Television: Revolution, "Ties That Bind"

Oh, look. Another cliché title for me to hate on. And more predictable ways for our protagonists to behave.

Truly, the greatest sin Revolution commits is that of the one-dimensional character. We know Miles, though easily the best character, plays the knight-errant—he's the man who has a past he feels he must atone for. Nora is the almost-too-principled kick-ass female with a hair-trigger temper; she's fighting for her beliefs. Charlie is our earnest, family-loving, save-the-world girl, the adolescent who is still learning things the hard way. Aaron is the Cowardly Lion, the homebody who now finds himself far outside his comfort zone, continually dealing with situations that force him to build a spine.

The fact that these core characters are so predictable is what makes it easy for the bad guys to set them up and spring traps on them. The Militia know Nora won't allow them to hold her sister. Duh.

"Ties That Bind" is, in fact, the Nora Episode, featuring flashbacks of her and her sister in the aftermath of the blackout. But hey, times were hard all over, and I've ceased to be impressed with these stories. Though it does make one wonder how much younger than Miles Nora is, exactly, since he was already an adult (and not by a little) when the lights went out.

[And now allow me a moment to cheer for the California Commonwealth.]

On the flip side, it was also a given that the sister was really working with the Militia. (Sort of a Romancing the Stone thing: "You. And your sister. Can go!") I knew this the minute they succeeded in rescuing her, and it was only that much more certain when the Butcher guy didn't mount a full search through those woods. A guy like that? He'd have sent every man out after them if the circumstances had called for it. So clearly they didn't. Ergo: the sister was an inside [wo]man.

In the end, it all boils down to some sloppy writing. Very rote and unimaginative. Nothing new under this sun . . . Maybe they should look into solar power?

Though I have to say: nice job of reducing the amount of Charlie this week.