The Walking Dead – Season 5, Episode 1: “No Sanctuary”

AMC’s The Walking Dead
Season 5, Episode 1: “No Sanctuary”
Directed by Greg Nicotero
Written by Scott M. Gimple

* For a recap & review of the Season 4 finale, “A” – click here
* For a recap & review of the next episode, “Strangers” – click here
In that railway car where last we saw Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and the gang, we see Gareth (Andrew J. West) and his own friends. They hear the sounds of screams outside somewhere. Obviously, their standing changed. Drastically.
Now we hear our survivors talking, Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) telling of what happened when they arrived at Terminus, Daryl (Norman Reedus) speaking of the car which abducted Beth (Emily Kinney). As they prepare with anything possible – belts, a scrap of metal, whatever’s near – to fight off the people who’ve taken them captive.
But they’re ambushed, taken into a building where bodies are being cut up. Bins marked FEED, BURN, WASH. Blood. They’re cannibals. Rick and his people are lined up on their knees in front of a trough. This is where they crack people in the head with a baseball bat before slitting their throats, draining the bodies. The first? The young man, Sam (Robin Lord Taylor), who Rick ran into while he and Carol (Melissa McBride) were scavenging together.
Before Glenn (Steven Yeun) can meet his comic book death, Gareth interrupts with menial numbers, counting shells they’ve used up. Then he questions Rick about the bag he buried. The former sheriff tells him straight: “There‘s guns in it.” He even lists the various weapons in there, too. Telling Gareth there’s a machete in there with his name on it. Terminus runs on a tight schedule, in order to appear welcoming, as sanctuary. So the killing needs to be finished.
Only it doesn’t get done. An explosion sounds outside, the building shakes. Somebody’s attacking Terminus.
Carol and Tyreese (Chad Coleman) are on their way up the tracks with Judith. We see how much more used to surviving Carol is juxtaposed with everyone else, simply because she had to survive an abusive husband. Although I’d argue she and Tyreese are a good pair; he’s had to survive being black in America, now all this shit. Soon, they hear gunfire up ahead, which luckily draws away a horde of walkers that was heading for them.
They bump into a man named Martin (Chris Coy) and take him hostage, he says they’ve got the “boy and the samurai” and the group attacked their people. Carol is prepared to go killing while Tyreese is left with Judith, watching over their captive. She prepares to head on by covering herself in a zombie’s guts. Meanwhile, Martin chips away at Tyreese, taunting that he and the baby are “going to die today.” But I wouldn’t be so sure about that, despite the guy making a couple good points. No reason to keep him around, and that’s the difference between Tyreese and these people at Terminus. He’s not willing to kill indiscriminately. Not yet.
At the Terminus fence, Carol sees Rick and the others bound, carted off elsewhere. She readies her rifle, scoping out the surroundings. Locating a large propane tank, a group of walkers closing in on the compound. She blows a hole in the tank, then sets off a firework to light the blaze. This was the explosion we heard.
Now the fence is open, walkers are headed inside, and she’s given her friends a fighting chance. Carol moves in, covered in guts, like a goddamn bad ass.
Terminus is falling, fast. Inside, Rick cuts himself free then opens up the remaining men. He gets the others loose, though in the railway car the rest of the gang are worried, hearing the madness just beyond the doors. Although Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Carl (Chandler Riggs) assure the group they’ll be okay, long as they’re ready to fight when the time comes. And Michonne (Danai Gurira), she looks ready as ever!
Glenn makes clear to Rick they have to save people locked in a shipping container in the yard: “That‘s still who we are. It has to be.” They do, and only one insane man is left inside. He ends up bitten by walkers. Seeing Glenn insist on keeping their humanity, coupled with Tyreese’s mindset, there’s rays of hope throughout the violence and the insanity. To know human beings CAN keep themselves, despite it being a hard battle.
Rick commandeers an assault rifle, as he and Daryl make their way across the yard to Glenn and Bob at the container. In the compound, Carol finds Daryl’s crossbow and other items, as well as the shrine-like room with all the names of the dead written in a circle. As well as one of the leaders, Mary (Denise Crosby). The two women end up fighting tooth and nail, until Carol gets the drop on her; Mary tries explaining herself, but fuck that. She’s left with a bullet in her and some zombie friends.
Mary: “You‘re the butcher, or you‘re the cattle.”
At the cabin, Martin gets his hands on Judith while Tyreese looks out the window at a pack of walkers. He forces Tyreese to go outside. Holy fuck. Soon enough our man busts open the front door, crawling on top of his captive with a knife. Choosing to beat him brutally instead. To death.
Those left in the railway car prepare, and they’re also curious about Dr. Eugene Porter (Josh McDermitt), his information about the possible cure. He says he was involved with the Human Genome Project, knows how to take out “every last dead one of ‘em.” And this gives them all a boost, a feeling of wanting to survive. Just as Rick opens the door for them to lead the escape. They get themselves over the fence, into the woods. Safety not guaranteed anymore, as if it ever were before. Rick wants to kill the remaining people at Terminus, though the others want to leave; I say kill anyone still breathing.
Then, a reunion – Carol comes out of the trees, into the arms of Daryl. She and Rick making amends for all that’s behind them. And the best one of all? Rick and Carl find Judith again with Tyreese, who has his own moment with Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) after so long. More of the beautiful light left in this ugly, new world.
Now it’s on the road again, onto the tracks. Anywhere but there. Before they go Rick makes sure to write NO SANCTUARY for anyone who might happen to pass. We also get another look at long ago, when Gareth and Mary and their people were surviving the monsters at Terminus; the people who turned them into the monsters they later became.
Intense episode, a great way to start off Season 5. Assures that along with the character growth and the tense plots we’re also going to witness more of the gruesome side of the post-zombie apocalypse, again exemplifying how the humans are worse than the walkers.
“Strangers” is next and moves us into the next phase for Rick & Co.

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The Walking Dead – Season 4, Episode 14: “The Grove”

AMC’s The Walking Dead
Season 4, Episode 14: “The Grove”
Directed by Michael E. Satrazemis
Written by Scott M. Gimple

* For a recap & review of the previous episode, “Alone” – click here
* For a recap & review of the penultimate Season 4 episode, “Us” – click here
Even though Carol (Melissa McBride), Tyreese (Chad Coleman), baby Judith, Lizzie (Brighton Sharbino), and Mika (Kyla Kenedy) are together, things aren’t well. There’s something decidedly wrong about Lizzie, whose treatment of the walkers is something beyond misunderstanding. She is fundamentally flawed, in some way. Mika understands the walkers, but her sister doesn’t seem to see the world in the same light.
For now they’re headed for Terminus, wondering what they’ll find at the end of the tracks. Hope is what it gives them at the moment. Poor Tyreese needs it, he can barely get a proper night’s sleep. Luckily he has Carol around to tend to his wound with some tree sap, help his fever. Still doesn’t know what she did, though. Could cause incredible problems later on.
Carol compares herself to “the Widow Douglas” from Tom Sawyer, as the girls debate which one of them is Tom, which is Huck. A sweet scene in the midst of all that ugliness. Love when the writers toss that in. Maybe some people feel it’s like a soap opera with zombies. Fuck those people; this is a great character study of humanity, that’s what this show does best.
When they’re alone, Carol and Mika talk about being able to kill. The little girl knows her sister is “messed up.” She just doesn’t want to have to kill people; she gets the walkers, but her morality won’t let her, under any circumstances, commit murder. Not ever, not in retaliation or anything else. What Mika illustrates to us is how humanity has changed. She recognises people who murder, for whatever reason now in the post-zombie apocalypse, many of them “weren‘t like that before.”
The group come across a cabin in the woods. Carol suggests they rest a couple days before heading on the road longer to Terminus. On the horizon they see smoke rising, far away, some kind of fire. So they play it safe, checking the grounds thoroughly to make sure they can stay there a bit. Outside the cabin Mika puts down a zombie to save her sister and Judith, sort of proving herself. Meanwhile, Lizzie’s falling deeper into her own mind. And everyone around her, Mika included, can see it getting so much worse.
Mika: “Just look at the flowers like you‘re supposed to”
At night they all settle down, in an actual house, in a warm living room. Even a doll for Mika to play with, a comfy chair where Tyreese can relax, as Lizzie helps Carol shell pecans. Could be longer of a stay than just a few days the way it looks.
The opening scene returns now, in context, with Lizzie shambling around in the yard with a zombie. “She wanted a friend,” the girl screams when Carol puts it down. The girl’s mind can’t handle this world. She’s all but broken in two psychologically. It’s actually horrifying to watch, some of the more emotionally straining moments of The Walking Dead as a whole. So different from the experiences of others we’ve seen thus far.
Tyreese talks about the trust he has in Carol, wanting to live in that cabin the four of them. But you can just see the look in her eyes, she knows that without telling him what she did to Karen then later on it will only be worse if it comes out.
Also, we finally discover – for certain, anyways – Lizzie is the one who was feeding the walkers the rats at the prison. We see more of the girl breaking down, her sister Mika trying to snap her out of it. Then a horde of burned up walkers breaks through the trees, roaming from wherever the fire’s raging. The group fight them off with guns, and even Lizzie starts shooting them. Although afterwards she has a bit of a cry. Maybe a turning point?
Lizzie: “I know what I have to do now”
Later on, Carol and Tyreese bond together on a walk. When they get back to the cabin they find a shocking mess – Lizzie has killed her sister, leaving the brain untouched. She wants her to reanimate. To show the adults what she’s been talking about this whole time. Such a disturbing thing to watch, especially considering Judith is lying feet away. One of the most hardcore things we’ve seen on the series to date.
Tyreese and Carol discuss their options. She says maybe she ought to take Lizzie and leave. They can’t keep her around Judith. Tyreese doesn’t want that. Then they realise “she can‘t be around other people.” There’s only one way out of this predicament.
Out into the woods, Carol takes Lizzie to pick some flowers, for when Mika comes back. And she tells the young girl to look at the flowers, as her sister did before. She raises her gun, firing, putting the girl out of her misery while Tyreese watches tearfully from the window. Definitely the hardest thing Carol’s ever had to do, even above suffering through her marriage to an abuser. Her character is amazing, put through so much and she continues to survive, to thrive.
That night Carol and Tyreese sit quietly in the cabin together, and she reveals to him she killed Karen and David. She slides him the gun, telling him to do what he must. Instead, he forgives, choosing not to forget. But he knows she feels the guilt: “It‘s a part of you now. Me, too.” Then they decide it’s time to leave that place, to go on towards Terminus.
What a spectacular episode. So intense and emotional all around. One of my favourites of the series, definitely. A chilling chapter in the whole journey. “Us” is next and we’re coming up on another one of the most tense, brutally thrilling episodes of the whole show.

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The Walking Dead – Season 4, Episode 2: “Infected”

AMC’s The Walking Dead
Season 4, Episode 2: “Infected”
Directed by Guy Ferland
Written by Angela Kang

* For a recap & review of the Season 4 premiere, “30 Days Without An Accident” – click here
* For a recap & review of the next episode, “Isolation” – click here
Someone is feeding rats to the walkers by the fence. My bet? The empathetic little girl from last episode who believes the zombies are “just different.” Elsewhere, there’s romance. With Karen (Melissa Ponzio) and Tyreese (Chad Coleman) spending time together, falling in love. They take it slow, even in this post-apocalypse life; a really romantic gesture, if there ever were one.
And in the darkness of the bathrooms that sick, dead boy from the Season 4 premiere comes back from the dead. Ready to walk the open halls of the prison, ready to infect everyone else. He stumbles into one of the cells and starts feeding on an unprotected neck. Uh oh. It has begun!
Before the terror begins we get more romance. Glenn (Steven Yeun) takes a mini Polaroid of Maggie (Lauren Cohan), the morning after in their little tower together. She doesn’t like the photograph, of course. But he cherishes it, and will for a long time. Something tangible in this fucked up world to hold onto, to help remember the good in the times of bad.
Rick (Andrew Lincoln), Carl (Chandler Riggs), Michonne (Danai Gurira) – everyone’s going on with their regular day, none the wiser of what’s started happening inside the prison. Part of Rick’s not using his gun isn’t just for him, it’s for his boy. He wants him to be someone else, to not become a hardened killer.
Then everything inside goes to shit in the cell block. Gunfire blazes, people start running. Carl winds up taking a gun out to help Michonne when she’s in trouble; he’s a damn fine shot, too. She ends up injuring a leg, but no bites. And walkers are seriously crowding the fence with all the noise. The integrity of their home is starting to waver. Daryl, Rick, Carol, everyone tries protecting the kids and those in trouble. However, they can’t stop those already bitten. All that’s left for them is mercy.
In the aftermath there’s nothing but loss. Some people turn, others mourn. It’s a brutal experience for all involved. The two little girls – Lizzie (Brighton Sharbino) and Mika (Kyla Kenedy) – they lose their father, who asks Carol to look out for them: “Like they‘re yours.” She promises to guard them. Such a heartbreaking moment. The girls are called to their father’s side to say goodbye, before Carol has to put him down before he turns.
Rick and the others find the young kid who died, which started everything in the cell block. They discover it’s a bad strain of flu, as Dr. Caleb Subramanian (Sunkrish Bala) and Hershel (Scott Wilson) ruminate on the cause, its effects, and what they need to do next to prevent a full-scale outbreak.
Right now all they know is those possibly exposed must be quarantined from the rest. A separation of the sick and possibly infected. The main crew aren’t showing any symptoms; yet. Precautions must be taken. So, they decide on putting the quarantined individuals in the death row cell block.
But there are other issues, such as the fence nearly caving in with the wall of zombies pushing up against it. Everybody’s got more work to do than normal. It’s nice to at least see Rick in ass kicking mode again, even if just for the moment. At the fence, Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) notices the dead rats someone’s been feeding to the walkers.
Beth: “When you care about people, hurt is kinda part of the package.”
Inside, we also see more about Michonne, that she has a sensitivity to the crying of children. There’s absolutely a reluctance in her to be near a baby, to hold one. With Judith in her arms she all but breaks down, then finally hugs the child against her. A sad story lies in Michonne’s past.
We start seeing the two worlds of Rick collide. He has to reconcile wanting to be a peaceful farmer with the other part of life in post-apocalypse living, the death and the killing. He puts a plan into effect, using his pigs to lure the walkers away. As they feed on the helpless animals, it’s like a metaphor for what needs to be done in this nasty world. That it isn’t about growing plants, nor is it about raising livestock and breeding new life; it’s about death, sacrifice, doing whatever they have to do in order to keep living another day. And the sacrifice of the pigs gives the others enough time to reinforce the fence.
Meanwhile, Carol is trying to prepare Lizzie and Mika for the real world, trying to get through to them about the realities they face going forward. She does so in an honest yet touching way.
Carl also tells his dad about what Carol’s been doing under his nose; dad isn’t mad, he’s beginning to realise the kids need to face things head on. He knows this for his own son, too. He can’t shield Carl from reality, or else it will eat him alive. So he gives him a gun again. Then he puts his holster back on, gun at his side. A new dawn for the Grimes family and the crew at the prison. Not that there aren’t tough times coming with the sickness lingering.
When Tyreese goes to find his lady, he only discovers blood. Trails of it leading into the halls. Out in the prison yard, he finds burned corpses. One of which is Karen. Who killed them? Who burned their corpses? All I know is Tyreese is going to rage.
Such a solid follow-up to the premiere of this season. Everything is messed up, and in the same vein there’s more hope again. Also, mystery when it comes to whoever’s burned Karen and the other dead body next to her. “Isolation” is the next episode. Lots of intrigue to come, many intense moments will happen.

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The Walking Dead – Season 7, Episode 16: “The First Day of the Rest of Your Life”

AMC’s The Walking Dead
Season 7, Episode 16: “The First Day of the Rest of Your Life”
Directed by Greg Nicotero
Written by Scott M. Gimple, Angela Kang, & Matthew Negrete

* For a recap & review of the previous episode, “Something They Need” – click here
Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) is on the edge of life and death. I only hope she holds on. Will she? Or has she decided to choose death, once and for all? She has a dream, of being back with Abraham (Michael Cudlitz). In their home at Alexandria. Quickly, she’s back with Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). He’s brought her something to eat. And he has plans to use her to get things “back on track” – whatever that means, we’ll soon find out. She even gets a blueberry, smiley face pancake with eggs and fruit for breakfast. Yum. The sinister plot of Negan begins.
Pic 1A Back at Alexandria, Rick (Andrew Lincoln) has his gun on Dwight (Austin Amelio), who says he only wants things with Negan and The Saviors to end. It’s all pretty tough, Daryl (Norman Reedus) doesn’t like it, neither does Tara (Alanna Masterson). Nobody really trusts him, even though he gives a passionate speech about why he’s done what he’s done. Except Daryl does know more than the others about him, about his wife, what happened with Negan. They also worry about Sasha, that Dwight may be their only lifeline to getting her back, as well as their best way to infiltrate the Sanctuary and end the reign of terror.
So they must prepare, one way or another, for Negan and his Saviors coming soon.
Poor Sasha, she keeps flashing back to Abraham. Not sure which existence is a dream. Flashing to Negan and his plan, his breakfast. Her mind is being absolutely tortured. She sees, more and more, there is no way forward with Negan other than “punishment” and death by Lucille. He wants three to die, but would settle for just one. And for now Sasha agrees: only one.
Negan (to Sasha): “You‘ve got me wrapped around your little finger, y‘know that? And it‘s not a man-woman thing. I mean, if you had a dick I would still have these feelings.”
Maggie (Lauren Cohan) is figuring out what to do with Hilltop, with Gregory (Xander Berkeley) off elsewhere, and Jesus (Tom Payne) happy to help her with anything, glad to have her leading the place. What to do? They need to fight. Just depends on how, what they can contribute to help Rick and Michonne (Danai Gurira) and the rest at Alexandria in taking the fight to The Saviors and Negan. I have faith that Maggie can play a big part, she’s a force.
Then there’s another force of fucking nature – Carol (Melissa McBride). She and Ezekiel (Khary Peyton) and Morgan (Lennie James), her pals from the Kingdom are on the road together. Well, Morgan likes to go it alone, but they’re together in one sense. Ezekiel wants Morgan with them. Once again, the man cannot forgive himself or get past things long enough to help those around him. A trouble dude in troubled times. At least he has Carol and his pals from the Kingdom, and Shiva!
Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh) and her people arrive, garbage trucks and all. They’re an odd bunch; Jadis says she wants to bang Rick later, which neither he nor Michonne like to hear. In other news, Daryl, Rosita (Christian Serratos), and Aaron (Ross Marquand) are wiring an explosive they’ll put to good use soon enough. At the same time, Negan and Co are held up in the road, coming across the downed trees knocked over by Dwight.

Sasha’s decided not to take that pill after all. What she’ll decide in the end ought to be interesting. In the meantime, her friends at Alexandria have readied for the coming fight, even Carl (Chandler Riggs) has himself an assault rifle. Everybody’s braced for war. As The Saviors and Negan arrive, Eugene (Josh McDermitt) is up in front with a megaphone greeting his old friends. Nobody’s impressed with that, particularly after he tells them: “I‘m Negan.” Rather than suffer any fools, they opt to set off their explosive. Instead nothing happens. Jadis and her crew turn their weapons on the Alexandrians, Dwight hops from the truck with Negan. No explosions. No surprise assault. Oh, fuck.
“We win”
The tables have turned, drastically. Rick is not happy, as Negan gloats with everyone on his side. He lays it on thick while the Alexandrians await whatever comes next. Then, Dwight and Simon (Steven Ogg) wheel out a casket. Inside is Sasha, says Negan. He’s going to take all the guns, whatever food they can get. Rick also much choose a victim for Lucille. Plus, Daryl and the pool table go, too. Or else Sasha and a few others die.

Rick demands to see her first. So, Negan opens the casket – we get another flash of Sasha and Abraham: “It‘s always for someone else,” he tells her; a resonant point about The Walking Dead as a series as a whole. We also see Eugene give Sasha an iPod for her ride in the casket. She still has that pill, too. And she takes Abraham’s words to heart, in the worst way possible. She swallows the pill.
When the door comes open, a zombie Sasha appears! She lunges at Negan, then Carl takes the first shot initiating total chaos amongst the crowds. Bullets fly everywhere. Michonne wrestles with the other sniper on the rooftop. Rosita takes a bullet as Tara helps her away from the action. Jadis and Rick face one another down at the wall’s top, then she fires a shot into his side, tossing him over.
With gunfire everywhere, the Alexandrians struggle to stay alive. Jadis brings Rick to Negan, dead bodies litter the streets. The Saviors have Carl, and it seems as if he’s the next target for Lucille. Furthermore, he wants to use the bat on Rick’s hands. “I guess I gotta start all over again,” he taunts Rick. In the distance he also believes he hears Michonne dying. Somehow he stands against the tide, strong: “You‘re all already dead,” Rick tells Negan.
But before any more death can come, Shiva leaps in behind them and takes down a man, scaring The Saviors and Negan away. Ezekiel, Carol, Morgan, Maggie, they all appear to push back the villains. And though the biggest baddie’s run off, he’s taken aback by the tiger, the living widow of Glenn “guns blazin‘” and sent packing with his tail between his legs. Nice to see Morgan and Rick together again, as well. Fighting side by side.
Once the smoke clears, Alexandria still remains standing, though the threats likewise live on. And Michonne, she made it out alive, if not a bit worse for the wear. She hasn’t given up, either. Not one bit.

Back at the Sanctuary, Negan’s wondering how Sasha actually died. Eugene bullshits saying it was probably suffocation in that casket, but the boss ain’t sold. Nevertheless, he’s prepared for war. Things in Season 8 will get fucking ugly.
Although with the force of The Saviors coming down upon them, Rick and Maggie and the rest are also prepared for war. They slipped this time, managing to regain their footing. Next time, I don’t think they’ll go in trusting another group. It’s all on them now. Alexandria is full of life, with all the groups in one place for a while, each ready to fight for the person next to them.

A great season. Loved this season finale, because we ended last season and began this one on a devastating note, a weak one for Rick and everyone around him. At the end of Season 7, they’ve all regained a strength, and some they didn’t know they had, which will serve them well. We needed this progression, and as Maggie points out in her ending monologue this all began so long ago, at the beginning when Rick and each of them decided to stand for the other, to help, to love, to protect, to fight on the one side

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The Walking Dead – Season 7, Episode 13: “Bury Me Here”

AMC’s The Walking Dead
Season 7, Episode 13: “Bury Me Here”
Directed by Alrick Riley
Written by Scott M. Gimple

* For a recap & review of the previous episode, “Say Yes” – click here
* For a recap & review of the next episode, “The Other Side” – click here
An ominous beginning. Ezekiel (Khary Payton), Jerry (Cooper Andrews), and Richard (Karl Makinen) load a truck, but only with a small crate inside. Is this a ploy to mess with The Saviors? I hope so. If not, we’ll find out eventually, either way.
Note: episodes written by Scott Gimple are usually exciting to me, so I expect a good one!
After the credits we’re back with one of my favourites, Carol (Melissa McBride). She’s having some bad dreams. Even if she hadn’t ever killed anybody, just existing in the post-zombie apocalypse world is enough to make you have nightmares on a regular basis. But she struggles with the choices she’s made. She’s a REAL, GENUINE character, instead of having her be another uncaring clone we’ve seen time and time again. This is why she is one of my favourite characters on The Walking Dead.
Meanwhile, Morgan (Lennie James) – another of my favourites – is teaching more of his martial arts style to kids, making sure they’ve got an alternative to just hacking and slashing. And then there’s Carol, who shows up at the Kingdom, hacking and fucking slashing like a true bad ass. She wants to have a chat with Morgan. She wants to know the truth about what’s happened, to her friends in Alexandria, involving The Saviors, so on. But he won’t answer her questions because they’re not his to answer. THIS is a reason I love Morgan, under all his flaws he has a strict moral code, one from which he doesn’t want to stray. Sometimes he does. Overall, he abides by that code more than anyone else in the series, even to his own detriment at times, and foolishly that of others. Still he is an important character, and one who’s been with us since the very start. He’ll have bigger things to do as time goes on.

At the Kingdom, Ezekiel receives word from a woman named Nabila (Nadine Marissa) that their crops have weevils, some of them. They have to get rid of a certain amount to save the rest. A slight setback, though they all seem to have a positive outlook on life in their little corner of the zombie ridden world. Nevertheless, Ezekiel’s mind weighs heavy, definitely in part due to needing to pony up so much produce for Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Perhaps the weevils are also symbolic, of the world outside never failing to work itself inside their Kingdom. Or in general, The Saviors are like weevils, and should Ezekiel choose not to help stamp out that pest, it may ruin everything.
Richard’s still trying to convince others they need to act, or forever deal with the repercussions. He leans on Morgan. Although Morgan’s trying to abide by that code as always it seems like he could sway. Eventually. Right now they’re headed out on a run. On the way they’re stopped by a blockage on the road, shopping carts lining the street. The crew head in to inspect. Out back of a store, they find a sign reading BURY ME HERE next to a grave waiting to be filled with a corpse.
Ezekiel: “It is mere luck we are not all insane”
Benjamin: “It isn‘t luck, Your Majesty.”
Ezekiel: “How‘s that?”
Benjamin: “The world does drive people crazy now. But… you‘ve made us another world.”
Nothing gets any better when they meet with The Saviors. Funny though, how those guys think they don’t bow to any king, president, prime minister. Yet they all say I AM NEGAN like a cult mantra. A standoff ensues once Ezekiel hasn’t brought enough for Negan’s men. Things get very tense. A lesson needs to be taught apparently. So now, one of The Saviors puts a bullet in Benjamin’s leg and sends them back to the Kingdom.

Carol receives them at her place. They put Ben on a table, but the blood is leaking out of him faster than anyone can move. Watching on, everyone, Morgan especially, fears the worst. Then, he’s dead and gone. This is really going to put Morgan’s worldview to the test. He’s on the brink of madness. He sits in the BURY ME HERE grave and nearly cuts his own wrist open wide. But chooses to live.
Turns out that Richard caused the whole thing, having tried to make a deal with Jared (Joshua Mikel) from The Saviors, backfiring when the guy chose to shoot Ben instead. Richard wasn’t able to put anything together, now he got one of his own killed. He tells Morgan the sad story of his days after the zombies took over. Everyone’s got one, it doesn’t make what he did any more sensible.
Can Morgan sit by idle? Can he let Richard use Ben’s death as a way to mobilise Ezekiel, the Kingdom? It isn’t right. This is something he can’t reconcile with his moral code. There’s just no telling what he’ll do with that in the long run.
When the crew bring their goods to The Saviors again, Morgan attacks Richard in front of everybody, choking him and beating him to death. A brutal, primitive moment from Morgan, the first in such a long, long time. Nobody even tries to intervene, for fear of what could happen. Afterwards, he reveals to them what Richard did, why he killed the man. But things can’t go on as they did before. Not for Morgan. This will irreparably change who he is, and in turn what he’ll do going forward. I can see it changing Ezekiel, too.

Morgan takes Richard’s body to the BURY ME HERE grave and buries him. After that he goes on a spree killing zombies with his staff relentlessly. He takes a detour, as well; down to see Carol. He tells her about killing Richard, about what Richard did to get Benjamin killed. Moreover, he offers to tell Carol the truth about what happened to the people in Alexandria – the vicious deaths of Glenn and Abraham, Spencer, Olivia; how Rick and the Alexandrians only live to satisfy Negan these days. He also reveals that Rick & Co are gearing up to fight Negan and his Saviors.
Morgan: “You wanted to know. Now you do.”
With Morgan on the road again, Carol goes to visit Ezekiel. She wants to live in the Kingdom. To get ready for the coming fight. But even just for a moment they’ll live peacefully. Until the time for more blood comes. And that’s very soon.

Great episode! Probably one of my favourites in the back half of this season. I always love Morgan-centred episodes, or anything involving Carol. And I do love to see Ezekiel change, he’s an excellent character worthy of the series.
Excited for “The Other Side” next week!

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The Walking Dead – Season 7, Episode 10: “New Best Friends”

AMC’s The Walking Dead
Season 7, Episode 10: “New Best Friends”
Directed by Jeffrey F. January
Written by Channing Powell

* For a recap & review of the previous episode, “Rock in the Road” – click here
* For a recap & review of the next episode, “Hostiles and Calamities” – click here
pic-1 After the Kingdom, Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and his fellow Alexandrians searched for Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam). Only to come across another group entirely.
Meanwhile, King Ezekiel (Khary Payton), Morgan (Lennie James), Richard (Karl Makinen) and some others meet with a few of The Saviors for a pickup. Although the men from Negan’s (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) camp make a fuss, the King assures them all is well. Then a standoff between Richard and one of the idiot Saviors breaks out of nowhere.
“Where do we go from here?” asks Richard. To which his King replies to hand over his gun. A little bit more violence breaks out when the man oversteps his boundaries, then Morgan and Benjamin (Logan Miller) step in until things even out.
Expect things to get more “visceral” eventually, though. On top of everything Morgan’s lost his staff. Back at the Kingdom, Daryl (Norman Reedus) isn’t happy staying cooped up, particularly with everybody just laying down for the Saviors. “You know what they are,” he scolds Morgan, and wishes Carol (Melissa McBride) knew about Glenn and Abraham. Because if so they’d be headed for Negan to kill them all.
And damn, if that isn’t the truth.
One thing I love is that we’ve got guys using bow and arrow, which is only a step from the crossbow Daryl so excellently wielded. Richard and Daryl could prove to become an exciting team.
pic-2 See, Richard has a plan, and he’s looking for help from Daryl. In his trailer he has weapons. They grab some things then head out to the open road. Note: I don’t say it enough, though everyone who loves the series knows it – the production is all around spectacular, the locations and the props and the cars off the road, they make everything look damn believable.
Turns out that Richard is leading Daryl right to Carol. He’s gone insane wanting to try and turn Ezekiel towards fighting. He wanted to go out there, kill her, use that as a catalyst. Seriously, man? Whoa. In general that’d be horrific, even worse that they had a brief thing together, too. At least Daryl’s there to protect her, while she sits unsuspecting in that cabin.
Daryl: “Anything happens to her, I‘ll kill ya.”
Richard: “I‘d die for the Kingdom”
Daryl: “Then why don‘t you?”
Returning to Rick & Co, they’ve wound up in an odd place. Just as strange as the Kingdom. The Alexandrians are surrounded by people. Led by Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh). So, she goes back and forth with Rick. Although allowing them to see Gabriel, who looks frightened but no worse for wear. Rick tells Jadis and her group of The Saviors, asking for help to fight. She flat out refuses with a simple, direct “no.” Shit goes sideways. Soon, Gabriel has a woman named Tamiel (Sabrina Gennarino) at knife point. All is well once the former priest talks his, and the Alexandrians’, way out of their predicament. He talks up Rick, the group, their abilities. After awhile they take Rick to the “up up up” where Jadis explains their community, a tad, offering their help if he’s worth their time.
pic-3 Which means Rick gets tossed into a pit of filthy garbage. Suddenly an insanely medieval-looking walker appears, blades coming out of it everywhere, in the skull and through the torso. He fights against it with whatever he can. And to stop it he has to pierce his own hand with one of the blades. Then, his foot. As Rick struggles, Michonne (Danai Gurira) tells him to use the walls. When he does he gets the zombie down and stabs its brains in with a shard of glass. HARDCORE, BABY! Rick Grimes. All day.
Rick (to Jadis): “Believe us now?”
Their leader wants guns. A bunch. Then they’ll all rally together, fight the good fight.
And as quick as the community gathered, they disappear. Leaving the Alexandrians to their work ahead. There’s a bit of that old cocky Rick still kicking. I think as much as it helps him to be confident, Michonne and the others feel better when they can see he’s level-headed and fighting instead of spaced out and near insane after some of the more devastating moments in their history. Right now, the team are ready for anything.
Carol receives a visit from King Ezekiel and a few of the Kingdom’s residents; even a cobbler from Jerry (Cooper Andrews). She reluctantly takes the delicious treats, beckoning for them all to leave. She’s busy reading, trying to get on with… life. Not long passes and Daryl comes to the door. A crazy emotional moment. The one person she does want to open the door to see, even if Daryl’s sad that she left, to be on her own.
Later on, Rick tells Gabriel “enemies can become friends” (as they themselves did once) and that’s why, in a world with The Saviors pushing their will onto others, he knew that finding Jadis and their community was more an opportunity to find the enemy of my enemy, that kind of thing, y’know? Regardless, this strange community warns that they better receive guns. Soon. Or else.

Over in the cabin, Carol tells Daryl she couldn’t kill anyone else, she couldn’t watch anyone else be killed. She then asks if everyone’s okay, if they’re hurt. She almost knows the answer without a word. Only Daryl lies: “Everyone‘s all right.” Oh, Carol’s gonna be mad when she finds out the truth. She will, down the road, because you know she’s not staying out of everything permanently. For the time being, she and Daryl sit together as he eats soup, and life is normal life.
That never lasts long. They know it, so when they get those normal minutes in the day they take them, cherish them. Afterwards, Daryl plans on heading for Hilltop, which he does the next morning. To prepare.
Will the Kingdom come to its senses? Will the addition of another community and the power Jadis wields help convince Ezekiel? Will Rick even get the guns for her?
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An awesome chapter in the back half of Season 7! Really loved this episode. Fun, gnarly zombie, Rick being a bad ass, Pollyanna fucking McIntosh! Doesn’t get much better.
Next up is “Hostiles and Calamities” and I bet Negan will return. With a bang.

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The Walking Dead – Season 7, Episode 2: “The Well”

AMC’s The Walking Dead
Season 7, Episode 2: “The Well”
Directed by Greg Nicotero
Written by Matthew Negrete

* For a review of the Season 7 premiere, “The Day Will Come When You Won’t Be” – click here
* For a review of the next episode, “The Cell” – click here
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Morgan (Lennie James) and Carol (Melissa McBride) are being led to safety by a couple men in body armour, the ones they last met in the end of Season 6. On the road they’re overrun by walkers. Injured Carol is toppled off a cart they were carrying her on, though in her usual style she doesn’t stay down long, stumbling off through the nearby woods. Where the fuck are you going, Carol? She sees a woman in a window calling her. Only it’s not a woman, it’s a zombie. Luckily more people on horses show up to clear out the walkers. However, Carol’s only able to see them as people. Oh, man. Her apocalypse has been an absolute nightmare compared to that of others. Morgan keeps marking their way, so that there’s a possibility of heading back. Although I don’t see that happening any time soon.
Finally Morgan and Carol get to take a rest, in a real place again. She lies recuperating in an actual bed. Wind chimes in the window. A sort of surreal moment. Plus, she’s been sleeping a couple days. Only natural. They’ve been brought to a true community, with a bunch of crops, what looks like a schoolhouse, and clearly a clinic of sorts. They’re in the Kingdom, as the locals call it.
Then Carol gets to meet the leader of this place, King Ezekiel (Khary Payton). He’s got a nice pet tiger, too. Named Shiva.
Shit’s about to get real, mama.

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Ezekiel talks like he’s in a Renaissance Fair, referring to their home as “the realm” and y’know, having a tiger around on a big chain, sitting on a throne. He’s definitely a bit much to take in at first. Definitely quite the character, in all sense of the word. No bullshit Carol tells him “I don‘t know what‘s going on in the most wonderful way.” The King lays it out that everyone does their part to earn their keep, and anything the Kingdom reaps is theirs to enjoy. This episode’s title comes from Ezekiel’s analogy of having to take from the well and also replenish the well. For the time being Carol plays into the whole medieval nonsense this guy has going on. I can’t help but wonder, as a man with his own mental illness duo: is this guy okay? Morgan wants to believe, so god damn bad that he’s willing to follow along. Of course we know Carol has no time to deal with this kind of shit, even before she makes it known.
A few of the Kingdom’s members rally together some pigs that went running lose. Side note: lot of great zombie makeup effects that could easily go unnoticed, if you take a second and pause there’s magnificent work to appreciate. On their outing Morgan proves to be a friend of the Kingdom, helping out a younger man surprised by a walker. Ezekiel enjoys Morgan’s skills with the staff; real recognises real and bad motherfuckers know one when they see one. He even gets Morgan to agree to train the kid he helped out, Ben.
Yes, the Kingdom is a place to behold. A local choir group sings a rendition of Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice It’s All Right.” Carol has a look around, nabbing herself a knife on the sly and pretending to be a good little citizen, excited over “cobbler” and other yummy foods compared to possum and the nasty shit they survived on. She’s tricky, man. Dig it. Snags a set of clothes, as well. Looking forward to her getaway.
Some of the Kingdom’s secrets are revealed to Morgan, as we see they hand over their well-fed pigs – full with walker guts – to whom I can only assume are The Saviors.

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Morgan eventually finds Carol gone in the wind. She runs into Ezekiel, though. They end up having a private conversation, as he talks a little straight with her. He knows her game. They speak of the Saviors, about her survival tactics. I love how straight shooting Carol is, not afraid to call Ezekiel a straight up “joke” to his face. She questions his motives for acting like a King, let alone all the semi-medieval speak (he’s just talking fancy he isn’t even talking Middle English or anything). But finally he drops the whole thing, levelling with Carol about how people simply want someone to follow. It’s all a cult of personality. But what if that cult of personality served a good purpose, such as the Kingdom? Sure, he has his ass kissed like Carol calls him out, although they’ve built themselves a community. “I faked it ‘till I made it,” he admits. We find out that Shiva had a near fatal injury. Ezekiel saved her life, which bonded them together eternally. There’s also the fact Ezekiel once did community theatre, so he has them acting chops. At first I thought he was a bit of a nob. Now I actually really like him.
So will Carol stay, or will she (should she) go?
She’s decided to leave, it seems. More effective and happier on her own. Morgan rides with her out onto a nearby road. They say their goodbyes and she heads up to a house where she’d seen the woman earlier. She buries her in the front lawn then makes a fire inside. At the door comes knocking Ezekiel, apple in hand. I have a feeling these two are going to become better friends. Maybe he’ll convince her to come back to the Kingdom. I hope so.

This was a solid episode. Nothing crazy, just bringing us into the world of the Kingdom.
Excited for next week. Following episode is titled “The Cell” and I’m wondering who the focus will be on this time.

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The Walking Dead – Season 6, Episode 15: “East”

AMC’s The Walking Dead
Season 6, Episode 15: “East
Directed by Michael E. Satrazemis
Written by Channing Powell

* For a review of the last episode, “Twice As Far” – click here
* For a review of the Season 6 finale, “Last Day on Earth” – click here
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After the events of last episode, we’re given what seems like a brief flash forward. An ominous one.
Then we’re back to Carol (Melissa McBride), preparing to leave Alexandria. Tobin (Jason Douglas) comes to see her, talking about the recent death of Dr. Denise. As we know what’s happened already, Carol leaving, it’s obvious this death was yet another to take her by surprise, and a tough one.
So in the middle of the night, Carol slips away, off on her own. In the morning, everyone’s up to their usual routine. Glenn and Maggie (Steven Yeun/Lauren Cohan) shower together. Carl (Chandler Riggs) eyes the guns. Daryl (Norman Reedus) is very upset over Denise, obviously taking it to heart. Everybody’s doing their thing. All the while Johnny Cash croons that “It’s All Over” and it makes you wonder.
Up in bed, Michonne (Danai Gurira) and Rick (Andrew Lincoln) wake up together, sharing an apple together, being much too adorable for a couple in the post-zombie world. They also share their thoughts, their worries. A great pair.

Rick: “The world‘s ours. And we know how to take it. Everything we need is right here inside these walls. And we‘re not losing any of it again. I‘m not.”
Michonne: “No you‘re not. I‘m not.”

Daryl takes off, as Michonne and Glenn head off to try find her. Afterwards, Tobin lets everyone know about Carol. This prompts Morgan and Rick to go looking for her. Uh oh. Divided up, heading in different directions.
Meanwhile, on the open road Carol gets her car shot at by some men in a vehicle headed her way. She ends up talking to a man named Jiro (Rich Ceraulo). He tries his best to get information out of her. The men even know about Alexandria down the road. Carol starts to freak out like she did when taken captive alongside Maggie. But she pulls a fast one and guns the men to death, having hidden one in her sleeve. Except one guy, whom Carol stabs through the heart. Wow. I guess Carol had no choice, though, it certainly goes against wanting to not kill people anymore.
This brings us back to the episode opener. Carol guns down Jiro, as he tries to stab her.

Heading towards anywhere Carol may be, Rick and Morgan are buddy-buddy again. At least by necessity. Morgan tries to get cryptic with Rick, and gets straight to the point simultaneously. He basically points out Carol didn’t want to go “West” and instead went the titular “East” because of a difference in opinion. Never have Rick and Morgan been so far apart in the sense of morality. Sure, Morgan’s done things to survive. He hasn’t infiltrated another group’s home and cut their throats while they sleep; Rick has, though. Either way, Rick could learn something right about now from Morgan and his philosophy.
They come across Carol’s massacre. Yet she is nowhere to be found. In other news, one of The Saviors survived her, and wanders off through the fields, likely back to home; to Negan.
Michonne, Glenn and Rosita (Christian Serratos) try their best to find Daryl. When they track him down he’s intent on doing what he ought to have done long before, to kill Dwight (Austin Amelio). It ends up with Rosita heading off, too. Everybody is splitting apart, going their own ways, different directions again.
Glenn and Michonne? They end up found by Dwight. Looks like he really should’ve been killed. One of Daryl’s few mistakes.

Morgan: “People can come back, Rick.”
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On their journey, Rick and Morgan come across a man at a farm. He runs off when walkers crowd the place. As Rick takes a shot at him, Morgan knocks him off balance, so that the shot hits a walker instead. “I don‘t take chances anymore,” Rick says after they have a little argument. Morgan talks about the Wolf he met on the road, the one who lived and showed up in Alexandria. He spouts more “all life is precious” and Rick is fairly pissed at first. But then there’s a sort of understanding between them. Morgan decides to head off on his own looking for Carol, and reluctantly Rick lets him go. More and more, they separate.
In Alexandria, the group are still scattered, with Glenn and Michonne obviously still out on the road. Not by choice. For the time being, Rick and Abraham bond over having someone to love, that it scares them going into the hordes of zombies, but also makes them stronger in a way. Then Maggie starts to have pains, bad ones. Nothing’s good in Alexandria for too long.

When Daryl and Rosita find Michonne and Glenn, they walk directly into a trap.
Then, it appears as if Dwight, who steps out behind the two would-be rescuers, pulls the trigger on Daryl, a load of blood spurting out into the camera’s eye: “You‘ll be all right,” says Dwight, as the camera then goes to black. Wow. Is Daryl dead? Or will it just be a wound to match the one he likely has on his dick from Eugene’s chomp? We’ll have to see.
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Come back with me for the season finale, “Last Day on Earth”, so stay tuned.

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The Walking Dead – Season 6, Episode 14: “Twice as Far”

AMC’s The Walking Dead
Season 6, Episode 14: “Twice as Far”
Directed by Alrick Riley
Written by Matthew Negrete

* For a review of the previous episode, “The Same Boat” – click here
* For a review of the next episode, “East” – click here
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With only two episodes after this left to Season 6, we’re all left wondering: when will Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) rear his terrifying head?
Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) and the rest of the gang are still holding on. After the tense episode last week, Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Carol (Melissa McBride) are safe and sound. But how long are any of them safe, after massacring members of The Saviors in the past couple episodes?
In Alexandria, though, things are going on normally. Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam), Eugene (Josh McDermitt), everyone else goes about their business. Whereas Morgan (Lennie James) is doing cement work; he’s made a nice jail cell. When he and Rick talk again, the latter simply asks: “Why?” Morgan believes it’ll give them “some choices next time“, instead of flat out murder. But Rick doesn’t seem particularly interested. We watch the daily routine go on. Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) watches the wall, Carol still holds her rosary beads. Rosita (Christian Serratos) and Spencer (Austin Nichols) are sleeping together. So, certain things change, others stay the same.
At least Daryl’s got his bike again. That’s one shining bit of light. He and Carol have a little chat together, and Daryl make it clear he’s not above killing, not anymore. This doesn’t sit well with the new woman Carol seems to be becoming.

Daryl: “What‘d they do to you?”
Carol: “To us? They didn‘t do anything.”
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Dr. Denise Cloyd (Merritt Wever) knows of a possible apothecary near Alexandria. She wants to check things out, seeing as how there are drugs likely there. Denise asks Daryl and Rosita to check it out on a run. They don’t want her to go, but she says it’s happening; with or without them. On the way, Denise criticizes Daryl’s standard shifting techniques – a hilarious little scene between a couple characters we don’t really see interact. We also see the difference in those from Alexandria who still aren’t perfectly independent and those from Rick’s group/Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) and his little crew. Yet Denise is a hard ass and wants to push her limits. On she goes with Daryl, as Rosita bucks their plan and heads down some railroad tracks.
Meanwhile, we get a bit of Abraham and Eugene together. The first time in a long while. “I‘ve changed, adapted,” says Eugene: “I‘m a survivor.” For his part, Abraham isn’t exactly sold on that fact yet. Soon enough, Eugene finds the perfect place to “manufacture bullets” – this brings us into a real life situation people might find themselves in after a zombie apocalypse. We know that after so long, to have any weaponry useful, survivors would have to find a way to do just that: make bullets, or die. Or y’know, something with a little less hyperbole. Still, people would need to discover a way to find or produce bullets, else they be left with sticks and sharpened blades and the like. Between all this, Eugene lets Abraham know his “services are no longer required” and tries to take the reins of his own life. Doesn’t fly too hot with Abe. Right after he saved Eugene from a zombie with molten metal on top of his skull; one of the creepiest walkers in a good long time.

Abraham: “That son is some damn fine genuine outside–the–box thinking”

Denise, Daryl and Rosita find the apothecary, and inside a pharmacy. The jackpot – tons of medication, pills, et cetera. Daryl decides they’ll “take it all” and they go about packing things up. Only the sound of walker comes nearby; Rosita and Daryl pass it off, but Denise is curious, perhaps too much so.
When Denise goes to investigate, she finds a zombie, emaciated on the floor with a cast on its leg; on the wall the word HUSH written over and over. In a sink sits a drowned baby, bloody water and all, with a cute little foot stuck out. This event really does Denise in, and though she tries putting up a tough front it obviously affects her deeply. The other two are gentle with her, but Rosita’s kind of raw. Daryl and Denise chat a bit and we glean she likely had a brother named Dennis. Something about him lingers with her.
I dig this episode because we get bits of the other characters, instead of constant focus on only Rick, Carol, the main survivor group. Denise is an interesting character who deserves more attention and recognition, which she gets here. Except often on this series, characters who get too much focus end up in a bad place, either dead or injured. She forbids Daryl and Rosita to help, instead stabbing a zombie when it nearly gets her. She wants to be bad ass, and does anything she can to prove it. Then she pukes a little.

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Denise: “You wanna live, you take chances; that‘s how it works. That‘s what I did.”

Out of nowhere Denise takes a arrow through the back of her head. From the woods come a group of people who have Eugene hostage – the one who stole Daryl’s bike all those days ago, Dwight (Austin Amelio). He’s still got that crossbow, too. His face is a little worse for wear, but he’s alive. They’re looking to make a trade, or do something, as they’ve got Eugene in tow. Along the fringes of the forest is Abraham. Yet Dwight wants “whatever and whoever” they want from inside Alexandria.

Daryl: “I should‘ve killed you.”
Dwight: “Yeah, you probably should have.”

But Eugene pulls out a wild move, biting Dwight in the dick and balls; harder than hell. This allows Abraham a shot, as well as gives Daryl and Rosita a chance to grab some guns. A firefight ensues, and walkers emerge from out the forest.
The survivors walk away. Some of them. With Eugene injured, the remaining trio tries to pick him up and make off back home. Luckily Eugene’s not dead, but he’ll have a bit of an infection. “I apologize for doubting your skills,” Abraham says to him: “You know how to bite a dick.”
The episode finale sees Abraham admit his feelings for Sasha, deciding that even 30 years would be “too short.” At the same time, Carol and Daryl bury Denise near the wall; another death that has affected Daryl deeply, even while he tries not to show it. This episode has been all about the human relationships of Alexandria, as well as the routine of this life – threat, defend, threat, defend. Furthermore, Carol’s finally crumbling under it all and doesn’t want to have to kill for anyone, not anymore. And it seems she’s headed elsewhere. Will that same sentiment take Morgan away, too? The pacifists are coming out, most surprisingly in Carol. So is the choice stay and keep killing, or leave and take your chances? If so, that’s a tough one. For anyone.

Carol: “I can‘t love anyone because I can‘t kill for anyone. So I‘m going like I always should have. Don‘t come after me please.”
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Only two episodes left. The next one is titled “East”, and brings us one step closer to the finale. And also towards the ultimate threat: Negan.

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The Walking Dead – Season 6, Episode 13: “The Same Boat”

AMC’s The Walking Dead
Season 6, Episode 13: “The Same Boat”
Directed by Billy Gierhart
Written by Angela Kang

* For a review of the previous episode, “Not Tomorrow Yet” – click here
* For a review of the next episode, “Twice as Far” – click here
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This episode opens with Carol (Melissa McBride) and Maggie (Lauren Cohan) confronted by members of The Saviors. Then the group calls out to Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus), Glenn Rhee (Steven Yeun) and the others. They command over the radio, essentially opening a hostage negotation for the two women. Off in the distance, Rick says “we‘ll trade” and then needs confirmation Carol and Maggie are fine. Things go on from there, a little rocky on The Saviors’ side, but steady enough. Then The Saviors put bags over Carol and Maggie’s heads for transport.

A nice grim opening leads way to the women being taken to a facility, most likely a slaughter house as we can see KILL FLOOR written on the ground; the only perspective we’re allowed, as Carol and Maggie go through their kidnapping. Impressive directorial choices at the start of this scene, which forces us into their POV until finally inside.
While the others try and plan their next course of action, Carol steadily hyperventilates, looking terrified. McBride is an amazing actor, and the character of Carol’s become one of my favourites of any television series. But one of the leaders of the group, Paula (Alicia Witt) confronts Carol wondering: “Are you actually afraid to die?” They toss Carol rosary beads, which she holds onto tight.

This group, particularly the women, is tough, they seem hardened more than most people. Paula’s slightly scary. Her demeanour is of a broken woman, but one with a lot of power. She and Maggie go back and forth over life, the meaning, babies, et cetera. It’s clear the good faith of Maggie meets its match against Paula, and whatever horrors she’s seen personally along the way.
Paula says a “scout crew” are coming. Meanwhile, their group is breaking down a bit when the man Carol shot before being captured starts to lash out. He hits Polly, then Maggie gets a hit in. Finally, Paula pistol whips him to calm things down. A nice, exciting few moments, also a bit perilous when thinking of Maggie’s unborn child. Carol gets a good few kicks before the pistol whipping then lays there awhile. Something is certainly coming.
Another parallel aside from Carol and Paula is Maggie and Michelle (Jeananne Goossen). Michelle’s got a situation happening with her boyfriend, and so there’s a certain amount of her which resonates with Maggie. Yet they’re on opposing sides, different interests.
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More negotiation over the radio. Rick tries his best. Although, Paula’s clearly set in her ways, a determined person. Then there’s Carol who attempts to talk. Instead of her usual fighting nature. Except after a little while, she asks for a cigarette. Paula continues telling Carol she’s “weak” and unable to stick to her “own principles.” Then goes on about her life before as a secretary, her family, and how in the end she had to kill to life; “I stopped counting when I hit double digits,” she says re: her murder record.
Again, we’re seeing Carol and the rest of the group as what they’ve become, like everybody else: killers. Though they’ve definitely got better hearts in certain cases, Rick and the survivors still kill, they did last episode in relentless fashion. So while they think of themselves as better or more moral than others, they’re no better than most of the survivors of the zombie apocalypse.

Paula: “Are you going to kill me?”
Carol: “I hope not”

Once a supposed deal with Rick begins to turn wheels, Paula and her haggard old lady friend head out leaving Carol by herself. Naturally, using the rosary beads, she gets free, and then releases Maggie. “We have to finish this,” says Maggie sternly. Some sort of crisis is happening for Carol in her head. It’s as if she’s lost her nerve. Meanwhile, Maggie is tougher than nails, and she picks up all the slack; even smashing one woman’s head into jam. A bit surprise for Paula when she comes back to find a bloody scene in the room where she’d last left Carol.
The two escapees come across a walker trap left for them. But Paula shows up firing bullets. She taunts Carol: “You have no idea, the things I‘ve done, what I‘ve given up.” This starts a big fight that ends when Carol shoots Michelle in the head for nearly slicing open Maggie’s stomach. Eventually, Carol kills Paula, too; something we knew had to come. The fighting survivor in Carol will only take so much, even if it wounds her inside.
Still, she and Maggie lure more Saviors to the kill floor where they’re lit on fire and locked in a room. Can we really still totally root for Rick, Carol, Maggie and the others? Are they still the good guys? Not according to Michelle from her conversation with Maggie earlier.

Out into the daylight Carol and Maggie go. They meet up with Daryl, Glenn, Rick and the rest. “They‘re all dead,” Maggie says with a fragile shake in her voice.
At the finale, Rick asks Primo (Jimmy Gonzales) to talk. He claims he’s Negan. Then Rick goes ahead and shoots the man in the head, as Carol watches on gripping her rosary beads until her hand drips blood.
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An exciting chapter in this sixth season. One that asks more questions about the nature of morality, as well as questions whether we can stay fully on the side of Rick Grimes & Company, while they rip and tear their way through the post-zombie apocalyptic landscape. Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan is sure to be a horrifically savage counter-balance to this group when he comes. Stay tuned with me for “Twice As Far” next week.

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The Walking Dead – Season 6, Episode 12: “Not Tomorrow Yet”

AMC’s The Walking Dead
Season 6, Episode 12: “Not Tomorrow Yet”
Directed by Greg Nicotero
Written by Seth Hoffman

* For a review of the previous episode, “Knots Untie” – click here
* For a review of the next episode, “The Same Boat” – click here

This episode begins with Carol (Melissa McBride) in the civilized society of Hilltop, getting food ready, looking through what food they’ve already got on hand. In the woods, she keeps her killing game strong. When she sprays herself with blood – no worries, there’s a bunch of fresh shirts at home. She brings some cookies to Tobin (Jason Douglas) made from beet and acorn: “They‘re amazing,” he tells her after being coaxed into one.In pulls Rick (Andrew Lincoln), Michonne (Danai Gurira), and the others. When Carol asks what’s happening, Rick only tells her: “We‘re gonna have to fight.”
Out comes Morgan (Lennie James). He and Carol have a chat about what he did, re: the last Wolf. She’s obviously more concerned about what Rick said than anything. The time for baking cookies is over.
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Rick holds an Alexandria town meeting. He lays out the problem with The Saviors, including their run-in with Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green), Abraham (Michael Cudlitz), and Daryl (Norman Reedus). Along with him is Jesus (Tom Payne). Rick talks about the deal, the food they’d receive. Nobody seems to object. Yet Morgan alone stands up and asks if Rick is “sure” whether or not they can beat this Negan and The Saviors. Democracy prevails, as Rick says it’s everyone’s choice. Aaron (Ross Marquand) says he’ll do whatever it takes to prevent another massacre in their town.
Carol sits alone with a book she keeps. Recorded with how many people she’s killed; she circles the number 18. We’re starting to see the other side of Carol we’ve not seen in a long time. One who is remorseful and pensive. Carol talks with Tobin who believes her strength comes from being a mother, taking care of others and capable of doing anything necessary; things he says “terrify” him. He cares for her, and they share a kiss.

Rick: “We kill them all”
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Abraham and Rosita (Christian Serratos) argue, as he walks out on her. Harshly, he ends their relationship; clearly in love with Sasha. So sad Abraham handled it this way. Meanwhile, Tara (Alanna Masterson) says the three magic words to Dr. Denise Cloyd (Merrit Wever), and they’re simply afraid to lose each other with the upcoming journey and mission towards Negan.
At the same time, Glenn (Steven Yeun), Maggie (Lauren Cohan), Daryl and Rick get a map drawn for them into Savior territory. The plan is set. Or is it?
With the group out on the road, little groups are splitting up to canvas the area. Rosita and Carol have a chat about the Wolf situation. But we know Rosita has other issues happening. Glenn and Heat (Corey Hawkins) talk about “killing someone“, getting more of the sense of how humanity changes the further people get into the zombie apocalypse.
Soon, Rick outlines what they’re about to do, and they agree to just have a look, check things out. If things look ripe for the taking, they go: “This is how we eat,” says Rick. To the side, Carol tells Rick that Maggie ought not be out there with them; at all. Probably a good point, Carol.
The plan involves bringing The Saviors the head of Gregory. They find a proper walker head, which Rick has to punch a good deal to make look appropriate. Then they’re off. We get a glimpse of The Saviors. Creepy, intimidating dudes. That is until Daryl slits one of their throats, and the operation really gets underway.

The savagery of this episode is incredible. Between the macabre Johny Depp-mold they used for one of the fake Gregory heads, to the sequence where Rick and the others bust into the territory of The Saviors – tons of knives to the head. Everything is gruesome, yet so much is offscreen horror. Brutal and vicious, but not in the sense of showing everything. Worst of all is seeing Glenn first put a knife through a guy’s head, the look on his face is devastating. But like the man he is, prevents Heath from having to do the same, and takes another one for the team.
Abraham and Sasha get ambushed by a man. They kill him, but not before he throws the switch to an alarm. Out on watch, Carol refuses to let Maggie go and help; is this a different side of Carol emerging? One dedicated to life?
Inside the complex a gun battle erupts. Rick and his crew fight for their lives. Blood and bone flies. People are shot, stabbed, beaten to death. Corpses litter the corridors, blood stains everything.
In Alexandria, Morgan is busy building what looks like a cage. Is he going to do what was done to him? Will he try putting Rick in there? Or is possibly for Negan, intended to be a better alternative to murder? We’ll see.
Once the smoke clears, Michonne wonders “which one was Negan” and Rick sort of shrugs. One last person a motorcycle clues the group into someone watching, talking on a radio. And they’ve got Carol. Maggie, too.

The next episode, “The Same Boat”, is bound to be exciting. There could be some trobles ahead. Some very terrifying troubles at that.

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The Walking Dead – Season 3, Episode 7: “When the Dead Come Knocking”

AMC’s The Walking Dead
Season 3, Episode 7: “When the Dead Come Knocking”
Directed by Daniel Sackhelm
Written by Frank Renzulli

* For a review of the previous episode, “Hounded” – click here
* For a review of the next episode, “Made to Suffer” – click here

This vicious entry in the third season starts with Merle Dixon (Michael Rooker) interrogating Glenn (Steven Yeun). As Maggie (Lauren Cohan) listens on in the next room, strapped to a chair, her man is being tortured, as Merle looks to find where they’re living. He wants to find his brother Daryl (Norman Reedus), but wouldn’t mind getting his hands on Officer Friendly, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln).
Speaking of Rick, he’s watching Michonne (Danai Gurira) right outside the fence of the prison. The walkers finally tune in to her being around, so Rick and Carl (Chandler Riggs) stand there as she fends off a group of them. Her wound is getting worse then she passes out, which prompts the Grimes men to intervene finally. Or at least Carl does, anyways, surprising his father. They both head out and clear a path, hauling Michonne to safety and taking in the goods she brought. Best of all, they determine she was shot and not bitten by walkers. They take her inside. At least for now. Rick has her locked out of the cellblock for the time being.
Then, Daryl reveals to them all that Carol (Melissa McBride) is alive. She is happy to see them all, receiving hugs and all sorts of love. But also she discovers the baby without Lori, as she and Rick and Carl each share a few tears. Emotionally charged scene with a whole lot going on, which is something Michonne sees and you can tell it affects her. Perhaps this is a group she might someday be able to belong to, in her own mind.

Slippers and a robe on, The Governor (David Morrissey) receives Milton Mamet (Dallas Roberts) at the door. Apparently Mr. Coleman is ready – whoever that is.
At the prison, Michonne reveals Glenn and Maggie were taken and that’s why she had the formula when she arrived. Nobody trusts her, which is understandable. We do because we’re privileged with all the information. Slowly, she reveals the presence of survivors in the town of Woodbury, talking of The Governor and even calling him a “Jim Jones type“.
Swing back to Merle, who has Glenn’s face beat in, bleeding, purple and puffy. Except Glenn is one tough cookie. He warns of Rick coming to find them, what he’ll do. Merle isn’t afraid, but Glenn says: “We‘ve been on the road. Not hiding in some dungeon.” Problem is he doesn’t know about Andrea, which gives Merle a slight advantage he’ll use in some way.
The plan at the prison is for Rick and a few others to go to Woodbury and find the lost couple. Even the remaining prisoners agree to help, as best they can. Carl and Beth (Emily Kinney) are ready to do their part, too. Everybody is helping and doing what they can. Another brief father-son chat happens between Carl and Rick, starting out surrounding the boy having to finish off his mother; Rick trusts his boy to protect the people at the prison, which is a great thing to see. They end up deciding on a name finally, coming from Carl’s third grade teacher: Judith. A touching moment in between the harshness of their world.

Milton is experimenting in his little lab at Woodbury. The Mr. Coleman he spoke of is a subject they’re using to test where reanimation happens, how it does, and so on. Apparently the older gentleman is doing Woodbury “a great service“, or so The Governor fawns over him. Andrea’s brought in to help things along with Milton, which involves the playing of a record, the slight ringing of a bell and specific commands and statements from Milton. It is all meant to test the boundaries of the zombie virus, the functions of the brain after death and going into the void of the undead. All sorts of scientific stuff Milton hopes to understand. See, Mr. Coleman is dying and they’re trying to figure out more about walkers.
More disturbing things are happening in the room where Glenn is held. Merle lets a walker loose in the room with him. Glenn fights it off, still duct taped to a chair. He manages to bust out slightly and keep the thing from biting him. Very cool scene with an interesting zombie kill, also showing how resourceful Glenn is, and what a survivor he has become over time.
The most disturbing is when The Governor goes to see Maggie, tied to the chair. For a moment I was sure he would inflict some terrible kind of treatment, sexual abuse, on her. It is an ominous few moments between the two, as he puts a terrible fear in Maggie. And us. But she is defiant and refuses to give in to any of his tactics, telling him to do what he wants and to “go to hell“.

Out on the road, Michonne leads Rick and Daryl towards Woodbury. A large horde of walkers comes from the woods to keep everyone busy. With too many bearing down the group slips further into the trees where they find a lodge of some sort. Inside, a rotten dead dog stinks the place up. Better than outside where the dead line every inch of the lodge’s exterior. Rick finds a crazy man sleeping under a blanket on a bed. He threatens everybody’s safety ending in a shot fired and then Michonne putting her sword through the man to prevent walkers getting in. “Remember the Alamo?” quips Daryl looking out at the thicket of walking corpses crowding them inside. They feed the dead man to the walkers out front and sneak through the back, as the distraction works perfectly.
The heat turns up in Woodbury with The Governor threatening death against Glenn in order to illicit a response from Maggie. She obviously gives up the prison, its location, how many survivors are left there, and anything else they need. Sad to hear the information given up, but what else would you do? Maggie clearly doesn’t want to watch the love of her life die, not after everything. And Glenn almost explodes seeing a topless Maggie being treated how she is by The Governor. They’re left alone. Except now things are getting wilder, as The Governor’s paranoia sets in. At the very same time, Rick and his small crew have arrived at the gates of Woodbury. They stand ready to take back their people, to infiltrate.

The episode ends with Andrea strolling back to the new place she seemingly sleeps at night, everything appearing fine, The Governor wringing his hands and worrying about the next step, and just outside Rick Grimes poises to mount his offensive on the sleepy town of Woodbury.

Next episode is titled “Made to Suffer” and is sure to bring plenty of madness, excitement, paranoia, and naturally… death.

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The Walking Dead – Season 6, Episode 9: “No Way Out”

AMC’s The Walking Dead
Season 6, Episode 9: “No Way Out”
Directed by Greg Nicotero
Written by Seth Hoffman

* For a review of the previous episode, “Start to Finish” – click here
* For a review of the next episode, “The Next World” – click here
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Back from the midseason break, we begin as Daryl (Norman Reedus), Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) meet a group of bikers who claim all their things “belong to Negan” as of now. The three survivors are disarmed by the bikers, otherwise known as The Saviours. Of course, Abraham doesn’t immediately hand over his weapons, but after a tense moment he relinquishes his handgun. The Saviours don’t actually give up any information about themselves right away. Mostly they’re concerned with who Daryl, Sasha and Abraham are, what they have to give over, and so on. “Ding, dong, Hell‘s bells,” taunts the main biker after Abraham asks “Who‘s Negan?”
This scene passes by slow and steady, until Daryl finds an RPG and blows the whole crew into the sky with one of its rockets. It almost appears an act of God at first before Daryl steps from behind their truck. A good save. But are they safe for long with Negan clearly scouring the Earth, or his proxies that is, looking for people, their guns, their things?
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Biker: “If you have to eat shit, best not to nibble: bite, chew, swallow, repeat. Goes quicker.”

Cut to where we last left Rick (Andrew Lincoln), Carl (Chandler Riggs), Jesse (Alexandra Breckenridge), Michonne (Danai Gurira) and most of the others – covered in guts, blood, wandering through the walkers and hoping to make it through. As you remember, Jesse’s son Sam (Major Dodson) wasn’t doing so well mentally in “Start to Finish“, but none of them are particularly doing so hot now. Rick tries to get a new plan in order, as they cross through Alexandria, packed full of zombies, every which way. Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) offers to do his best on his part and takes little Judith: “I want to. I have to.” Everyone else sticks to their guns, even young Sam, and Gabriel promises Rick sternly he will keep the baby safe. However, Rick is terrified, no matter how strong he appears on the outside.
They all forge on in a new direction, but the zombies are too thick. Tara (Alanna Masterson), Rosita (Christian Serratos) and Eugene (Josh McDermitt) are still stuck inside, as well as a banged up Carol (Melissa McBride) and a knocked out Morgan (Lennie James), the latter of which wakes up not long after.
They’re all worried for Dr. Denise Cloyd (Merritt Wever) who was taken at the end of the last episode by the Alpha Wolf (Benedict Samuel), who moves her along through Alexandria, headed who knows where; a sinister air surrounds these two making Denise’s time alive a fickle thing at this point.
Meanwhile, Glenn (Steven Yeun) and Enid (Katelyn Nacon) end up at the church to take a moment and try regrouping their strategy. Enid’s trying to hold herself together and be strong, as Glenn tries keeping her hope up. They end up on the same page soon enough; I love the chemistry between Yeun and Nacon, they make a great and unlikely team.

With Rick, Carl and their small group heading past hordes of walkers in the streets, the group is no closer to safety than they were. Each corner there are more and more lining Alexandria. In the mist of it all, Sam sees a small child walking, zombified. Everyone tries to make him move, only a walker bites into his arm, another munches on his skull. Then the screams begin, as Jesse wails for her dead son still holding his hand. It all devolves. Jesse is taken next, as the zombies swarm. The rest of them try staying silent, but it is a tough thing to do. With Jesse’s dead hand still gripping Carl, axe in hand Rick is forced to chop her arm off to get them going.
Then Ron (Austin Abrams) pulls a gun on Rick. But before he can shoot, Michonne kills him with her sword. Everything’s fine. Or is it? Carl turns mumbling “dad” – his right eye shot out, blood spurting. He falls to the ground and Rick picks him up, as he and Michonne run for safety; somewhere, anywhere.
Everybody is in hiding except for Rick, Carl and Michonne. In a basement, the Alpha Wolf looks longingly out the window at the zombies crowding, pushing towards the gunfire. He seems pretty confident about himself, though, Denise reminds him their group is the reason why his “friends are dead“. Every moment that passes I worry for Denise. There’s no telling what this Wolf will do with her or to her after they escape; if they even do. Except right after that he gets bitten. And Denise tells him: “Come with me… I‘ll save your life.”

With Alexandria falling faster every frame, the group is in tatters. Carol and Morgan are inside debating the situation concerning the Alpha Wolf, how Morgan didn’t do anything to benefit the group, but only thought of himself. In turn, Carol believes she should have killed Morgan. These are two hard characters, each in their own right. They’ve both lost children, lots their loved ones, and now they are confronted with one another, at opposite ends of the spectrum.
Carol ends up saving Denise, shooting the Alpha Wolf in the streets and allowing her to get inside one of the houses where others such as Aaron (Ross Marquand) are hiding. Finally, Rick makes it inside with Carl and Denise begins to start makeshift surgery, doing the best she can to save the boy. At the same time, poor Rick Grimes constantly loses people in his life; he and Jesse were just starting to get close, now she and both her boys are gone. Worse, though, is the way Rick always handles these chaotic moments. He goes out on the street with an axe and starts mowing down walkers, one after one, no concern for anything or anyone, least of all himself. Soon, Michonne, Ross and a few others storm the street to help Rick try clearing out the hordes of undead. More people run out and Rick assures everyone: “We can beat ‘em. We can beat ‘em.”
I waited for an episode like this, in terms of a few things. For one, I wanted Father Gabriel to do something to redeem himself – first, he takes Judith to safety; second, he takes up a machete and tells the others God wants them to save Alexandria themselves, he has given them the strength. I mean, I don’t believe in God, but I love that Gabriel takes this stand! Also, the deaths in this episode were pretty damn wild. Even Morgan gives up his “life is precious” bit to put the zombie Alpha Wolf down.

Enid and Glenn do their best to try and save Maggie (Lauren Cohan) stranded up on the wall. However, Glenn finds himself backed into a corner with walkers bearing down on all sides. He fights and fights, pushing them away, firing off rounds.
Out of nowhere, Abraham and Sasha appear at the top of the wall. They gun down the walkers in front of Glenn. Daryl picks him up then things start to take shape. On the streets, Rick and the crew continue fighting. Tara, Eugene and Rosita are out, too; ole Eugene does his damnedest to redeem himself like Gabriel.
Daryl empties a ton of gas out of the army truck and sets a massive blaze with an RPG. The flames start drawing walkers away from the inner part of Alexandria. Rick and Co., with Carol and Morgan in addition, keep killing and killing. The editing in this sequence is absolutely incredible. We go back and forth between walkers setting on fire in the blaze, to all the survivors hacking, slashing, stabbing, slicing, to more walkers pushing through the streets. One of the greatest sequences ever on this series as a whole. Really impressive.

Once the smoke clears, both figuratively and literally, the group remains standing. Zombies lie smashed, chopped, lifeless (again) in the streets. At one of the houses, everybody waits to see how Carl is doing. Rick sits by his side, his son bandaged and resting asleep. The father talks to his boy about “rebuilding the walls, expanding the walls” and he realizes “everything Deanna was talking about… it‘s all possible.” He realized the potential of the group in that town; they are not weak, they are in fact strong, they can band together. “I wanna show you the New World, Carl,” says Rick. “I wanna make it a reality for you. Please, Carl – let me show you.” And then Carl’s hand curls around Rick’s hand, he wakes up. For now everything is fine.

Let’s see how things go in the next episode, titled “The Next World”.

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The Walking Dead – Season 3, Episode 2: “Sick”

AMC’s The Walking Dead
Season 3, Episode 2: “Sick”
Directed by Bill Gierhart
Written by Nichole Beattie

* For a review of the Season 3 premiere, “Seed” – click here
* For a review of the next episode, “Walk With Me” – click here

This second episode of Season 3 starts with Rick (Andrew Lincoln) trying to save Hershel (Scott Wilson), having cut off his leg at the end of the premiere. Everyone works to get him back to a bed, to safety. Carl (Chandler Riggs) lets them back in, where Beth (Emily Kinney), Maggie (Lauren Cohan), Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) and Carol (Melissa McBride) try their best to help save the old man. Everyone is, rightfully, in a panic.
At the door, Daryl (Norman Reedus) waits for the prisoners to show up. The ones who appeared in the cafeteria. They’re obviously curious about what’s been happening. Further than that they have no idea about the world has become outside. T-Dog (Irone Singleton) helps keep them at bay, for now. Rick tasks Glenn (Steven Yeun) with being by Hershel’s side, in case the worst happens. Meanwhile, Sheriff Grimes heads to tackle the prisoner problem head-on. He wants to resolve things amicably, though, keeps a tough edge. He has to give the grim news of the post-zombie apocalypse world to these guys. They’ve only heard the crazy rumours and stories, locked in the prison for “294 days“.

Rick allows the prisoners outside, but their leader Tomas (Nick Gomez) isn’t being easy to get along with, in the slightest. Others like Axel (Lew Temple) and Big Tiny (Theodus Crane) are more willing to go along to get along. Even with all the news Rick breaks to them Tomas is bent on doing things his way. Except Rick tells them how things are now in the prison: “We took it, set you free; it‘s ours! We spilled blood.” Soon, Tomas bows down. Reluctantly and for now. A deal is struck – guns and ammo for food, they each take their own cell block. Rick further agrees to help clear another block for them.
The chopped stump of Hershel is stable. He’s passed out, resting. Carol and Lori try their best to get one another through everything, even joking candidly with each other. Rick, Daryl and T-Dog try to settle things with the prisoners, to ensure more safety going forward. They get their hands on some of the food the prisoners had stashed away. At the moment, things are going steady and looking clear. Although, Maggie is worried for her father while Beth even starts preparing a new pair of pants for her father, one with a leg sewn up. Hershel isn’t out of the choppy water yet, but he’s alive. That’s the best they can ask for now.
Things with Rick and Lori aren’t exactly on the up and up. He doesn’t feel supported by Lori, after the way she seemed to handle the situation with Shane. But now she tries to assure him that she is on his side. All the same, Rick doesn’t exactly feel confident in any of that. The two of them are on shaky ground. Worst time to be, as she prepares to have a baby some time down the road, not too far away.

Lori: “I thought, maybe, you were coming out here to talk about us. Maybe there‘s nothing to talk about anymore.”
Rick: “We‘re awful grateful for what you did.”

Maggie says her goodbyes to Hershel with him lying sickly in bed, surely near death. “Be peaceful,” she weeps, “if it‘s time to go that‘s okay.” It is so heartbreaking to watch, not knowing whether or not Hershel will pull through.
Simultaneously, we’re back in the darkened tomb-like halls of the prison. This time it’s with Rick, Daryl, T-Dog and the prisoners. Seeing Rick and his group juxtaposed with other groups is always so striking. Because they were once so innocent and didn’t know what they know now. They stand back and watch as the prisoners go hacking and slashing at the zombies, not doing anything Rick suggested, such as go for the head, the brain. Almost funny, really.
Back to the cell block, Carl strolls in with a ton of supplies. He went on a run himself, even “killed two walkers“. The boy is trying to take on a bigger role, to be the man. Instead he gets no praise and only crap from his mother, even Beth who suggests he shouldn’t talk back to Lori the way he does. Sad, even though I get the concern. He’s only trying his best to grow up in a tough world, trying to take care of his people, and above all else his mother. In the other block, Big Tiny gets attacked by zombies, stabbed by one of their broken boned hands and bitten. Things with the prisoners then start to deteriorate by the second. But Rick and Daryl are prepared.
When things go to shit in the laundry room, Tomas almost takes Rick out. A little conversation afterwards turns quickly into murder when Rick plants a machete directly in the skull of Tomas. The other prisoners soon agree to let bygones be bygones, and a further deal is struck. Luckily, it looks as if the big trouble with the prisoners is over after Tomas bit the dust. One super tense scene has Rick locking a prisoner outside after he runs, advising: “You better run.” The screams from him outside are bloodcurdling.

My favourite scene is actually when Maggie and the others think Hershel is dead, after it appears his breath stops. For a second, you star to think Hershel might actually come back as a zombie. A few moments pass, after Lori tries giving CPR. Then he comes back: as himself. Dear ole Hershel managed to make it through to the other side and survived his injuries. Not without scaring Lori, the ladies and Carl – who points his gun shakily – near to death.
Rick and the others arrive back at their cell block, everyone crowded around Hershel. And then his eyes open slowly. He wakes again and the light in the eyes of everybody else returns. A glimmer of hope appears in them all, even a hardened Rick who unlocks handcuffs they put on Hershel, in case he did turn. Hershel reaches out for Rick’s hand saying nothing, but the look on his face saying everything. He is thankful for a man like Rick Grimes, who went to extreme lengths in order to save his life. A fitting moment between the two characters.
Also, Carol realizes with Hershel temporarily out of the game, child birth falls on her. She is responsible to make sure Lori’s baby is delivered, and appropriately. She takes to using walkers as practice, using the Cesarean section. But then someone watches her from afar, out in the woods; we see only their perspective. Who is it lurking? A new enemy, a threat?
And Lori still won’t stop giving Rick a hard time. He keeps trying his best, she continually second guesses him, even after he took charge and protected his family at all costs. They are clearly having troubles. Yet these aren’t the days of sitting on the couch, talking out problems. They aren’t going to just get past their differences, but still, Lori harps on their relationship too hard, at every turn. She can never let Rick be, let him get on with everything. Their strain will become the group’s, at some point. Now or later.

The next episode is titled “Walk With Me” and it really begins to amp things up, as a community of survivors elsewhere emerges, and we get more of Andrea/Michonne.

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The Walking Dead – Season 3, Episode 1: “Seed”

AMC’s The Walking Dead
Season 3, Episode 1: “Seed”
Directed by Ernest R. Dickerson
Written by Glen Mazzara

* For a review of the Season 2 finale, “Beside the Dying Fire” – click here
* For a review of the next episode, “Sick” – click here

This Season 3 premiere sees Carl (Chandler Riggs), Glenn (Steven Yeun), Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Rick (Andrew Lincoln) looking for supplies. Afterwards, they all sit around in the living room of a bare, ransacked house. Carl gets ready to open a bunch of dog food. Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies), Beth (Emily Kinney), Hershel (Scott Wilson) and the rest look on dismal, disgusted, but starving. T-Dog (Irone Singleton) soon hears a walker, then the group is forced to flee their momentary squat house.
Out on the road they’re looking for another place to stay. While going for a little hunt, Daryl and Rick find a prison, the one we saw at the end of last season. In the yard are zombies walking around every which way. But there is possibly a place for them to stay. Especially considering they need one badly, with Lori very pregnant, tired, and everyone needing a bit of a rest. They cut their way through the fences towards the prison buildings, using wirecutters, then closing up the hole behind them systematically. Their time on the road, obviously a good few months, has hardened them. Given them order. They’re following Rick in their new system of something other than democracy. It’s working because they seem definitely as a team, particularly without Shane (Jon Bernthal) to throw a wrench into things. Rick has them all setup at the entrance of the prison and ready to execute a plan in order to take the prison for their use.

The plan goes well. Everyone helps to clear the yard of walkers, gunning a ton of them down one after another: “We haven‘t had this much space since we left the farm,” says Carol (Melissa McBride) rejoicing. In the evening, everybody settles down a while and has something to eat. Rick and Daryl patrol, as T-Dog and Hershel talk about plans for the prison yard going forward. They all hope it’ll be a good place for Lori to give birth eventually, too. That’s a major plus, and something they need to be thinking of, as having a child in this wasteland could easily prove to be deadly. Carol and Daryl have a nice, fun little moment together where he massages her shoulder, and she quips it “could be romantic – wanna screw around?” It’s an excellently lighthearted moment in the middle of all the action. Afterwards, Beth also sings a song around the fire, putting everyone in a nice mood for once. Funny – you’d never have seen something like that happen with Shane around, would you? For some reason that’s what comes to mind at the time. Maggie joins Beth soon and the group feels at ease, if only for a short time.
Rick wants to push a bit more and get inside the prison. There’d be a ton of goods left inside: “weapons, food, medicine.” Looks like a tough job ahead, but Rick believes in his people, that they have the fortitude to through with it and make themselves a new home for however long they can.

Now we’re introduced to Michonne (Danai Gurira) – the hooded figure who came across Andrea (Laurie Holden) at the last of the season premiere. But briefly. We’ll come back to her later.
At the prison, the group heads in back-to-back through the yard, up towards the buildings. Lori, Carol, Carl stick back by the fences to lure away as many walkers as possible. There are a ton of walkers in the courtyard, some with body armour having obviously been guards. A tough fight talks the survivors awhile to get through several waves of the living dead. Maggie stabs a zombie trying to kill her then happily looks to Glenn and says: “See that?” Plenty of great practical makeup effects here in “Seed”, showcasing the always amazing work of KNB – the wizards of gore in the past 30 years of horror television and film, Howard Berger and Greg Nicotero. Best one: Rick tears the mask of a guard and his dead face comes off with it, eyeballs rolling around and gunky skin hanging around the skull. Fucking incredible.
Once Rick and Co. make it inside the prison appears fairly deserted. No noise. Not a sound or a soul, anywhere. They move further in, getting the keys from a corpse which lets them into another cell block. Still, no signs of life, or of the undead either. Lots of corpses, gunshot to the middle of the head and the like. Once things are officially cleared the whole gang moves in, settling rooms for themselves and getting prepared to nest a while. Things, for now, are looking good.

We arrive back to Michonne again. She’s taking care of Andrea who is pretty damn sick. Fairly sick herself, Michonne’s zombies are creepy as all hell. They’re on leashes, no arms, no jaws. Weird thing to do. But part of why her character is interesting. Seems like something an insane person would do, yet there she is looking after Andrea, nursing her back to health. She wants to find them a place to stay, somewhere Andrea won’t get sicker, won’t die. They have a tenuous relationship, though, clearly a decent one after months on the road together. Michonne says she’ll “go in a few days“, but hopefully they stick together as a team. Not too long after they head out into the world once more; all four of them. At least Andrea’s not on a leash.
The gang at the prison are loading up on supplies. Plenty of security gear, as well as guns, ammo, flashbangs, et cetera. At the same time, Lori worries about the virus – if the baby is stillborn, it could tear out of her. She wants to discuss with Hershel what happens if she dies in child birth, reminding him many women died before modern medicine much like the situation in which she finds herself. But she asks more of Hershel – to be put down if something like that comes up, to not make Rick do it, as he may never recover. Remember this moment because a situation down the road calls this back to mind.

Heading further into the prison, Rick leads a crew of the survivors and leaves Carl in charge back with a few of the women, including his mother. The depths of the building aren’t as clear as the outer region. Not only are there walkers, the electricity isn’t on anymore, so the place is like a tomb. Glenn smartly spray paints arrows on the wall to mark their walk, almost like an urban Hansel and Gretel. Blood and gore line most of the halls. Bodies lie hacked to pieces. Finally, around one corner is a pack of zombies. The group push back and find themselves on the run.
The horrifyingly unexpected soon happens. First, Glenn and Maggie end up cut off from Hershel, T-Dog, Daryl and Rick. The two hide in a closet together escaping an onslaught of the living dead. Then, while moving along a hall Hershel gets one big bite in his leg. A panic breaks out, as Maggie stumbles onto her father. Rick and Glenn get Hershel out of there. But to what end?
In a split-second decision, Rick decides “Only one way to keep you alive” and hacks off Hershel’s leg above the bite in his calf. Everyone understands, but justifiably are horrified. Blood everywhere. Though, Rick gets the leg off. And up behind them appear several prisoners behind a cage in the cafeteria. Uh oh.

Moving on into the new season, up next is “Sick”.

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The Walking Dead – Season 2, Episode 12: “Better Angels”

AMC’s The Walking Dead
Season 2, Episode 12: “Better Angels”
Directed by Guy Ferland
Written by Glen Mazzara & Evan T. Reilly

* For a review of the previous episode, “Judge, Jury, Executioner” – click here
* For a review of the Season 2 finale, “Beside the Dying Fire” – click here

This penultimate Season 2 episode begins with a speech by Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln). As they bury Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn), he talks of honouring him. They will do things “his way” from now on. They will secure their safety and their future. Things are looking up, despite Dale’s death. Shane (Jon Bernthal) is a bit strange, as usual. T-Dog (Irone Singleton), Andrea (Laurie Holden) and the others are all pretty upset by the loss recently, as is Glenn (Steven Yeun), even Hershel (Scott Wilson) understands the sorrow.
Meanwhile, they’re planning on cutting Randall (Michael Zegen) loose, as was the earliest plan. Shane doesn’t want any of it, still causing friction between him and Rick. This only increases with every passing chapter of Season 2. Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) gives Shane the evil eye on the side, hoping he’ll eventually quit pining for her. He won’t, though.

Rick: “Dale could get under your skin. He sure got under mine, because he wasn‘t afraid to say what he thought, how he felt. That kind of honesty is rare and brave. Whenever I‘d make a decision, I‘d look at Dale. He‘d be looking back at me with that look he had. We‘ve all seen it one time or another. I couldn‘t always read him, but he could read us. He saw people for who they were. He knew things about us – the truth who we really are. In the end, he was talking about losing our humanity. He said this group was broken. The best way to honor him is to unbreak it. Set aside our differences and pull together, stop feeling sorry for ourselves and take control of our lives… our safety… our future. We‘re not broken. We‘re gonna prove him wrong. From now on… we‘re gonna do it his way. That is how we honour Dale.”

Carl (Chandler Riggs) tells Shane about the walker who killed Dale. That he didn’t shoot it. This is a tender moment, if it weren’t for Shane playing would-be-dad to the young boy. He tries to assure Carl it wasn’t his fault and tries to make him hold onto the gun he took from Daryl’s (Norman Reedus) bike. He doesn’t want it anymore, afraid of his own abilities.
Over in the shed, Randall (Michael Zegen) is still being kept tied up. Everybody else is trying to go about their business. Glenn is shacking up with Maggie (Lauren Cohan), or at least she’s trying to make that happen, even if he’s still a bit leery about the situation. Best of all, Hershel is offering up his home as a home for the whole group. He’s come around to having them as a part of his life and hopefully this will continue to be good, for all of them.
On the side with Shane, we find Lori revealing she doesn’t “even know whose baby this is“. A shocking moment, which we all should’ve seen coming. She seems to flop back and forth between things. Here, she’s falling back into things with Shane. Even if it’s only a brief scene. Still, she isn’t doing any favours. Shane now has more reason to believe there is something left for him and Lori.
At the same time, Daryl and Rick come together closer, as the former says there’s “no reason you should have to do all the heavy lifting“. Then there’s more bravado and angst from Shane, who guilts Rick about talking to Carl and so on. A confrontation, a nasty one, is on the horizon. Those who’ve read the comics already know this, but when will it finally come? And how? Will it be the same as in the comics, or different?

Rick sits with Carl, strangely under the noose that was once prepared for Randall. They talk about life, “no more kid stuff” Rick says. This is a new life, a new world, an entirely new existence. He tells Carl how everyone will eventually die, they’re all going to shuffle off eventually. Best of all, the tension with Shane, I think, has prompted Rick into making sure his own son grows into a man, in this new and vicious zombie world. I love these small father son moments which come out now and then, and still do on the series. Well written and also the chemistry between Chandler Riggs and Andrew Lincoln works excellently for their relationship as characters.
The darkness in Shane further leaks out. He goes into the shed where Randall is tied. He sits on a chair in front of the young man, quiet, almost going crazy right there. Something deadly is brewing inside Shane, it’s only a matter of time before it escapes and damages everyone and everything around him. This scene is intense, brooding. You never know what might go down next.
Lo and behold – I didn’t see this coming. Shane takes Randall out in the forest. He asks the kid to take him back to his group, he wants out of the one he’s in currently. There is no future for Shane, as he sees it, among Rick and Lori and the others. But then he ends up breaking Randall’s neck. He smashes his own face into a tree, then heads back to the farm with a concocted story. He makes it seem as if Randall is now a huge threat to the farm and everyone on it.

This all leads Daryl, Glenn, T-Dog, Rick and Shane out to look for Randall. Supposedly. What’s the plan here? It’s as if Shane has something up his sleeve, some nefarious deed in mind. With everyone out looking, Rick by his side, Shane might just soon try to craft the group into one with which he wants to stay.
Sly glances pass between Rick and Shane in the dark of the woods. You can see Rick isn’t so sure what happened, but goes on following his former best friend anyways. The suspense here is unbelievable, as they move deeper and deeper into the trees. Daryl is a tracker and notices some suspicious elements to Shane’s story, finding tracks “in tandem“, blood on a tree, a scuffle of feet. Shane isn’t looking so truthful now. But everyone is at risk currently, out in the open, in the dark, with zombies shambling around all over the place. Not to mention Daryl and Glenn come across the dead body of Randall, finding out he wasn’t killed by walkers, or anything else, except a snapped neck.

Off alone together, Shane keeps Rick going further. Away from the group, separating them more by the minute. Eventually, they come to a big clearing. Rick continually questions Shane about what happened, which doesn’t get a whole lot of response. We see Shane slowly grip his gun in his pants. The look on Rick’s face spells everything out, though, he holsters his own gun. “So this is where you plan to do it,” says Rick to his once best friend. Two great actors toe to toe in this scene makes it something special. Incredibly intense. Those who read the comics know how it ends, yet still there is an air of tension you aren’t sure about. Rick walks and talks with a gun on him. “You won‘t be able to live with this,” Rick tells Shane. “I‘m a better father than you,” Shane replies not long after.
But once Rick unarms himself, all but begging Shane to give it a try, the situation changes. He talks Shane almost into his arms, giving over his gun. Then Rick stabs him deeply: “You did this to us. This was you, not me – not me!”
With Shane bleeding out in the field, Rick is left with what he’s done. Although it wasn’t wrong the act itself had to be tough. They were once the best of friends, for what seemed a lifetime. So much history. All the while, we get cuts to images in the mind of Shane; the zombie virus working its way into the folds of his brain. Then Carl shows up, seeing Rick over the dead body of Shane. He pulls a gun on his father. But not really – he puts a bullet through the undead Shane coming up behind Rick. A heavy act, one that needed doing. Only problem is the gunshots caught the attention of walkers. Lots of them.

The end of this episode is intense, knowing what’s on the verge of stumbling into the farm. Stay tuned with me while I review the Season 2 finale, “Beside the Dying Fire”.

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The Walking Dead – Season 2, Episode 11: “Judge, Jury, Executioner”

AMC’s The Walking Dead
Season 2, Episode 11: “Judge, Jury, Executioner”
Directed by Greg Nicotero
Written by Angela Kang

* For a review of the previous episode, “18 Miles Out” – click here
* For a review of the penultimate Season 2 finisher, “Better Angels” – click here

The top of this episode begins with Randall (Michael Zegen) being tortured in the barn by Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus). He talks about the group he was with before, the savagery they were involved in; includes a very subtle, passing reference to a brutal rape situation. Randall tells Daryl he isn’t like them. Though, how can anyone be sure? In this new world, nobody is what they seem. Nobody.
Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) informs everyone they’ll have to kill Randall. Knowing about his large group, their weaponry and vicious nature, now the decision is all but made. Unfortunately, Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn) doesn’t like it. He believes there must be a method, a process, instead of simply sentencing someone to death, as guilt by association. He pleads with Rick for another twenty four hours, to talk with everyone about what should happen. At sunset the decision will be made.
First, Dale goes to Andrea (Laurie Holden). He wants her to guard Randall for now, in case Shane (Jon Bernthal) decides otherwise. Glad to see there is still humanity left in Dale, not willing to just jump in and kill somebody all of a sudden. He wants to keep their human nature. Others aren’t so sold on being “civilized anymore“. Dale replies: “But keeping our humanity? That‘s a choice.” Reluctantly, Andrea agrees to look after the prisoner. But Shane is ready for what’s coming. He isn’t confused in the slightest, nor is he conflicted: murder is his business. Furthermore, his run-in with Carl (Chandler Riggs), who sneaks into the barn and talks to Randall, shows Shane is NEVER going to let go of his time with Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies). He wants what Rick has; all of it.

Later on, Dale goes to see Daryl (Norman Reedus). The latter has no real problem with what’s about to happen. All the same, Dale tries reaching out. He knows Daryl is a “decent man” and appeals to his better sense, putting in more hints about Otis – Daryl knows Shane killed him, he showed up with the dead man’s gun after all. For his part, Daryl thinks Rick is slightly blind to Shane.
Speaking of Rick, he’s in the barn trying to find a good place for a hanging. Knot tied and everything. He and Lori start looking ahead to the future, the winter specifically. They need to start thinking of warm lodgings and so on. “I know how you feel about the death penalty,” Rick says to Lori, as she wonders if hanging is the best option. She always trust her husband, no matter what. But Rick is still overlooking Shane and the problem of his obsession. It’ll come to a head eventually.
Carol (Melissa McBride) tries comforting Carl about Sophia’s passing, who responds by saying if she believes in Heaven then “you‘re an idiot“. We also get a closer look at Carol. She feels discarded by the group, treated like a crazy person or a wounded grieving mother who will never get over it. True. She can be a valuable member of the group like anyone else, but they all patronize her mostly. Rick has a talk with Carl about what he said, and they have a bit of a real chat for the first time; his son asks about the hanging, but Rick sticks to him having to apologize to Carol.

But Carl wants to strike out on his own. He lifts a gun from Daryl’s motorcycle bag then heads out to the woods. Down by a small creek, Carl finds a walker standing in the open. It turns slowly and stares at the boy, who starts to run. Then he realizes the walker is stuck in the mud. So a closer look is needed.
Hershel and Glenn (Steven Yeun) have a moment together. The older man shows his pocket watch, given to him by his father; he pawned it after a hard night of drinking, then Maggie’s mother bought it back, giving it to him once he got sober. “No man is good enough for your little girl,” says Hershel, “until one is.” With that he hands the watch over to Glenn, a beautiful and touching scene between these two characters. Their bond will also grow stronger, tougher as the series progresses.
Back with Carl and the walker. He’s still throwing things at it, point his gun. He wants to be a man and wants to evolve in this new world. Only he’s still a boy and has things to learn. The zombie gets loose from the mud grabbing Carl by the ankle, sending the boy running. Thankfully he got away. Could’ve easily turned tragic for another child member of the group.

Sunset has come. Everyone gathers to talk about whether Randall ought to be killed, or not. Dale obviously believes it shouldn’t happen. Others approve; even Glenn drops off Dale’s side saying “he‘s not one of us“. Not everybody wants to kill him, but nobody except Dale is adamant about saving the young man. Carol doesn’t want to be a part of the vote, no matter what transpires.
Problem is civilization is collapsing, humanity has become lost. Dale is right. Nobody else sees that, but Dale understands they’re losing humanity quite quick. At a wild rate. They’re becoming the people they are afraid of, those monsters out there on the road they assume will come and pillage the camp. “This new world is ugly, it‘s harsh, it‘s survival of the fittest: that‘s a world I don‘t wanna live in,” Dale pleads with the group. And the only single person to stand by his side in the end? Andrea. He further tries to shame everyone asking if they’ll all watch the execution and nods to Daryl on his way out of the house: “This group is broken.”
So the execution time has come. Rick has Randall blindfolded, on his knees. With Shane and Daryl by his side, Rick asks if he has any “final words“. In the midst of it all Carl shows up and tells him to “do it“. But Rick can’t get the job done with his son watching, he has Randall taken away and tied up again, putting his gun back in its holster.

When Dale goes off on his own there is one of the most tragic scenes yet on The Walking Dead. Had he not been pushed away, disregarded by his group, Dale might live to see another episode. Sadly, he is blindsided by a walker, as he finds a cow torn open and gutted in the field. Dale gets torn open and now we’ve lost yet another good man. So damn busted up to know we won’t get any more Dale in this series. A great character whose time came far too soon. He wasn’t even bit, just disemboweled. If they had a hospital maybe there’d be options. Not out in a field, on a farm, in the middle of the zombie wasteland.
Rick tries to put Dale out of his misery, but can’t bring himself to do it. Daryl does Dale a solid, saying “Sorry, brother” before putting a bullet in his head. Right before it comes Dale nods in solidarity. A heart wrenching, gut churning (literally) scene that took me by surprise. Still does, even after seeing the series over a few times. Worst of all? Carl sees the walker who attacked Dale is the one he didn’t kill down by the water, stuck in the mud. This will only make him feel responsible, which is brutal for a boy his age.

The next episode, Season 2’s penultimate ender, is titled “Better Angels”. Let’s see how this one turns out after a tragic end here.

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The Walking Dead – Season 2, Episode 8: “Nebraska”

AMC’s The Walking Dead
Season 2, Episode 8: “Nebraska”
Directed by Clark Johnson
Written by Evan T. Reilly

* For a review of the previous episode, “Pretty Much Dead Already” – click here
* For a review of the next episode, “Triggerfinger” – click here

The shocking finale of “Pretty Much Dead Already” continues.
After Shane (Jon Bernthal) let the walkers in the barn loose and they were all shot down, Hershel (Scott Wilson) has decided to kick everyone off his land. Rick (Andrew Lincoln) is bumping up against Shane hard, the latter not wanting to accept anything. Carol (Melissa McBride) is distraught over losing Sophia permanently, as Daryl (Norman Reedus) helps to comfort her. Meanwhile, Beth (Emily Kinney) is traumatized after her dead mother is further smashed in the had by Andrea (Laurie Holden). The Greenes have had to go through some terrifying moments since the survivors showed up, and it couldn’t have been easy. Regardless of how you see the zombies and the apocalypse.

Glenn (Steven Yeun) talks with Maggie (Lauren Cohan) about moving on. Now that Sophia’s been found/is dead. Although, her death hits everyone hard. Carl (Chandler Riggs) is upset, too. But agrees his dad did the right thing, putting her out of the endless misery of the undead. Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) seems completely dumbfounded, probably wondering what happens next for their group. Of course they’ve been cast off the farm, she’s pregnant. I don’t blame her for worrying.
T-Dog (Irone Singleton) and the others decide to start burying the bodies, as well as having a service for Sophia to help Carol. “We bury the ones we love and burn the rest,” says Andrea.
There’s still lots of tension between Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn) and Shane. They have got serious problems and they are not going away anytime soon. Shane asks “What have you done for this group?” and chastises Dale for only fixing vehicles, and so on. Not fair – who would fix the R.V. if it weren’t Dale? Then where would they be, especially after being kicked out? Nowhere. Shane’s simply lashing out in every direction because he’s a cowardly, arrogant piece of shit.

Carol: “That‘s not my little girl. It‘s some other… thing. My Sophia was lost in the woods. All this time, I thought. But she didn‘t go hungry. She didn‘t cry herself to sleep. She didn‘t try to find her way back. Sophia died a long time ago.”

There’s trouble brewing with Hershel. He’s in his room, packing a small suitcase. Afterwards, he takes out a flask and lays it there. We know his father was a vicious drunk, perhaps Hershel was at one point, too? I hope this isn’t the road he heads down.
Maggie is worried Glenn might leave when his group does. She wants to figure things out because time is short. Everything is interrupted when Beth collapses in the kitchen. When they take her upstairs, she’s laying in bed as if catatonic. At the same time, Hershel is gone. Nowhere to be found. His flask is still there, but Rick starts wondering if maybe Hershel went out to find a bar. He and Glenn decide to head out and look for the old man.
Carol’s in a bad way. She wanders up to the farm, dirty, in her own world. Shane takes her aside and helps wash all the dirt off, as well as offers his apologies for what happened to Sophia. He says he was “just trying to keep everybody safe” by opening the barn, but what came after was unexpected. All the while, Dale and Lori talk about Shane – the former shares his belief Shane killed Otis while out on that run. Something that disturbs Lori to her core. Shockingly accurate how Dale is about what happened that night. “I knew guys like him,” says Dale, “and sooner or later he‘s gonna kill somebody else.”

On the road again, at least for now, Rick and Glenn head out to find Hershel. Glenn brings up how Maggie confessed her love, though, he thinks it was heat of the moment stuff. Rick assures him she knows her own feelings. Nice little touching moment between two friends, something we don’t often see in this post-apocalyptic world.
At a bar in town they find Hershel. He’s sitting alone, obviously, having a drink. The three men sit together for a time. Hershel feels responsible for what happened with Sophia, that everyone was waiting around to try and find the girl out there somewhere. They talk of a number of things. Mostly, Rick tries to convince Hershel he did nothing wrong; he was only “holding out for hope“.
But one of the scariest part of this episode? Lori takes it on her own shoulders to head out looking for Rick. They need Hershel back, as soon as possible. And out of nowhere, Lori hits a walker then flies into a ditch, flipping the car. Pregnant, no less.

Hershel: “I didn‘t want to believe you. You told me there was no cure, that these people were dead, not sick. I chose not to believe it. But when Shane shot Lou in the chest and she just kept coming, that‘s when I knew what an ass I‘ve been. That Annette had been dead long ago and I was feeding a rotten corpse! That‘s when I knew there was no hope. And when that little girl came out of the barn, the look on your face – I knew you knew it too. Right? There is no hope. And you know it, like I do. Don‘t you? There is no hope for any of us.”

In the middle of conversation, Rick, Hershel and Glenn are stumbled upon by two men named Dave (Michael Raymond-James) and Tony (Aaron Munoz). The five of them sit around together, sharing a drink and toasting to “our dead“. Slowly, the situation gets more and more awkward. Or well, confrontational. Tony and Dave are trying to find a place to rest their heads, but do they have people with them? Rick isn’t so sure they’re totally alone. When the two men find out there’s a farm involved, a place where Rick, Glenn and Hershel stay, they hope to find there way in as guests. No such luck. Rick doesn’t want to take any chances, which is smart.
The conversation whittles away until finally a real confrontation emerges – Rick is forced to pull his gun, blasting Dave and Tony to the grave. An impressive, exciting end to this episode. This is the first time Rick has killed a non-walker, a living person – juxtaposed nicely with the burning of the walker corpses back at the ranch. Very telling moment, which signals this is DEFINITELY a new world where they’ll have to adjust even further.

Next episode is titled “Triggerfinger”. Looking forward to seeing more of what Rick and the others get up to, where they’ll head, what’s next.

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The Walking Dead – Season 2, Episode 4: “Cherokee Rose”

AMC’s The Walking Dead
Season 2, Episode 4: “Cherokee Rose”
Directed by Bill Gierhart
Written by Evan T. Reilly

* For a review of the previous episode, “Save the Last One” – click here
* For a review of the next episode, “Chupacabra” – click here

“Cherokee Rose” starts with Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus), Dale Horvath (Jeffrey DeMunn) and the others coming down from the highway to the farm of Hershel Greene (Scott Wilson). Everybody’s concerned about Carl (Chandler Riggs), who is doing much better now thanks to Hershel.
But the two groups couldn’t be more different. Hershel, his daughters Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Beth (Emily Kinney), Otis’ wife Patricia (Jane McNeill), they all have faith in God. Or at least Hershel does, most of all. They aren’t accustomed to life in the real world having stayed on the farm so long until now. At a funeral for Otis, there’s a moment where Shane thinks back and forth to when he killed the man, giving a sort-of-eulogy, and even though Shane is a bad dude, he is a part of the group with Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln). They are a different breed. Doing what he did to Otis was terribly wrong, but still, there’s a sense of that group knowing certain things need to be done in this post-zombie apocalypse world.

Plans are laid out. Hershel doesn’t want any guns toted on the property; another point of contention between Rick an Shane, though the latter gives up his arms. They’re all heading out, in various shapes and forms, to continue the search for Sophia. One thing I’m always thinking of while watching The Walking Dead is how life is drastically different, not just the living dead, but life for young people in particular. Growing up is tough enough. Now they’ve got to grow up in a world where work is life. You never really rest up, not truly. There is always a plan, always work to be done and a task assigned.
So Dale is off to fetch water. Rick gave a lot of blood recently, and Hershel suggests he take it easy. Shane wants to drive out to the interstate and look for Sophia, as does Daryl only in the woods. Andrea (Laurie Holden) doesn’t like giving up their guns, but Shane isn’t exactly without weaponry; he shows her how to use one, load one, clean one properly, their bond growing slightly.
The biggest thing so far is that Hershel wants to make it known Rick, Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) and the rest of their group are not staying permanently.
A brief moment between Glenn (Steven Yeun) and Lori sees her asking for items when he’s out on a run. It’s hush, hush. Private stuff in the “feminine hygiene section“. Tampons, or something more?
T-Dog (Irone Singleton) wants Dale not to mention some of the things they talked about while on the highway. Dale of course agrees. At the same time, he discovers something in the well before any of them drink the water: a bloated, nasty zombie. They all want to deal with it appropriately, as Shane, Maggie, Lori, Andrea and Glenn show up to put their heads together. Shoot it, risk contaminating the water, if it already hasn’t happened. But how to get it out either way?
Seems they need “live bait” and Glenn gets roped down into the well. When a pipe breaks, he falls nearly into the mouth of the walker. Luckily, he is one crafty fellow. After the others pull him out Glenn has lassoed the zombie for their purposes. Glenn is the man.

Hershel: “In all the chaos you found your wife and boy. Then he was shot and he survived. That tells you nothing?”
Rick: “It tells me God‘s got a strange sense of humour”

Out on their own, Glenn and Maggie ride horses into town. Like two gunslingers. He tries his best to impress her, while Maggie is sort of off in her own world. She was fairly traumatized when T-Dog killed the bloated well zombie. No doubt Hershel and their small group have treated things differently. Glenn and Maggie make their way through some stores to find supplies. He makes things look a bit awkward, looking for Lori’s items but fumbling and holding up a box of condoms. “I’ll have sex with you,” Maggie tells him after his bumbled conversation. A hot, passionate moment begins to build, as these two come together physically and emotionally. Hooking up isn’t simply hooking up in the post-zombie world. You have to connect where you can, when you can, because who knows how long anybody has? For now, Glenn and Maggie enjoy one another.
At the ranch things are going on just fine. Except Rick tells Hershel “you need to reconsider… asking us to leave.” They have a tough, intense conversation about the group’s future on the farm. “Some men do not earn the love of their sons,” Hershel tells Rick. “I don‘t see you having that problem.” Staying is a possibility, though, Hershel wants to think it over. Even further, he casts a bit of mystery saying there are things he will not discuss about the farm, how they do things, or what not. But things seem a little shady, even while Hershel is obviously an upstanding, honest, righteous man. There is something he’s not telling us.
When Glenn and Maggie arrive, we get a passing look between him and Lori when he gives her the item she requested. What is it that has him so confused or upset?
For the time being, Daryl brings Carol (Melissa McBride) a rose and tells her a story: “It‘s a Cherokee Rose. The story is that when American soldiers were moving Indians off their land on the Trail of Tears, the Cherokee mothers were grieving and crying so much ‘cause they were losing their little ones along the way from exposure and disease and starvation. A lot of them just disappeared. So the elders, they said a prayer; asked for a sign to uplift the mothers‘ spirits, give them strength and hope. The next day this rose started to grow where the mothers‘ tears fell. I‘m not fool enough to think there‘s any flowers blooming for my brother. But I believe this one bloomed for your little girl.”

Rick apologizes to Carl for lying earlier about Sophia, all simply in hopes he wouldn’t upset his son. We get a tender scene between them, as Carl remarks he’s just like his father after having been shot. This is where Sheriff Rick gives his hat over to the boy, saying he’s “in the club now“. Almost like a passing of the torch. Bit of a masculinity thing, yet I still love that moment here. It’s a rare and beautiful moment that doesn’t often get to come about because the group is constantly on the run, or trying to survive, or grieving. We have to take the tenderness when it comes and this is certainly one of the best of these scenes in the entire series, especially the first couple seasons. It follows on a little with a quiet follow-up scene involving Lori and Rick, where he puts away his Sheriff’s badge, the uniform. She doesn’t want him to put it all away so soon, too quick. She knows the world still requires a man like Sheriff Grimes, at least from time to time.
Outside, Lori goes by herself to a dark spot in the field. She takes out the item Glenn brought her back and puts it to use: a pregnancy test. Is this going to yield a child? Such a devastating thing in this new world. Also, would it be Rick’s baby, or does it belong to Shane? Nevertheless, the test is positive. Almost a death sentence like back in the Victorian Age and before.

Exciting developments here in this episode. Terrifying ones, too.
Can’t wait to rewatch the next episode, “Chupacabra”; a personal favourite of mine. Stay with me for another review.

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The Walking Dead – Season 2, Episode 3: “Save the Last One”

AMC’s The Walking Dead
Season 2, Episode 3: “Save the Last One”
Directed by Phil Abraham
Written by Scott M. Gimple

* For a review of the previous episode, “Bloodletting” – click here
* For a review of the next episode, “Cherokee Rose” – click here

We start on Shane (Jon Bernthal), shirtless in front of the mirror, shaving his head in the sink. He looks dead on the inside. Cut to him and Otis (Pruitt Taylor Vince) trying to escape the building where last we saw them in “Bloodletting”. Over the top in voice-over, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) tells his wife Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) about the time Shane stole their principal’s car in high school, as they sit with their comatose son Carl (Chandler Riggs). The parents are obviously stressing, worried Carl won’t make it through. But most of all, Loris wants Rick to eat and stay strong for him. For all of them. Also, she doesn’t want to hear him talk about Shane and make her guilt any worse than it already is at the present moment in time.

In the R.V. out on the highway, Daryl (Norman Reedus) can’t sleep. Between Carol (Melissa McBride) crying in bed and Andrea (Laurie Holden) loading bullet clips, there is no rest. Nobody is exactly tired. With Sophia out there and in who knows what sort of condition everybody is on edge and not quite right. Andrea and Daryl go to look for the girl. Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn) isn’t too pleased with their plan, but that’s no matter.
Glenn (Steven Yeun) and T-Dog (Irone Singleton) arrive back at the ranch. They meet Maggie (Lauren Cohan) properly on the porch. She brings them inside and Glenn greets with “painkillers and antibiotics“. Things are fairly grim inside with Hershel (Scott Wilson) tending on Carl, as Rick and Lori still sit close with their son. Everybody is aimed at getting the boy better. “Whatever you need,” T-Dog tells them all. Things are tense waiting to see whether or not Shane and Otis get back, and with the proper equipment. Tough decisions may be on the horizon.
Bits of Daryl comes out. His rough childhood and such, through a conversation with Andrea as they search for Sophia. We can tell that Daryl grew up in a typically hillbilly fashion, absentee parents, almost dangerously. It’s nice to get things like that out of characters without a ton of exposition. Just little stories along the way rather than crowding each and every episode with too much character development. The characters grow organically, at the right pace, which is something I’ve enjoyed greatly up to this point now at Season 2’s first beginnings.

Lori and Rick are at odds. She seems to think death may be better than living in a terrible world with the zombies. Rick is never a quitter, under any circumstances. It’s discouraging for Rick, as a father, a parent. She talks about Jacqui, how she “doesn‘t feel it anymore” and it’s clear that Rick doesn’t “accept that“. More talk of what Jenner told Rick, though, it is subtle and brief. What was it? I know already, but still it intrigues me to see how Rick deals with knowing it the whole time and nobody else does.
Shane is still trying to make his way out of the high school, flooded with the living dead. His ankle in a bad way, backed up against a fence. There’s a feeling of everything falling down on top of him. Groans and grows on every side. Then Otis appears, shooting off a few walkers. Reunited they start making their way to safety. At the ranch, Carl wakes up and things are stable for only a few seconds before he fades off again, seizing savagely.
Maggie and Glenn have a talk together. This is the beginning of a relationship between the two, which starts with him trying to pray, and her interrupting. It’s a nice little talk between the two involving God and the human need to keep on surviving, “no matter what happens“.
Shane does whatever it takes to survive. But in the worst kind of sense.

Hershel decides they have to make a choice on Carl. Shane and Otis don’t arrive on-time, so things have to start going. The I.V is setup, Carl is moved onto a surgical table, and Hershel begins preparations for the surgery. Then Shane appears. He has everything required, all the equipment. No Otis; he died.
Maggie is upset by the death of Otis, as Glenn comforts her. They bond slightly over who they’ve lost and what has happened to each of them since the fall of mankind and society. Her mother is gone, step-brother. Everybody has lost someone and they take comfort in the fact so many of them are going through the same situation. Good news comes as Hershel announces Carl is stable, though, he feels at a loss as to how to break the news to Patricia about Otis. A tragic thing for anyone to have to do.

Shane is getting dark and scary, his eyes showing all the guilt and hate he feels inside; this brings us back to the scene from the opening where Shane shaves his head in the sink. Fitting enough, he is given clothes to wear: they belonged to Otis. I worry about where Shane is headed as a character and exactly what he’s fixing to do, where he is going to go, down which path. He flashes back to the moment where he left Otis, seeing it again. Otis is left behind for the zombies to chew on while Shane takes his opportunity to get away, letting them eat after putting a bullet in Otis’ leg. It is a vicious, cold-blooded moment where the true nature of Shane’s existence shows. He is a bad man who will do whatever serves him best, in that moment. There is nothing he won’t do, as evidenced already by his behaviour with Rick, Lori, and now with what he’s done to Otis. He shaved his head because part of his hair got ripped in the struggle between him and Otis. A disgusting act of cowardice by a twisted man. This is going places.

More and more, the second season of The Walking Dead gets intense. Stay with me and I’ll review the next episode, too: “Cherokee Rose”.

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Father Son Holy Gore

A Place for Long Form Film & Horror Essays

Tag Archives: Melissa McBride

The Walking Dead – Season 5, Episode 1: “No Sanctuary”

The Walking Dead – Season 4, Episode 14: “The Grove”

The Walking Dead – Season 4, Episode 2: “Infected”

The Walking Dead – Season 7, Episode 16: “The First Day of the Rest of Your Life”

The Walking Dead – Season 7, Episode 13: “Bury Me Here”

The Walking Dead – Season 7, Episode 10: “New Best Friends”

The Walking Dead – Season 7, Episode 2: “The Well”

The Walking Dead – Season 6, Episode 15: “East”

The Walking Dead – Season 6, Episode 14: “Twice as Far”

The Walking Dead – Season 6, Episode 13: “The Same Boat”

The Walking Dead – Season 6, Episode 12: “Not Tomorrow Yet”

The Walking Dead – Season 3, Episode 7: “When the Dead Come Knocking”

The Walking Dead – Season 6, Episode 9: “No Way Out”

The Walking Dead – Season 3, Episode 2: “Sick”

The Walking Dead – Season 3, Episode 1: “Seed”

The Walking Dead – Season 2, Episode 12: “Better Angels”

The Walking Dead – Season 2, Episode 11: “Judge, Jury, Executioner”

The Walking Dead – Season 2, Episode 8: “Nebraska”

The Walking Dead – Season 2, Episode 4: “Cherokee Rose”

The Walking Dead – Season 2, Episode 3: “Save the Last One”

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