Revolution 1.09: "Kashmir"

“What makes you so sure I know what I’m doing? What makes you so sure I ever did?”
- Miles

Miles and company are getting ever closer to Philly. They’re at a rebel camp about 20 miles away, and Nora and Miles are trying to convince the rebels to help them get into the city. The two rebel leaders (hey there Reed Diamond!) are wailing on Miles pretty hard, but Miles promises them Monroe’s head on a pike. Obviously, that’s not something they can pass up. They make their move that night. Miles is getting pretty drunk, and Charlie tries to call him on it. He waves her off, saying he’s just being realistic and they’re probably all going to die anyway. It sounds like he’s a little scared of going up against Monroe. They have to go under the walls around Philly to get in. Aaron is not thrilled about that.

As they’re making their way through the tunnels with the rebels, Miles thanks one of the guys (Reed) for not killing him. Turns out Reed’s character was a gambler pre-blackout and likes to take his chances. Meanwhile, Charlie learns a little about Miles and Monroe from Nora. They were best buddies until Miles tried (and choked) to assassinate Monroe. Guess that will end a friendship pretty quick. Unfortunately, their conversation is cut short when Charlie steps on a mine. Whoops. Nora manages to stall the trigger, and they bolt in time to avoid getting blown to bits. Not far off, in Philly, Rachel is building an amplifier for the pendant, and she has to give a demonstration to one of the Captains on Neville’s orders. She’s a bit cranky about having to stop work.

As the group keeps moving through the tunnels, Miles takes off after a militia scout. It turns out he wasn’t there. Miles is not the only one having problems. As they are crossing through some waist-deep water, Nora thinks she’s gotten bit by an alligator. Aaron quickly surmises that when the tunnel collapsed, it cut off the oxygen and they are slowly suffocating. They are living on borrowed time now. Miles gets them to the exit that should have been open, but it’s been walled over. They head off in search of another route, and Miles is still tripping. He sees an open door and goes into what we assume is Monroe’s office. That theory makes even more sense when Monroe shows up, and with a huge smile on his face, embraces Miles. They establish right away that Miles is hallucinating. They talk about why Miles left the militia and tried to off his bestie. Charlie pulls him out of it after Monroe says that Miles’ dirty little secret is that he’s scared if they get the Philly, he’ll fall back into his old ways and abandon his family and friends. He’s really having a tough time of it, poor guy. Charlie puts too much pressure on him. Her expectations are too high. Yes, he’s awesome but he’s also just a man. One who happens to be suffocating right along with her. Meanwhile, Aaron keeps seeing his wife. She’s yelling at him, saying maybe he never loved her and that’s why he left her all those years ago. He’s really unnerved by the experience and is basically ignoring her in the hopes she’ll go away.

As they head for a new exit, Reed’s character spots a service tunnel. He tries to open it by ramming it with his shoulder. He gets it started and Miles finishes it. Not really a good idea, as it turns out Reed's character is undercover militia. He shoots most of the rebels that were with them and ushers Miles off at gunpoint. Apparently he was thrilled a while back to get a medal and a handshake from Miles. Miles doesn’t remember him. It takes our crew a little while to get the door open again, but when they do, the rebel girl, Ashley (she’s fighting for the US to honor her father), moves in with a bow. She shoots but misses. She gets shot for her trouble. Charlie moves in and manages to land one right in Reed’s character’s chest. Unfortunately, he has enough life left in him to pull the trigger. Charlie gets hit and falls, smacking her head pretty good on the stairs.

She comes to at home with her dad making dinner. She’s confused and wonders if everything she’d been doing and seeing was really a dream or whether her present surroundings are what’s fake. She begs her dad to tell her that he’s not going anywhere again. He does and tells her to lie back down and get some rest. As he tells her to close her eyes, Miles is ordering her to open them. She’s not complying, and Miles looks on the verge of tears. I like that we’re getting to see a softer side of him. He and Charlie are starting to nicely off-set each other. It makes me like his character even more.

Charlie finally wakes up and seems to be okay. She tells Miles later (after 3 hours of sitting and resting) that she was in a place she didn’t want to leave, and if he hadn’t saved her, she’d probably still be there (aka dead or in a coma). They head off into the unknown. Monroe stop by to see Rachel, and he’s brought Brad to see if Neville was right that she was lying about what she built. Brad takes a cursory look at the thing and declares it to be a bomb. Rachel is begging Bass to let her make a new amplifier, but he’s done with her. Their deal is off and Danny is as good as dead. In a rather shocking move, Rachel stabs Brad in the gut and declares that now Monroe needs her. It’s true that he does. I thought it was kind of a gutsy move. I really have to say I want to know what drove Miles and Monroe apart. I have a feeling it may have something to do with Rachel. Guess we’ll be closer to finding out next week in the fall finale.