With all the TF2013 madness plus that stupid Nemo hitting the city hard, I actually ALMOST forgot the rest of the season kicks off later today (oops!) and I don’t have a DVR at home. Thanks to Peavey Electronics rolling out a cool line of new licensed guitars and such at the show including this really spiffy The Walking Dead Predator electric with Charlie Adlard’s artwork on it, I can safely scoot off the show floor in time for a nice subway ride home, grab some food and catch the show without having to stay up late to catch the second showing (which would be a bad idea, as I have a bunch of TF appointments on Monday). Hmmm… I haven’t picked up a guitar in YEARS (and I’m no Twang Bar King at all), but I’ll have to check this one out in a few hours. Yeah, yeah, I’m SUPPOSED to be sleeping, but I can never rest before these big trade shows, so I’m up double checking my email and yup, adding a post or two…
Well, well well. I lost that bet with myself after all about one big thing that occurred last week, so chalk up another one for Vince Gilligan pulling the rug out from under me. That said, given this season opened with Walter White in the near future having his yearly birthday breakfast (in a roadside diner this time) with no one we know around, the last few episodes are going to be quite interesting indeed. Still, I did predict that Walt and Skyler would be even more on the rocks this season, so that sort of evens things out. On the other hand (spoiler, unless you’ve been watching the show), I thought Mike would be around until the very end just to put an interesting cap to things (pun absolutely intended, more on that next year when the show is finally over).
As for this episode and in fact, this first arc that’s going to lead into the final eight shows? Well, as a drug kingpin… Walt is either really smart or really stupid… and I’m going for more of the latter based on some of his decisions this half-season…
“We want people to experience the same terror of the walker-filled reality our characters faced in seasons one and two – and will continue to face in our third season,” said Greg Nicotero, Co-Executive Producer and Special Effects Make-up Artist for the series. “Our collaboration with Universal Studios’ creative teams is exciting as we work to truly capture the essence of the show.”
Well, now… this is getting really interesting. Hmmm… I’m betting this is a secret weight-loss plan for some of the flabbier citizens of this country where deep-fried butter and bacon-wrapped everything are a normal way of life for too many out there. Hey, you! Want to lose 20 pounds FAST? Just go to Universal Studios Hollywood or Universal Studios Orlando during Halloween Horror Nights and hit both The Walking Dead and Silent Hill attractions. Make sure you don’t eat beforehand, as the zombies at the former love the smell of digesting beef patties, artificially colored cheese and soda pop PLUS those nurses at the latter can aid in taking care of those bite marks on your flesh… by sticking a few knives and needles into them (ouch!). Stock up on adult diapers and a portable defibrillator at the souvenir shop (conveniently located smack dab in between the two attractions) and you’re good to go.
“With ‘The Walking Dead,’ we want to make fans of the series feel like they are literally walking in the footsteps of the show’s characters, experiencing all of the horrific events from the series just as they experienced them,” said John Murdy, Creative Director at Universal Studios Hollywood. “The goal is to make guests of Halloween Horror Nights feel like they are trapped in the world of ‘The Walking Dead,’ using all of the attention to detail and movie-quality production values that Halloween Horror Nights has become famous for. You’re no longer sitting on a couch, watching a show…you’re living it!”
In other words, be prepared to do a lot of running. And screaming, too. Wear comfortable shoes and maybe some football gear if you tend to knock people over on your way to the exit sign…
In case you missed out on Season Four, a nifty little wrap-up is above. Below is a taste of what to expect from this first half of the final story arc from Vince Gilligan’s truly amazing fevered brain. I’m smart enough to keep the heck off the fan sites and never listen to any other rumors about the shows I watch, so that keeps me sane. I prefer going in as cold as possible so I can enjoy what the writer(s), actors and directors have worked so damn hard on. That’s how I roll, and it’s worked for me for quite some time. The big problem these days is too many people end up NOT enjoying a lot of shows, films and games because they keep going out of their way to intentionally or unintentionally spoil every bit of information before it’s time, then complain if they end up ruining some key moments because they couldn’t go find something else to do but troll one message board too many.
Feh – keep eating that raw cookie dough and suffering for it later – I like my baked goods fresh and warm and tasty with a nice dish of ice cream on the side…
July 15, folks, July 15…. it’s not that far away, but BB fans have been going nuts trying to guess what’s going to go down in this final season. Well, Walter White may have finally gotten rid of his nemesis, drug kingpin Gus Fring, but didn’t quite realize he’d opened up a huge can of worms by doing so. Remember, kids… Walt blew up part of a nursing home in the process and ol’ dead Gus was seen as a respected member of the community for among other things, his charitable donations to a few organizations including the local police force. Oops. Oh yeah, and Walt’s brother, Hank (who happens to be a detective) just may be onto Walt’s trail after a few seasons of misdirection. Let’s just say, after some of last season’s shocks and bumps, this one should be a nail-biter each week. Even worse, the season will be divided up into eight episodes this year and the final eight in 2013, making the pretty obvious mid-season cliffhanger one that’s bound to keep some of the show’s more hardcore fans stuck to their couches until the show returns for the last bunch of shows. 12 more days… 12 more days…
Since this season was originally supposed to be the final one for the show, going out on the dramatic high note it did would have been pretty great stuff. But now with the show getting a chance to wrap up a few loose ends, speculation is pretty rampant among some fans as to what’s going to happen in the new final season. My two cents: Given that Gus Fring is dead and gone, some folks might not be too pleased about this. Those folks would be whichever DEA and other law enforcement employees he might have been paying off to look the other way. Walt may have done himself and Jesse a huge favor by taking out the meth kingpin, but try telling that to a crooked cop or agent who was using Gus’ payoffs to pay off that mortgage or put their kids through college. I have the feeling that Walt will see the effects of his actions not vanishing into thin air as he’s hoped.
Also, Skyler now knows he’s a killer (and a damned creative one at that), so there’s that issue to deal with. Oh, yeah… then there’s the matter of Gus’ bodyguard Mike, who will no doubt be none too pleased that his employer is dead and gone (as is everyone else in the organization as well as the opposing Cartel it seems). Still, I’d actually love to see the show end with Walt and maybe Jesse (if he survives the season) back where they began: cooking meth from a busted-looking trailer in the middle of nowhere. After you lose everything, you sometimes have to fall back on what you know how to do best…
This week’s episode kicked off with a great flashback that showed Lori being a tiny bit of a jerk as she revealed to a friend that she and Rick never argue about anything. Er, what the what? She’s upset with him that as a married couple, they DON’T fight? At ALL? Yeesh. Cue Shane driving up in his patrol car to tell her Rick’s been shot. Or not tell her, as she guessed by the look on his face. Of course, given that Lori was waiting to pick up Carl outside of his school, the key point of the scene was how she’d tell the poor kid his dad is in the hospital. Naturally, with Carl being the victim of a gunshot last week while under Rick’s protection, the tables are turned as now he has to figure out how to tell her the bad news. In a nice twist, it was someone else who delivered that news and soon after, Lori to meet up with the pair. There were a few new faces this episode as Rick, Shane and Otis (the shooter) rush an injured Carl to the home of a wise old doctor type to see about some emergency bullet removal. Continue reading →
Last year’s six episodes left millions of fans begging for more and with a baker’s dozen (that’s 13) new episodes, The Walking Dead is back and off to a bloody solid start. Season Two kicked off with an hour and a half long opener that flew by thanks to so much tension and all sorts of bad things happening to the survivors. From the opening scene when the group’s highway scavenging is interrupted by way too many zombies to the shocking final scene (nope, I still haven’t read the comic past the first two issues – I don’t want to ruin any surprises), this was a mostly excellently paced episode. The tension amongst the survivors was portrayed brilliantly and and some possible partings of ways seem inevitable through a number of methods natural and otherwise… Continue reading →
Well, THAT was definitely a shock, but the episode title (“Face Off”) should have been a dead giveaway (ha ha) in addition to having a dual meaning. Amusingly enough, despite the disturbing imagery, I got a big laugh thanks to watching too many Warner Bros. cartoons as a kid. Walter White (Bryan Cranston, probably set for another Emmy) finally takes care of his Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito, who might be his competition for that Emmy) problem once and for all with explosive and fairly gory results. Continue reading →
Talk about an explosive finale – the first season, short as it was, went out with a bang as CDC headquarters was obliterated in a nice fireball of non-nuclear but still blazing proportions (along with two more characters). There were a couple of tense moments inside the bunker including an interesting look at the virus cycle that causes otherwise dead folks to pop up and start chomping on the living and Shane’s confrontation with Lori (the man needs a new fixation, pronto). While this one was superb from start to finish, the episode somehow felt too short for my tastes, as some old ground was retread (we get it – showers rock when you haven’t had one in weeks) and it would have been interesting to see more of the doomed scientist as a character.
Nevertheless, AMC clearly has a major smash with the series and the long, long wait until October 2011 is going to be hugely unbearable yet highly exciting for those of us looking forward to more Dead. Brilliant stuff (and thank goodness for AMC Free On Demand, as I’ll be haunting that channel for as long as they rerun episodes). Still… I’m wondering about the first season on DVD or Blu-Ray (whenever it hits), as a mere six episodes really isn’t enough to justify shelling out for a box set unless it’s packed to the rafters with bonus features… We shall see, I guess…
With all the TF2013 madness plus that stupid Nemo hitting the city hard, I actually ALMOST forgot the rest of the season kicks off later today (oops!) and I don’t have a DVR at home. Thanks to Peavey Electronics rolling out a cool line of new licensed guitars and such at the show including this really spiffy The Walking Dead Predator electric with Charlie Adlard’s artwork on it, I can safely scoot off the show floor in time for a nice subway ride home, grab some food and catch the show without having to stay up late to catch the second showing (which would be a bad idea, as I have a bunch of TF appointments on Monday). Hmmm… I haven’t picked up a guitar in YEARS (and I’m no Twang Bar King at all), but I’ll have to check this one out in a few hours. Yeah, yeah, I’m SUPPOSED to be sleeping, but I can never rest before these big trade shows, so I’m up double checking my email and yup, adding a post or two…
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