Chapter Two – The Revenant
Episode 2 of La Revolution begins with the vultures down by the shore taking any valuables the slaves have. Only, Albert Guillotin finds himself coughing and struggling to stand up. As one of the soldiers steps forward, intent on snatching his locket away, Albert suddenly gets a surge of strength. He dispatches each of the guards with little trouble, brushing aside knife wound and gunshots. This small act appears to be a foreshadowing of things to come. Back at the house, things are less than ideals. Screams ring through the hallways as Donatien has horrific cuts that seem to mirror that of Rebecca’s. His leg is in a bad way, with gangrene spreading. The physician wants to amputate but his Father (Charles) is having none of it. Back in the jail cell, Joseph tends to an injured Oka. He’s humming along until Joseph tells him he knows he didn’t kill Rebecca. Nursing his wound, Oka suddenly grabs Joseph and shows him more frightening visions. Joseph is out of time trying to decipher these though. Oka’s execution has been moved forward to this coming Thursday. Albert returns to town, intending to find Oka. Instead, he finds his own gravestone and a priest that asks exactly where he’s been. He updates Albert on Elise and Joseph’s whereabouts, before agreeing to try and help. Albert wants to break Oka free as this man allegedly holds the clue to everything that’s happening. Elsewhere, Joseph starts looking around at flowers in the local area that may hold a clue. These flowers bring him to the secret organization known as The Brotherhood, which Rebecca happened to be part of. In her bed, Madeleine encounters frightening visions of someone creeping toward her. This inevitably brings flashbacks too, which materialize in the form of Albert standing in the middle of the main hall. When Elise shows up, she finds the doll and numerous drawings scattered across Madeleine’s closet. Elise comforts the young girl, who reveals that this strange entity she’s been seeing has promised that Elise is going to get sick. Elise learns that her Father has been lying, with numerous clues linked to him hiding secrets from the family. Only, that evening Madeleine arrives before her with the other part of the locket. Handing it over, she reveals that the man who gave it (Albert) would know where she wants to meet. Back at the lab, Katell teams up with Joseph as they start sifting through various vials and clues. They’re desperate to piece together the disappearances that have been plaguing the city. Given Oka’s innocence in all this, Joseph is determined to try and save him from his fate. Having concocted a strange blue serum, they inject the formula into a rat. There, they witness the rage consuming it first-hand as it slams into the cage repeatedly. Cutting it open, they notice blue blood in the arteries and a clear sign that Oka didn’t kill Rebecca. Hurrying off, they intend to leak all of this to the press in order to save Oka from his fate. Meanwhile, Rebecca’s Father is approached by the King’s guards who stab him and leave the man for dead. When they arrive in Joseph’s study, the cut-open rat still has a beating heart. Edmond wastes little time blasting it with his pistol though, spraying blue blood up the walls. Unfortunately Katell betrays Joseph on his way to finding Oka. She marches him out into the woods where the Brotherhood snatch him up. Only, he’s not alone. On his knees, he’s alongside Elise who’s also been captured following her trying to find Albert. The leader of their pack cuts the binds and welcomes them into the Brotherhood. As Albert shows his face, the pair look on in shock. Back at the house, Donatien is choked to death by Charles. Brandishing that same blue liquid we’ve seen before, he injects it into Donatien’s arm and he returns from the dead.
The Episode Review
After a grim and murky opener, Las Revolution turns up the heat as more of this story comes to light. The backdrop of the French revolution appears to be paving the way for a more fantastical tale featuring this viral outbreak. It’s pretty good so far though and the divisions starting to open up are enough to show an upcoming war and plenty of unanswered questions in the pipeline. Given the rest of the episodes are slightly shorter now – 42 minutes a pop – this looks to be a sign of quickening the pace from here on out. So far this one is really shaping up to be a decent alt-history drama.
