'Revolution': Faith in God Turns People into Monsters
Dr. Horn was introduced this season as ‘Revolution’s’ sadistic new villain, and the show’s writers had a predictable answer on why his character’s mindset is so completely warped. Why it’s because Dr. Horn was raised as a Christian, of course!
A series of flashbacks transport the audience back to 1994 where a young Dr. Horn’s mother is on her deathbed. Horn’s father prays steadfastly over his wife, encouraging his son to join him. When a disdainful Horn tells his father they should take his mother to a doctor, his father proclaims they cannot change God’s will. Fast forward a few days and we discover Horn’s mother has died, and Horn went to a doctor for medicine against his father’s wishes. His father finds the pills, and blames him for his mother’s death, while Horn blames his father’s medical inaction for the death of his mother.
There are two themes at work here: Horn was transformed into the twisted person he is now because of his Christian upbringing, and his father is a monster because he believed in a “fairy-tale” that caused his wife to die.
Revolution may claim Christian beliefs “turned” Dr. Horn into an evil person, but his decisions are his own choice, and his choices are spiraling him further down the rabbit-hole. Dr. Horn does not seem to have any humanity other than dwelling on his childhood memories. He is broken, bitter, selfish, and takes pleasure in bloodshed. At the end of the episode we learn Dr. Horn is dying from brain cancer. Now Dr. Horn is scrambling to invent a "miracle" of his own by dissecting and torturing Aaron to gain control over the nanites' healing powers. He scoffs, "There is an invisible power at work, it just doesn't come from Heaven."
So who is the true monster here? The father who prayed so fervently for his wife's healing? Or the man who discarded his faith and and rejoices in the mutilation of an innocent for personal gain?
