’s no going backwards in responsibility.

And speaking of Charlie, her grandfather, Aaron and her were left behind when Miles, Bass, and Rachel took off in search of Bass’s son – to which I was a little disappointed Charlie was left behind because I really want more screen time between her and Monroe, but I can understand the writing standpoint behind this. Aaron soon scampered off on his own quest, and in Charlie and her grandfather attempting to track him down, Gene happened upon some seemingly nefarious traffic going on between the Patriots and some townspeople. When Charlie and Gene intercept the last wagon with mystery cargo, they find – of all things – oranges. Now, we soon learn that the Patriots are dosing these oranges with something, but our heroes do not know this, nor do we know what exactly they are spiking these fruits with. My guess, something to help brainwash them with, to make sure even the most unsure are complacent, or some kind of back up plan they can use if all things don’t go well. But I’m not exactly expecting my theory to be right, so we’ll have to wait and see.

Our two final storylines concern Aaron and the Neville’s, separately that is. In the final minutes Aaron travels to Spring City, Oklahoma – and come on, we all knew that was where he was going – where he happens upon none other than Grace, one of the people that was apart of the same project as Rachel that managed to bring down electricity. Now, we have to wait until next week to see more between these two, but it does leave something to be pondered.

Then there were the Neville’s. Julia, pretending to be someone named Rebecca, constructed a rather meticulous plan – if I do say so myself – to get her actual husband Tom to take out the current Chief of Staff in order for her Rebecca husband take over the title, all to “help” Tom get promoted so that they can get what they deserve. Now, I’m not all that sure what her actual plan is, but I know it’s definitely not so that she can step down and become Tom’s wife again, even if he threatens to kill her Rebecca husband. That look of worry on her face when he says he’ll stab him, she’s obviously up to something else a little different that she hasn’t told Tom about. Also, their son Jason snuck in and read documents that the man that looks eerily similar to Johnny Depp worried over in his room. I’m rather curious to learn what will be on the papers, even if I’ve already forgotten what the triangular symbol means again.

Now, I have to say that episode had a very solid opening, quite enjoyable in my opinion. I especially enjoyed when Aaron told Gene off for trying to apologize to him about either betraying his own family, or Aaron and his now deceased girlfriend. The backbone Aaron’s character has slowly managed to grow is something I find incredible, definitely good character development.

This episode I found incredibly well written, from all the different stories that we hopped between but it still managed to keep my interest was rather well done. Some times, if these kinds of things aren’t done properly, the stories can become rather unconnected, and I didn’t get that here, the flow was perfectly on key. Not only that, but also the acting, and the dialogue, and the cinematography were all so good that I didn’t feel that there was even a weak link between any of it. It all managed to work so well together that I even found myself beginning to like Rachel this week; despite finding she has tried to overshadow the Charlie character all too much this season. So, basically, this series is becoming really top notch this season.

Monroe, he was really brilliant this week. I really found that everything his character did was very natural to this point in his story as well as to the overall seasonal story arc. Also, I absolutely adored the way Charlie’s name just kind of rolled off his tongue in that one comment he made (a line you can find below). I’m really forward to seeing these two’s relationship slowly develop. Sure, we may never fully get Charloe (Charlie and Monroe together, for all you non-shippers/ Internet language challenged), but I know that whatever screen time they manage to get together is something I will very much soak up and appreciate.

A couple final things I need to note. They have to do with the subtle moments that have little to do with dialogue, and everything to do with body language and facial movements. The first is to do with that smile that spreads across Charlie’s face when her grandfather asks he since when has she listened to what her mother has told her to do. Such a small moment that was expected after that rhetorical question, but something that helps to mold a character beautifully all the same. The second was that look Rachel gave both Miles and Monroe after the wagon driver spoke to her and patted next to him in the driving seat. That look of yeah-right, combined with oh-come-on and really? Something that so naturally occurs with women that fit just so well into that point in their adventure. I loved it.

All in all, this episode was incredible, and I can say that having been able to write a page worth amount of notes on it. Everything just fit so well together that it gave just enough to keep me interested, but not too much so that I might have felt overloaded with information. I really like that this series is able to manage all that it does, and it has a great deal to do with its writing staff and skilled actors. Honestly, I was counting down my hours at work knowing that once I got home it would be time for me to watch this, and it in no way disappointed. This is the kind of series that makes me know I want to be a television screenwriter. And makes me actually want to write a review.

My rating: 8 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“Yeah, yeah, I’m alive.” – Monroe says to Gene.

“How you holding up, stumpy?” – Monroe questions Miles.

“I have to help you find your son after you killed mine.” – Rachel explains to Monroe after he asks her what her problem is.

“The jerk crisscrossed two creeks. He was paying more attention than I thought. Guess he doesn’t want to be found.” – Charlie says exasperatedly.

“Well, congratulations, you’ve made it to Mexico. Go enjoy the Mexican dream.” – Monroe ironically states.

“You asked for my help. What’d you think I was gonna do?” – Charlie replies to the incredulous look her grandfather gives her after she kills the two Patriot men.

“Because I’m Sebastian Monroe.” – Monroe says to his newfound son, explaining how he would know anything about commanding legions.

“Well, by that logic, Charlie’s going to grow up to end the world.” – Monroe retorts to Rachel.

Okay, that’s all for tonight’s folks. I’m going to go watch American Horror Story: Coven now, but I will not be reviewing it tonight. And by posting this, it does not mean I will not be reviewing Almost Human, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Trophy Wife, or Cougar Town, I just really wanted to watch and review this show more. Plus, I’ve only watched the first of those four shows this week, so I’ll be doing a bit of catch up tomorrow, plus reviewing The Crazy Ones. So check back in tomorrow night.

The Vampire Diaries 5.09 Review: Living in Hell

All those that have yet to watch tonight’s episode of The Vampire Diaries, entitled ‘The Cell’, now would be a good time to do so before proceeding ahead. For this is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

Well, this week we were given the backstory behind Damon’s time as an Augustine vampire, as well as some backstory on the experiments and who Aaron is. Now, while I am happy that Damon is finally getting a substantial story of his own, I’m finding it a little hard to believe that any of this ever happened to him. That amount of trauma, surely there would have been some hints towards it, and yet I can recall none from the previous four seasons. This is the problem for some writers and actors, as characters grow they’re growth tends to reflect in any flashbacks, not more who the characters were in the beginning, but more who they are now. I’m a little disappointed in this series for not really being able to do that.

Also, I’m disappointed in this series because of how this whole Augustine thing feels thrown in here. After the originals left, it feels like they needed something to throw in and just came up with this to take over once Silas was taken care of. The way it’s been written in has just been sloppily done, particularly with including all the Mystic Falls bigwigs as being part of this society that hadn’t managed to pop up on this series until just now. There have been no clues hinting at this at all, and yet it has managed to be written in. That’s just terrible in my opinion.

Just a few other comments regarding this episode. One is that I absolutely adored the use of fifties music for the flashback sequences; perfectly fitting for those scenes, I just wish there had been more. Another thing was how much I absolutely loved Katherine’s shirt, and now how very badly I want something like it. Finally, there were absolutely no doubts that Enzo wasn’t going to pop up and be alive near the end of the episode. His character definitely has so much more to him than that, and I am glad he’ll be around next episode. Hopefully we’ll have some interactions between him and Damon, and get to see just how the effects of being captive for a good seventy years or so has taken its toll on him.

Overall, while there are certain things I am excited to watch on this series, it isn’t anywhere near as good as it was two seasons ago. Let’s be honest, as soon as Elena became a vampire, and especially after she made her decision when it came to choosing between Stefan and Damon, there wasn’t much more they could do with this series. Unfortunately, as this series runs on The CW, there’s no doubt there will be another season after this one, I just don’t know if I’ll be around to watch it. That’s the trouble with TV these days; no one ever knows when is a good time to end their series.

My rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“Deep thoughts, mortal coil, blah blah blah.” – Katherine writes down.

“And so on, and so on, and so on.” – Damon states.

Alright, folks, I’m off to review Once Upon A Time in Wonderland now, so check back soon for that. Afterwards we have Grey’s Anatomy and The Crazy Ones.

Revolution 2.09 Review: Love is a Powerful Motivator

Anyone that has yet to watch last night’s episode of Revolution, entitled ‘Everyone Says I Love You’, now is your last chance to do so before proceeding ahead into spoiler territory. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

Well, not as good an episode as I would’ve hoped, but it was decent enough. I think my only issue with it was that it felt so short and was a little anti-climactic. The episode could’ve run about twenty minutes longer and had a little more sword fighting and gun play than it did have. And also more quality Bass-Charlie time.

So we learned a few things about Aaron and the nanites this week. They were basically helping him because he was the one that woke them up and thus they felt they owed him for it. Not a bad way to explain it, but I do kind of hope that they’re gone now, if not for good than at least a while before we have to hear about it again. This season has been a bit too tech and science oriented than I would’ve liked. Give me some gruesome swordplay and fights any day.

One thing I really did like about this episode was that they did focus a little more on Charlie than they have in a few weeks. Although, even when she was in the scene, the focus of the camera got caught on Rachel a little too often. Rachel, in my opinion, was a lot better last season when she was a little more in the background than at the forefront. But at least they give me more Charlie than they have in a few weeks, I just wish – like I said – that she’d shared more scenes with Bass. Their glances at each other were a little too fleeting for my taste and were so focused on battle that I wasn’t able to see the chemistry that is ripe between them.

Another thing I am glad about is that Dr. Horn is dead. Thank God for that, and for killing Cynthia, she was a little too religious, good, and boring for my taste. There wasn’t much to her character other than to give Aaron someone to love. And Dr. Horn, he was getting a little too obviously desperate and wasn’t all that intriguing, so I’m really glad they’ve gotten rid of these characters. I honestly didn’t care enough for them as much as I did characters that were killed last season.

Basically, this half of the season leaves us with Miles unconscious from the infection – which we all know is not going to last because if they kill off Miles, there goes a chunk of the viewers of the show. Aaron lost Cynthia and is likely going to be in a dark place because the nanites have left him – but honestly, who cares? I like Aaron for his sense of humour, not the rest of this garbage. Rachel plans on going back for her father, and she’s going to have to if she wants Miles to live. Monroe will probably help only because Miles is the only one that knows where his son is. And Charlie is obviously going to help because the one thing she is big on is protecting her family. Also, we learned Tom Neville’s wife is alive, and now the Neville’s have some new scheme cooked up – but honestly, who cares if it keeps them away from the whole unit for much longer?

Overall, not a bad episode, I just expected a little more. The characters were mostly good, and the acting overall was satisfactory. One thing I was expecting was for Rachel to tell Miles she was pregnant in that flashback, but perhaps she found out later. I do swear Charlie is still his daughter, but I suppose they’re going to wait to finally reveal that one. Another thing, while the bangs did look good, they didn’t look good on Rachel. Nice hairstyle, just not for her. Also, it wasn’t convincing in de-aging her, and Miles didn’t look young enough either. But otherwise, this was a pretty good episode; it just sucks how long we’re going to have to wait for more.

My rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“I’m having a heart attack, that’s what I’m doing here. What’re you doing here?” – Aaron tells what he believes is a little boy.

“I’m Batman.” – Monroe states.

“You’re like a puppy holding a kitten.” – Monroe remarks on Miles having gone soft.

“We may die tomorrow, we’ll probably die today.” – Rachel says to Charlie, while saying she loves her.

Okay, just one more show to go. Check back soon for my review of American Horror Story: Coven.