Episode 113 of Revolution, titled “The Song Remains the Same”, finds both sides of this conflict preparing for war. Monroe and a smug Randall Flynn seem to be plotting the destruction of the neighboring nation states while poor Neville gets left waiting outside. I like the hostile dynamic between Flynn and Neville. As Flynn describes himself as a manager, Neville’s contempt for him will not be contained. As we recall from our Neville flashbacks, Neville thought that his days of being the meek employee getting belittled by a middle-manager were over. He seems to have made himself over as a new man, a military man with rank and importance, but Flynn doesn’t like him and now that Flynn is Monroe’s new golden boy, Neville is feeling threatened. Neville leaves on an important mission, knowing that if he messes this one up it may be his last.

Meanwhile, Miles is training the rebel soldiers to be just like the militia they will be fighting – since he pretty much created the militia himself. This scene reminded me of the scene in “The Legend of Zorro” where Anthony Hopkins is training Antonio Banderas to be the new Zorro. Does that mean Jason is Catherine Zeta-Jones?

When Nanites Attack!

Wait, I’m confused. So there are two commands – absorb electricity and replicate. Is this a single “switch” where they are either doing one of these things or the other? Does this mean that if they switch them “off” from absorbing electricity, that they will start replicating? Or, does it mean that there are two switches, both of which can be on or off – so they could essentially be doing both at the same time?

These nanites, or nanobots if you prefer, are tiny computers the size of a virus and Rachel says that they are everywhere. They are so tiny, people are actually breathing them in. From Aaron and Rachel’s illuminating conversation, it seems that these nanites were supposed to be weaponized by being contained in a discrete and controlled area. However, it appears that “something” went terribly wrong at The Tower. That “something” is probably a vintage Zegna-wearing scumbag.

So if these little things have been floating around absorbing electricity for the last 15 years, I think we can assume that they are not harmful to humans, at least in their current state. What happens if they are turned off? What happens if they start replicating again (assuming that they haven’t been replicating this whole time)? Can they be reprogrammed to do something else? My mind is reeling from all the super sci-fi possibilities in front of us – could Randall have the ability to control people through these tiny computers that are already in everyone’s systems? Is this why the “R” on “Revolution” blinks out in the opening credits, leaving just the word “Evolution”? Will these nanites evolve humans into something else? I like this explanation and hope we get more details as we go along.

Jason – Be a Better Man Than Your Father

Neville is on his way to make a very important trade for Monroe in his pendant-powered humvee, enjoying the dulcet tones of Lionel Ritchie’s “All Night Long (All Night)” – which, by the way, is the most redundant song subtitle ever – when his humvee and accompanying truck gets blown up IED-style by the rebels. Tom is captured by Miles and Charlie and taken back to base camp for interrogation. Miles threatens Tom and Tom successfully provokes Miles into beating the crap out of him, but Tom is not talking.

When a new group of rebels rolls into base camp and Jason is among them, there is some hostility from both Charlie and Miles. Who can blame them, Jason betrayed their trust more than once, and now that they know he is Neville’s son, they need to make sure he isn’t just there to free his father. It isn’t long before Jason manages to sneak in to see Tom and it appears as if he falls for Tom’s plea for help. Despite his apparent lack of concern for Jason’s welfare in the past, I believe him when Tom tells Jason that he was only hard on him in order to make him tougher because that is the only way to survive in this world. I don’t think that excuses his behavior, but I can see his somewhat twisted logic and I think deep down he truly loves his son. Jason unlocks his handcuffs and right when I want to bash his little boy-band face in for freeing Neville, Jason gleans some key information about where Neville is headed right before revealing his double-cross and handing him back into Miles’ custody. This seems to earn Miles’ trust and suddenly Jason is one of the good guys. I would like to think that we can trust Jason now, but it does seem like he still has a soft spot for his mother so I suspect that this will come back to bite the group sooner or later. On a side note, it’s kinda awesome that Jason doesn’t know what a boy band is. Makes me want to plot armageddon right now.

Regardless of Jason’s heroics, Neville manages to escape anyway, killing “Padre” Nicholas in the process. And yes, he actually says “Father forgive me” before plunging a machete into his chest. Really? Lazy writing alert! I thought for sure that he would finish that trite little zinger with “… for I have sinned!” but maybe that would have been too much? Neville makes it back to Philly to whisk an uncooperative Julia away before Monroe figures out what happened and comes for them both. Where will Tom and Julia end up? My guess is that Tom will take his military skills and extensive knowledge of the Monroe militia’s strengths and weaknesses to one of the neighboring nation states. After all, what else does he know at this point? He sure isn’t going back to being an insurance adjuster.

One Pendant to Rule them All?

Since Neville can’t seem to get anything right, Randall goes to the cement factory to complete the mysterious trade, which appears to be diamonds for nuclear material. The rebels ambush Randall at the plant but he manages to get away with the goods in tow. When they return to base camp with the news about what they suspect Monroe is plotting, Rachel says there’s just one thing to do. A quest, one that only Frodo and Samwise, I mean Rachel and Aaron, must take to trek across the Plains Nation to Mount Doom, I mean The Tower. Does this mean we’ll have a visit soon from Danny the White?

It actually makes perfect sense that Aaron is going with Rachel to The Tower. This guy has been pretty much useless to date, but now there is actually an opportunity for the “Wizard of Google” to do some real magic here. And he already has the awesome beard. This is his opportunity to do some good and prove his worth. So, any bets on how long before we see his wife Priscilla again? That would actually be kinda funny if she thought Aaron and Rachel were a couple. Oh, and please don’t ship Aaron and Rachel. It’s gross.

So where exactly is The Tower? Miles mentioned that she would have to cross the Plains Nation, so consulting our post-blackout map, I imagine it is either at the western edge of the Plains Nation or somewhere in the Wasteland, since that area would more than likely be out of the jurisdiction of one of the surrounding republics. It sounds like a really long trip on foot. If Rachel would just stop destroying those pendants!

Miles tries to talk Rachel out of leaving, using some mighty persuasive kissing, but Rachel is convinced that Charlie is better off with Miles than with her. Of course she is – Rachel is a terrible mother! She tells him that he needs to take better care of Charlie than he did with her. Wow, definitely some history there. I’m kinda sad that Miles and Rachel will be apart now for the near future. Despite her talk of not returning, I can’t believe that this is the last time we see all of them together, especially with the palpable tension and chemistry between Miles and Rachel – (sorry, but I am shipping these two hard – so shoot me). This brings me to the latest theory du jour around the virtual water cooler — Is Miles really Charlie’s father? Discuss amongst yourselves.

I think the second half of the season has finally hit its stride and I’m enthusiastic about the rest of the season. I hope that breaking up the group will not cause the show to lose any steam, but actually propel the action by telling two sides of the story in parallel.

Your thoughts? Sound off in the comments below!!