One young lady gets skeeved on, another gets a mouth full of metal without the pain of braces. One brother has his past failures haunt him, another just gets haunted by his brother. We introduce a new black character just as another one dies. Lighting crashes.
The Governor gets an eyeful of his future, gates are stormed and we have an underwhelming cliffhanger. All of it is chopped up in this week’s breakdown AFTER THE JUMP… (more…)
Just when I think this show couldn’t get any dumber. It runs an episode like this…
AND KIND OF REDEEMS ITSELF!
By and large this episode of the Walking Dead did what I’d hoped much of the third season would do: revealing Woodbury to be the complex, brutal, fascinating entity in a world otherwise comprised of mindless, plodding death.
Hop in the Hyundai, it’s as big as a whale and it’s about to set sail… AFTER THE JUMP. (more…)
Michonne and Merle get all Hunger Games, but who is Katniss and who is the weird wolf monsters from the end? Andrea continues to have the absolute worst taste in men… or does she. And Rick is on the edge of the madness.
The edge! The edge! The edge!
The return of the Walking Dissection happens just after the jump. (more…)
Zipping through the thin air of Denver, a mystery has been uncovered by a local man and his Fox affiliate. The Unidentified Flying Object(s?) seem to appear every day between noon and 2 p.m. and are not visible to the naked eye. In fact, even the professional cameras caught them and had to slow things down frame by frame to see it (them).
By our math we got two explanations:
There is that of Benjamin Radford of Discovery…
The most likely explanation? A bug or insect, probably a fly or bee.
Or there is the fun one we just made up. Aliens are getting day drunk and driving home, ya’ll!
How else would you account for how erratic that driving is? Furthermore, only 23 minutes away the main brewery for beer magnate Coors. What I am saying is that it’s highly likely these aliens are working night jobs in the greater Denver area. Knocking off their shift around 6 a.m. and somehow sneaking into the source of Rocky Mountain refreshments. They enjoy one too many Cold Certified beverages.
They return to their craft and take off like a Silver Bullet. Zigging and zagging until they break orbit and find their way home. Wasted.
If it didn’t make sense then please check this evidence.
Leadership is a strange concept.
There are elements of leadership we admire and those we apologize for. At best, an effective leader needs to achieve the goals of his community, make tough decisions when they need to be made and advance the cause. The identification and execution of the methods are up to them.
We’ve slowly seen the toll leadership has taken on Rick. He’s become a shoot first murderer multiple times and felt less and less remorse after each incident. Was he right? We think so, or at least we hope so.
So when it comes to The Governor, the major villain of this series, it’s very important that we understand, and sympathize, with his motivations. His actions can remain diabolical, but his sense of duty must remain pure.
He’s the effective leader you apologize for.
Head into Woodbury AFTER THE JUMP… (more…)
The overarching story of The Walking Dead in any form or function in the loss of humanity amongst the living while the dead roam the Earth. In the same way that Battlestar Galactica could be set on a submarine and still be awesome, TWD could be about a global political uprising or a world where all the electricity stopped running. Okay, maybe not the second one.
At it’s best, we watch the characters evolve and measure ourselves against their actions. If they succeed, we find redemption in even their darkest moments. At the very least, we understand why they would do something even if we never would.
This episode was one where we continue to understand how this experience has taken a toll on our survivors. After a long Winter, the seeds sown have born strange fruit.
Read more AFTER THE JUMP… (more…)
William Barnes calls himself an “idea man” and this is one idea we enthusiastically endorse.
Barnes is equipping an airship to hover over the Pacific Northwest in a hope to find the beast they call Sasquatch. His passion stems from a run-in Barnes claims he had with the beast. He wants to record up to 45 minutes of Sasquatch footage in it’s natural habitat. The whole enterprise is called The Falcon Project and here is their mission in their own words:
The Falcon Project proposes to conduct an extensive aerial search for an unrecognized North American primate, a.k.a. sasquatch or Bigfoot, by means of an helium-filled airship, upon which a platform supporting thermal-imaging and high resolution wireless videography equipment is mounted. The Aurora Mk II airship offers major advantages over similar applications with helicopter or fixed-wing aircraft platforms, foremost, stealth and maneuverability.
This isn’t the first time Barnes has talked publicly about his plan since his 1997 encounter with the beast. Here is a news report from 2010.
[Wired]
We are pretty sure this picture from a trail camera in Luneberg County, VA is either not real or some kind of lighting trick. But also… HOLY SMOKES THAT’S A ZOMBIE! THE END IS NIGH!
Thanks to reader J Lowder Jr. for sending this along.
What’s that? You want a terrifying close up? Okie dokie!
Imagine you have an alcoholic uncle. He and your dad were always close and even though he’d embarrass himself sometimes it was always funny and never tragic. But over the last few years things got worse. He borrowed money, burned through friendships, marriages and familial trust.
Then one February he really screws up. Wrecks a car. Loses his job. Needs to borrow even more money. Finally, dad has enough. He’s still his brother, but the trust isn’t there. More specifically, the faith that he could ever pull out of his tailspin finally vanishes.
That Thanksgiving, he shows up. Everyone sits down and as your mother offers a glass of wine to everyone he makes a show of asking for water. In conversation he makes sure to mention that he’s been sober for the last five months. After dinner, he gives your dad a check. Not for everything, but something. He promises there is more where that came from.
Is he a different man? Who knows. But in this moment, he’s doing everything you’d ask of him. Even if it proves fleeing, he’s changed.
Two things are for sure. One, I really enjoyed the Walking Dead season three premiere. Two, this metaphor is too long.
Much more AFTER THE JUMP (more…)
This is the PRO half of PRO/CON pair of columns talking about expectations for the upcoming season of The Walking Dead beginning tonight at 9 p.m. on AMC. Unless you are on Dish Network. In that case you’re screwed.
It has to be better.
There is to much going for it. Too many brilliant ideas. Too much drama.
The Walking Dead finally gets out of the woods tonight. Not only because our characters are finally off that God forsaken farm where all character consistency and plot momentum went to die but because of where they are headed.
Without getting too specific into spoilers, the source material of the first two season has its moments but is comparatively light compared to the books that inspire this season.
Drama is created from and by inspired and interesting concepts and conflicts. Specifically dealt with this season are the follow: the price paid for security, the damage this disease has done to our culture, who we define as a threat and our first glimpse at “normalcy” are themes dealt with in delightful depth.
Compare that to the second season when the major overriding theme appeared to be “are we alive” and “who’s making a stink face”. The source material for those seasons, although different where by and large chase and regroup stories without much beyond the overarching survival themes of the series.
Specifically, The Governor is too good of a character to not get SOMETHING compelling from. I really enjoyed the casting of Phillip Blake and what we’ve seen of the character so far. He has the face of a man you can trust. The kind of man who would take the any loss from his flock very personally.
They’re also returning Season 1’s Michael Rooker as Merle Dixon. Scenes find it very difficult to be boring when you add a coked up racist with a vendetta to the mix. Not to mention what that means for his brother Daryl, who’s found a life for himself as a leader amongst our survivors.
When you add up the potential, it seems impossible to say this season can’t be more entertaining than the last.
And maybe, with a little luck, it’s really special. The ingredients are there, and no matter what my apprehensions I’m eagerly awaiting digging in.
This is the CON half of PRO/CON pair of columns talking about expectations for the upcoming season of The Walking Dead beginning tonight at 9 p.m. on AMC. Unless you are on Dish Network. In that case you’re screwed.
The Walking Dead is big on the metaphorical zombie.
People can be worse than the ghouls roaming the Georgia highways. Friends can lose their humanity. Loved ones can crumble in a moment of weakness and be more dangerous than whatever viral menace mangled the world.
Appropriate to the subject matter of the show, my love for AMC’s biggest hit also underwent a transformation. See, I started writing recaps for TWD because I loved the first season. Loved it. Not only was it enjoyable, but for those who enjoy the horror half of “genre” popular art it was important.
It had the capability to do for horror what Battlestar Galactica did for science fiction. Maybe it would never snag the Emmy hardware but it could perennially stay in the mouths of critics enough to demonstrate what well-told, violent, smart suspense is not something to be ashamed of.
Unlike BSG, Dead has a massive audience. The finale for season two brought in a gargantuan 4.7 ratings, making it the most watched scripted program on cable. In comparison, Battlestar’s superb second season finale Lay Down Your Burdens II brought in a 1.9 share.
I wanted to write about a show I loved.
I wrote about a show that frustrated me on a weekly basis.
My love morphed into a bitter screed ambling across your browser every Monday morning. It’s not how I wanted it. This was supposed to be a celebration, instead I was a “walker” wearing a party hat.
So why write about it again this season?
After all, the undeniable creative influence of Frank Darabount is still missing. And even if you have faith in new honcho Glenn Mazzara, who is to say that the network forces that nickle’d and dime’d the old boss out the door won’t hamper the new ones?
Also, does anyone who had to suffer through a month and a half of looking for Sophia really going to get super excited that the Walking Dead will have even MORE episodes (16, up from 13) in the upcoming season? Who’s ready for three hours worth of Rick trying to find his keys?
Even the exciting, new characters are booby-trapped by expectations.
Michonne has a fairly simple character arc in the comics, well suited for the medium. Will that hold up on this show? How differently will she act.
Meanwhile, has there been a character on modern television more ripe for “BUT IN THE COMICS?!?!!?” fan griping than The Governor? He can’t be a mustache twirling villain, he needs to have his heartbreaking motivation, he needs to be charming, he needs to believe that sexual assault is on the table when discussing torture options.
With the signature storyline of the series now at hand, this is a make or break season for TWD critically. I’d love to say that the evidence suggests you be exited to for it.
I’d love that.
Andrew is live in Cape Canaveral to watch SpaceX launch their first supply mission to the International Space Station and he is joined by CBS’ Molly Wood! Justin is live at TWiT’s studio in Petaluma, CA and is joined by Tom Merritt. Brian is somewhere in Dallas and is joined by his ever buoyant enthusiasm.
Listen to the sounds of the launch! Hear how NASA has taken their social media communication with new heights in an impromptu interview with one of the men who makes it happen! It’s Space! Space! Space! in this commercial free episode.
Special thanks to NASA, TWiT, Leo Laporte, Lisa Kentzell, Tom Merritt and Molly Wood.
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