recaps: “no quarter” (revolution 1x03)

Well, of course there are no quarters.  Money is meaningless after an apocalypse.

(You are welcome for that great joke.)

Anyway, that episode was pretty damn awesome, right?

Episode Rating: 14 swordfights (out of 15)

Episode MVP:  Jeremy (aka Mark Pellegrino, aka one of the best TV guest stars in existence) stole the show with his smirky sociopathy and “One Life to Live” references.  Sweet, floppy-haired Danny and his secret reserves of rage are a close second.

But seriously, let’s just talk about Jeremy for a quick second.  His vicious, amused enjoyment of sacrificing his men to waste rebel bullets.  His deceptively mild face.  His part in that truly fantastic “General Miles Matheson” reveal.  Now all I want from this season is a Jeremy/Miles/Monroe showdown.  With swords, please.

Favorite trend on this show: People being complete badasses with their hands tied together.

• Remember?  Last episode we got Miles snapping a guy’s neck while in handcuffs.
• This time, we get a Jeremy vs. Tied-Up Miles swordfight on an exploding bridge.  Sidenote: I’m really loving the inclusion of Nora’s explosion expertise, and Charlie’s increasing usefulness/character definition.
• Also, Danny’s handcuffed sneak attack on Private Richards (Drew from Season 9 of Scrubs, whose vague recognition factor bothered me until I looked it up today).

Flashbacks are the flashbest:  So that’s why Miles introduced himself and Charlie as “Stu Redman and Frannie.”  The twists just keep coming in the history of the Monroe Republic.  The look on Miles’s face when Jeremy identified him as a founding father?  Hellooo former serial killer.  And I have to commend the writers for refusing to back away from Miles’s past brutality.  I can’t wait to see more of this backstory - especially Jeremy’s post-rescue inclusion in the group.

Charlie and Danny, quiet bosses: These two - young, idealistic, pretty lead characters - have the most danger of becoming boring or annoying or both if they lack definition.  So far, the only character I’ve been ready to leave behind is Nate, and he wasn’t even in this episode.  Charlie’s relationship with Miles is getting really interesting, and I look forward to every Danny/Neville interaction.  Both are still kids, with all the accompanying weaknesses and confusions, but with steel cores that are just starting to show through.

Electricity just got emotional: While the Aaron and Maggie scenes were kind of boring when paired with all the crazy fighting everyone else was doing, there was some nice payoff when the power went on.  In only three episodes, the show has done a really good job of making electricity seem completely impossible and alien to that world.

WHAT and “Padre”:  Yeah, my episode notes had a lot of “WHAT” in them… good job surprising me, Revolution!  Also, was it supposed to be hilarious every time Miles called the priest “Padre” like an old Western?  Because it was.