Episode Title: “Everyone Says I Love You”
Writers: Trey Callaway and Paul Grellong
Director: Steve Boyum
Previously on “Revolution:”
Episode 2.08 “Come Blow Your Horn”
The gang mounts up to save Aaron “Stay Puft” Pittman (Zak Orth) from the Patriots, but it turns out a guy who can set people on fire don’t need no rescuing.
Last we saw Aaron, he was strapped to a dental chair inside a Patriot bunker. Dr. Horn (Zeljko Ivanek) reasoned that the best way to get Aaron to save his life was to hurt his girlfriend. While Aaron was able to knock out the entire Patriot force, heal Cynthia (Jessie Collins) and carry her to safety, it certainly didn’t endear Horn to him.
Aaron doesn’t remember healing his girlfriend or finding shelter inside the old Willoughby high school, but luckily he’s got his own personal “Haley Joel” to tell him all about it. The child, who appears only to Aaron, represents the nanotech A.I., which he “woke up” when he turned the power back on in the Tower. Cynthia can’t see the kid, but she encourages Aaron to get to know him, anyway. But instead of embracing his new old friend (the kid is actually a childhood friend of his), Aaron tells him to get lost. He’ll regret that later.
Aaron’s revelation about the nanotech and Neville’s (Giancarlo Esposito) reunion with his presumably dead wife, Julia (Kim Raver) are way more interesting than the core four, Miles, Monroe, Charlie and Rachel’s rescue mission. It’s ultimately pointless, as Aaron levels the Patriot forces when Horn shoots Cynthia, but we do learn a few things. Like way back when, Rachel (Elizabeth Mitchell) offered to leave Ben for Miles (Billy Burke) but he turned her away and now he regrets it, as he lay dying of an infection. Of course, we know Aaron will heal Miles so there isn’t a whole lot of suspense here, but coming so close to death (as if he hasn’t already on numerous occasions), Miles decides to tell Rachel how he really feels.
And Monroe (David Lyons), who is constantly abandoning the group only to return at the exact moment they need him most, does just that a couple of times while demanding Miles tell him where his son is. But Miles won’t talk until Aaron is safe.
Meanwhile, as he and his son board a train bound for D.C., Neville spots his wife, alive and well, and with another man (Hey, it’s “Ted” from “Breaking Bad,” Christopher Cousins). The two catch up in secret, on board and after a quickie in the luggage room, Neville asks what she’s doing with that “ass clown.” Turns out that ass clown was her only means of survival after the bombs went off so she married him. Neville tells Julia about the romantic overture he planned to make to her by killing the President. Though touched, Julia tells Neville to forget about offing the Prez; as long as they both keep quiet, there’s a way can get what they “always wanted.” To recreate their luggage room rendezvous in the Oval Office, perhaps?
Back in Willoughby, Horn and his men finally catch Aaron and Cynthia. The doctor demands Aaron heal him the way he did his girlfriend but Aaron isn’t exactly sure how. Horn levels a gun at Cynthia and before Aaron can get his A.I. imaginary friend from the third grade to remove Horn’s brain tumor, he shoots Cynthia. And with that, Aaron decides to go full “Firestarter” on the Patriots and tells the kid to “kill ‘em all.” He does, but the kid is understandably confused by Aaron’s behavior and though he fries the Patriots, he tells Aaron he’s leaving as he begs him to save Cynthia.
The introduction of the A.I. as a human child from Aaron’s memory gives a necessary tangible form to the microscopic nanotech that’s floating around in the air and controlling everything. And the reunion between Neville and his politically ambitious wife gives his story line some direction. Unfortunately, Miles and the gang serve only to engage in endless shootouts and arguments with only a few character moments thrown in. Rachel’s wishy-washy feelings towards everyone close to her (this week it’s Gene, who she now desperately wants to save after nearly killing him last week) make it hard to invest in her relationships. At the same time, Monroe’s redemption keeps restarting every time he saves the gang only to abandon them in the next scene. As for Miles and Charlie, questions remain about their relationship. There may be a father-daughter heart-to-heart in their future, in between bunker raids and rescue missions.
