Watching order
Because there are some issues with watching this, here is the order.
Copying from the site in case it ever goes down, but this info came from here: http://thunderpeel2001.blogspot.com/2010/02/battlestar-galactica-viewing-order.html
It's probably more confusing here on trakt, so go to the above linked site for a better layout.
The Miniseries
Night 1
Night 2
Season 1
1.01 33
1.02 Water
1.03 Bastille Day
1.04 Act of Contrition
1.05 You Can't Go Home Again
1.06 Litmus
1.07 Six Degrees of Separation
1.08 Flesh and Bone
1.09 Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down
1.10 The Hand of God
1.11 Colonial Day
1.12 Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I
1.13 Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II
Season 2
2.01 Scattered
2.02 Valley of Darkness
2.03 Fragged
2.04 Resistance
2.05 The Farm
2.06 Home, Part I
2.07 Home, Part II
2.08 Final Cut
2.09 Flight of the Phoenix
2.10 Pegasus (56 minute extended version)
2.11 Resurrection Ship, Part I
2.12 Resurrection Ship, Part II
2.13 Epiphanies
2.14 Black Market
2.15 Scar
2.16 Sacrifice
2.17 The Captain's Hand
Razor (101 minute extended version - not the 81 minute broadcast version)
Important note: This was originally broadcast just before Season 4, but chronologically it fits here, telling more of the Pegasus's story. Some people argue it's better to watch after Season 3, as originally broadcast, but it makes most sense to watch it here.
The reason that the placement of Razor is a hotly contested issue among BSG fans is because of a bit of dialogue at the very end (in the last 10 minutes) which sets the tone for Season 4 (barely even a spoiler). Everything else in this TV movie is not a spoiler.
So why place it here, and not where it was originally broadcast, if there's any sort of issue? Because, chronologically, the story is set here, and by the time you reach the end of Season 3, the story of Pegasus will feel like ancient history. Indeed, that was the complaint echoed around the internet from fans after Razor originally aired -- it had nothing to do with what was going on in the story at that time.
As a result of this, most fans agree it's better to watch Razor here. In doing so, you'll appreciate the story more and it will have greater emotionally resonance. In short: I highly recommend that you follow my advice and watch it here.
There is one small caveat, however: In order to deal with the above dialogue issue, and so not to unintentionally alter the tone of Season 3, I have two, very specific instructions that I recommend that you follow for your absolute optimum enjoyment.
I will try not to spoil anything with these instructions, so pay attention. You need to press MUTE on your TV (and/or turn off any subtitles) in the following two moments. Both of these moments occur in the last 10 minutes of the story, so you can relax and enjoy the first 90 mins before you need to worry.
Press MUTE when:
and shortly afterwards:
That's it! That's all you have to worry about. Two very small moments, and even if you don't unmute it, it's not a huge spoiler, it just unintentionally alters the tone of Season 3 if you don't, so do try your best to follow my instructions.
2.18 Downloaded
2.19 Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I
2.20 Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II
The Resistance
A 10 episode web-based series bridging seasons 2 and 3. (25 mins.)
Season 3
3.01 Occupation
3.02 Precipice
3.03 Exodus, Part I
3.04 Exodus, Part II
3.05 Collaborators
3.06 Torn
3.07 A Measure of Salvation
3.08 Hero
3.09 Unfinished Business (70 minute extended version - Note: Not included on Region 2 DVDs, but is included on ALL Bluray releases.)
3.10 The Passage
3.11 The Eye of Jupiter
3.12 Rapture
3.13 Taking a Break From All Your Worries
3.14 The Woman King
3.15 A Day in the Life
3.16 Dirty Hands
3.17 Maelstrom
3.18 The Son Also Rises
3.19 Crossroads, Part I
3.20 Crossroads, Part II
Razor: Yes, this again. (Well this is where Razor was originally broadcast, after all.) Remember the last 10 minutes where I told you to MUTE two small moments? Well, guess what, now is when you get to go back and hear what was said. Watch the last 10 minutes of Razor here.
Season 4
4.01 He That Believeth In Me
4.02 Six of One
4.03 The Ties That Bind
4.04 Escape Velocity
4.05 The Road Less Traveled
4.06 Faith
4.07 Guess What's Coming to Dinner?
4.08 Sine Qua Non
4.09 The Hub
4.10 Revelations
Season 4 Continued (aka "Season 4.5" or "The Final Season")
4.11 Sometimes a Great Notion
The Face of the Enemy
A 10 episode web-based series (although it plays together like an intense mini-episode). (36 mins.)
4.12 A Disquiet Follows My Soul (53 minute extended version - only on Bluray releases)
4.13 The Oath
4.14 Blood on the Scales
4.15 No Exit
The Plan (DVD/Bluray movie)
A stand-alone movie that shows (approximately) the first two seasons from the Cylons' perspective. (You finally get to see "The Plan", mentioned all those times in the opening sequence!) Although The Plan was originally released after the show had finished, it is generally agreed that it should be watched here, so that everything is all tied up when you do reach the end.
4.16 Deadlock
4.17 Someone to Watch Over Me
4.18 Islanded In a Stream of Stars (62 minute extended version - only on BluRay releases and Region 1 DVDs)
4.19 Daybreak (150 minute extended version - only on BluRay releases and Region 1 DVDs)
The Plan : This is where this DVD/Bluray movie was originally released (after the show had finished). It seems universally agreed that it's preferable to watch this after No Exit, instead of after you've finished the entire series, but there's no harm in waiting until now.
Then Caprica the series: http://trakt.tv/show/caprica
Denis Villenueve. A solid lineup. A different take on first contact. I loved Sicario but went in expecting a cerebral epic sci-fi.
That was a mistake.
Good things:
- Some really nice visual scenes
- Interesting aliens Calligraphy aliens!
- Clear theme of communication is omnipresent
- A neat score that might be awesome in a different movie
Bad things:
- The acting
- The lack of emotional reaction to ALIENS! The students asking to turn on the TV, all of the main characters
- Lack of useful characters Only the aliens and Louise actually did anything the entire movie.
- Supporting characters are very stupid in an attempt to foil the main character slightly
- Very clumsy exposition. Genre-typical news reports, voice-overs, dumb characters asking stupid questions.
- Very slow pacing. This worked in parts of Sicario, but didn't work in this movie because there was no tension. The main characters never seemed remotely threatened.
- Lousie showing up at school thinking everyone will be there after aliens arrive and there's a state of emergency
- Why can't you translate alien language like you can translate Farsi. This is a paraphrase but in the spirit of what Colonel Weber was saying.
- Useless love interest when the costars have no chemistry.
- Ultrasecure military base lets someone steal a ton of explosives and put it in an ALIEN SPACECRAFT without anyone noticing.
- Many unbelievable plot points
- Poor dialogue Let's make a baby - real quote
- Poor handling of the major plot points Looking through time seems to undermine the fact that the aliens need help. Why did one have to die if they could see the future? Why did only one die when they were right next to each other?
- Very heavy handed moral messaging that didn't align with the rest of the movie.
- Why couldn't Ian also see into the future as he studied the language, or any of the others?
Overall extremely disappointing. I'm honestly surprised critics or general moviegoers like this. The premise was very good. It's a real shame the execution failed so miserably.
And I thought this show couldn't get any worse before this episode. This one is the straw...
You know all those great shows where you don't know a characters' true intentions because the writers have woven a complex web of motivations and character traits. Well this show has that, but without any discernible reason due to character or motivation.
You know all those great shows where favorite characters are put in precarious situations and the intensity comes from wondering how they'll escape, well this show has that except it happens off screen and in this case totally stupid stuff happens off-screen (again), because it is patently unjustifiable in the context of the story, an experienced ZA survivor gets bitten in the stomach of all places, and is now doomed.
You know all those great shows where you're rooting for the villain to get his comeuppance but he always just escapes because of ingenuity, smarts or just that bit of luck, well this show has that except the villain escapes because the heroes are dumbasses. Freakin' Negan escapes death again, when all Rick has to do is hit him hard with the bat, instead of that love-tap, or just jump up and shoot him through the window instead of running away.
You know all those great shows where the action is intense and yet still easy to follow because of amazing direction, well this show has that, except the exact opposite (hard to follow and no intensity because of convoluted story-telling).
You know all those great shows...yeah, I'm just going to watch those...instead.
I'm done with you TWD.
I've watched this series from day one and loved it until season 4. When season 5 started, with their major plot changes, I wanted to quit this show but this episode made me loathe this show to the point where I would literally beat up Martin for giving HBO the rights to change the story line this much. I'm personally disappointed with HBO for killing of such a lovable and adorable character in a way that it wasn't possible. Stannis would NEVER agree to such a thing (and if you remembered in the last episode, he turned down Melissandre without thinking twice). Why did the TV show drop in quality? I was ready to bear the fact that Lady Stoneheart wont be in the show (even tho she has a MAJOR influence in the books) but not this major flaw. Stannis is a weak man, unable to endure the seduction of a witch and the only thing that was able to cancel her manipulation was Shireen. For god's sake Selyse had second thoughts, the woman who hated her daughter more than anyone in the world but Stannis didn't, the man who showed so much love and pride in her daughter.
I'm rating this episode 1 because this is the last episode I will ever watch of Game of Thrones. I was able to survive "The Red Wedding" and Oberyn Martell because I knew this was coming but this... THIS... I'm disgusted.
EDIT: If the actress didn't wanna act in the series any more they (HBO) could have at least killed her via Ramsey Snow's 20 men sneak attack or something. This was utterly revolting. :/
I've seen some gripes that people like Better Call Saul, but that sometimes it feels like it's two different shows hot-glued together. It's true that there's a particular storyline focused on Jimmy's trials and travails with Kim and his brother, and another with Mike getting mixed up with Salamancas. While the leads of each story bump into one another from time to time, there's not a strong plot-based connection between the two of them.
Despite that, in episodes like "Nailed," there's a strong thematic connection between the two of them. In the episode, both Jimmy and MIke have pulled a con of some kind, in the hopes of protecting someone else but in a way that benefits them. Jimmy's adventures at the copy center in "Fifi" led to Kim winning Mesa Verde back, and Mike's road obstacle is intended to draw the cops' attention to Hector and keep him too otherwise occupied to threaten his family, but also leads to Mike pocketing a nice quarter-mil. And each has the added bonus of this windfall coming at the expense of someone they have beef with. For Jimmy, it's a chance to get back at his brother, and for Mike, it's a chance for him to stick it to Hector after causing him such a headache.
And both Mike and Jimmy are pros, so they know how to cover their tracks. Jimmy is meticulous about transposing the address (as Chuck points out, he was never lazy), and removes the evidence of his forgery while Chuck is out of the house. Mike, meanwhile, wears a ski mark, blindfolds the Salamana associate he's ripping off, and makes sure he's neither seen nor heard.
But despite the fact that each of them is absolutely careful not to leave behind any corroborating or identifying evidence, each gets figured out because of who they are, because people who know them know what their M.O. is, and even if there's nothing that ties them to these crimes that would necessarily hold up in court, each incident has the trademark of the man who incited it. Chuck knows that this is what his brother does, that this is who he is, and that lets him piece together what happened. For that matter, Kim knows Jimmy too well to buy Jimmy's pleas of ignorance either. He is a huckster, and the story Chuck tells is perfectly in line with Jimmy's usual methods and motives. By the same token, even though Mike doesn't leave a trace on the road to Mexico, Nacho is able to figure out that it was him who hit the ice cream truck, because only a guy like Mike would have the stones to pull off a heist like that, but would expend such effort to avoid taking life.
And then each of them suffers an incredible setback due to the law of unintended consequences. One of the most striking parts of "Nailed" is how, for once in his life, it seems like Mike is happy. The reliable grump uses his newfound wealth to buy a round for the entire bar, and more notably, he actually smiles in the process! He flirts with the waitress at the diner, and he actually laughs! It's not a sour sarcastic laugh; it's a laugh of incredulity, of relief, that maybe things are going to work out, that maybe he can finally put all of the stress and strain he'd had to deal with since the events we witnessed in "Five-O" behind him.
Then he gets that phone call from Nacho, and as always seems to be the case in Better Call Saul and its predecessor, there's some contingency, some way that the cookie crumbled, that didn't work out just right. A good Samaritan helped the driver that Mike hogtied, and not only did it throw a monkey-wrench in his plans to take Hector off the chessboard, but that good Samaritan was shot and killed for their trouble.
Mike's moral code exposed him to Nacho, and their exchange reveals that for all the effort he went to not to have to kill anyone, not to cause anyone any harm that he could avoid, his choices still led directly to someone being killed, and because he tried to avoid killing a crazy drug lord, or that crazy drug lord's much more calculating uncle, he let a completely innocent life perish. The look on his face when he hears that news shows that it wiped away whatever joy he possessed in the rest of the episode. It's replaced with an expression of utter loss, of failure, of the best laid plans leading to the one thing he was trying to avoid.
And Jimmy has the same experience, albeit in a much different way. Jimmy seems legitimately happy when he and Kim are just palling around, painting their new office and enjoying that joking rapport that makes them feel right for one another. While his feigned surprise is not particularly convincing, there's also genuine glee when he hears that Kim got Mesa Verde back. But there's two things he doesn't count on, and each of them comes back to bite him in a particular way.
The first is that Kim figures out what happened, or at least buys that even if Chuck doesn't have the whole story, or doesn't have things 100% correct, that he's right that Jimmy tampered with Chuck's work in such a way so as to benefit her. After how clear Kim made it that she wasn't comfortable with Jimmy's methods, that she wanted to do things her own way, sink or swim, she understandably feels betrayed, even if she's not yet ready to break things off with Jimmy, let alone give up her client or expose him to the risk of being disbarred or going to jail. Despite that, the scene of the two of them in bed together, and the palpable coldness between them, feels like a mirror image of Chuck and his wife sitting in bed, similarly disconnected, in the cold open to "Rebecca." Chuck's wife isn't in the picture anymore, and we do not yet know why, but that visual rhyme, and Kim's demeanor, suggests that she may not be in Jimmy's life for much longer either.
But there's a more severe unintended consequence for Jimmy as well. Jimmy loves his brother. He hates him a little bit, but he loves him. He doesn't want to hurt Chuck; he just wants to take him down a peg, to stop him from keeping Kim from what she's owed the same way that Chuck did to him. But Jimmy's actions go further than that. They torture Chuck. He begins to suffer under the electric hum of the banking commission's offices once the alleged "discrepancy" is exposed. The blistering buzz of the florescent lights at the copy shop start to take their toll on him. Chuck's clearly at the end of his rope. He's right, but feels like the world is gas-lighting him. And he's right. All at once, it's too much for Chuck, and he cracks his head on the table and crumples to the ground. Once again, Jimmy has plied his trade as best he knows how, never meaning any real harm, but someone he cares about ends up getting seriously hurt in the process. Let's hope that Chuck fares better than Marco did.
In truth, there's a great deal of coincidence and convenience at play in "Nailed." How is it that Kim gets the call to come pick up the Mesa Verde boxes from Chuck's so soon after she wins Mesa Verde back? Chalk it up to narrative convenience. Why would she bring Jimmy along to what is already likely to be a delicate situation? Maybe she knows he's there to gloat and doesn't want to deny him, but figures he'll be on his best behavior. How is it that Chuck not only realizes that Jimmy sabotaged him, but is able to almost preternaturally piece together exactly how he did it? Welll, Chuck's a smart guy, and the show tries to handwave it by having him bring up Jimmy's fake I.D. scam in high school.
So how does Kim obliquely bring up that Jimmy needs to cover his tracks just in time for Chuck to show up to the copy shop when Ernesto just happens to be there? How is it that he just so happens to have the copy shop empty except for him and the clerk with enough time for him to lay out his bribe and his story? How is it that he has the nigh-perfect vantage point to see and understand all that's going on in the shop once Chuck rolls in? Beats me.
The episode, the acting, the direction, the dialogue, the plotting, the themes, and the show are all just too damn good to care. From the wry-edged sweetness between Jimmy and Kim as they're setting up their new apartment, to the perfectly-constructed and tension-filled hit by Mike in the desert, to the hilarious scene where Jimmy talks his way into filming on a school playground, to the frenetically shot and edited final scene where Chuck loses it, to the blistering, incredible moment where Jimmy, Kim, and Chuck are laying it out on the table for one another, there is simply too much greatness in too many modes from this show to be especially bothered by any bit of narrative convenience.
That last scene in particular is an all-timer. In "Pimento," the penultimate episode of Season 1, Jimmy confronted his brother in that same room, with a similar inflammatory atmosphere and tone to their hashing things out. Here, once again only a single episode away from the finale, the show doubles down on that concept. The tables are turned -- this time it's Chuck exposing the double cross, and for that matter, "Nailed" throws Kim into the mix, both to have the other major presence in Jimmy's life represented and exposed to this, but also to stand out as the person who sees each of these misguided men for what they are.
The anger, the betrayal, the pride, the sense of pleading in Chuck's voice as he lays this all out is remarkable. He has been betrayed by the brother whom she had just thanked for looking after him despite their issues with one another. And he has Kim there not just for the boxes, but because he wants to tell her not to make the same mistake he did, of trusting Jimmy. He knows that Jimmy did it for her, but that Jimmy will eventually do the same thing to her--betray her trust, if not twist the knife in quite the same fashion--because he can't help himself. He wants to Kim to see Jimmy clearly, without the lens of affection that's blinded him and which he thinks is blinding her.
But unbeknownst to Chuck, and for that matter the audience, Kim already knows. It's hard to tell at what moment in that scene that Kim believes what Chuck is telling her. Maybe it's Jimmy's less-than-convincing denial. Maybe it's Chuck's declaration that his brother did it for love. Maybe it's just her piecing it together in the space between the accusations and the pleas of innocence. Rhea Seehorn and Kim Wexler play it close to the vest, not letting the viewer be sure what she thinks or what she understands until the moment when her frustration erupts and she punches Jimmy's arm in the car.
Before that though, she offers the frankest, truest, and saddest assessment of the McGill boys that the show has allowed us to witness. The show commits to the feint when it has Kim pushing back at Chuck and telling him that one typo by lantern light is far more likely than Chuck's accurate but paranoid-sounding account of what happens. But then she speaks the absolute truth. Chuck made Jimmy, or at least pushed him this direction. As I've said before, Jimmy idolizes his brother, and if Chuck had returned that affection, returned that trust, just a little bit, who knows where Jimmy's talents might have been put to use.
Thus far, Better Call Saul has seemed to posit that there is something essential about Jimmy that cannot avoid taking the occasional shortcut, that cannot completely suppress his conman ways. But he toiled in the mailroom long enough to make something of himself. He dredged up the Sandpiper case not through pure dishonest trickery, but by using his resourcefulness for good. Maybe Chuck will always see his brother with a law license as a chimp with a machine gun, but with a little guidance, a little help, maybe he could at least be aiming it in the right direction.
That doesn't absolve Jimmy, and neither does Kim. She's right to be sorry for both of them, that each has made awful choices to hurt the other and, meaning to or not, her. For Jimmy, those choices led him to potentially losing the woman he loves, and have left his brother in need of an ambulance. For Mike, those choices have left him with blood on his hands once more. Jimmy and Mike never cross paths, not even for a moment in "Nailed," but by the end of the episode, they're in the exact same place.
Such a mess of a movie.
I didn' t expect much and haven't watched the trailer before but apparently this movie is focusing on the younger audience only and not on the people who watched the first movie back in the day. It's one of these moments when you realize you get old.
Way too young cast, a dumb plot, so no-one needs to think about anything, degrading this movie to a shut-your-brain-off popcorn flick/time waster you forget instantly after leaving the cinema, clichès as far as the eyes can see, cringe dialogues, incredibly studid decisions by humans and aliens.
Liam Hemsworth is the actor to draw in the young audience and a total miscast for this kind of movie but he fits in with all the other young actors who are out of place as well. But that also means he will be the more or less tragic or cool hero and "win" a gorgeous woman at the end of the movie. How could it be different?
Hemsworth's literally horny sidekick is annoying the moment he appears, throughout the whole movie and is the deliberate comic relief and simply hateable as his character is written so blatantly obvious and without any care. You instantly know what trope his character is and what role he will have the rest of the movie.
You are in the alien ship and he carelessly jumpscares you: haha, how funny!
He's talking loudly, called out on it to be quiet and keeps going being loud, endangering all of them: haha, how funny!
He is fawning over the beautiful, "unreachable" daughter of the chief in command on the moonbase we all know he will get later anyway for no reason other than "we went through this sh*t together": soo original.
Liam Hemsworth is peeing in front of the aliens to distract them: haha, how funny and mature.
...and the aliens even fall for that crap.
The whole movie could only happen in its entirety because of the first major decision that was made for no other reason than plot.
Levinson is some kind of an authority when it comes to aliens but he is ignored to enable the movie when he says not to fire at that spherical spaceship, that looks so difficult to the others and behaves totally different as well. That appearance wasn't even foreshadowing, it was an obvious spoiler to how they would be able to win this time against the aliens and took out any kind of suspense there could have been from the get go.
The movie is predictable all the time and doesn't even try to avoid (or hide) it, ultimately leading to me not being entertained at all.
Recurring actors were all a total waste, except perhaps for Goldblum.
Brent Spiner, who plays Dr. Okun, was additionally unbelievable and simply unnecessary.
Using a poweroff button as sign for the resistance against the aliens was preeeetty lazy as well in the design department.
Easy cash grab movie. I have no doubt the next ID movie will be even worse. Here goes my hope for a good Stargate reboot down the drain. I hoped it would give the franchise a possibility to relaunch a series or so but I heavily doubt that now.
But to not only say negative things about this movie: the CGI effects weren't bad.
I wanted to write this in earlier comments: Does anyone think of Black Mesa while the Hawkins Lab scenes (the current time, not Eleven's flashbacks)? specially when they send in the one dude in the Upside-Down. That could've been Gordon Freeman.
Anyway, as a i expected the protagonists are shifting now in the offensive. But i cringed on Hopper's plan. What was his exit strategy? I know, he is more an intuition type, but that was seriously dumb. Another thing that felt out of place was the scene at the vigil with Mr. Clarke. Firstly it was an unusual amount of explanation for Stranger Things, secondly this punch-a-pencil-through-paper-explanation was very cliché. And not 80s cliché, i looked it up. It was first used in Event Horizon in 1997 (or has Mr. Clarke the ability to watch movies from the future, which would be awesome btw.), then recently in Interstellar.
I really enjoyed the duo Nancy-Jonathan. Nancy finally left her 80s-trope-shell and showed some soul. The confrontation developed both characters much further.
Speaking of Duos: Joyce was in combination with Lonnie also very good. She used her maniac energy, that she had built up in the last episodes in converted it into an emancipatory act.
One final thought, that i also wanted to write in earlier comments: I think they showed the monster too early. We saw already the head and parts of the body in episode 3 or so. I would've wished they wanted until the end of this episode to show anything of the monster directly. So the picture analysis in the dark room and everything else connected to finding the monster would have had so much more impact.
Stephen King's best work, gets a watered down adaption. That feels like the director and screenwriter, both never even read the books. Roland (Idris Elba) in the books is obsessed with getting to the Tower. Here he only cares about revenge on the Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey) who killed his father.
While Jake's (Tom Taylor) backstory is a bit tampered with too. I am pretty sure in the book, he got to Roland's world by being shoved in front of a car by a mad man. I am sure Jake being obsessed with drawing Roland and his world is from like the 2nd or 3rd book.
The books were quite violent and graphic. With a Western like feel to them. There's not much screenwriter Akiva Goldsman got right. The plot is a incoherent mess that doesn't feel like any of the books. While none of the books are close to PG-13.
The best things about this movie is the Idris Elba and Tom Taylor chemistry. As well as the humor of when Roland tries hotdogs or Soda for the first time.
McConaughey tries hard to play a cold hearted bastard and succeeds on some levels. Maybe because his character does some evil things. Otherwise I think they needed someone like Willem Dafoe who could play evil in his sleep.
All in all, Sony and Akiva Goldsman are where this adaption went wrong. As well as being too short. King's prized possession shouldn't be in the hands of the studio that brought us the Ghostbusters reboot and the Emoji movie.
While Goldsman hasn't adapted one book well. The screenwriter of Batman & Robin shouldn't be allowed near anything Stephen King. Especially The Dark Tower. Adapting the Dark Tower, proved he shouldn't have been near it. What a mess with so much potential to be more.
Oh deer...very, ver interesting episode. Richonne was amazing. And all those zombie killings, hell's yeah.
I had so many flashbacks: Rick's version of "hiding under the dumpster", the deer, the roof falling, the walker killings through the fence in the prison.
I love the bonding between Rick and Michonne and that Rick's fake death scene was perfect. Of course we're not worried about him dying, not in a random episode, but the scene felt so powerful. That "death" was for Michonne. Her emotions and she realizing that she's nothing without Rick helped to develop her character.
And Rick making good negotiations with the garbage people. "10. 5. 10. 6. 10. 9. 10. 9 and you keep the cat. 20 I keep the cat, we get you guns and we fight together. Say yes". Such a badass. I haven't figured out yet why they speaking so fucking weird: More guns, fight your fight, need cat back. What happens, do you need to speak weirdly to save effort? Does it take too much to make a whole sentence? Does speaking weirdly have any effect on your fighting skills?
I guess they spent all their CGI budget in Shiva so they made that deer with Paint. What a funding horrendous animal. I have no idea how those walkers dare to eat it. Deers are a bad omen in TWD.
And Rick talking about Glenn in the van broke my heart. What a heartbreaking scene: "He saved me. I couldn't save him". I'll never get over it. The feelings.
I'll be extremely surprised if by the end of this season Rosita is still alive. She's almost as suicidal as Andrea, but she hasn't slept with Negan yet. I guess that suicidal mission will end up with Sasha getting killed and Rosita bearing that burden again. I really loved the scene with Father Gabriel. Such a real character. "You can certainly blame me for the fact that you have a life, but after that what are you going to do with it?" Father Gabriel totally microphoned Rosita.
It'll be interesting to see Ricks's reaction to Oceanside. Btw, Judith is a godamn good therapist.
Not a good episode.
Shootout seems to be the main focus in this episode, but it is done rather terribly. Especially in Aaron's/Eric's/Tobin's team, where the conflicting parties hold each other in a very close gunpoint but nobody gets shot until the last moment (except for the Saviors of course, baddies always gets shot). The team also seems to have some trick up in their sleeves, but I guess the screenwriter thought the audience is stupid enough so one of the antagonist has to say it out loud. Morgan's/Jesus's/Tara's team is also bad, though not as bad as Aaron's/Eric's/Tobin's. There are these two scenes where people just rush without much caution exactly to the point where their teammates just got shot - you know how it ended up for them.
Well, Walking Dead isn't known to have the greatest action scenes anyway (though I still remember the Woodbury one was pretty good), but even in the drama department the tense kinda falls flat. One of the team has this scenes where they pose this "have we become what we hate"/"gaze into abyss" question - an interesting theme that seems to have been brought up by Walking Dead occasionally - but the scenes are mixed together between the loud firefights and the weird scenes involving King Ezekiel being smug of himself. That editing... really ruins the mood. They're making it hard to care with the seriousness of the theme raised.
Last - Rick encounters a familiar face. I'm getting a sense that the screenwriter is trying to evoke some sort of nuanced, conflicting values by returning this character like they did terrifically in Season 3 with Morgan (Episode 12 "Clear", still one of the best TWD episode). Except... it leaves no impression at all. I don't even remember who this guy is - something that the screenwriter seems to be aware of, that they made Rick spills the line, "Your name is..." (seriously!) It just came out of nowhere, with no foreshadowing and no build up at all. Even more so considering the character didn't get enough screen time back in Season 1.
So, yeah. The opening and closing of the episode also feel like a failed arthouse attempt to make dramatic moments - if not merely serving as filler. Unfortunately this season is still going bad so far.
‘Wrath?’ The episode title should have been called ‘Disappointed’ because that’s what I feel like.
Best part of this episode was the acting but I’m not sure if Maggie was screaming or if it was Lauren...maybe she was thinking about her career choices and channeling it. I bet she and the actors are rethinking signing on for more. They probably are just reluctant to leave their friends to move into another job.
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Still don’t like Eugene but the little surprise he had was good. I liked that Gabriel was trying to fight back. I liked that Daryl showed mercy but it fit the story.
What DOESN’T make sense is Negan...wtf Rick?! You’re going to waste food...your people’s time to keep him guarded...your meds if he gets sick? Just to do what a dying child (because he was supposed to be like 12-13 despite how old chandler was) wanted. He was a child who obviously didn’t understand (like the writers apparently) that sociopaths and psychopaths are not safe to have around.
Seriously...
I mean, Dwight was different. Definitely not good but he started out wanting to be good, did messed up stuff, and felt remorse, then tried to atone. So his ‘punishment’ was fitting and it was actually better for Daryl since he probably didn’t want to see another person he knew, die.
Honestly if Rick wanted to take the high road...and if he wanted to do what Carl wanted, fine have him offer an olive branch HOWEVER, Negan should have tried to kill him and then Rick slices his throat. None of this showing mercy for the people trying their kill you. No, mercy is for people trying to be good...like Dwight. While I don’t like him the mercy-aspect made more sense there but not with Negan.
And whatever happened to Heath? He was never reunited with Alexandria after he and Tara went in that run on season 6. If this show ends now this is probably the biggest question I have about it.
I used to re-watch episodes and sometimes even get chills after. Tonight’s episode I just kept thinking ‘wtf?’ and ‘it’s over’.
Not the war. The Walking Dead.
That's amazing!!! The plot is very mindblowing, the main character is awesome and funny and they made it in a way that the jump scares were cool. [spoiler] The inception-ish nature of his dying moments gave it a very interesting dynamic to the end of the episode - when you thought the episode were going to end one way, he would wake up and then again. What I liked the most is that everything from the white room forward was made up by his own mind - we don't even know what the test would be about, because right after the machine were turned on his brain went into a frenzy that created all the story - until he died. So, a lot of things were done accordingly with his memories - the house was the one from the game he played and the stairs were very much like the ones from his house. They made it in a way that we thought for the longest time that the machine was an evil AI consuming his brain, but it turns out most of the job was done by his own mind in an allucination caused by his phone interference. I ended it in shock and now I keep remembering just how great it was. He should have just called his mom.
I enjoyed this movie. It's subtle. I found it to be beautiful and thought provoking. How does one deal with waking up to find that they and their lover are the only two people left in the world? There comes a time in many young people’s lives when they begin to question the meaning of life and their place in the world as they attempt to reconcile their religious upbringing with the reality of the world. This can be a very stressful time both emotionally and psychologically resulting in a possible existential crisis. The young man, Riley, has apparently previously dealt with such matters as he takes a somewhat surprisingly Zen-like approach to their situation thus avoiding such crisis or perhaps he is just not given to such thoughts. After all, why spend time contemplating things for which there are no answers? Unfortunately for the young woman, Jenai, finding themselves in the most bizarre and inexplicable situation imaginable seems to bring her to question, quite possibly for the first time, God’s will, even the very existence of God, and the validity of everything she’s been taught. We watch her struggle with a deep existential crisis for which their present situation obviously only exacerbates. Riley loves the stark beauty of Iceland and seems genuinely content to live out his days there. Jenai, on the other hand, appears to feel trapped as they are now essentially stranded in a strange land far from home (they appear to be American). She misses her home, her family, and her book that she describes as more of a log book than a journal. Riley makes constant attempts to help Jenai through her crisis. He attempts to show her the beauty of their new world and how they can have a wonderful life there together. "We have the world at our feet." They stop at a random cabin on a lake in the woods for a relaxing retreat outside the city. There they come across an old man who has gone without food and water for too long. He had gone there to die. They, of course, give him food and water and share his cabin with him that evening. Jenai discusses the philosophical issues of their situation with him by the fire in the hearth. The old man passes away in his sleep and is found dead in the morning. Surely if there is one then there could be others. They make a renewed search driven by Jenai but find no one else. Electricity and Internet service is still available. Jenai holds on to hope that there is someone back at home. She keeps her computer on and monitors it daily for any messages or other signs of humanity out there. As Riley makes continued attempts to help Jenai come to accept their situation, she seems to improve, but then when a message notification sounds on her computer, it apparently becomes 'the straw that broke the camel’s back'. In this movie, as in life, there are no answers. Perhaps it is best to accept things as they come rather than try to reason in vain as to why.
I think the producers of this show are trying to turn it into a comedy show.
We're still given lousy speeches, shitty tactics and moronic reasoning from people who quite frankly should know better by now. Remember Gregory, he can be trusted right? Such a goofball, eating pancakes from a baby... Remember that?
Great how that one lesbian girl whose name I won't bother to remember has just turned into some kind of Steven Seagal character. I bet my 5-year old son can look more intimidating than her.
And Morgan, and Rick, even Jebus... All the moments of reflection are so blatently obvious it seems like they're just crossing off a list. And Daryl, such a killah, well... they all are killers until they're not... FREE bullits for all cuz noone's turning anyways unless the plot desires it!
Oh the lover of a once interesting character didn't survive his gut wound, let's spend ample minutes cuz... emotions yall. WE need more emotions.
Not since seeing a AK47's nozzle do a plastic wobble have I been more surprised by how awful this show really is (again). It's worse than a B-movie cause they're still being serious about it. It's funny that a sci-fi show mocking the genre and being over the top (rolling zombieball included) is better than this.
Everything seems so void, empty of realism, emotion, danger... it's a show that has lost all it's will to live and won't even bother in trying, unable to kill itself and drudging through life waiting to be killed... Heh, it's become a zombie shuffling through the world in search for brains but not getting a bullit through the head.