Monday, November 26, 2012

Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 307: When the Dead Come Walking

   The worst is when you've found a great place to hole up and ride out the Zombie Apocalypse - just you and the carcass of your late little dog - but then a gang of maniacs come tearing into your cabin, stab you through the shoulder and chuck you out your front door to be consumed by the Zombies that are pursuing them. I ask you, is nothing sacred these days?!?

Oh the humanity. I've said it once and I'll say it again, if we're going to overcome Zombies and survive as a species we gotta work TOGETHER people. Merle is a dirty rotten punk, the Governor is just evil and Daryl is never going to be able to found the Republic of Awesome with Michonne if he keeps pointing his crossbow in her face. But let's begin at the beginning.

We finally get to see the Woodbury interrogation chambers and I was scared out of my mind for Glen and Maggie. They don't get enough props from me because their storyline tends to be sweeter and milder than the survival stuff we so often focus on but they are 2 of my favorite characters and I would be very, very bummed out if anything bad happened to them. Merle is 100% pure distilled 8th grade bully. He reacts more than he thinks and he lets his emotions run totally away with him. I mean throwing a zombie into the room with Glen tied up inside was BOGUS by any standard. Even if you're on the side of the bad guys what's gonna happen with Glen dead? Now you have nothing to hold over Maggie because he's the only thing she cares about and Zombified Glen is certainly not going to spill any secrets so you've totally lost your upper hand. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!
Can we pause for a moment and talk about stark, raving, zombie defense talent? Glen is duck-taped to a chair and he defends himself, fights against and neutralizes a zombie using tactics that can only be described as Daryl-worthy. Glen just went up about 20 places in the Billboard Hot 100 and I was a little blindsided. I may have underestimated our mild-mannered Korean friend. His scream of aggression at the end of the fight was pure visceral emotion. Go on with your bad self, Glen.... we're lovin' it.
The scene with the Governor and Maggie was so awful that I actually got cold watching it and had to go grab a sweater. That dude is EVIL and >spoiler alert< he's a brutal rapist in the comic so I was petrified that Maggie was going to be his first victim and they had switched things all around for the show. Thank goodness this did not happen but I'm not ruling it out for the future. Wish Andrea could see THAT side of him in action. She'd never get to re-join the crew at the prison having willingly shagged one of their attackers. But it may be too late for Andrea. The Dark Side is strong in her.
       Sooooo utterly disappointed in the quality of experiments being conducted in the Zombie Research Laboratory. Really dude? I'm all about science and innovation but by the end of it I was really hoping for nerdy lab tech guy to get chomped. That would have made things so much more interesting. I have so many great experiments that I want to conduct on Zombies. Can we please throw one in a freezer and see what happens? Maybe the act of freezing bursts cells in the brain and once they thaw they can't reanimate. Useful things to know because we've already gone through one winter so Canada could be a Zombie Free Zone. Imagine that! But instead we're seeing if they have residual memory. What a waste. Who cares if they do? They can't be turned back into people no matter what and you'll still have to kill 'em so this knowledge helps no one. I need to run the ZRL, that's all there is to it.
       So finally on to our prison posse. For one horrible moment I thought Rick was going to let Michonne die on the wrong side of the fence. I was screaming "Rick - she's got FORMULA man...why? how? Don't you want to know?!?" But it was Carl who saw the light and saved the day. Right on little guy. They drag Michonne inside and are very mean to her right from the get-go. Hard to watch because we know how much this group needs her and how much she needs the group, but ironically this is a response that Michonne is comfortable with. You show her an apparent Utopia where everything is hunky dory and she can't leave fast enough. Tell her that after you help her with her leg she'd best be on her way and she's OK with that. Good instincts to have for the Z.A. people... take note.
    They may have gotten vital info from her a little quicker if they had been nicer, but finally they find out about Glen and Maggie and they all start working together. I had a horrible moment when I thought moustache guy and Beth were going to be on the away team (bloodbath!) but cool heads prevailed and a hard-core squad set out to raid Woodbury. Seeing Daryl and Michonne working together in the same little squad made me so happy I was jumping up and down on the couch and that's when the show came to an abrupt end and I fell to the ground with a scream of rage. As usual I totally lost track of time and got blindsided by the cliffhanger. Curse you Walking Dead!!!
2 questions:
1.) Is it me or did Michonne have new clothes when they set out for Woodbury and why are all her duds so utterly cool? Can we get a "Michonne" line at Target or something? Maybe the tag line could be "You can move comfortably while killing the undead without sacrificing your style." I would totally buy that.
2.) Does anyone else watch the little iTunes extra "Inside the Walking Dead" where it turns out that like all of the cast including most of the Zombies are all British? What on EARTH is up with that? Are we so hard up for good American actors that we now have to train Brits to pull off a southern accent (they do a really good job BTW). But how weird is it to watch the episode and then hear the cast being all "Just chuffed to bits to be making this show. Quite smashing.... Jolly good old chap.." and on and on. FREAKY.


Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Walking Dead Season 3, Episode 306: Hounded

 I know, I know, I'm late in getting this out. But I live in AFRICA dude, and sometimes the internet goes out. No one is more frustrated about this than me....
To sum it up quick:
Michonne has discovered that WEARING Zombie can be just as effective as leading Zombies when it comes to camouflage. And she's leaving people Zombie-gram's. LOVE her more every episode.
Andrea is a dirty Ho.
Daryl has added pediatric grief counseling and CSI analysis to his list of accomplishments.
Rick is coo-coo for coco puffs.
Glen and Maggie are pretty much screwed.
Carol's alive!

Merle is hard-core. He's just devious and vicious, and mean like a junk-yard dog. No wonder Daryl has issues. Can you imagine growing up with Captain Sadist as your older brother? We really saw his true colors in this episode. You're not going to cross with Merle and win unless you're the Governor or you kill him. And something tells me that he's going to go quickly down hill from here as he tries to get info out of Glen and Maggie. He also get's the best line of the episode:
"How do you say your last name?.... I'm gonna keep calling you 'Neil'."

Rick's plight is just painful to watch. He gets a phone call and then the chick hangs up on him?!? Was anyone else like "*69 those suckers!" I was, before I realized that there was no way that Rick was receiving actual calls. Oops. But mid-way through the episode he got all cleaned up and showered and I breathed an audible sigh of relief and contentment. And then things got radically better. This is the same principle I try to instill in my manky little 6 year old.  "I know you don't want to stop playing and jump in the bath, but you're feel great afterward, I promise." One thing that I noticed in the prison scenes is that the group is getting SMALL. Especially once Glen and Maggie take off. It's like Hershel, Carl, Beth, the new replacement token black guy and that's it. Because Rick and Daryl are almost always off doing something. Where's the mustache guy? Is he on sabbatical already because he's put in sooo much work this season or what?

Next can someone please explain to me why Andrea has to shag every single narcissistic, megalomanic, psychotic man in the post zombie world? It's a real thing with her. She may actually need counseling to break the cycle. Her scenes with the Governor were actually PAINFUL to watch in this episode. So much hair-flipping, eyelash batting insanity it's crazy.  She is going down a very dark path and she's totally off-script from the comic so I have no idea what's in store for her at this point. And what's with the Gov? I thought he was shagging his PR rep? I smell a chick-fight coming people and it ain't gonna be pretty. My $'s on Andrea for this one. She makes really, really bad hook-up decisions but the girl's a scrapper, you have to give her that.

So now it's time to talk about Michonne and Daryl. Who will be together in the prison by next weeks' episode! Is it me or do my Christmas wishes always come through? Let the republic of awesome begin!! I kind of like the whole Carol/Daryl thing going on but he may have to move on. I mean if Daryl and Michonne got together, reproduced and stayed alive long enough to parent then there may actually be a chance for humanity in this apocalyptic world. We'd have little 5 year olds with ripped arms and incredible abs cross-bowing zombies in the head with their miniature samurai swords on their backs for when they run out of arrows. Daryl has come far enough that he would actually make a great dad now. The guy just has so much heart. Loved the scene where he was outside the closet trying to get up his nerve to go in there because he was worried about seeing Carol as a walker or seeing her eaten. Why Carol didn't call out when they went by the first time is totally beyond me. Who's got a theory on this one? And does Michonne know how to make an entrance or what?!? With what Rick went through earlier he had to be wondering if he was having another hallucination. In the classic words of Fillmore from 'Cars': "I'm not the only one seeing this right?!?"

Monday, November 12, 2012

Walking Dead Season 3, Episode 5: Say The Word.

So some of you out there are saying that this episode was mostly about Rick going off the deep end and some of you are saying that it's about Andrea, Michonne, and the Governor. Well you're all wrong because this episode was CLEARLY about Daryl "Super Nanny" Dixon. Can we pause for a moment and log a running tally of his achievements in this one episode alone?
1.)Assesses Rick and see's that he has checked out.
2.)He organizes a mission to fetch infant formula.
3.)Schedules a play buddy for Carl so he won't be sad
4.)Rocks a bitchin' Pancho Villa cape thing and then gives it to the baby like a wise man givin' presents to the baby Jesus.
5.) He organizes the neighborhood ladies so that every night someone brings Rick and Carl a covered dish or a casserole. (OK, I made this one up but if it were an option he would have done it.)
6.) Kills dinner with his crossbow.
7.) Brings back all the loot and Maggie in one piece.
8.) Feeds the baby it's first bottle like an old pro.
9.) Gets Carl thinking about baby names.
10.) Lays flowers on the graves of the fallen (Carol?).
And he does it all with grace, kindness, and his nice little "Today is the GOOD version of Daryl" smile. Has anyone EVER done so much in one episode? I think not. He still needs to wash his face but man oh man, he's ownin' the Zombie Apocalypse like it's his job people. And I love him for it.

Onto the lesser plot threads:
The Governor in the TV show is definitely a kinder, gentler, less rape-prone version of the Governor in the comic. So much so that it makes Michonne seem kind of crazy and over-reactive. And that bums me out a bit. I want him to show his true colors so Michonne's fears and suspicions are validated. We have now seen the heads in the fish tanks, his Zombie daughter that he is keeping as a pet, and the fights he organizes but all that just kind of makes him look eccentric and not evil. Even his slaughter of the Army guys could be written off as an attempt to keep his people safe. He's evil though and I bet we see something big go down in the next few episodes.
Michonne is awesome. Can't wait for her to join the prison alliance.
Andrea- when you make bad choices, bad things happen to you. Should have left when you had the chance.
Rick just made me cringe in this episode. Mostly because of the copious amounts of Zombie splatter that he wore like mourning clothes. You know me and Zombie splatter... I can't handle it.
Carol: ?!?!?
And 2 final zombie survival tips to send us on our way:
1.) If you have to choose between sending power to the Zombie Research Laboratory or the beer cooler you ALWAYS choose the ZRL. We're all clear on that right?!?
2.) WHAT was Maggie wearing in this episode? Was it a cuuuute little top with lots of shredded strips and fringe? no, No, NO!! Totally grabbable by zombies. Performance fabrics in the right size so there's not a lot of flowing material around you is the uniform of the ZA people. We want quick, drying, splatter resistant, non-snaggable duds. As long as they're within those parameters they can still be cute though....I mean girls gotta be girls right? 



Monday, November 5, 2012

Walking Dead Season 3, Episode 4: Killer Within

Are. You. Kidding me? I'm shocked and shaken. And I feel a bit sick to be truthful. Just when I think this show can't get any more epic it attains new levels of epicness. The thing that makes it all so different and feel so real is that it's not like other TV shows or action movies out there where the brave little group struggles on against all odds and no one dies until maybe the very end of the final scene where they give their lives to save everyone else or achieve the final goal. In this show people die all the time. And they don't save the group doing it. They're lucky if they save anyone. Sometimes they're just out in a field going for a moonlight stroll when they die and sometimes like tonight, all hell breaks loose and casualties are inevitable. And that's not the end of it. The group doesn't get a chance to even grieve because the ring is never going to get thrown into the volcano, the asteroid is not going to be demolished just before it hits Earth and no mad scientist is out there working on a Zombie cure. These things are going to keep on coming until they all rot away or everyone's dead and there's no end in sight. The show is scary and horrific because this is exactly the way it would be if it really went down. Not to sound like a Hallmark card or anything but it feels genuine you know?
     I'm not going to give you a blow by blow because you watched it too and we both know what happened. I may have to watch it again just to take in all the details and I don't even know if I can handle it again. I'm gonna have to filter it through my fingers. Let's start with Woodbury...
    I didn't think I could love Michonne more but I do now. She wants to find an Island?!? Damn girl, that's what I'm talking about! Season one I said find an Island. Because Zombies can walk into water but they'll decompose faster in the water and get eaten by fish and without a screaming target to lurch toward they're kind of like the balls in a pin ball machine. They bounce off of things while ambling aimlessly in the easiest direction. Which means downhill, or in this case farther out to sea until they tumble down the continental shelf. Have you ever tried to drag your sorry, fully dressed self out of the water and up the beach? It's WORK friends. I don't see Zombies doing it. Islands = safety once they are secured. But before she can find an Island and live out her days on fish and coconuts she's going to have to club Andrea over the head and drag her out of Woodbury. Because she's flirting with every stump-armed, head-collecting guy she runs into with her hair all cute and her little "I have no tolerance for alcohol and maybe we can shag later" smile. Yikes. What's THAT all about? Michonne may have to cut her loose. What she needs to do is ditch Andrea, find Daryl, secure an Island and establish the Republic of Awesome. But that's probably not going to happen for a few more episodes.... We'll put it on this year's Christmas wish list. And most of my Christmas wishes come true folks. I mean look what just happened to Lori. Ok, so it was a year late and it didn't really happen under the circumstances I thought it would and by the time it DID happen I was so sad about it that I totally regretted wishing for it... but it DID come true so there's hope for a Michonne/Daryl Alliance.
  But I digress...
Michonne wants to go, Andrea wants to stay and shag, Merle wants to go find Daryl but the Governor's a total control freak and won't let him go and no one was sipping tea in this episode. That just about sums up the Woodbury situation.
   On to the prison. Oh boy. The first scenes of this episode played with us big-time. They showed a group that was comfortable with each other settling in and finally finding their 'new normal'. They had work to do each day but none of it was under panic conditions and they even had time to laugh kindly at Glen and Maggie in their guard tower. Hershel was on the mend, and they had a plan for the future. I was a bit split about the new guys. I kinda thought they should accept them into their group just based on the cuteness of the one guy's moustache but when they went over to discuss it I thought that the reasons stated for NOT accepting them were valid.  It's great to be nice but not if it risks the lives of the entire group.
     When they got Hershel into the exercise yard and the Zombies started coming at them from all directions it was heartbreaking. Here's these guys who have gone to such lengths to build a safe area for their weakest members while they're out risking it all and when things start going down they can't even get to them and their pain and frustration is so evident. We lost T-Dog and then he let himself get eaten to save Carol who I HOPE is still alive. And then Lori goes into labor and you just know from the title of the episode and the way it's going down that the outcome is not going to be good. I know I've never been the biggest Lori fan but her death was heartbreaking. Even more so when you saw what it did to Carl and then what it did to Rick. It was one of those episodes where the credits rolled and I was just sitting there in stunned silence trying to catch my breath. Can the show continue to maintain this pace? Am I hard-core enough to keep watching? Once you start watching this show how could you NOT watch? That's it for me this week...my hubby's rocking in a corner back in the TV room and I think he needs a hug.