Walking Dead - Season 2 Episode 4 "Cherokee Rose"

I really enjoyed this episode. It was consistently entertaining. Everyone had some good dialogs, surprisingly and refreshingly few of which were about zombies. Shane and Andrea discuss gun safety, Daryl tells a nice story about a flower to comfort Carol, Glenn and Maggie delightfully have sex in a drugstore. Rick and Doc get to take a walk around the property, as the two Scoutmasters of their respective troops, and discuss the overall situation. What I liked about these conversations was that they were much more organic than previous episodes (especially the first season, where the writers were apparently just like, oh, we can’t just have zombies for an hour, we need these people to say things and then barely tried). Okay, maybe drugstore sex isn’t the most organic development, but Maggie is awesome, Glenn is awesome, and I’m glad I’m getting more time with the both of them. And how could Maggie not resist Glenn after his manly display of well-diving zombie-wrangling?

Which brings us to the zombie-of-the-week. I thought it was a deliciously disgusting situation, and that zombie may have been the grossest so far. Everything is grosser when wet. Fact. But as fun as it was to laugh at them for stupidly thinking a decayed body would have the structural integrity to be lifted up and over that well, I found the whole thing ridiculous. We saw Rick and Doc walk around that whole farm, there has to be other wells they have access to. Also, um, there’s a zombie in that well. Getting him out won’t make the water any gross, regardless of if it’s “contaminated” or not. They should’ve just given up and moved on to a different well. Instead they risk Glenn’s life? Really? Whatever, Glenn’s a champ and gets his part of the job done and then gets laid. If we’re keeping score that’s Glenn: 2, Everybody else: 0.

Then again, maybe your decision making skills aren’t as top notch when your malnourished wandering around in the hot Georgia sun.

I’ve noticed how wishy-washy I am when it comes to the pacing on this show. I want it to go faster, because when things slowed down the quality dropped, but now things have been slowed down and the quality is getting better. Though I’m not sure how much longer I want them to stay at Doc’s farm. And come to think of it, Doc isn’t so keen on them staying much longer either.

But that brings us to this episode’s “twist.” Lori, using the world’s fastest response pregnancy test, finds out that she’s pregnant. Of course, this could just be a false positive, but I hope it’s not because that would be plain lame. This isn’t the best “twist” the show has done, especially following Carl getting shot, then the truth about Shane and Otis. But this doesn’t mean it’s bad, because I’m not asking for the twists to get more and more crazy until an episode ends with aliens coming down and eating the zombies. Being pregnant during the apocalypse is, I can only imagine, a crazy unsettling thing, and hopefully this will give Lori some better stuff to work with here than just being Negative Nancy (not to be confused with Debbie Downer Andrea).

This Lori situation now changes things. Doc doesn’t want them staying for too long. Rick might be Rick and respect Doc’s wishes and have them head on to Fort Benning (that is, if they ever find Sophia). But Lori needs to tell Rick. Because giving birth at the farm with someone who’s more qualified than anyone else to deliver a baby is flat-out better than any other option I can think of (That, or go zombie-infested elevator birth, or go home. (Thank you Abed)). But do we want to be there for 9 months?? That’s probably not gonna happen, from the perspective of it being a TV show. They can’t just have them at the farm for the rest of the season, with zombie-of-the-week

Oh yeah, Carl is awake and now has Sheriff Woody’s…er…Katara’s….er…Rick’s hat. Because we needed more scenes of how adorable Carl is. 

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-That’s not a good look for you, Shane. Sorry not sorry.

-Ouff. Otis’s funeral. Asking Shane to say some words. Once again, being put in that position where he has to make a decision that he doesn’t want to make. He has to lie. And has to wear Otis’ clothes.

-Can we hurry up and find Sophia? It was serious, then kind funny, and now it’s just getting annoying at this point. Maybe it’ll loop around to being funny again?

-Hi, my name’s Daryl. Sleeves? What? What are sleeves?

-Hi, I’m Andrea and my resting facial expression is the saddest grimace you will ever see.

-“That’s Glenn, our…’Go To Town’ expert” Yes. Bring Maggie. Go to town with Maggie.

   “I hear you’re fast on your feet and know how to get in ‘n’ out.” WINK WINK.

-Also liking the dynamic between Shane and Andrea. Hey, we both consider ourselves outcasts, let’s hang out.

-Ewwwwwwwwwwww zombie in the well. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwww. It looks like a Muk and Oogie Boogie tried the Fusion Dance. (Yeah, that was a lot of references. Pokemon, Nightmare Before Christmas, Dragonball Z)

-Wait, “we need live bait.” And they look at Glenn??? Why??  “doin’ ok?” “yup doing great! …livin’ the dream…” GLENN FTW

-IDIOTS! You should’ve guessed he was gonna rip in half! Y U SO STUPID??

-Daryl for the win again. I still think Glenn got MVP for this ep, but Daryl comes in a close second with the story from which the episode gets its title.

-Carl you perfect optimistic angelic little shit. And I mean “shit” in the most endearing way possible. “I’m just like you now dad, we both got shot!” AND he gets the hat.

-Do pregnancy tests give results that fast?

-We open with a funeral, an event of death. End with a positive pregnancy test, an event of life. Yet both are tragic. Another good bookend-ing.

Why Puppets?

Tonight's COMMUNITY features the cast as delightful felt puppets going on some sort of musical, hot air balloon adventure. A question I've asked myself since finding out about this Puppet-sode is "Why?" "Why are they doing a puppet episode?" While I can't really delve too deep into this until after the episode airs (TONIGHT AT 8PM ON NBC WATCH LIVE AND #GETFELTUP), I think I've found an answer. An answer that might not satisfy everyone, but I think it's the best answer. Why puppets? Why Sara Bareilles? Why Jason Alexander in a wig? WHY? This answer, as are the answers to most of life's questions, has been told to us by Abed. Why puppets? Because "the universe is an endless, raging sea of randomness. Our job isn’t to fight it, but to weather it together on the raft of life. A raft held together by those few rare beautiful things that we know to be unpredictable…us."

So let's all get up in that raft, #getfeltup, and enjoy the episode. 

FERRET OUT *drops mic*

Walking Dead - Season 2 Episode 3 "Save The Last One"

This week on The Walking Dead: Shane gets a haircut. Hate to compare to Breaking Bad again (ok, maybe I don’t), but when Walt shaves his head (and then decides to continue to do so) it was so much more powerful than this. At least it’s not another flashback cold open.

Andrea, I like you. I want to keep liking you. Stop acting like a bitch to Dale.

I hope badass horse-riding, baseball bat wielding lady becomes a more major character. All these other bitches be bitches. (I think her name is Maggie? But I’m not sure)

Daryl got lost when he was younger than Sophia, no one knew he was gone, 9 days in the woods, eating berries, wiping his ass with poison oak, found his way back, “went straight to the kitchen and made [himself] a sandwich.” I’m so glad Daryl is awesome. The hanging zombie was pretty cool, too.

YES. This Rick/Lori scene. This is what I love. Lori thinks that maybe it would be better if Carl were to die. So he won’t have to live in the world they’re in anymore. So he won’t have a life that’s only fear, running, and survival. “Ending up just another animal that doesn’t know anything except survival.” But wait, didn’t Lori not want to give up? Wasn’t she one of the many begging Dr Jenner that there had to be another way? Rick brings up, trying to figure out how this 180 in her thought process occurred. For just one second, she forgot Jacqui was dead. And then it hit her. Jacqui is dead and doesn’t have to witness any of these atrocities anymore. She doesn’t have to be afraid. A life of fear or no life at all? How much do we value life--others or our own? At what point is living no longer the better option? Rick disagrees. Jenner surrendered. He gave up. Is that what he’s supposed to do? Just give up? Give up on his son? He might as well give up on everything. He won’t. It is completely not in Rick’s character to do so. But when Lori pleads him, “tell me why it would be better,” …he can’t come up with an answer. Mmmmm delicious philosophical quandaries. (Even though I love the wonderful questions it raises, this is just another example of Lori doing/feeling the opposite of Rick (and sometimes Shane). Also, it’s almost completely insane for her to want her son to die. But this is the end of the world, and I can imagine people’s ways of thinking will be forcibly twisted and altered just like everything around them.)

 “I don’t know if I wanna live. Or if I have to. Or if it’s just a habit.” Another “Hm. Very Hm.”moment for me.

Dale asks Carol to keep watch, hands her his rifle. “I don’t know how to use that.” WELL MAYBE YOU SHOULD START LEARNING, WOMAN. I CAN’T THINK OF A BETTER TIME TO LEARN HOW TO USE A GUN THAT THE FREAKING ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE. This is why Sophia ran away, Carol. She was tired of your shit (No, I’m sorry, that’s really mean).

Yay, some quality Glenn time! Oh, a conversation about God’s existence? Yes please! Zombies feed on flesh, I feed on philosophical discussions! So much feasting for me in this episode! I’m glad we’re spending more time with Glenn. I like him and need more reason to. 

Rick finally is able to answer Lori’s question. “He talked about the deer. Something beautiful, something living.” There’s still a life out there for them. Something still worth fighting for. Rick is filled with so much hope that Lori’s uncontrollably tear-bending (I refer to Rick as Katara in my head. Yip yip.) Of course, she’s convinced. We can’t have her wanting Carl to die for too much longer, we need to move on to other plots soon. Looking back, as good as the previous scene with Rick/Lori was, narratively, it was there just so Rick can be hero-champion and change his wife’s mind. I’ll allow that because both scenes were really well done. If the first one wasn’t good, this would be a different story.

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:O So it’s decided. Shane is the bad guy. Or is he? Though I do like the opening scene more now, a little. It bookends the episode nicely. (Don’t be so quick to critique, Anthony!) Shane shaved his head because that’s where Otis grabbed him. Nice. Now it has meaning and significance.

Maybe reviewing as I go isn’t the best way. No. I should just make my stray remarks and comments as I watch and then get to the meaty stuff afterwards. You’re welcome, for the glimpse into my thought processes.

Choices. The (not-so-subtle) theme of this week was Choices. Some choices are slightly inconsequential. Carol chooses to cry herself to sleep and chooses not to know how to use a gun. Daryl chooses (initially) to not kill the hanging zombie. Glenn chooses to pray (and also not hit on Maggie as much as he should have). All fairly simply made. But Choices aren’t always so easy. 

(I could talk about Andrea and Dale’s choices at the CDC, but that was several episodes ago.) Dale chose to withhold Andrea’s gun. He wants her to be alive and stay alive. But is that his choice to make? Dale might want Andrea alive, but it is Andrea’s life and her choice. So he chooses to give her back the gun. He asks for her forgiveness, learning the error of his choices. She’s not even sure if she wants to live, wanting to forgive someone isn’t on the top of her list right now. Her choice to forgive Dale is left unmade. More importantly, her choice to continue living is also undecided.

We may not agree with peoples’ decisions, and we may offer our opinions, yet when it comes to someone’s life, that final choice is to be made by the owner of that life. But what if the life in question is one you created? One that is unconscious and can’t offer its opinions?

Lori wants to make a choice. She gives her reasons, states her case. But her say isn’t the only one. Rick wants Carl to live. He gives his reason, states his case. (DEER!! He talked about the DEER!! It’s a metaphor, Lori!!) The choice isn’t really Rick’s to make either. But unfortunately, the luxury of having Carl decide if he wants to live or die isn’t available. Rick ultimately chooses to let Lori make the choice.

Then we get to Shane. He isn’t a bad guy. He doesn’t want to be a bad guy. But circumstances are forcing him to make choices. Let’s look at his choice. He chose to sacrifice Otis. This decision makes enough sense. Those medical supplies needed to get back to Carl. Shane is obviously faster. It was clear that they both weren’t able to make it. A decision had to be made. It was necessary. So, in a certain way, he made the right choice. Yet, he sees those marks on his head where Otis grabbed him. He sees the grief of Patricia. I’ll make another connection to Breaking Bad. Walt didn’t start off as the bad guy. He was a good guy that was forced to make difficult yet necessary decisions. More and more, these decisions had to be made, for justifiable reasons (protecting his family, mostly). Eventually, he becomes the bad guy. Do I have to quote it? I will. You either die the hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. So Shane may have made a necessary decision, but it’s not the sort of decision a person can make too many times and go on being human.

This shit’s getting good, folks. If this can get me to think about these types of things every week, we can reach Breaking Bad levels of good.

Walking Dead Season 2 Episode 2 "Bloodletting"

Live-notetaking this ep. That’s most likely not the proper term. Thanks Twitter.

Don’t like the flashback. We’re slowly piecing together the events that followed that first scene (not the opening one, the first “real” one) where Rick gets shot. We got that, then Shane in the hospital at the big zombie/military incursion, now we’re going back to immediately following the accident. The purpose of this one? Show Lori’s feelings about Rick pre-zompocalypse? Make it seem easier for us to believe she would get with Shane? I feel like it wasn’t needed, or rather, wasn’t successful. The part where she’s talking to that lady about her fight with Rick was working, but then Shane shows up, and she manages to spin it around to look like she’s the one who’s suffering. Yeah, she should be upset and telling her son his dad’s been shot isn’t the most fun thing, but, once again, it just makes Lori look like a jerk.

Also, nothing can beat the awesomeness of the cold open flashback in S3E5 of Breaking Bad, “Mas”, or the one that flashbacks to Walt and Skylar buying their house. In fact many of the cold open flashbacks of Breaking Bad, so I hold flashback cold opens to a high standard.

Daryl continues to be awesome. Lori continues to get on my nerves.

Not sure if I’m feeling the dialogue between Shane and Rick at the….house with convenient doctor and medical supplies. I’m fine with the plot contrivance that a doctor is there, just don’t know how else to describe the house. Like, yes Rick, Lori needs to know. Fine. But you’ve been told like 10 times that Carl needs you to be there because he needs your blood. Or he will die. If you leave he will die. How is this an issue right now? How about get Shane to go? Why doesn’t Shane go?

Another mission to a place probably overrun with zombies. Oh, this is why Shane doesn’t go to get Lori, he needs to be there to go with Otis to the school that’s “maybe better now.” Hopefully this one will yield better results than the one for Merle. Then again, I’m kinda happy they didn’t find that One-Handed, Redneck, racist sommbitch. Anyway, I’m calling it now, they either won’t even leave for the school this ep, more likely, they’ll get then and then BOOM CLIFFHANGER.

WOW. Leave it to the black guy to get racist about the whole situation. Is that racist?

“She’s having a tough time.” Understatement of the fucking universe. It’s the zombie apocalypse, if anybody is having anything less than a “tough time” I’d like to know the drugs they’re taking and where they found them. But I do appreciate Dale defending Andrea. I like their relationship, even though Andrea doesn’t seem to reciprocate.

“It’s nature correcting itself. Restoring balance.” Hm. Very Hm. I wanna elaborate on this eventually, but not know. Hopefully this idea will be brought up again.

Ok, so guy’s a vetrenarian. It’s not completely different. I’d still trust him. The end of the world is no time to be picky. Still too much bitchin’ coming out of Lori’s mouth. It’s like her whole character is mostly there to yell at Rick and Shane, whoever’s closer.

“T-Dawg’ll die. No joke.” The seriousness of his condition is dampered by the fact that his name is “T-Dawg”, hence the need for the addition of “no joke.”

Daryl Ftw! Not giving up on Sophia, having a big ol’ bag o’ drugs. (Was that blue meth? Oh God, does Breaking Bad end with Walt becoming a zombie??)

BOOM CLIFFHANGER SONOFABITCH

Didn’t really this episode. Too much time was spent with an unconscious Carl. I know that’s a huge deal, but it didn’t work for me because I know for a fact he doesn’t die, so I guess it’s not the episode’s fault. But what is the episode’s fault is how most of the conversations were irrelevant. Dialogue is getting better, but nothing that was said this episode really mattered. Is T-Dawg being paranoid about being the only black guy something I should care about? No. Is Carl gonna die? Obviously not. Is Shane gonna leave? Probably not. Is Sophia gonna turn up? Idk. That only one of those questions doesn’t have a predictable answer is not okay. Basically I want the pacing to pick up again, because the more they slow it down, the more time I have to scrutinize and find the things wrong with it. And I need more…of a grand scheme. It feels directionless. Just repeating happenstances. Maybe they don’t want to have an overarching plan, make it more…realistic? The main idea is Survival, and making up how to do that as you go along and face the obstacles. But this is a serialized drama. It needs…serialization.

And since it doesn’t, that’s why they have to resort to cliffhanger after cliffhanger to get us to tune in again. Previously, I was annoyed with the cliffhangers because I felt them unnecessary, seeing as I plan on watching more and didn’t need a kid getting shot the last second to motivate me to do so. Now, I’m annoyed with them because they’re doing it purpose because they know they have to. This is all of course, for the people like me, who analyze TV too much. For the people who just wanna see zombies and gore, they’re gonna keep coming back. So give me more zombies and less conversation, and make that less conversation worth it.

Everyone says it gets better, and I know it will. It’s just frustrating waiting to get to that point.

Walking Dead - Season 2 Episode 1 "What Lies Ahead"

IT WAS GOOD! Lots of good character moments. That scene between Dale and Andrea was great. I like Andrea’s character more and more, same with Dale. He’s probably the best character so far. But that discussion was brilliant and a great sign of the good changes in the writing staff. Brings up such important topics. Who is Dale to decide how Andrea should choose to die? Forcing her to not stay at the CDC by making her feel guilty, after all the guilt she already has with Amy. I understand Dale’s intentions were pure, which is why I’m not as mad at him as Andrea is. But really glad we had another moment to discuss what it means to be a Survivor, what it means to survive, and the choices we have in this catastrophic scenario.

Super awesome zombie stuff!! That herd walking past as they all hid under the cars! So suspenseful! It seemed to go on forever and that made it fantastic! I peed a little when the zombie came into the RV when Andrea was in it. Brilliant.

I like Lori, but she’s getting mad at Shane for every reason she should, but at weird times. First she gets mad at him for treating Carl badly, then about his sexual assault (which she should be mad about firstly and mostly), then about him saying he’s gonna leave. I just feel like the whole Lori/Shane plot is too soap opera-y for my taste. And she’s also mostly negative to Rick to, except finally for the scene where she defends him, I appreciate them giving the character some positive-ness. I feel like I don’t LIKE enough of the characters yet, and they know this and are working on it. Daryl, thank god, has gotten better and better, I feared he was gonna be a Merle clone, but luckily not, (also Merle is just over with now I hope, bye bye S1 writers, bye bye s1 poor plot plans). 

Speaking of plot, Sophia’s gone missing and they still haven’t found her. The opening scene of the series was Rick shooting a little girl Walker in the head, so this show is not above having Sophia end up dead or worse. I honestly have no idea where we’re going with it though. But I will tell you right now that if Merle show up I will flip over every goddamn table and burn Utica to the ground.

Back to Shane and Andrea wanting to leave. Idk how to feel about this. I feel like they won’t. If they do, will we be divided our time between the two groups much like we did in the first few episodes of season one? I think I want one group, especially considering their numbers are getting smaller and smaller.

And really ZOMG CLIFFHANGERS EVERY TIME. CARRRRRRRLLLLLLLLL!!!

Walking Dead - Season One

So I finally started watching The Walking Dead on Friday and made it through season one. While watching I took notes on my feelings toward it. I've decided to blog my notes about it because why not. These notes are really unorganized and just thoughts that came to mind during or immediately after episodes. Once I start my season 2 ones maybe they'll be more focused and organized. Minor spoilers, maybe major, well it doesn't matter you probably will only read this if you have already watched.Well, here we go.
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Finished episode 3. The pacing is weird, the dialogue isn't good. But the action is top notch and the emotions are there, even if the dialogue has a tough time with making those emotions come out in a way that’s not cliche and hackneyed and lame. Of course, some of the problems may have to do with the 6-episode order and not knowing if they’ll get a second season so they probably had to rush some things, slow down others, introduce too many characters, figure out how much of the story you want to tell etc. Because the pilot was fantastic and then there was an immediate drop off in quality. I hope we see Morgan Jones and his son again.

Really annoyed that the search for Merle has to be stretched out some more. Of all the plots to make take forever...

When they focus on the survival psychology themes I love it, though like I said, the dialogue can use some work. I imagine most people watch for zombie killing, which is fine, I love the zombie fights/interactions, and I’m sure given more time they’ll be able to incorporate the two less clunkily. 

Initially I didn’t like the scene where they were gonna chop up the dead body to cover themselves in the smell, when Rick when through his wallet to find out who that zombie was, beause, I mean, theres a time and a place. Considering what they were about to do, maybe learn the personal history of a zombie whose ribs you aren’t about to hang around your neck. At the same time, if you’re gonna have someone’s ribs around your neck, maybe you should get to know them? Anyway, I didn’t like that initially, but I did like that they took a moment to acknowledge that these zombies wer ein fact real human beings with lives at one point. That’s dealt with previously with Morgan Jones’ wife. And we’ll see where it goes depending on this Andrea/Amy and Jim situation. (only just started S1E5 as I write this), but mostly the zombies are treated like the faceless, multitudinous enemy drones of a video game or movie like Star Wars or the Avengers. Which, I guess is the point. Allows more focus on the main characters, and that may not be what the show wants to be, but some more references to the fact that their enemies were themselves would be a nice look into the psychology of dealing with that fact. (right after I wrote this I went back to watching and they touch in this with their discussion on how to deal with Jim, so yay!)

Also, I initially wanted to know all the when/how/why or the zombie apocalypse, and idk if we’ll get that, and I also dk if I want to know anymore. Now knowing generally the kind of show this wants to be/is sofar, the when/how/why isn’t important. It happened and here’s the new reality. Also, based on how this show does dialogue, idk if I want any heavy exposition.

The sound editing is delicious. 

Finished S1E5 Do they not trust themselves or the audience enough? Is that why they finish each episode with a cliffhanger? Like, I’m gonna watch more, no need to FORCE me to watch me by leaving a sentence unfinished. Really great stuff with Amy/Jim, though. Really humanized the zombie process, which was something I was looking for.

S1E6 finale. Aw man! I had just gotten over wanting flashbacks/origin info!

Still don’t know how to feel about Shane. I dislike him but. Is he a villain? Yes. But no? Humanize him by his cliché-ly drinking in the shower? But he’s better than Rick in some ways. Rick is righteous to a fault. I agree with him in his values and morals, but sometimes his righteousness clouds his decision making. Shane understands the need for both authority and singularity among the group. Practicality over righteousness. Good stuff. But even though Shane may not be as righteous, he’s probably the more emotional one. Which makes him slightly more complex and gives him depth. Yay three dimensional characters! 

Andrea :C all’s she’s done in like 2 episodes is look all sad. She’s got the eyes for it. I feel for her, one of the only characters I feel for at the moment besides Rick.

Just finished the finale. Really liked it because there was little zombie, a very small and somewhat necessary amount of exposition. Characterization of Shane, which was needed. Better dialogue and heavy themes of what it means to be human/alive. Sorry that the doctor died, he was a really good actor and brought a higher level of acting that I feel the show still needs.

Then I read that the entire writing staff was changed after this season. Which, to me, is actually good news. Because I found that to be the biggest problem for me. The pacing and tone went all over the place, hopefully they’ll get new staff that will unite in a more focused way, perhaps having the showrunner take more responsibility in filtering it through. 

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Next I'll write about the premiere of season 2. and maybe after that do a couple episodes at a time? Whatever. 

Agree with what I'm saying? Disagree? Something you want me to talk about? Comment and let's talk about it! 

Dork Life Episode 1: A Truce While We Gawk

So my friend Jason Riggs and I decided to do a podcast and we've finally got around to recording one. Bear with us during this early stage of our...production. I hope you listen and enjoy.