REVOLUTION FINALE RECAP: Power Play

REVOLUTION 1.20 The Dark Tower

We started out with the Miles and Monroe face-off that was denied us last week. They stand facing each other with the mega Tower body melting guns trained on each other. Miles watches the Tower guardians approach as Monroe shoots in his general direction and misses. They make eye contact, and Miles warns him of the approaching guardians (another chance to kill him passed by). This leads to an alliance in the firefight that follows and Nora, Monroe, and Miles look for an escape together. They end up in some kind of a sewer and are knocked into the water.

Randal (he’s alive!) is in the presidential bunker where he breaks a framed picture of GW Bush (haha!) taht was on the wall and finds a keycard in the frame beneath it.

Meanwhile, in the guardian’s quarters, Grace asks Rachel how she can be sure that the gazillion little machines that sucked all the power up will just return it – what if the command is wrong or they malfunction. Rachel thinks they already are – they are multiplying out of control. Apparently the power going out was not exactly what Rachel, Ben, and company intended. The head of the guardians warns Rachel, Charlie and Aaron that they are their guests, but they will kill them if they try to access Level 12.

At the Militia camp, Neville is back on a major power trip and confronts his main remaining rival. After promising him he’s not like Monroe, he shoots the man in cold blood and sets it up to look like it was self defense. Jason is one of the first to come when he hears the shots and he doesn’t entirely believe his father’s explanation.

Monroe and Miles are swept away, but Nora manages to hang on and pull her self out of the water. The two men wake up on the shore of a river some distance from the Tower. They wordlessly get into a fight which is interrupted by a sniper on the shore. The man misses them, and when Monroe orders him to stop, he runs off. Monroe finds Miles and decides it’s time fora heart to heart.

In a flashback, we see Miles and Monroe at a restaurant 10 years after the blackout, reminiscing about their past birthdays. The place is rocked by an explosion, and Miles is unconscious on the floor with Monroe looking on.

Inside the Tower, Aaron is checking out some code on an old computer. He recognizes the code as his own from his MIT days. Rachel denies knowing anything about it, but Grace tells him that MIT sold his code to the DOD and it serves as the Tower’s operating system. Aaron is forced to realize that him running into Ben and becoming friends was no coincidence.

Neville is planning to blow the door of the Tower with a ton of explosives (you’d think it would be bomb proof, right?) and Jason confronts him. He tells him that they have to stop Rachel from turning the power back on that’s too much power (literally) for any one republic to have – Georgia, or any others. Jason points out his lack of loyalty and Neville appeals to him to help him. Jason reluctantly agrees, but only if Charlie and Rachel are not harmed. Their discussion is interrupted by the news that Monroe has been spotted by the river.

Rachel talks with Grace in the infirmary. She tells her of the day Danny was born – he was 3 months premature, less than 2 pounds, and his lungs weren’t fully formed. She fought for him as hard as she could, terrorizing the NICU staff. She’s still fighting for him, and appeals to Grace, who also lost a child, to help her make things right and overthrow the Militia. There’s a 1 in a billion chance that turning the power back on will kill them all, and Rachel is willing to take it. When Grace won’t go along, Rachel drugs her with some anesthetic gas and steals her keycard.

In a flashback, Miles wakes up in bed in Philly. Miles and Nora are at his bedside. The bombing was the rebels – a new group who want the US back. Monroe has caught the perpetrator, and executed him and his wife and kids.

While Rachel, Charlie and Aaron hide from the guardians, Aaron is still checking out the Tower’s code. He built a backdoor into the original system for his use, and someone else has used it. He suspects the blackout spreading worldwide was NOT an accident. They have to stop talking when they hear someone approaching. Luckily, it’s Nora, but she doesn’t know where Miles is.

Miles and Monroe fight some more, and Miles knocks Monroe down and tries to leave him to find Charlie and Rachel. Monroe refuses to let him go quietly, taking the opportunity to hash out their relationship issues. Apparently Miles leaving the Militia for years, then trying to kill him in Philly really hurt his feelings. Miles tells him that he just couldn’t stomach Monroe killing the rebel bomber’s kids. Monroe tells him that he did that and lots of other sick, twisted things for Miles. He never cared about the Republic, just about watching Miles’ back. This rather twisted heartwarming moment is interrupted by the militia helicopters and Monroe is taken captive by his own Militia, who bring him back to their new commander, Neville.

Neville tells Monroe that Miles brought him to Colorado. Monroe tries to intimidate him, but no go there. He tells Monroe that he is “borderline deranged” and “obsessed with Miles” (Gee, really?). Monroe challenges him to kill him, but Neville plans on holding a trial so he looks more moral than Monroe. The discussion is interrupted by Jason, who reports that they’ve managed to blow an opening under the Tower door.

Nora tells Rachel that Miles loves her and always has. He will always choose her and has been obsessed with rescuing her. After this discussion, the two meet up with Charlie and Aaron to continue their plan to get onto Level 12.

The Tower guardians are on to their plan and head up to Level 11 to confront them. However, due to a rather horrific flaming booby trap, they are subdued. Unfortunately, Nora is wounded in the process (girl can’t catch a break!). Charlie wants to take Nora back to the infirmary, but Rachel is set on getting to Level 12 (big surprise). Charlie appeals to her as her daughter, but she insists on going to Level 12 first and pressures Aaron to join her. Rachel is either seriously cold, or seriously dedicated, or both.

In Neville’s tent, just the two of them, it’s Miles’ turn for a heart to heart with Monroe. He couldn’t kill him because they are still brothers, which Miles hates, but he knows that will never change. He unties Monroe and tells him to run, then runs for the Tower door and climbs under.

Elsewhere in the Tower, Neville and his Militia are on the march and manage to capture Grace and force her to take them to Level 12.

Miles manages to get to Charlie and Nora right before a guardian does them both in. He’s horrified to see Nora’s injury and wants to get her to the infirmary, but she tells him that Rachel needs him. He refuses to leave her, though, proving her earlier statements to Rachel incorrect. He carriers her to the infirmary while Charlie leads. Unfortunately, she dies in his arms just as the reach the door.

Rachel and Aaron arrive on Level 12 and find Neville, Jason, and the Militia. Miles and Charlie arrive and a firefight ensues, allowing Grace to slip away and for Rachel, Miles, Charlie, and Aaron to slip inside Level 12. Rachel asks about Nora, and Charlie tells her that she’s dead and she has the decency to look sad.

Aaron sits down at a computer terminal and Rachel directs him to shut down the program. Outside, Neville is trying to get the door open and orders his men to kill them all once they do, if Jason will let them. Aaron manages to get the program set up and they have one last pause as they ponder whether they are ending the world. Then Aaron hits return.

Around the world, we see characters we know and see the power come on around them, much to their amazement. The Georgian president’s first thought is to send everything they have against Philly. Rachel and company watch it unfold on the screens in front of them. Outside, Monroe is treated to one crazy lightening storm out on the prairie.

Just when it seems like things are going to be okay, Randal comes out of where he’s been hiding and locks them all out of the main control room. He puts in some kind of override code and several missile silos open, launching four intercontinental ballistic missiles at Philadelphia and Atlanta. Randal plans to wipe out the two main forces, allowing the country to be reunited. With the missiles launched, he kills himself, leaving Miles, Rachel, Charlie and Aaron staring at the screen of the missiles approaching the east coast.

In a secured bunker in Guantanamo Bay Cuba, someone is playing with a desk light – the President of the United States. Another man comes in and informs him that Randal was successful and it’s time to go home.

My Thoughts:

Wow, talk about a change of power (haha!) in one episode! The power is back on, missiles headed to Philly and Atlanta, Neville back up on top, Monroe alive and alone. The world didn’t end…yet… but what a reset for season 2!

Great character dynamics, too. Miles and Monroe’s twisted bromance continues to fascinate – it’s been fed to us in small pieces over the season and we finally know why Miles left Monroe. With all the barbaric things Miles has been accused of doing, I guess wife and kids were always exempt. We still don’t know what pushed Nora over, though, as she joined the rebels long before Charlie found Miles in Chicago.

The Charlie-Rachel and Jason-Neville relationships seem pretty damaged at this point. Not sure what it will take to salvage either at this point, but I think Rachel and Charlie have more hope because Neville’s allegiances, or lack therefore of, are likely to continue to be a rift between him and Jason unless he comes upon some redemption, fast. Which may well happen as it sounds like he had a similar goal to that of Randal.

Can’t wait to see where they take next season!

Watch new episodes of REVOLUTION this fall on Wednesdays 8/7c on NBC!