The Walking Dead, Episode 3.08: "Made to Suffer"

Now this was a midseason finale. Penned by The Walking Dead co-creator Robert Kirkman himself, tonight's episode was action-packed, taut and tight, with many plot elements coming to a head - not to mention gobs of ripe potential for the second half of Season 3. It's a fine way to cap off what might be the show's strongest half-season yet.

The episode begins somewhat audaciously, at least within the scope of a TV finale: by adding in an entirely new group of survivors, led by Tyreese (Chad L. Coleman, whom you may know best as Cutty from The Wire) and Sasha. I immediately got a Lost Season 2 vibe, when that series introduced the Tailies (Ana Lucia, Libby and Mr. Eko, among others)… if I had to give a name to Tyreese's crew, it would have to be "The Shovels" (after their weapon of choice). To the show's credit, they tried to give as much semblance to the idea that their adventures have carried just as much drama as Rick's Gang. And in that cold open, we get just enough plot potential for the Shovels: one of their own has been bitten, and they've just so happened to find the prison, which was presented in a wondrous wide shot of them entering the damaged wreckage of one of the prison cell blocks.

Once they get deeper into the prison, the show makes an intriguing, yet effective choice, in having Carl be the chief representative of our group. It's Carl that goes in after the Shovels once the screams start, who goes in and takes down a walker to help the Shovels escape their latest attack. And when Carl brings them into the block, he's the one who's adamant that they take their wounded member out… and given Tyreese's instrument of choice, I shall refer to this primarily as "Hammer Time". Finally, it's Carl who locks them up in the cell block. It's a stunning display of leadership and courage… and it's a testament to how the writers have managed to plausibly and effectively develop Carl these past eight episodes.

Tonight was also strong in the payoff department, as a number of the Governor's secrets were finally exposed… or, at least, to our main characters, that is. As soon as the Governor decided to sing a lullaby to his beloved zombie daughter, a part of me started hoping, "Please let this be the second consecutive mid-season finale in which a little walker girl dies!" And, as luck would have it, we got just that, as Michonne discovered the Governor's Secret Room of Heads in Fish Tanks… and ultimately, little Penny. Let's give credit where credit was due: that extended fight between Michonne and the Governor was twelve kinds of awesome, wasn't it? First, there's the way it started - with Michonne sliding her katana through Penny's mouth, invoking the Guv'ner's rage. Then, there was the Guv slamming Michonne's head into one of the fish tanks… causing the undead walker heads to roll around during the face-off. And then, Michonne was nice enough to slam that shard of glass in the Governor's right eye (which, let's face it, didn't seem to be affecting the Governor much by episode's end). And then, just as Michonne's about to finish the Guv off, here comes Andrea who pulls out her gun, sees Michonne off… and then views the zombie heads and Penny in full view. That sheer combination of revelations and unbridled rage was a tremendous and efficient way for this show to Get. Things. Done. Let's watch some of that scene again, shall we?



Of course, for Michonne to have her fun time at the Governor's apartment, that meant she had to disband with Rick and the gang as they worked to get Glen and Maggie out of Woodbury. I did appreciate how the show didn't dawdle around: by the beginning of the third segment, there's Rick tossing out smoke bombs and extracting the couple from Team Merle. (Not only that, but we got to see Glen and Maggie wield some nice bone shivs, too!) This leads to an epic firefight in the streets of Woodbury - a bit of a surprise, in that the show's major action sequences tonight had very little to do with zombies altogether. The one awkward misstep was how the show worked overtime to prevent Andrea from recognizing Rick, Daryl, et al… by having the Governor keep her from helping shoot 'em down, from obscuring most of them during the smoke-filled firefight (save for the Token Prisoner, who unpredictably got bumped off during the shootout), and by holding the revelation of any familiar face (Michonne excepted) until the final scene, in which the Governor reunites Merle with the captured Daryl in front of the Woodbury community. (The Governor was quite apt to throw out the T-word - "terrorists!" - when describing Rick's infiltration tonight.)

(And, within said firefight, as Rick was hiding behind some handy-dandy solar panels, we were treated to none other than a hallucination of Shane! To be honest, I was surprised to see him show up, because (a) he was conspicuously absent from the Dead Phone Caller episode two weeks ago, and (b) he famously defected to Frank Darabont's new TNT series, L.A. Noir. Still, it was a nice treat… and in epic shotgun-wielding slow-motion, nonetheless.)

So where do we go from here? Well, having our two bands of survivors should lead to more interesting face-offs, especially once Team Rick makes it back to the prison… when they're not rushing to prevent the Woodbury army from invading the prison and taking them out. And, of course, there's the dubious fate of Merle and Daryl, who are finally reunited (but not feeling so good). Sure, the crowd says, "Kill 'em!", but there's no way that we're getting rid of our beloved Dixon brothers anytime soon. But now begins the hard part: waiting for all this to resolve itself. Like last year, AMC is taking an extended midseason break, and won't bring the show back until after the Super Bowl… which means we won't see the next episode until February 10th. With that in mind, thank you very much for reading our Walking Dead Season 3 coverage thus far… and we'll see you in 2013!

Random notes:

• Tonight's director: Billy Gierhart, who directed the second episode of this season, "Sick".
• Tonight's kill count: 5 humans and 13 walkers… and in his first episode, Tyreese notches top honors, with 5 walkers slayed!
• Tonight's movie TV spots: We got oodles of previews tonight: Zero Dark Thirty, The Hobbit, Texas Chainsaw 3D, Django Unchained, Warm Bodies, Jack Reacher, The Last Stand, and Mama.
• After 27 episodes, I've gotta say that the opening title sequence and theme is still one of my current TV favorites. Can you think of any other show opening that tops it… in the sense that you'll actually sit through it every episode instead of skipping past it on your DVR? I sure can't.
• Last week, we were treated to those wacky Freakshow promos… and now, AMC is blessing us with Immortalized, a reality TV series all about taxidermy. Wow, they're really going to the bizarro well… and given the network's newly strengthened commitment to reality television (including a dedicated Thursday-night all-reality lineup), this is only going to get worse. But if this is what it takes to bankroll future seasons of AMC's scripted shows, so be it…
• So, Kevin Smith got Stan Lee to show up on Comic Book Men, eh? As overexposed as Stan seems to be these days, at least Kevin Smith has a well-documented history with the man.
• So you're not a lesbian, Carol? But you got the short hair! My, my… this is interesting!
• If you're so inclined, AMC advertised a Walking Dead marathon on New Year's Even and New Year's Day, which will include all 27 episodes thus far. We'll probably get an extended preview of Season 3.5 sometime during then… at least that's my guess.
• As mentioned on tonight's Talking Dead, the Chris Hardwick talk show series will directly follow the premiere airing of each week's Walking Dead episode when it returns on February 10th. In addition, Talking Dead will now be extended to a full hour each week. Exciting, eh?
• Next time: Here's a brief, and largely inconsequential, scene from episode 9, which takes place immediately after tonight's final scene:

The Walking Dead, Episode 3.07: "When the Dead Come Knocking"

Since I'm still recouperating from the long Thanksgiving weekend, I'll keep my remarks brief tonight… and to be quite honest, I don't have much profound stuff to write about, because this was very much a setup episode for next week's Woodbury action extravaganza. When even the inevitable Rick-versus-Michonne face-off takes a backseat to the quest to find Glen and Maggie, you know we're in too deep to slow down.

With the very first scene of the episode - the "Merle interrogates/tortures Glen" setup - I was afraid that this whole thread tonight was going to be kind of rote… and I say that having watched 8 seasons of extravagant torture as a 24 fan. :-) But then, here comes Merle later on, tossing a walker into Glen's room with Glen duct-taped to a wooden chair… and I was enthralled. That's the beauty of a show like The Walking Dead: that its writers can take old tropes and infuse them with a unique zombie-laced mentality. As for the Governor's strip-based torture of Maggie, as disturbing a scene as it was, I probably should've been more creeped out than I was… but that's because I was too distracted by the blatant continuity error involving Maggie's bra straps. (Seriously, how that made it past post-production, I don't know…)

Back to Rick versus Michonne: This could've been an entire episode's worth of juicy story material, and I had almost expected it to be that way. But, with Maggie and Glen in danger, the show had to work to distill pretty much every "Can we trust her?" bit that the show's flung at us the past two-and-a-half seasons into as the first third of the episode. At least we got that initial scene of Michonne proving her skills to Rick… even though, just like the Governor, Rick had to deprive Michonne of her sweet, sweet sword. The Hyundai-sponsored trip to Woodbury felt a little bit like filler, especially the trip to Token Old Guy's Random House In The Woods. But I guess they had to pad it out, just so that they could tease us with the shots of Rick and Company hiding just outside the Woodbury patrol wall.

The science experiment sidebar, in which Milton (with Andrea's help) attempts to see if a person retains their human memories after turning into a walker, was intriguing (in that Lost-like mysterious way). But I loved how it quickly turned into a way to flesh out Milton, who, as we found out, hasn't really had that much exposure to walkers to begin with… and whom certainly got a taste of it when Andrea saved his butt. Even if it wasn't much of a revelation, it was still nice to burrow into the inner mechanisms of a walker, albeit briefly. (And it saved us from another episode full of Andrea/Governor lovey-dovey stuff… so that's a plus!)

And now, we wait for next week's big midseason finale, which I can only assume will be a big action-fest like Season 2's "the farm goes down" season-ending extravaganza. If nothing else, we've got a pretty clear plan of action, so hopefully AMC will break the piggybank to let us see Woodbury turn to toast. :-) See you then!

Random notes:

• Tonight's director: Longtime TV director Daniel Sackheim, who made his Walking Dead debut this week. His credits include early episodes of Law & Order and The X-Files. He has no film directing credits to his name, although he has a producer credit on the first X-Files movie.
• Tonight's kill count: 1 human, 15 walkers. Rick won tonight with 7 walkers to his name.
• Kill of the night: I'm going to have to give it to Andrea's takedown of Mr. Coleman. That was insanely swift… and a fun way to cap that plot.
• Tonight's movie ads: Django Unchained, The Expendables 2 on Blu-ray, Jack Reacher, and Zero Dark Thirty.
• So, umm, Freakshow, huh? Way to stay classy, AMC. And here I thought that they couldn't get any more bizarre than Small Town Security…
• I'd like to have Merle bake a cake for me… with pink frosting! That machete arm would come in pretty handy in the kitchen (pun not intended).
• As brief and rushed as it was, it was beneficial to get a good Rick/Carl scene before Rick took off to Woodbury… complete with the naming of our newest Grimes, Judith. The Rick/Carol reunion was a nice touch, too.
• Rick and Carl should've listened to Daryl: I personally think "Ass-Kicker Grimes" would've been a great baby name.
• I loved the wide shot of Rick's vehicle driving away as Carl, Hershel, and the others watch them depart. Yay for striking camera angles!
• Next week: Here's a casting spoiler for next week's midseason finale. And below, you'll find your AMC-sanctioned preview clip!

The Walking Dead, Episode 3.06: "Hounded"

Believe it or not, there are only two episodes of The Walking Dead left in 2012. That can only mean one thing: the show has to start heading toward a mid-season endgame to help wrap things up (and provide fuel for the second half of Season 3). Last year, you'll recall, the endgame ultimately centered around the Barn Full O' Walkers, which ended up circling around to Sophia's disappearance. For Season 3, the basic endgame is simple: the prison and Woodbury groups have to converge in some fashion, with the likelihood that the second half of the season will focus on having all our characters together, duking it out for power and so forth. In that sense, this week's episode of The Walking Dead, "Hounded", started laying the groundwork to unite the show's two halves, and that alone makes me very excited to see how the next two weeks play out. Granted, it took us the majority of the episode to get to that point (and until then, the episode's scattered nature was a bit reminiscent of last week)… but we can still be optimistic!

Let's begin with the evening's biggest slap-your-forehead moment: As soon as Maggie and Glen got out of the vehicle at Baby Formula Central and smooched, you probably screamed at the TV, "Well, they're screwed!" And as luck would have it, there's Merle right there, to provide some convenient conflict and to capture the couple. However, I'm afraid that if it wasn't Merle that showed up, I'd be even more upset… but again, this scene is important to dovetailing the two main threads. And it set up the even cooler payoff in the final scene, in which Michonne (formula in hand!) walks up to the prison fence and sees Rick. (It served as a great final payoff for Michonne being covered in guts, and her eventual discovery that they camouflaged her scent.)

Before I get too far into tonight's write-up, I have to give some appreciation for Michael Rooker's presence this season. As great as Michonne and the Governor have been to watch in this season thus far, there's something so gleefully enjoyable about Rooker's sleazy performance… and the fact that he has A BAYONET FOR A HAND only serve to catapult him into the "Iconic TV Character" stratosphere. And fortunately, since the Governor was too busy trying to bed Andrea last night, Merle got to take center stage… first in the hunt for Michonne, then with the "we ain't gonna let them turn" head stabs of the other deceased team members and the swift takedown of Cargulio (or, as Merle calls him, "the other guy"), and finally with the capturing of Glen and Maggie. (Speaking of the Governor… well, at least they got the hook-up part out of the way. The show's been telegraphing their inevitable couple-ness for several episodes now. Now, to wait until Andrea has to - again - decide between the comfort of Woodbury and the Guv'ner or the fun world of fightin' walkers!)

And then there's Rick's wacky vision quest, or however you want to call it… which, I'll admit, I wasn't too keen on. You'd think that suspension of disbelief wouldn't matter much on a series revolving around the zombie apocalypse… but when the "It's me, Lori!" reveal came, I couldn't help but feel like it was a misstep… which was a shame, because up until that point, I liked the sadness and desperation in Andrew Lincoln's acting work, especially during the first phone call and his "We're dying here" speech. At least everything was contained to voiceovers, and not Actual Magical Visions of Dead People. (And if we're going to bring back former cast members for audio cameos… why not Shane? Or was he being spited for sticking with Team Darabont?)

And in the midst of all of this, there was plenty of room for some minor moments: the scene where Hershel consoles Rick in the boiler room; the mesmerizing single-take scene between Daryl and Carl in the hallways (brought to you by Virginia Slims!); and the powerful reunion of Daryl and Carol. Let's give credit for not dragging our Carol's disappearance like they did Sophia's… that would've been a rote mid-season capper! But what wonders will next week bring us, what with all the wonderful new character combinations? I'm a bit afraid that we won't get much done, simply because we'll be having too much fun having Michonne and Rick face off, or Glen and Maggie versus the Governor. But again, we've only got two episodes before a 2-month break, so let's hope for an all-around exciting hour!

Random notes:

• Tonight's director: Dan Attias, who's served as a veteran TV director for over 25 years, and who's been a major director of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Big Love. This is Attias' first episode of The Walking Dead; however, he does have some horror experience: his only feature film to date is 1985's Stephen King's Silver Bullet.
• Tonight's kill count: 3 humans and 5 walkers. Michonne leads the chart, with 1 walker and 2 humans.
• Tonight's movie promos: Red Dawn 2K12, Killing Them Softly, Hitchcock, and This is 40.
• Norman Reedus' Zombie Apocalypse Playlist:
• Motorhead - "In the Year of the Wolf"
• Sonic Youth - "Dirty Boots"
• Minor Threat - "Filler"
• Neil Young - "Rockin' in the Free World"
• Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Simple Man"
• Iggy Pop - "The Passenger"
• Shall we prepare for a shocking rise in biter-grams nationwide after this week's show?
• I could sure use some flannel slippers… you know, for the end of the day! And relaxin'!
• Next week: Here's a clip that picks up right where we left off last night… Enjoy!

The Walking Dead, Episode 3.05: "Say the Word"

After last week's high-mark episode, I was a bit prepared for a bit of an emotional cool down. After all, in episodic television, series cannot and do not stay at a fever pitch… it's just not sensible. But, what baffled me about tonight's episode was that it was, surprisingly, not focused. Instead, it chose to meander through a number of separate and somewhat minor plot threads. But, when you toss out this week's major revelation in the cold open - that the Governor still harbors his undead daughter, Penny - and you end the hour with a bit of an anti-climactic reveal - that The Episode's Big Secret is essentially a zombie-tinged gladiator match starring Merle - you can't help but be a bit disappointed.

But if nothing else, we at least got some movement on the one plot element that started to drag - the "Shall we go?"/"Shall we stay?" tug-of-war between Andrea and Michonne. Now that Michonne has actually left - with her sword! - the Woodbury civility that's held her back can be shed, and we can actually see her more in her element…. which we got to see a bit of in the enjoyable "target practice" scene, in which Michonne slices and dices her way through the walkers for the night's wrestling festivities. (That scene must've eaten up a good chunk of the show's CGI budget… or maybe AMC's willing to loosen up the purse strings, now that The Walking Dead is getting better ratings than most network series.) Heck, let's watch that scene again!



Oh, and then there's the zombie gladiator stuff… which merits a little bit of fun, if only to see Michael Rooker kicking ass, which is pretty cool. (As was Merle's bayonet-hand-stab-to-the-head in the earlier scene when he and his crew went to collect some new recruits for the fight.) Still, it's a little nonsensical, as Andrea rightly calls the Guv'ner out on… despite the intimate relationship play that he's trying to pull.

Meanwhile, over at Le Prison, the order of the day is to get some formula for the baby. It's a relatively straightforward B-plot, as Maggie and Daryl - ahem, make that PONCHO DARYL!!! - raid an abandoned daycare and come across their biggest enemy to date… a possum! Okay, that's an exaggeration… but still, not much tension tonight. We also learned, via Carl, that his baby sister has no name as of yet, although the first name of every dead or missing female to date is up for consideration. Shall we start placing bets on which one will be selected?

And then, there's Rick and his post-shock quest to find Lori's body… or something. This is a hard plot thread to gauge, if only because there's no real focus to it, outside of the primal, scattered, and emotional state of Rick… which leads to some gone-bananas slaying in the prison corridors, a tense scene with Glen (who tries to reason with Rick), and a head-shot/stomach-stabbing of a gorging walker in the ill-fated boiler room. Ending it with an out-of-the-blue phone call that seemed straight out of the Lost playbook didn't help matters, either. Hopefully, next week will provide a good payoff for that… and maybe a more cohesive episode as well.

Random notes:

• This week's director: It's none other than Greg Nicotero, the key mastermind behind the show's makeup effects. This is his second episode at the helm… and in addition, he's directed both series of Walking Dead webisodes, Season 2's "Torn Apart" and Season 3's "Cold Storage".
• Tonight's kill count: No humans (whew!) and 12-plus walkers, 6 of which were taken out by Michonne.
• Tonight's kill of the night: Definitely Michonne's head stomping… further proving that she doesn't need her sword to kick some butt!
• Just a heads-up: Next week's write-up might be posted later in the evening than usual (or, worst-case scenario, Monday night), due to personal obligations. But something will be posted eventually! With that in mind, here's the preview clip for next week:

The Walking Dead, Episode 3.04: "Killer Within"

Last night, I was with my college-aged brother and a couple of his buddies, and The Walking Dead came up in conversation. One of said buddies asked, "Did you watch last week's episode?" "Yeah," I said. "I thought it was pretty cool." He responded, "It sucked! There were, like, only 5 zombies in the entire episode!" Now, granted, not every episode can have zombie fun… after all, this is as much a survival drama as it is a horror showcase. Nonetheless, here's an episode that works very, very hard to bring walkers back into play, by way of destroying the peace and security of our wonderful prison… not to mention the very structure of our group. But we'll get to that last part later.

First, let's quickly backtrack to Woodbury, where we keep the suspicion vibe about the Governor going right where we left off, as Michonne finds bullet holes and blood on the newly acquired Army trucks. This leads to the first of several sweet-talking sequences from the Guv'ner tonight, as he tries to have a soldier like her stay on board. The major thread in Woodbury tonight, though, deals with Andrea providing Merle with information on Hershel's farm, in an effort to help Merle reunite with Daryl. This leads to a stellar conversation between the Governor and Merle, set against a makeshift driving range placed right on the town border. Merle asks permission to leave Woodbury to find Daryl.. and the Governor tries to instill doubt with every sentence he utters. I loved this scene because it's a true battle between the two most powerful men in the town… and yet Merle has very little pull against the Governor. Granted, the Governor offers his assistance if Merle can get some solid intel… but it plays off more like a stalling action than anything. Still, the show has set up the elements needed to help dovetail the two disparate halves of our show back together.

The prison occupies most of tonight's episode, thanks primarily to the walkers' human-assisted overrun of the grounds. The brief cold open sets up the chaos effectively: an unidentified person cuts the prison gate's chains loose, and lures walker in with a freshly-killed deer. When the walkers come crashing through the prison courtyard - and ultimately, in our heroes' cell block - suspicion immediately turns to the two prisoners left over from Episode 2, Axel and Oscar. After all, they can't stand the living conditions in the cell block that Rick has kept them to - seeing their fellow former prisoners as corpses is too disturbing to bear. But, Rick won't hear it - there's very little room for trust outside the gang. But, as it turns out, it was neither of them: it was actually Andrew, the prisoner that Rick had locked out and said, "You'd better run." Rick, Daryl and Oscar find him by the generators when they attempt to shut them down to shut off the blaring horns… but Andrew shoots down Oscar, and then gives up his gun, in a bold attempt to secure trust from Rick.

But that's not the only casualties tonight… not by a long shot. For starters, let's talk about T-Dog's unfortunate bite that he incurred during the opening walker attack. As T-Dog and Carol scurry around the corridors of the prison, the two find themselves surrounded by walkers… but T-Dog makes a heroic sacrifice and lets himself get chewed up by zombies in order to let Carol escape. Farewell, T-Dog… we shall miss you.

Meanwhile, Lori, Maggie and Carl, who are also scurrying around the corridors, encounter a perfectly-timed complication: Lori's going into labor! It's certainly a chaotic time for this to happen; fortunately, our trio camps out in the boiler room to bring the new baby into the world, despite not having Hershel around… or even Carol, who practiced on a corpse for this last week. Lori attempts to push… but blood comes out… and that's when the episode makes its tragic turn. Lori says she's not losing this baby, and that's why she asks Maggie to cut her open and get the baby out, even if it means she'll die in the process. And thus begins the devastating final act of the episode, as Maggie copes to make the incision. But when Lori says her final words to Carl - "You are going to beat this world!" - it's some of the most gut-wrenching work this show's ever produced.

But it's not just the tear-jerking content that makes this scene. After the cut is made, there's the haunting 15 seconds or so where Maggie has the newborn baby in her hands and the baby hasn't cried… for those few moments, you fear the worst has happened. But the baby's alive, and Maggie says they have to go… but Carl is adamant about finishing the job, lest she turn. The sheer sadness of the situation - "She's my mom", Carl says - combined with the cold, silent way Carl exits the boiler room after the gunshot - makes for a moment of television that only this show could accomplish. (The juxtaposition of Rick's talk with Carl - "No more kid stuff" - brings it all home.)

The final scene provides an oddly effective bookend to the episode, as the baby's cry silences Rick's commanding in the courtyard. For a moment, the peaceful quiet that we heard just prior to the start of the walker riot has returned… but at an immense cost. And to see a show like The Walking Dead kill off its characters in an uncompromisingly brutal fashion is affirming to the storytelling intentions of the series. Yes, it whittles down the cast quite a bit… but this is a show where every day is a matter of life or death, and those risks need to be reinforced in the storytelling. And for that, "Killer Within" earns its place as the best episode of the season thus far.

Random notes:

• Tonight's top kill: I thought Daryl's stab to the skull was going to be the winner… until it was followed mere seconds later by Glen's slicing of a skull in half like a cantaloupe!
• Tonight's director: Oddly enough, it's Guy Ferland, the same director from last week's episode. Rare is it where a director helms back-to-back episodes of a series (24 excepted), but here we are.
• Tonight's kill count: 3 humans, 24 walkers. Top killer: Rick, with 6+ walkers.
• Tonight's movie promos: Only a couple were shown tonight: Skyfall (An exclusive look at Javier Bardem's villain! Oooooh!), and the impressive-looking Hitchcock.
• Glen and Maggie, sitting in a prison watchtower… K-I-S-S-I-N-G...
• It was a cheesy effect, but I liked the editing of the Governor's final golf club hit leading directly into Rick's zombie head shot in the cell block.
• Another effective filmmaking effect in this episode: the reveal of the walkers in the prison when the camera rotates around Carl.
• FYI, we are halfway through the first half of Season 3. New episodes will air until December 2nd, and then the show will take a break until the week after the Super Bowl (just like last season).
• Next week: Glen and the prisoners be digging some graves, in this preview clip:

The Walking Dead, Episode 3.03: "Walk with Me"

Tonight's installment of The Walking Dead is a bit gutsy for the show…and no, I'm not talking about the guts of that National Guard soldier who was split in half. This, the 19th episode of the series, is the first that doesn't feature the core pack of survivors at all. Instead, we get an entire hour with Andrea and Michonne, after the brief few moments with them in the season premiere. Now, a strong setup episode for this pairing would be plenty interesting in itself… but by stacking the introduction of The Governor and Woodbury on top of this, and by reintroducing Michael Rooker's beloved character Merle to the show in full force, this makes for a jam-packed episode that never flags.

The episode starts with a helicopter crash, which catches the eyes of Andrea and Michonne… but when they hop on over to check it out, they soon see the Governor and his cronies show up to evaluate the aftermath. Of the two soldiers in the helicopter, one solider's still relatively intact, and the other? Well… he's in halfsies, in an astonishingly gory shot. (Seriously, are there any limitations to the blood and guts that this show can get away with? TV-14-LV my patootie…) Before you know it, Team Woodbury takes out a few zombies at the crash site (Baseball bat to the skull for the win!)… and Michonne makes the ultimate sacrifice to keep her and Andrea alive: by decapitating her two 'pets'. (This scene quickly answered one of the burning questions I had for this season: How was AMC going to afford a season's worth of visual effects to remove Michonne's pets' arms? Yay, budget consciousness!)

Speaking of missing limbs: Merle's back!!! Just knowing that Michael Rooker is on board as a regular cast member this season is exciting enough for me… and his entrance during the crash site sequence with HIS BUTTKICKING STABBY BAYONET HAND made me just giddy! The episode makes the wise choice to give us some quality Merle time, as he delivers a nice soliloquy to the two ladies in the Woodbury infirmary. (We also get a fleeting shot of Merle's arm stump, to appease our taste for lost body parts.) Plus, Merle nets the quote of the night during his speech, when talking about who he can trust these days: "I think I'd piss my pants if some stranger come walking up with his mitts in his pockets!"

But as we soon find out, this man without a right hand is, in fact, the right-hand man for The Governor, whom fans have been eagerly waiting to see on the series. He's played on the show by David Morrissey, a frequent British TV actor (including The Red Riding Trilogy and the original UK version of State of Play), but who's also had some experience in assorted genre films, including Centurion, The Reaping and, most infamously, the male lead in 2006's Basic Instinct 2. (Remember that movie? That's a thing that happened!) Right away, he sets the tone for the character: a slick sweet-talker of a leader who's definitely up to no good. Sure, he's managed to put together a seemingly peaceful community where people can return to some sense of normalcy. But then again, he's not too keen on giving Andrea and Michonne back their weapons or letting them leave… and he's perfectly willing to take down 10 or so National Guardsmen to get their weapons, food, and supplies. Oh, and then there's that pesky secret lab, complete with Milton, the Reserved Yet Still Creepy Mad Scientist. (Note to self: Don't invite Milton to breakfast. How he turns grub time into a fact-finding mission is just off-putting!) And let's not forget the end-of-episode secret room, replete with 22 heads in tanks… including those of Michonne's pets and the captured soldier. (The Governor is just trying to put together his own version of Futurama, right? Right?)

Now, I should iterate that I'm not a reader of the comic… I'm going into this show cold, without any knowledge of what the Governor's ultimate plans are. (If you are a comic reader, though, be sure to scroll down to the very bottom of this post.) But with such a setup, of course there's going to be plenty of conflict in play… but right now, it's mostly between Andrea and Michonne. As of right now, Andrea is pretty fond of Woodbury, and the comfort it provides: After 8 months of wandering, the setting is relieving, to say the least. Michonne doesn't necessarily agree… after all, you really think you can keep her away from her beloved sword? There's a little bit of conflict between the Governor and Andrea in that final scene, as she quickly learns that the Governor's not one to let his guard down, even to reveal his real name. Give it time, though, and this will certainly blossom into something much more intimidating.

But in the end, the great thing about tonight's episode is that it means we're going to have two strong sets of stories/settings to switch between, in the prison and Woodbury… which is especially important, given we have an expanded 16-episode season to fill out. This is new territory for the series, in terms of balancing plots… but if nothing else, the chances of pointless filler in Season 3 has plummeted significantly. And given we have two magnetic new characters in The Governor and Michonne to help drive this second plot, this is certainly going to be something much more exciting and interesting than "the B-plot" of Season 3. Heck, I wonder if this is going to make the prison stuff pale by comparison. :-) But that's where next week's balancing act will come into play.

Random notes:

• Tonight's director: Guy Ferland, a frequent director from the late, great series The Shield. He has only one major movie credit to his name: 2004's Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights. This is his fourth episode of the series: among his previous episodes was the first-season finale.
• Tonight's movie ads: The Man with the Iron Fists, Flight, Skyfall (a Q-centric TV spot!), and Life of Pi.
• Best make-up effect of the night: As already stated, the split-in-half solder wins by a landslide… although I did also like the show of the Governor's fingers inside the mouth of Michonne's pet's decapitated (yet still active) head.
• Tonight's kill count, courtesy of Story Sync: 9 humans and 9 walkers. Merle leads with 4 walker kills!
• Next week: How will the show be able to juggle the prison and Woodbury stories? Well, we'll just have to see… to tide you over until then, here's a prison scene from next week's episode:

Bonus Fun Time! Thanks to the miraculous power of my DVR, I've transcribed the commercial break card from the 29-minute mark of the episode for your pleasure. So, here are Robert Kirkman's 5 favorite changes from the comic book to the TV series:


5) Morgan's wife. Showing her in the show was such a powerful and emotional scene that I simply never even considered! I suck!
4) Herd attacking Hershel's farm. In the comic Hershel put a gun to Rick's head and said, "You guys can't live here!" and Rick gathered everyone up and they left. No barn burning, no thousands of walkers attacking, no leaving Andrea for dead.
3) Sophia was in the barn! Spoiler alert… after 103 issues of the comic book… Sophia is alive and well! Her death in the show has affected all of the characters in meaningful ways.
2) Rick kills Shane. In the comic, Shane brings Rick out to the woods to kill him-- and before he can do it CARL shoots Shane in the neck. In the show, when Rick knifes him it's such a dramatic payoff, it's really the moment where Rick emerges as someone who will do whatever has to be done to survive… even kill his best friend
1) Daryl Friggin' Dixon. He's not even in the comic, folks.

The Walking Dead, Episode 3.02: "Sick"

Based solely on where we left off last week - with Hershel being bitten and Rick slicing off his leg like there was no tomorrow - and the title of this week's episode, I was all prepared for a big death episode for our beloved Hershel. And then, it didn't happen at all. In fact, the greatest pleasure of tonight's episode of The Walking Dead was its various shifts of power, and how the balance of life and death swung from one end to the other throughout the hour. In the end, we the audience were kept on our toes, and this season notches its second great episode this season.

Let's talk about our merry band of prisoners first. One of my concerns going into tonight's episode was that we were simply going to rehash a lot of the conflict material that we already burned through when Rick, Shane and company first landed on Hershel's farm at the beginning of Season 2… and even more so, that the show was going to linger on this conflict for quite some time. Boy, was I wrong on that count… but we'll get to that. But for most of the episode, you had to wonder who was going to win out: Rick or Tomas. It's a magnificent power struggle: At first, you think, "Well, it's the prisoners' prison; Rick doesn't stand a chance."… especially during the courtyard negotiations that quickly grow stale. But then, we find that not only do the prisoners have no idea what's been going outside the walls of the cafeteria - which they've been locked in for TEN MONTHS - but also that they have no idea how to successfully take walkers down (even after receiving an excellent crash course from Rick and Daryl). But then Tomas and company set aside their prison riot violence and truly get the hang of the head kills… destroying our gang's tactical advantage. And then, when Big Tiny gets scratched, Tomas takes him OUT and gets it done. (That wide shot of Big Tiny's corpse… sheesh, AMC is getting pretty permissive on the gore this year!)

And then comes the mass slaughter by the laundromat to repossess the second cell block for the prisoners. Tomas "accidentally" trying to take Rick out in the process is one thing, but Rick's response - immediately killing Tomas by way of a machete to the head - was nothing short of brutal, in one of those "Holy [bleep]!" moments that has you jumping off your couch and shouting at the TV. Those are the kinds of moments a TV fan lives for. If that wasn't enough, Rick manages to lock out another prisoner to his certain death before that final commercial break… effectively whittling down our 5-prisoner group to just 2 by episode's end. That's swift justice! But then again, when your wife gives us full permission to do what's necessary, why not? After all, in Lori's eyes, Rick isn't a killer… but given what we've seen in episodes past, is he?

This leaves Hershel's fight for life as the B-plot, but it still manages to explore some intriguing territory, as the female members of the group struggle with what to do. Last week showed us the efficiency of the group after months of banding together, and if anything, this week shows us exactly what life sacrifices our group is willing to make… and how rash and easy it is to make said decisions. Maggie's fine with letting Hershel go; Beth isn't ready (after all, Hershel saved her life last year); Carol feels responsible to take on Hershel's responsibilities in bringing Lori's baby into the world (as shown by her desire to practice on a walker corpse); and Carl… well, that final shot before the commercial break of him pointing his gun at Hershel says it all. (I've gotta admit, the way they're handling Carl and his accelerated maturity this season is one of the more tantalizing character bits this season. Killing two walkers with ease to break into the infirmary and get supplies… that's dang impressive.) Nonetheless, I did appreciate the show's restraint in *not* killing Hershel off just yet… but all those practical and visual effects to hide Scott Wilson's leg are going to break the bank eventually, so we'll have to see how long the show holds off on the kill.

But what I loved the most about this episode - and what inspires the most hope about this season - is just how swift the storytelling is, and how quickly it burns through material that could easily have been stretched out for several episodes. I almost think that this is the writing staff's way of saying to us, "You think we're gonna stretch this stuff out, like we did with Sophia and the farm? Nuh-uh! We're getting down to business!" If that's the case - and if the show can reasonably sustain this pace - then we're in for a roller coaster ride. And considering what we're due for in next week's show, I'm somewhat optimistic that they'll be able to pull it off.

Random notes:

• Let's get the big news out of the way first: AMC is no longer "not available on Dish"!!! Our long national nightmare is over… at least I won't be inundated any longer while watching one of AMC's shows.
• Tonight's director is Billy Gierhart, a longtime TV camera operator who's transitioned into directing. He's helmed episodes of The Shield, Sons of Anarchy, and Breakout Kings, among others. This is his third Walking Dead episode to date… and if IMDB is correct, he'll be directing the mid-season finale in December.
• This week's kill tallies: 3 humans, 30+ walkers. Rick and Tomas both notched 1 human and 5 walkers a piece.
• What are we having to eat today, T-Dog? "Canned beef, canned corn… canned cans!"
• I was kind of disappointed that Lori didn't head down to the infirmary herself… if only because she already knows the lay of the land.
• Walker of the week: The handcuff zombie, who's more than willing to rip his arm apart to get rid of those pesky cuffs, as we see at the 0:47 mark of this clip:
• Next week: Looks like we're getting a Michonne-centric hour… and more! Here's a very brief peek from the cold opening:

The Walking Dead, Episode 3.01: "Seed"

If there's one way to sum up what we know about the third season of The Walking Dead, it's "fan service". In the last few minutes of Season 2's finale, we were teased with the addition of Michonne and the prison - two elements of the comic book that fans have been eagerly awaiting to see on the series. On top of that, AMC has made no effort to hide the addition of The Governor (played by David Morrissey) to Season 3's cast… allowing for a potentially transformative year of the series (and one that should hopefully quite the show's most vocal detractors). On that end, tonight's season premiere was a reinvigorating hour chock-full of zombie action, while carefully setting up the board for this year's character arcs.

First, let's talk about that cold opening, in which our band of heroes rummage through the latest in a series of houses, looking for food, supplies, and anything of note. The complete lack of dialogue in this 5-minute sequence is impressive, allowing all sorts of plot developments - Lori's pregnancy progress; the lack of food, as evident in Carl's hankerin' for dog food and Daryl munching on an owl; Carl's increased proficiency with guns, not to mention his big honking silencer - to be expressed solely via visuals, while still allowing for a few good zombie kills in the process.

After the first commercial break - and the shiny new opening credits sequence - we get a quick info dump: winter has already come, and our gang has been nomadically roving from house to house with little success. It sets the stakes just enough so that, by the 10-minute mark, when Rick and Daryl finally find the prison they were oh-so-close to in the Season 2 finale, you can understand why everyone's easily on board with getting into the prison yards. Food, medicine, shelter, fields to plant the titular seed of the episode, and a heavily fortified, enclosed space… what's not to like, considering what they've been through and what they're currently dealing with? (Of course, there are some caveats to this… several of which manifest themselves before the hour's end.) However, I do think it's a wee bit ridiculous, given how close they were to the prison last season, that they didn't happen to find it sometime during the winter… I wish they had justified that a bit better.

And from there, the episode pretty much wrote itself: our heroes get past the prison fences, Rick shuts the prison gates camp out for the night, spend the next day getting into the prison while blasting off walkers in the process, and work their way into a safe cell block. For those who bemoaned the inert nature of last season's relaxed "down on the farm" mentality, the forward momentum in this first hour is nothing short of fun to watch. Plus, we got oodles of action sequences in the process, eschewing the tension of last season's "horror on the highway" set piece with kills, kills, and additional kills. (I especially like the subtle special effects incorporated into the wide shots… it speaks to the weathering of us viewers that every kill on the show these days don't have to be thrust into our faces.) Plus, we got to see walkers in prison riot gear! How cool was that? (The makeup award of the night went to the riot gear guard whose face skin peeled right off when Rick removed his mask… followed immediately by Rick splitting his skull in half like a coconut.) The only qualm - and it's a minor one - is that it's too bad that Frank Darabont is no longer with the show, since he has some experience with prisons. Nonetheless, the show certainly appears to be doing the prison setting just fine so far.

The tricky part of tonight's episode, from a writing perspective, was how to slip in all sorts of character beats amidst all this action. We got some major pieces into play: Lori's growing fears about delivering the baby, presented in a tender scene between her and Herschel; the developing relationships between Glen & Maggie, Daryl & Carol (hey, that rhymes!), and even Carl and Beth; and Carl's increased maturity and responsibilities. (Seriously, Carl rocking that silencer still gets to me.)

One thing that surprised me about tonight's show was just how little we saw of Michonne and Andrea, given how ecstatic the fans have been waiting to see her in action. For starters, we didn't see Michonne at all until the half-hour mark… and even then, it was the exact same scene that we saw in July's hour-long Talking Dead advertisement for the new season. We did get one additional scene between the two, which basically sets up that Andrea's not feeling well, that Andrea has managed to save Michonne's butt quite a bit during the winter (well, that will make for an interesting flashback episode!), and that Michonne isn't going to leave Andrea behind. I guess with all of tonight's fun at the prison, that didn't leave much time for the B-story, which is understandable… but I can only hope that their scenes will take on a bit more significance in the weeks ahead, if only for the hardcore fans' sake. If what I've heard from advance reviews of Season 3 is true, these two ladies don't even appear in next week's episode… which may not make certain viewers happy.

But then again, given all the balls that The Walking Dead put into play at the end of tonight's episode, that may not be a problem after all. Not only are plenty of walker inmates are still scurrying about in the prison, but Herschel got bit by one of 'em, too… leading to a heck of a scene in which Rick hacks off Herschel's leg with no pretense whatsoever. (Have the walkers gotten to AMC's Standards and Practices department? That's the only way that scene could've made it to air, right?) Oh, and there's a band of prisoner survivors to contend with! "Holy shit" indeed… and with that, see you next week!

Random notes:

• As AMC did with the back half of Season 2 (and this summer's run of Breaking Bad), the network has brought back their fun Story Sync feature, which provides trivia during the initial airing of each new episode. The main Story Sync page can be found here.
• Tonight's episode director is Ernest Dickerson, who started out as Spike Lee's cinematographer, then went on to direct his own movies such as Juice, Surviving the Game, Bulletproof, and the Snoop-Dogg-as-a-back-from-the-dead-1970s-gangster horror flick Bones. This is the sixth episode of The Walking Dead that he's directed thus far.
• Number of zombies killed in tonight's episode: at least 56, according to the Story Sync. Rick alone notched at least 19 kills.
• Number of times "NOT AVAILABLE ON DISH" was mentioned tonight: Only 2… one for Fear Fest (hosted by Kevin Smith), and one for Comic Book Men (also with Kevin Smith). AMC's putting all their eggs in the Silent Bob basket, eh?
• The Season 2 Blu-ray/DVD set is well worth your while, if only for the illuminating look at the chaos behind the season premiere. Long story short: Much of the footage was unusable, especially the first 15 minutes of the episode, which was replaced by the awkwardly-edited scene with Rick on the walkie-talkie. So, the first episode was chopped down to about a half-hour and combined with episode 2 to create the 90-minute season premiere.
• Wow, there were a lot of movie ads on tonight's show: Skyfall, Seven Psychopaths, Cloud Atlas, Paranormal Activity 4, and Alex Cross. Plus, we got zombie-themed ads for Microsoft Windows 8 (???) and RunForYourLives.com.
• Tonight's episode was brought to you by SMEAT!
• Let's talk about Talking Dead: CHRIS HARDWICK IS SHOUTING!!! OUCH!!! As much as I enjoy listening to his Nerdist podcasts, there is something as 'being too excited'. (Tonight's guests: showrunner/episode writer Glen Mazzara, and Michonne herself, Dania Gurira.)
• Next week: What to do with a victim like Herschel? Well, see for yourself, in AMC's preview clip for the next episode:

Fringe, Episode 5.01: "Transilience Thought Unifier Model-11"

Hello, and welcome to the start of Blood Brothers' fall TV coverage! We're kicking things off with the fifth-season premiere of Fringe, a show that has certainly merited the type of cult status that we look for in our TV slate. We've got other series on tap for later this fall, including the eagerly-anticipated third season of The Walking Dead and network TV's most beloved cult comedy, Community… but until then, we hope you'll enjoy the adventures of Walter, Peter, Olivia, and Astrid as they embark on what should be a wonderful final season.

But, to help set the context for my perspective on Fringe, let's trek back to the fall of 2008, when Fringe debuted on Fox. At that time, I was excited to say the least: For starters, this was J.J. Abrams' first science-fiction TV project since the breakout success of Lost in 2004, so expectations were reasonably high. Plus, you have to keep in mind that 2008's new fall shows were scarce, on account of the devastation caused by the 2007-2008 writers' strike. Because of that, Fringe became one of the fall's biggest new shows, seemingly by default. (Fox also used Fringe to kick off their 'Remote-Free TV' experiment, in which every episode of the first season would contain commercial breaks of only 60 to 90 seconds in length, allowing for only 8 to 9 minutes of ads per episode. It only lasted one year, but it was a bold attempt nonetheless.)

And while I watched and mostly enjoyed the first season, I was a little bit underwhelmed that the Fringe team decided not to build an elaborate mythology for the series… opting to rely heavily on the Case of the Week instead. (Blood Brother Matt referred to the series as "X-Files Jr." in that regard.) Now, there's nothing inherently wrong with that approach… and especially in the first season, Fringe's case-introducing cold openings were uniformly brilliant. But when it comes to hour-long TV dramas, I'm the type of viewer that prefers long-form story lines over standalone procedural-type episodes. Even more frustrating, Fringe had all of the elements in place to unfurl a grand science-fiction story, setting up all sorts of story elements (Massive Dynamic, Cortexiphan, The Pattern, etc.), but never exactly capitalizing on them… and I couldn't help but be a bit frustrated in the show.

But, at the very tail end of the first season, Fringe introduced a story element that would be far too big to ignore: an entire alternate universe! And slowly, but surely, Fringe started putting the pieces into place throughout its second season in order to provide the show that I had wanted in the first place. And then, on April Fools' Day 2010, the show that I know as Fringe debuted, with the late-season-two episode "Peter"… a flashback episode to 1985 that took us deep into the alternate universe and the early motivations of Dr. Walter Bishop (John Noble). From there, the show took off narratively and creatively, shifting back and forth between universes with reckless abandon, and introducing multiple versions of its lead characters. Then, in Season 4, the show took its biggest narrative risk to date: by taking one of its leads, Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson), and completely removing him from existence. That's not exactly what I'd call 'user-friendly'… but for its loyal core audience (myself included), it was ridiculously risky and fascinating to watch. These were bold moves for a network series, and they won its audience's immense respect… but they don't necessarily lead to full network support, either. Over the past couple of years, the show's fate has sealed itself, first, Fringe was moved from a high-profile Thursday night slot to the doldrums of Fox Friday nights… and then, after its Friday-night ratings reached astonishing lows, it received a very real threat of cancellation this past spring.

Faced with the distinct possibility that the series would be cancelled, the episode's two-part finale worked overtime to ensure that the show wrapped up its loose ends: the Fringe Division received a ton of government funding; Lieutenant Broyles was promoted to Captain; Olivia revealed that she was pregnant with Peter's child… everything was coming up roses for our gang. With the exception of the slapped-together cliffhanger ending, in which September the Observer told Walter that "they are coming", everything seemed to be wrapped up nicely… which made for a bit of a problem when Fringe received an order for a fifth and final season of 13 episodes.

And so, my worry going into yesterday's Fringe season premiere was, "How the heck will the show's writers undo everything they wrapped up?" The solution, as revealed in tonight's season premiere, is wonderfully simple, and appropriately Fringe-tastic: by ditching the present completely and jumping to 2036, picking up right where we left off at the end of Season 4's flash-forward episode "Letters of Transit". As you'll recall, in Fringe's version of 2036, the Observers have taken over, the classic Fringe team has been encased in amber since 2015, and Peter and Olivia's daughter, Henrietta (a.k.a. Etta), is all grown up and working for the FBI, trying to and take down the Observers with the help of her partner, Desmond from Lost. (Well, not the exact character… but you know who I'm talking about.) In the episode, the pair managed to find Walter, and freed him from the amber… and he, in turn, led them to where Peter and Astrid were located.

However, at the end of that episode, Olivia was still MIA. Fortunately for us, the show wastes little time, revealing that Olivia's ambered body is As tonight's episode picks up, the hunt for Olivia is on… and apparently, the 'amber gypsies' have cut her out and sold her on the black market. We find her in a most unusual place: as a coffee table of sorts for Markham, the bookstore owner, who's holding out for the possibility of a modern-day Snow White situation. ("She's supposed to wake up and see me as her savior! She's supposed to overlook my height issue…") You see, right before Olivia was trapped in the amber, she was trying to locate the titular device, the Transilience Thought Unifier Model-11… which essentially serves to merge and decrypt memories. In our case, it's to decrypt Walter's memories, which contain the plan he and September put together to defeat the Observers once and for all. However, once the device is found and activated, nothing is found in Walter's head… requiring our team to start from scratch.

If the end-of-episode preview is any indication, we're going to be in 2036 for the next several episodes… if not the entire fifth season. The more I've thought about it, the more I'm excited by this choice, and the possibilities it offers. It's the type of ballsy move I've come to expect from Fringe: even more so than Season 4's jarring shift to a world where our characters have never heard of Peter, this season is bold enough to take the chance to drop us - and our core characters - into a new and largely unfamiliar world, more than twenty years in the future!!! I'm a little bit afraid that the 2036 world won't be as entertainingly rich as the alternate universe… but what they have presented thus far, such as the oppressive carbon monoxide plants, and the $3,000 walnuts, provides a lot of promise.

Plus, there's already a purpose and a mission to what the new Fringe team is doing, which will no doubt provide the necessary momentum to help wrap up the series. The episode makes every effort to establish the danger incurred by the Observers' takeover, chief among them the Observers' pumping of carbon monoxide into our air, ultimately reducing human lifespans to 45 years in the process. Heck, they took out Central Park to put up a carson monoxide plant! (How dare they!) And as personified in the torture-room scene by Windmark, the head Observer, their disdain for humanity is hardly veiled: as he says to Walter, "You seem much more interesting as a human being than as a vegetable. But, quite frankly, all things considered… I don't mind which one you end up." With only 13 hours to work with, it's comforting to know that the show's writers are going to make each hour count, and establishing the major conflicts right off the bat is an important part of that.

On top of that, though, the episode finds a lot of time to explore and re-establish character dynamics and relationships… which is easily accomplishable Certainly, the mother/daughter reunion between Olivia and Etta is wonderful; with the addition of Etta, the Fringe team is essentially a family now. (My apologies to Lincoln Lee… you will never be forgotten!) Also of note is Walter's adjustment to 2036, especially the final scene where he manages to find an undamaged CD, and listens to it in a world where the Observers have essentially destroyed music. It's a powerful moment, acted with tenderness and vulnerability by John Noble that helps sell us on what a horrible place 2036 has become. And given the frequent use of background tunes during the show's scenes in Walter's lab over the years, the scene legitimately earns its value.

But overall, last night's Fringe revved me up for the new season in ways that I wouldn't have thought were possible 24 hours ago… and I'm even more excited than before to see where we're headed. And so, I hope you'll enjoy our coverage of Fringe throughout this final season: for the most part, we'll hope to have reviews posted by Saturday morning. Please join us!

Random notes:

• Tonight's episode has two credited directors… likely due to the fact that production was halted while John Noble was treated for sleep problems. The directors are Miguel Sapochnik (of 2010's Jude Law/Forest Whitaker sci-fi pic Repo Men) and Jeannot Szwarc (who helmed Jaws 2, Somewhere in Time, and Supergirl).
• Fox is continuing the weekly Fringe hashtags; this week's is #TheyAreHere.
• I guess we'll get to enjoy the 2036 Fringe title sequence from here on out, too… "Individuality", "Imagination", "Freedom"… :-D
• Yes, Naughahyde was a very popular premium pleather.
• Tonight's alternate Astrid names: Aspen and Afro!
• The song from the final scene is Yazoo's "Only You". (Fringe has used a fair chunk of music over the years, mainly as background music in Walter's lab… but rarely is the music as prominent as it is here.)
• "Resistance is futile." "I feel like I've heard that before!"
• Who wants to chow down on some egg sticks?

Breaking Bad: Some season-ending thoughts...

In lieu of full-blown reviews of the final two episodes of Breaking Bad this season, here's a few overall thoughts on the episodes, and the season as a whole:

• Is it just me, or did Mike's death in episode 5.07 seem a bit hasty, plot-wise? From a scene-work perspective, the episode was magnificent - Mike silently departing from his granddaughter in the park, the gorgeous final scene of Mike and Walt gazing out into the water (especially the final wide shot where Mike plops to the ground). But, for whatever reason, I just wasn't sold on how the story had gotten us to the point where Walt shot Mike. The episode itself made the best case for justifying it, in how Walt belatedly realized how he could've gotten the list of names from Lydia… and besides, Walt has basically devolved to a point where he believes that murder solves everything (as the prison-shanking montage from the finale demonstrated so vividly), so, to an extent, it seems just enough within character. But still, it just seemed so hasty, compared to the show's slow-burn approach towards these matters. Which leads to…
• Would this season have best been served by a full 13 episodes, instead of just the 8 that we received? Although Mike's death seeded this idea in my head, I really started to convince myself of this during and after the "Crystal Blue Persuasion" meth-making montage. For a show that's taken its sweet, sweet time (4.5 seasons!) covering a single year, it felt jarring to have a montage skip past three months of time… and the extra time would've helped to justify the changes that have happened in Walt's life as a result of the extravagant success of the new meth operation. When Skyler revealed the ginormous pile of money in the storage shed in the finale, it was a staggering sight, to be sure… but I would've loved a bit more justification in the show to show how we've gotten to that point. I also realize that we've still got to burn through nine months of time to get to the season-opening 52nd-birthday flash-forward… but the more I wrestle with it, the more it seems contrary to how the show traditionally operates.
• Even in these final two episodes, the sheer filmmaking skill on display was off the charts. I already mentioned the gorgeous scene where Mike dies, but the opening of the episode - the desert meeting between Walt and the prospective methylamine buyers - was a delicious stand-off for this modern Western. The penultimate episode's montage in the safe-deposit room (complete with the awesome wrist-cam!) was a bouncy bit of fun, too! And the finale's two montages were tremendously executed and edited. The stark combination of the brutal violence, the jazzy music, and Walt looking outside, Godfather Part II-style made for a disturbing, yet memorable, montage. And the "Crystal Blue Persuasion" meth-cooking montage was staggeringly complex and deliriously brilliant in terms of editing, scene transitions, and furthering the show's narrative. (And yes, once I realized what song they were using, I couldn't help but think, "It took them this long to finally pull this song out?" What a fun little moment...)
• I'm still trying to figure out what Todd's angle is in this entire operation; I'm simply convinced that there's more to Todd than what we've been let on thus far. Besides, after three months of working with Walt, I'm sure he's pretty skilled at the specifics of the business at this point… almost dangerously so.
• Walt's teary-eyed re-appearance at Hank's office was downright slapstick-y, compared to what we saw earlier this season. I can't say that I liked it, but the episode needed to get down to business, I guess…
• Even a character like Mike isn't immune to the degradation of a barrel of hydrofluoric acid. Frowny-face!
• All season long, the ricin has threatened to come back into play… and although we got so very, very close in the finale with Lydia, Walt hasn't had to use it… yet.
• Bad-ass quote from Walter, in the hotel room with Todd's "connections": "It can be done exactly how I want it. The only question is, are you the men to do it?"
• So, just how much money is in that storage-shed pile? Somebody do the math… quick! :-)
• The CAT scan in the final act of the finale had to have been shown for a reason… has Skyler's wish for the cancer to return come true?
• That tortured look on Jesse's face after Walt left his house said so much… dammit, who doesn't feel bad and sympathetic for Jesse at this point?
• I doubt you'll disagree with me that next summer's first episode needs to pick up immediately from where Sunday's finale left off. It would be a tremendous disgrace if we don't see how Hank reacts to his mind-blowing discovery. (As an aside, I found it darkly funny how Breaking Bad managed to put the "shit" in the season's final "Holy shit!" moment.)
• Some fun ephemera that's hit the Internet in the past couple of weeks:
• Walt's "Say my name" moment from the desert face-off spurred this fun remix of the Destiny's Child song of the same name.
• Entertainment Weekly dug up the first film appearance of Jonathan Banks, who plays Mike: the 1974 educational film "Linda's Film on Menstruation". Skip to the 1:10 mark, and watch in amazement.
• Also, in amazing revelations: Jonathan Banks was also in the finale of the comedy classic Airplane! Skip to the 0:37 and 1:09 marks.
• Finally, since Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass figured prominently into the season finale, I must post a clip of Homer Simpson's thoughts on Walt Whitman, from the episode "Mother Simpson".

Breaking Bad will return in the summer of 2013 with the final eight episodes of the series… we hope to see you then!

Futurama, Episodes 7.12 and 7.13: "31st Century Fox" and "Naturama"

Well, I'll just come out and say it: tonight's Futurama doubleheader was pretty darn disappointing, and a sad way to wrap up the season. I'm just not used to a single episode of Futurama being this inert… but two of 'em? Say it ain't so! And especially considering the offbeat nature episode that ended this hour, I shouldn't have been this underwhelmed. Sigh…

The first show tonight, "31st Century Fox", had a germ of a fun idea - Bender crusading against robot violence after witnessing a fox robot hunt. And, to their credit, the second act started to have some fun with the concept, as Bender takes down robot egg farms, a robot duck shooting gallery at a fair, and even a robot butcher shop (where a robot pig was sliced, diced, and ground into robot sausage). But it ended up being wrapped in a weak fox hunting plot line… and even worse, it managed to waste the considerable talent of guest star Sir Patrick Stewart, who played the fox hunt master. But there were still some fun sight gags - such as the Planet Express crew trying on famous sci-fi uniforms, from Red Shirt Fry to Farnsworth's Zardoz gear. And the ultimately ludicrous nature of the club - robot fox hunters hunting robot foxes with robot hounds - was an amusing way to end the episode.  But the overall execution led to surprisingly few memorable moments for a typical Futurama installment.

And then, there was tonight's second episode, "Naturama". Now, the trilogy episode has been a common recurrence on Futurama, starting with the "Anthologies of Interest". In fact, every year on Comedy Central has brought us such an episode… from "The Futurama Holiday Spectacular" to last year's absolutely awesome "Reincarnation", which reworked the show into three genres: old-timey black-and-white animation; a riff on video games; and an anime adventure. But tonight's episode, as different and high-concept as it was, just lacked the creative energy that I would've expected.

The episode was structured as a spoof of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom - here rechristened as Mutual of Omnicron's Wild Universe, sponsored by Mutual of Omnicron: "Have you insured your planet?" With the help of Phil LaMarr's Morgan Freeman-esque narration, we were treated to the life cycles of three creatures. In the first episode, we witnessed the mating of salmon, with Salmon Fry hoping to woo Salmon Leela from Salmon Zapp. The second episode takes place on the Galapagos Islands, with Farnsworth as the last male Pinta Island tortoise, who, with the help of various characters -as-finches (including Bender, Leela, Amy and Hermes) and an iguana version of Bender - makes an arduous 100-yard trek to find a mate and save his species. The final installment focuses on "the clown of the sea", the elephant seal, with Seal Kif hoping to win Seal Amy from Bender, the seal beachmaster.

As you can start to tell, there's not much inventiveness to the episode, aside from the recasting of our characters as various creatures. All they've done is rehashed the various romantic plot threads from the serious in a nature-documentary construct… which isn't much. And once you get past seeing our characters in various permutations - from the Hedonismbot salmon to a Nibler fish - there's not much comedic energy left to milk. The one great Futurama touch was how each story ends with as much death and depression as absolutely possible - an aspect amplified by LaMarr's narration. (Sample line: "And so the endless circle of life comes to an end… meaningless and grim.")

I feel like I'm in a weird position with tonight's shows, because even the weaker episodes still have tons of strengths to their credit. But I just wasn't impressed that much, and so I'm inclined to think that maybe, just maybe, I watched it wrong. But hopefully, this isn't a sign that Futurama's creative steam is running out. Remember, we've still got 13 episodes left to air next summer… and although it's looking increasingly likely that next year will be the last batch of Futurama episodes that we'll get, I'm still hoping that we'll get some quality installments. (Supposedly, the last episode to air next year has been written as a series finale, in case Comedy Central decides not to order another season.) Feel free to let me know if you think I'm in the wrong, but tonight's hour just didn't hit as well as I would've hoped.

And that's it! Thanks for reading our Futurama coverage this summer, and hopefully we'll see you here next June!

Random notes:

• Other uniforms included Storm Trooper Zoidberg, Barbarella Leela, and Amy in the stewardess uniform from 2001: A Space Odyssey.
• "Hey, you people can't just burst in like that and cut off my hand!"
• "Today, we hunt the most dangerous game - aside from lawn darts!"
• "Fox news, everyone!"
• Mmm… Newmar's Own Catnip!
• "We're hot on his heels! Ah… one of his heels!"
• "Tell Your Parents It's Educational!"
• "I'm a Pisces! We're all Pisces!"
• Nature's waterfall: the cliff of the waters!
• My single biggest laugh of "Naturama": "I am Brrr, devourer of fish and honey!!!!!!!!"
• "And so, the extinction of the Pinta Island tortoise is assured… For in the end, nature is horrific and teaches us nothing!"
• "I'm 40% ass!"
• "Kill all penguins… kill all penguins…"
• "For a holographic brain injection of tonight's program, send $5 to this station courtesy of me, the Narrator!"

True Blood, Episode 5.12: "Save Yourself"

Well, that was a big, bloody ball of fun, wasn't it? Tonight's True Blood finale certainly brought the gore and the action, not to mention a lot of seismic plot developments designed to set up next summer's sixth season. With tonight's installment being the last episode overseen by the show's creator, Alan Ball, I'll at least give him credit with providing a lot of plot material for the first few episodes of Season 6 to thrive on. I almost got the impression that tonight's episode was more about trying to make next year good, at the expense of essentially giving up on this season's arcs. But at least we had a cesspool of blood to make up for it. :-)

The pile of vampire goo began right in the first minute, with Bill swinging by to stake Russell right before he begins his fairie feast. It's a sadly swift resolution to our favorite character on the show… although he, at least, got a "Oh, fuck!" in before his demise. And while it's always nice to see Bloody Vampire Goo on True Blood, the painfully abrupt resolution of all this fairie stuff certainly makes me glad that we spent all this time on something that had very little effect on this season. (Even better is the fact that we didn't get any resolution on the Warlow thread tonight, either: Whether this will be season 6 plot fodder or something that will be forgotten from here on out remains to be seen. I sincerely hope it's not the latter.)

With the fairies out of the way, the finale becomes a very Authority-heavy endeavor, with Sookie, Jason and Tara joining the dozen-or-zo regular cast members that are already underground. But before we get to the Authority carnage, let's drop in on the episode's two cutaway plots. First, let's get the Alcide stuff out of the way, as Daddy T-1000 gave Alcide a dose of his secret stash of V in order to pummel J.D. into a pulp and take reign as Packmaster. For the sake of early-episode tension, we also get a quick scene of Rikki coping from a force-fed dose of V, which ultimately leads Alcide to head down for J.D.'s beatdown. Will anything exciting happen with the werewolves next year, now that Alcide's in charge? I'm more than skeptical… but hey, doesn't it seem like the pack lots have served as little more than cutaway scenes up to this point?

The other cutaway plot tonight was a bizarre one: Andy and Maurella swing by Merlotte's so that Andy can tell Holly about his little fairy-impregnation situation. But, after an epic guzzling of salt, Maurella's light breaks, and before you know it, Maurella's giving birth in front of Andy… while Holly, Arlene and Lafayette watch with their Cajun margaritas in hand. Ultimately, Andy has himself not one, but four little fairy babies! If that weren't enough, Maurella then immediately ditches Andy, with only the instructions that at least half the babies must make it into adulthood. You know, it's a long-held rule of television that when babies are added into the mix, it's a sure sign that a show is long in the tooth. And even though Andy Dufresne's reliable comic relief is here to help us out, I'm not sure what this little development means for the show as we head into next season. If anything, I'm only slightly more excited for this than the pack stuff from the previous paragraph.

But aside from those two plots, it's basically a massacre at the Authority, with Jason Stackhouse leading the charge in completely inconspicuous mission gear. (Throughout the episode, a walnut-sized concussion leads Jason to hallucinate visions of his parents, who fully support him in his quest to kill as many vamps as possible.) There's a lot of red to go around… and heck, even Sam gets in the action, as he flies into the old councilor lady's mouth and shifts back inside of her, causing a bodily explosion… and a blood-drenched Sam. (The scenes leading up to this, with Luna assuming Rev. Steve's form in order to get Emma out of her cell, are amusing… although it is important to know that the real Rev. Steve is still out on the loose, waiting to strike next season… or so, I'd hope.)

But it's The Quest for Bill's Humanity that ends up taking over the episode's plot momentum. All throughout this season, we've been left to wonder exactly what Bill's endgame is with his increasing shift towards Lilith's side. And for a minute there tonight, it seemed that perhaps Bill was attempting to destroy the Authority from the inside, what with him putting silver in the vial of Lilith's blood, waiting for somebody to drink it up… like Salome. But then, as soon as that was resolved, Bill whips out the real vial of Lilith's blood and chugs, chugs, chugs. Suddenly, Bill himself dissolves into a puddle of blood… but then, True Blood whipped out the T-1000 special effects (that's why they brought on Robert Patrick!) and had Bill rise from the blood to become… BILLITH!!! (Duh, duh, duh!!!!!) Cue end credits!

So how will the show proceed with Billith? More specifically, will his super-villianry actually stick? This is True Blood, after all, where pretty much any cliffhanger can (and usually will) be resolved within the first 30 seconds of the next episode. But this is pretty darn major, mind you… and this has the ability to shake up the very foundation of the series as we know it. The question is: Will the show take advantage of this golden opportunity? I'm almost betting on a reset by the end of the Season 6 premiere… but if, say, HBO were to announce that next summer is the final season of True Blood, I could honestly seem them making Billith the true Season 6 Big Bad, to help bring things home. Besides, we've still got a bunch of real-world humans-versus-vampires chaos to resolve, which hasn't really even been touched upon during the tail end of this season. If Billith is the one who can turn this into full-blown war, we could have an epic final season on our hands… but again, this depends solely on whether HBO is ready to part with one of its few drama franchises. Given that HBO's only tentpoles are this, Game of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire - the latter of which resumes in a few weeks - HBO will probably find a way to cling to it for at least two more years, making the series even more tired than it already is.

So, in the end, was Season 5 worth it? As much as I hate to say it, I can't say it was: Based on my recollections, only 2 out of the 12 episodes this season were top-to-bottom entertaining, which is pretty darn low for this series. The entire Authority-heavy first half of this season was misguided and lacking momentum, and while bringing Russell Edgington back into play for the second half was much appreciated, it only spoke to the misguidings of this season when even Russell himself stated how bored he was with the show's political material. In fact, it's almost disheartening to see how the lethargic nature of this season has essentially turned this season into a setup for next year: Sure, there's a lot of juicy stuff to work with… but think of what could've been done if we dumped the first half of season 5 and molded all this cliffhanger plot material into the second half of this season. It just seems like it would've been a more valuable use of our time.

So, we'll see what happens. We're due to start hearing some casting decisions for Season 6 shortly, and I'm curious to see who they'll bring on, in the hopes that they'll cull together some exciting actors. But, I can only hope that next year won't be as much of a near-total waste of my time as this year. And my apologies if I've seemed too harsh on this show this summer, but I've tried to approach it as a longtime fan of the show who loves it when the show indulges in the craziness of its premise and its various characters. But even from the fan base, I doubt you'll hear anyone say, "Yeah, Season 5 was really good!" When a season underwhelms, it hurts, and it doesn't bode much confidence for the future.

But hey, at least the finale was good, right? Right? :-D

Random notes:

• Prior to tonight's episode, HBO provided a very brief tease for Alan Ball's next series, Banshee, which premieres next year on sister station Cinemax. Here's a version of tonight's trailer, although the YouTube clip doesn't have the few seconds of actual pilot footage that the HBO preview did.
• HBO GO has a bonus deleted scene from tonight's episode available, in which our vampire-killing crew are waiting in the elevator.
• For those of you who want to take the gamble, you can see Alexander Skarsgard in feature-film action when Battleship hits Blu-ray this Tuesday!
• "Bloodbag." "Leech." "Breather." "Dead fuck." "Meatsack."
• "Just think how many vampires you can kill in there, champ!"
• "If I wanna be a fool, then I will be a fool. That is my God-given right as an American!"
• "The blonde smells amazing."
• "I can't believe I am midwifing for your pregnant girlfriend… that I just found out about!"
• Merlotte's is going to need some more tight T-shirts after giving them all to those babies tonight.
• "When did Andy Bellefleur get to be so fucking hot?"
• How about a Tara/Pam kiss for the win tonight, eh? It's a fun conclusion to what's been one of the season's most surprisingly endearing relationship.
• The True Blood crew really laid on the fly POV shots tonight… a little too trippy for my tastes, but still kind of cool.
• "I aced my statistics exam!"