Episode 111, “The Stand” picks up right where the fall finale left off – Monroe’s helicopter is airborne, powered by Rachel’s pendant and amplifier, and aiming a machine gun at our group of rescuers and rescuees. They narrowly survive getting blown up, then narrowly escape through a checkpoint with the old “live bodies in coffins” trick (major foreshadowing for poor Danny). However, when the group runs across a rebel camp whose inhabitants have all been killed by the gun-wielding power helicopter, they realize that they need to warn the other rebels. Muskets and rifles are one thing, but no one can defend against this kind of destruction, especially if they don’t know what’s coming. Aaron is hesitant to get further involved now that the great Danny Quest is over, but there’s no going home, not while power-hungry Monroe is bent on sea-to-shining-sea domination. The team splits up – Rachel and Miles to find some “power of their own” at the home of one of Rachel’s ex-coworkers, while the rest go to the rebel base camp on the ice planet of Hoth, ummm, I mean Annapolis.

It’s Complicated

Almost immediately after the group is out of harm’s way, Rachel is asked to explain what is going on with not being dead and all. She replies, “It’s complicated.” and insists that she will tell them (and us) everything very soon. As a fan of the show, this is great news, because it feels like the right time to start giving us more answers. I felt that the first half of the season was too light on the Grace/Randall/power storyline, especially when it was conspicuously absent from the fall finale. Luckily, we got lots of power-related stuff in this episode, and I am optimistic that we will get some major traction on the “mythology” part of the story very soon.

Speaking of complicated, Miles and Rachel seemed to be sparking their own source electricity in this episode. After the coffin escape, Nora kisses Miles and there was a weird moment where Miles and Rachel look at each other. There is definitely a history between these two, and I’m very interested in finding out more. While on the road, Miles explains to Rachel that he thought she was dead or he would have never left Monroe with her. He says “Everything that happened, it’s all my fault and I will never be able to make it up to you.” He seems contrite and tender, but she just seems bitter. That scene was definitely electrically charged and I’m very intrigued to learn more about these two. As for the ongoing chemistry between Miles and Nora – meh.

Something that seems to draw Miles and Rachel together is not just their common history but that they both have this tremendous weight of guilt and responsibility regarding their roles in the current state of their world. Rachel is not only responsible for the creation of the technology that made the blackout possible (at least, that’s the theory), but also directly responsible for putting some of that lost power into the dangerously crazy hands of Sebastian Monroe. Miles, on the other hand, is something like the Dr. Frankenstein to Monroe’s monster. He was the one who wanted to bring order to the land in a militarized way, he built the army, trained the ruthless forces, but ultimately did not destroy the monster he had created once he realized that Monroe was out of control. Both of these characters seem to be searching for honor, for forgiveness, and for redemption.

Randall and the Tower of Power

Rachel and Miles find John at home, along with his own pendant and his stockpile of weapons. But John turns on them and admits that he is working with Randall now. He knocks out Rachel and Miles with a sonic cannon (pretty cool), and after they wake up tied to a chair, John informs them that Randall has gotten into “the tower”, he has big plans for Rachel, and that he is on his way to get her. Rachel warns John that Randall is “unbalanced” but John seems very afraid of what Randall can do to him. Miles manages to get free, knock John unconscious, and the pair grab the weapons and go to meet up with Charlie and the rest at the rebel base camp.

Back at “the tower” Randall implies bodily harm if Grace cannot get the elevators working so that he can get down to level 12. What kind of crazy tower doesn’t have stairs too? If he needs to go “down” to Level 12 – does that mean that it is underground? If so, how is that considered a “tower”? These are just some of the many new questions about what Randall has planned. What is on Level 12? Why, after 15 years, is this all just happening now?

Jason and the I’ll-Go-Nots

Bad pun aside, Jason is seriously a man without a home. Finally showing some backbone, Jason confronts his father, Major Tom Neville, about the atrocities he is witnessing. He has just watched Neville destroying a camp with not just rebel soldiers but families too. Now Neville’s next target includes the rebel base where Jason’s crush, Charlie, and crew are hiding out. This is the final straw for Jason, and after speaking his mind to his father, he is called a “shameful disappointment”. A fistfight ensues between father and son, leading to Tom telling Jason to leave and never go home again.

Jason then warns Charlie about the impending airstrike against the base, but even as Charlie thanks him, she tells him that he cannot go with them either. However, I’m sure this is not the last we will see of not-Nate. My guess is that he will sulk around in the background, following Charlie until she finally gives in to his puppy dog eyes and bulging biceps and lets him join their band of misfits. And I would bet good money that romance will soon be in the air between these two. Any takers?

The Stand vs. The Stand

“The Stand”, the title of this episode, is also the title of a novel by Stephen King set in a ravaged United States after most of the population has been killed by an out-of-control virus. The book has many themes and similarities to Revolution, including the following:

• a bleak dystopian setting,
• caused by people in secret labs playing with things they don’t understand and/or can’t control
• themes of good vs. evil
• a band of people wanting to re-establish a democracy taking a stand against a tyrant bent on power and destruction
• cross-country quests and missions
• death of major characters to show gravity and drive motivations
• Randall Flagg (The Stand) = Randall Flynn (Revolution)
• The group in this episode runs into Nicholas again (name similar to Nick in The Stand), and the first time they ran into him in the episode “No Quarter”, Miles introduced himself as Stu Redman and Charlie as Frannie (two of the major characters in The Stand).

We’ll see as the season continues if the similarities to the book also continue. By the way, “The Stand” is a wonderful book and although lengthy, it is well worth the read.

Why did Danny have to die?

Back at the rebel base, they decide they must stand and fight rather than run, since there are too many wounded to move in the short amount of time they have. They are counting on Miles and Rachel to return in time with the extra fire power they need to fight back. Two helicopters then approach the base, only one has the amplifier, so the second must stay within a certain range. Many of the rebels are killed with the guns on the helicopters, but just as they start to run out of ammo, Miles and Rachel appear with more weapons, plus John’s pendant and a sweet rocket launcher. When Miles attempts to use the RPG, a missile blast knocks him out first. Danny runs out, grabs the launcher and successfully brings down one of the helicopters (the one with the amplifier). But before the second helicopter goes down, the machine gun haphazardly fires and fatally wounds Danny.

So why did Danny have to die? The driving force behind Charlie and her quest to find Danny was her focused determination to keep her little brother safe. This propelled the action for the first half of the season. Even after Charlie realized that this quest was more nightmare than adventure, she pushed through, and grew up in the process. Her suffering and loss when Danny died due to Monroe’s quest for power may open her eyes to everyone else who could be impacted in the same way. Revenge is a powerful motivator, but so is empathy. Danny’s death came at the right time in the story to move us from the quest to save a single person to a bigger and ultimately more important storyline – saving a whole country.

Nothing says “Evil” like a Cutlass Ciera

Randall Flynn makes a grand entrance at Independence Hall in his Cutlass Ciera and after a rousing “Help ME Help YOU” speech, we know things are now going to get interesting. I’m thinking crazy+evil meets crazy+evil = twice the crazy and twice the evil, right? Did I do the math correctly?

Speaking of math, maybe it’s time for a pendant count. I am wondering whether the pendant in the helicopter was actually destroyed or not. If you remember, these are seemingly indestructible. Can Monroe or the rebels salvage it?

Assuming, as Rachel indicated to Monroe, there are only 12 pendants, here the count so far:

1. Rachel’s – this may be the one that went down with the helicopter
2. Dr. Jaffe’s – I think Monroe still has this one
3. John’s – with Rachel and group
4. Randall’s – still with Randall
5. Grace’s – now with Randall

Am I missing any? I know that we saw in a previous episode that Randall has a trace on each of the pendants and where they are currently located. Rachel told Monroe that there are 12 pendants, but we don’t know yet if they are just a temporary fix to the power situation or if someone getting all twelve together can permanently reverse the power outage. Plus, how much power does Randall actually have? Is his power dependent on pendants, or does he have another source of power? How much power can he deliver to Monroe? To top it off, we have to wonder whether the small blinking capsule that Rachel dug out of Danny’s chest after his death is somehow related to the pendants and the power.

Your thoughts? Leave a comment below!