I suppose nothing good lasts forever

The Walking Dead may have jumped the shark tonight.

I'm not the only one with that estimation.  Many others are expressing the same thing.

This show has gone political, and far too blatantly so.

This episode had one and only one purpose.  It was one scene.  A scene designed to throw something into the face of viewers.  And that's all that this episode was meant to do.

I don't care for that no matter what one's persuasion may be.  What I've enjoyed most of The Walking Dead is that it explores the human condition in the face of the most trying of circumstances, and it does so without regard to political perspectives.  That's what has made The Walking Dead such refreshing viewing.

Tonight The Walking Dead fell back into the gutter that is most of the rest of television.

Very disappointed.  Very.

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Get out your Bible and re-watch last night's THE WALKING DEAD

No need to discuss the "Bob-b-cue" or the "shish-ka-Bob" or whatever you want to call it at the end of last night's The Walking Dead 'cuz chances are that you've heard plenty enough of it today and Lord help you if you had to eat ribs tonight.

I'm re-watching "Strangers" right now and something that caught my eye...

After Rick finishes sweeping through Gabriel's church and the rest of the group come in, there are a couple of boards on either side of the altar at the front of the sanctuary.  On each board is an identical set of verses.

The verses are:

Romans 6:4
Ezekiel 37:7
Matthew 27:52
Revelation 9:6
Luke 24:5

Just out of curiosity I went to my Bible and looked up each of those verses.

What I found makes me wonder if that was something intentional on the part of the producers.  As if it's a clue or a sly wink or whatever.  One way or another, each of the verses is about death and/or resurrection.

 Very, very intriguing stuff.

And this show keeps continuing to demonstrate why it's the best on television.

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Gone to Terminus

Don't even think of phoning or e-mailing or telegraphing or Pony Express-ing me for the next few hours.  At least not until tonight's season premiere of The Walking Dead finishes.

(Okay, there are a few who I am expecting to call if they need to, but that's it...)

Looking forward to learning more about Terminus.  It can't be that bad.  Can it?  Can it?

Will post some thoughts after the show.

EDIT 10:15 p.m. EST:  Okay I guess Terminus is a bad place after all.

"No Sanctuary" was a solid opening for the fifth season.  Although, I'm a bit confused as to the history of Terminus: was Lieutenant Tasha Yar and her friends all good guys before they got turned onto the other white meat?

Wait... I can't believe I just wrote that.

Carol must have pulled off the all-time greatest single-action zombie kill in the history of every media conceivable.  She was all kinds of bad-a$$ in this one.

This was an episode that pulled the group back together (absent Beth, but after seeing the promo for next week I'd bet that we'll be seeing her again soon).  It was an action piece designed to round up everybody and propel them into whatever's coming next.  I will admit that the Terminus storyline (if this is the end of it... see what I did there?) was a bit of a letdown after all of that build-up.  But if it was meant to be for sake of action and suspense as opposed to propelling the lore forward (though we did get a bit of that with what Scientist Dude said about the disease) then it served its purpose.

Next week: Father Gabriel Stokes!

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I finally watched Season 4 of THE WALKING DEAD

From the very beginning of its fourth season this past October, The Walking Dead has been sitting unplayed on my DVR, taking up a sizable amount of real estate.  I've been wondering what to do about it: either finally sit down and go through the season, or delete it altogether.

This past weekend I decided it was time to face some things, and let The Walking Dead stop haunting me (I know that won't make sense to most readers, just trust me).  I suppose I should admit at least a little curiosity at how this season would go, after Season 3 ended with the survivors of Woodbury coming to the prison and the Governor going Lord-knew-where into the Georgia wilderness.

I'm glad that I did choose to watch, because The Walking Dead's fourth season turned out to be some of the most powerful storytelling that I've ever seen from the television medium.

The season unfolded across three arcs, each well-contained without feeling especially episodic.  The sickness brought the first serious trial to face Rick and his community, and also some of the show's most gruesome moments in its entire run.  And then the Governor returned: psychotic as ever.  If there is one thing that could have been better with this season, I would have much enjoyed it if the Governor received an extra episode or two: let him really build up his army and get re-established as the biggest villain of the series so far.  But when at last he launched his assault on the prison, you just know that AMC nearly busted its budget to make that scene happen.  It was stuff you'd expect from a high-dollar Hollywood blockbuster, not network television.

And then came the road to Terminus.  Watching the survivors, now split up, keep going and trying to fight the odds against the dead and the living.  And struggling against their own inner turmoils.

You know what I'm talking about, if you've watched this season.  I posted on Facebook as I let the series unspool and some friends told me that there was worse... much heartbreaking worse... that was still to come after the prison assault.  That I had not seen how bad it gets and that one episode especially was going to bring the tears.

Yeah, you know it all right.  It was the episode titled "The Grove".  I watched it last night.  And I had to stop right there, because nothing I had seen on television ever before left me so numbstruck with horror and shock and disbelief.

It got to "that scene" and all I could think of was, "No, they aren't going there.  AMC is NOT going to do this.  Carol is NOT about to do Of Mice and Men on that little girl."

Was she right?  A friend and I were discussing it today.  He asked me what I would have done in that situation.  I had actually thought about that after watching "The Grove".  And I think... I think... that if it were me, I would have waited until Lizzie was asleep, and then leave with the baby and everyone else.  Let Lizzie wake up the next morning to find everyone gone but be left with a pistol and several rounds of ammo.  Give her at least a chance to live!  And that way she would not be a threat to the group anymore.  I thought that would be the best for everyone.

Except that Scott (my friend) raised a very valid point: that how were we to know that Lizzie wouldn't join up with another group of survivors, and be a threat to them?

I can see that.  And one also must be reminded that Lizzie was very, very far gone.  It went way more than simple denial about the walkers, about how the world had become.  There was going to be no reaching her.  No therapy for her.  No medication.  She was pitiful, she was helpless.  But she was also too weak in all of the wrong ways.  And after she killed her sister (and was poised to murder Judith), her weakness crossed the line into a very dark place in terms of what was right for the group.  Because how could the group possibly trust Lizzie?  How could anyone?

There was no clean way out of it.  I think Carol knew it.  And she knew that every day for the rest of her life it was going to haunt her.

I wish now that I had watched this season during its first run, because the discussion of "The Grove" alone was no doubt fascinating reading.  How many other television series leave the viewer questioning his or her sense of morality?  Too few, in this  blogger's opinion.

Looking forward to catching Season 5 when it airs.

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THE WALKING DEAD: Forty-five minutes after "Welcome to the Tombs"...

Okay.  Okay.  Okay.

Okay.  Oh-kaaaaay...

That was NOT what I was anticipating.  The first few minutes after tonight's season finale of The Walking Dead I was feeling... well, a bit let down.

But then I remembered that Season 3 didn't end any better or worse than the previous two have.  In fact, with each passing moment I'm finding myself thinking that this season finale was as well as it could have been.  Perhaps, even with the stakes raised for Rick and his group.  Maybe higher than they have ever been before.

The all-out war with Woodbury?  It didn't happen.  But I'm unable to escape the feeling that it hasn't happened yet. Woodbury has been liberated... but The Governor is still alive.  We don't know where the hell he has gone to.  But I'll posit a guess:

The Governor will not, can not, give up his obsession with destroying Rick, with destroying Michonne, with destroying everyone at the prison.  With being seen in any way at all as being a weak and helpless man.  The Governor is soulless survival-at-all-costs personified.  He is relentless.  He is utterly incapable of bargaining or being reasoned with.  He is also unfortunately bestowed with uncommon charisma.

So where has The Governor gone?

The Governor is the uber hardcase.  And he is now set loose to gather all the other hardcases to him.

Somewhere in the post-apocalyptic Georgia wilderness and beyond, a one-eyed megalomaniac has gone out to seek the lonely, the lunatic, the desperate leaderless...

We haven't seen the war with Woodbury, because we haven't seen the REAL Army of Woodbury yet.

But it's coming.  Chekov (the Russian playwright not the Star Trek character) had a rule of drama: if the gun is to be fired in Act III, it must be shown on the wall in Act I.  If the gun is shown on the wall in Act I, it must be fired by Act III.

That is what The Governor is.  Season 3 was us getting to look at him.  Getting to watch his veneer peeled back and the madman within leering out of that one hateful eye.  But for all that we saw in Season 3, we still haven't seen him fully unleashed.  We haven't...

But in Season 4, we will.

Rick has saved more people than he has ever been able to do before now.  He has also perhaps found redemption for his mistakes.  Carl is on the verge of losing his own sense of humanity.  A major character has died.

And The Governor is still out there somewhere...

No, this was not a letdown of a season finale.  It ended as well as "Beside the Dying Fire" did last season.  "Welcome to the Tombs" gave Rick and his ad hoc family a sense of accomplishment and a glimmer of hope that they haven't enjoyed in a long, long time.

But the powderkeg has been loaded.  The charge has been set.  They just don't know it yet.

And in Season 4, The Governor is going to light the fuse.

Congrats on another season of The Walking Dead well done, AMC!  Looking forward to Season 4 this coming fall!

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"This Sorrowful Life": Thoughts on THE WALKING DEAD penultimate Season 3 ep

For the record, I wanna state that I just knew what Glenn was doing when he went walking along the fence!  Let's hope he thought well enough to sanitize that thing...

(Guess we're gonna see a spate of The Walking Dead-inspired weddings now, huh?)

There's been a pattern this late in Season 3: seems that AMC's The Walking Dead has been oscillating between "unbelievably greater television than we possibly deserve" and "better than much else".  The latter isn't where The Walking Dead should be: not after everything else that has happened this season.  Last week's "Prey" was an example.  It ended on a great shot but c'mon: forty minutes of The Governor stalking Andrea coulda, shoulda been much more fun.

But "This Sorrowful Life", this week's episode and the final before next Sunday's season finale, brought the pendulum swinging back... before making us watch it break completely off the chain and flying through the window...

I've thought from the getgo that The Walking Dead's biggest strength is how this is a story about human strengths and weaknesses and what any of us are capable of doing in the very worst of situations.  We saw that out the wazoo in "This Sorrowful Life": from Rick's inner turmoil about The Governor's ultimatum to that very touching - even uncommonly encouraging from television - scene between Glenn and Hershel in regard to Maggie.  The part where Hershel is having Bible study and prayer with his family was also a nice touch.  And then there was the scene where Rick called the group together.  He owned up to his mistakes, and I got the sense that we've now seen closure to his arc that began with declaring the "Rick-tatorship" at the end of Season 2.

But more than anything else, "This Sorrowful Life" was the long-coming payoff for Merle Dixon (Michael Rooker).

Merle has come a long way from the borderline neo-Nazi we saw chained to the roof in Season 1.  The racist aspect seemed to have vanished entirely, or at least covered with a practical veneer (sorta) during his time in the quasi-civilized society of Woodbury.  But even so, from the moment he re-appeared as one of The Governor's henchmen we saw the same ol' despicable Merle was still in there.  That he's had a bayonet in place of his right hand didn't help matters much...

So for most of Season 3 we've come to have a grudging tolerance for Merle Dixon.  But in the wake of "This Sorrowful Life" I expect him to become a character we'll be spending a lot more time studying as we re-watch this series in the years to come.  I think that in the end, Merle wound up his personal story as well as anyone can be expected.  Maybe he'll never be remembered by anybody else, but he had the conscience to do his best to make things right.  Not for himself as much as for others.

That doesn't make things easier for little brother Daryl (Norman Reedus, who has become the biggest breakout television sensation in many a moon).  That final scene of "This Sorrowful Life", where we had to witness Daryl's breaking down as he has never before, was sincerely heart-rending to watch.  I'll say it again: Reedus deserves an Emmy nomination for his work on this show (along with Chandler Riggs).

"This Sorrowful Life" featured some of the most brutal scenes in The Walking Dead's three years thus far, especially the ambush at the motel where Michonne makes creative use of that wire.  And did anyone else notice that The Governor (David Morrissey) had one line of dialogue in this episode?  Just one... but it certainly got his point across.

An extremely solid episode.  Here's hoping that it will keep it up going into the season finale next week: presumably the long-awaited war with Woodbury!

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"Arrow on the Doorpost": Rick and The Governor summit on THE WALKING DEAD

Rick, no.  You almost lost your mind.  Do this and you will lose your soul.

Despite the resolution to one of the show's bigger mysteries - what happened to Morgan and Duane - I thought that last week's episode "Clear" was almost too quiet a departure from what we've become accustomed with AMC's monster hit series The Walking Dead.  But having just watched "Arrow on the Doorpost", I see how there was a lot more in the previous installment that was investment toward the eventual payoff.

And judging what we saw in the final moments of "Arrow on the Doorpost", that's gonna be a hella payoff when Season 3 wraps at the end of this month.

(I just realized yesterday that my birthday is not only Easter Sunday this year but the night before sees the return of new Doctor Who episodes, and Easter night brings the season finale of The Walking Dead and the start of Season 3 of Game of Thrones!  Have the geek stars aligned for me or what? :-)

Rick and The Governor have finally come face to face (in an antezombiebellum feed store), ostensibly to hash things out between Rick's group at the prison and Gov's faction in Woodbury.  The Governor let it be known in no uncertain terms that Rick will surrender or die... but there's "a way out".  Rick had better listen to whatever Hershel has to say: he's a good Christian man with moral clarity and considerable wisdom.  I can't see him telling Rick to give in to The Governor's demands...

'Course, what makes The Walking Dead such compelling television is what human nature is capable of when the whole world has gone to hell.  This is either going to be a shining moment for Rick, or the point that he really will have fallen beyond a chance at self-redemption.  And that - as opposed to which side Andrea must choose - is as of this week The Walking Dead's meatiest situation.

I enjoyed how Daryl and Hershel had polite conversation with Milton and Caesar while the bosses were talking inside the store.  Milton especially seemed to have a measure of respect for Hershel and vice-versa (even if Hershel refused to show off his stump).  There was even a sense of kinship between Daryl and Caesar: my girlfriend thought it hearkened back to the stories about how during the Civil War.  How Union and Confederate soldiers would sometimes encounter each other before a battle and trade with each other, even attending church together.  Even though they knew that the next time they met, it would be as enemies in the field.  Seeing that kind of interaction was a nice touch.

Glenn took on more of a leadership role in "Arrow on the Doorpost" than we've seen from him in awhile.  He's taking his tasks seriously... but it was also good that he got time to make up (and make out!) with Maggie.  Meantime the two biggest wildcards of this entire game - Michonne and Merle - are each contemplating their moves.

And all the while, the clouds of war gather over Georgia...

"Arrow on the Doorpost" was a more satisfying entry than "Clear" in my mind.  And this far out from the season finale, the episode ended with a sense that the buildup to the inevitable clash won't be a rush job as has happened on too many television series.  It's a good solid pace and if The Walking Dead keeps this up it's gonna be a wild, wild ride throughout the rest of this month!

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THE WALKING DEAD: "I Ain't a Judas" brings an appreciable respite

Did anyone else come away from this week's episode of AMC's The Walking Dead thinking that regardless of how little time we saw of him, that the highlight of "I Ain't a Judas" was Carl (Chandler Riggs) talking to his father Rick?  Because that's what keeps sticking out most in this blogger's mind ever since watching it last night.

I have said it before and I will say it again: if Chandler Riggs doesn't get an Emmy nomination this year, then I will be more than extremely disappointed.  Carl is a character who has solidly destroyed the mold of child characters on television and Riggs deserves some mighty high accolades for the strength, courage, restraint under stress and sheer wisdom that he has portrayed for such an exceptionally young actor.  Carl is becoming a true leader right before our eyes.  The scene before the opening title where he comes to Rick, telling his dad that he should let go because he's taking on much too heavy a burden: that was pure dramatic gold.

And then there was Hershel's no-holds-barred rant at Rick: he wanted this Rick-tatorship... and it's time that he began owning up to it.  In Scott Wilson's hands Hershel has become the group's sage voice of sanity.  Maybe Wilson will get an Emmy nod too (as well as Norman Reedus).

"I Ain't a Judas" was obviously heavy on Andrea (Laurie Holden) and her moral quandary: whether to return to the friends she has been with since before leaving Atlanta, or to remain at Woodbury with the Governor.  In that regard this was considerably a less action-packed chapter of The Walking Dead than we have gotten used to... but after the past several episodes I think that a quiet respite was needed.  Indeed, perhaps even desired more than we initially realized.  The focus of the episode was squarely on Andrea.  More so even than Merle (Michael Rooker) now becoming officially part of Rick's gang at the prison.

(Something else I noticed: duct tape was used at least twice in this episode.  Must remember to stock up on plenty of it when the zombie apocalypse hits.)

"I Ain't a Judas" lacked the gory violence that usually comes from this show every week.  But it was certainly no "filler" episode either and I think that sooner than later we'll be thankful that we got this.  It's very apparent that Rick and his people will soon be facing war with Woodbury and it's nice to have some time to breathe easy before the conflict erupts in earnest.  An altogether well-orchestrated episode, and it looks like next week's will be even better.

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Last night's THE WALKING DEAD nearly made Chris lose bladder control!

And mind ya, that was just from the final five minutes!!

Two things I will say before anything else: that after "Home", this week's episode of AMC's The Walking Dead, David Morrissey has damned-well earned enough street credo to be top choice to play Randall Flagg in that forthcoming film adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand.

Yeah, just try to get that idea out of your head now that I've put it there. I dare ya...

Second: Daryl Dixon is the most awesomesauce-loaded BAD-ass on television since the invention of the cathode ray tube:

Norman Reedus more than deserves an Emmy nod this year, for the life he's brought to Daryl. Along with Chandler Riggs (hey, wouldn't it be soooo appropriate if both Daryl and Carl got supporting actor nominations?).

"Home" delivered everything that has made The Walking Dead the best drama series on television right now. I emphasize "drama" because it was past the halfway mark of this episode before we saw any walkers get offed. But when that finally came we got perhaps the most gruesome zombie-slaughterfest of the series to date (note to self: a hatchback is a potent weapon against the undead).

(By the way, Merle might be dumb, but he did at least have the good sense to ummmm... "disarm" himself before he answered the call of nature. 'Fess up now: how many others out there also caught that.)

The dialogue between the Brothers Dixon following the Skirmish of Yellow Jacket Creek was so compelling that I had to rewind the DVR and watch it again. Glenn has become a man motivated by wrath: something we haven't seen before in the poor guy. I'm feeling conflicted because as much as that kind of thinking tends to lead one to a bad end, you gotta admire how this show isn't afraid to shake its characters down to the core.

Andrew Lincoln went 3/4ths of this episode before getting a spoken line of dialogue. But even so, he's so persuasive playing Rick as a broken and despondent man that it was almost like watching silent film of the finest form.

Yeah, everything about "Home" was spot-on flawless.

And then came those final five minutes.

I ain't saying anything else, for sake of those who haven't caught the episode yet, 'cuz it really is worth it to go into this episode pretty cold. But I will make this comment: that what we saw at the end of "Home" was NOT the real war with Woodbury. That is no doubt still to come. And if the final minutes of "Home" are any indicator, when the full-bore all-out conflict comes it is going to make everybody watching it scream out and cry for Momma.

And that music that Bear McCreary came up with for the attack (including the "bomb") was terrific! Yet one more reason why we need to get a proper soundtrack CD or three of his The Walking Dead work (hey AMC are you guys listening yet??).

If "Home" isn't the best episode of The Walking Dead so far, it's pretty dang close. Gonna watch it again later tonight :-)

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Why you SHOULDN'T buy THE WALKING DEAD AMC Original Soundtrack Vol. 1

EeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEYYYEEEEEAAAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH...!!!!!!!

This is not cool, AMC. Not cool at all.

A little while ago my beating heart be stilled when I read that the first soundtrack album of AMC's megakewl series The Walking Dead is set to be released on March 19th!

I know, right? Happy-dance time. Because there has been a massive demand for a soundtrack CD from this show for ages. It's at least more than a year overdue.

What have we wanted all this time? Nothing less than The Walking Dead's orchestral score. A bona-fide album of all the major pieces that Bear McCreary has composed for this show. EVERY bit of the music that has been most-desired on a quality album, going back to Season 1.

So are we getting that on March 19th?

LIKE HELL WE ARE!!

Lemme put it this way: I don't possibly see how The Walking Dead: AMC Original Soundtrack Volume 1 can honestly be called an "original soundtrack" with a straight face. Much less marketed and sold to us.

Here's the upcoming CD's cover...

Here is the album's official page on AMC's website, which includes the track listing. There is one - count 'em, ONE - track that could be called something from the score: the title theme. And that one isn't even the actual theme at all but a remix!

I'm getting a little tired of this crap. Longtime readers of this blog know what I mean. Remember the nonsense we went through to get Steve Jablonsky's epic Transformers score released on an album? A lot of people bought that Transformers "soundtrack" CD because they believed in good faith that they were getting Jablonsky's music... only to find that they had been deceived. Some of us pitched a fit (and righteously so) to get a legitimate score CD released. Heck, THOUSANDS of people signed that petition! In the end it finally got published (though I will admit: there is evidence that it was going to be released eventually anyway but hey: "the squeaky wheel gets the grease", right?)

To its credit, that first Transformers album did not say "Soundtrack" on its cover. It said "Music from and inspired by..."

AMC has the gall to call THIS The Walking Dead album a "soundtrack"... and it's... well, it's just gosh-#$&@ dishonest marketing. I see one track in that listing that I would want. That's "The Parting Glass". And I already have that via iTunes.

AMC, listen up: I would be extremely happy to pay good money for a true album of Bear McCreary's The Walking Dead score. So would many, many other fans of the show as well. Remember the music that played at the very end of "Beside the Dying Fire", as the camera panned up and we got our first-ever glimpse of the prison? Or that tense piece in the final scene of "Better Angels" as Rick and Carl are standing in the field, unaware of that gigantic herd of walkers that were approaching the farm?

Those and a bunch more McCreary pieces from Seasons 1 and 2, we are eager to get our grubby paws on. We want this more than you might imagine. We do not want this new "Original Soundtrack Vol. 1" when to call it a soundtrack is disingenuous at best.

So be warned my fellow Walk-aholics: if you are looking for Bear McCreary's The Walking Dead soundtrack score, it won't be on The Walking Dead: AMC Original Soundtrack Vol. 1. I don't know what precisely to call this album: maybe an "inspired by..." compilation. But it is not an honest-to-goodness soundtrack in the least shape or form.

AMC, fix this. You know what needs to be done.

Don't make us go all-petitiony and media-mayheming on y'all...

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THE WALKING DEAD returns with "The Suicide King"

It's currently taking me about 20 hours to watch a new episode of AMC's The Walking Dead after it premieres on cable. That's out of voluntary choice however, because I'm a good boyfriend. See, m'lady Kristen is a huge fan of this show too... but since we're over an hour away from each other and she doesn't get regular cable (note to self: get Roku as soon as possible) we just wait 'til our schedules can jibe the next day, then we sync my DVR and her Internet streaming and voila: we get to see one of our favorite shows together after all!

But I gotta tell y'all: with it being more than two months since the crazy events of "Made to Suffer", those 20 hours between last night and early this evening were torture to wait through...

"The Suicide King" picked up right where "Made to Suffer" ended: with brothers Daryl and Merle together at last. Unfortunately they're in the middle of Thunderdome: Woodbury Edition (did anyone else feel like chanting "Two men enter, one man leaves!"?) and The Governor insists upon a show despite Andrea's protests. What followed was one of the best firefights we've seen yet as Rick and crew came to the rescue.

But action ain't the biggest reason why so many of us are hooked on The Walking Dead. This is a well-written, well-plotted drama about very human characters, their relationships and their conflicts with each other.

And right now the two biggest conflicts to watch are The Governor and Rick. As much in conflict within themselves as they are with the world around them. And since we just know that they and their respective factions are going to eventually meet face-to-face...

Two thoughts about this episode. First, David Morrissey has now firmly established his portrayal of The Governor as the most menacing, diabolical and certainly manipulative bad guy on television today. The "benign dictator" schtick is losing its benign and if anybody in Woodbury cares, they fast forgot about it. Especially after that little speech that Andrea gave. Who doesn't think that she was doing exactly what The Governor wanted her to do?

But that stuff was small potatoes compared to watching Rick Grimes' continuing descent into madness.

If Andrew Lincoln gets nominated for an Emmy, that scene at the end of "The Suicide King" is what will be aired at the ceremony: I'd wager money on it. Bless his heart, the man is trying hard to keep the group together, to maintain some hold on his purpose, on his mind, on his soul. We've seen lately how that's been tentative at best and then when hit with the matter of Tyrese and his group...

Good God. The man has gone cuckoo for Cuckoo Puffs full-tilt wacko. Remember that scene in John Carpenter's The Thing where Wilford Brimley went nuts and began shooting and chopping up the place with the fire axe? Well if Hershel, Glenn and Tyrese don't get Rick sedated and restrained Lord only knows what he'll do to himself.

(At least now it makes sense why a certain cast member's name is still in the opening credits...)

Chad Coleman's Tyrese is fast becoming one of my favorite characters on this show ever: there's a quiet and thoughtful determination behind that brute strength he carries, and that's something the group is gonna need. It was also fun to see his former football colleague Hines Ward as a walker (if you missed him, he gets a fairly good closeup before getting thrashed bad right after the group is through the fence fleeing Woodbury).

Not the best episode we've seen this season (it's gonna be really hard to top "Killer Within") but still an altogether solid episode to return from a mid-season hiatus from, while changing up the board for what will doubtless be harsher stuff to come.

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THE WALKING DEAD set to Adele's "Skyfall"

Massive spoilers in this video, 'cuz it covers everything from the start of the first season on up to the third year's mid-season finale.

If you're caught up on The Walking Dead, you still won't be ready for the abundawundawesomeness of Jonathan Wong's video. He's masterfully edited together clips from The Walking Dead and set it to Adele's hit song "Skyfall", the theme from the latest James Bond movie.

If you only watch one YouTube video this week, watch this one. If you only watch ten, watch this one ten times!

AMC oughtta hire Jonathan, this vid is so dang cool!!

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Assault on Woodbury! Mancave! TYREESE! Mid-season finale of THE WALKING DEAD is a blaze of gory!

JEEBUS CRIPES CRISPIES WITH MILK AND ONIONS!!

Andrea?! What the hell are you doing still hanging around Woodbury?!?

The last episode of AMC's The Walking Dead until Season 3 resumes in February was beyond mortal hyperbole. It aired yesterday evening but at the moment I'm still unable to catch it until either Monday mornings or evenings ('cuz that's how I'm currently able to "watch" it with Kristen). So just after 6 tonight we cued up together and I cranked up the DVR.

Good. Lord.

The very first moments of "Made to Suffer" finally brought to TV a character from the comic series that fans have been demanding almost since this show began: Tyreese! And I don't think it was at all coincidence that we got a fleeting glimpse of a certain other character in this episode: Tyreese is no doubt going to become the lieutenant and force of accountability that Rick needs and has always needed, whether he realizes it or not. Chad Coleman is gob-smogglingly bringing it as the pro football player-turned-zombie holocaust badass.

Chandler Riggs, as he has throughout this season, shows us again why he deserves at least a Best Supporting Actor nomination at this season's Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Carl.

For the sake of those who haven't seen "Made to Suffer" yet, I do not want to go too much into anything that happens with Rick and his group when they invade Woodbury to spring Glen and Maggie out of the Governor's stockade. Which Kristen has made an interesting observation: that the two main locations this season are the prison and Woodbury. Isn't it weird that the prison has come to symbolize life and freedom while Woodbury - the nice little town - is the embodiment of bondage and death? Now that's some curious irony if there ever was any.

That said, I am soooo not gonna discuss any at length what happened inside Woodbury during and following the rescue attempt. Except to say that if what we witnessed within the Governor's "mancave" is any indication, we should be EXTREMELY worried that AMC will have the balls to do worse come February.

(Ha-ha-ha, "very funny Chris", yes I should get me to a punnery...)

The Walking Dead is fast becoming maybe the best show of the last decade and a half. It's not about a zombie apocalypse: it's about human nature and what it becomes in the face of cataclysms large and small. There is no "black and white" in this series... but there are some pretty wild shades of gray. It's hard not to sympathize even a smidgeon with the Governor, and for all the good Rick has within him there is also a growing darker side coming out.

Just... wow. I'm reeling from this one, folks. Gonna have to watch it again to absorb it all. A very, very solid episode, and better television than we deserve. Thank goodness it's on basic cable.

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Worst. Timed. Commercial. Break. Ever.

Last night's The Walking Dead on AMC brought back the intensity after the past couple of weeks' relative calm (which was needed, after what happened to Lori). This series is consistently demonstrating why many consider it to be the finest show on television right now.

But that's not the point of this post. Instead I have to remark that what you're about to see is either gross negligence or brilliant marketing.

At the end of the next-to-last act of this week's episode "When the Dead Come Knocking" we find Rick and his team trapped in a cabin, nearly surrounded by ravenous walkers. To escape they have to throw a freshly-killed dude out the front door as a distraction. Rick and company flee through the back door while the walkers start munching.

That's the setup. That's all you need to know.

So watch the final few seconds of that act, then look at what AMC did with the commercial break!

Eeeeeewwwwwww...

Too bad KFC isn't using their "Finger Licking Good" slogan anymore, huh?

The accidental(?) scheduling of the ad has gotten lots of attention, including from folks who haven't seen The Walking Dead yet. So I'm wondering if there was method to the madness. If so: well played AMC, well played.

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This week's THE WALKING DEAD was the darkest yet

And that's sayin' something about this show...

Congratulations producers of The Walking Dead: you finally brought television its most gruesome and disturbing birth scene since Robin's delivery in V: The Final Battle all the way back in 1984:

Yeah. It was sicker than that even.

"Killer Within" raised the stakes. Dropped jaws. And most of all, broke our hearts.

Due to peculiar circumstances at the moment I'm not catching The Walking Dead until the day after it airs (well I could if I wanted to, but I'm an honorable boyfriend who can only experience this story together with his girlfriend :-) and when Facebook and Twitter went berzerk about this episode last night, well... it was a long 20 hours to wait. But that was a hella thing to be patient for. I'm gonna be numb all night after watching that.

Anyone else wanna argue that The Walking Dead is not the best show on television right now? Let's hear about something else. 'Cuz if there is, I wanna watch it too.

In the meantime, so looking forward to next week's episode! And speaking of The Walking Dead and my girlfriend: Kristen and I applied to attend this year's Butt-Numb-A-Thon film festival next month in Austin, Texas. I went to the ninth one in 2007 and we were hoping that this could be an "ultimate movie date night" for us, but we didn't get on the attendance list (with 170 being picked out of 3000+ it was gonna be tough no matter what). Anyhoo, Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News and the founder/emcee of the festival gave applicants the option of making a video: their interpretation of a scene from their favorite movie. Kristen came up with a crazy awesome idea and we filmed it two weeks ago. I thought it'd be fun to share it here :-)

So here is Kristen and her spin on a well-known scene from Love Actually:

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The Governor! Review of this week's THE WALKING DEAD

Does this guy have the most gruesome man-cave ever, or what?

"Walk With Me", last night's episode of AMC's smash series The Walking Dead, at long last brought us the much-anticipated appearance of The Governor: a character voted a few years ago as one of the greatest villains in comic book history.

Okay, so David Morrisey doesn't resemble his graphic novel incarnation that much. But nonetheless Morrisey's Governor has finally brought this show something that's been a long time coming: a true breathing nemesis. For two seasons we've watched Rick and his group - unseen this week but presumably still holding their ground at the prison - fight off the walkers and not much else. But here comes The Governor. Mindless walkers and rogue survivors have been one thing. The head of a whole town and his very own well-munitioned army is gonna quite another.

"Walk With Me" picks up Andrea and Michonne's tale, with the ladies (and Michonne's ummm... "pets on a leash") coming across a crashed helicopter. The Governor and his boys arrive and in short order the girls are found... by a very much still-alive Merle (Michael Rooker), not seen since cutting off his right hand with a hacksaw in Season One. But no worries, 'cuz Merle has been fitted with a well-armed prosthetic.

And then we get to Woodbury: AKA "Mayberry Among the Living Dead". Complete with its very own town drunk. Maybe there's an Ernest T. Bass somewhere who'll throw rocks at the walkers.

Only two real action sequences in this episode. But even so, "Walk With Me" laid down a lot of new ground for no doubt quite a long time to come. The seemingly benign Governor hides the fact that he's a hard-boiled badass as well as he does his "living room". Given what last night's episode portends for his character, it wouldn't surprise me if Morrisey got an Emmy nomination.

Quite a solid episode. Quieter than the previous two episodes, but a hella appetizer for more.

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Finally watched this week's THE WALKING DEAD...

...and it would be "Sick" even if that wasn't the episode title.

This week's episode focused solely on Rick's group at the prison, and picked right up from the end of last week: with Hershel's severed leg bleeding-out and the Rick's posse finding a small group of still-living inmates.

That was plenty enough to launch a solid hour of some of the most intense and gruesome television I've ever witnessed. We got a lot in "Sick": an idea of how long it's been since the outbreak began (almost an entire year), some notion of how fast the infection works (given what happened to Hershel), and most of all how far Rick will go to keep the group safe. Can't say that I blame him: my girlfriend remarked that Tomas is "Shane 2.0".

Two bits of highlighted action in this episode: obviously one is the prisoners forgetting everything that Rick and his team had told them about how to take down the walkers (I was screaming "YOU IDIOTS!" at my TV screen). Then there's Carl, come back nonchalant from the task he took upon himself to accomplish. The kid is growing up fast and hard in a world gone to hell... so for better or for worse we'll prolly be asking "Where is Carl?" for a long time to come.

Next week on The Walking Dead heralds the arrival of a character that fans of the comic book have eagerly waited two years for. The Governor is coming. And I have to wonder just how far AMC is willing to go with him...

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Just saw THE WALKING DEAD Season 3 premiere

It aired last night on AMC and due to some crazy circumstance Kristen and I are only now reeling from the shock of it.

And if "Seed", the season premiere episode of The Walking Dead is any indication, we are in for a hella scary ride rife with high-tension drama, and thankfully bereft of last season's lingering too much around Hershel's farm. The production values also seem much higher 'cuz this episode cost an arm and a leg.

(Did you see what I just did?! Did you see that?? Haaah that's all I got...)

Okay, so how long has it been since the events of Season 2? Because Lori's little bun in the oven is looking like a full-baked poundcake. I'm guessing that the producers are allowing much bigger spans of time to elapse so as to accommodate the imminent growth spurt of Chandler Riggs (the young actor playing Carl). Speaking of which, looks like Carl is gonna be turned loose a bunch more to break bad on the walkers this season. Hopefully that'll save Rick from screaming "CAAAAAAARL!" all the time (yah I'm looking at you Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse).

Loved the prison: this is gonna be a crazy good setting for the coming season. And Michonne was just onscreen enough to satisfy our wanting to get our first good look at her without unloading the full bore of her katana-wielding finesse.

A very, very strong opening for a new season of The Walking Dead. One that might well draw in a horde of new viewers. Looking forward to next week's episode... and the eventual introduction of the Governor into this already insane mix.

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THE WALKING DEAD Season 3 Comic-Con trailer

Look! The prison! Michonne! The Governor! Woodbury! Helicopters! And the return of a certain self-mutilated racist pig!

The Walking Dead begins its third season on AMC in three more months.

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Playing catch-up

Wow. Didn't mean to go so long without writing a blog post. But I rather enjoyed my unplanned respite. Didn't go anywhere. Just... felt led to spend time away from the keyboard, letting God lead me to contemplate some things.

So now that I'm back...

1. Elton John at the Roanoke Civic Center last week was the most electrifying concert that I've ever been to. From the moment he took to the stage he performed for darn nearly three hours without stopping. It has to be said: this man is show business personified.

2. The season finale of The Walking Dead, I watched with my girlfriend Kristen and her mom. All three of us were screaming throughout and I dang nearly went berzerk with giddy excitement when we got our first look at Michonne (with those two zombies in tow). Going out of Season 2 by showing us the prison, well I don't know what else to say: Bring on Season 3 and the Governor!

3. Congratulations to one of my best friends Steven Glaspie on his engagement to his sweet and lovely girlfriend Allison! Steven went all-out for his lady. Remember that diamond that Superman crushed from a piece of coal in Superman III? Yeah it's like that.

4. The next few months will prove to be interesting. Parse that as you will.

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