REVOLUTION OBSERVATIONS: 1.03 No Quarter

Welcome to Revolution Observations — your weekly guide through the visual clues and overarching connections in NBC’s Revolution. This week we’re giving “No Quarter“.

REBEL OR REPUBLIC

• Miles asks Nora to reconsider handing the rifle over to the rebels, suggesting it would be more helpful in their own quest to get Danny back. While this may be true, the revelation that he was essentially the founding father of the Monroe Republic must also have something to do with his anti-resistance inclinations.

• Following hints in Episode 2, further suggestions that Nora may also have been a signed up member of the Republic come to light. Miles tells her “It’s not like you to fight for a lost cause”. Miles doesn’t seem to believe the rebels have a chance of overthrowing the Republic – is this why he didn’t join the fight even after leaving the Republic?

• Nora wonders whether Miles really believes that hope is lost, or if he’s just scared of fighting Monroe.

 MILES AWAY FROM HOME

• Miles and Monroe were a couped up in Parris Island Marine Depot for 2 months after the blackout, waiting for orders that didn’t come.

• Waiting, doing nothing is what agitated Miles and ultimately triggered him into action — before he went back to waiting, doing nothing once again after leaving the Republic. Until Charlie came to get him.

• The relationship between Miles and Monroe is further cemented when the soon-to-be iron fist of the Republic decides to join him on his search for Ben and family — who we know from Episode 2, left Chicago a week after the blackout — telling him “your my family, that makes you my problem”.

• He certainly inherited Miles ‘problem’ and, as intimated in “Chained Heat”, perhaps Monroe now wishes he didn’t?

THE STAND

• Upon arriving at the rebels base, Miles introduces himself and Charlie to Nicholas as Stu Redman and Frannie. This is a nod to Stephen King‘s 1978 post-apocalyptic novel The Stand, which features the characters Stuart Redman and Frances “Frannie” Goldsmith.

• While Frannie and Stuart have a different relationship than our uncle and niece pairing, several parallels exist, including Frannie dealing with the death of her father and serving as the “moral compass”.

• Interestingly, The Stand‘s main antagonist is called Randall Flagg, who is “the embodiment of evil, an antichrist-like being whose goal is destruction and death. In the novel”.

• As we know from “Chained Heat“, Randall is on “the list” and one of the people who know about the power. A magic pendant holder himself, the mysterious man burst into Grace’s house and seemingly abducted her. In the novel, Stu was supposed to head west to stand against Randall.

• All of which is to say, we now have potential context/hints for this Randall character, who was certainly presented as an antagonist in his brief introduction. We also have another pool from which Revolution may be drawing inspiration.

IACOCCA

• Captain Neville can be seen reading Lee Iacocca‘s  autobiography, which recounts his rise to power with Ford, and then the Chrysler Corporation — which included the total reorganization of the company.

• Seasoned serial observers will know book references are sometimes used to add possible context to character and/or story. The Iacocca reference may reflect Neville’s potential designs on ultimate leadership.

• He’s been nothing but ‘patriotic’ towards Monroe and the Republic thus far, but does he have ideas of his own on how things should be run?

• Given his ascent to a high-ranking position within the Republic from his pre-apocalyptic beginnings, it might not seem odd if he did have a ‘revolution’ of his own tucked away inside his head. We’ll have to see.

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