Walking Dead Episode Review 5.16: Conquer

It is time for the Season Five finale. There have been many ups and the gang reached their lowest point along the way.  Now there’s 90 minutes to go. In every season finale a cast member has died EXCEPT for last season.  The crew has been drinwled more this season than in any other. Who will survive and what will be left of them…

The epidose starts with Morgan, who has been following Rick the entire season.  He gets a gun pointed at him by someone with a “W” carved on his head.  After getting ranted about wolves and natives thinking that humans were once wolves.  He gets ambushed by another guy and Morgan disposes of them with some swift bo work like he was Donatello of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Rick wakes up from his vicious Shane transformation in what constitutes as their prison, with Michone watching him. Glenn, Carol and Abraham arrives. Deanna is having a meeting tonite for anyone who wants to attend. They suspect they are going to try and kick Rick out. They make a plan to take over the camp. Glenn and Michone question Rick on his intentions, but he kicks them out so he can sleep.

Sasha lies down in a hole full of sniped out Zombies in one of the strangest moments of the entire series.

Aaron and Daryl are following the “W” boys around, they run into someone in a red hoody. They arrive at a food distribution center.  Daryl wants to keep tracking red hoody and Aaron wants to go for food.  Aaron wins out. There are trucks that appear to have cans of food in them, But when they open one, it turns out to be a trap as a they have Zombies inside and it releases about 100+ Zombies.  They get trapped in a car. 

Carol threatens Pete with a knife. After saying her piece, she gives him a casserole and asks for her plate back when he’s done.  Total bad ass moment.  Pete drops it and freaks out off camera.  Glenn follows Nicholas outside of camp and the little shit shoots Glenn in the shoulder.  Nicholas runs off, and Glenn catches up and the fight begins.  Nicholas uses Glenn’s injury and some nearby zombies to make a second escape.

Back in the car, Aaron reveals that Daryl when he led Rick and company to the barn during the storm, was the deciding factor to convince him that he should invite Rick’s group to Alexandra.  Daryl offers to create a diversion allowing Aaron to escape but Aaron refuses, opting to fight together.  When they are about to make their move, Morgan shows up and bails them out.  Morgan reveals that he’s lost and shows Daryl the Map and the note Abraham wrote before leaving for Washington.

Father Gabriel goes out for a walk and encounters a walker. He is able to kill it this time, unlike his previous attempts although he cries like a bitch afterwards.  He comes back and for leaves the gate slightly ajar when he attempts to close it.  After a conversation with Michone where Rick explains his original plan and why he chose to hide it from her, he notices something outside his window.  It’s the open gate and he runs to it. He finds blood on it and droplets on the ground. He closes the gate and storms back in distress.

Night fell and the meeting has started.  Rick is nowhere to be found.  Rick’s Comrades defending him, starting with Carol, Abraham and later Maggie. Deanna reveals what Father Gabriel told her.  Since Father Gabriel isn’t here, Jessie scoffs it off as hearsay. Meanwhile, Zombies enter the camp attacking Rick as he attempts to make it to the meeting.

Father Gabriel has Sasha in his house and blames her for the death of Bob.  I have no idea where this came from, because we haven’t seen Sasha in like an hour since her strange nap moment.  I think something got edited out.  They fight and Sasha gets the upper hand, pointing her gun at him.  Maggie arrives and stops Sasha from killing the father. 

Glenn catches up to Nicholas and this time he is able to overwhelm Nicholas. Again though, Glenn spares his life, dragging his ass back to camp.  Michone grabs her sword and starts to carry it again.

The two guys Morgan dispatched at the beginning of the episode reveal themselves again and kill the person in the red hoody.  It appears they called the food plant home and the “Wolves aren’t far.” 

Rick arrives at the meeting carrying a zombie over his shoulder, bloody from his earlier encounter.  Rick explains there wasn’t a guard at the gate and makes his case to stay.  He says at one point he was thinking “How many of you do I have to kill to save your lives.” But he then says that they have to be ready and he’s going to help them be ready.  A drunken and brandished Pete shows up and accidentally kills Deanna’s husband who steps in to try and to stop him.  Deanna after watching her husband die gives Rick authorization to kill Pete which he does.  Morgan, Daryl and Aaron arrive just after Rick does his thing. End Scene.

I consider this finale a disappointment. Nowhere near as bad as season 3’s ending but yea I didn’t like this episode that much.  I know I’ll be in the minority on this because it didn’t really do anything wrong story wise, but it just didn’t feel right.  They did so much right in the previous couple of episodes especially the one where Noah and Aiden died, that my expectations were raised and they didn’t really deliver on them.  They also had an extra half hour to work with and really didn’t use it.  They got 88 minutes in and was like, “Oh shit, we didn’t kill Porchdick yet.” Otherwise it was just a bunch of teases and the same old stuff that is kinda boring at this point and didn’t really leave me all that interested in watching the show again in the fall.

When the biggest shock of the night is finding out that Lennie James, the actor who plays Morgan has an awesome British accent, you have a serious problem!

During the Finales (midseason ones included) I’ve noticed that they tend to show commercials for other movies and tv shows that are coming up in the next few months.  All this did is remind me of what I’d rather be watching, like Better Call Saul, the next Season of Halt and Catch Fire or the new Terminator movie.

Let’s update the “Who I’d Like to See Die List!”

#3 Glenn – Last week Not Listed

I’ve disliked Glenn for a long time and in season 4 he was completely juvenile in his pursuit to find Maggie after the prison was destroyed.  His selfishness nearly got him and Tara killed. He did become less annoying when they reunited, but his inclusion on the list now is because he refused to kill Nicholas, even after he was responsible for Noah’s death and attempted to kill him.  Nicholas should have been killed tonite and it’s Glenn’s fault.

#2 Father Gabriel – Last week 2

They under utilized him as a villain in the finale having him get into a tussle with Sasha for some reason at the end.  This was a missed opportunity but now that they have the wolves, I suppose they have no reason to make Father Gabriel a villain do they?

#1 Sasha – Last Week 1

She could have redeemed herself by killing Father Gabriel or visa versa, but she did have the whole, sleeping with dead bodies thing which was really weird.

For next season they need to kill off about 3-5 major characters and not add anyone new. There are more characters than they know what to do with and not enough time to address all of them properly.  Lost had a similar cast size but did a way better job dealing with it.  Abraham is one of my favorite characters but I’ll be lucky to get 3 minutes an episode of him. Rosita makes cameo appearances and characters disappear for multiple episodes. I don't even know the name of Deanna's husband.

Another place they really dropped the ball was with the Wolves. Nothing about them is particularly threatening, I mean the two jackasses get mauled by Morgan in the opening and they don’t even have a loaded gun.  Are we really supposed to take them seriously? 

When Gareth was introduced in the final episode last season, he was handled correctly. He was able to capture Rick and his crew.  When season 4 ended you were like “Oh, it’s on now!” I do think they killed Gareth off too quickly and he was a good villain. There was none of that this time around. These guys are basically Bebop and Rocksteady and last time I checked The Turtles always beat the piss out of them and usually in the first two stages of the beat-em ups. 

I realize these two guys are probably just scouts and not the leaders of the Wolves but come on you gotta show something. Had they say actually killed Morgan, then that earned you instant credibility.

I doubt the writers have the guts to kill the necessary characters to get things under control. It's become too big for its own good now. There's going to be a Walking Dead - Los Angeles, FMS

Those are my thoughts, feel free to comment below

C.J. Foxx 

Author of Super-Hero Bowl VI
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Walking Dead Episode Review 5.15: Try

After a violent episode which resulted in the gruesome deaths of Noah and Aiden.  What’ll be in store for Rick and his crew tonite as we’re just one episode away from the extended Walking Dead Season 5 Finale.

First let me kick things off my inaugural “Who I hope will Die list!”

To make this list you have to be a somewhat major character and not a proverbial “red shirt”

I consider Nicholas and Pete in this category because they haven't been on the show very long and appear to be earmarked to die at some point before season’s end. Lets’s begin!

#3 Tara

This character is the most useless in Rick’s crew and does nothing but annoy at every step. She's being more productive right now being fixed up by Pete than she was going on runs and talking to Eugene.

#2 Father Gabriel

Father Gabriel’s inclusion on this list is due to his recent turncoat status where he declares Rick to be Satan even though he appears to be in the angel’s light. The Father is actually talking about himself since he abandoned his congregation when the zombie apocalypse occurred, leaving them to either die or be turned. He was so far in the background that I didn’t even know he actually made it to Alexandria, but this brought him back into the forefront.

#1 Sasha

Her character has done nothing but get on my nerves the entire season. We get it, you’re sad that you’ve lost Tyrese and Bob. Maggie lost most of her Family too and she’s sucked it up. Why can’t you? because you are a weak weak person.  When somebody offers to make you your favorite dish, you don’t need to act like a bitch and raise a fit!

Now onto the Episode!

Carol makes a Tuna Casserole for Deanna as she mourns the death of her son, but she burns the card. The Battle lines are drawn.

Each side begins by telling their story. Nicholas spins a complete lie to Deanna and Glenn the truth to Rick.  Carol recants a situation that happened Jesse beaten by Pete and was found by her son Sam. She was out cold and Bleeding. Rick wonders why Carol cares and says you know why, alluding to her deceased Abusive husband Ed and Rick cares because of his obvious feelings. Pete or Porchdick (as my sister calls him) encounters Rick by the river.  He just replies “keep walking“ to a stunned Porchdick as he resists the urge to shoot him with the revolver in his hand.

The next morning Rosita reveals to Michone that Tara is recovering and that Sasha is missing.  She had spent the night in the clocktower and hasn’t been seen. The duo goes out looking for him Michone without her sword. They follow a trail of Zombies with bullets in the backs of their heads until they find her in a frenzy. She’s gone on “Offense” as she just starts shooting every zombie in sight. Michone flashes back to her earlier self and begins shooting other zombies along with Rosita.  Sasha once again throws a fit saying that it all worked out for Michone, completely unaware that Michone lost her son.

Rick confronts Deanna about Pete, who she has known of his behavior and condoning it because he’s a surgeon and has saved many lives. Rick wants to separates him but eventually acknowledges that he needs to kill him before he kills Jessie, but Deanna doesn't consider it civilized and would resort to exile of Pete or Rick if necessary. Rick goes to Jessie saying that wants to protect her before Pete kills her but she’s in denial as well. She shuts him out but Rick comes back in and offers to protect her and the boys, She agrees just as Pete walks in. Jessie stands up to Pete and asks him to leave. Rick and Pete get into a violent fight that involves both of them going though a window which was nicely foreshadowed the previous week.

In B Plot land Carl follows his new girlfriend outside again but she catches him and they frolic in slow motion Ugh. They each admit that they are afraid of each other and have a cute moment in a hollow tree. A Zombie with a W on it’s head shows up and she says this is the zombie’s world and they just live in it.

Glenn confronts a delusional Nicholas and declares he’s saving Nicholas’ life by keeping him stuck in the walls.  Glenn has stepped up and matured quite a bit from how he was just a season ago.  He acknowledges that he could have killed Nicholas outside, but he wants the gang to survive in Alexandria and realized that he couldn't do that if he killed Nicholas.

Aaron and Daryl run into a group of tied up walkers and another with the W carving.

The fight gets vicious as it’s dragged into the street where everyone can get a good strong whiff of it. Pete knocks back Jessie who attempts to break them up and Rick does the same with Carl later on. Deanna stops the fight while a bloodied Rick, threatens to kill Pete and draws his gun. Rick makes a speech saying that they need to live in the real world.  Michone clocks Rick in the back of the head (while wearing the constable outfit) and it ends the episode.

This is another gripping episode and is setting up Rick being exiled from Alexandria. It started off great with the Nine Inch Nails song that opened the episode and it set the tone of unrest between the two camps.  More walkers showed up with the W carved on their heads and that situation I think is going to come to head next week in the season finale and end up keeping Rick in Alexandria.  I’m looking forward to just watching next weekend and hopefully it’ll be good.

C.J. Foxx 

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Walking Dead Episode Review 5.14: Spend

I just got back home from driving 7 hours in a car to attend the Tucson Festival of Books which is an amazing event.  For those who love books and want to be writers one day it's a great event to attend.  I visited and learned with authors from the east coast to the west coast. Thank you to everyone who attended the event and to all of the Volunteers and friends of the festival. This was my second year of attending and I'll be there this time next year!

Now, after the quality of the last couple of walking dead episodes I was losing interest in the show and dreading having to watch the episode.  Last week's show was so uneventful that, I almost didn't put up the review!  When I got in, I really just wanted to take a nap, like I was Garfield the Cat after eating Lasagna.

I'm glad I didn't.

Spend was one of the strongest episodes of the entire series.  The main theme of this episode is about bravery vs cowardice.  It begins with our crew Glenn, Tara, Everybody Hates Chris and Eugene going on a run with Alexandria regulars Aiden and Nicholas. The solar power system is running into issues and they have to get replacement parts. Eugene doesn't want to go as he doesn't think he's qualified.

Once at the supply factory, The team begins to get swarmed by zombies and Aiden accidentally shoots the grenade on a armored-military zombie after Glenn warns him. The explosion injuries Tara and impales Aiden on some shrapnel.  They regroup in another room after Nicholas determines that Aiden is dead.  As it turns out Aiden is still alive and wakes up. Eugene is left with Tara while the three remaining runners go and attempt a rescue.  It is determined at this point that Nicholas and Aiden abandoned their recently deceased comrades referenced a couple episodes ago. Nicholas flat out splits while Noah and Glenn try to save Aiden until they get overrun by Zombie and are forced to flee. Aiden's death is epic and reminded me of Captain Rhodes' demise from Day of the dead

Glenn and Noah catch up with Nicholas and end up stuck on opposite sides of a revolving glass door, surrounded on both sides by Zombies.  Things are dire until Eugene, a self professed coward, brings the Van around having Tara in the back. Ironically the van was blaring out techno music that ironically had earlier said "now you're going to die" before they went on the run.

Glenn comes up with a plan to get the three out of the doorway but before they could implement the plan Nicholas playing the coward card opens the door and it causes Noah to be sucked inside by the Zombies and brutally consumed, while Glenn is forced to watch in an equally amazing kill sequence to the one we just witnessed  which makes up for the fourth grade digital effects they used earlier. I could rant for days that practical effects always more effective than those computer generated ones.  Nicholas at this point attempts to commandeer the van from Eugene but Glenn arrives and pummels Nicholas.

In the "B" plot, Abraham helps with a crew trying to fortify the wall when a walker attack creates another moment of cowardice amongst the Alexandria crew. an errand shot takes out the hydraulics on an elevated arm of an excavator sending a lookout to the ground.  The crew leaves her in the middle of a swarm. Abraham saves the lookout and takes over command of the crew using his military background to show he's a more than capable leader. Later on the foreman of the crew requests to Deanna that Abraham be made permanent foreman, as he is a better fit for the Job.

Daryl gets that motorcycle of his working real fast and heads out with Aaron.

Carol gets mean with the kid who saw her with the guns and happens to be the son of Rick's new girlfriend I mean Jessie who is married to Pete. Rick is investigating who knocked over the owl a second time after Rick did in an earlier episode. Turns out that The kid broke his own owl and his dad, Pete is an abusive person, big shock seeing that he's pretty much buzzed every time you see him and has a real douchie vibe to him. Carol is all to familiar as she was in an abusive relationship at the start of the series.

The episode ends with Glenn returning to camp and Carol saying that Rick is going to have to kill Pete.

Great episode, we experience another shocking death with Everybody Hates Chris "Meeting Mr. Mayhem."

The tension is building between Rick's Crew and the citizens of Alexandria and will only continue once Deanna finds out of her son's death. I forgot to mention that Father Gabriel somehow showed up again. I swear I haven't seen one peep of him since they arrived at Alexandria. He's professed to Deanna, that Rick is the Devil and is hiding behind the light. There are many things left up in the air, including Tara who may not survive the night. This episode did it's job and I'm back on board to watch the remaining two episodes of the season.

Good work!

C.J. Foxx 

Author of Super-Hero Bowl VI
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Walking Dead Episode Review 5.13: Forget

Tonite’s episode is called “forget,” last week’s was called “remember.”  There’s a purpose to that. This episode is more about the acclimation of the group to the new surroundings.  Deanna has a party where everyone Alexandria gets a chance to meet the Rick and his crew.  It’s a bit jarring to see everyone wearing normal clothes and it’s definitely jarring for them to be in the community where there are kids worrying about cookies and stamping people. 

Sasha gets a bit in the opening where she’s shooting framed pictures of people in Alexandra including Aaron.  She’s still grieving from losing Tyreese and Bob.  She later has a freakout at the party because someone who is nice enough to make a meal for her is worried that Sasha won’t like it.  Daryl has a Spaghetti dinner with Aaron and Eric. Michone is trying on one of the constable jackets with her sword at her side and later she retires he blade.  Abraham tries to enjoy himself at the party.  You get the picture it’s awkward.

The main plot (if there even is one) revolves around Rick, Daryl, and an undercover Carol are working behind the scenes trying to create an ammo and gun stockpile.  They are trying an Ocean’s 11 style capper to get some 9mm pistols and ammo to the place where rick left his pistol before they entered Alexandria. It’s decided that Carol is the one to who gets to do the deed.  Daryl is being followed everywhere he goes by Aaron and Rick is too noticeable as a cop.  Carol gets the guns but is nearly caught by a child she threatens to tie to a tree outside camp.

Aaron and Daryl have a bit of a bonding experience outside while trying to wrangle in a black horse named “Buttons.”  They are both considered outsiders, Aaron because he’s a Homersexual and Daryl because well he’s Daryl.  After they have the Spaghetti Aaron invites Daryl to the garage and reveals that he has motorcycle parts and an unfinished chopper.  He also asks Daryl to be his partner on Recruitment missions. Fun twist here because there has been a question about Daryl's sexuality on the show.

The most interesting development (to me anyway) revolves around a zombie Rick finds that has a W slashed on its forehead.

The team is gradually forgetting their lives on the outside and are trying to adjust to their new lives inside the walls. Things are kinda slow right now and many characters have been relegated to background to making cameos appearances.  I thought for a bit that Father Gabriel had been shuffled aside due to some internal “Cousin Oliver” issue since I haven’t seen him at all in like three weeks.  This wreaks of the calm before the storm as we’re just three episodes until the season finale and shit is going to pick up. It better, because if it doesn't I'll just stick to more interesting shows like Better Call Saul.

C.J. Foxx 

Author of Super-Hero Bowl VI
@CJFoxxAuthor on Twitter
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Walking Dead Episode Review 5.12: Remember

Remember when Rick was clean shaven? Yea I forgot too. You used to be able to tell how far into the series you were based on his facial hair. Not anymore!

The gang arrived at Alexandria is a community of $800K homes that got converted into a one of the last safe havens on the planet.  It’s solar powered so they have electricity and it’s a total shock for everyone.  The last time the gang got hot water and electricity was the CDC from season one and that was for one night before the whole place blew up. 

The gang is used to things going bad for each other when something “good” is presented to them.  So much of the episode is acclimating themselves to the new environment. They do so with varying levels of success. Rick, Carol (although she’s clearly playing possum), Michone, and Carl fit in well, Daryl not so much.  This is funny because Daryl is the one major character at this point who wasn’t in the comics in any form, (Noah’s in the same boat, but he’s been on the show for like half a season) and his not fitting in makes sense character wise, but also because he technically wasn’t there.

The leader of the Alexandra is Deanna who was a congresswoman before the outbreak. She takes a liking to Rick immediately and sees potential in him.  The group feels things out, Rick explores and makes acquaintances with the lovely Jessie played by Alexandria Beckenridge.  Carl meets a group of kids and plays video games.  Carol get some new clothes (that Daryl detests) and becomes a cook for older folks of Alexandria.

The Rick shaving was an interesting scene because it reminded me a bit of Shane’s hair cut scene from season two. Shane changed completely after the hair cut and Rick is changing too.  I know the first time I shaved my head it changed things a bit.  Michone even took notice since she had never seen clear cut Rick before. 

Deanna’s son, Aiden is a prick and he leads Glenn, Tara and “Everybody Hates Chris” on a run, he goes over their system but it’s pretty clear that these guys aren’t all that experienced.  They have a dispute over a strung up zombie and it nearly kills them because Aiden insists on recapturing it as it had killed their friends.  When they get back a fight ensues and Glenn pops in the kisser like Jackie Gleason on the Honeymooners.

Deanna makes Rick a constable and we close with Rick in his new police uniform.  Carol and Daryl express worry about them growing weak (which Carl had mentioned earlier), while living in the compound, but he isn’t worried about that.  They can make it and if the people in Alexandra can’t then they’ll take the city as their own.

I liked this episode and in particular the chilling ending.  Rick really did change when he shaved his beard, I was getting worried about the show after how lame the past couple of episodes have been, now at least (as my sister has hinted) I think things are moving again.

C.J. Foxx 

Author of Super-Hero Bowl VI
@CJFoxxAuthor on Twitter
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