NBC’s Revolution continues its vacation across the border with tonight’s new episode, “Mis Dos Padres” (“My Two Dads”). When last we left Our Heroes, former dictator Sebastian “Bass” Monroe had just been captured by his long-lost son Connor, who was raised to adulthood in a Mexican cartel, leaving Miles and Rachel to hatch an escape plan even though Rachel would rather leave him to rot, or possibly murder him herself if they didn’t need him to help save Willoughby from the Patriots. Though tensions run high in the fictional town of Puesta del Sol (“sunset”), once again the needs of the many outweigh the seething grudge of the few.

How did our cast fare this week? Follow along:

Miles Matheson, swordsman extraordinaire: Tries to rescue Bass solo while Rachel stays behind. He clobbers Connor from behind and beckons Bass to freedom…only to watch Bass politely decline because he doesn’t want to see his son punished for his escape. Miles’ attempt to exfiltrate solo goes awry and lands him alongside Bass in his cell.

Rachel Matheson, always the quiet one you gotta watch: When night falls and neither Miles nor Bass have exited the building, Rachel is the Plan B. Luckily for Rachel, Cartel Nunez keeps a swingin’ pool party running 24/7 in their backyard. Rachel infiltrates the crowd cleverly disguised as a blond white lady who would attend a swingin’ pool party. If only they knew the real Rachel. Her plan works better than she expected because of a surprise helping hand, but their departure is intercepted by cartel guys along with their leader Nunez (Joaquim de Almeida, who played much the same role in Robert Rodriguez’ Desperado). In her defense, she still got farther into the “Rescue Bass” game level than Miles did.

Papa Bass, making it up as he goes along: Bass doesn’t have a plan as such, only a strong yearning to reconnect with the son he never knew and maybe take over the world together if Connor isn’t too busy or wrongheaded. After refusing Miles’ attempt to set him free, Nunez decides their brief fracas counted as an escape attempt anyway and orders him punished. Standard disciplinary action for Cartel Nunez: hang the offender from a second-story balcony and whip them while the party crowd cheers and keeps on drinking. Connor has the honor of wielding the whip and doesn’t hold back. Bass isn’t a fan of the pain, but in his mind, letting his son save face in front of his evil stepdad is a worthy sacrifice. In his mind it technically counts as doing something — anything — for his boy.

Connor Bennett, who has much to ponder: He doesn’t understand. Miles had him KO’d. The cell door was opened. Dad could’ve walked, but he didn’t, and only because of weird fatherly principle. Awkward noble gestures are rare in cartel life. Connor is frightened and confused. As a sort of payback, Connor spots Rachel sneaking into the mansion and hands her the key to the cell, hoping no one sees him. His hopes are in vain.

Luis Nunez, wicked stepdad: Connor’s betrayal saddens him so. He raises this boy like his own flesh-‘n’-blood, he teaches him how to torture and kill, and this is the thanks he gets. Monroe’s former reputation and past accomplishments may impress Nunez, but he has a cartel to run and heroes to kill if they stand in his way. In the big standoff climax it’s Connor who makes the first move, headbutts a henchman, and kicks off the big, bloody fight scene. Our Heroes escape with Connor in tow, who has no choice since he basically threw away a couple decades’ worth of cartel goodwill on a simple act of repaid kindness.

Later around the campfire while the non-crazy characters catch up on their sleep, Bass reassures him that all is not lost. They still have hope. His old man’s still got it, and between the two of them, the world is theirs for the taking. First things first, though: those meddling Patriots need to be expunged.

Charlie and Gene, stuck babysitting Willoughby: After the Patriots spent last week handing out free, secretly drugged oranges to the townspeople, this week they set begin setting up tents outside the town limits. From a distance Gene recognizes a good friend named Lloyd Welliver being escorted into one tent. Despite Charlie’s advice against it, Gene does exactly what his own daughter Rachel would do: sneaks into the camp like a stubborn fool and gets himself and Charlie caught. Surprisingly, the Patriots don’t take them prisoner. Instead, Patriot officer Truman (Steven Culp) escorts them on a quick tour and reveals this camp’s purpose: as a quarantine for a burgeoning typhus epidemic, in which poor Lloyd (now deceased) was Patient Zero. Truman insists they should call a truce and team up against a common foe. The coincidental timing of all those oranges is left unmentioned.

Aaron Pittman, nanobot tool: On orders from those cryptic nanobots, Aaron finds himself in the fictional town of Spring City, OK — population 1: first-season computer hacker Grace (Maria Howell), who retreated from all civilization after she unwittingly became an accomplice in the nuking of Atlanta and Philadelphia. Neither of them knows what’s going on until Grace reveals her other surprise guest: Aaron’s ex-wife Priscilla (a returning Maureen Sebastian). After her second husband dumped her, the nanobots likewise began plaguing her as well, with visions and mysterious urgings that she journey to Spring City. (If the nanobots gave Priscilla de facto superpowers as they did with Aaron, she fails to mention it.) Aaron and Priscilla are overjoyed to compare notes and confirm that neither of them is crazy.

Then Grace tosses in a helpful clue: some of Aaron’s code that was used in the big blackout tech was also used in the nanobot programming. From a certain perspective, Aaron and Priscilla are the nanobots’ parents, and they want Mommy and Daddy to get back together and then they can all be one big happy family. Or something. Meanwhile, no one asks why the nanobot matchmakers chose Grace as moderator for this reunion. Priscilla wonders if they should expect to see a friend named Peter who assisted in their coding development, but he’s apparently running late for the party, whoever he is.

They’re evil and they’re greedy / So devious and seedy / Their narrowed eyes are beady / the Neville family! Thanks to Tom murdering the Chief of Staff, the position is open and Julia’s new Patriot husband Doyle accepts the promotion and its perks, which of course Julia gets to share. When Julia refuses to help Tom sneak into Doyle’s office for some sinister file-ransacking, he begins to wonder where her heart truly lies. Her dialogue is ambiguous and signifies either a communication breakdown on her part or a falling from the Dark Side to the Even Darker Side.

After a break-in occurs anyway, Julia assumes it was Tom. It wasn’t. Jason confesses to them because, after reviewing secret Patriot files last week, he now knows the broader scope of the Patriots’ plans. The next phase includes an expansion of their cadet brainwashing centers into new markets — Willoughby, TX (*gasp*!); Clearwater, FL; and Scranton, PA (where I expect they’ll make a real man out of Dwight Schrute, or at least Ryan Howard). Before Jason can blather even more alarming details (something vague about “wiping people out”), Patriot police show up and arrest him while his parents watch.

To be continued!

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If you missed all of last season and would rather read about Revolution than spend hours playing TV catchup, the MCC recap of the season 1 finale has links to MCC recaps of all first-season episodes, in all their uneven glory. MCC recaps for the current season of Revolution are listed below as handy reference for whatever reason. Thanks for reading!

9/25/2013: “Born in the U.S.A.”
10/2/2013: “There Will Be Blood”
10/9/2013: “Love Story”
10/16/2013: “Patriot Games”
10/23/2013: “One Riot, One Ranger”
10/30/2013: “Dead Man Walking”
11/6/2013: “The Patriot Act”
11/13/2013: “Come Blow Your Horn”
11/20/2013: “Everyone Says I Love You”
1/8/2014: “The Three Amigos“