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The Matheson gang needs to cross the Allegheny River to get to Philadelphia, but all the bridges are in militia hands. They try bribing their way across, but walk directly into a trap laid by Sgt. Strausser, who also has Nora's sister, Mia, held hostage and slowly suffocating. The fab four rescue Mia, who isn't too thrilled to find out about Nora's participation in this suicide mission to Philly, so she convinces her sister to come with her to Texas, where they'll be reunited with their father.
But! Turns out Mia is a lying liar who almost gets Miles shot a million times, or worse, since Strausser is a bloodthirsty sociopath. Nora manages to save the day and she and Mia split up for good. Man, this show is rough on the sibling relationships.
Neville is trying to prevent Monroe from sending his son, Nate/Jason, to California, which is basically a death sentence, or handing him an actual death sentence, because Jason asked a stable hand where Strausser was going. Seems Jason didn't want to be the reason Strausser got to carve out Charlie's kidneys while she's still breathing. Neville's not having any luck, so his wife, Julia, gets involved, using intel from their maid to get Neville to rat out a fellow officer's son, who is a member of the resistance. The son gets killed, the officer gets brutally beaten, and Jason isn't going to California. Happy ending, yay?
Mia also picked Aaron's pocket for the MacGuffin, which Strausser gives to Monroe. He passes it along to Rachel, who's building some sort of device that will make power or turn the power back on or at least run an air conditioner for ten or 20 minutes in the worst parts of July. Grace and Randall/Flynn also have some sort of command center that tells them Monroe has Ben's pendant. I'm sure this will all be explained logically and will in no way make everyone angry for investing their time and attention in it.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Previously on Revolution: Nora joined our merry band, Nate/Jason saved Charlie's life again, and Miles discovered Aaron's magical lights-go-on pendant.
Freeport, Pennsylvania. Nora is trying to bribe a militia guard to let her and the others cross the bridge, which Miles says is the only one for a hundred miles, because the militia blew all the others up and they burn any boats they catch. (It's the Allegheny River they're trying to cross, to get to Philadelphia.) Nora is successful, and the foursome warily crosses the bridge, which is lit with torches.
Miles notices someone with a gun behind a pylon, and says quietly to the others that it's a trap and they need to turn and run. Ah, and it's Sergeant Strausser who's set the trap. Miles says, "Now" and they run, the militia firing after them. Miles turns back and sees Strausser, who is Not Pleased. Miles and the others flee, the militia in pursuit, until they come to a dead end.
The militia soldiers chasing them look inside an abandoned brick building, where the four are hiding. They don't find them and take the search elsewhere. Aaron asks how the militia found them, and Miles tells them it's Strausser. So how are they going to cross the river, Aaron asks. "We don't," Miles says. They'll have to try crossing at Morgantown, West Virginia. Charlie objects because it will take so much more time, but Miles says Strausser is the only person who's ever scared Miles, so country roads it is.
Some poor militia schmuck has to tell Strausser he lost the fab four. Strausser does not take the news well, and stabs the guy in the gut. He calls to the others, "Bring out the girl." Oh, that can't be good.
Miles and the others are hustling on their way when they see a red flare in the sky. The sentries are hollering Nora's name, which confuses her, until she hears the rest of their message: "We have Mia." Miles tells Nora not to run right into the trap, but she does, and sees a girl, gagged and hanging by her wrists from a flagpole. She's Nora's sister.
Two months after the blackout. Two girls are hiding under a bed as a man stomps through their house (and one of the girls is Miss Teen San Antonio, which is awesome). The booted man comes into the bedroom and begins riffling through the girls' things. The older girl keeps the younger one from making any noise, and the man leaves. In the morning, Nora and Mia, who look maybe fourteen or fifteen and eight or nine, climb out from under the bed. Nora tells Mia to stay in the bedroom while she looks around. She finds their mother dead in her bed. Out in the hall, Mia calls out, and Nora lies and says their mother isn't there and they need to go to their father's house. She tells her sister not to be scared.
Present day. Strausser is still calling Nora. He's telling her that Mia is suffocating because of the way she's tied up. He says she has about an hour to live. He says he wants the necklace and Miles, and he'll let Mia live.
Aaron doesn't understand how Strausser knows everything about them, and Miles says it's Nate/Jason's fault. He tells Aaron to give him the necklace, and when he does, pulls out his sword and tries to smash it. But the precious Macguffin is smashproof, which frustrates Miles. Nora says they're not going to give Strausser the necklace; they're going to save Mia and kill him. Clearly someone has found a moldy old copy of The Secret.
Some militia guys are whaling on Jason in a jail cell. Neville interrupts them and the two jailers say they have orders from General Monroe. Neville asks Jason what he did, and Jason makes like a sullen teenager and asks why he cares. Um, because he's your dad? God, teenagers are horrible. I have a great idea: let's make a whole show about how teenagers are whiny jackasses even after the apocalypse! Everybody'll love that.
Neville bursts into Monroe's office and before he can intercede about Jason, Monroe reads a report from Martin's Ferry, Ohio, about the lighthouse turning on last week. Neville's all, that's great, but could you tell those two yahoos downstairs to stop turning my pretty boy's face into tartare? Neville starts to say that the punishment is too harsh, but Monroe says Jason bribed a stable hand for Strausser's whereabouts, and asks why Jason would want to interfere in a mission that's so important to Monroe. Neville says Jason likes pretty girls, and but Monroe brushes this off. He has no time for girls! He has a dictatorship to dictate!
Neville promises to keep Jason in line, but Monroe says the other fellow in the room, John, had a great idea to send Jason on a mission to California. Which freaks Neville out, because "those heathens have been known to send our boys home in a box." That...seems like more trouble than it's worth. Monroe says he's being generous in not just executing Jason, out of respect for Neville, so he gets to choose Australia, I mean California, or the firing squad. (Or whatever horrible method of execution Monroe favors. Drawing and quartering, maybe.)
Nora and the others are wiring sticks of dynamite to the windows of the building they were hiding in. She lights the fuses and things go boom. Strausser runs toward the explosion, and another goes off. Miles and Charlie cut Mia down, and the four run for it. Except for Miles, who spots Strausser looking at them. They draw their swords, but then Miles flees.
Jesus, these people do more solemn plodding through the woods than there is in the seventh Harry Potter movie. Miles tells Mia he's happy to see her, although Mia's decidedly not, after whatever Miles did to Nora. Mia asks what the plan is, and they catch her up on all the Danny shenanigans (Dananigans?). She thinks they're crazy for heading into Philadelphia, but since she can't talk Nora out of it, she says Morgantown isn't the way to go. Mia knows a coyote who can ferry them across the river about ten miles away. Miles suddenly tells them all to hide, as Strausser's scouting party comes close.
Galveston, four months after the blackout. Nora and Mia are walking along the beach and approach a house with the Texas flag flying. They go inside and call for their father. The house looks like it's been ransacked, and their father is nowhere to be found. Mia asks where their mother is (because Nora said she'd be at their father's house) and Nora tells her she's dead, but their father is coming back. They'll wait for him.
The group climbs some sort of structure (one of those huge round fuel holding tanks?) so they can get a better look at the landscape. Charlie asks Miles if he thinks they've lost Strausser. He does not. Mia apologizes to Nora for going AWOL, and says she went to Texas and found their father. Mia, it turns out, is a bounty hunter. Nora's stammering uncertainly and Mia explains that when they went to Galveston, their father went to San Antonio to look for them. After finding their dead mother, he assumed his daughters were dead too. Mia asks Nora to come with her to Texas, where no one is hunting them, but Nora says she promised Miles. Mia doesn't think Nora owes Miles anything, and Nora says she promised Charlie. She'll go with Mia after they rescue Danny. Mia says they won't get out of Philly alive, and Nora protests that Danny is Charlie's family, but Mia points out rather sensibly that she's Nora's family. And she isn't interested in suicide missions.
Mia says she'll get them across the river and then she's going to Texas. Charlie has been eavesdropping on all of this from, like, four feet away, just making sure that everything is still all about her. They head down to the river and find Mia's coyote dead, his throat slit and his ferry burned. Crap.
Neville is staring at a map of what used to be the United States. His wife, Julia, comes in with their housekeeper, Rose, who tells them that John, the Monroe officer from earlier, has a son named Stephen, who is working with the resistance. Neville says it's a very serious accusation, and clearly Julia wants Tom to tell Monroe about John's son so he won't send Jason to California. Tom tells Julia he loves her, and they're just so evil and scheme-y together.
So now the plan for the fab four is to head to Morgantown. Mia apologizes to Nora for not helping, and says she's going to head to Texas. She asks Nora again to come with her, then pleads when Nora refuses. Charlie interrupts and tells Nora to go with Mia.
Nora picks up her bag and goes over to Miles, who's squinting bad-temperedly. He starts to say it's going to be more difficult to get Danny back without her, but she interrupts by kissing him, which makes Charlie and Aaron distinctly uncomfortable. She starts the "till we meet again," and Miles says they probably won't, actually, because of this here suicide mission, and Nora says that's what he said the last time they parted. She and Mia turn and go.
Neville is supervising the pummeling of John, alongside Monroe, who says they caught Stephen and seven other rebels outside the city with a whole lot of explosives. They were all executed, including Stephen. Monroe says John claimed not to know about Stephen's activity, which is why they're making mincemeat out of his face right now. Although they're not really interrogating him at all. Just punching. Monroe asks Neville how he found out about Stephen, and Neville keeps his source confidential. Monroe says he owes him for the favor, and Neville asks if he'd reconsider sending Jason away. Monroe says he's keeping Jason in Philadelphia, but that Neville will have to keep him in line.
Nora and Mia walk, and Mia asks how long Nora managed before she started sleeping with Miles again. Nora says she didn't, and Mia asks what else he's good for, since he's not much of a talker. And while they were distracted, the two wander directly into a clearing, surrounded by Strausser's men. Mia hands over the pendant and tells Strausser she led Miles and the others to the ferry landing, like she told Strausser she would. He thanks her, and says she and Nora are free to go. Nora makes a wrinkly browed face of deepest betrayal.
Mia turns to go, but Nora is still all hung up about the betraying. She asks if Strausser hanging her was an act, and Mia confesses that she's been bounty-hunting for the militia this past year. She says Strausser knew who she was and she didn't have a choice -- he said he'd kill them both if she didn't play along. Nora demands to know if Mia actually found their father, and Mia says she didn't. Nora can't believe she lied to her, and Mia's like, you lied to me about Mom when I was a kid! Which is a pretty damn dumb excuse. I think the statute of limitations on lies you tell eight-year-olds is like five years, ten, tops. Nora runs off to try and save Miles, Charlie, and Aaron, with Mia yelling after her.
Aaron notices the pendant is gone and asks Miles what he did. Miles is denying doing anything when gunfire erupts. They take shelter behind some cars. In the distance, Nora hears the gunshots. Strausser calls to Miles to surrender, and Miles accepts how effed they are and calls, "Hold your fire!" Nora sneaks up on a militia soldier, stabs him in the back and takes his gun. Miles, hands up, walks out from behind the car, over Charlie's objections. Strausser tells him to drop his swords.
Miles greets Strausser as "Corporal," and Strausser snits that he's been promoted. Miles observes that he's a sociopath, actually. (I think, historically, there have been some sociopathic commissioned officers in our armed services, no? Sherman was really kind of a dick.) He says before the blackout he'd have been committed, and Strausser pulls out the old chestnut about how society is sick, not him. Miles does not agree. Strausser tells another soldier to cuff Miles, and Nora shoots that soldier in the head. Miles and Strausser both take cover and Nora jogs over to where Miles is. "I knew you couldn't stay away" is how he welcomes her back.
Miles tells Nora to go get Charlie and Aaron. She hands him her gun, but when he tries to fire, it's empty. Strausser comes out of cover and starts trying to fillet Miles alive. They fight. Miles knocks Strausser down, grabs his own swords, and runs. And of course not thirty feet away the four come to a Butch-and-Sundance-style cliff overlooking a rushing river. Miles says they have to jump. They do.
The fab four are trying to dry out to a fire, and Aaron is doing his thousand-yard stare of mopiness. Miles comes over to him and Aaron's like, yeah, yeah, we should have destroyed it. Miles asks what he thinks Monroe will do when he's figured out the necklace, and Aaron hopes he'll just turn the lights on and let everyone go back to playing Angry Birds. Miles says Monroe doesn't care about lights, he just cares about weapons, and if he gets power, he'll have planes and drones and lots of people will die because Aaron couldn't keep Mia from picking his pocket. Aaron's like, I got it, I feel awful, want to give a nice paper cut and pour lemon juice in it?
Nora apologizes to Charlie for trusting her sister, and then flashes back to the house in Galveston. Mia asks her if they're going to die. Nora says they're not, and that Mia shouldn't think about the people they've seen die. She says the only thing that matters is keeping themselves safe. She lies down in bed to her. And then their world got way, way crappier.
Philadelphia. Strausser hands over the pendant. Monroe says he'll be properly rewarded for his loyalty, and stares fanatically at the pendant.
Julia is watching bloody-faced Jason sleep. She goes down to her husband and says Jason will be out for a while. She observes that Monroe trusts Neville, and Neville qualifies, "As much as he trusts anyone." Julia asks Neville to describe Monroe's emotional state, and Neville asks what this is really about. Julia says Monroe has been more paranoid and erratic since Miles left, and it's just a matter of time until he does something like that to Neville. She says Monroe isn't fit to lead, and Neville cautions her not to say that to him or to anyone. Julia Lady Macbeths that they need a real leader, someone who's strong and unafraid. She keeps stroking her husband's ego, and I am a tiny bit concerned about a potential Rick-and-Shane scenario here.
Rachel is tinkering with some sort of mechanical object, possibly building it based on some drawings. Monroe comes in and gives her the pendant. He says now she has everything she needs to -- what? Well, to build him a Mechagodzilla, that's what.
Randall/Flynn comes into the room where he's imprisoned Grace. He tells her she needs to come see something. He brings her to a grid of computer screens, and one of them has a map of the country with electronic markers of all the pendants. He says Ben's pendant is heading east from Wisconsin to Philadelphia. Randall/Flynn says he guesses Monroe has it. Grace asks what he's going to do about it, and he says he's not going to do anything: she is. The camera pulls back and they seem to be in some sort of underground complex. It looks vaguely Matrix-y, or like what I imagine the underground complex where everyone lives in Mockingjay looks like.
week: Rachel shows Neville and Monroe her invention, and Miles and Monroe come face-to-face. And week showcases a hot new band you probably haven't heard of: Led Zeppelin. What?
Philadelphia. Strausser hands over the pendant. Monroe says he'll be properly rewarded for his loyalty, and stares fanatically at the pendant.
Julia is watching bloody-faced Jason sleep. She goes down to her husband and says Jason will be out for a while. She observes that Monroe trusts Neville, and Neville qualifies, "As much as he trusts anyone." Julia asks Neville to describe Monroe's emotional state, and Neville asks what this is really about. Julia says Monroe has been more paranoid and erratic since Miles left, and it's just a matter of time until he does something like that to Neville. She says Monroe isn't fit to lead, and Neville cautions her not to say that to him or to anyone. Julia Lady Macbeths that they need a real leader, someone who's strong and unafraid. She keeps stroking her husband's ego, and I am a tiny bit concerned about a potential Rick-and-Shane scenario here.
Rachel is tinkering with some sort of mechanical object, possibly building it based on some drawings. Monroe comes in and gives her the pendant. He says now she has everything she needs to -- what? Well, to build him a Mechagodzilla, that's what.
Randall/Flynn comes into the room where he's imprisoned Grace. He tells her she needs to come see something. He brings her to a grid of computer screens, and one of them has a map of the country with electronic markers of all the pendants. He says Ben's pendant is heading east from Wisconsin to Philadelphia. Randall/Flynn says he guesses Monroe has it. Grace asks what he's going to do about it, and he says he's not going to do anything: she is. The camera pulls back and they seem to be in some sort of underground complex. It looks vaguely Matrix-y, or like what I imagine the underground complex where everyone lives in Mockingjay looks like.
week: Rachel shows Neville and Monroe her invention, and Miles and Monroe come face-to-face. And week showcases a hot new band you probably haven't heard of: Led Zeppelin. What?