Chapter Eight – The Rebellion
After 7 chapters we’ve finally arrived at the revolution part of La Revolution. The season 1 finale begins with Marie served up as bait as the Brotherhood leave a note for Donatien in the middle of town. Meanwhile, Madeleine finds herself trapped in her room and calls forth the apparition for help. She hands over a knife and disappears from view. At the Brotherhood hideout, Elise reveals the truth to Joseph about Madeleine. While they talk, Oka speaks to Alfred and reminds him that killing Nais is the only way to end this nightmare. As Oka walks away, Alfred prepares for the upcoming war. Ophélie leaves the Brotherhood to protect Madeleine back at the castle. Elise thanks her before standing tall with Marianne at the front of this pack to lead the revolution. Back at the mansion, one of Donatien’s blue blood noblemen plays a game of hide and seek with Madeleine. She manages to evade him for a while but eventually he finds her. Thankfully, Ophélie arrives just in time to cut his head off. With this man dead, the pair hurry into town just as the Brotherhood prepare to fight. Riding atop a steed, Donatien leads Edmond and his men into the claustrophobic alleyway where the Brotherhood are waiting for them. As they exchange terms, Marie is released to Donatien but he cuts the woman’s head off and wages war. With gunshots raining down on both sides, Donatien closes his eyes and revels in the insanity around him. Joseph is knocked to the ground but manages to survive, putting his skills to better use by trying to patch up Justin. He’s bleeding out and choking on his own blood. Katell pleads with Joseph to retreat but he refuses to budge. Meanwhile, Alfred and Marianne do their best to thwart the soldiers who continue to swarm around them. With the city burning, prepare returns to Elise who’s held up in a building away from the guards. There, she promises that Madeleine is safe while holding a gun in her hand. The Brotherhood do their best to fight back but it’s too much, they’re forced to retreat back. Alfred tries to hold them off though, buying precious time while the Brotherhood watches on. Donatien returns and commands his Blue Blood noblemen to attack. With Albert outnumbered, he manages to scare them off after beheading one of their own. Donatien meanwhile, stumbles backwards and straight into the house Elise is holding out in. With a sword in hand, she prepares to slice his head off. Only, Ophélie suddenly shoots Elise in the back. As she turns, the girl apologises as she plunges a knife deep into Elise’s belly. With Donatien confused, Ophélie tells him to follow her as they take the back exit away from the fighting. Madeleine is in the King’s grip now and Ophélie is clearly working with him too. As we soon see, Louis XVI appears to be gripped by the blue blood curse too. While we don’t see his face, we do catch a glimpse of his gnarled hand – it’s not a pretty sight. Donatien hangs his head though and remains obedient. A brief shot of Edmond shows him rising up from the grave whence he was thrown, sputtering and gasping for air. Meanwhile, Elise’s death serves as the catalyst for the others to march and raise the French flag in hope for liberty and saving France. During an epilogue, Madeleine arrives at Bastille Prison. A doctor is at work there, concocting a blue blood serum while a figure is held up and used to draw blue blood from. He grins at Madeleine as she starts to use telekinetic powers. (Hey is this a stranger things prequel?) Anyway, the woman tied up raises her head and appears to be the same ghostly apparition we’ve seen across the season. What could this mean? We’ll have to wait and see I guess!
The Episode Review
Will there be a second season? Or will the dreaded Netflix cancellation come down like a guillotine? This seems to be a question facing many of these Netflix Originals and the constant cliffhanger endings to these shows are a little disappointing. Despite this, the final episode delivers a surprisingly gripping series of action sequences at the end which were very much appreciated. That whole skirmish in the streets was really well shot and beautifully tense too. The hand-held cameras and close up shots work so well against that pulsating distorted electronica. I never thought that electronica would work so well against a 1789 backdrop but there we go. The whole story is poised nicely for a follow-up and Ophélie’s betrayal is certainly surprising and I didn’t see that coming. On top of that, Elise’s death is pretty shocking although I’m not sure why the Brotherhood didn’t just use the blue blood to bring her back. It seems to have worked for Albert. And therein lies a few of the problems with La Revolution. This is the sort of show you’re designed to binge without really thinking too much about. We haven’t had any explanation for Oke’s voodoo powers or quite what’s going on with Madeleine. Perhaps that may change if this is renewed though. La Revolution is a show that begins and ends strongly with some average to good content in the middle. Yes the cliffhanger is annoying but the action sequences for the revolution are reason enough to make the ride worth taking.
