Writers: Trey Callaway and Paul Grellong
Director: Steve Boyum
Previously on “Revolution:”
Episode 2.05 “One Riot, One Ranger”
“Revolution” gets it mostly right in “Dead Man Walking,” which might be the show’s best hour yet. There’s plenty of action, minimal bickering and some surprising plot twists to keep things interesting.
In Texas, Charlie (Tracy Spiridakos) and Rachel (Elizabeth Mitchell) still haven’t made nice and it’s getting on Gene’s (Stephen Collins) last nerve. Meanwhile, Monroe (David Lyons) and Miles (Billy Burke) stage the scene of Texas Ranger, John Franklin Fry’s (Jim Beaver) death at the hand of the Patriots. The Texas authorities come across it shortly after and find a bullet which could only have come from a Patriot gun.
From what Miles and Monroe observe, the plan works and Texas is about to go off on the Patriots. But Monroe’s taste for blood isn’t satiated by Franklin’s death and he kills a Patriot soldier while interrogating him. His methods may be extreme but Miles can’t deny the results, as Monroe hands over crucial documents he pulled off the soldier.
While Miles and Monroe await the coming war, Secretary Allenford (Nicole Ari Parker) and Tom Neville (Giancarlo Esposito) head to the reprogramming center where Jason (J.D. Pardo) is being brainwashed into a “Hitler youth on meth” as Neville puts it. His description isn’t all that off, as we see when Neville and Allenford encounter him outside the center. Jason relentlessly pursues the two, but Miles isn’t the only one with ninja skills, as Neville demonstrates when he takes out the other boys and captures Jason.
From here, things start to get a little too familiar as Jason and Neville engage in yet another one of their ugly father/son heart-to-hearts. Jason tries to hurt his father by telling him about his mother’s infidelity. Neville’s upset but determined not to lose the only person he has left. If he cared so much, why did Neville let Allenford take Jason away in the first place? Again, it seems like Neville’s feelings for his son go from one extreme to the other with each episode.
Back in Texas, to everyone’s surprise Monroe is arrested for Franklin’s murder. It’s not making much sense to anyone and even Miles can’t think of how the Texans figured it out. In a joint effort between Texas and the Patriots, General Carver informs the public that Monroe will be tried and executed, if found guilty. In need of a man with Monroe’s level of sadism to defeat the Patriots, Miles and Charlie attempt to break him out of jail, but when they see Monroe being transported to a bank vault, the two realize Rachel gave warning about the jailbreak.
Monroe is found guilty and as he awaits his execution, we get a couple of flashbacks to the early days of the blackout when he was a little less psychotic. In one scene, we watch him deal with the pain of losing a child when his girlfriend goes into labor. But what’s particularly interesting is the scene where Monroe argues with Miles, who suggests they steal food from another camp. Is Miles to blame for Monroe’s descent into a power-hungry mad man? Possibly. A little later we see Monroe celebrating the pillaging with his accomplices. When Miles asks if there were any causalities, Monroe corrects him. “You mean survivors,” he says. It’s hard to believe Monroe could go from caring about the survival of others to straight up murdering anyone who gets in his way, so quickly but the message, at least, seems to be that Miles is to blame.
As we near the end of the episode, Monroe requests a visit with Miles before he’s executed and here we get some more drama about Monroe’s son, who Miles reveals he hid from him when Monroe started to lose it. And with that, Monroe does lose it. Later, as he’s about to die, Rachel prepares the lethal injection and Gene reminds Monroe of his grandson, Danny and tells him what an “honor” it is to prepare him for execution.
Now, we know Monroe isn’t really going to die. If he did, everyone would probably get along a whole lot better and we can’t have that. So when exactly will someone come busting through the doors, guns blazing to save Monroe for no real plausible reason?
Thankfully, and surprisingly, never. Monroe is put down. Miles dulls whatever feelings he’s having about his best friend turned mortal enemy’s death with alcohol and Rachel goes to visit his grave. She then starts digging. Now, that’s interesting, considering just how much she despises Monroe. Obviously, whatever that injection was, it wasn’t “lethal.”
The episode’s other big twist comes when we see Patriot leader, Ed Truman (Steven Culp) scolding someone about the Monroe situation and that someone, is Gene. Finally, Aaron (Zak Orth) sees the symbol he drew on a “Human Torch” comic book stamped on a wagon carrying Zeljko Ivanek. We know this can’t be good for the “Revolutionaries,” though Ivanek, himself, is always an excellent addition to any cast. And the arrival of another great guest star isn’t a bad way to end a much-improved hour of “Revolution.”
