Episode 1x15 Review: "Home"
by SpoilerTVTonight’s episode of Revolution, “Home,” was written by David Rambo and directed by Jon Cassar. Rambo also wrote the episode “Sex and Drugs” which featured flashbacks of Aaron (Zac Orth) and his wife Priscilla (Maureen Sebastian) who are reunited in this episode. In fact, the episode revolves around several romantically entangled reunions. The episode, while called “Home,” actually proves the old saying that you can’t go home again.
As the episode opens, it’s clear that the war is taking its toll on both Miles (Billy Burke) and Monroe (David Lyons). Miles is clearly weary and disturbed by returning to the battlefield, and Monroe is increasingly paranoid and obsessed with killing Miles. Neither are relishing being "home" on the battlefield. It was nice to see Mark Pellegrino back as Jeremy Baker who seems to be Monroe’s new second in command. Pellegrino delivers his usual great performance. Baker, who has likely known Miles and Monroe the longest as they rescued him on the road as seen in the flashbacks in “No Quarter,” seems to know how to handle the increasingly volatile Monroe. Baker keeps an easy smile and makes his suggestions clearly suggestions so as not to set Monroe off.
Meanwhile, Miles is dealing with his own staff problems in the form of Captain Dixon (Joe Knezevich) who is the liaison for the Georgia troops. Neither Miles nor Hudson (Malik Yoba) like Dixon. Their instincts are justified by the end of the episode when he disobeys Miles’ direct order and shoots Emma (Annie Wersching) hoping to kill Monroe. Miles then kills Dixon, nicely setting us up for the return of Tom Neville (Giancarlo Esposito) as President Foster’s (Leslie Hope) new liaison. And I can’t wait to see Miles’ face when Neville shows up to join the team!!
This week’s flashbacks take us even further into Miles and Monroe’s history as we meet Emma – Miles’ fiancé and the mother of Monroe’s son. It’s unclear in the flashbacks whether Miles knew that Emma and Monroe had cheated on him or whether he knew about Emma’s son. Lyons delivers another outstanding performance. He’s clearly touched when he sees that someone has put fresh flowers on the graves of his family, and he clearly doesn’t want to kill Emma, yet he sentences her and the entire town to die by locking them in the town hall and setting it on fire. Emma tries to reach him, and tells him that she believes there has to be a part of him that is still kind and decent. He confesses that he wants to be the Bas she remembers, but that Bas is dead. Yet, for all that he denies it, there are still glimpses of it. Both he and Miles keep hesitating when they should be killing each other. Lyons' ability to show that side of Monroe that is decent or remembers what decent and kind was makes the switch to ruthless leader even more chilling. I can’t wait to see what Monroe does about his son. In the final helicopter ride, Monroe is clearly thinking about the son he didn’t know he had, and I’m betting the search for Monroe’s son will be a huge part of the story arc going forward. I’m curious as to whether it’s someone we’ve already met and whether he’s fighting for the rebels.
Charlie (Tracy Spiridakos) is still angry with Miles. The war also seems to be hardening her, though I’m betting she’s really just not dealing with her feelings. Miles is clearly concerned about the toll all the killing is having on her, but she pushes him away, and tells him that all she wants from him is an explanation of what happened between him and her mother. Charlie tells Nora (Daniella Alonso) that if Dixon hadn’t taken the shot that killed Emma and wounded Monroe, that she would have done it. Nora doesn’t believe that she would have, and neither do I. There was very little for either Charlie or Nora to really do in this episode.
Meanwhile, Rachel (Elizabeth Mitchell) and Aaron manage to sneak into the Plains Nation. Rachel is trying to decipher Jane Warren’s notes. When Aaron offers to help her, she asks him to go for supplies. Aaron grumbles that he has two doctorates from MIT. The exchange is humorous, but it also begs the question of why isn’t Rachel making use of Aaron’s well-known brain? It seems that she is still hiding something. She is dismissive of Aaron and that combined with her continued secrecy makes it difficult for me to like the character. Mitchell does an excellent job portraying her sympathetically, however.
While Aaron is shopping, he’s convinced he sees his wife Priscilla. He tells Rachel and then spends hours tracking her down until he finds her in a bar with her new “husband,” Steve. I thought it very odd that she never really introduces Aaron to Steve until Aaron and Rachel leave and you see that Steve is holding a gun on Priscilla. Rachel is convinced that Priscilla has moved on and simply wants Aaron to leave her alone and not expose her past. It’s interesting that Rachel should feel that way – perhaps a nod to her own situation when she was away from Ben. We learn that Steve is actually a bounty hunter, and Aaron if finally afforded the opportunity to save Priscilla. In the end, Steve ends up almost beating Aaron senseless, and Priscilla has to step in to save the day on her own rescue, but at least Aaron did step up this time. Aaron finally gets the opportunity to apologize that he’s longed for. Priscilla forgives him but also tells him that it all worked out ok because she’s now married and has a new family with an 11 year old daughter who are all safe in Texas. Priscilla tells Aaron she loves him, but she’s leaving him this time. Zac Orth is amazing in the episode. He is bewildered, determined, sympathetic, and funny by turns. I really want to see Aaron get to use his gigantic brain to save the day. I also want to see Orth do more.
In a way then, both major storylines in this episode revolve around romantic triangles: Emma/Miles/Sebastian and Aaron/Priscilla/her husband. In addition, I wonder if we can link Ben/Rachel/Miles here as well. In all cases, it's impossible for the characters to return to what they had, to in a sense go home again. The episode is also book ended with two fight scenes. In the first the rebels and Georgians win a victory over the Monroe Republic. In the second, Nora, Hudson, and Charlie come to Miles’ rescue. Monroe’s willingness to kill the entire town where he grew up by fire is horrific. I had a few issues with some of the logic during the final scene. For instance, Miles is shot in the leg, yet this fact seems to be dropped by the time he comes out of the town hall. In addition, he formed the perfect target going in or going out of the building – why did no one take a shot? If he also grew up in the town, why did he not recognize or be recognized by anyone else in the town other than Emma? You’d think the other members of the town might have had questions for both Miles and Monroe.
Overall, I quite enjoyed the episode, and I’m looking forward to a number of the storylines the episode breaks. I felt that the writing was generally pretty tight and wove the theme of the episode nicely through the multiple storylines both past and present. What did you think of the episode? Are you looking forward to Neville and Miles’ reunion? Let me know in the comments below. Don't forget to rate the episode!
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