Walking Dead - "Inmates" Review

by Lee Padrick, February 18, 2014
Walking Dead S4E10

Beth has writer's block, so she and Darryl take a break

WARNING:  This review contains spoilers.

Dear Diary:  Today I killed some zombies.

After last episode's "After," this week we find out what happened to the other folks after the prison battle.  And our favorite characters are a splintered group of survivors.

Darryl and Beth made their escape together, and they are wandering through the woods, looking for shelter and the others.  Beth's voiceover about what she wrote in her diary when they first settled in the prison is in sharp contrast to the contemporary state of affairs.  She is trying to remain optimistic, while Darryl is reverting back to his former self, the grunting, unfeeling shell he was at the start of the series.  They come across some fresh #zombiechow, but they can't figure out whether the remains are their former cellmates.

Tyrese is looking out for Lizzy, Mika, and yes, baby Judith.  So the "a dingo ate the baby" jokes will stop.  Tyrese strangely decides that leaving Judith in the incapable hands of Lizzie while he investigates a far cry for help is a good idea.  Lizzy, the baby rabbit killer, is annoyed that Judith is crying, and in an awkward scene, covers Judith's mouth to muffle her cries.  Luckily, Carol shows up out of nowhere to save the day, and the baby.  There is a budding sociopath, and we will have to see how the Lizzie storyline progresses.

Maggie, Sasha, and Bob are grouped together, and they come across the prison bus (that Glenn was supposed to be on).  They kill all the #zombs on the bus, but no Glenn.  How all the folks on the bus, who are not main characters, became zombies is a mystery.  But Bob said it best, "they were good people."  Yeah, if you say so, Bob.  Glad someone knew who they were.  But since no one even knows any of these redshirts, they are not a loss to the main story arc.  

Glenn awakens on the second floor of the prison, with lots of zombies crawling around below.  And he collects and scavenges the second floor for supplies, including the orange backpack that the #zombiechow guy was wearing when Rick, Carl, and Michonne met up with Morgan in "Clear."  He finds the riot gear and offers a great POV shot as he wades through the sea of zombs, while avoiding bites, thanks to the riot gear.  Obviously, zombies can't grab you when you're wearing the magic riot gear suit.  Good to know. Glenn finds Tara huddled inside a fence.  He rescues her, and they make their escape.  But Glenn, still suffering the aftereffects of his bout with the mysterious virus that ravaged the prison earlier this season, passes out.  And a military truck with three new characters emerges.  These new guys (actually, two guys and a girl wearing some tight-fitting military fatigues) will likely become regulars as this season moves forward.

Everyone is accounted for, and Carol, Tyrese, and the kids are on their way to the source of the radio transmission that Darryl heard earlier, so there will be a sanctuary for the survivors, once they regroup.

Glad to see the survivors are out of the prison, and on to new adventures.  

Random Thoughts:

- No Rick Carl, or Michonne this week.

- Lizzy is a little lunatic.  Carol should be proud.

- Tyrese, not sure what you were thinking leaving those kids alone.

- Glenn's opening scene looked like something out of XBox's "State of Decay," but maybe I play too many zombie video games.  

- Two dudes (one had a gun) were eaten by zombs when Tyrese tried to save them.  How do you survive this long and you can't take down four zombies?  I mean, one of you has a freakin' gun! 

What did you think?

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Walking Dead - "After" Review

by Lee Padrick, February 10, 2014
Walking Dead S4E9

WARNING:  This review contains spoilers.

The Walking Dead is back after a mid-season hiatus, and the survivors have all been uprooted from the prison.  Much like last season's "Clear," this episode is focused on three people:  Rick, Carl, and Michonne.

Rick and Carl are on the move after the prison battle.  And Carl is experiencing typical teenager angst.  Except the Zombie Apocalypse is a bad time to have your pubescent meltdown.  Because while you are confused, hating your parents, and having a hormone imbalance, dead things are trying to eat your face off.

Rick is seriously injured from his fight with the Governor.  He needs a place to rest and recuperate, so he and Carl hole up in a nice suburban home that has some Cornflakes in the cupboard.  Rick is also trying to get Carl to make smart decisions, like conserving ammunition and not being a stoic douchebag.  And trying to wean his son from his psychopathic ways.  But its the Zombie Apocalypse, so psychopathy is kinda the "in" thing right now.  

Carl is angry at his father's failings as a leader, and blames Rick for the deaths of his baby sister and others that Carl had grown to like.  While Rick rests, Carl goes out exploring the suburban neighborhood.  He almost gets turned into #zombiechow, but he dispatches of the threats with some well-placed gunshots.  But this is the South, so there's likely little chance that Carl can't find more .38 ammunition.  While exploring, Carl comes upon a stack of video games, a big television, and an XBox.  But the only thing of value to Carl, in this world, is the HDMI cord, which can be used as rope.  So Carl decides to play his own video game, and puts himself into harrowing situations where he must defend himself against the undead.  After losing a shoe in a narrow scrape, he returns homewhere his resting father is.  Only Rick is not waking up, and Carl begins to think that Rick has died.  But he can't shoot his father in the head, and waits for the inevitable munching to come his way once his father turns.  Thankfully, Rick wakes up and mutters "Coorrlll!!"  So Carl understands that he is not quite a man yet, and he needs his old, boring, and lame father.  

Meanwhile, Michonne is also displaced and leashing armless, jawless zombies as camouflage, a throwback to our earliest introduction to Michonne.  She dreams/hallucinates about her life prior to the world going to hell, and the viewer gathers that the two #zombs she used to protect herself during her introduction were her boyfriend and her brother.  We also get a glimpse at the baby son she had, and get the idea that her boyfriend possibly killed the baby in a murder-suicide.  Hey, some folks have a hard time coping with the end of the modern world.

But Michonne perseveres, takes out some aggression on a rather passive zombie horde, and follows muddy footprints and empty pudding cans to the home where Rick and Carl are holed up.  So at least there's something good happening in a world gone to hell.

This episode was on the slow-paced side, but it serves as a good, calm break in the story as the survivors try to finding their footing again (pun intended) after the prison ouster.  Hopefully, a few upcoming new characters can add a spark to the show. 


Random Thoughts:

- Why doesn't anyone shut the door whenever they enter a building?  Zombies seem to have a hard time opening doors.

- Carl trying to knock the door open, and instead knocking himself down was the highlight of the show.

- OK, here's a Public Service Announcement:  During the Zombie Apocalypse, never, ever walk backwards.

- Why is Rick Grimes the dirtiest person in the entire world?  Why can't he clean himself up?

- Watching this show immediately after watching HBO's True Detective is not even remotely fair.  

What did you think?

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Walking Dead - "Too Far Gone" Review

by Lee Padrick, December 2, 2013
Walking Dead S4E8

WARNING:  This review contains spoilers.

Spaghetti Tuesdays on Wednesdays will be cancelled until further notice.

The mid-season finale has come and gone, and fans around the world are all asking the same question today:  "Did a dingo eat the baby?"  This episode both stumbled and shined, and we have to wait a couple of months to see where it all goes from here.  

Walking Dead - "Dead Weight" Review

by Lee Padrick, November 25, 2013
Walking Dead S4E7

WARNING:  This review contains spoilers.

The results are in, and it appears the Governor has been re-elected to a second term.

Scott Gimple, how could you?  You inherited the most popular drama in cable TV history.  A popular drama that, mind you, has faced criticism and accusations of, well, ... just being boring.  You turned the franchise around in the first five episodes, by introducing new characters and developing existing characters into real people, not cartoon characters.  This fantastic fourth season was firing on all cylinders.  So what did you do?  You brought back Cotton-Eyed Joe, made him almost human, then turned him back into a cartoon character.  Within a two hour span.  Two hours that I could have spent watching a rerun of Roadhouse.

Walking Dead - "Internment" Review

by Lee Padrick, November 11, 2013
Walking Dead S4E5

WARNING:  This review contains spoilers.

"Cleanup in A-Block!"

Meanwhile, back at the prison ...

This episode is the companion of last week's "Indifference".  While "Indifference" focused on Darryl and gang's search for antibiotics, this week's episode shows the struggle to stay alive until the cavalry shows up with the drugs.

Walking Dead - "Infected" Review

by Lee Padrick, October 21, 2013
Walking Dead, "Infected", S4E2

WARNING:  This review contains spoilers.

There will be no BLT's on The Walking Dead.

There's a prevailing theme on The Walking Dead.  Everyone will die a horrible death, and no one gets out alive and happy.  Sure, there are moments when the characters forget their plight, and smile, but that fleeting happiness is often interrupted by a scream, signalling the return of the threat of death.  

Walking Dead - "30 Days Without An Accident" Review

by Lee Padrick, October 14, 2013

WARNING:  This review contains spoilers.

The Walking Dead premiered its fourth season, and there are a lot of changes.  The show has a new showrunner (third one in four years) in Scott Gimple, and he has brought the show a bunch of new characters.  The prison is now populated with the folks from Woodbury and strays that the Ricktatorship has taken in, and there has been a time jump (at least 30 days, likely longer, since the "Prison-ers" (I'll use this term to affectionately refer to Rick's peops) are now gardening, hunting, and gathering.