Revolution 1.04: "The Plague Dogs"

“It’s not my fault her dad’s dead. It’s not my fault what happened to her mom. I don’t even know Charlie. Family or not, I’m not doing this anymore. I’m out.”
- Miles

This week begins with Charlie running through the woods like she’s being chased. And sure enough, some guy is after her for stealing a bag of rations. He catches her and says he’s going to have to take her in for stealing when Miles and Nora show up. It was a ploy. I guess you do what you have to. The guy is useful though. He shares the news that Danny and Captain Neville passed through the area a day ago. They can catch up. As they head on, Charlie tries againt o get Miles to open up but he flat out tells her to shut up and that it’s not her business. He threatens to leave and not help find Danny if she keeps asking. We then cut to Aaron and Maggie in Lowell, Indiana waiting for the rendezvous. Maggie flashes back to the night of the blackout when she last talked to her children via webcam. Charlie and company finally show up and they take off. They end up coming across some rabid dogs on the road and run. They make it over a fence to safety with only minor injury. Aaron gets a bite out of his leg but Maggie assures him he probably didn’t get rabies.

We pay a visit to Rachel in Monroe’s camp. She’s reading a leather-bound book with all kinds of diagrams which she quickly hides in a pile of other books when Monroe comes in. He questions her about how and why Ben knew about the blackout. She still doesn’t know so he sends in one of his goons to torture the information out of her. Really nice guy. On the road, Danny convinces Neville to find shelter for the night as there’s a big storm coming.

Meanwhile, Nora is giving Miles a lecture on being so hard on Charlie. She overhears but it’s too late because they need to get moving. We get a quick flashback to Rachel leaving the kids and Ben, saying she had to get supplies and wouldn’t be back for a few months. They end up at a big fenced area with yet another dog except this one has an owner. Back with Neville and his gang, it appears it was good advice on Danny’s part. What looks like a tornado is coming in and they barely make it to shelter. Danny tries another escape attempt and ends up in a cellar with Neville. Meanwhile, Miles figures out Nate has been following them and of course, Charlie jumps in to defend the guy. She says that if he’s really part of Neville’s unit, they can use Nate for information. Nate doesn’t seem to mind. He gets to keep a closer eye on Miles.

As they continue on, Maggie flashes back to her trek across the country, trying to reach the East Coast and boat to take her back to England. It’s been a few years since the blackout and the guy she meets says the ships have either been destroyed in war or broken down for lumber by the militia. She ends up sharing a story with Miles to convince him not to leave (Charlie gave her the Cliff notes version of Miles’ past). She explains how she was on the verge of committing suicide when Ben found her and invited her back to his campfire. And how she ended up staying with them and came to treat them as her family. She says Charlie and her family saved Maggie’s life and Miles shouldn’t give up. They end up surrounded by wild dogs again except they’re not so wild. They guy we saw earlier appears to own them all and grabs Maggie. He stabs her in the leg before taking off. I should have seen it coming with the Maggie-heavy flashbacks. But she’s bleeding out and there’s nothing the gang can do.

Back in the cellar, Neville and Danny have a little conversation as the storm rages. Danny finds out that Neville has a son of his own. Neville explains he’s doing what he is to make a future for his son. Danny doesn’t seem impressed. He calls Neville out for being a murderer. The storm passes and just as Neville rejoices (literally saying “Amen”) the cellar doors collapse. In the diner, Maggie is continuing to bleed out and Charlie is actually nice to her. Charlie admits that she didn’t know how to handle her mom being gone but having Maggie there. Miles and Nora take off to try and find the owner of the dogs so Miles can make him call them off. Unfortunately, just as Charlie gets some whiskey to sterilize sewing equipment to try and stitch up Maggie’s leg, Charlie gets nabbed. Nate probably could have helped if he wasn’t cuffed.

Miles gets back and ends up taking Nate with him to hunt for Charlie while Nora stays to help Aaron operate. In the cellar, Neville basically tricks Danny into saving him. Bastard. The guy that took Charlie is creepy and ends up rigging the door to a crossbow. Nate and Miles take the guy and Charlie manages to dodge the arrow. Unfortunately, Maggie doesn’t make it. As she’s dying she happily remembers reading The Wizard of Oz to her kids. We end with Monroe paying another visit to Rachel. He tells her that Danny will be there soon and wonders if she’ll start talking and cooperating once they start torturing him. I really don’t like this guy. We see the scene again where Rachel leaves her family and she’s trying to keep it together. She gets to base camp and we see that Miles is there. Apparently he asked Rachel to come. She begs him as they slap cuffs on her to promise that she’ll see her kids again. I have to say a very good episode all around.