The second episode of NBC’s post-apocalyptic series Revolution, “Chained Heat,” gets down to running with the characters and intrigue from the pilot, and is a pretty crackling adventure for it.
Charlie, the girl with the best hair care in the apocalypse, still whines and nags a lot, mainly about her captured brother Danny. That would be a problem if it weren’t for Miles mercilessly ragging her about it at every opportunity. I love Miles. Everything that comes out of his mouth is gold. I could put up with plenty more of Charlie crying and being difficult if Miles is nearby to put her down for it.
Little brother Danny spends most of the episode staring into the middle distance as he watches Captain Neville do evil things. Danny finally speaks late in the show, telling Neville that, despite all his boasting and justifications, Neville really kills because he likes it. Pretty good speech, but I have trouble believing that he’s so helpless. Asthma or no asthma, he looks like he can handle himself.
Apparently this will be a show with lots of sword fights. That’s cool; Legend of the Seeker hasn’t been on for a while, so I’ve been without my sword fight fix.
This show had better keep exploring the ideas in its high-concept premise. Maggie admits that she carries her iPhone because it’s got pictures of her kids on it somewhere. Aaron keeps going on about how the Blackout defies all science. (I like that he used the phrase “corn-holed the laws of physics.”) We need more of that, seeing how people would react to a loss of all power while speculating how the hell it happened.
We get a couple requisite Big Twists. We’re treated to a flashback two weeks after the Blackout, where little Charlie witnesses her mom Rachel (Elizabeth Mitchell) shoot a guy. We also learn that Rachel is very much alive, living in Sebastian’s camp as a luxury prisoner. Meanwhile Grace (owner of her own Illuminator device) gets attacked by some dude named Randall, whose face we don’t see but he’s carrying his own Illuminator (that’s 3 by my count.) We also meet a new character, Nora, a friend of Miles who’s good at making things blow up. Charlie and Miles end up helping her steal an assault rifle from a slave trader, leading to the show’s best action.
It’s fortunate that the writers realize how annoying Charlie is and how she needs to grow up to survive at the end of the world. A lot of this episode is about showing some of that growth. She volunteered to take out the slave-driving boss with Nora’s improvised pistol, and she came through. Go Charlie. We’re also told that she’s a good hunter, but I’m calling bull until we see her kill an animal. She’s still got a lot of growing up to do before I can root for her. Until then, give me more Miles.
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