Revolution S1 episode 18 ‘Children of Men’ Review!

Revolution has been a in a dark place for some episodes now. At first the second half of season 1 saw some good improvements but quickly episodes started stalling and make impossible leaps in character development. The low point was when Monroe’s right hand man Jeremy Baker (Mark Pellegrino) was killed off. Last weeks episode was a bit of an improvement but it still forced Charlie and Miles in particular to fly in a helicopter they had stolen in order to join Monroe, Rachel and Aaron at ‘The Tower’.

This weeks episode entitled ‘Children of Men’ lays the groundwork for next weeks season finale ‘The Dark tower’. Normally episodes such as this are slow as they need to put the characters and the storylines in such an order that the finale would appropriately shine. This episode does not suffer from this as is proven by the special effects and the confrontation between Rachel and Monroe. As a lot is happening is this episode I won’t give all the details. Consider that a recommendation to watch ‘Children of Men’ for yourself.

The plot of ‘Children of Men’…

Rachel’s grenade attack on Monroe (David Lyons) fails when his bodyguard manages to toss it towards another tent. Aaron sees Rachel (Elizabeth Mitchell) being held captive and considers his next move when Rachel, Monroe and Flynn gain access to ‘The Tower’. Our other gang that includes Miles (Billy Burke), Charlie (Tracy Spiridakos), Jason, Nora and Tom land their helicopter nearby and manage to find Aaron. Quickly they decide that they need to follow Monroe and Rachel into the tower. In the tower itself Flynn explains to Monroe what its possibilities are. On computer screens several world cities are shown live, Flynn explain that he can eavesdrop on anyone and even kill anyone with the use of ‘The Tower’. Monroe is impressed and orders his men to follow him to level 12 where according to Flynn the control room is located. Outside Jason and Tom sabotage Monroe’s pendant which draws away Monroe’s men from the entrance of ‘The Tower’. Aaron manages to open the blast doors and he along with Nora, Miles and Charlie gain access. Jason and Tom are captured by the Monroe Militia. As Monroe, Flynn and Rachel reach level 11 they are ambushed by people wielding advanced weaponry. Flynn disappears but Rachel and Monroe manage to hide in a VIP bunker. There they confront each other with the past, Monroe disavows any blame for Danny’s death but in the end seems to own up that he has a lot of blood on his hand.

He states to Rachel that as he now has a son, somewhere, he will try and save Charlie if Rachel allows him access to the weapon arsenal in the bunker. Back in Monroe’s camp Tom is trying to impress on a militia captain that Monroe is delusional. The captain agrees with him and after several return visits states that he will follow Tom in a revolt against Monroe. The captain does warn that Monroe’s right hand man still needs to be dealt with. Inside the bunker Miles, Charlie, Aaron and Nora are getting their asses kicked by the men with the advanced weaponry. Just as Aaron and Charlie are about to be shot they are saved by Monroe. Charlie seems confused, even more so when her mother Rachel is standing right next Monroe. Monroe next goes after Miles and settle their score once and for all. Rachel, Aaron and Charlie are captured nonetheless and are confronted by Grace Beaumont and other members of the research team that have stayed in the Tower for over 15 years. Aaron’s notebook that allows access to the system is destroyed as according to Grace no one should be allowed to put the power back on.

Conclusion….

This weeks episode pretty much opens up every storyline of the season. I especially found myself rooting for Monroe as he finally does seem to be placing baby steps on the path of redemption. Whether it is enough is difficult to say. I think his character will probably be killed off as there appears to be very little that can be done without going against a season of mindless butchery. Tom and Jason seem to have suddenly joined the dark side by turning the Monroe Militia against its general. Whether Jason will allow his father Tom to become the new president is questionable. As for Flynn, he made a sudden disappearance after the ambush on level 11. What the next move of his character will be is anyone’s guess. This weeks episode thus lays the ground work for next weeks finale. Both episodes are highly recommended to view.

Score; 8 / 10.