I really liked that intro. Although it wasn't necessary, it was a nice way to explore Elliot's state of mind. And it is another way to interpret his perspective of the world. For Elliot the world must look like a sitcom. On the top-layer it's intact, everyone acts happy and problems doesn't seem to be grave, but it's just an illusion, fake as the greenscreen. Problems and dysfunctional relationships are laughed away, which compares to the real world, where Elliot sees how people always try to overplay their personal and societal problems.
But the producers need to be careful to don't overplay this creative tidbits in future episodes, otherwise it tends to distract from the main plot and becomes just a gimmick. In general it seems to me that Elliot's plot is underdeveloped in this season, in this episode specially. He doesn't need to be the protagonist necessary, i can see him more as a commentator as well, but he was developed as a lead. Now he is more of a supporting character.
The strength of the episode lies with the women, as it was built up in the former episodes. Angela and Darlene have an intriguing dynamic and they focus on hands-on hacking, which made this series unique. It shows also, that, when they focus on just two story arcs instead on for or five like in the last episode, they have time to develop it better and make the whole thing coherent.
This film surprised me in a good way. I had absolutely NO IDEA what to expect from it. I never played the games and the trailer didn't exactly get me excited. But then I saw it and had to say, I really kind of liked it.
Granted, I couldn't understand half of the proper names they were saying (I really missed the subtitles I always use at home), but it was an original plot (to me) that every time I thought it was going to go one way... it didn't. That was refreshing.
The filmmakers have created some cool characters (though many gamers already recognized them) and inhabited a world I found interesting and would like to visit some more (in the movies... not the games).
The closest thing I can compare this to are the "Lord of the Rings" & "Hobbit" trilogies, but that's only because I've seen them most recently. But it's a bit different. The right and wrong are still fairly well-defined in this world of Warcraft (pun intended) but both sides have right & wrong.
I hope people give this movie a chance because it's worth a look. I'd like to see it again to see what I missed the first time through.
This episode is simply stupendous.
Space combat in this TV show is different than other sci-fi shows. It's more realistic, and just plain cool. It would be worth watching the show just for that, but the writing is excellent too!
The population differences are interesting: Earthers, Martians, OPA, and Belters (and Ceres inhabitants, if they are different.) I especially like the Martian culture. The humans who come from Mars are vaguely similar to Romulans in Star Trek (TOS); their difficult life on Mars has resulted in a fascist-like dedication to the state and fierce militarism, yet also a noble dedication to their own people. There is also a sort of Cold War type stand-off between Earthers and Martians, with little information flow and a lot of mystery and suspicion. The ending of this episode also brings to mind Romulans. And yet, the Martians are unique and don't seem derivative at all. One nitpick: the red lighting in the Martian helmets is trying too hard to say, "These guys are the Martians!"
Belters are tall and thin. In this episode or the previous one, we learned that Belter prostitutes are very striking in lingerie. Belters are even more culturally different from Earthers than Martians are, in that Belters have their own language, which apparently includes body motions.
The Earthers we've seen have mostly been corrupt upper class and bureaucrats. They enjoy fine wine, while giving lip service to plans of recycling that they'll probably never actually implement.
Oh, and then there are the Mormons. LOL. They count as their own faction. And they have a Plan.
I don't care about the battle for Rick's soul. I just don't anymore. Rick's been good. He's been bad. He's been crazy. He's been sane. He's been all too trusting and all too vicious. Sure, in better hands, there would still be places to take the character, but right now it seems like The Walking Dead has exhausted the possibilities with Rick.
So what we have is a slight rehash of the Ricktatorship that began at the end of Season 2 of the show. Rick trusts his people, and dismisses the Alexandrians. In case you miss the subtlety of that, the episode hammers it home with Mischonne questioning Rick making plans without the help of the folks outside their group and Rick brushes her off, while making it explicit later in the episode when he tells Tara not to risk her life for one of "them."
And of course he gets pushback from Mischonne, from Morgan, from Tara, in addition to little reminders from Deanna and the guy who helps him put up the brace that even if the Alexandrians are still a bit green and naive, they're hopeful, helpful, and willing to learn. The obvious trajectory is that at some point, like the literal walls around their compound, the walls Rick has erected around himself and his ground will come tumbling down, and he will accept that the locals are worthy of his trust and acceptance. But I just can't be bothered to care about it. We've seen him do this dance a dozen times over the course of six seasons, and there's just not enough shades to Rick or Andrew Lincoln's performance to make this go-around stand out.
And hey, Glenn is alive! And just in time to have a tedious discussion about what they're living for with Enid! His survival is a complete and total cheat, that doesn't match up with anything we know about the zombie hordes in this behave. But you know what? It doesn't really bother me. This show has always been remarkably inconsistent with how the walkers function, and has used more than a few narrative loopholes to handwave the survival of important characters. At this point in the series, you're either on board with it or you're not. I'd be lying if I said I liked that tack, but that's what the show is, and I've come to accept it.
What I struggle with more are the endless, repetitive, never-ending conversations between characters about what use there is living in this shattered civilization. Sure, Enid's feelings are completely justified and motivated by what she's been through, but just like Rick, we've seen distraught and fatalistic characters so many times that just having those same sentiments come from a young girl without anything to distinguish them doesn't render them new or different. It just makes them a dull rehash with a new, preteen coat of paint.
Thankfully there's Lennie James as Morgan to raise the quality of the episode with the quality of his acting alone. Morgan joins other characters like Mischonne and Carol as being able to convey a conflicted and compelling inner life even when the characters aren't vocalizing their thoughts, or worse yet, are having to spit out the show's frequently clunky dialogue. Lennie James portrays Morgan's inner turmoil so convincingly--a man caught between the philosophy that saved him from madness and the necessities of the moment--that it elevates any episode he's in.
By the same token, Carol has less to do, but her brief conversation with Jesse's son Sam was also quietly revealing of Carol's own concerns about whether she's turned into a monster, whether she's hewed too far toward hardness she embraced after the deaths of her husband and daughter, of what she believes is required to survive in the new world. It's a character beat the show touched on in "JSS", and Melissa McBride does a great job at selling both Carol's steely determination and her silent self-questioning.
Then there's Ron, who has been very blatantly set up by the show to be seeking revenge against Rick and Carl, and the show all but attaches a flashing neon sign to that effect in this episode. I don't particularly care for Ron. The kid has Dawson's Creek-level acting skills and his storyline is a little too written-on-the-screen for my tastes.
But it does have one interesting angle to it. The Grimes boys almost have it coming. I'm not saying they deserve to be shot or killed or anything, but Carl acts like a superior prick during the shooting lesson, whether he means to or not, and Jesse was right when she told Rick that it's overstepping his bounds to take a paternal role with Ron after he killed Ron's father, whether or not Rick means well or Ron's dad deserved it. If there's one interesting new place the show could take with Rick, it would be to make him an out-and-out villain, but this is, sadly, the closest we're likely to get.
The episode touches on other stories here and there. Rosita goes drill sergeant on Eugene at the Alexandria machete class in a scene that was fairly cliche but at least dovetailed with the episode's theme of why we live and why we fight. Father Gabriel's cold war with Rick continues, and is sure to come to some kind of head--perhaps as the focal point of RIck's inevitable turn to learning to trust others (including the Alexandrians) again--but for now just sits in the background. Denise is growing in confidence in her medical practice, and the feint toward her helping Morgan with her skills as a therapist has promise. And Maggie stands vigil for Glenn, just in time for the lead into the next episode.
But this is a scattershot episode of The Walking Dead. It's squarely average for what this show is in its sixth season. There's still a bit of the bad, a bit of the good, and a lot of the middling and repetitive. It's a slower, workmanlike episode, with the only major fireworks being Spencer's little jaunt. It didn't give us much insight into the character, but instead circled around the theme of finding a reason to live and finding the people to do it with. Unfortunately, those are themes the show has hit more than a few times over the years, and it doesn't have much more to say at this point.
