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Sunday, December 1, 2013

The Walking Dead: Season 4 Episode 8 WDF Review

It's the Mid-Season Finale!

We're not going to "spoil" this one for the UK folks who won't get to see it until Friday, so we'll just say this...

HOLY POOP BALLS.

This one will knock your socks off.  Our initial reaction is it's a point-for-point win (and lose)!  It's everything and MORE than everyone who complained about the Season 3 finale wanted.  It provides just the right amount of heartbreak mixed with a sprinkle of unexpected and closure, and it escalates quickly... we'll say that much.  If you've not seen it yet, get out your tissues, be ready to cheer a time or two, and prepare yourself to be shocked and awed.

Good Job writers, actors, grips, set dressers... EVERYBODY!!  Absolutely, a good job on everyone's part.

Friday, November 29, 2013

The Walking Dead: Season 4 Episode 7 WDF Review

Episode Synopsis and Review:

Section 4.7.1
The opening sequence flips back and forth between a conversation between “Brian” and Megan and the turn of events at the walker pit where episode 6 left off. Brian is washing clothes in a tub while Megan is playing chess. She is thinking about what move to make next in the game. Back at the walker pit, Martinez and Brian help Megan out of the pit where she then runs to her mother. Martinez stands there for a moment looking at Brian before throwing a rope down to help him. Back at the chess game Brian is coaxing Megan to make her move in the game while he hangs the laundry on the clothes line. Megan comments that he never lets her win anyway. He replies that it wouldn’t be winning and that is what his father used to say and that his father used to beat him at chess too, along with everything else. Back at the walker pit, Brian climbs out with the help of Martinez. It’s evident that they know each other. Back to the chess game Megan asks Brian if his dad was mean and if it was because he was bad. He replies “sometimes” to both questions.  Back at the walker pit Martinez is asking him if he’s been on the run all that time. Back at the chess game, Megan asks if she is bad because her dad was always mean to her. Brian reassures her she is good. Back at the walker pit, Martinez says they have a camp and If they want to join the camp they need to know that Martinez is in charge and no dead weight. Contribute or be cast out. He asks “Brian” if he can live with that. Back at the chess game Brian is reassuring Megan that they were all going to be ok. Megan asks if it’s because they are all good. Brian doesn’t reply. He goes back to his laundry. Megan makes her move and says it’s his turn. Brian says he’s thinking. The scene pan out to a shot of the Governor standing at the clothesline to reveal a tank beside their trailer as the title music begins to play.


  • Gen: They are hinting heavily that there is going to be a struggle between good and bad this episode based on the conversation he was having with Megan. I was really hoping that he had turned over a new leaf and that he wouldn’t be making the same mistakes that he made with Woodbury. At this point I thought it was a possibility… until I saw the tank. That definitely implies that we haven’t seen the last of the good ol’ Governor. I also liked that we got a bit more insight into the Governor’s background from the discussion about his father.

Section 4.7.2
Brian and Lilly are talking in their trailer. She’s asking if he is going out today and he says on a supply run with Martinez, Pete & Mitch. Lilly is going to set up a nurse’s station for the camp. Brian apologizes and says he wanted something better for them as he eyes the leak in the roof of their trailer. Out on the supply run they are following a map to a cabin that might contain supplies. They come across a decapitated body tied to a tree that has a sign on it that reads: “Liar”. They move on. Back at the camp Lilly is patching up a cut on Alisha’s finger. Tara starts up a conversation with her about weapons. Back on the supply run, they come across another body tied to a chair in a field, also decapitated with a sign on his chest: “rapist”. They keep walking. They make it to the cabin where they find a man with a sign around his neck “murderer”. He shot himself in the head, leading the men to believe he was the one responsible for the dead men they found on their way there. They proceed into the cabin where they hear a noise in the back and figure it is a walker that has gotten stuck and can’t get out. Brian goes in first.  Slowly they make their way to the back of the cabin where a walker jumps out and attacks Pete. Brian beats the walker to death. They find the heads of the 2 dead men they saw on the way there. Another walker comes out and Brian beats him to death as well with his flashlight.


  • Gen: The first thing I thought of when I saw the first decapitated body was Crazy Clara’s husband! After all, she was just carrying around his head in a sack. Obviously it wasn’t him since we see the 2 walker heads on the floor in the cabin. I think this is where we first start to see that the Gov doesn’t have faith in Martinez’s ability to lead the camp. He was the one who had to step up and kill the walkers.

Section 4.7.3
Later at the cabin Martinez admits to Brian that if it was just him in the pit and not for the people he was with, he wouldn’t have taken him into the camp. He says that he seems different now, asks him if he has changed. Brian says yes. The other guys come back with a box full of canned goods and beer that they found in the cabin. They briefly discuss their back stories. Back at the camp after they returned, Martinez and Alisha are having dinner with Brian, Lilly, Megan and Tara. Lilly says being at the camp is the first time she has felt safe since the beginning of the apocalypse. The women start asking about their previous “camp” and that it sounded pretty sweet. Lilly wants to hear about it but says Brian won’t talk about it. The party breaks up as Tara and Alisha leave, followed by Martinez. Megan tells Brian that the roof is leaking again and Martinez tells him he should fix it. Brian is in the trailer with duct tape about to patch the hole when there is a knock on the door. Martinez says he has a surprise for him. They are now up on a trailer hitting golf balls into the walker pits and drinking. We find out that Shumpert is dead. He got killed by a walker and martinez was the one to put him down afterwards. Martinez says they should share the power in the camp. Brian then hits Martinez over the head with a golf club, pushes him off of the roof and drags him to a walker pit. The Governor keeps saying “I don’t want it!” as he holds martinez over a pit of walkers, where he is eaten alive.
  • Gen: Welcome back Governor! Thank you, writers, for shattering my hopes that he could actually turn out to be a half decent guy. He couldn't just beat him to death either; he had to go and feed him to the walkers. Do you think that was a little bit of revenge for Martinez ditching him or just purely to get him to shut up?

Section 4.7.4
Back in the trailer Brian is upset as LiIly and Megan come home. Lilly asks Brian what is wrong and he says he had a bad dream. She asks him what it was and he says he can’t remember. Next morning they come together in a group to say they found Martinez in the pit. They blame the alcohol and that he fell in. Pete says he’s taking over leadership of the camp. The other’s want a vote. They are going to vote in the next couple of days but for now it’s business as usual. Pete and Mitch take Brian out on a hunt. Pete asks Brian for help with leading the camp. They come across another camp of survivors in the woods, living in tents. They guess there are maybe 10 people and a lot of supplies. Pete suggests they take them in and his brother says they don’t have enough to go around as it is. Mitch suggest that they rob them. Pete refuses and says they need to find their own supplies. Brian stays quiet.  After finding some squirrels and condensed milk, Brian wanders off to find to find the camp they were previously at has been ransacked and the people all killed, supplies taken. Mitch is angry because they could have had the supplies. He stabs a survivor in the head that was coming to on the ground. Pete is angry and says he might have lived. Again, brian stays quiet. Back at the camp Lilly and megan are in the trailer when Brian comes in and tells them to pack their stuff and that they need to leave because it’s not safe anymore. Megan begins to pack immediately while Lilly says they can’t leave because she’s the only nurse and now Tara has Alisha. Brian says things are going to go bad and he can’t put them through that “again” and asks her if she trusts him. They are out on the road in a car and Alisha is questioning what they are doing. Suddenly the car stops. Brian gets out. We see a group of walkers stuck waist deep in the mud, blocking the road. Brian stands and watches them for a moment and turns back to look at a frightened LiIly and Megan in the car.
  • Gen: I bet the Gov was wishing he had that tank right about then! I think he was really struggling with his demons. He was trying so hard to resist the urge to be The Governor again and the only thing left that he could think to do was run. Personally I think it was too late the moment he killed Martinez. There was no turning back for him after that.

Section 4.7.5
The next morning the car is back at camp and Brian is getting ready. Lilly is waking up with Tara and Alisha beside her. She asks him what he is doing to which he replies “surviving”.
He walks over to Pete’s trailer and knocks on the door. Pete thinks he is there to talk about Mitch. After inviting him in, Brian stabs Pete and chokes him to death. Next he goes to Mitch’s trailer. Mitch answers and Brian is holding a gun to him. They sit down at the table and Mitch asks where Pete is. Brian says he’s dead. Mitch gets up and asks if he’s going to kill him too. Brian holds his gun on him and motions for him to sit down. Mitch asks why he killed Pete and his reply was that Mitch was right and that they should have taken the supplies at the other camp and that he didn’t care that he killed the man who had survived.  Brian says that he is running things now and that he will do whatever it takes to protect the camp. He wants Mitch on his side. Mitch goes along with it. Brian dumps Pete’s body in the pond, weighted down so he sinks to the bottom. Mitch asks what they should tell everyone about Pete and he says to say that he died on a supply run protecting them.
  • Gen: I wasn’t surprised Mitch went along with him even after the Gov killed his brother. Also, I don’t think he went along because he is afraid of the Gov, but because he agrees with him. He sees an opportunity to run things the way he thinks they should be run and not by doing what is necessarily right.

Section 4.7.6
Back at the camp Brian is organizing the “troops”.  They are having a conversation about their supplies and that they need to conserve their ammo because they need to be ready not just to protect themselves against the biters but also other humans. If they encounter anyone on a run they are to make themselves scarce and report back to the Governor about where they saw them.  The Governor is back in his trailer looking over a map and circles a location. LiIly gets out of bed and he says maybe they can find a better place if they are willing to fight for it. She says they don’t need to find a better place, that the camp is home. The next morning Megan is out playing tag with Tara. Megan thinks she has found Tara behind a sheet hanging on the line but it is a walker who then goes after her as she tries to crawl under the trailer. Tara is trying to pull the walker away from Megan but the skin on his leg just slides off instead.  There is gun shot and the Gov has shot the walker in the head and saves Megan. He is then standing on the dock where he dumped Petes body looking down into the water where Pete has now turned into a walker. He is then driving his truck in the forest when he gets out and we see he has driven to the prison and is watching Rick and Carl in the garden. He then comes upon Michonne and Hershel outside the fence. He sees Michonne smiling and raises his gun to shoot.
  • Gen: Poor Pete. The Gov could have at least stabbed him in the head first or something. Is the pond now going to turn into his new walker garden? No fish tanks for the heads so I guess the pond will do! I think it’s safe to say that “Brian” is no more and we are back to full on Governor. He’s always wanted to take that prison and now that he has his power back and a new group of troops, he can try. I love how they ended the episode with him raising his gun to shoot Michonne. They did a good job of filling in the blanks in the last 2 episodes to bring us full circle to where we last left the prison group. Although, I did feel that there was  A LOT of info crammed into the last 2 episodes. Needless to say, I’m super excited for the mid-season finale!

Monday, November 18, 2013

The Walking Dead: Season 4 Episode 6 WDF Review

Episode Synopsis and Review:

Section 4.6.1
Flash back to The Governor having just mowed down his troops on the roadside.  We watch the trio driving off into the distance, then see them that night at a campfire with three tents in a row.  The Governor is unaffected as a walker crawls toward him, so Martinez shoots her for him.  We are shown The Governor emerging from his tent the next morning, alone, the other tents (and Shumpert and Martinez) now gone.  We see The Governor drive a truck through the gates of Woodbury, and then we see him standing in front of the town hall that is now on fire, as the camera pans around to show the whole town on fire.  We are shown images of The Governor on the road, with a long beard, as a conversation is heard between him and two women, where he's explaining he's been on the road for two months after being the sole survivor of a town where the man in charge "lost it", saying he barely got out alive.  He passes a barn on the side of which is written notes to missing loved ones, one of which is named "Brian Heriot".  He collapses on the street in a small town, spots a girl (Megan) in a window of a nearby building and hobbles in to find her.  He's greeted at the door by a woman with a bat (Lily, Megan's mother), and then a younger woman pushes the door open holding a gun.  The Governor drops his weapon and backpack as the title music begins to play.
  • Sooz:  I will try to be objective in my review but must admit that prior to seeing the episode, I read a spoiler that gave pretty much a spot-on play-by-play of this episode... so none of it was a surprise.  I'm glad to see that Shumpert and Martinez ditched The Governor.  He needed that ego check (and a good flogging) after what he did.  I'm a little surprised that they watered down the backstory so much (from the comics) and had him pick up the name "Brian" from the side of a barn.  That's a sentence I never thought I'd say... hey you, where'd you get your name?  From the side of a BARN.  Heh.
  • Gen: First thing, when the Gov wakes up the next morning and Shumpert and Martinez had just left him there, I laughed. I did really like how they took us back to where we last saw those guys though. Wish they had done that with some of the other characters in the past like Andrea & Michonne!
Section 4.6.2
The two women are grilling The Governor.  Tara, the younger woman, claims to have been Atlanta police, threatening him if he tries to hurt them.  When asked his name, he gives them the name he saw on the barn, Brian Heriot.  He says he only plans to stay in the building for the night, and finds another apartment in the building to stay in.  The older of the two women bring him a plate of Spaghetti-Os which he dumps out the window after she leaves.  The little girl is shown playing backgammon with homemade game pieces with an old man with an oxygen tank; this is her grandfather.  The girls hear The Governor outside the door bringing the plate back and is brought into the apartment, offered a seat and some coffee.  They explain that their father used to drive for a food company and had a truck full of jerky and canned goods the day the zombie apocalypse broke out.  The Governor helps them move their father to bed, who explains that Tara has been to the upper floors of the apartment building to kill the walkers but they just keep getting back up; he requests The Governor go upstairs and retrieve a backgammon set his friend had left under his bed for Megan.  The Governor complies and finds an amputee walker in a bathtub that Tara has shot in the chest, who he kills and takes a gun off of.
  • Sooz:  I'm not sure how I feel about The Gov being so blindly willing to go out on a limb for these people who were just shoving guns in his face.  Are we trying to establish that he's really a good guy that would do anything to protect a kid and just got a little out of control for a while?  Not sure I buy that, but that seems to be what they're eluding toward here.  He'll be losing it again sometime soon I'm sure.  But hey, if you weren't sold on jerky in the pre-apocalyptic world, just know that you can survive just by snapping into those slimjims.
  • Gen: At this point, I'm not too sure what to think of "Brian". Could he really be that down and out that he's a changed man? Have we seen the last of the "Evil Governor"? Maybe that scene at he end of episode 4 where he was standing in the bushes and the creepy Governor music was there just to throw us off. Maybe it will turn out to be something we're not expecting?
Section 4.6.3
The Governor brings the game back and goes back to his apartment alone.  He takes out a picture of his wife, Penny, and himself, but folds the picture over to hide himself.  In the morning, Lily comes in and sees the picture as The Governor awakes.  She offers him some food for the road and tries to give him his gun back, but he tells her to keep it (showing her the one he found the night before).  He explains that the walkers have to be shot in the head.  She tells him that her father is dying of cancer and needs more oxygen.  She asks if he will go raid a closeby retirement home for more before he leaves, and he does.  He escapes with two full tanks.  Lily follows him to his apartment to play nurse and clean up his battle wounds from the trip to the home.  The two bond as she explains that Megan thought The Governor was her father coming home when she saw him on the street.  When Lily leaves to get supplies, Megan asks The Governor about what happened to his eye.  The pair bond over a vague version of the story of his losing his eye trying to protect Penny.
  • Sooz:  Ahhh, finding new love in the ZA.  I suppose of all the possible Gov story lines that were speculated about, him finding a replacement family was not even suggested... so good job writers for throwing us a new one there.  Just a little trivia tidbit... his wife in that picture is actually one of the producers.
  • Gen: A new family for the Gov! Who saw that one coming? 
Section 4.6.4
The Governor and Megan are setting up a chess set while The Governor is watching the girls tend to their father in through the doorway of the bedroom behind Megan.  After a time, Lily comes out to retrieve Megan, giving her the understanding look that her grandfather has passed.  The Governor tries to get the women to leave his room, knowing he would turn, but they refuse.  In very short order the man reanimates and The Governor has to put him down by bashing him in the head with the tank.  The Governor is shown out in a yard digging a grave as Lily approaches and helps drop the man's body in.  Back in the apartment, The Governor and Lily come in, but Megan hides from him, now afraid of him.  Tara explains that she understands now that everyone will turn and that her father would've wanted him to stop him from hurting them.  The Governor returns to his apartment and sets his family photo on fire.  He gathers his things and goes to say goodbye, but Lily says they're going to come with him.
  • Sooz:  The Gov is creepily creepin' on Lily.  I felt a little dirty watching that and I'm not sure why... is it because he's creepin' or that we're watching him creepin' (any time I've ever done that the last thing I wanted was for anyone to catch me doing it).  You've done it too, you know you have, so you can't say he's a creep for doing it, can ya?  But that escalated quickly, huh?  And on top of that he creepily burns his family photo just in case we didn't get that he's picked them out as his new wifey and daughter.  The fist bump between Tara and The Gov had to be the most awkward thing I've seen in a while.  Morrissey just doesn't seem like the 'fist bump' type, but I guess there was a point to showing how wrong any type of attraction to her would've been so Lily was a natural fit of the two.  Of course they establish later that she's a lesbian anyway, again, seemingly overstating another point.
  • Gen: The last thing I think we would have expected "Crazy Phil" from season 3 to do would be to take 2 women and a little girl with him on the road. I'm starting to think that maybe he is a changed man and he had to hit rock bottom first. He has a new purpose and it's to keep Megan safe. He's making up for what happened to Penny. Or maybe I'm just a sucker! 
Section 4.6.5
The Governor is driving the girls to an unknown destination in their father's delivery truck.  Tara explains that she's not really a cop, but was in the academy.  They stop to set up camp by a pond.  That night, the four are sleeping in the back of the truck with Lily lying next to The Governor.  She turns toward him and they begin sexy times while Megan and Tara sleep nearby.  The next day they are unable to get the truck running, so they take off on foot assuming they'll find another vehicle on the road.  Coming around the bend, they come across a small horde and take off into the woods, dropping their bags on the road to flee.  Megan shows that she has regained her trust in The Governor by jumping into his arms and the group runs away.  The Governor, still carrying Megan, falls into a pit with walkers in it.  The Governor kills the walkers as rapid gunfire is heard overhead.  He consoles Megan but looks up as Martinez looks down into the pit to see him.
  • Sooz:  Welp, I guess Lily was feeling The Gov more than she seemed to be at first.  This is the second time we've seen a couple gettin' it on with the kid nearby (think Carl asleep in the tent with Lori and Rick, Season 1) so I guess it's just a reality of the ZA though I think I'd be a little more discreet about it since that's just embarrassing for everyone if they were caught.  So who exactly was Martinez shooting at?  If it was Lily and Tara, he missed... they're in the preview for next week.  Maybe they ran up into a situation happening at Martinez's camp that we'll see next week.
  • Gen: Martinez is back and with a whole new crew! Didn't see that one coming! Also, way to go Phil with the hands on zombie kills. Looking forward to seeing how this will play out next week!

Final Thoughts


  • Sooz:  While I've never been all yippy skippy about episodes that focus too much on one character, I thought this one was done very well in order to give The Gov back a little humanity.  If we move forward with a battle between him and Team Prison, that can only serve to inject more drama and emotion.  Clearly in the "current day" he's camped out in the woods still planning to attack them, and we'll likely spend all of next week's episode finding out the rest of the story that leads him there.  But remember, there are only TWO episodes left before the winter hiatus... most speculation has the fall of the prison happening as the mid-season finale but at the current pace I can't see that happening.  We've got a lot of ground left to cover before that can happen, and with only two episodes left I feel like it's not going to get there yet.  Is it possible they will just use the first half to set us up for the conflict, and the last half to actually execute it?  That seems like a very slow pace to me but so far I can't complain about the execution.  Last season just didn't have enough progression to it; there was a lot of waffling over the same points over and over.  Yes, we get that Andrea is torn between the two, Michonne is angry, The Gov is crazy, and that life at the prison sucks... we didn't need 16 episodes reviewing those few points.  So far in season four we've crammed a lot of different points in and see a lot more coming.  I'm pleased with Scott Gimple's job so far and hope they keep him as show runner moving forward.  That said, is it any wonder that this guy's middle name is Milhouse?



*Snort*  Poor kid.




 Don't forget to visit http://www.WalkingDeadFamily.com Monday nights at 8pm eastern time to watch the episode again while chatting about it with other fans!  Note:  Depending on attendance the video playback may not be started until 9pm. 


Monday, November 11, 2013

The Walking Dead: Season 4 Episode 5 WDF Review

Episode Synopsis and Review:

Section 4.5.1
Rick is driving back to the prison alone, reflecting on his decision to ban Carol as he drives.  Back at the prison, Hershel is intubating a struggling patient with a very sick Sasha and Glenn helping.  He leaves Sasha to work with the patient as he and Glenn go on the rounds.  They make the decision to wheel the dead out of the ward before putting them down so the other patients don't see.
  • Sooz:  It's obvious how bad it's getting at the prison now with the sickness, and how weak and exposed they are.  We're primed for an attack of some sort!
Section 4.5.2
Hershel goes to visit Maggie through the glass of the isolation ward.  He gives her a Greene family pep-talk.  Glenn is out in the hall listening but hiding so she doesn't see how sick he is.  Maggie is out at the fence killing off what she can of a horde there when Rick pulls in the gates.  Maggie asks where Carol is and Rick tells her what happened but tells her not to say anything.  Rick goes in to check on Carl and Judith, giving him the food he and Carol found.  Hershel goes to check on Dr. S, but his condition has deteriorated and he is now bleeding from his mouth and eyes.  Dr. S. reveals a gun an ammo he's kept by him.  He tells Hershel to make sure the doors are kept shut to the cells of the sick.
  • Sooz:  Well, Dr. S made it longer than I thought he would.  I'm glad Rick told the truth, but with the surprise in Maggie's voice when she asked if Carol said she did it, it makes me wonder if Carol wasn't covering for someone and Maggie knew the truth.
  • Gen:   I just got the impression that Maggie was shocked by what Rick just told her. I am also glad he told the truth and didn't try to hide anything. By asking Maggie if she would have done the same, he was also looking for approval for what he'd done. To me, he seemed to be fighinting off some guilt. I would have to agree with Rick's decision. Things would be way worse for Carol had she come back to the prison.
Section 4.5.3
Hershel is closing cell doors as another victim emerges and dies in the center of the cell block.  Hershel removes his body and finally makes his first walker kill (evar!).  Rick approaches and after Hershel gives him an update about what's been going on while he was gone, just before Rick tells him about what happened with Carol.  Hershel finds a passed-out Sasha and starts working on her as another victim dies and turns in a nearby cell.
  • Sooz:  Hershel is trying to hold onto his humanity still but I still smell doom for him, I feel like this episode focusing on him might be his swan song.  If it is, it's certainly a good job Scott is doing laying out his legacy in the show.
  • Gen:  The whole time you can sense things are about to get worse but just don't know how much. The way we get to see Hershel take charge was fantastic. 
Section 4.5.4
Maggie and Rick are trying to fortify the fence against the walker horde with cut tree limbs.  Sasha wakes back up wish Hershel's aid.  Glenn tries to revive a newly departed ill person but Glenn begins to cough up blood and collapses.  Hershel continues to close cell doors and check on people.  Meanwhile Lizzy has found Glenn about the same time as the patient he was tending to turns.  Lizzy leads him away from Glenn.  Hershel fires a shot which, when heard outside, has Rick sending Maggie in to help. 
  • Sooz:  Lizzy still thinks the walkers are people.  She's so creepy I wouldn't put it past her to be doing the Governor's bidding/feeding the walkers.
  • Gen: You already know things are about to go bad and fast but holy cow! Talk about edge-of-your-seat.
Section 4.5.5
Rick goes to get Carl to help him finish fortifying the fence.  Back inside the isolation ward, Lizzy falls and Hershel saves her from the walker she was leading away from Glenn.  Hershel finds Glenn, but has to get the bag still attached to the patient that has become a walker to resuscitate him.  Back outside, Team Grimes (Carl and Rick) are working on the fence when it gives way and walkers pour inside the fence.  The two make a run for it and escape just in time for the horde to make their way to the fence leading into the yard.  Inside Hershel is arming himself with Dr. S's gun.  Team Grimes is arming up, too, just in time for the horde to break through the fence and start to enter the yard.  They begin mowing them down with gunfire.  Maggie breaks into the isolation ward and makes it to Hershel just as he's trying to get the bag off the walker, which she shoots and kills.  They both rush to Glenn who is now turning blue and begin to work on him to clear his airway.  He stabilizes and it appears that the conflict inside is now at an end.  Outside, Rick and Carl are putting down any walkers left moving in the pile they mowed down with gunfire.  Daryl and crew return with the medicine in the van they picked up on their run.  Hershel begins to dispense the medicine, starting with Glenn.  Hershel goes to rest and we see him sitting alone, breaking down.
  • Sooz: Wow, way to take Glenn to the brink!  I think he's another one whose death this soon might make some riot, but this was the perfect way to play that.  Quite the satisfying dose of character drama.  Rick and Carl working together make it seem like Carl is going to be his little deputy from here on out, but it is just the resolution the little family needed coming off of last season's Full-Shane Carl.
  • Gen: Part of me knew they weren't going to kill off Glenn just yet, but I did have my doubts for a few minutes there! I love how Rick finally lets Carl help with protecting the prison. I think Carl has grown up a lot since we last saw him in Season 3 and I'm glad he's getting the chance to prove to Rick that he can handle himself without going overboard.
Section 4.5.6
Morning of the following day, Michonne is clearing the bodies of the walkers from the night before.  Rick is on his way to tell Daryl about Carol but decides to have some one-on-one time with Carl instead.  Hershel reports to Tyreese and Daryl that Glenn is breathing on his own now.  Hershel tells Daryl that Carol is okay but he needs to ask Rick about her.  Michonne and Hershel head out on a short run.  Rick and Carl are tending to the crop as the viewer is shown the Governor watching from the edge of the woods just outside of the fence.
  • What perfect timing to reintroduce the governor!  Although this was quite adequately predicted by a lot of fans on forums, the timing after such an intense walker/disease issue inside the prison didn't feel forced or rushed.  And I'm very hard to impress so the fact that these last two episodes have me this happy is a surprise.  I can only guess that the rest of season four will be this well paced... for the past two episodes no beat has been missed or hit at the wrong time.  If it's going to be predictable (and even this wasn't THAT predictable, everyone thought Hershel was going to bite it in episode 5), then playing every note in tune is exactly the way it needs to be done.  Well done!
  • Gen: Wow! I just need to say that Scott Wilson was consistantly knocking my socks off this entire episode. What a great job. I just wanted to give him a big ol' hug at the end. I think this was my favourite episode to date of Season 4. So well done!

Sunday, November 3, 2013

The Walking Dead: Season 4 Episode 4 WDF Review

We'll have our episode synopsis and review online shortly, but in the meantime...

Holy moly!  I, personally being very hard to impress, have not yet been floored by anything that has been done this season until now.  My grades:  Acting, A+!  Character development, A+!  Plot twists, A+!  GOOD JOB GUYS!!!  You make us proud!

Honestly I kept waiting for something to drag me out of the story... whether that be someone using a not-quite-accurate accent or someone over-acting.  But it never came.  I live in the South, so I was wondering when Kudzu was going to make it into the story as almost a character in itself... that was perfectly done.  And how Carol's decision to take it upon herself to "play god" was going to end... maybe this isn't the end but holy cow... nobody saw that coming, not even the sneakiest of the sneaky spoiler seekers saw that coming!

Everything was presented in a real, hard core way.  In a "if this was your life this might be what you'd really do" kind of way.  And that's exactly what we've been waiting for.

Bravo.  This is what we've been waiting for.

Thursday, October 31, 2013

The Walking Dead: Season 4 Episode 3 WDF Review

Things here at the WDF headquarters have gotten a little crazy this week so we couldn't post the normal episode synopsis Sunday night.  We'll catch you up now, but because we had to go back and use a source that didn't include the commercials, it won't be in the normal segments.

Episode Synopsis and Review:
Gleggie are out digging graves.  Dr. S and Hershel are stuck in the isolation ward working on the sick and dying.  Out in the courtyard, Tyreese explains to Rick, Daryl, and Carol how he came across David and Karen's (still smokin' and not in a good way) bodies.  Wanting justice, he freaks out on Rick and he attacks Daryl while he's trying to calm him down.  Tyreese and Rick exchange blows until Daryl intervenes.  Cue "shocked Carol face" from the promos.  The intro plays.
  • Sooz:  Again, a lot of footage from the promos in this brief little bit.  It's always bothered me that when Andy yells "me" in his fake Southern accent it always comes out "may"... and I'm pretty sure later on Norman says "hey" wrong again.  Dialect coach anyone?  That's just me being picky; I'm SO Southern I can hear regional differences in the accent.  My guess at why Carol was so shocked in the promos was WAY wrong, but like Norman said at a con, the promos are full of red herrings.  I just wish so much of the promo footage hadn't been taken from these first three episodes.
Hershel is treating Rick's cuts to his hand and says it's sprained.  Rick is feeling discouraged.  Tyreese fervently digs Karen and David's grave, while Bob comes out to try to talk some sense into him but just ends up helping.  Hershel explains to Glenn that the disease can hit anyone at any time, there's no predictable time frame for the illness... but they're interrupted by a coughing and obviously ill Sasha, who stumbles her way into the isolation block to find Dr. S.  Dr. S tells her "we have to tell them (dramatic pause) it's spreading".   At the counsel meeting the group are discussing about keeping cell block A as an isolation ward and using the administrative buildings for at-risk people as quarantine while Glenn starts to fight through the initial symptoms of the illness.  Hershel suggests a place where meds can be scavenged, so Daryl and Michonne agree to go.  Carol goes out to pump water but the line is blocked.  Rick advises her not to go outside the fence to fix it and to just go about their business while revealing that Carl is being sent to quarantine. 

Tyreese finishes his burial duties.  Rick approaches and apologizes for the fight.  They have a conversation about finding who killed David and Karen.  Tyreese passes more sick residents on their way to the isolation ward as he's walking back to the prison.

Carl is packing up his stuff to go into quarantine.  There's a discussion that eludes toward Carl being a "Rick Jr" type now.  And Glenn tells Maggie that he's sick.
  • Sooz:  I'm in despair about Sasha, I thought she could be a very rich character so I hope she's not killed off now; if so the writers need a giant spanking.  I'm not sure how I feel about them having Carl do a 180' so fast... he did go "full Shane" at the end of last season shooting Jody for no reason but for him now to be "Junior Officer Carl" is a little stretching for me. 
Outside Daryl is prepping the car for the medicine run.  Michonne approaches and they have a short conversation, one of the talking points being who should go on the run.  Bob is said to be going and it is revealed that Tyreese has been picked to go, but when Daryl approaches him outside of the isolation ward (because Sasha is inside) he seems to choose to stay to protect the block.

Hershel decides to go outside the fence to look for herbal remedies for the sickness, but Carl tries to stop him.  Carl decides to chaperone him there.  Carol is ushering the sick people into the isolation ward.  One of the girls approaches and says she's not feeling well, so Carol has her go inside the ward instructing her to have Glenn tuck her in when she asked Carol to do it.  Beth is in quarantine with Judith, while Maggie talks to her through a glass door.
  • Sooz:  Really?  You're going to have Carol go through the whole have a daughter, lose a daughter, get a daughter, lose a daughter thing?  Knowing what happens to Carol in the Graphic Novel I could foresee that being her television counterpart's breaking point.  That said I don't think it is, I think just as they have continued to have done they'll build toward that idea and then diverge at the last second to something less fulfilling.
Carl and Hershel are outside the fence with Hershel gathering his remedy and Carl standing guard.  There is a little discussion about how Carl has grown up and taken responsibility since we last saw him. 

Sasha is talking to Tyreese through a glass window from her isolation room while she's sick.  He tries to subdue her fears by telling her about the medicine run.  Daryl finishes the checkup on the black Charger (which is established to be Zack's car) as Tyreese emerges asking if he can still go.  Carol attempts to get water but the storage drums are empty.  Tyreese asks her to look in on Sasha.  Frustrated, she freaks out a little, and spills the rest of the stored water. 

Maggie and Hershel have a confrontation about why Hershel isn't in isolation.  Rick approaches and Hershel explains how he knows how he can help with the illness.  Maggie goes to visit Beth/Judith.  Rick investigates the courtyard where the bodies were burned.  Carol ventures outside the fence to clear the clog in the waterline.  Rick finds her just in time to help save her from a walker attack.

Daryl and crew speed down the road.  Distracted by a voice they hear over the radio, Daryl runs into and swerves around several walkers, until the car gets stuck as they try to escape.  The group exits the car and runs for cover in the woods, leaving Tyreese who appears to be surrounded by the horde.

The three run into the woods and are joined by Tyreese.  Back at the prison, Hershel tries to tend to Dr. S who inadvertently coughs blood all over Hershel's face.  Hershel checks on Glenn.  Carol comes back with the water and is confronted about having left by herself by Rick.  Rick briefly questions her before she admits to being the one who killed Karen and David.
  • Sooz:  Don't get me wrong, I love this show, but given that we only get 16 episodes a year and time is running out to the mid-season finale... I feel like they keep focusing on things that don't need to be said (or said again), and the time could be used to put in something that would be a little more emotionally gripping.  I wasn't gripped by this episode much.  The big reveal that Carol was the one who killed Karen and David came too soon and could've been replaced by more emotionally gripping content IMHO... delay that revelation a little longer.  Although I am looking at it with a highly critical eye at the moment, I do hope the back half of the first half picks up a little.  I still feel like we're dragging through backstory and groundwork when we should've been hitting the ground running a bit more.  Don't let the lessons from season 3 slip by, writers.  Bigger picture story telling, stop baiting us with these little cliffhanger ideas only for it to turn out to be pfffttt.

Monday, October 21, 2013

The Walking Dead: Season 4 Episode 2 WDF Review

Section 4.2.1
Someone approaches the inside of the prison fence to feed the walkers gathered outside the fence. Tyreese and Karen have an intimate moment. Karen goes to the showers by flashlight, and unbeknownst to her is followed back to cell block D by Walker Patrick, who digs in and eats an unknown man sleeping in a cell. Intro music begins to play.
  • Sooz: This is not a surprise, we’ve already seen the sneak peeks for the person approaching the fence and knew Patrick was lying there in wait.
  • Gen: The whole scene with Karen in the dark hallways reminded me of one of those classic creepy horror movies.
Section 4.2.2
Patrick digs into the now dead man. Rick gets Carl out of bed for the day’s chores while cell block D awakens, bringing Walker Patrick out looking for a new victim. Flash to Gleggie up in the tower, waking up ready to take on the morning’s rounds. Rick and Carl have a conversation with Michonne who’s leaving on another run, before going out to tend to the pigs in the (still burning off) morning fog. Carl wants his gun back, and it’s made clear that he has lost the psychotic “Shanesque” outlook he displayed at the end of Season 3, just before gun shots are heard coming from inside the prison.

They call Michonne back into the yard (who has just ridden out of the gate on her horse), and Maggie and Carl help her past the walkers there while Rick and Glenn run in to help the situation inside. Michonne injures her leg and Carl and Maggie help her back up to the prison. Back inside, the crew kill the new walkers and evacuate while Carol tries to save a man until she realizes he’s been bitten in the neck. Rick, Daryl, and Glenn clear the cell block but find Patrick in the process.
  • Sooz: Now we know why there are so many pics of Michonne getting help walking! Carol was ready and waiting to cut off the man’s arm which seems to elude toward the idea that it is HER who is now struggling with a hyper-killer instinct this season, not Carl. I feel like a good part of this episode was used in the Season 4 “sneak peeks” and trailers, so we’ve had a lot of this spoiled for us by AMC themselves. Michonne limping, Glenn yelling “There’s Walkers in D!”, hearing shots from inside the prison, and Daryl scooping up the kid while shooting a walker in the head all came from this one.
  • Gen: They didn’t waste any time getting into it in this episode! Right off the bat we’ve got chaos. I think we all saw it coming but it seems like they may have stepped up the gore factor a bit since last season. Loved the walker who rolls out of bed and his guts fall out! Bravo Nicotero!
Section 4.2.3
Rick, Daryl, and Glenn go cell-by-cell to find anyone who’s been attacked and dead, putting the ones they find down before they can turn. Carol decides that the dying man she’s trying to help should say goodbye to his two young daughters. The group clearing the cellblock find a man who died without getting attacked and determine that there’s a virus infecting people, and that they’ve all been exposed. Carol allows the young girls to decide if they want to put down their father after he dies, but they don’t have the nerve and Carol does it for them.

Carl, Michonne, and Maggie hobble up to the prison as Rick comes out and warns them of an illness … telling them not to get too close. Flash to a council meeting in the library with Sasha, Carol, Daryl, Hershel, and Glenn. They talk about what they need to do to isolate the outbreak, but hear Karen out in the hall coughing. They put her in isolation instead of letting Tyreese take her back to his cell. Karen names an unknown character “David” as also showing signs of being sick. Daryl goes off to bury the dead, but is warned to wear gloves and a facemask.
  • Sooz: Now we know where the pics of Norman’s face bandanna came from! Honestly there’s been enough spoiler chatting about there being an infectious disease coming around that makes this almost an expected thing. After all, modern medicine is all but dead, vaccines are a thing of the past in this world. And it’s dirty… oh so dirty. What I’m pretty aggravated about is that half of the security about living in a prison comes from the peace of mind of sleeping behind a locked cell door, but they left them all open and therefore got mauled.
  • Gen: They dropped a few bread crumbs in the first episode as well, like the only person Daryl said good morning back to at breakfast was…..yup, a doctor. They didn’t give us that little tidbit of info for the good of our health (no pun intended)! We had many a discussion in the chat room this summer about what would happen if people at the prison started becoming ill and dying and it just seemed like common sense to lock yourself in your cell at night, or at least shut the door tight enough so a mindless walker couldn’t escape or enter. Also there is the factor of the new people that they may not have known so well. How could they know if they could really be trusted? Wouldn’t they have felt safer locking themselves in at night? They may have gotten a bit too comfortable over the winter.
Section 4.2.4
Carol approaches the young daughters of the now dead man by the fence. She confronts the elder daughter about not being strong enough to put down her father before he turned, to which the younger daughter says “she’s messed up, she’s not weak”.

Flash to Rick approaching Daryl who’s digging graves. They talk about the “break” Rick has taken as the “leader”. Maggie interrupts bringing attention to a section of the fence that is about to give because of the walker horde that is pushing in on it.Back to Michonne inside with Beth wrapping her injured leg, Judith begins to scream a very desperate, odd cry that makes Michonne wince. Flash back to the fence. The group realizes that someone’s been feeding the walkers from inside the fence just as it begins to give.
  • Sooz: Alright, well, Carol’s pendulum has swung WAY too far in the other direction. Can this woman spend more than one season with any sort of dignity or is this it for her? Michonne is acting like she’s lost a baby in the “pre-turn” life. And whomever has been feeding those walkers needs to be lit on fire. It is eluded (by that horrible cry) to that Judith might be sick, which means we can probably expect her to go within the next couple of episodes. I feel like the episode would’ve had more emotional resonance if they had gone ahead and had her fall very ill before the end and let the episode’s cliffhanger be whether she survives or not.
  • Gen: I can understand Carol’s need to want to protect the kids and teach them to defend themselves as a way to make up for what happened to her own daughter but it seems like she’s enjoying it a bit too much. It’s like she can’t wait to put a knife in a kid’s hand and have them stab something in the face. Wow, that baby has lungs.I think I may have made the same face Michonne did when Judith started to scream. Yikes.
Section 4.2.5
Back at the fence, Rick tells Daryl to get the truck (saying he knows what to do). Inside, Carl is trying to make up a headstone for Patrick but scraps it when Carol tells him he was an atheist. She asks Carl not to tell Rick about her knife lesson again. Beth is heard singing to Judith as Michonne works out. Judith vomits on Beth and she asks Michonne to hold her while she cleans up, to which Michonne says “NO!” but takes her anyway, and then has a very emotional response to holding the baby. Beth chooses not to interrupt.

Daryl drives a truck out of the prison gates with Rick in the bed, throwing out live pigs that he’s cut so they bleed as bait to draw them away from the fence. The walkers feed and the group reinforces the part of the fence that they had pushed in while Rick has a moment showing frustration about having to kill the pigs that he had raised for food for the group.
  • Sooz: Carol should know better than to bring it up; she almost guaranteed that Carl was going to “tell on” her by making a bigger deal of it then. Why is Beth singing again? Why are you not listening, writers? We. Don’t. Like. It. Okay, so we get it, Michonne’s got a ‘past’ with a baby, but now if Judith is crying so weirdly (presumably because she’s infected), now Michonne is exposed, too. DUN DUN DUUUUUUNNNN…. I would’ve just driven the truck up to the part of the fence about to give in to fortify it, but I guess given that the pigs could be the outbreak’s catalyst it doesn’t matter if they sacrificed them.
  • Gen: Oh man, the singing. Made it all the way to episode 2 without Beth singing. Although it didn’t seem to bother me as much this time, probably because she was singing to Judith. She does have a nice voice but come on, AMC, this isn’t “American Idol: Apocalypse”. Michonne’s reaction to holding Judith came as a bit of a surprise for me, considering her reaction to her crying. There is definitely going to be some backstory for Michonne this season.
Section 4.2.6
Carol gives the dead man’s daughters a lesson about walkers and how they’re not human. Rick disassembles the pigpen and lights the wood from it on fire, but not before Carl rats out Carol about her knife lessons to the kids. Rick says he’s not going to stop her or say anything about it, and then gives Carl back his gun.

Tyreese goes to visit Karen in isolation but finds the room bloody with a trail of blood that leads outside where both Karen and David’s bodies are lying as torched corpses. Cue shocked Tyreese face.
General Closing Comments
  • Sooz: It’s a little soon to be giving Carl back a weapon, but that’s just me. Of course his arc may just need to progress right this second. With regard to Karen… ouch… I hated her at the end of last season because she kept calling for someone else to “DO SOMETHING” but I liked her again as of last week… well, I guess she got lucky since some characters only lasted a single episode; she at least got a few. I feel sorry for Tyreese but I wasn’t invested in her yet. Now we have the answers to two burning questions in the fanbase… what was Tyreese looking at so dramatically and whose back-of-the-head was that in the “they got in” promos? So far I’m feeling a little led on, like the promos for a reality series that keep saying “OMG you’re not going to believe what happens” and then … crickets. Not bashing (yet) but it was too predictable for an episode where the hype said it was going to start getting “crazy and emotional”. I feel like this week was a good time to have something more substantial happen (like maybe Judith getting obviously ill or the fence coming down… something) and it just fell a tiny bit short of that. Otherwise I’m loving being back to “single-campus shooting” where we’re not trying so hard to force in the stories from two different camps into the picture. NOT looking forward to the “governorcentric” episodes that have been foretold to us.
  • Gen: This episode was pretty much the slap back to reality for the prison group. The level of comfort and calm from the first episode is now gone. Rick and Carl are armed once again and everyone is on high alert, just like the good ol’ days! It also left us with enough questions needing answers that we’ll all tune in next week (and sit through the endless bombardment of *%$^ commercials!) to get the next piece to the puzzle. I do have to admit though that Karen was a shocker. Was not expecting that one! I wonder if the same person who burned the bodies is the same one who has been feeding the walkers? Hmmm….

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

How I became a proud Member of The Walking Dead Family

I have always been extremely close to the members of my real life family.  We have shared many triumphs and have conquered many obstacles on our road to happiness.  Every year that passes we all get a little older, a little wiser (at least we hopes so even though when it comes to my younger brothers, I sometimes wonder), and a little battle-worn.  The point is that we grow, for better or worse, we grow.  So, what does this have to do with being a member of The Walking Dead Family?  The answer, in short, everything.

I first heard the term The Walking Dead Family this summer while watching The Walking Dead July 4th weekend marathon.  Gale Anne Hurd (@GunnerGale) mentioned it in her interview with Kevin Smith.  I was immediately intrigued.  Could there really be a group of people out there that share my love of Walkers and the people who struggle to keep from becoming one of them?  What would these people be like?  More importantly, would I feel comfortable communicating with them?

So why would I feel uncomfortable?  Well, I have always been my my own kind of weird.  I am not talking weird like hide your spouse, your kids, and your neighbor's dog kind of weird.  I've just always marched to the beat of my own drums.  Most people, including my real life family, accepted me but have never really understood me.  How could I connect with complete strangers then if my real life family didn't even get me?

To Twitter!  I already had a twitter account (one I set up only because our beloved Norman Reedus tweeted something that I just had to comment on.  Yeah, yeah.  I know.  I shall take a moment to hang my head in shame.  Feel free to carry on without me while I figure out how to stop blushing).  I already followed quite a few people who were fans of The Walking Dead.  I was pleasantly surprised by how incredibly cool and nice they all were to me.  As an extra bonus, I realized that they were a lot like me.  Talk about awesomeville!  Finally, I had found people who spoke my language and understood mine.  It was through one of these wonderful new friends that I saw a tweet for the walkingdeadfamily.com chat room.  I said, self, "They have a chat room!?!  Let me slip into my happy shoes and do a little happy dance for you." 

Alright, quit laughing.  I know you pictured me dancing so I'll give you a moment to wipe the tears out of your eyes and catch your breath.  Better?  Ok, moving along.  That night I checked out the walking dead family chat room.  It had been years since I had been in a chat room.  I honestly had forgotten how much fun it was and how much easier it was to hold an actual conversation with someone.  I was greeted very warmly, which I was not expecting on my first visit.  I was immediately hooked.  Not only had I found a group of people who shared my love of The Walking Dead, but I found that we had a lot of other things in common too.

I am proud to say that I am a regular in The Walking Dead Family chat room.  I am even more proud to be a member of The Walking Dead Family.  As with my real life family, I have learned so many of the different pieces that make up my new family members.  We all swoon over our favorite characters together and then are able to laugh at ourselves and each other for being silly hormonal men and women.  We cry together when a favored character dies or suffers heartache.  We share our personal triumphs and failures in between these moments.  You do that long enough and before you know it, complete strangers that you met online just to talk about a tv show have become a part of your family.  The show may have been what brought us together, but it is these little moments we share about ourselves that keeps us together.  This, ladies and gentlemen, is why I am proud to be a part of The Walking Dead Family.

Monday, October 14, 2013

The Walking Dead: Season 4 Episode 1 WDF Review

Section 4.1.1
The episode opens with Rick walking out into the prison yard in the morning, looking at structures and gardens that have been built including a barn with a corral for the horse and pigpen.  Rick begins tending to the garden with a hoe while blocking out the noise of the walkers just outside the fence with ear-buds and (presumably) an iPod.  He uncovers a pistol (implied having been buried there long ago by an inmate) and tosses it into the 'trash' in the wheelbarrow.
 
Opening credits reveal that Melissa McBride and Scott Wilson have been promoted to the opening credits.
  • SOOZ:  YOU GO @McBrideMelissa!  Fans were rooting for your "promotion".  This intro is really nothing more than anyone expected given the promos.  But is it really a good idea to block out sound, Rick?
  • GEN: I'm pretty sure I actually "woohoo'd" when seeing @McBrideMelissa in the main credits. About time! It was interesting to see the changes in Rick from the S3 finale to now. Although we know the "old Rick" is still in there, not far from the surface.
Section 4.1.2
Rick is tending to the pigpen when Carl joins him.  Carl notices that one of the pigs is sick.  Flash over to the chow tent where a covered outdoor kitchen has been constructed, with Carol behind the counter making breakfast for the camp.  In walks Daryl Dixon who receives somewhat of a 'rock star' reception with several people vocally wishing him a Good Morning, which he rebuffs.  Flash to the fence-line where Karen and other unnamed survivors are spearing the walkers who've gathered there overnight.  Back to Carol and Daryl, Carol tells Daryl that the walkers have built up against the fence and therefore the "run crew" he had planned for that day would be needed to stay to kill them off.  Glenn and Maggie wake up in their (apparently newly marital) bed with Glenn telling Maggie he doesn't want her to go on the day's run.  Back at the fence, it is revealed that Tyreese and Karen are in a new relationship.
 
As Daryl is prepping the cars for the run, young Zack and Beth have a short young lover's conversation about him going off on the run.  Newcomer Bob Stookey approaches and wants to earn his keep by going on the run, and convinces Sasha to permit him to go.  Then, we have a glimpse of Rick and Hershel having a 'gardening teach' moment.  This is interrupted by Michonne approaching the prison camp on a horse.  Just then, Daryl and the field crew are heading out, and Michonne decides to join them as Rick says he needs to go check the snares for game before the walkers get to it, but not before telling Carl to go to "story time" with Patrick (new kid) and getting told by Hershel he needs to carry his gun with him when he goes outside the fence.  It is made clear that a "leadership council" has been established including the original members of the group.

While outside the fence checking the snares, Rick encounters a woman (who at first appears to be a walker) named "Clara" who begs for help.
  • SOOZ:  I loved the moment with Rick and Carl, even if over-played later.  Maybe just because I had a pig growing up that was meant for slaughter and named it then got all upset when it was "time", too.  Daryl's reception at breakfast was a too-funny-for-words nod toward Norman's hyper-popularity right now.  SO tongue in cheek.  But seriously, Glenn?  A strong woman like Maggie isn't going to like being told what to do.  Tyreese and Karen is just sort of a "meh" development for me. It doesn't surprise me that Rick has sort of swung in the opposite direction of "leader".
  • GEN: I also loved the moments with Rick and Carl. Such a contrast to their interaction at the end of last season. It was nice to see Rick stepping back from the leadership role and putting the effort into being a better father to Carl and Judith as well as tending the land. He almost seemed at peace with the world. The "rock star" reception Daryl received at breakfast actually made me roll my eyes a little. At least they didn't have him come in hi-fiving everyone along the way.
  • Heather:  It was nice to see Rick and Carl having an almost normal father and son moment.  I got a kick out of Daryl’s reception.  I imagine that Norman get similar reactions when he is out and about.
  • Ash: I loved the interaction between Rick and Carl.  I wondered if their relationship could be mended after season 3’s finale. I also liked that Rick took a step down.  It seems like his main focus is getting the prison to be self-sufficient.  I loved Patrick the nerd!  That would so be me in the ZA! :)  Rock star Daryl is too funny!
Section 4.1.3
Clara convinces Rick to follow her back to her camp to pick up her husband before taking them back to the prison, and he agrees to go if they will agree to answer three questions once he gets there.  Carl approaches a small group of kids taunting walkers at the fence and, after admonishing them for their behavior, is talked into going to "story time" for the kids.
 
Back at the run with Daryl, the group has approached a "Big Spot" store having lured the walkers away from the entrance a few days in advance.  Inside they go after supplies but what they don't know is that there are dozens of walkers and a crashed helicopter on the rotted roof of the building.
  • SOOZ:  Carl is quoting what's been told to him again.  Been done, he should be thinking for himself by now!
  • GEN: Right away you know something is up with Creepy Clara but just can't put your finger on it. She's a few sandwiches short of a picnic (even after Rick gave her his!) The scene with Carl and the other kids brought me right back to the comics where he's being pushed by Rick to be more of a kid but the other kids don't accept him.
  • Ash: C R E E P Y !  and sad all at the same time.  I was reminded of the old Rick during this scene, before the cray Rick showed up.
Section 4.1.4
Clara is leading Rick back to her camp to meet her husband.  She tries to connect to him as they walk. Back at the store with the "runner group", we see what the various characters really want to find for themselves, until Bob knocks over a shelf and gets trapped, just as the walkers on the rotted roof begin to fall through into the store causing havoc for the survivors.
  • SOOZ:  I was waiting for the action... took a little bit to get here but I appreciate that as the season opener there is a lot of story to be told before we get down and dirty.  We needed some back story on Bob I think.
  • GEN: Raining walkers! The scene had Nicotero's stamp all over it. I also think we needed more info on Bob. At this point I was just like "Meh, leave him! Save yourselves!" There was no connection to that character so I wouldn't have cared.
Section 4.1.5
Clara tries to identify with Rick on the walk back to her camp.  The group back at the store contend with the rainstorm of walkers from the roof.  Zack gets caught and dies while saving Bob.  The group flees the store, at the same time as Rick makes it to Clara's camp only to find her husband is already a walker that she had intended to feed him to.  Clara kills herself (dies while asking him what the three questions were) and Rick goes back to the prison.
  • SOOZ:  Poor Zack, but We had enough characters to keep up with anyway... no loss there.  Clara was creepy.  I didn't want her to come back to the prison anyway so I'm glad that ended that way, and that Rick got back his sammich.  Men who skip lunch aren't any fun later.  Eat a snickers for god's sake.
  • GEN: I felt bad for Zack. He seemed like a decent guy. We didn't know much about him but there was still that little bit of a connection with him though Beth.
  • Heather:  I am a little concerned that Rick left Clara’s camp without finishing off both Clara and her husband.  I have a sinking feeling that we shall see them again and the consequences of his inaction will lead to more heartache.  I do feel a bit bad for Beth that once again her boyfriend gets eaten by walkers.
Section 4.1.6
Carol is holding "story time" for the kids of the group, which Carl observes from the shadows.  She closes the story book and begins a lesson on how to handle knives.  Young newcomer Patrick feels ill and leaves.  When Carol sees Carl, she begs him not to tell his father about her survival lesson.

Rick is back tending to the pigs and notices the pig that was sick earlier is now dead.  Tyreese admits to Karen that he didn't like going outside the prison any more than dealing with the fence walkers.  Glenn and Maggie deal with a pregnancy scare.  Daryl tells Beth about her boyfriend's death at the store, but her reaction is less than emotional.

Michonne plans a road trip to Macon, while Hershel comforts Rick who's dealing with his confrontation with Clara.  Patrick goes in for a cold shower, coughing and still feeling ill, and passes out dead on the floor, opening his eyes as a walker just before the ending credits begin to roll.

General Closing Comments
  • SOOZ:  Well look at you badass Carol, going against the grain and raising your own little army of kids!  She's the Governor's kindergarten teacher at this point.  Sheesh.  I guess all those peeps who wanted to ship Beth and Daryl based on the pic of them hugging are out of luck, but an 18 year old and a 40-something just isn't believable as a couple (see what I did there?).  The episode cleaned up after itself and sufficiently ended it's own story while leaving the outstanding questions, well, outstanding.  Maybe next week will be a little more fulfilling since they won't have the need to "catch us up" on SO much info all at once.  We shall see!
  • GEN: Did anyone else notice a bit of flirtation between Michonne and Rick, or was it just me? She's obviously on the hunt for the Govna. Wonder if they will dedicate an episode to her quest? Carol's School of Badassery is awesome. She has gone from a woman who was afraid of her own shadow (or rather her husband's) to the camps advocate on self defense  Sorry Bethyl shippers! There will be none of that, thank goodness. I like how that scene showed Beth and Daryl basically flipping; Beth now being unemotional and almost cold, and Daryl kind of warming up to the emotional interaction, even though you could still see his discomfort when she hugged him. Of course the episode ends with a bang and we are left hanging with the image of Walker Patrick in our heads. It's going to be a long week.
  • Heather:  Overall, I was very impressed with the premier.  I know that there was a lot of  “catching up” to do and am hoping that next week’s episode will be just as entertaining.  It was wonderful to see how far our little group of survivors have grown since we last saw them.  It will be interesting to see how much further they will go.
  • Ash: I am so proud of the development Carol has gone through since season 1.  She is an awesome character and @McBrideMelissa  brings her to life so well.  Beth’s reaction to Zach’s death surprised me; very cold Beth.  I was  very confused why a dead pig did not seem to raise any questions by Rick.  Being a huge fan of the Telltale Walking Dead game, I liked the shoutout to Macon (The main character in the game’s hometown). These cliffhanger endings!  Now I am gonna spend all week trying to figure out what caused Patrick’s death!  Come on Sunday!
 

 

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Take a Spin on the old TWD Rollercoaster

In mid-September it was officially announced that there is a Walking Dead Spinoff in the works for 2015.  Oh, pardon me, it's being called a "Companion Series".

http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/09/16/walking-dead-spin-off/
"AMC has announced that it is developing a companion series for The Walking Dead that is targeted to make it on air in 2015. Current Walking Dead executive producers Robert Kirkman (who also created the comic book on which the show is based), Gale Anne Hurd and David Alpert will also work on the new series."

The very thought of a spinoff Companion Series has made a lot of die hard fans of the original a little queasy.  Could this be an indication that AMC already has the original's end date penciled in?  Would they be so bold as to end their flagship show before the bloom is off the rose?  The short answer is, yes, they could be, and they've done it before.  The tragedy would be in doing so possibly years before the content goes stale.

BREAK OUT THE FREEZER BAGS, PEOPLE!
WON'T YOU THINK OF THE CHILDREN?!?!


What would be worse than an untimely end to the original series, by far, would be to cause overexposure, dilute the fan base, out-shine the original while both are running concurrently or just plain not do it justice.  There's little worse for a television program than tripping yourself before you ever even get near the shark tank let alone jump it.  Thoughts of woeful spinoff attempts come to mind and while I know there are success stories I'm not sure I care to tempt the TV Gods on this one.

There is even some speculation among fans that the spi- (KIRKMHHAAAAN! You came up with that label, didn't you?) Companion Series will focus on Daryl Dixon, since he (and more notably Norman Reedus, the actor) has emerged as the fan favorite of the show.  Well let me just go up on the hill in the high afternoon sun and start digging graves right now.  Most opinions I've seen of this idea both in our Chat Room and social media are that it is a turd looking for TWD's swimming pool and I tend to agree even though I love Daryl and/or Norman as much as the next fangirl.  It's just that Daryl's charm was bred within the group he's with now and I'd hate to see anything the producers do tarnish the work Norman's done so far to endear Daryl to the masses, even if a spinoff @#$! Companion Series means we get to see more of him... besides which all I can hear is Reedus singing that Daryl and Carol song.  http://on.mtv.com/13t0lh2   

I, as well as many others, have not fangirled over a television program this much since I was a preteen... we'll not say how long ago that was but it may or may not have involved Debbie Allen and a foreboding warning about sweat.  I am not looking forward to the end of The Walking Dead and hope that it's legacy has staying power long after it's over.  Whatever they're cooking up, I just hope it's got the cojones to truly back up the original and not destroy it.  Remember, whatever mistakes are made in the original will inevitably be amplified when it is compared to a knock off of itself.

Carry on, #TWDFamily:


 
EDIT:
I have just read that Kirkman has confirmed that the spinoff... dammit, "Companion Series" is not currently planned to have any of the cast of #TWD in it and will be set in a totally different place during the same zombie apocalypse.


Thursday, September 26, 2013

Casting the First Stone

One topic that has become something of a reoccurring theme is how to get the attention of the cast of The Walking Dead on Twitter.  There are varying ideas with this regard, but a lot of fans, us included, don't believe in spamming the cast/crew.  Before you get your panties in a wad saying "but we should be allowed to get our follow just like you did", let's preface this by saying most of the cast (including Norman Reedus) does not follow either of our accounts, most of our admins, or chat room regulars.  That does not mean, however, that we aren't just as visible to them as those who've been followed are.

Having an account with a following larger than most average Joes (5000+ followers) has taught us a thing or two about a thing or two.  For one, if you had to liken tweets to a real world communication, even on a smaller account, it would be a billboard.  You post it out there and hope passersby see it, and many will... but even if you post something controversial that sets tongues to wagging, some of your best buddies won't ever even know what happened.  Just because people follow you doesn't mean they read what you tweet; in fact the more people they follow the slimmer the chances they'll ever see it unless they decide to visit your profile or you mention them in the tweet.  While that's great for people who like to "chat" on Twitter, that's bad for people who DO like to watch their timelines.  Because of all the constant noise, once you get past, say 1000 follows/followers, you nearly stop watching your timeline altogether.  Imagine every street you drove down having walls of billboards along each side... wouldn't get to read much of it, would you?

What does that mean?  Well, it means that just because a celebrity followed you, they're not necessarily paying attention to you.  Do they lurk sometimes?  Oh, sure they could if they had that kind of time, but chances are extraordinarily slim (especially if they follow thousands of fans).  The point is, a follow from a celebrity is just not that important, unless you intend to DM them to death which is an entirely different post/rant/deathwishfromhell.

We're going to talk specifically about Norman Reedus' @wwwbigbaldhead account.  Now, several months ago Norman posted a video of what was supposed to be a "Twitter chat" that got overrun by fans and made his laptop sound like it was about to explode.  In that video you can see that he is using Tweetdeck to watch his feed, and only watches search results on a few key words such as his handle and name... NOT his timeline.  This is something you can do as well to get an exact match to what he sees (unless he's on his phone or iPad).  Take a gander and it shant take too long before you see someone tweeting incessant "FOLLOW ME" requests, and some come off very rude.  You'll also see people having full blown conversations who've left him copied.  on.  every.  tweet.  While this can be an accident, most people know that it's done intentionally to get the celebrity's attention and is choking up their mentions feed just as badly as 'follow me' SPAM.  Sit and watch that feed for a while, just watch it, and imagine what he's thinking when he's watching it... or what you'd think if people were constantly doing that to you.  It might make you want to throw your device across the room.

Norman in particular is extraordinarily kind to his fans and was very eager to please them, but recently has backed way off presumably due to the high demands people were placing on him... especially the amount of people that have been getting rude about it.  We were told a story from a fan who personally witnessed Norman getting chased down in an airport by someone who when she got to him, angrily demanded that he follow her on Twitter.  Come on now, people, he's still a person, you know, with actual feelings and everything.  Gale Anne Hurd has blatantly stated several times that if you SPAM her, not only will she NOT follow you, she will block you.  That should be your first hint... they don't like it.  Your followers don't want to see it, either.  If someone has done you the favor of following you, you shouldn't clog up their timeline with what can only be viewed as a desperate need for celebrity attention.  You should have more respect for them and yourself.

We've said it as a general rule of thumb for behavior in our chat room, that everyone should follow real world social rules.  Play nice, share the toys, and no hitting.  This should apply to how you treat celebrities on Twitter, especially the more popular ones.  Our favorite saying is that if you would run up and yell in someone's face begging for attention every five minutes then you've got problems we can't help you with.  So don't do it on Twitter either.  We're not saying you can't or shouldn't politely ask for a follow from time to time, just don't get psycho about it.

The last thing we'd like to point out with regard to Twitter is how unbelievably public it is.  Several websites exist just to archive social media posts, so even if you go back and delete it later, Tweets never really go away.  Let's say that again... Tweets NEVER GO AWAY.  One of the main reasons why we opened the chat room was to remove the possibility that 10 years down the road, some potential employer will come across our old handle and read our silly obsessive fangirl conversations... the very thought alone is blush-provoking, let alone if we got caught trolling the celebrity.  Plus, if you converse with other fans on Twitter long enough, inevitably you will suffer abuse at the hand of some anonymous stranger hell-bent on belittling you for what you thought was an innocent enough tweet.  It can be as hostile as a high school cafeteria full of mean girls.  Yes, chat rooms are good, especially moderated ones.

So go forth, children.  Play nice, share the toys, and no hitting!


WalkingDeadFamily.com


New Blog!

Welcome to the new blog for The Walking Dead fans, and the premier chat room at WalkingDeadFamily.com!  The site was created in early 2013 and has a regular base of wonderful adult fans ready to have fun and chat with you..