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The Matheson gang makes their final approach to Philadelphia, through the city's subway tunnels, which are riddled with land mines. Of course, Charlie steps right on one, which doesn't put her out of our misery, but does cave in the end of the tunnel and cuts off everyone's oxygen supply.
So, deprived of sufficient oxygen, everyone starts hallucinating about their personal baggage. Miles has a poignant conversation with his BFF, Monroe, about how he misses him and wants to come back and be in charge and get to sleep in a nice bed with clean sheets and occasionally shoot people he doesn't like in the face. (Like Sgt. Strausser!) Aaron hallucinates that his wife, whom he abandoned in the forest because he was a pansy, is following him and yelling about how he's useless. And Nora thinks an alligator is eating her. That one might require slightly less psychoanalysis to unpack.
They can't just make a simple walk into Philly, though. Oh no. They have to have a traitor in their midst, and in this case it's Sergeant Wheatley, who is not a rebel, but rather an undercover militia fellow who wants to shoot everyone else and take Miles to Monroe. He almost achieves this, but at the last second, Charlie kills him. He manages to ding her head with a bullet, so she gets her own dreamland chat with someone from the past: her dad. It would be really meaningful except that Charlie is awful.
Monroe, meanwhile, is making Rachel build an amplifier that will let him use the power in the pendants to run his tanks and jets and other weapons of mass destruction. But Rachel, the sneaky minx, is building a bomb instead. Her old buddy Brad sells her out, so Monroe is ready to kill both Rachel and Danny, but Rachel preserves her value to Monroe by stabbing Brad to death with a screwdriver. Man. She is a cold one. I hope sometime we'll find out how this ruthless, brilliant woman gave birth to a simpering washcloth like Charlie.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Previously on Revolution: Ben got shot, so Charlie sought help from her uncle Miles, who used to be a general in the Monroe Militia with his hetero life partner, Sebastian Monroe. Miles enlisted Nora, who's working with the rebels, and along for the ride is Aaron, who's not very good at anything anymore. Charlie's mother, Rachel, is being held by Monroe in Philadelphia because she might know how to turn the power back on, starting with those silver pendants.
West Chester Rebel Camp, outside Philadelphia. Nora is trying to convince some dude that she's actually a rebel, but he finds that hard to believe, since she's accompanied by Generalissimo Miles Matheson. So some of his fellow rebel buddies decide to beat the shit out of Miles. Come on, guys, Breaking Dawn Part 2 wasn't that bad! And none of the bad was Billy Burke's fault! He didn't fall in love with a ludicrously named Reborn Doll!
A man who introduces himself as Colonel Starkey, and the guy from earlier as Sergeant Wheatley, comes into the room where Miles is tied to a chair. Miles is amused that the rebels are also using military titles, while Starkey is amused that he might get to shoot Miles in the face. I guess everyone in the republic is familiar with what a genocidal bastard Miles used to be. Starkey asks why he shouldn't execute Miles, and Miles says he's going to give him Monroe's head on a plate, in exchange for their help freeing Danny. Now that seems like two things Miles wants.
Starkey and Wheatley discuss, and Wheatley asks Miles to explain how this would work. Miles says he knows everything about Monroe and his habits, and he can get them right in front of him. I would like some clarification on how long it's been since Miles defected from the militia. A year? Five? How old is his intel, really? Maybe Monroe likes banging some different ladies now. Wheatley doesn't really believe Miles is betraying Monroe like this, but Miles asks how they can pass up the chance to take out Monroe if he's telling the truth.
Starkey and Wheatley release Miles, who only has a bit of a bloody lip for his hard use. Charlie, ever a flower of femininity, tells Miles, "You look terrible." He winks at her and says it's part of his charm. Amen, brother. He tells the others they're getting Danny back, and taking out Monroe, tomorrow night.
Camp. Charlie is sitting alone, staring across the river at Philly. Is there a river to Philly? (There are two! I should know that without looking it up.) Miles approaches, drinking from a bottle, and she points out that maybe he shouldn't get hammered the night before the big job. Miles is all, tonight I drink, for tomorrow we die! I'm surprised he's not somewhere trying to nail Nora, in that case. Charlie's confident Miles will save their skins, and Miles asks why she's so sure he knows what he's doing. He worries out loud about what will happen if he's face to face with Monroe, and Charlie doesn't understand why that would be a bad thing (presumably, her thought process is all: 1. Miles sees Monroe, 2. Miles stabs Monroe, 3. We get Danny back, 4. Rainbows and ponies!), and Miles shuffles off.
Wheatley and a woman with a bow are watching a pair of militia guards from the shadows. She fires and kills them both.
Aaron, on a set of train tracks, asks Miles if this is really the only way into Philly. He says there are walls around the city thirty feet high, complete with machine gun nests, so since they can't go over, they have to go under. Miles leads the team, including Wheatley and his Katniss wannabe, into a subway tunnel marked "Express Train to Philadelphia."
The tunnel, of course, is full of rats, but worse, Nora says the militia has rigged it with traps. As they walk, Miles thanks Wheatley for talking the colonel into not killing him. Wheatley says he used be a gambler, so he's playing the odds here, hoping he gets to kill Monroe, and worst case he gets to kill Miles. He looks pleased by both ideas.
Charlie asks Nora what Miles was like back when he was a general, and what he was like with Monroe. Nora tells her they were best friends, but Miles had to leave the militia after he tried to assassinate Monroe, but couldn't go through with it. They're interrupted by a loud click, and Nora tells everyone to freeze. Of course, Charlie is standing on a claymore.
While Rachel tinkers with her invention, her pendant is powering a stereo, which is playing this week's special guest stars, Led Zeppelin! I... do not see how Led Zeppelin has anything to do with a world without power (acoustic Bob Dylan, maybe?), but maybe that's because I was born in the '80s. Neville comes in, and he's swamped with baby boomer nostalgia. He introduces Captain Burke, and says he needs to know what Rachel's machine will do. She says she's too busy, but Neville insists that Burke's life and his men's lives depend on this here gadget.
Rachel holds up the pendant, which she says powers anything within its range, about nine or ten feet. She moves the pendant in and out of range so the music fades in and out. She says to power something larger, the pendant needs an amplifier, which is what she's building, which boosts the range to half a mile. With the amplifier, it can power tanks and jets and missiles. (Although they can't go very far, can they? Sounds like Monroe's missiles will have approximately the range of Kim Jong Il's.) Neville asks when it will be ready, and Rachel says he'll be able to commit mass murder much more efficiently very soon.
Charlie's still standing on the mine as Nora spray-paints the other mines. Wheatley asks Miles why he didn't know about these, and he says they must be new. Nora tells the others to go on ahead. They do, but Miles stops to Charlie. She tells him and Nora to go, but of course they don't, because she is a child who needs taking care of. Nora hands Miles her torch and starts disassembling the mine with her pocketknife. Aaron has hung back as well, to be generally useless.
Nora wedges her knife in the mine and says she thinks she's done it, but there might also be another mine under this one. So they might get blown up anyway. She tells them to run and they do. The mine goes off behind them, triggering the others, and collapsing the tunnel behind them. So. Getting out of Philadelphia with Danny is going to be fun.
Aaron introduces himself to Ashley, the archer from earlier, and asks her why a nice teenage girl like her is fighting for the United States, a concept she doesn't remember. She says she's doing it for her father, who was from Syria, and who didn't want his children to grow up afraid of their own country. (Anvils! Anvils on my head!) She asks why Aaron is fighting Monroe. It's just now occurred to him that's what he's doing. Oh, Aaron. You were supposed to be the smart one.
Miles sees someone up ahead, and he jogs forward, handing his torch to Charlie. He draws his sword and opens the door he thinks the man disappeared into, but it's a closet with just some old equipment. Miles insists a militia scout went in there, and Charlie and Nora start making the Miles Has Gone Crazy eyes at each other. Wheatley also looks like he's reconsidering this grand adventure.
They come to a flooded part of the tunnel, and grimly descent into the water, which I'm sure is absolutely disgusting. As she walks, Nora hears something under the water, and it looks like something is watching her. Something grabs her and drags her down, and the water turns red. She starts screaming that an alligator bit her leg. She thrashes about in her best auditioning for Jaws 5: I'll Show You Shark Week manner, until Miles grabs her and tells her to look at her leg, which is fine. No alligator.
Aaron puts two and two together and realizes that maybe they shouldn't be using peyote torches. He points out that Miles and Nora were both hallucinating, and that the torches are burning low. He says they're running out of oxygen because the tunnel collapse sealed it off. Oof. Miles says the exit is ten minutes away. Maybe in that time Charlie will hallucinate that she's an interesting character I care about.
Now it's Aaron's turn. He's staring dumbly down the tunnel, and Nora asks him if he sees something. He says he does not. Sure. He's just being haunted by his wife. It's very trendy these days.
They get to the stairs and climb up to the Girard Street station. The exit has been sealed with bricks, which Miles didn't know about. Charlie asks where the exit is, and Miles doesn't know. Wheatley says they need to keep moving. Miles stares at his torch, which is flickering, until Charlie grabs him and leads him along.
As they walk some more to who knows where, Miles sees a door, cracked open, and pushes it open. He walks into Monroe's room at Independence Hall, as "Kashmir" plays. Yes, yes, he's a traveler in both time and space, we get it. Behind him, Monroe pushes the door shut. On "All will be revealed," he walks toward Miles, then smiles and hugs him. Jesus. I think someone watched the "All Along the Watchtower" episode of Battlestar too many times.
Miles asks Monroe if he's hallucinating. Monroe confirms he is, and says he looks like hell, and not just because he's suffocating. You know, if Charlie and Monroe and everyone else are going to point out how haggard and wretched Miles looks, the makeup department should have made the tiniest effort to make him look just slightly less robust than he usually does. He looks like he has a bad hangover, that's all. Or that he misses his mustache. We should all look so lousy after walking from Chicago to Philadelphia, falling off a train, sleeping on the ground, and almost getting filleted like four separate times.
Monroe piles on by telling Miles he looks tired, then asks if leaving the militia -- and trying to kill his best friend -- was worth it. Well, I bet those nice years he had in that bar in Chicago were all right. He had a pretty good setup there until Charlie ruined everything. Monroe asks why he did it, and Miles says there was just so much killing. Monroe tells Miles he regrets leaving, and he wants to come back. Miles denies it, but Monroe points out that he's a figment of Miles's subconscious right now. He knows what's up, and knows Miles just might go back to Monroe's side if he asks. Because he's scared.
Charlie snaps Miles out of his horrible little daydream, and he says he wasn't hallucinating, but she says he was talking out loud to Monroe. She tells him he can't fall apart, because if he does they'll all die in the tunnel. She apologizes, which I think is a first, telling him she knows he didn't ask to be in charge, but that they need him. "So pull it together," she says. Big talk, Charlie.
Aaron, of course, is stumbling and huffing and puffing, because his wife is walking to him, softly calling his name and asking why he won't talk to her. She asks why he left her, and starts reading off a roll call of Things Aaron Hates About Himself: he's weak, he's cowardly, he couldn't protect his wife. "Maybe you never really loved me," she says, and Aaron says out loud, "That's not true," which gets Nora's attention. He says it's nothing. Behind him, his wife yells his name. It's a shame she never got a name.
Wheatley points out that the torch is burning stronger, which means it must be getting more oxygen. He points out a door riddled with holes, then goes to investigate. Oh, Wheatley, you are not long for this world, I don't think. He and Miles break through the door. Miles stumbles outside into the light. Behind them, the red-shirt boy who never got a name gratefully exclaims, "We're getting out of here!" Wheatley replies, "Some of us are," and shoots the red shirt in the chest. The others dive out of the way, and Wheatley slams the door on them.
He bars the door with a pipe, then points his gun at Miles's head and says, "Monroe's going to want you alive." Miles observes, way too late, "You're militia." Wheatley agrees. He tells Miles to turn and start heading for the surface, then begins monologuing about how Miles doesn't remember him from the Trenton campaign, when Miles gave him a medal, that he was so proud General Miles Matheson shook his hand. Miles exposits that Wheatley knew that door was there the whole time, and he says yeah, he also knew the Girard Street exit was blocked, because he's a mole! He's been undercover with that rebel group for two years. Of course he knows all this.
Aaron manages to get the door open. Charlie takes a bow off the dead red shirt (what happened to hers?) and they follow Miles and Wheatley. Ashley draws back her bow to shoot him, but Wheatley lunges back around the corner and shoots her instead. So Charlie shoots him. As he's falling, he gets a shot off, which hits her.
Charlie wakes up on a couch, and it's 1974 and she's in Headley Grange, where artist of the week Led Zeppelin is recording Physical Graffiti! No, actually, it's her turn to hallucinate, that her father is still alive. She sits up and says, "I'm dreaming," so Ben pinches her and tells her to go get Maggie and Danny for dinner. Charlie explains to Ben that the militia killed him and they took Danny and Maggie died. She asks if she was dreaming. Ben tells her it's over and she never has to leave home again. She says her head hurts, and he tells her to lie down and close her eyes.
Miles is telling her to open her eyes. Charlie has just one dainty splotch of blood on her forehead. She doesn't wake up.
Miles asks Nora what's going on, since the bullet only grazed her head. She says Charlie smacked her head on the concrete stairs she's currently lying on. You know, a concussion can only improve this one. Aaron just stares pensively. Miles tells Charlie he's going to get Danny back, but he needs her to wake up.
Charlie does wake up, in her dream again. She asks Ben if he hears Miles. He's all, why are you talking about Miles? She starts recapping the entire series for him (it's a real "Since You Been Dead") and realizes that's what's real, not the world right here in her living room with her dead father. She hugs her father and there is literally a soft white light coming through the window. I'm just waiting for someone to tell Charlie not to walk into it.
Miniscule Head Wound Charlie wakes up. Miles is just about crying from stress and fear and oxygen deprivation. Aw, Miles. I do like you. Later, Charlie's sitting up in the tunnel and Miles asks how her head is. She snarks that if Wheatley had aimed half an inch to the right, this would be called The Miles and Nora Variety Hour. I would enjoy that. She tells him about Ben and how he brought her back.
They head for the surface, and Nora asks if Miles has any idea what's on the other side of the latest door. He says probably a militia ambush. Aaron is like, great, I've missed those! Miles asks Charlie if she's ready, and she asks if he is. He is not, so much. But Miles Matheson has nine lives or whatever. He pushes through the door.
Rachel's workroom. Monroe comes to visit her. She tells him she's busy, and he's all, yeah, the amplifier, let's talk about that. He says Neville's instincts and hunches are very valuable to him because they're so rarely wrong, and he has a hunch about what Rachel is doing. So they're brought in Brad, who's agreed to work with them. He looks a little less beat to hell this week. Monroe asks Brad to take a look at the machine and tell them what it does. ("It's a snow-cone maker.")
Brad tells them it's a time bomb. Rachel insists he's lying, but Brad continues that the pendant is the trigger. Rachel tries to get Monroe to listen to her, but he says she broke their deal, so she's dead, and so is Danny. She says he needs her, but Monroe says he has Brad, who's been very cooperative, so their little staycation is over. Neville tells someone to take Rachel out, but she grabs a screwdriver and stabs Brad. She gasps that she's sorry as Brad falls to the ground, dead, and two militia men drag her off. Last thing she says to Monroe: "Now you need me."
week: Miles takes Julia Neville hostage. Charlie and Danny are reunited. Monroe tells Miles the others will live if he comes back. And Monroe has the power.