Revolution – “One Riot, One Ranger”

Season Two, Episode Five

Grade: B+

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Miles still wants to start a war with the Patriots, but not until a handful of Texas Rangers gallop into Willoughby did Miles really believe he had a chance at winning. Led by the engaging John Franklin Fry (Jim Beaver), they fit the bill because they, too, are suspicious about these Patriots. But what Miles finds out by talking to Fry is that his commander in chief wants to sign a peace treaty with the Patriots to avoid conflict, unless there is hard proof that these Patriots aren’t who they say they are.

Meanwhile, Aaron’s freaking out about his ability to set people on fire. I loved the interaction between Aaron and Miles, but I didn’t get why Miles was so cold and off-putting when Aaron admits his unique skill. It’s like Miles wants to just imagine it happened randomly or he was just really lucky to have two guys pointing guns at him burst into flames. This is all too much for Aaron to take and we learn through a number of useless flashbacks that this phenomenon happened before. Put that power to good use Aaron! Set the Patriots on fire!

Last week we saw Charlie and Monroe traveling to Willoughby. Well they finally made it. Sometime in-between Charlie finally jumped on board that Monroe can be very useful in stirring things up against the Patriots, but things don’t go smoothly when Miles, and then later on Rachel, see Monroe again. While Rachel still isn’t in agreement with the plan, Miles buys into it (for the time being). It was actually really fun watching Miles and Monroe reminisce a bit and take on several armed Patriots on their own. Poor Charlie doesn’t get their inside intelligence, “You’re just naming cities!”

I must say that the show has accomplished making Monroe a character that audiences want to see every episode. In the first season he was just a lunatic with power, and his story-line with Miles wasn’t as compelling as it should’ve been. Now, we have the whole gang finally back together and they’re fighting together for a larger cause. It’s making some real kick-ass television and I know I’m not the only one thoroughly enjoying Revolution on a weekly basis.

Anyway, at the end Miles’ plan falls through and he’s unable to gather any hard evidence for Fry, which results in Monroe shooting Fry in the back and killing him. Though Miles freaks out at first, Monroe is right here, implying that if they pin Fry’s death on the Patriots, you know a war will occur. Miles isn’t happy (neither is Rachel), but what they want is coming to life.

Oh, and there was the B-story involving Neville traveling with Secretary Allenford who gets ambushed. Neville and Allenford survive the attack, but Neville’s about to abandon her to die until she sheds some light to where Jason is. Looks like we have another odd couple on the road for the next episode or two.

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Last but not least:

• The story of how Aaron and Cynthia meet is cute, but there were too many flashbacks to convey something they could’ve done in much less time.
• We’ve been waiting for when Miles and Monroe would meet, and that scene did not disappoint. But really, is there an alternative motive for Monroe?
• Too bad for Fry, because he could’ve made a great cowboy bad-ass in Revolution. There’s nothing wrong adding some Western flair.
• While Aaron ended up making a good teacher, he sure needs to work on his interview skills.

Homeland – “The Yoga Play”

Season Three, Episode Five

Grade: B-

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Last week we find out that Carrie being called out by Saul and then staying at the psych ward was all a plan to extract the Magician from wherever he’s been staying. This week we get a closer glance at what kind role Carrie’s playing, and it’s a lot of fun.

Carrie’s being watched by Javadi’s men, plus Quinn who’s just trying to keep her safe. By the way, Quinn’s reaction when Saul tells him about Carrie is priceless. For the most part, Carrie’s half of the episode was real good. She’s obviously still going through all the mental trauma of the psych ward, but she’s also doing her best to prepare herself for when she’s going to be face-to-face with the man they suspect to be in charge with the Langley bombing. She’s distracted though, by Jessica Brody knocking on her door asking her to help find Dana. Did you roll your eyes as well?

While it’s believable that Carrie would go out of her way to help Jessica find her daughter, like Quinn and Saul commented it simply put the mission at such an unnecessary risk. The only good part about this was seeing Virgil and his brother again. What this also meant was that we’d be spending more time with Dana and Leo as they cruised to nowhere. The two teens in love hit a major roadblock when Dana hears about Leo’s suspected homicide of his brother at a gas station. Like typical dramatic Dana style, she blows up on Leo, jumps out of the car at an intersection, and thinks her life has just hit rock bottom. Do I feel bad for Dana? A bit, but not when she’s her whiny, teenage self like she’s been displaying all season.

So with Dana finally reunited with her family at home, Carrie can worry about her own misfortune of possibly tipping off the guys who were tagging her from Javadi. What ends up happening is she’s stripped and searched for wires, then bagged and transported to meat with Javadi. Dramatic, yes… but it makes for good television and I enjoyed it thoroughly. There was also a story-line that involved Saul going geese-hunting only to find out he won’t become the new director of the CIA. Tough one for Saul, but he doesn’t have time to sulk because he’s got some Magician-hunting to do!

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Last but not least:

• Is this the last we’re going to see from Leo? I sure hope so.
• And once again, Mike is absent from the show. Where does he stand with the whole Brody family? They spend enough time with Dana’s terrible choices and situations, why not just explore Mike and Jessica’s?
• Quinn’s still bad-ass, but he’s letting his emotions run a lot higher than he showed last season. For one who doesn’t express any emotion on his face, he sure does feel a lot.
• How terrible was Saul’s speech? Awful.

The Walking Dead – “Isolation”

Season Four, Episode Three

Grade: B-

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One again The Walking Dead deals with the issue of losing a loved one. Yeah, it happens all the time in the world they live and therefore it’s necessary to show it, but at this point I feel the audience is getting as tired of it as Rick and Carl. Even Beth, who claims to never get upset about losing someone, gets emotional when thinking about losing Herschel. But most importantly, Tyreese goes on a mad rampage when at the event that someone murdered Karen, pressuring Rick to find out who did it so he can seek vengeance.

We’ve seen this sort of rage before in earlier seasons of The Walking Dead, but even though Tyreese is a character that we do like as an audience, there hasn’t been that level of closeness accomplished in establishing his character. This results in being at a distance in understanding his rage and sympathizing for him. Last week I was surprised that Tyreese even had a girlfriend, and within that episode she dies. There’s not much time to feel for the couple if that’s what we’re being manipulated to feel. Sure, it sucks, but I’m feeling much worse for Tyreese because Sasha is sick instead of for the loss of Karen.

That being said, it’s a pretty big deal that Glen is also one of those who are affected by this virus. We get some effective emotional scenes with Maggie, especially when she tries to prevent Herschel from serving tea to the sick. I doubt that Glen is going to be written off the show since he’s one-half of the only couple on the series, but this makes for a somewhat engaging story arc.

The big reveal at the end of the episode that immediately cuts to black is when Carol admits to being the one who burned the bodies. Did you buy this? The Walking Dead has struggled in its past for making sense of its characters’ decisions. Is this just another one to add to that list? I get it, Carol is becoming the logical, ruthless one by teaching the children how to hold knives and for putting her own life at risk so there’s water available. She even lectured the young girls who just lost their father to be strong and not weak! But burning the bodies… that’s where I draw the line and say the caring, thoughtful Carol wouldn’t ever do that. So she was trying to stop the spreading of the virus… since that obviously didn’t work you’d think she’d feel somewhat horrible for what she did.

Through a very slow paced episode we do get a scene full of tension as Daryl and his team run into what looked like thousands of walkers on their way to retrieve antibiotics. And there’s that moment when you believed that Tyreese has given up hope and wanted to go out on his own, swinging that hammer until he’s engulfed by walkers. I’m happy to say that doesn’t happen and Tyreese is still very much alive, but for that moment while Daryl, Michonne, and Bob looked on, they just knew he was long gone. So what does this mean for the infected? There’s no way they can travel 50 miles any longer. Unless Herschel’s tea cures instead of delays the inevitable, a lot of characters are in great danger of becoming undead.

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Last but not least:

• The beginning to this third season has been really freaking sad, right? Like a lot of slow scenes full of people crying.
• Carol seems to really care when Tyreese asks her to check in with Sasha, and when one of the little girls is sick. Would she have burned those bodies as well? Maybe she’ll just take a flamethrower to the entire isolated block.
• Daryl and Michonne have a moment. Wouldn’t they just make the strangest couple?
• Carl is back to his overzealous ways with his gun by his side.