So another season has come and gone, and another lapse in reviews posted. Sorry about not keeping on top of the back half, but now we'll make it up to you with an overview!
Season 7 saw the loss of three primary characters that have been around since before Alexandria, including one of the "Atlanta Five". Glenn, Abraham, and Sasha have all gone to that big zombie-free community in the sky, and with them they have taken two Alexandrians... Spencer (which to be honest, no one will miss) and poor, fan favorite Olivia. It's been a while since we suffered this many major casualties so it was a particularly harsh season (especially with that super-brutal season opener), and ending with the official start of "All Out War", Season 8 promises to be even worse... or better, depending on your point of view.
The quickest way to sum up Season 7 is to look at it's two halves. The first half had everyone beaten into sad, sad submission by the Saviors. From episode one, they intentionally took us to a very dark and hopeless place, the likes of which we have never seen before no matter how dire the situation seemed... even while The Governor was beheading Herschel. The second half saw a resurgence and preparation for war. Thankfully the finale was not a cliff-hanger and was an exciting conclusion to a few loose ends while providing the basis for the war we all knew was coming. We needed to see our crew have a decisive victory over the Saviors to wrap up a terribly emotionally frustrating season, and that's what we got.
The finale wasn't without it's problems, but overall was a very satisfying experience. Problem 1: The fact that Shiva, the Kingdom's resident tiger, only attacked Saviors... with as much rage going on in that scene it would've been difficult for even the most intuitive human to walk in mid-stream and figure out who the bad guys were much less a tiger. Speaking of, that was quite the fray so it's fairly unbelievable that no one fell to friendly fire. That leads us to Problem 2: While there were certainly "Team Family" injuries, not one major character was killed in what was a massive gun fight between five separate factions (Hilltop, Alexandria, The Kingdom, The Scavengers, and The Saviors). Instead, only "red shirts" were sacrificed and we were treated to a minor bait-n-switch thinking Michonne was dead for half a second. Problem 3: Too perfect timing. Just as Negan is mid-swing to clock Carl with Lucille, Shiva pounces on the guy behind him... Just as when Carol rode in to save the day in Terminus just as our heroes were about to be bled out, it can cause a bit of interruption to that old suspension of disbelief when everything is too spot on perfectly timed... but you know what? Who cares? It was a riveting finale that had most fans cheering with hope for the first time in a very, very long time.
As a side note, Negan's surprise that there was a tiger on the scene was just a big, giant cherry on top of this beat-down Sundae. Although you would think more than one gunman would aim for a tiger ripping people's faces off, Shiva lives to chomp another day!
As we reflect on those we've lost this season, we look forward toward Season 8 with hope springing eternal. The only thing we know for sure is that we will lose more beloved characters in the coming conflicts... and that, God willing, the show will give us the hard-won victory we see in the comic. Being 8 seasons deep in a television show isn't terribly comforting since even the best shows don't typically last this long, so all we're going to be doing between now and the fall is praying we don't get notice that the AMC Gods have decided 8 will be the last. After all, we could follow this band of survivors until the very last one is gone.
http://www.WalkingDeadFamily.com
Monday, April 3, 2017
Monday, December 12, 2016
The Walking Dead: Season 7 Episode 8 WDF Review
Episode 8: Hearts Still Beating
As we enter our time of mourning (aka the mid-season break), we have a lot to think about. This mid-season finale was not the most riveting that has ever been made (thinking of the Fall of the Prison and how season four was so slow paced leading up to it we weren't expecting it just then), but it was heartily satisfying all the same.
We've said it before that it would be an odd shift in story-telling style to mix up the story lines in a single episode rather than have character-centric episodes (focused on one group or character) as that style has been so heavily used in the past. The Woodbury story line was done almost entirely that way which as we've mentioned drove us crazy due to spending whole episodes with characters we weren't all that excited about. Welp, we were wrong. Despite major worries throughout the fandom that the writers would handle having four different camps to catch up with in a very similar fragmented style as Woodbury, this mid-season finale proves they are capable of touching base with multiple groups of characters in a meaningful and fluid way, and all in one single episode (albeit an extended one).
Obviously we spent a good deal of time back in Alexandria since when we last saw them Negan was still there waiting for Rick, but we also checked in with Hilltop, Daryl at The Sanctuary, and Carol/Morgan. So, really, we hit up all four camps in one episode.
Carol is still determined to live off by herself, though close enough to The Kingdom to have an eye kept on her and produce delivered. Daryl finally escapes The Sanctuary on the back of his Frankenbike with Jesus, headed toward Hilltop to drop him off at home. Maggie has become a human vacuum cleaner and can smell pie through a closed door. But of course, it's Alexandria that gets the punch in the face. We lose two original Alexandrians in this episode thanks first to an attempt by Spencer to stage a coup to unseat Rick as leader with what he hoped would be Negan's help (not so much), and another "random shooting" as payment for Rosita having finally taken her shot at Negan (which Lucille ends up taking). All of Team Family survives the episode, thankfully, since we lost two already this season, though Aaron certainly took a beating and poor Eugene did get taken to The Sanctuary to be Negan's new bullet maker when it is revealed that he made the bullet Rosita used to shoot Lucille.
We end the episode with everyone gathering at The Hilltop (except Carol and Morgan), reuniting Daryl, Sasha, and Maggie with Team Family for the first time since the Lucillings. Daryl and Rick share an extended emotional embrace while everyone hugs Maggie in congratulations that she and the baby are well. While there is nothing too terribly surprising in this episode as a whole, it had a heartwarming reunion ending reminiscent of the scenes immediately after the escape from Terminus... but it was a great way to end the mid-season and set us up for lots of prep-work in the back half for All-Out-War. We can't wait, can you?!
We will more than likely be taking the hiatus off from updating the website as well, so we'd like to wish you all a very Happy Holiday Season, and a prosperous, healthy New Year. See you in February!!!
http://www.WalkingDeadFamily.com
As we enter our time of mourning (aka the mid-season break), we have a lot to think about. This mid-season finale was not the most riveting that has ever been made (thinking of the Fall of the Prison and how season four was so slow paced leading up to it we weren't expecting it just then), but it was heartily satisfying all the same.
We've said it before that it would be an odd shift in story-telling style to mix up the story lines in a single episode rather than have character-centric episodes (focused on one group or character) as that style has been so heavily used in the past. The Woodbury story line was done almost entirely that way which as we've mentioned drove us crazy due to spending whole episodes with characters we weren't all that excited about. Welp, we were wrong. Despite major worries throughout the fandom that the writers would handle having four different camps to catch up with in a very similar fragmented style as Woodbury, this mid-season finale proves they are capable of touching base with multiple groups of characters in a meaningful and fluid way, and all in one single episode (albeit an extended one).
Obviously we spent a good deal of time back in Alexandria since when we last saw them Negan was still there waiting for Rick, but we also checked in with Hilltop, Daryl at The Sanctuary, and Carol/Morgan. So, really, we hit up all four camps in one episode.
Carol is still determined to live off by herself, though close enough to The Kingdom to have an eye kept on her and produce delivered. Daryl finally escapes The Sanctuary on the back of his Frankenbike with Jesus, headed toward Hilltop to drop him off at home. Maggie has become a human vacuum cleaner and can smell pie through a closed door. But of course, it's Alexandria that gets the punch in the face. We lose two original Alexandrians in this episode thanks first to an attempt by Spencer to stage a coup to unseat Rick as leader with what he hoped would be Negan's help (not so much), and another "random shooting" as payment for Rosita having finally taken her shot at Negan (which Lucille ends up taking). All of Team Family survives the episode, thankfully, since we lost two already this season, though Aaron certainly took a beating and poor Eugene did get taken to The Sanctuary to be Negan's new bullet maker when it is revealed that he made the bullet Rosita used to shoot Lucille.
We end the episode with everyone gathering at The Hilltop (except Carol and Morgan), reuniting Daryl, Sasha, and Maggie with Team Family for the first time since the Lucillings. Daryl and Rick share an extended emotional embrace while everyone hugs Maggie in congratulations that she and the baby are well. While there is nothing too terribly surprising in this episode as a whole, it had a heartwarming reunion ending reminiscent of the scenes immediately after the escape from Terminus... but it was a great way to end the mid-season and set us up for lots of prep-work in the back half for All-Out-War. We can't wait, can you?!
We will more than likely be taking the hiatus off from updating the website as well, so we'd like to wish you all a very Happy Holiday Season, and a prosperous, healthy New Year. See you in February!!!
http://www.WalkingDeadFamily.com
Monday, December 5, 2016
The Walking Dead: Season 7 Episode 7 WDF Review
Episode 7: Sing Me a Song
Well my, my, aren't we just as excited as we could be about all these extended episodes this season? If you haven't heard yet, 7.7 was another 90 minute episode, following up on Carl sneaking into The Sanctuary. There was a lot for Carl to be affected by there so we needed an extra half hour to cover it... and the aftermath of his visit back at the ASZ.
Just as he did in the comic, Negan has quite a man-crush on the spirited Carl, who seems determined to defy him at every turn. Negan takes him on a tour of his inner sanctum, allowing him to be witness to some of the drama inside his harem before taking him to his private quarters to relax... or not. Here we see a slightly different, albeit just as menacing, method for whipping Carl into submission... using his teenage angst and vanity against him. Some people may think Negan is not as menacing as he should be, but he's got that coercion thing down pat.
We finally see what Carl's eye looks like under the bandage, and have the cringe-worthy response to Negan's proposition that he be allowed to touch it... eeeeew ew ew! He forces Carl to sing, though it's not apparent why and feels sort of forced into the story just to make it walk in lock-step with the comic, but otherwise the scene is an example of expert manipulation. Soon enough we're off to iron off someone else's face and watch Daryl be commanded to mop up the ironee's urine after he appropriately messes himself and the floor. While Daryl is shown to be a perfectly whipped little puppy, in the style well known for Daryl at this point, he does give Carl a few knowing looks to let the audience know he's not too far gone... yet.
By the end of the visit, Carl is completely familiarized with how things work at The Sanctuary, and sets off in a truck with Negan headed toward home. When they get there, Negan acts like that obnoxious relative you wish hadn't shown up for an unexpected visit... nosily insisting on a tour of the house and barging into Judith's nursery despite being asked not to enter the room. He basically makes himself at home, intentionally stepping into Rick's role as head of the house, coddling Judith while Olivia and Carl look on uncomfortably. It's just as awkward as you'd ever hope it to be, like the ever-present feeling of a splinter you just can't get out of your thumb no matter how hard to work it.
Meanwhile Rosita and Eugene are off to make a bullet while Spencer and Gabe head off to scavenge. In a moment of particularly rare levity for Gabe, he lets Spencer know exactly what he thinks of him before letting himself out of the car to walk home rather than endure his company any longer. It was nice to see these two subplots worked into the Carl/Negan Date Night story line to break it up a little and get those four ready for what we hope is a very compelling mid-season finale.
*Sigh* yes, that's right folks, it is already upon us believe it or not. After this coming Sunday's episode we'll have two months to wait before we see what goes down in the back half of 7. Based on what we've seen of the Mid-Season Finale so far, there are so many questions that will be left unanswered until then. Will we be ready in time for All Out War to begin or will we be left to languish in this submissive hell for five months waiting for Season 8 to begin? That's the burning question we all want to know.
http://www.walkingdeadfamily.com
Well my, my, aren't we just as excited as we could be about all these extended episodes this season? If you haven't heard yet, 7.7 was another 90 minute episode, following up on Carl sneaking into The Sanctuary. There was a lot for Carl to be affected by there so we needed an extra half hour to cover it... and the aftermath of his visit back at the ASZ.
Just as he did in the comic, Negan has quite a man-crush on the spirited Carl, who seems determined to defy him at every turn. Negan takes him on a tour of his inner sanctum, allowing him to be witness to some of the drama inside his harem before taking him to his private quarters to relax... or not. Here we see a slightly different, albeit just as menacing, method for whipping Carl into submission... using his teenage angst and vanity against him. Some people may think Negan is not as menacing as he should be, but he's got that coercion thing down pat.
We finally see what Carl's eye looks like under the bandage, and have the cringe-worthy response to Negan's proposition that he be allowed to touch it... eeeeew ew ew! He forces Carl to sing, though it's not apparent why and feels sort of forced into the story just to make it walk in lock-step with the comic, but otherwise the scene is an example of expert manipulation. Soon enough we're off to iron off someone else's face and watch Daryl be commanded to mop up the ironee's urine after he appropriately messes himself and the floor. While Daryl is shown to be a perfectly whipped little puppy, in the style well known for Daryl at this point, he does give Carl a few knowing looks to let the audience know he's not too far gone... yet.
By the end of the visit, Carl is completely familiarized with how things work at The Sanctuary, and sets off in a truck with Negan headed toward home. When they get there, Negan acts like that obnoxious relative you wish hadn't shown up for an unexpected visit... nosily insisting on a tour of the house and barging into Judith's nursery despite being asked not to enter the room. He basically makes himself at home, intentionally stepping into Rick's role as head of the house, coddling Judith while Olivia and Carl look on uncomfortably. It's just as awkward as you'd ever hope it to be, like the ever-present feeling of a splinter you just can't get out of your thumb no matter how hard to work it.
Meanwhile Rosita and Eugene are off to make a bullet while Spencer and Gabe head off to scavenge. In a moment of particularly rare levity for Gabe, he lets Spencer know exactly what he thinks of him before letting himself out of the car to walk home rather than endure his company any longer. It was nice to see these two subplots worked into the Carl/Negan Date Night story line to break it up a little and get those four ready for what we hope is a very compelling mid-season finale.
*Sigh* yes, that's right folks, it is already upon us believe it or not. After this coming Sunday's episode we'll have two months to wait before we see what goes down in the back half of 7. Based on what we've seen of the Mid-Season Finale so far, there are so many questions that will be left unanswered until then. Will we be ready in time for All Out War to begin or will we be left to languish in this submissive hell for five months waiting for Season 8 to begin? That's the burning question we all want to know.
http://www.walkingdeadfamily.com
Monday, November 28, 2016
The Walking Dead: Season 7 Episode 6 WDF Review
Episode 6: Swear
It's really hard to believe we're already just two episodes away from the mid-season finale. Where did all the time go? We haven't made a whole ton of movement in the story progression department, but we have a lot of new information to chew on, since so far it's been all about character development.
This time we're catching back up with Tara and Heath, and while we lose track of Heath for the time being (rumor has it the actor has taken other work that conflicts with his TWD filming schedule, and they may be leaving his story line unresolved "just in case" he wants to come back). So, we're actually really just focusing on Tara and what happens to her after she gets separated from Heath. Get ready for groans from the fandom, folks, because we're being introduced to Oceanside, yet another group of survivors who've been more than harassed by The Saviors.
Oceanside is made up entirely of hardened women and children. Why? Because The Saviors decided to punish them by killing all of their men. We seem to be catching a whiff of a theme here. They escaped The Saviors by sneaking away from their camp in the middle of the night and setting up camp in an Oceanside motor lodge village, where Tara happens upon them after being swept up in the current when she falls from a bridge (which is how she is separated from Heath). Therefore, they're trying to keep their village a secret so The Saviors can't find them again... and that means killing anyone that finds them on sight.
There's a little bit of another challenge to our suspension of disbelief here since if we were sneaking away from The Saviors, we wouldn't stop to set up a new camp until we were hundreds of miles away where it would be highly unlikely The Saviors could follow with a group that large that far. Hey, Team Family made the trip from Atlanta, so it stands to reason that one can make it back out again, right? We suppose there's the argument that there's always baddies to deal with but Negan's tyranny would be pretty hard to top.
For the most part it is a fairly slow paced episode, except the action scenes where Tara finally escapes their grasp to run to safety. By the end of the episode she makes it back to Alexandria to finally be told about both Denise's demise and The Lucillings by a forlorn Eugene at the gate. Although Rosita pressures her for information about where she's been, Tara holds true to her promise not to speak of Oceanside to help ensure they stay hidden.
Here's the rub: Oceanside has a massive cache of weaponry. It's hard to say that if Rick found out about it he'd be on his way there to take it all from them, but our guess is not. He is aware by now that Negan is too smart to simply be out-gunned and impressive as it was the Oceanside armory didn't look to be able to out-gun them anyway. Oceanside will likely play a large part once the mass revolt known as "All Out War" begins, but sshhhhhh!!!! We're not supposed to know about that yet.
Speaking of AOW, we do appear to be headed straight in that direction, though AOL is sure to encompass more than one episode and our Season 7 Finale will likely be just the first shots, if that. TWD fans shouldn't be so excited for AOW to happen so quickly anyway, since the conclusion of it could signal the natural conclusion of the series. Not that we have any clue whether or not that's the case, but it will have been 8 seasons by the end of AOW and even the best shows don't last much longer than that.
Now that we're all depressed at the thought of a series finale, we'd like to help you usher in the Holiday Season and be the first to say "Happy Holidays" to our peeps. We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are gearing up for both the mid-season finale and Santa's visit. Be good little boys and girls, and remember to shop http://www.woodburyshoppe.com/ directly for all your TWD Christmas gear rather than other less awesome online retailers!
http://www.walkingdeadfamily.com
It's really hard to believe we're already just two episodes away from the mid-season finale. Where did all the time go? We haven't made a whole ton of movement in the story progression department, but we have a lot of new information to chew on, since so far it's been all about character development.
This time we're catching back up with Tara and Heath, and while we lose track of Heath for the time being (rumor has it the actor has taken other work that conflicts with his TWD filming schedule, and they may be leaving his story line unresolved "just in case" he wants to come back). So, we're actually really just focusing on Tara and what happens to her after she gets separated from Heath. Get ready for groans from the fandom, folks, because we're being introduced to Oceanside, yet another group of survivors who've been more than harassed by The Saviors.
Oceanside is made up entirely of hardened women and children. Why? Because The Saviors decided to punish them by killing all of their men. We seem to be catching a whiff of a theme here. They escaped The Saviors by sneaking away from their camp in the middle of the night and setting up camp in an Oceanside motor lodge village, where Tara happens upon them after being swept up in the current when she falls from a bridge (which is how she is separated from Heath). Therefore, they're trying to keep their village a secret so The Saviors can't find them again... and that means killing anyone that finds them on sight.
There's a little bit of another challenge to our suspension of disbelief here since if we were sneaking away from The Saviors, we wouldn't stop to set up a new camp until we were hundreds of miles away where it would be highly unlikely The Saviors could follow with a group that large that far. Hey, Team Family made the trip from Atlanta, so it stands to reason that one can make it back out again, right? We suppose there's the argument that there's always baddies to deal with but Negan's tyranny would be pretty hard to top.
For the most part it is a fairly slow paced episode, except the action scenes where Tara finally escapes their grasp to run to safety. By the end of the episode she makes it back to Alexandria to finally be told about both Denise's demise and The Lucillings by a forlorn Eugene at the gate. Although Rosita pressures her for information about where she's been, Tara holds true to her promise not to speak of Oceanside to help ensure they stay hidden.
Here's the rub: Oceanside has a massive cache of weaponry. It's hard to say that if Rick found out about it he'd be on his way there to take it all from them, but our guess is not. He is aware by now that Negan is too smart to simply be out-gunned and impressive as it was the Oceanside armory didn't look to be able to out-gun them anyway. Oceanside will likely play a large part once the mass revolt known as "All Out War" begins, but sshhhhhh!!!! We're not supposed to know about that yet.
Speaking of AOW, we do appear to be headed straight in that direction, though AOL is sure to encompass more than one episode and our Season 7 Finale will likely be just the first shots, if that. TWD fans shouldn't be so excited for AOW to happen so quickly anyway, since the conclusion of it could signal the natural conclusion of the series. Not that we have any clue whether or not that's the case, but it will have been 8 seasons by the end of AOW and even the best shows don't last much longer than that.
Now that we're all depressed at the thought of a series finale, we'd like to help you usher in the Holiday Season and be the first to say "Happy Holidays" to our peeps. We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are gearing up for both the mid-season finale and Santa's visit. Be good little boys and girls, and remember to shop http://www.woodburyshoppe.com/ directly for all your TWD Christmas gear rather than other less awesome online retailers!
http://www.walkingdeadfamily.com
Monday, November 21, 2016
The Walking Dead: Season 7 Episode 5 WDF Review
Episode 5: Go Getters
Those who detest single-campus episodes (our word for those episodes that focus entirely on one group and never check in with the others, sometimes erroneously referred to as "bottle episodes" but that term doesn't really apply to most episodes described as such) should've been happy that we spent time in both Alexandria and at The Hilltop this week. Granted, it was all done in the context of the story of Maggie and Sasha at Hilltop, but you at least got to see Andy's sweet, sweethiney face.
In this episode we are establishing that Maggie is going to become the leader of Hilltop. She starts by having a miraculous recovery to a life-threatening condition in relation to her pregnancy within a few days of arriving at Hilltop... the writers probably shouldn't have tried to go there since they needed her to be involved in the action. Practically having just woken up, in the middle of an attack orchestrated by The Saviors, she climbs atop a FEMA trailer and starts directing the other players in a not-too subtle attempt to establish her authority and problem-solving skill. Later, Jesus basically states that Gregory isn't fit to lead but that he isn't either... hinting that someone else would be as if raising his paddle to nominate Magsters right then and there. Wait, don't we need a flag-waving convention for that?
Meanwhile back in Alexandria, Carl again spies Enid sneaking over the wall. She starts off on foot toward The Hilltop to check on Maggie, and when she gets in a sticky spot with a walker Carl suddenly shows up in a car to run it over. We'd ask when Carl learned to drive but he did do quite a number on the car trying to run down that walker. Again the pair set off on foot but quickly find a backpack containing roller skates... and off we go on a pre-teen date straight out of 1986; the only things missing was a Journey song and a mirror ball. They roll down the road holding hands and eventually share their first kiss outside the walls of The Hilltop Colony, hidden from view of The Saviors who are there to collect supplies.
Aside from establishing Maggie's authority for her upcoming story line, we establish Carl's disdain for living under The Saviors' rule and his determination to take action on it. He climbs into the back of the truck loaded with things specifically obtained for Negan himself, and is later joined there by Jesus who is taking the opportunity to find out where Negan lives (at the behest of Sasha, an effort she specifically doesn't want Maggie to know about). We end the episode with the two being trucked off to their Negan-filled destinies while inside The Hilltop, Sasha, Maggie, and Enid sit down to a tasty dinner.
This episode was all about laying the groundwork for the remaining story lines in the season. The reviews are very mixed... from declaring this to be one of the worst of the season so far to excitedly proclaiming this episode to be the best. This episode does tax the hell out of the viewers' suspension of disbelief thanks to a number of very convenient coincidences and a bit of over-reaching, but if you can get past that, you will be pleased at the amount of forward progress we've made in the story. It might have come off awkward to some but it will help ensure later episodes can keep barreling forward on the tracks that were laid.
Next week we catch up with Heath and Tara in an episode many fans are already dreading. There will be lots of dialogue between the two characters as they deal with failing on their supply run and their personal aftermath of the outpost ambush. We also presumably get to find out how Tara ends up on the beach shown in the sneak peek. The general consensus is that these two characters aren't compelling enough to focus an entire episode on, so we'll have to see what we end up with next week!
Happy Thanksgiving to all our US fans! Stay safe, don't drink and drive or debate the election results, and for heaven's sake don't support stores who force their poor employees to work on a major holiday by being open on Thanksgiving Day... just save it for actual Black Friday (it will be okay, we promise)!
http://www.WalkingDeadFamily.com
Those who detest single-campus episodes (our word for those episodes that focus entirely on one group and never check in with the others, sometimes erroneously referred to as "bottle episodes" but that term doesn't really apply to most episodes described as such) should've been happy that we spent time in both Alexandria and at The Hilltop this week. Granted, it was all done in the context of the story of Maggie and Sasha at Hilltop, but you at least got to see Andy's sweet, sweet
In this episode we are establishing that Maggie is going to become the leader of Hilltop. She starts by having a miraculous recovery to a life-threatening condition in relation to her pregnancy within a few days of arriving at Hilltop... the writers probably shouldn't have tried to go there since they needed her to be involved in the action. Practically having just woken up, in the middle of an attack orchestrated by The Saviors, she climbs atop a FEMA trailer and starts directing the other players in a not-too subtle attempt to establish her authority and problem-solving skill. Later, Jesus basically states that Gregory isn't fit to lead but that he isn't either... hinting that someone else would be as if raising his paddle to nominate Magsters right then and there. Wait, don't we need a flag-waving convention for that?
Meanwhile back in Alexandria, Carl again spies Enid sneaking over the wall. She starts off on foot toward The Hilltop to check on Maggie, and when she gets in a sticky spot with a walker Carl suddenly shows up in a car to run it over. We'd ask when Carl learned to drive but he did do quite a number on the car trying to run down that walker. Again the pair set off on foot but quickly find a backpack containing roller skates... and off we go on a pre-teen date straight out of 1986; the only things missing was a Journey song and a mirror ball. They roll down the road holding hands and eventually share their first kiss outside the walls of The Hilltop Colony, hidden from view of The Saviors who are there to collect supplies.
Aside from establishing Maggie's authority for her upcoming story line, we establish Carl's disdain for living under The Saviors' rule and his determination to take action on it. He climbs into the back of the truck loaded with things specifically obtained for Negan himself, and is later joined there by Jesus who is taking the opportunity to find out where Negan lives (at the behest of Sasha, an effort she specifically doesn't want Maggie to know about). We end the episode with the two being trucked off to their Negan-filled destinies while inside The Hilltop, Sasha, Maggie, and Enid sit down to a tasty dinner.
This episode was all about laying the groundwork for the remaining story lines in the season. The reviews are very mixed... from declaring this to be one of the worst of the season so far to excitedly proclaiming this episode to be the best. This episode does tax the hell out of the viewers' suspension of disbelief thanks to a number of very convenient coincidences and a bit of over-reaching, but if you can get past that, you will be pleased at the amount of forward progress we've made in the story. It might have come off awkward to some but it will help ensure later episodes can keep barreling forward on the tracks that were laid.
Next week we catch up with Heath and Tara in an episode many fans are already dreading. There will be lots of dialogue between the two characters as they deal with failing on their supply run and their personal aftermath of the outpost ambush. We also presumably get to find out how Tara ends up on the beach shown in the sneak peek. The general consensus is that these two characters aren't compelling enough to focus an entire episode on, so we'll have to see what we end up with next week!
Happy Thanksgiving to all our US fans! Stay safe, don't drink and drive or debate the election results, and for heaven's sake don't support stores who force their poor employees to work on a major holiday by being open on Thanksgiving Day... just save it for actual Black Friday (it will be okay, we promise)!
http://www.WalkingDeadFamily.com
Monday, November 14, 2016
The Walking Dead: Season 7 Episode 4 WDF Review
Episode 4: Service
During the fourth (and feature length) installment of Season 7, we catch back up with Rick and crew in Alexandria to be witness to Negan's first official visit... albeit an early surprise since he promised to give them a week and apparently less than that has passed in show-time. A lot of people were looking forward to this episode for some cathartic grieving, but remember Maggie is at Hilltop with Sasha and we won't see her again until next week.
We're already seeing a lot of flack for the show, once again, spending entire episodes focused on one group rather than weaving the stories together. Remember though, this show has never really participated in that style of writing and it would feel quite odd to start now, seven seasons in. Yes, yes, it drives us crazy too... remember good old Woodbury? The episodes spent entirely in that town made us nuts and since we didn't particularly care for those characters, to be perfectly honest, those episodes bored and disappointed us. The good news is that we are much more fond of each of the characters splintered off into each of the now FOUR camps. We are far more interested in catching up with Carol and Morgan than we were Andrea, even if The Kingdom isn't our favorite of the camps. However, we are still aggravated that we have to sit and wait for the wheel to spin back around to check in with Maggie who, in this episode, was declared to be dead in order to protect her from being claimed for Negan's harem.
Back to the episode... it is just as excruciating as expected to watch Rick have to grovel to Negan. He is forced to hold Lucille for Negan throughout the visit, which Rick spends mostly looking like a beaten dog. They are robbed of even their mattresses, which Michonne later finds in a smoldering pile beside the road... a move designed specifically to weaken and humiliate, though it is a terrible waste to burn something that has to be replaced every 10 years that they're not exactly manufacturing anymore. Our survivors are burglarized of every bit of dignity they may have still owned.
Carl fires a warning shot at The Saviors who've come to raid the clinic of all, yes all (not half as promised) of the supplies. This prompts Negan to demand they hand over all of their guns. How this kid got away with that is beyond comprehension, except that it appears to be a nod toward the comics in which Negan is excessively fond of Carl. One thing is for certain; every action toward The Saviors has an incredibly disproportionately terrible reaction. Olivia is threatened with her life for not keeping the gun registry up to date (because Spencer has been playing his hoarding game again and hidden two in the A/C vent in his house), but fret not, in the nick of time Rick discovers them and hands them over to save her. This subplot was a little confusing since the episode starts with Michonne packing up a hidden gun and sneaking off to have a little target practice, so if you weren't paying attention you might've thought the missing guns were with her and that Olivia's fate depended entirely on Michonne making it back in time.
While Rick has clearly understood the gravity of the corner they've been backed into, there are those who are still dangerously defiant. Having realized Negan intended to confiscate all of their guns, Rosita obtains one off a walker in the woods and later issues a command to Eugene to make her some ammunition for it, so his fate as the munitions manufacturer of the comics comes one step closer to fruition. Once she returns from target practice, Michonne reluctantly gives up her rifle when Rick wants to use it as a demonstration of good-will (since it was undocumented in the gun registry they could have secretly kept it but hand it over anyway), but later she only half-promises that she will submit to the new rules, saying she'll "try". Rick's point is sobering but valid: now that all of their guns are gone, if The Saviors find any hidden or catch anyone with one, someone will die... and it may not even be the person who broke the rules that gets the bat... so we are left knowing Rosita has this ticking time bomb in her pants.
And Daryl *sigh*. Daryl has been dragged along and made to help gather up supplies from The Alexandrians. He doesn't say a word the entire episode, even when asked to plead his case for why Negan should grant Rick's request to let Daryl stay in Alexandria. Dwight has confiscated Daryl's bike as another piece of bait to lure Daryl over to the dark side, but Daryl just spends the whole ordeal looking broken and lost. And, now that they've had to lie about Maggie being dead to keep her away from Negan (something else we're certain will come back to bite them), Daryl believes that both Glenn and Maggie are gone.
And Carol still has no idea any of that went down.
EDIT: And, Rick admits he believes Judith is Shane's bio-baby. Not sure how we forgot that one.
Did anyone else find it a bit odd that Father Gabe had just dug an empty grave for no apparent reason? Do we arbitrarily make fake graves now, is that a "thing"? Did he have some kind of prophetic vision to tell him we might need to fake a death? If The Church Lady were part of his congregation she'd be talking about how conveeeeenient that was.
The naysayers are already proclaiming this to be the "worst episode" of the season so far. Actually we thought episode two was a bigger drag than this one, but we haven't seen anything yet that would make us scream foul or be bored. They could have sped up the pace a bit and accomplished the same amount in a normal-sized episode, but there were a lot of smaller tidbits baked in. We get into the head-space of several characters in addition to establishing how committed Rick is to following Negan's rules. We see what life under the rule of The Saviors will truly be like and how most people feel about that. And that, our friends, is a bitter pill to swallow. Fortunately for us, The Saviors took all our pills.
http://www.WalkingDeadFamily.com
During the fourth (and feature length) installment of Season 7, we catch back up with Rick and crew in Alexandria to be witness to Negan's first official visit... albeit an early surprise since he promised to give them a week and apparently less than that has passed in show-time. A lot of people were looking forward to this episode for some cathartic grieving, but remember Maggie is at Hilltop with Sasha and we won't see her again until next week.
We're already seeing a lot of flack for the show, once again, spending entire episodes focused on one group rather than weaving the stories together. Remember though, this show has never really participated in that style of writing and it would feel quite odd to start now, seven seasons in. Yes, yes, it drives us crazy too... remember good old Woodbury? The episodes spent entirely in that town made us nuts and since we didn't particularly care for those characters, to be perfectly honest, those episodes bored and disappointed us. The good news is that we are much more fond of each of the characters splintered off into each of the now FOUR camps. We are far more interested in catching up with Carol and Morgan than we were Andrea, even if The Kingdom isn't our favorite of the camps. However, we are still aggravated that we have to sit and wait for the wheel to spin back around to check in with Maggie who, in this episode, was declared to be dead in order to protect her from being claimed for Negan's harem.
Back to the episode... it is just as excruciating as expected to watch Rick have to grovel to Negan. He is forced to hold Lucille for Negan throughout the visit, which Rick spends mostly looking like a beaten dog. They are robbed of even their mattresses, which Michonne later finds in a smoldering pile beside the road... a move designed specifically to weaken and humiliate, though it is a terrible waste to burn something that has to be replaced every 10 years that they're not exactly manufacturing anymore. Our survivors are burglarized of every bit of dignity they may have still owned.
Carl fires a warning shot at The Saviors who've come to raid the clinic of all, yes all (not half as promised) of the supplies. This prompts Negan to demand they hand over all of their guns. How this kid got away with that is beyond comprehension, except that it appears to be a nod toward the comics in which Negan is excessively fond of Carl. One thing is for certain; every action toward The Saviors has an incredibly disproportionately terrible reaction. Olivia is threatened with her life for not keeping the gun registry up to date (because Spencer has been playing his hoarding game again and hidden two in the A/C vent in his house), but fret not, in the nick of time Rick discovers them and hands them over to save her. This subplot was a little confusing since the episode starts with Michonne packing up a hidden gun and sneaking off to have a little target practice, so if you weren't paying attention you might've thought the missing guns were with her and that Olivia's fate depended entirely on Michonne making it back in time.
While Rick has clearly understood the gravity of the corner they've been backed into, there are those who are still dangerously defiant. Having realized Negan intended to confiscate all of their guns, Rosita obtains one off a walker in the woods and later issues a command to Eugene to make her some ammunition for it, so his fate as the munitions manufacturer of the comics comes one step closer to fruition. Once she returns from target practice, Michonne reluctantly gives up her rifle when Rick wants to use it as a demonstration of good-will (since it was undocumented in the gun registry they could have secretly kept it but hand it over anyway), but later she only half-promises that she will submit to the new rules, saying she'll "try". Rick's point is sobering but valid: now that all of their guns are gone, if The Saviors find any hidden or catch anyone with one, someone will die... and it may not even be the person who broke the rules that gets the bat... so we are left knowing Rosita has this ticking time bomb in her pants.
And Daryl *sigh*. Daryl has been dragged along and made to help gather up supplies from The Alexandrians. He doesn't say a word the entire episode, even when asked to plead his case for why Negan should grant Rick's request to let Daryl stay in Alexandria. Dwight has confiscated Daryl's bike as another piece of bait to lure Daryl over to the dark side, but Daryl just spends the whole ordeal looking broken and lost. And, now that they've had to lie about Maggie being dead to keep her away from Negan (something else we're certain will come back to bite them), Daryl believes that both Glenn and Maggie are gone.
And Carol still has no idea any of that went down.
EDIT: And, Rick admits he believes Judith is Shane's bio-baby. Not sure how we forgot that one.
Did anyone else find it a bit odd that Father Gabe had just dug an empty grave for no apparent reason? Do we arbitrarily make fake graves now, is that a "thing"? Did he have some kind of prophetic vision to tell him we might need to fake a death? If The Church Lady were part of his congregation she'd be talking about how conveeeeenient that was.
The naysayers are already proclaiming this to be the "worst episode" of the season so far. Actually we thought episode two was a bigger drag than this one, but we haven't seen anything yet that would make us scream foul or be bored. They could have sped up the pace a bit and accomplished the same amount in a normal-sized episode, but there were a lot of smaller tidbits baked in. We get into the head-space of several characters in addition to establishing how committed Rick is to following Negan's rules. We see what life under the rule of The Saviors will truly be like and how most people feel about that. And that, our friends, is a bitter pill to swallow. Fortunately for us, The Saviors took all our pills.
http://www.WalkingDeadFamily.com
Monday, November 7, 2016
The Walking Dead: Season 7 Episode 3 WDF Review
Episode 3: The Cell
Norman Reedus fans were undoubtedly happy this week, with the show practically opening on a side shot of a naked and dirty Daryl, alone in "The Cell". Our episode follows Daryl's experience back at The Sanctuary following "The Lucilling", captive of The Saviors but more specifically, Dwight. As much as this episode was about Daryl, it served even more as character development for our favorite (or not so favorite depending on your perspective) forest dwelling motorcycle stealing crotch sammich.
Dwight is shown demonstrating his higher position in the camp by scavenging sandwich supplies from other survivors for his own use. He gets first dibs because he is apparently one of Negan's top ranking henchmen and everyone else gets their supplies by earning them in trade. His fried egg masterpiece is just a bit more appetizing than the dog food sandwiches he serves up to Daryl, who is being kept in a dark, empty gray room with loud, obnoxious music playing to keep him awake. It is clear we are to understand that this is The Saviors' attempt at breaking Daryl down and assimilating him into the "Negan Collective".
Past that, we begin to understand what happened to Dwight and his wife, Sherry, after they stole Daryl's bike & crossbow, leaving him for dead in the burnt forest last season. After their "escape gone wrong" during which they attempted to take Daryl hostage, they had decided to return to The Sanctuary and beg for forgiveness. Once back at The Sanctuary, now without Tina (who was killed along the way if you remember, and was apparently promised to Negan as a wife), Dwight and Sherry were punished by a) the ironing of Dwight's face and b) the forfeiture of Sherry into Negan's "harem". Toward the end of the episode, Dwight is shown to have begun to realize that living in the hierarchy of The Sanctuary may actually be worse than death when he puts down another Sanctuary escapee in what appears to be a mercy killing.
Daryl on the other hand is left to deal with the guilt of causing Glenn's death (due to having taken a swing at Negan). He tries to escape, he's given an ultimatum, he's beaten, but still won't back down. At the end of the night we leave him back where he started; in that cell to await more torture... but not before laying a profound line on Dwight to hopefully shake him back into the reality that he's still human. "I get why you did it... you were thinking of someone else," he says. In a world completely absent of sentimentality such as The Sanctuary, perhaps that's all the prodding Dwight needs to come around to Daryl's side. Or not.
All in all it wasn't the most compelling episode ever, but Norman did a wonderful job conveying Daryl's inner struggle and Austin Amelio (Dwight) was sufficiently emotionally vague to keep us guessing at what he's really thinking. If Dwight is to become the major player he is in the comic, this episode was necessary to establish some of his back story and provide the embers of a change of heart toward favoring Team Family. It was always going to be an uphill battle to convert Dwight from last season's jerk into someone we can sympathize with, so this was an entirely necessary episode whether you liked it or not.
Next week is the long awaited return to Alexandria to catch back up with Rick and crew. It's an extended episode (unheard of for episode four). Don't get too excited; they may have just needed more time to cover that story... it may not be that something particularly riveting happens. It does look like Rick and crew will get their first look at Daryl since he was taken at least, so it won't be a Reedus-drought episode for those of you worried about that.
In the meantime, we have two big events this week... Election Day (GET OUT AND VOTE FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE, LEST WE END UP WITH A NEGAN IN THE WHITE HOUSE), and a long holiday weekend. Stay safe, folks!!
http://www.WalkingDeadFamily.com
Norman Reedus fans were undoubtedly happy this week, with the show practically opening on a side shot of a naked and dirty Daryl, alone in "The Cell". Our episode follows Daryl's experience back at The Sanctuary following "The Lucilling", captive of The Saviors but more specifically, Dwight. As much as this episode was about Daryl, it served even more as character development for our favorite (or not so favorite depending on your perspective) forest dwelling motorcycle stealing crotch sammich.
Dwight is shown demonstrating his higher position in the camp by scavenging sandwich supplies from other survivors for his own use. He gets first dibs because he is apparently one of Negan's top ranking henchmen and everyone else gets their supplies by earning them in trade. His fried egg masterpiece is just a bit more appetizing than the dog food sandwiches he serves up to Daryl, who is being kept in a dark, empty gray room with loud, obnoxious music playing to keep him awake. It is clear we are to understand that this is The Saviors' attempt at breaking Daryl down and assimilating him into the "Negan Collective".
Past that, we begin to understand what happened to Dwight and his wife, Sherry, after they stole Daryl's bike & crossbow, leaving him for dead in the burnt forest last season. After their "escape gone wrong" during which they attempted to take Daryl hostage, they had decided to return to The Sanctuary and beg for forgiveness. Once back at The Sanctuary, now without Tina (who was killed along the way if you remember, and was apparently promised to Negan as a wife), Dwight and Sherry were punished by a) the ironing of Dwight's face and b) the forfeiture of Sherry into Negan's "harem". Toward the end of the episode, Dwight is shown to have begun to realize that living in the hierarchy of The Sanctuary may actually be worse than death when he puts down another Sanctuary escapee in what appears to be a mercy killing.
Daryl on the other hand is left to deal with the guilt of causing Glenn's death (due to having taken a swing at Negan). He tries to escape, he's given an ultimatum, he's beaten, but still won't back down. At the end of the night we leave him back where he started; in that cell to await more torture... but not before laying a profound line on Dwight to hopefully shake him back into the reality that he's still human. "I get why you did it... you were thinking of someone else," he says. In a world completely absent of sentimentality such as The Sanctuary, perhaps that's all the prodding Dwight needs to come around to Daryl's side. Or not.
All in all it wasn't the most compelling episode ever, but Norman did a wonderful job conveying Daryl's inner struggle and Austin Amelio (Dwight) was sufficiently emotionally vague to keep us guessing at what he's really thinking. If Dwight is to become the major player he is in the comic, this episode was necessary to establish some of his back story and provide the embers of a change of heart toward favoring Team Family. It was always going to be an uphill battle to convert Dwight from last season's jerk into someone we can sympathize with, so this was an entirely necessary episode whether you liked it or not.
Next week is the long awaited return to Alexandria to catch back up with Rick and crew. It's an extended episode (unheard of for episode four). Don't get too excited; they may have just needed more time to cover that story... it may not be that something particularly riveting happens. It does look like Rick and crew will get their first look at Daryl since he was taken at least, so it won't be a Reedus-drought episode for those of you worried about that.
In the meantime, we have two big events this week... Election Day (GET OUT AND VOTE FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE, LEST WE END UP WITH A NEGAN IN THE WHITE HOUSE), and a long holiday weekend. Stay safe, folks!!
http://www.WalkingDeadFamily.com
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