Revolution‘s plot holes are starting to gape

The series plot advances as much as the gang is getting nearer to finding and rescuing Danny. They hold in captivity Nate (J. D. Pardo, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, 90210) from the Monroe militia. Nate has been tracking them since they began their quest to find Danny. When Nate subsequently escapes, we find out that he is in fact Captain Neville’s son, Jason.

A curious WTH observation: what happened to Danny’s asthma? It has conveniently disappeared since that first episode. Curiouser and curiouser. Grace (Maria Howell) gave him an inhaler a few episodes back (really, 15 years after the blackout?). Surely they don’t expect us to believe that’s the source of his “cure”?

There’s the inconvenient business of burying Maggie, the only doctor among them, who was killed in the last episode. No hospitals around either so this is going to be awkward. The introduction of a steam train raises the oft heard questions surrounding the illogical premise of the show. Like, surely the loss of electricity shouldn’t have resulted in the complete absence of steam trains. Nevertheless, the train signals the overdue delivery of Danny to Monroe HQ in Philadelphia.

The steam train also provides Nora with something to blow up. As she sets about doing so she meets another rebel, Hutch (Jeff Fahey, Lost). When Hutch betrays Nora by stabbing her in the abdomen the impact of Maggie’s death should become all too real. Except that a few scenes later, Nora is fine. Another curious WTH observation.

In flashback we see how Captain Neville came to be the guy who gives free reign to his anger, rather than expressing it on a punching bag. In his former life he was an insurance adjuster. He got fired for granting a claim. We meet his wife, Julia (played by Kim Raver, 24, Grey’s Anatomy). Six weeks post-blackout, in front of his wife and son he is forced to protect his family – he kills a violent neighbour who is stealing from them. He tells his son, “we have to toughen up … if we’re weak, we’re dead”.

By the end of the episode, in a flash, Danny has been rescued and recaptured. He finally turns up at Monroe HQ. This leads Rachel to reveal information to Sebastian about the pendants, saying, “if you want to turn the power back on, it starts with these pendants. There are 12 of them.”

The episode highlights what people are willing to do to protect their family – Perhaps Maggie’s death was about toughening up Charlie as she tries to become more like Miles to survive.

A couple more curious WTH observations: Charlie isn’t much of a hunter – she let Captain Neville see her… twice. And when will the smarts and the smart people show up? It’s long overdue.