Showing posts with label Walking Dead Season 3. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Walking Dead Season 3. Show all posts

Monday, December 3, 2012

Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 308: Made to Suffer

Well they gone and done it. They messed with Daryl and I'm smokin' mad. There were so many bad choices made in this episode that I don't know where to begin so I'll start with the 2 most obvious questions:
1.) In all the time they've been there has NO ONE thought to do a re-con around the perimeter of the prison to check out the defenses? I mean they have plenty of vehicles and most prisons have a track around them so you wouldn't even have to endanger anyone by doing it on foot. You could drive around the backside and then wire up that little gap in the fence and voila! No more Zombie intruders. They did notice that the prison had civilians in it so they know that they're getting in somewhere. I can believe no one wanted to know.
2.) If I keep doing push-ups can I have arms like Michonne?

The group at the beginning of the episode has no business being outside anywhere. I wouldn't trust that group with a potato peeler. They've been at it for over a year, surviving the ZA and they barely have weapons, they have no organization and no Zombie-killing skills to speak of and I saw one guy try to take out a Zombie by punching it in the mouth. Dude! It doesn't matter if it brings the teeth to you or you bring your gentle flesh to the teeth, the end result is the same. Plus they scream waaay too much. And what were they living on? They didn't have so much as a purse or backpack between the lot of them. Sheer foolishness people.
So when we see this cluster of brilliance entering the back side of the prison we know that no good can come from it. Bad things didn't really pan out in this episode but we're sooo set up for EPIC things to happen in the second half of season 3. Especially since everyone wants to have tea, crumpets, and meaningful conversations while they wait for bitten-arm girl to reanimate. Who in OUR group would support a policy of "headshots for the bitten FIRST, conversations later"?
   Carl has turned into quite the little stud-muffin. So much so that sketchy moustache man better step off. Beth is saving herself for Carl, never mind the 6-7 year age gap. When someone is awesome you gotta snatch them up right? So the kid is volunteering for formula scouting missions, going into the cellar with Rick's patented flashlight/gun stance, greeting newcomers with much more grace than the adults did last week (did you see Carl grab someone in their wounded area to make them answer a question faster? I think not). And then he quietly created a diversion and locked them all up. Nice job C-man. And he did it all rockin' his black hat and looking cool as a cucumber. I'm burly folks but you would NOT see me volunteering to go check out screams in the cellar alone. Ever.

So all we have left to talk about is prison gang vs Woodbury. What is up with Glen? He rips open a Zombie and extracts splintered arm-bone to use as a weapon. Does it get any more hard-core than that? Please tell me that Glen is just awesome now and that's the end of it. He's so burly that I am really worried that they're going to replace Daryl with Glen as the toughest character in the show. FYI, I'm thinking that splintered Zombie bone penetration has the exact same end result as a Zombie bite, making this spur of the moment weapon even more interesting.
OK so we all know what happened so instead of blow by blow let's discuss person by person.
Glenn as discussed is hard-core and holds up well considering. I love how polite he always is to everyone. First chance he gets he's briefing Rick that they told about the prison and telling Daryl about Merle.
Maggie is a tough little character. For all that she's been through she rallies when it's time to fight and becomes an excellent delta-force member during the extraction.
Merle is just a sad little dude right now. He is so desperate to win favor with the Gov and when the tables turn and he gets used as a pawn it's pathetic and sad. That's what happens when you hitch your wagon to the wrong star Merle baby. Now put on your thinking cap and save your baby bro. Bonus points if you take yourself out while you're doin' it.
Token black guy is down. Easy come, easy go. Should have seen this coming when the new token black guy walked in the back of the prison. Something tells me THAT guy isn't going to be around all that long though since he can't seem to follow through on taking out the bitten. It's 2013 people. Can't really believe the writers are doing this. At least we have a quality well-developed character in Michonne....
Rick is doing great during his moments of lucidity. If he can steer clear of talking to Lori on the phone and re-killing Shane there is hope. If one more bad thing happens to the guy then all bets are off though. And it IS the ZA, not a trip to Walt Disney World so bad things are almost guaranteed. If you ask me Rick is half way down the diving board on his way to the deep end. And Daryl has been the little voice that seems to call him back to the land of reality so now that he's in enemy hands I think Rick is going to continue his downward mental spiral. He did a good job with the mission though when he wasn't taking cover behind a solar panel (!?!).
Last season I used to like Andrea. I really did. In this episode there wasn't a single scene where I didn't want someone to bitch slap her or samurai sword her head off. Maybe both. She's just annoying. With more crying and whining about what job she gets to do than my 6 year old. She can only redeem herself if she figures out a way to save my favorite red-neck. And she's in a good position to do just that. C'mon Andrea, we have FAITH!
You all know what I'm going to say about Daryl. The man was made for the ZA and he rocks every scene he's in. When he found out about Merle and Rick told him he had to stay with the group he had a small moment of conflict but then he shook it off and rallied. He HAS to make it through this. Who wants to see Daryl hold the baby again? I do!
I don't really know what to say about Michonne.... she's so epic that she freaks me out sometimes but she's got really good intentions. This is clear as day when she thinks she is freeing a small girl from the closet in the Governor's rooms. What's so hard to understand about her is how fast she can process information and change her course. So she can go from nurturing a small child to stabbing it through the head in an instant when the situation changes. And that kind of just sums her up. She is intense and takes things to the extreme in every situation and it's her ability to adapt quickly and think on her feet that makes her such an interesting character and a survivor.
The Gov. is just so wrong. I think there are a lot of parallels between the Governor and OUR government. They way he spins things and makes people afraid of situations that he has created seems mighty familiar. And his followers are taking it hook line and sinker. His fight with Michonne was intense - made more so by the snapping Zombie heads landing all around them. And now he's sporting an eye-patch. Makes him ever so much more villainous don't you agree?

  So that's it. It was a great final episode but now I have to wait 2 whole months not knowing the fate of my favorite character. I asked for a Daryl T-shirt for Christmas. Let's hope it's not obsolete by February eh?


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, October 29, 2012

Walking Dead Season 3, Episode 3: Walk With Me

Best 10 minute opener EVER! Sooo many questions and observations:
1.) A helicopter?!? That's hours of speculation and discussion right there! And they were talking to a bunch of people back at some kind of base so there's another major group of people out there, probably ex-military. Of course our characters never got to meet or see these guys but at least a few of them are still alive so we get to find out a little bit more about them and where they came from later in the episode.
2.) Zombies = pack mules. I LOVE IT! Why not? If you're using them to fend off other Zombies and they're still shuffling forward who wouldn't thinking about slapping a few items onto their backs. Heck, why not let them schlepp ALL the stuff! This could revolutionize the post-zombie world. Zombies can be usefull! Think about it... you could chain up a whole bunch of modified jawless, armless, domesticated Zombies and form a perimeter around your property to keep out other Zombies. Kind of like scarecrows you know? They can carry your stuff, guard your land - heck, they may even be able to pull a plow! I mean probably not quickly or in a very straight line but what do you want from the undead? And you don't have to feed OR water them.... so much better than horses! Speaking of horses, they really do serve the same purposes except for carrying people around. They even act all sketchy when something's up or someone's coming. Pack animals + sentinels. This is beautiful. Michonne rules.
3.) Whole bunch of new guys. We'll see about them.
4.) MERLE! Of course he would show up at Woodbury. Don't be fooled peeps. I know it seems all rosy and quaint but a ne'er-do-well like Merle is not going to hang out at a church picnic. And is it me or does Merle have a retractable bayonet arm? Cool...

A&M get taken by the new guys and we next see them in Woodbury. They're all sulky, suspicious and ungrateful as a class of 8th graders and after a while you kind of want to smack them and make them be nice and appreciate this wonderful safe new haven full of generous people. (Except those of us that have read the comic who are screaming "RUUUUNN!!! While you still can!!)
They get the grand tour. I would be like "WOOOOW! Veggie gardens! Old People! Pregnant Ladies!" But A&M are of course battle-hardened, super-critical and suspicious. Love them.
Not super-clear on the pilot's story. Can't figure out if he was describing events that happened toward the beginning of the Zombie Apocalypse or something that happened more recently. I'm leaning toward something that happened in the last month or so because he mentions "supplies lasting" ect.
The Governor promises to go after the rest of his group and I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. And that's when the episode cut to the most important, bestest, most vital and wonderfullest thing we have seen to date in the post-Zombie world: THE ZOMBIE RESEARCH LABORATORY. YES!!! I love this so much I can barely cope and I love the dude/nerd that works there already. I would soooo be your research assistant Mr. Zombie lab guy! I have many, many, Doctoral dissertation topics already lined up and ready to be tested. Let's do this! Finally someone has decided to look into these suckers and get some answers. Aaaand he appreciates the brilliance of Michonne which makes me love him even more and he doesn't even know about the pack-mule thing yet! Pure awesomeness. I'm no fan of Woodbury or the Governor but I'm ready to give up my freedom and become a library card-carrying, fully indoctrinated citizen of the town just based on this alone.
   The Governor runs out to wherever to find the other army guys and.... warm feelings gone. Hmmm.... don't you think you could have used the extra guns AND the extra man-power Mr Mega-tyrant Dictator Sir? Or is your MO to just waste anyone that could be a threat to your authority. If so A&M better watch themselves big-time. They come back, he gives some big cover-up speech and we find out that he's shagging the Woodbury PR rep AND he likes to relax at night by looking at his collection of severed heads. Nice one.
  I loved this episode. Questions were posed and then answered all in one nice little 42 minute package which NEVER happens in this show, we got major character development of existing characters plus a whole new slew of new characters. I wonder if the season will keep flip-flopping between A&M's story line and the rest of the crew back at the prison or if the 2 threads will merge quickly. I'm sure Rick and the Governor will get along real nicely....

Monday, October 22, 2012

Walking Dead Season 3, Episode 1: Seed.

I'm back!! And my internet is upgraded and fast. You'll get 2 in a row from me since I've been slackin'; one tonight and one tomorrow. So excited... let's do this!
     4 of our heroes start the episode out right by barreling into an old farmhouse and getting the job done. I think T-Bone's wielding a fireplace poker. That's kind of a weird and desperate weapon to be using this far into the game but he brandishes it with such gusto that I'm giving him a pass. And Carl! Does he get an Emmy for "youngest actor to kick ass and take down names" or WHAT? I don't even know what kind of gun he's using but the kid's rockin' it. They clear the farmhouse efficiently and well but with all that enthusiasm and adrenaline it's a wonder they don't shoot each other in the face when they surprise each other around blind corners. If it were us we'd have a post-raid circle-ups and come up with better safely policies am I right? Big shout-out to my boy Daryl for helping clear the place of the un-dead AND rustle up some dinner at the same time.
        The rest of the crew comes in and the baby bump is effectively used as an indicator that we have fast forwarded a few months ahead. First observations are that 1.) The group hasn't lost any more members and 2.) They have become much more battle-hardened and weary since we last saw them. The pet-food scene is able to portray SO MUCH with no dialogue at all that it's worth watching twice. They see more walkers approaching and bail out the back door and it was then that I turned to my Husband and said "you think Lori's going to hold onto her belly at all times until she gives birth or what?" I've been preggers twice folks and there's really no need to hold onto the thing. Yes Lori, we know it's there... congrats on finding new ways of being annoying. And then we got A NEW TITLE SEQUENCE! It's so 3rd season right? Not so much 'this is happening' as 'this is the new reality'. I loved it.
    It seems like the herding that we saw in the season finale has really become a problem. That should be interesting. They finally spot the prison and Rick immediately sees it's potential. Lots of really great Zombie moments. There were so many walkers in this episode.... kudos to the make-up people. Rick decides to run for the gate and everyone else either goes out as a distraction or gets on sniper duty. When Lori grabbed the gate I thought she was going to block him from going but instead she opened it for him. That's a huge indicator of how much their relationship has changed. Rick charges across the yard, secures the fence and then all they have to do is shoot fish in a barrel.
    They have a nice evening in the prison yard and even though they are very secure they have people on sentry duty. This is a first and again it shows how much they have changed and how savvy they have become. Even on the farm which was pretty unsecured they didn't have formal sentries. Daryl and Carol have a little something brewing (rawr!)
  Then Lori and Rick have their little interaction. Both characters are shadows of their formal selves. Lori puts up no fight at all and tiptoes around Rick like he's a bomb about to go off and Rick is so hardened that he's almost a different person.
    The next morning Rick, T-bone, Glenn, Maggie, Daryl and Hershel storm into the main prison yard. No, No, no. Why take a chance on getting surrounded? I would go in as a tight bunch, kill a few and then retreat. Repeat until the yard is clear. In the meantime you may have attracted many of them to the fences where they can be killed with no risk. The Zombies in body armor we HARD CORE! They push on into a cell block. I would have stopped for a drink and a granola bar but you know me... and are able to clear it out very quickly. Every body picks their cells. Maggie and Glenn are so sweet with each other. Such a contrast to Rick and Lori's relationship. Those 2 are not even sharing a cell! It would seem like a good place to stop and chill out before pushing farther but I guess lack of food keeps them from doing that.
    We check in with Michonne and Andrea. Not much happens with them. Andrea is sick and their segments seem to be there just to introduce the Michonne character. Love her pet Zombies with no lower jaws and no arms. That chick is awesome. Hope we get a little more story on these 2 in the next episode.
     Next we had a really good scene with Hershel and Lori where he tries to calm her down as she goes through a typical case of pre-birth jitters. Hey, not even I can blame her on this one, especially since she's considered the Zombie-fetus scenario. Yikes! Then the main squad gets back in action but this time they're in a basement labyrinth in the DARK. Soooo creepy. They try to mark their way out with spray-paint but then it all goes south very quickly. Tough to critique them on this one. They clearly have to push on or starve and I'm not sure their problems are their fault EXCEPT for Hershel basically rubbing his lower legs against this one Zombie's lips. Have we never as a group discussed giving them a wide-berth? Not rubbing up against them unless we are SURE they're dead... especially if they have no obvious head-wounds? Geepers you guys. Of course he gets bit but it does give us our first opportunity to see if immediate limb amputation makes a difference in survival. Worth trying at least once right? They hack off his foot and meet a whole new crew of guys that are human and appear to be well-fed. Hooray!
   It's worth noting that the Zombies are deteriorating. The ones at the farm-house were looking kind of dried out and sinewy and the suckers in the combat gear were practically composting inside their armor. So if they can last a little longer the undead may fall to pieces and our little band of heroes may be able to re-claim the world. Hope for the future. And hope for season 3! I thought it was an excellent first episode, you?