During and After the Season 7 Premiere

Photos: both from Hollywood Take

Well, I didn't want to be right, but so far I was: Abraham and Glenn. And wasn't this an awfully ironic image of Glenn I found?

Both deserved better. Glenn especially didn't deserve to go like that, with one eye bulging out. He got in a promise to Maggie, and showed he loved her, but...at least Abraham got a few choice words and attitude in there.

I was just asked why I felt Abraham would get it. One: as I mentioned before, he was essentially another Daryl, and that wouldn't last long. Second, he was listed as one of the stars at the Rhode Island Comic-Con, which is often an indicator that one's role has diminished--as Father Gabriel's last year--or that it has ended. His role wouldn't lessen, so it had to be that it was ending.

Now I'm watching The Talking Dead, so let's see how that goes...I'll watch that now...

Touching tributes to the departed. Hard to believe it's been six years for Glenn! And for all of us watching the show. Cool that Yeun said it was an honor for the end to come to him, as it's the catalyst for everything else that happens, and apparently there's quite a bit. Great attitude! I'm watching Michael Cudlitz and going to bed. Thanks for reading!

The Walking Dead -- Conquer

Photo: Greg Nicotero and friend, from the Wall Street Journal's photojournal page, at this website.

Well, this one was sort of anti-climactic.  Interesting towards the end in that you were expecting a climax involving:

--Glen and the townie trying to kill him;

--Daryl and Aaron getting killed in a car by a horde of walkers;

--Rick getting kicked out of Alexandria.

It was also to see any one of several things happening to the good turncoat priest, including:

--Father Gabriel committing suicide by zombie;

--Sasha killing Father Gabriel, or

--Maggie killing Father Gabriel, or

--The Walkers killing everyone in Alexandria because Father Gabriel left the door open, or

--The Wolves killing everyone in Alexandria because Father Gabriel left the door open.

Truth be told, I'm rather surprised Father Gabriel didn't buy the farm in this episode.

And maybe that was the whole point.  Nicotero (who again directed) and Co. are being very smart.  They're mixing it up.  They know we've seen the climactic episode at the end of every season.  It usually ends in a rush and someone dies.  Since they know we know that, this one doesn't.  It's that simple.  It is very smart as an artist to respect the intelligence of your audience.  These guys do.  They, like us, have seen it all before--but they acknowledge that we, the audience, are as knowledgeable of this genre as are they.  So they change some things--the tone, the pace, the endings.  They've seen it all before and they know we have, too, so they change things to keep themselves as interested as us.  They are not just content with the status quo; they know we won't be.

And so Father Gabriel and Sasha get their confession and redemption.  How long that keeps either of them from falling off the cliff is anyone's guess, but the key is that they're still surviving.  One day at a time.

Daryl and Aaron live to fight another day, since Morgan the Jedi arrived just in time.  Aaron will probably clean off that Alaska plate and add it to his collection.  (That was new, by the way: Death by License Plate.  Though those damn things can be razor sharp on the sides, for those of us who've nicked ourselves while putting one on.  And extra points to the guy who thought up the Death by Chain.  Why hasn't that been utilized before?)

Rick doesn't get thrown out of Alexandria, and even gets to kill the wife-beater that he--and all of us--has wanted to get rid of for awhile now.  (Storming the meeting to kill Rick with a machete was ill-advised.  Why not wait until he's alone with him somewhere?)

(How Alexandra Breckinridge's character responds to this bloodletting will be interesting...As is everything, probably, that Alexandra Breckinridge does.  I'm just sayin'...)  And that's a name right out of Jane Austin, too.

Carol gets to out-Machiavell Machiavelli.  While cooking casseroles, demanding the bowl back, and calling Rick "Sunshine" at the same time.  And threatening the wife-abuser at the same time.  She was so angry, you just know she was seeing Ed.  I mean, red.   

Glenn gets to stay Glenn, and not turn into Rick or Daryl, which is probably good for him.  (Though Daryl and Rick--and probably most of us--would've wasted that guy, especially after he let a pile of walkers fall on Glenn.)

And Michonne now gets to carry her sword, which is her third arm, without pretending she's over it.

Which is a good thing, because the big, bad Wolves are coming.  (Get the red poncho guy, now?)

See ya in a few months.  Thanks for reading.

The Walking Dead -- Spend

Yikes!  Rather gruesome entry, far more grotesque than usual lately, just to remind us that all is not well, and that--yes--this is still a zombie apocalypse.

--Alexandria, where everyone's got your back--until they run away from you when things get bad.

--Eugene finally grew a pair.  But would that have happened if he hadn't loved the woman he was saving?

--But he's approaching his character arc, it seems to me.  What significance does he have once Alexandria has been destroyed?  Where is there for him to go after this arc finishes?

--Poor Noah, but poor Glen, too.

--When Noah started talking about building things, and smiling, you knew he was gone.

--If you remember the trauma I went through when Beth bought it, you'll understand what I mean when I say that this episode bothered me because, if she died to save Noah, and Noah dies (so soon thereafter, and like this), what was the use?

--The Lady Senator is not going to believe that her son died the way they say he did.  Especially after Father Gabriel's visit.

--And what are his ulterior motives, exactly? 

--Carol is MESSED UP.

--She's been playing the group for awhile, too.  Perhaps a very long while, since Rick banished her.

--Looks more and more like what I said was true: Rick's group is going to implode the place.

--Though the "Porch D---" is certainly going to get it.  Surprised he hasn't already, actually.

--All might not be what it seems in his house, though.  He's certainly doing something, but is he the only one?

--The boy is nefarious.  Something not right about him.

--I don't mean to sound heartless, but--as per the clip from The Talking Dead--I don't care about Carl's romantic interludes.  There's no blooming love amongst the teens in a zombie apocalypse.

--So if the grenade walker couldn't be killed because he was wearing that headgear, are we sometime going to see the NFL walkers?

--Speaking of zombies, my short story, "The Zombie's Lament," will be published in Black Chaos II, an anthology of zombie stories, out next month.  The front cover looks like this:

There'll be more info to come, once I know it, but if you're interested in zombie stories, please consider it.  My story starts on page 65.  Here's the Table of Contents, via the proof sheets the publisher, Big Pulp, sent me recently with my story:

BLACK CHAOS II:  MORE TALES OF THE ZOMBIE

1 We Always Get Our Man by R.A. Williamson
12 Shackles of Death by Thomas Canfield
16 When It’s Not Love, It’s Hate by Dawn Wilson
25 Sweet Bird of Death by Gary Ives
30 Cold, Lifeless Fingers by James Dorr
34 Dave Vs. the Zombie Apocalypse by Angel Luis Colón
43 Zombees by Gabriel Valjan
53 In the Storm They Came by Sean Ealy
65 The Zombie’s Lament by Steven Belanger
72 Daddy’s Home by Bo Balder
75 The Dead of Summer by Wayne Laufert
80 White Light, White Heat by William Johnson
92 My Mother-in-Law is a Zombie by Anna Sykora
95 Memories by Nu Yang
100 Lucky 43 by Joriah Wood
108 In Reynolds by J. Boone Dryden
115 American Refugees by D. Jason Cooper
121 The Not Tom by Ian Welke
126 Inhuman Resources by Brenda Kezar
136 The Zombie Mike Christmas Special by Terry Alexander
149 Bitter Inheritance by Jason Ridler
157 The Last Circus by DeAnna Knippling
166 In the Age of Resurrection by Deborah Walker
171 Dead Moon by Jim Cort
181 Newsfeed Zombies by Aislinn Batstone

 

The Walking Dead: The Distance

Well, it's been awhile.  I know there've been a few episodes upon the show's return, but if you've been following my other blogs, you know the novel's going well, and time is at a premium.  I'm doing what I can.  So, as it's late, very quickly:

--My guess is that this time, Rick's group will be the reason a utopian society doesn't work.  Maybe they'll be so hardcore, so paranoid, that they either cause the place to implode from within the walls, or the society gets together and forces Rick's group to leave.  Just my guess, and I haven't read the comics, but I'm thinking it's time that Rick's group messes up a good thing for once.

--Having said that, let the record show that Aaron lied about the pictures.  Not about collecting the license plates, or about how many other people were waiting with him--but Michonne did catch him in a lie about the pics, and she knew it.

--Then they splattered through a large group of walkers with the car, and everything else got lost in the shuffle, especially when it turned out that he'd spoken the truth about everything else, even the license plates--but he lied about people in the pics.

--That will come back.

--As will the gun Rick hid near that shack just outside the gate.

--Are Glen and Maggie not going out anymore?  They haven't been close for a helluva long time now.

--Didja notice that Father Gabriel was mostly absent, but understood to be there.  Maybe he was filming an episode of Teen Wolf nearby.  That's the beauty of an ensemble cast.  You show an actor at the very beginning, and maybe at the very end, and it's understood he's been there the whole time.

--Again, I haven't read the comics, but I'm guessing the sound of children playing is from a tape.  Did they hear it once they got inside?  I'm not feelin' it.

--The sound of the kids playing would be to get anyone hesitant inside the gates.  Not necessarily for nefarious reasons.  Same goes for the lie about the lack of people in the pics.

--I'm guessing there aren't a helluva lot of people in this town, and they need the Ricktatorship to protect them.  There's a flaw in the safety of the camp they're not telling Rick's group.  Just a guess.

--If I were a member of Rick's group, and that place was actually a real, safe place, I would still crawl up inside my own house, lock the doors, and be totally okay with myself, my food (every house would have an internal and external garden, and a greenhouse), my books, my writing and, hopefully, my baseball cards.  Forever.  I'd say hello to the rest of the group now and again, when I saw them outside in passing.

--It's not that I don't trust anyone or anything.  It's just that I don't trust anyone, or anything.

The Walking Dead Episode 8 Coda

 Photo: Emily Kinney, from 2014's San Diego Comic Con.  From her Wikipedia page.

I didn't have much to say about last week's episode, so...I didn't say much.  It felt like a transition episode.  Having said that...

--I expected Beth to get it, but I was also surprised because I read somewhere recently that Emily Kinney had just gotten a promotion to full-time status.  You know, her name on the screen with the main actors, not afterwards with the other supporting actors.

--I'm going to miss her a lot because she was the only kind, gentle character.  I mean, the only one.

--Sad to also see Emily Kinney cry on Talking Dead afterwards.  A lot.  Good to see that the show means as much to the actors as it does to the fans.  I don't say this much about celebrities, but Emily Kinney comes across as someone who's most probably a very nice person in real life, too.

--Though Holden Caulfield pointed out that people who cry a lot may also be a harsh, terrible person.

--But I'm guessing that's not true in her case.

--Overall I was more surprised with Rick purposely hitting Bob with the car.  And then telling his corpse to shut up.  I mean, damn.

--What did the guy say on Talking Dead that shocked the hell out of Robert Kirkman and Chris Hardwicke?  It got censored out, and it seemed long.  Takes a lot to throw off a comedian who talks a thousand miles an hour, but that's what happened to Hardwicke.  Anyway, I rewound it and tried to figure out what he said, but I couldn't.  I have a guess, but...If someone can leave a comment and let me know (and use asterisks, etc. if necessary), I'd be much obliged.

--I figured Beth was done because her character had finished her arc.  She went from emotionally shutting down in Season 2 in the prison, to being incredibly positive and kind, to becoming more harsh and in survival mode now.  I mean, there wasn't much of an arc left for her character.  When that happens--and when their death would mean more to the show than being left alive--then their time is up.  The fallout from Darryl and Maggie will dominate for awhile.

--Though, correct me if I'm wrong, but Maggie seems to have largely forgotten about Beth for awhile.

--Robert Kirkman comes across as someone who is all business.  A little like that autistic-like guy with the mullet who lied about being able to save the world.

--Here's to hoping Emily Kinney gets another job real soon.  Some, like Jon Bernthal (Shane) do, and some, like the woman who played Lori, don't.  But I hope Kinney does.

--Surprised to see that the aforementioned liar and the priest made it through this episode.

--Though I'm also pulling for Father Gabriel.  And for a silly reason: Seth Gilliam, who plays him, was an extremely nice, energetic and friendly guy at the Comic Con.  He's been a good actor for a long time, notably in The Wire and a few other things on HBO.  And I just saw him yesterday when I happened to come across a few segments of Starship Troopers.  He looked exactly the same, just much younger.

--Speaking of such things, I also came across a younger Norman Reedus today when I watched Robert Redford's very good The Conspirator, about the U.S.'s puppet show trial of Mary Surratt, a woman who housed the conspirators behind the assassination of Lincoln, and the attempt on Seward.

--Well, that's it until February, 2015.  Thanks for reading this blog.  See you then.

--Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!!!

The Walking Dead--Four Walls and A Roof--Episode Three

Photo: From the review of the episode from this Yahoo site.

--We haven't seen someone as cowardly as Father Gabriel since Dorothy went to Oz.

--Or, at least it seems that way.  But we live in a world of seems.

--I liked Gareth, in a strange way.  A well-spoken and charming cannibal.  Even Slash said he was articulate.

--So Martin ends up getting it, anyway.  But he was right about one thing: What was he kept alive for at that cabin?

--It would've been interesting to see if the last of the Terminians would've turned.  Was Bob's leg cooked enough?  Real viruses do die in fire.  (The U.S. Gov't had to bomb that medical research building in Reston, Virginia to kill Ebola Reston.  And when I say bomb, I don't mean like you do for insects.  I'm talking an H-bomb, right on the building.  But it worked.)  So...is that true for the zombie virus as well?

--Scariest person in the episode was Gareth.  He'd logically and lucidly and conversationally defended his position that the world had become "Eat or be eaten."  He was so matter-of-fact about it that there was no turning back for him.  Rick will swing violent, then farm.  But Gareth was all the way gone.

--Andrew J. West deserves another role on something, fast.  He plugged a movie on Talking Dead.

--Gareth monologued (to steal from the Talking Dead host) before killing like Christian Bale did in American Psycho.  True, Bale's character babbled about 80s kitschy pop, but really it's the same thing.

--Yes, Glen and Maggie needed to go to D.C. because

   a) The D.C. storyline needed to continue, so somebody major had to go with them to show it to us.
   b) The core of the group had been together, in whatever fashion, for too long.  Glen goes all the way back to fifth or so episode of Season One.  Time to shake things up.
   c) If they're to be in the spin-off, this would be a logical choice and a good way to start that.

--I agree that Darryl is bringing out Beth at the end.  Maybe Morgan from Season One, but I'm guessing Beth.  It's not Carol.

--Beth (Emily Kinney) is one of the guests in next week's Talking Dead.  That does not bode well for her character.

--Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam), Darryl's brother (Michael Rooker), Herschel (Scot Wilson) and who knows who else will be at Comic Con this Saturday in Providence.  William Shatner and others from Star Trek, and Karen Allen and John Rhys-Davies from Raiders of the Lost Ark (and Davies was Gimli in the Lord of the Rings films), and Michael Biehn from Terminator, The Abyss, Tombstone, and many other films from the 80s and 90s, and--of all people--Anthony Michael Hall, from The Breakfast Club, Edward Scissorhands, The Dead Zone (TV show) and The Dark Knight---yes, Farmer Ted himself---will be there as well.  He was just added yesterday or today.

--Most importantly, I--a legend in my own mind, the movie that keeps on playing--will be there, too.