Reviews

How this episode ages for me is partially dependent on if Satchel Cannon does anything of significance in the plot in the final two episodes. That being said, I've loved the character growth we've gotten in episodes eight and nine. The black and white never detracted or added anything for me, but I liked how the contrast of the colorful ended presented the newfound dangers of the world from Satchel's perspective. The added humor of Yertle the Turtle being utilized in one of the earlier moments of the episode from one of the stupider characters we've seen on the show was an extra fun jab. This is more or less devolving into an unstructured listing of the things I liked from this episode, but to my surprise there were quite a few great moments this week, which I can barely say for the majority of the installments this season. We needed a break from the convoluted plot that never seems to progress and we got it in strides with a sweet farewell to one of the more developed characters in 1950s Fargo. Here's to your legacy living on, Rabbi Milligan.

The last few episodes have been a surprisingly gripping improvement for an otherwise serialized, edge-of-your-seat, laugh out loud animated program. Harley's journey since her journey to Bane's therapy pit has hit a much more somber tone that we're used to, but it doesn't dispose of its humor or its characters to achieve its dramatic arcs. Nearly everything in this show feels earned, which is a great achievement for a show juggling this many moving parts.

Highlights of this episodes - I never thought I'd say it, but Sy Borgman?! Dr. Psycho and absolutely shredded Riddler who is voiced impeccably by Jim Rash come in a close second. I loved Harley's decision to not rope her best friend into another one of her back-against-the-wall escapades and the ensuing consequences. Christopher Meloni once again has my heart as Commissioner Gordon.

This writer, who also wrote Season 2 Episode 6, also known as the flashback Joker episode, clearly understands the underlying drama of the connections these characters have formed over the last two seasons, and it's rewarding to be building to what feels like it's going to be a satisfying conclusion.

In regards to the other reviews for this episode, there had to be a countering opinion to the other two nit-pick riddled reviews for this episode, otherwise I might not have written. The logic might not be sound behind the ethics of a certain character's big choice this episode, but do you really need air-tight logic in a show with a talking plant that smokes weed and para-demons that are at the whim of a brawl against an ancient grandmother? It's funny how people pick and choose when to complain about a show like this. It makes you wonder, in a world where every decision made by these characters made sense, would it be nearly as dramatic or engaging? I don't think so. Get over it and try to have fun.

I was praying the the whole episode that Ally would dump Dave's diarrhea-riddled ass. Her speech is great, yes. The end is cinematic, yes. But if this show tries one more time to get me to empathize with this unbearable, garbage character I'm out.

Now that I've got that out of the way...

This show's greatest fault is implying that character arcs occur episode to episode without any of the succeeding episodes portraying any of the effects of said "character arcs." Dave says he'll change, but then the events of that episode are never referenced again. The only callbacks are to safe gags or the vague semblance of over-arching storylines.

It feels like the show is caught between wanting to be serial or more episode-to-episode, but its greatest fault is that it can't make that choice. Half the time it feels like it's going for one but flakes to the other when there could be an interesting story.

This episode would have been a seven, docking one star each for the diarrhea scene and how drawn out the bunny scene was.

I don't know yet if this is the best season of the show, because honestly, the writers are developing more cliffhangers than they are characters. But I do think it has been on par with Season 5 so far. I thought tonight's episode was great, and a solid episode for character development and tense situations all around. But what the fans really needed was a 90 minute episode. No one wants to wait until February to see any expectations get crushed due to inevitable hype. The cost of a great show like this being a game of cat and mouse between the writers and the viewers is straining people's willingness to stick with the story. Whatever outcome the Alpha Wolf has on Alexandria; Whatever the cost is of Sam making noise amongst the herd; However Glenn and Enid plan to infiltrate the walls and rescue Maggie, it all should have been in that last, imaginary, half-hour. When the show returns, and I guarantee it won't return to the Alexandria storyline at first, as is the common trait of The Walking Dead, all expectations of mayhem and gore just simply can't be met, even if the writers provide another miraculous episode like Too Far Gone. The writers continue to chose to leave fans wondering for gratuitous amounts of time and it puts a damper on great things to come. All of this being said, I think this Season is fantastically driven and that the mid-season finale was very compellingly written, but I hate to see the show do what every other show does now which leaves a disconnect in viewer-ship. The show is already beginning the Negan storyline, as shown in the two minute preview, before it's even begun to wrap up the "no way out" scenario back at home. Don't bite off more than you can chew and then spit what you can't chew in the trash before the audience can catch up Scott Gimple, please.

My grandparents came to visit this week and so of course they joined us in watching TWD tonight. My mom and I had just gotten done telling them how the show is all about the characters and things like that, when suddenly a grenade went off and it was all downhill from there (not in a bad way, but in a gory way).

This is by far one of the goriest episodes of the entire series and I don't think I liked that aspect. There was still plenty of character development with Gabriel, Glenn, Noah, and Eugene especially (all of whom haven't had much to do this season). But other than that this episode was written and directed in a completely different way than the rest of the series.

The episode went for a more classic, and mildly cheesy horror movie feel with the occurrences in the warehouse and the script was a little bulkier than usual (mainly with Carol's dialog). But let's dive into the nitty-gritty.

HOLY SHITE! RANDOM-SON-OF-THE-LEADERS AND NOAH!!!!!!!! (and maybe Tara? It's hard to tell). I was growing to really like Noah's character. At first he felt like he was only extra baggage after the Beth storyline, but I really thought he was going places. But after the extraordinarily traumatizing death scene, I'd say not.

There's so much to talk about this episode, but I'll stop rambling and mention my major pros and cons:

+++ Steven Yeun's acting ++ The terrifying deaths of Noah and the son ++ Eugene is a hero + Abraham saving the day + Gabriel the fallen angel + Damnit Pete + Rick and Carol working together + Setting up huge conflicts for the final 2 episodes --- Gratuitous gore -- Carol's clunky dialog - Killing off characters instead of bothering to develop them? (Tara?) - Abraham can be a little awkward of a character - Gore is never a vice for horror, but it is used to shock the audience in a cheap way - Carol's final line (isn't there just a prison you could put Pete in or something? We've had enough carnage for one sitting, thank you)

Verdict: Not the best written, not the best directed, but will certainly leave a huge impact on viewers Score: 8.65 out of 10

I'll keep this review quick just so I can explain why I liked this episode a lot. There have been plenty of episodes where TWD has introduced a new location or scenario. Plenty of these episodes have rushed their entrances (3.3 "Walk with Me"), fallen flat (2.2 "Bloodletting"), or both (5.4 "Slabtown").

However, some of these episodes have definitely hit the mark and this is one of them. Andrew Lincoln called this episode a sort of "pilot" and it certainly feels like one.

The direction is subtle, but great. This episode made plenty of suspenseful moments out of ordinary things to allow the audience to feel what our heroes are feeling. Andrew Lincoln especially rocks in this episode. For example, the way that he sits down in the interviewing chair since he hadn't sat in a regular chair for a long time (again, subtle directing).

All of the other characters either begin to adapt or fail to conform. The ladder is the case of Norman Reedus, who begins to look depressed donning the role of a man who knows no other way to live (very well might I add).

The new characters are well introduced as well. Unlike when they introduced Dawn Lerner's group, the new people are given personalities, but they aren't immediately made characters with a whole lot of depth.

We as fans can assume there will be more conflicts with the asshole from the supply run. We can assume that there may be something fishy with Deanna's leadership and her acceptance of Rick's group. In many ways, this transition into Alexandria will be a slightly gradual one.

Where did Rick's gun in the blender go? Does the girl that Carl has his eye on have a mission outside the wall? Will Daryl's lack of acceptance with the new world put him in a situation similar to the people Deanna mentioned that she kicked out? There are now enough unanswered questions where the show doesn't feel sloppy and it's definitely enough to keep me intrigued as a fan.

9.6 out of 10

This episode of The Walking Dead brings us back to a similar tempo to what we had at the beginning of the season, as opposed to the three previous (and mostly filler) episodes. This episode focuses on all three (now four) groups of survivors, and while each of their stories progress only slightly, it creates the perfect blend of everything we've grown to love and hate from this show. There is action and plan-making from Rick's group. There is the self centered and paranoid Father Gabriel, whom I love to hate. On top of that, I didn't even mind the very little time that the episode spent on Beth at the hospital, because it that storyline had been in an episode like Slabtown, that would have taken up half of the episode! If there was anything disappointing or uneventful, it was the stalemate Abraham's group that gave Rosita very little back-story, showed Glenn fishing, and had Abraham staring into the distance the entire time. My verdict is that this episode definitely got me ready for the mid-season finale with a reoccurring false sense of hope looming over my shoulder throughout. Now that we're all caught up with these characters, I can't wait to see how the hospital battle goes down, who turns on who, and what exactly Father Gabriel will do to mess up everything for the group. *One side note...where the hell is Morgan?* 8.75/10

After the depressing letdown of Quantum of Solace in 2008, I was really anticipating an amazing return to the way the James Bond movies should be. And Sam Mendes delivered it on a silver platter. The movie starts off in an intense chase scene between Bond and an unknown character. With M on Bond's radio, she mentions the villain having a list they need and immediately you're hooked. With the exception of the first chase scene in Casino Royale, this is my favorite chase scene in Bond history. In the first 5 minutes you already have action, great characters, and exotic locations, which are three things a Bond movie can't prosper without. The rest of the cinematic shots in the movie are the same, bringing more great cinematography and locations. In one particular scene, Bond is fighting one of Silva's henchmen in a pit with a Komodo Dragon. Now any action star like Bruce Willis or Tom Cruise would have unconvincingly wrestled this beast to the ground, but does bond do that? Nope. He casually hops on it's back and propels himself out of the pit. Classy James, classy.

The seriousness of the last two films are still present in this newest installment, but they are combined with the old classic one-liners of the days before Craig. This is by far my favorite Craig movie yet, because in this movie they take Bond no where he's ever gone before; to a personal level. Craig carries this change in character with ease and makes you believe Bond is getting rusty. He's no longer the man that can jump of cliffs and buildings and land like a cat. Now, he clumsily falls like any normal human being. This is also a very different bond movie for Judi Dench who is wrapping up her role as M in her seventh bond movie. She seems to cancel out the majority of the screen time that the bond girls would usually have and replaces it with her undying determination to stop terrorists from destroying her country. M is as much of the main character as Bond and she handles that well considering that in real life her lines are read to her because she can barely see. Javier Bardem plays Silva, who is a villain to stand next to Goldfinger and Blofeld, only he's ten times more terrifying. His role convinces you that he can kill anyone and feel no pain. Even when he isn't on screen your still worried by his ominous and creepy performance. His main conflict is with M however. He believes it is her fault that he became what his is and there is where his delusional, twisted plot lies. He is one of the few antagonists that are actually equal to Bond. Supporting characters such as Q (Ben Whishaw) and Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes) carry important roles that needed to be filled and played them well and should be noted. The bond girls in this aren't very important to the main story line, but they both carry their smaller roles well.

The cultural and memorabilia references in this movie are worth mentioning as well. In many scenes, Bond, M, and the new Q. They talk about exploding pens, ejector seats, and there's even a shot in this that is almost taken straight out of one the early Sean Connery movies. They don't hit you over the head with this idea, but it makes the true bond lovers smirk from time to time. Overall, I only had one or two minor complains with this movie that nearly weren't enough to change my review at all. These only had to do with speeding up the plot a bit, but it wasn't a big deal considering Skyfall is already the longest Bond film, clocking at 2 and a half hours. In conclusion, I must say that Bond isn't one of those movies you'll want to see for the heck of it. It is intense, but amazing. It is action-packed, but witty. It is the true follow up to Casino Royale. Double-0-Seven reporting for duty.