History Fridge / Revolution

*** Dan and the dwellers trashed the elevators' controls as well as making sure the elevators could not reach level 12, even if repaired from above. If there were stairs top to bottom, the dwellers could have sealed them off after trashing the elevator controls as they barricaded themselves in the lower levels. Randall had not been back to The Tower since he left to ally with Monroe and left Grace in charge of repairing the elevators; he only left a mook there to supervise her. It's likely that Randall knew about the stairs the whole time, but there was no way to go lower than the entry level without a functional elevator which was still not working the last time he was there. He is banking on Grace having fixed the elevators by the time he and Monroe get there since that is the only way he can keep Monroe from killing him. He seems genuinely surprised that the elevator stops at 11 (due to it being sabotaged by the dwellers). The dwellers seem to be situated between levels 7 and 11 and dispatch anyone attempting to reach level 12. Plot hole closed?

*** Dan and the dwellers trashed the elevators' controls as well as making sure the elevators could not reach level 12, even if repaired from above. Randall had not been back to The Tower since he left to ally with Monroe and left Grace in charge of repairing the elevators; he only left a mook there to supervise her. It's likely that Randall knew about the stairs from level 11 to 12 the whole time, but there was no way to go lower than the entry level without a functional elevator which was still not working the last time he was there. Or, if there were stairs from top to bottom, the dwellers could have sealed them off after trashing the elevator controls before barricading themselves in the lower levels. He is banking on Grace having fixed the elevators by the time he and Monroe get there since that is the only way he can keep Monroe from killing him. He seems genuinely surprised that the elevator only goes down to 11 (due to it being sabotaged by the dwellers). The dwellers seem to be situated between levels 7 and 11 and dispatch anyone attempting to reach level 12. Plot hole closed?

*** Dan and the dwellers trashed the elevators' controls as well as making sure the elevators could not reach level 12, even if repaired from above. Randall had not been back to The Tower since he left to ally with Monroe and left Grace in charge of repairing the elevators; he only left a mook there to supervise her. It's likely that Randall knew about the stairs from level 11 to level 12, but there was no way to go lower than the entry level without a functional elevator which was still not working the last time he was there. He is banking on Grace having fixed it by the time he and Monroe get there since that is the only way he can keep Monroe from killing him. He seems genuinely surprised that it only goes down to 11 (due to the elevator being sabotaged by the dwellers). The dwellers are situated on level 11 and dispatch anyone trying to reach level 12. Plot hole closed?

*** Dan and the dwellers trashed the elevators' controls, and Randall had not been back to The Tower since he left Grace in charge of repairing the elevator. He left a mook there to supervise her. It's very likely that Randall knew about the stairs from level 11 to level 12, but there was no way to go lower than the entry level without a functional elevator. In the episode where he and Monroe get to the Tower, he comments that Grace was able to get it working after all and seems genuinely surprised that it only goes down to 11. Plot hole closed?

** Corollary: And even those who were smart about it probably gave off radiofrequency emissions Randall's satellites could detect, because any source of radio waves in the post-Blackout world needs must consume electricity to do so. Computers are fantastic RF transmitters and receivers, especially those old-fashioned CRT monitors Grace ''et al'' were using.

** And the fact that lightning strikes rapidly happen with greater frequency [[spoiler:when the nanites are stopped]] would seem to back this up regarding their ability to partially, but not perfectly, suppress static electricity phenomena like lightning.

* [[spoiler:Philadelphia and Atlanta were nuked by ICBMs, with the power going back off shortly afterward. Consider the plight of any survivors who are faced with the results of a nuclear explosion without the benefit of modern medicine or infrastructure. The survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were hit with much smaller weapons and at least had 1940's medical care (when it finally arrived) available. The survivors of Philadelphia and Atlanta won't even have it ''that'' good...]]

* Charlie [[spoiler:having been forcibly branded with the Monroe militia insignia]] could be an excellent spy. One wonders if the writers will somehow use this in future episodes.

*** [[spoiler: Actually although nuking Atalanta and Philadelphia WAS mass murder, it is quite possible that doing so saves many more lives in the long run. Think about the real world American Civil war, only with fighter jets and cruise missiles in a at least five way fight. Now change out Lincoln and Davis for Hitler and Osama Bin Laden. That war would make World War II look like little more than bar brawl.]]

**** Also, it should be considered that Nora's tattoo has a much smaller number of stars than the normal US Flag, but just about as many as you would expect to see representing the States that used to exist within the area now covered by the Monroe Republic. Maybe the rebels had no illusions about restoring all 50 states, at least not right away, so they only include the States they would bring back by dethroning Monroe. Also the difference would allow them to tell the difference between tattoos from before the blackout to ones marking their comrades.

* One would assume the residents of Atlanta would be impressed more than they were but a gas-powered car coming into Atlanta - however they do have steam-powered vehicles - they must have thought it was some new engineering.

* Charlie [[spoiler:having been forcibly branded with the Monroe militia insignia]] could be an excellent spy. One wonders if the writers will somehow use this in future episodes.
** "The Stand" shows her first use of this disguise.

* The mere fact that (at least in some parts) people almost immediate caught on to [[spoiler:the lights coming back on]] may initially seem like a plot hole...until the realization hits that since there's been no power for over 15 years, it wouldn't make any difference if everything was switched on or not.

* Randall mentions he has access to spy satellites of all kinds. This means that how he deduced the existence of the pendants was to look for suspicious sites of night lighting. One very fundamnetal human tendency is to devise sources of light which last outside of sunlight hours. Non-electrical lighting could only be based on fossil fuels or wood, which, being flame-based, would have a characteristic flicker that electrical lighting cannot mimic very well, especially forms of electrical lighting that purposely create very diffuse, uniform sources of light in a room. In short, the people who had pendants who were insufficiently cautious about using them betrayed themselves to eyes beyond the atmosphere.