Revolution Ramble...On General Sebastian "Bass" Monroe

So, since I have become obsessed, I’ve been wondering how I would deal with all of a sudden losing all these modern conveniences.  Pretty much, after verifying that everything was gone and not coming back (for example by checking the internet to see if it is still there. Clearly if my iPhone shut off with a full charge that would mean Revo-verse was in effect), I would probably gather up some basic things, find some people willing to take the 15 mile trek with me and head for my parent’s house.  I would then collect my parents and my brother and his girlfriend and head to Vermont.  I really would love to have my log cabin in the woods. Hey, wood would still burn.  I would find a hand crank gramophone and play jazz on 78s in my log cabin haven.  Make my own sustainability farm...Inevitably, after about 15 years, some distant relative will find me and make me fix the world for them...

I’m already in the process of looking for a vintage gramophone...and a couple of Lady Day and Satchmo 78s on shellac records...Already found a Tommy Dorsey one...

But I digress...

We have a long hiatus to discuss themes and ideas, theories, what have you.  I was a little bit behind in putting all the Revolution reviews so far up here on my blog, so I spent a whole weekend putting them all up.  Skimming through them, I could read review by review how I fell in love with the show and with certain characters.  I pretty much immediately took to Miles...but as the story developed, I realized more and more how much I really loved the character of Bass.  

Initially, when I decided to write this, I was planning to do a detailed accounting of how I fell in love with General Sebastian Monroe.  I did a full rewatch of the ten episodes focusing on Bass. I noticed Miles’ strange reaction to finding out Rachel was still alive.  How Rachel seemed to have quite the living arrangement in Philadelphia.  How Ben and Rachel knew so much but didn’t breathe a word of it to Miles and Bass. How the idea of the militia seemed to be all Miles’ idea.  How it even seemed that Bass put aside his own moral compass to be there for Miles and do what needed to be done.

When it came down to it, my focus for these ten episodes, and really what kept me glued to my seat every Monday at 10pm waiting for Revolution to air at times even more intently than I would for Supernatural, is the similar brotherly dynamic that overshadows everything else about this show.  In a tumblr post that apparently quoted Kripke from something, it was stated that in the second half of the first season, Bass would get even darker and that it would be in part because of Miles’ rejection. My heart stopped for a second...Because I realized that I need both of these men occupying my life on Monday nights.  I can’t lose either one of them, and I fear for what Kripke and the gang plan for Bass...So, I decided that instead of my detailed thesis paper on Bass Monroe, I would instead do a heartfelt letter to creator Eric Kripke.  Just so that he knows what he’s doing to me...Or at least so others can know, and possibly understand, my pain.

Dear Mr. Kripke Eric,

I feel that after being a big fan and obsessing about the “lives” of the Brothers Winchester since I began watching back the summer before the fourth season aired and writing reviews for every episode save one that has aired since “99 Problems” first aired, I have earned the right to address you informally.

Eric, I am going to part with a nasty secret.  That summer when one of my best friends (the one who is the closest thing to a sister I have) finally bugged me enough to give Supernatural a try, I almost quit watching after a few episodes.  The truth was, I immediately took to Dean Winchester.  The hand went up, “No chick flick moments” was said, and I just, well--I was taken. I couldn’t help but notice something though--the story was just so “Sam” oriented.  Sam was the one that was running from the family business.  Sam was the one that wanted out and wanted a normal life.  Dean seemed totally on board with the life.  Then Sam’s girlfriend is killed and Sam falls in for revenge.  It just seemed all about Sam.  This scared me.  What did that mean for Dean?  Was this show going to be like Backdraft where little brother falls in line eventually and takes over for big brother when he dies?  I was so worried for Dean.  I wouldn’t allow myself to fall in love with the show because the way I was reading it, Dean was expendable.  The story was Sam’s.  This was an ongoing fear for me, and I almost stopped watching...but then I saw “What Is and What Should Never Be” commentaried by you.  I finally had the chance to see what YOUR feelings were.  And I realized something.  I realized I had nothing to fear.  Whatever you had planned for Dean, if you had planned to do him in, whatever, that was over.  Any nefarious end for Dean died when you fell in love with Jensen Ackles’s acting.  You knew how vital he was to the show. It wasn’t about just Sam, it was about Sam and Dean.  Both of them, working their way through a world of serious crap. The episodes showed that too, by the end of the first season there seemed to be a move to making Dean more of an entity--not just a womanizing punchline.

When I heard you were starting a new show NOT called OctoCobra, I knew I would have to check it out.  I loved the themes you stressed in Supernatural, and I love how you find ridiculously attractive men to bring the story alive. I was a little bit worried about  what I was reading pertaining to Revolution.  It sounded like it might just be a weird cross between Dark Angel and Jericho, but I was pleasantly surprised.  The first few episodes I did have my troubles with.  Actually, it was certain story lines that just weren’t completely working for me.  Like, say, this push about Charlie being the main character--an obvious ploy to get a younger audience...I was a little put out by the fact that Danny is built like a Norse god.  How can anyone believe he is so frail that Charlie was afraid to sleep more than a couple hours at a time to make sure he was breathing?  Dude looks as fit as a gladiator.

I’m more ok with Charlie and Danny now, and think their characters will continue to improve and grow, but why I tune in every week is to find out more about this Bass and Miles storyline.  Initially, like with Supernatural, I fell in love with your frayed, damaged Han Solo-esque character...but over the course of the ten episodes I went from being angry with you for making Monroe “likeable” to finally giving up entirely and full on falling in love with him.  You made me fall in love with the “Sam” character...and that’s saying something.

Let me clarify.  I truly see Sebastian Monroe as Sam to Miles Matheson’s Dean.  Specifically, I see a lot of Season Fourness about what is going on.  Sure the “Kashmir” episode beginning seemed a bouquet of Season Two with Miles grappling with the possibility he may have to kill Bass, but for the most part, I see Season Four.  No, I don’t see “The End” at all.  Sam was actually Samifer at the time and occupied by something not himself, so not that.  I also seriously question any future given to us by that conniving Zach.  He was so not above creating a fake future just to try to make Dean change his mind.

To explain, I guess I need to go back a little bit.  In Season Three, Sam, knowing Dean was going to Hell, tried to make changes.  He tried to make decisions based on how he thought Dean would see things.  He tried to be more like his brother.  He thought he would have to be more like Dean to survive without him.  What did Sam get, really, for doing this?  Dean’s fear that Sam didn’t come back right.  Dean’s fear that something was wrong with his brother.  Dean couldn’t be saved in time and went to Hell, meaning for months Sam did have to deal on his own.  Dean came back from the dead to find out that Sam had been using means that Dean did not approve of to keep things going.  Dean felt Sam had “gone too far”.  But was that just a matter of perspective?  Before Dean even knew about Sam drinking demon blood he had a problem with Sam using his mind to exorcise demons.  Sam pointed out that the host body survived exorcising/killing that way.  If they used the colt or the knife, the person died.  Dean said it was a slippery slope, and he was right, but my point is that Sam rationalized what he did, and I have to admit he had a point.

That demon blood drinking thing though, not so much with the pointiness.  Sam kept going down hill, ending with Dean saying some horrible things and pushing Sam further down which took the brothers a bit to mend, but they did...or at least kind of. My point is, that Sam did some horrible things, but he was/is redeemable.  We love Sam.  We see his reasoning.  He is necessary.

With Revolution, I can’t stress enough that the Miles and Bass storyline is the one that keeps me watching.  The one I am invested in.  I was crushed to learn that Bass had lost everything in his life and all he really had was Miles and Miles abandoned him.  Miles left Bass holding the bag.  Miles in this scenario is the runner.  On Supernatural, the one that had always run from his problems was Sam.  Here, Bass is staying and trying to make it work, it is Miles that jumped out the window. Well, provided, people with guns were after him, but he does a lot of running, is my point...

Hell, it was Miles’ idea in the first place to create the militia from the sound of it.  Bass headed out with Miles going AWOL because Miles wanted to leave and find Ben.  Bass didn’t want to go, but Miles did, and he was going to go with Miles because Miles was his family.  Miles wanted to interfere and stop the “highwaymen” from beating up Jeremy.  Bass, like Sam, didn’t see that as their mission--he wanted them to mind their own business and go where they set out to go.  But Miles went in, and stopping it wasn’t enough.  No, he went and killed both of them.  In cold blood.  We can see how shocked Bass is about it.  He wouldn’t have killed them.  They were bullies, and brutish, but they were hungry and scared.  Miles was the one that wanted to do something about the things that were going on. And apparently going about it the way that they did with a military occupation. It looks to me like Bass was backing Miles’ play.  We even see in the “hostage” situation where he is trying to get Rachel to finish the amplifier Bass says “Just like Miles always said, a good hostage works every time”. Like Sam struggled so much with trying to make himself what he thought would be more like Dean, Bass seems to have tried to do something similar.  Also, Bass is flat out rejected by Miles, something very similar to the way the end of Season Four played out for Sam and Dean. Remember when Dean said that horrible “dad” line to Sam, basically guaranteeing that Sam leave with Ruby?

My point in going on about Sam and Dean?  Because I need for you to understand that Miles and Bass are as important to Revolution as Sam and Dean are to Supernatural.  Supernatural and Revolution are all about family, sure, but specifically about two brothers that at times seem so different, yet somehow are complimented by each other. Maybe there are other relationships you mean to explore, and I’m sure that will be great.  Yes, I am aware that this show is supposed to be more of an “ensemble” cast than Supernatural is.  But well, to me, Revolution has become more about Miles and Bass and how they attempted to save the world, despite the odds, and will continue the fight. Like Sam and Dean, we have two remarkable men working their way through this world of serious crap...Or at least, that is what I am hoping to see...for whatever that’s worth...

Your loyal fan, Nicole.