La Révolution – Season 1 Episode 5 Recap & Review

Chapter Five – The Blue Blood

Episode 5 of La Revolution begins with Donatien taking up his place at the head of the family. He even has naked men and women on-cue used for food.

Ophélie has had enough, She’s packed a bag for Elise to leave with Madeleine. After some contemplation, Elise decides to stay. The “head of family” title is not Donatien’s and she’s determined to fight him over it. It’s dangerous, to say the least, but Elise tasks Ophélie to take Madeleine far away from this madness while she does.

Albert blames himself for Father Marxence’s death while Oka tells him to keep his emotions in check. Determined to protect his family, he walks away from Oka. But not before reminding Oka that he’s the one who helped teach him.

Joseph meanwhile, hides away in the church and researches the cannibal and what’s happened up until this point. Katell finds him but he’s in no mood for happy reunions. He kicks her out and tells the girl to leave. She refuses though and instead decides to try and help him get to the bottom of the Blue Blood mystery.

It turns out Katell was taught by Father Marxence in that every place as it was the only university open to women. Having heard enough, Joseph sits with a stack of books in a bid to try and find a cure.

Given this virus is mutating and growing, they need to think outside the box but for now, he and Katell are nose-deep in texts to find a solution. Given how much time they’ve spent together in this darkened room, it’s perhaps inevitable that the pair wind up making love together.

Meanwhile, the Brotherhood try to remain hidden in the wake of Charles and his soldiers looking through the tunnels. Albert stands watch as Edmond happens to be outside but his search is fruitless.

Albert and Marianne breathe a sign of relief, but tensions between the group are certainly high. Oka eventually grabs Albert and takes him away, using his mysterious powers to draw some of the poison out of him. The “how” of this  remains a mystery but it seems to do the trick.

Charles tries in vain to control Donatien, who decides against restraining himself now that he has all the power. He rides out with his fellow soldiers while Madeleine continues to experience frightening visions.

Donatien’s ride brings him to Edmond whom he antagonizes. He holds up his severed hand and throws some puns his way. Only, he suddenly bites off the severed thumb from this hand and walks away. Shrugging this off, Edmond gets back to torturing one of the Brotherhood members.

Desperate for allies, Albert decides to take a chance and leave the cave. He’s going up to find Elise as she may hold the key to changing the fortunes of them all. While Marianne is not so sure, Albert shows her his blue-veined chest as proof that time is of the essence right now.

He heads back to the hideout but Elise has the exact same idea, holding a gun up to his head as they find each other once more. Her hands shaking, Elise questions the impossible and asks for the truth over how he managed to come back from the dead. There, he shows her a letter.

That letter happen to hold instructions to protect Madeleine and the family, written by her very own Father.

On the back of this, Arthur tasks Elise to gather up as many nobles that feel her way as possible for an upcoming fight. And there is a fight coming. She knows this too and eventually agrees to fight and follow his instructions.

Meanwhile, Katell and Joseph find what they’re looking for. Hidden behind Saint Lazarus they find logs from America regarding a ship wreck. Within that shipwreck it seems to detail the first instances of the Blue Blood virus.

Whoever wrote this log is convinced that the way to stop this madness is to kill the woman responsible. That woman, happens to sport the same face that Madeleine has been dreaming of. Patient Zero to be precise, and she’s the one who originally turned Guy to her Blue Blood Cause.

Unfortunately the pair receive an unexpected house call when Donatien shows up at the church. He’s able to smell the pair hiding behind the hidden door. Shining a torch, a small sliver of a smile crosses Donatien’s face as he realizes the pair are right in front of him

The Episode Review

With the episode starting to showcase more of the blue blood virus, this drama has decided to double down on the thriller elements which steers this firmly away from real history.

If you can accept that and take to the vampiric story playing out, there’s certainly a lot of fun to be had with this one. Donatien however, feels a little over the top as the antagonist although given what the blue blood does I guess you can look past this somewhat.

The rest of the characters are pretty good though although as a personal gripe I was hoping Marianne and the Brotherhood would be part of this series a lot more. Right now they’re edging on the fringes just waiting for the inevitable fight to come.

Still, the mystery elements are decent and there’s enough just enough with the blue blood story to keep you watching.