Revolution

Revolution

Episode 11: The Stand

By: Carlos Uribe

Revolution is a show set 15-years after electricity died.

Spoilers Ahoy!

I didn't like Danny. Scratch that: I basically hated the kid. He was the motivation to get Charlie out of the town to go and rescue him from Monroe but he failed to be compelling on his own. He was an annoying kid who failed to endear himself to the audience. Graham Rogers was a pretty face but it would be far-fetched to call him an actor. He struggled in any scene he was in because he was usually paired with someone who had actual charisma and skill. His voice didn't help matters. I'm not trying to hate on the actual person-I'm sure he's a nice person. He should just consider a career change. Danny basically made me want to punch him in the face. I'm going to be honest: I actually cheered a bit when he died. I'm not going to have to tolerate his presence any longer. His death is a good thing in that I wanted it to happen. At the same time, I'm not entirely sure it was the right move to kill him in this specific episode. It's not because I wanted him to remain with the group but because we had just finished a whole arc where Charlie traveled over a thousand miles to save him. She didn’t' get the luxury of driving a car there. She had to walk. The whole point of the first half of the season was to rescue him from Monroe's clutches. So what happens when we come back from a long break and he dies? It makes the whole first half felt like a huge waste of time. We spent this long searching for a crappy character only to have him die almost immediately afterward? Don't get me wrong-his death was clearly necessary to move to the next chapter in the story but it hurt the already weak chapter we just finished.

Danny is a character who basically served as a motivator. He's the reason that Charlie left her town. She embarked on a quest to save him. She recruited her uncle and Nora to the cause. He served this purpose again when Charlie failed to rescue him at the train. She took her quest more seriously. Nora became committed towards getting Danny back. The search might have been annoying because it's such an easy way to motivate the group but it worked. He's been rescued but that means that hes' no longer motivating Charlie to do anything. They don't have a purpose anymore. He has to die in order to give Charlie and the other characters a reason to join the rebellion. This means that he had to die in a big battle between the rebellion and the two Monroe Republic helicopters. This makes perfect sense. It's even nice that he got to actually give his life up for something. He didn't die a meaningless death but he made himself useful. He took down the helicopter with the amplifier and thus managed to win them the battle. Monroe has temporarily lost his ability to access power. So he did get to die a hero. So that's something for the character. A quick note before I move on: I understand using Danny's death as a reason to take down Monroe but you would think that when the militia killed Ben that would have motivated them enough.

The episode has other elements other than Danny's death. The first is that the characters go to warn the rebel headquarters about the helicopters. They're actually too late because by the time they get there, they're already dealing with the wounded from the attacks. The rebellion seems to be done but Miles and Rachel go to get them missile launchers. This gets complicated when the person they need to get the launchers from turns out to be working for Randall. Miles learns about Randall for the first time but they do manage to get away before Randall arrives to pick them up. Randall retaliates by going to Monroe. It's heavily implied that he's going to give Monroe electricity. The whole plot with Miles and Rachel not only allows the writers to give Danny a way to take down the helicopters but they're also planting the seed for Miles to know about a major villain. The final plot element is that Nate and his dad have a falling out because Nate loves Charlie. He's now basically homeless because he's rebuffed by Charlie. It's a development that's necessary to eventually get him to join our group of heroes in their fight against Monroe.

The Stand is a solid return for Revolution. It kills off Danny to mixed results: it gives the characters a reason to join the rebellion but in the process made the whole first half of the season feel worthless. The whole Randall plot got a lot more interesting when they contact Monroe but it also has a significant development when Miles learns about Randall. Revolution is a show where you always know where it's going. The pilot laid out what the first half of the season was going to be about: rescuing Danny. Now we know where the series is going next: having the characters join the rebellion to take down Monroe. Overall, a good episode despite it's implication for the episodes that happened before it.