The Walking Dead, What Lies Ahead

So last night was the premier of Season 4 of The Walking Dead… and I have to say… for a premier, it was a good episode BUT kind of felt like filler, except for a few key points, that I’ll address in this blog.

The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 1: 30 Days Without an Accident

But first here’s part of why it felt like filler:

There was actually very little excitement. The most exciting part of the episode at the “Big Spot!”, which I’ll admit elicited some gasps and exclamations of surprise at our TWD viewing party, in retrospect felt kind of underwhelming, as at no point was I worried about any main characters dying. Not to mention the episode opening with Carl naming the pig just felt slow. Though it was actually kind of cute.. despite the fact that I feel like he’s growing up right before our eyes… I mean look at how he’s progressed from Seasons 1-4 … though I guess if nothing but growing veggies and repaired relationships have occurred, then why waste screen time on it. And even Hershel teased Rick that The Council (can’t wait to learn more about them!) was making jokes about him behaving like a farmer. Also as a side note, I’m once again perfectly fine with the fact that they’ve jumped (as the EP Scott Gimple on Talking Dead pointed out) about 6-7 months in the future, because it would feel silly to make it seem like only about a month had passed and Chandler Riggs had gotten older, as show above.

Speaking of character growth and development… I’m pretty much in what I’ll refer to as “Beth-Mode”, and by this, I mean I’m not getting attached to any new characters. Beth’s reaction to what’s-his-name’s demise on a run was pretty typical, she wasn’t even that emotional when he left. I suspect Daryl is more her type, especially after that hug, but who can blame her, he’s kind of a leader now, and he’s one of the few people in her short life who has lasted. I think it’s sad that Beth like Carl is adapting to this new world in a cold way, and I think it will definitely bring about some tension between her and Maggie. This is important considering the fact that Maggie wants some level of living, not just “breathing” to be a part of their lives, even if it means bringing a child into this world, instead of spending all of their time in fear, which is, at least in part how Beth is living. It’s a practical, yet fear driven outlook to not get attached to people that may not be there tomorrow.

 

Now on to those characters that we may not see much of, and let’s face it tonight’s casualties won’t be the only ones, during the Season 3 finale, as I saw the Woodbury folks arriving, all I could think was “gee, there’s a bunch of walker food”.

Anyway, Tyrese’s group will be around for awhile, and while I may sound merciless, I’m totally fine to have one of them go, instead of one of our favorites, but if the writers could weave Hershel in and Dale out as well as they did, and as Beth and Maggie look to be taking on some of the female drama story lines that were once reserved for Michonne and Andrea (shutting down vs. holding out hope for a better life) , well I suppose the writers would be able to work in Tyrese’s group. Though Tyrese complaining about the tasks that have to be done was disappointing, and I look forward to what Executive Producer Scott Gimple said about this season, it will have a lot to do with children, adults, and what it means to “grow up”… oh and in case you’re wondering, growing up in a zombie apocalypse DEFINITELY means providing BOTH story time, AND Weaponry 101!

I am a bit interested in the army medic who seems, based on his actions with the wine, to be a recovering alcoholic, and I applaud his action at putting the wine back… after all how could he know after crashing the shelf the roof would cave and it’d start raining men?!?! I figured though that when we saw him make that hard choice with the alcohol that we’d get more information on him… which means that he wouldn’t be going anywhere for awhile.

I’m not trying to sound like a know-it-all, but to be completely honest the last time I remember being completely shocked that a character died, it was Amy, Andrea’s sister all the way back in season one, other deaths were sad or perhaps unexpected, but none caught me so off guard as that first one.

I was a bit surprised though by the village nerd dying the way that he did, and I was a bit offended… they finally get someone on the show that likely would have attended SDCC, and he only lasts one episode… Though, I guess if the did away with BOTH the strapping young lad all ready to take on the world and go on supply runs AND the nerd… well I guess I shouldn’t be too offended… plus it looks like we’re going to get a revenge of the nerds as soon as the next episode opens… which probably also means that … (Skip Past Spoiler Warning at the bottom to finish section)

What’s also something to ponder is what made him sick… was it a scratch from a walker, or maybe something in the water supply, Violet the pig also got sick and died and the camera focused quite deliberately on the shower faucet.

Now the sections of the episode with sweet Clara in the woods (thank goodness Hershel told Rick to take his gun!)… that’s where the episode felt like filler BUT as I put down my thoughts I do think about the fact that all stories have to start somewhere, and if the pointless stuff (like growing veggies and feeding pigs) is left out then the better for watching.This episode showed us where our characters were at and Rick’s experience with Clara (who, I’ll admit, I went back and forth the whole time trying to figure her out.. half of me kept thinking “No Rick, don’t trust her!” and the other half kept thinking “Aww this poor lady”) was definitely a catalyst and brought s to the surface the question of can you come back from the person you’ve had to become to survive in this world? Again I think of the kids, who may never come back, simply because this is the only life they’ve known. I also think of Rick’s three questions, “How many walkers have you killed”, “How many people have you killed?” and the 3rd, which mattered most “Why?”, after all it doesn’t even take a zombie apocalypse to draw a line between murder and self defense, it’s just all the more of a pressing issue.

So, after putting down all my thoughts, I take it back (but I won’t delete my previous notions.. because this, like surviving, is a process) this episode wasn’t filler. It gave us all the information we needed, slow though it may have seemed, and it pointed us towards what ever may lie ahead, and I can’t wait to watch it.

Thanks for reading, happy watching, and leave a comment about how you felt about the episode!

 

SPOILERS from the Talking Dead Sneak Peak

We will probably, for a while NOT find out who’s feeding rats to the walkers at the gates, or it may be that we the viewers find out, but our survivors won’t learn about it for a bit, because they’ll be too distracted by the walkers in the cell block. My money is on one of the adorable twerps that thought naming walkers was a good idea… ugh kids these days.

 

Sweet Dreams, Sleepy Hollow S1e3

Sweet Dreams:

So originally I was going to treat this blog as a place for recaps, but more and more, friends and other bloggers have encouraged me to take a more subjective approach to my blogs as most people that are coming across them will have likely seen the episode I’m reviewing, so in a step further in that direction, here’s my (late) review of last week’s Sleepy Hollow (review of ep 4 to be up tomorrow).

Sleepy Hollow: S1e3 The Triumph of Evil

So this episode further cemented the monster-of-the-week format that several fans were expecting, and while in my last blog I wrote about the fact that I think they tried to offer too much exposition regarding the overall direction of the show (see blogs on episode 1 and episode 2) but I always give a show some latitude when it’s getting it’s start and so did FOX apparently as they already greenlit a second season.

My gut reaction to this past week’s episode is I appreciate how they balanced political correctness, history, and humor when it came to the native American aspect, much in the same way that I think they handled the fact that Ichabod was understandably surprised by black (am I allowed to say black on my own blog?) woman in a position of authority.  Anyway the point being, Ichabod’s experience as a man out of time is still tons of fun, even if it feels like his presence at this point is to be a walking encyclopedia.

What I felt like wasn’t handled well though was the skin shown… now don’t get me wrong I’m not squeamish about violence or nudity, if it serves a purpose in a show, however I feel like Sleepy Hollow was just going for the “flesh factor” when Ichabod and Abbie had to be stung by the scorpions to be able to control what occurred as they were dreaming, ( I know most people are just complaining that scorpion venom can’t help someone control their dreams, and it’s illogical and all… but it’s a supernatural show, I can suspend disbelief for scorpion venom= dream control) anyway, the point it, showing the skin was pointless, they could have just rolled up their shirts and still been stung on the belly button.

I also appreciated the scare factor of the monster, The Sandman, and how they presented him/it, and the concept of guilt and how the theme of the episode pushed forward the need for action, and transparency from the characters, but again it makes me wonder, are they doing too much too soon? At first I thought so, and I might have liked it if the sandman stuck around for a couple of episodes, maybe that makes me seem a bit merciless in regards to minor characters dying (thought the direction towards death could be something that was intensified over time), but that sandy eye thing, was pretty creepy,I definitely jumped when it happened (and I LOVE that the show brings the *jump* factor… in ways that American Horror Story sadly did not last season). But hey if they can keep coming up with new takes on creepy monsters then hey bring them on!

I guess my main complaint is things seem too easy for Abbie and Ichabod to keep solving things, I kept thinking back to other shows with a Supernatural element… like Supernatural, and Buffy before it. But then I remembered Buffy always had Giles, and what Giles didn’t know Willow could research, and she’d get help from Spike too as needed. And when we look at Sam and Dean (who if they watched this show would probably get in the impala, and handle everything in Sleepy Hollow… without turning it into a crater… the way Sunnydale ended up) they always had their father’s journal to refer to for anything they weren’t already experienced in, and later would go to, if not travel with Bobby.

I think again I ponder the balance that they’re trying to strike between the story arc and the weekly episodes, maybe I’m expecting too much. And as I’ve said in the previous two posts, just watching Ichabod adapt (to even red bull) is entertaining, and it will keep me watching the show, but will that wear thin after a while? I mean he can only be astonished by various foods, and confused by buttons for so long, especially because he’s written as an intelligent character (his dialogue alone is still a big reason while I’m watching).

The story arc I am primarily interested in though is between Abbie and her sister, because while a show can certainly begin with a concept in mind, if it doesn’t have quality characters and somewhere to take them developmentally then you don’t really have a quality show. And to that end it also makes me wonder what others are looking for this show, considering Den of Geek’s reviewer that posted the review for ep 3 referred to the episode as filler, which I actually disagree with. I think the only filler in this ep was spending any times on Abbie’s ex and the pranks he pulls.

You see Abbie’s sister, isn’t just on the run, which will definitely create conflict and a short story arc, she’s a true believer like Ichabod with no reservations, and while that can produce quality conflict between her and Abbie, in 3 episodes we’ve already gotten Abbie to believe in herself and begin (through that belief) trusting her now missing sister, so when she finds her there will be little conflict left, unless Abbie backtracks again, which would just feel like a poor direction to take the character in. Granted they will have their trust issues based on what we learned this episode, but it was character development and information worth learning.

Now by the end of the episode, by having Captain Irving more on board and by making Crane and Mills a more official team, it did two things, one it eliminated the story arc going in most directions for Mills and Crane to keep what they investigate and the way they investigate things as secretive, and two, it also opened things up perhaps (if you know they save the world) to begin moving out of Sleepy Hollow as time goes on. Fringe ended up not staying in the same region… heck it didn’t even stay in the same universe.

So I look forward to seeing this show develop as it can, I just hope the writers don’t write themselves into a box by running through monsters too quickly and too easily before the apocalypse has to be fought and is over with.

Thanks for reading, on to ep 4! 🙂

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. take your own advice

Now I was apprehensive to start Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. for a few reasons, one is I spend WAY too much time watching TV as it is, and adding another show that I wasn’t super stoked about just didn’t feel worth it, which may be shocking to some considering I’m a MARVEL fan (there may in fact be pictures of me in Ms. Marvel cosplay…). One main reason is after the first episode aired I got a lot of negative comments, with one friend and fellow blogger referring to it as “a trainwreck” and I said to him, (in so many words) surely it can’t be that bad… right?!?! Well I watched the first two episodes (I give any new show up to 3 to grab my attention, and have yet to watch the 3rd) and I have to say to my friend, and to others out there that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is in a “position to do some good” and “your frown will be on record”. However if ABC, MARVEL, and/or the show runners don’t take their viewers seriously, and learn to address their concerns, in the same way that these new different characters have to learn to get along, .. well new shows know no Fury (see what I did there.. if not you will) like that of scorned fans, and the stakes for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. were pretty high, but lets take a look at the complaints and how they stack up against those first two episodes, and characters.

Probably the biggest complaint is that people saw Joss Whedon’s name and photo splashed all over the place, and didn’t look any further, and it was in fact his brother Jed Whedon really running things. Now for me (at least in the pilot… though Joss wrote it…) I really don’t mind that much with the exception that I think it was a poor marketing strategy in the long run. Most MARVEL fans didn’t see Avengers because Whedon was on board, I found it extra thrilling that he was, but I’d enjoyed the other MARVEL flicks, and I feel like I could dedicate a whole blog just praising their long term game plan, any way, I think they over hyped Whedon, only to let viewers down, it’s a stunt viewers don’t easily forgive, and it’s not one that can be fixed by an appearance of Samuel L. Jackson. Therefore any drop in ratings tied to an expectation like that not being met, is their own fault.

Also in the realm of expectations not being met, one of the loudest complaints I’d heard when it came to this is the fact that the only other adaptation to so recklessly abandon source material was World War Z – which is peachy actually, if you went into the film already knowing the only bit of the source material really left (of what I considered a dang fine book by Max Brooks) was the title… and it seems we have something of the same thing going on here.

Now creating completely new characters and story lines though, is both good and bad. It’s good in that it leaves bigger and better characters (*cough* Carol Danvers *cough*) for the big screen, and it immediately gives ABC and MARVEL an opportunity for less criticism, instead of fans nitpicking about character details their complaint is simple: new characters, it simplifies the range of disappointment. It’s basically the same kind of thing ABC already did with Disney characters through Once Upon A Time. When it comes to Coulson, I think it’s fine that they’re giving him some kind of back story, as long as it keeps making sense.

Regarding new characters specifically, I really don’t have any main complaints YET, I mean I’m not really attached to the new characters but that’s part of what they’re getting an opportunity to build. Also, let’s not forget as annoying as Fitzsimmons is/are, the fact that they were taking a selfie on the steps of an Incan pyramid that S.H.I.E.L.D. isn’t ever officially at, is definitely adorable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I loved this scene btw, there was something that reminded me of Mal Reynolds when Coulson gave WARD, not Skye the truth serum

Maybe the writers and the viewers just got off on the wrong foot. I think a lot of them were expecting awesome when awesome wasn’t really an option. Don’t get me wrong, as soon as I heard that there was going to be a show from Marvel coming called Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I was stoked, but I never said “SQUEE!”… at least I don’t think I did, and if I did it was short lived. I think that this is because as much of MARVEL fan that I am I’m primarily a TV fan… a fairly devout TV fan at that, and I know that if someone had told me that Game of Thrones, or Darkly Dreaming Dexter was going to be done on network TV, and on ABC at that I would have rolled my eyes… and probably whined about it with the same gripiness as my reaction to Affleck being cast as Batman (but I digress) the point is as soon as I had some details about the show, the material, the actual show runners and the network I felt like I knew what I was getting, and thus, no disappointment. I mean if other shows tried something like this that makes me (someone who honestly knows little about physics), question the physics of something, I’d likely ask someone on a message board if this were possible, but this is a show set in a comic book environment, so in addition to believing in weird tesserect-ish technology, emergency rafts can keep a plane from crashing in my book.

You see by the end of the second episode, I’m actually hoping for a magical place… and by that I mean an excellent story arc for Coulson and less of Lola… or at least less of Lola flying… though hey, I guess with Lola the flying car they did keep more of the source material than just the title.

Anyway, it means with the mystery surrounding Coulson, and the fact that Skye is currently trying position herself on the most convenient side of the fence, “I’m in”. And that’s all a show really needs to do by episode two, so good for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., I’ll be tuning in at least as long at they meet my expectations.

On to episode three, thanks for reading, happy watching and as always feel free to comment below!

My thoughts on Felina

So it was with some deep breaths, and a few tears that I was able to get down my recap for the finale of Breaking Bad, somehow putting certain scenes down in words brought emotions that hadn’t surfaced as I watched the first or second time. A fellow blogger and podcaster recommended that I put down my commentary as well, so here it is, along with an analysis of the title, which the recap got too long for.

So starting with the title, there’d been four main theories about the meaning listed in the International Business Times. Though one wasn’t so much a theory as a reflection on Vince GIlligan’s “clue” about “woodworking” (which I’ll address below). Of the three name related theories one was spot on, one was a bit of a leap, and the other was a bit of both.

The theory which was spot on was the character Felina, in the Marty Robbin’s song “El Paso”, as the article referenced above explains the tragic character of the song falls  in love with Felina, kills her lover, flees to New Mexico, then (as the song played when Walt started the Volvo he stole) has to go back because “maybe tomorrow a bullet will find me but tonight there’s nothing worse than the pain in my heart”. The song’s anti-hero dies of a gunshot wound to his side, in the arms of his beloved Felina. The Marty Robbins cassette case, as well as the song playing in the episode confirm the connection to the title, and the song’s foreshadowing.

Now of the other two theories I think they still deserve a mention, and you’ll see why. The “bit of both” theory ties into the fact that (again credit to the article above) “Felina is a homonym for “Felinae,” the scientific classification for small cats, and Schrodinger’s is the most scientific famous feline of all”. Now his experiment was actually geared to discredit Heisenberg’s theory of physics, and (without going into an explanation of cat/box theory) his goal was to prove that while the cat in theory could be both dead and alive, it can’t really be both.  And the thoughts on this episode were that Walt could not be BOTH the family man AND Heisenberg simultaneously.  I think that by the end of the episode though, he was a bit of both, he protected, and provided for his family in ways only Heisenberg could.

On to the last theory, which was a stretch but feels oddly coincidental, which is the “Blood, Meth and Tears” theory, which this show has been about. Now, the hole in the blood meth and tears as listed in the article is that Walt didn’t use the lithium methods, because of how volatile they are, but he himself was always volatile, so in a way it still fits.

I also brought up these theories as a reminder of the kind of intelligent show, for intelligent viewers that BrBa always was.  The types of fans that loved Breaking Bad are the types of people who want to seek answers instead of being spoon fed, and they appreciate a show that has a sense of mutual high expectations, as though there’s a kind of relationship between the fans and the writers, because the writers understand the trust that the fans have in them.

Now on to the episode itself.  While some complained that it tied things up TOO well (guess you can’t please everyone *sigh*), and some felt this and the previous episode, Granite State had too little action compared to Ozymandias it felt in my opinion that Granite State set everything up for this to be all about closure and tying things up.  Walter White’s story has always had a beginning middle and an end, and ends (generally) tie things up, and while this finale will be compared to other finales (like Dexter, The Sopranos and LOST) it’s goal and challenge were for things to be finished, and complete, it surpassed that challenge and neatly met its goal, and here’s how:

This finale really felt like, after two viewings and what I feel is a quality recap (see link at top of blog) while Vince Gilligan (and I’m sure everyone in the writers room) didn’t waste time on minutia, they really left no stone unturned in terms on making sure that things were wrapped up, and not only did they focus on the things that needed to be said, but on things that didn’t need to be said, letting the cameras, and the actors take care of some heavy lifting. This is not to say by the way that the writers weren’t awesome, because believe me as I reviewed some thoughts, I was literally in awe at what they (and everyone on the show) produced.

The first example (and these are in no particular order) is when Walt visited Skyler, and then left. The dialogue was simple, and honest, just like the characters at this point. Walter finally owning up to the reasons for everything when he says “I did it for me. I liked it. I was good at it. And, I was really… I was alive” wasn’t just beautiful for Walt and Skyler, but it ties into the very end scene. When Walt then left, the cinematography was so perfect. In the room Walt was casting a shadow on Skyer, as he turned to face her for that last look, he was completely in shadow while she still had some light shining, and as he left, he took his shadow with him.

Regarding Gretchen and Elliot, I found it amazing that even though he was threatening, manipulative, and was crystal clear on how the money his family would get would be through what he earned, and not them, Walt still had to end up including and getting help from the people he literally said “F#ck you” to,  in season one, and if he’d accepted their help, none of this would have transpired.

Another moment in this episode that seemed to remind of us of earlier, simpler times, was when Walt was in the desert building the robot that would operate the gun at the compound.  It reminded me of “4 Days Out” in season 2, and Walt had to use his knowledge to get he and Jesse home. I wish that Jesse had been there to cheer him on, and I felt his absence.  It was also a reminder of how Walt could have done anything he wanted to with his talent. This of course ties back to Gray Matter.  We may have never gotten the full story on why Walt left the company, but he was a Nobel prize recipient, he could have done anything, but he became a bitter and underrated high school chemistry teacher.  His cancer was unfortunate, and may have been a catalyst, but he made several choices in his life that made cooking meth and running an empire the things that made him feel “alive”.

Moving on to Jesse, and woodworking (which connected back to one of his times in his support group, where he talked about loving his time in shop class and building a box which he sold for weed). We know that he was day dreaming, which was a form of delusion. It’s only through delusions that Walt and Jesse were able to go through what they did. Walt’s delusion was that he did everything for his own family, while Jesse simply wanted to lose himself.

The only other brief time we see Jesse in this episode (which I wish we had more, but as integral as he was, this is Walt’s story, so I’m ok with it) is at the compound, beginning when he and Walt make eye contact. I think that here Jesse is first thinking that Walt is the cause of all his suffering, but seeing some level of sorrow in Walt’s face, Jesse seems, in my opinion, to soften, knowing that Walt never would have treated him like this (Walt never would have beaten him, and while he wasn’t beyond poisoning Brock, he wouldn’t have killed him or Andrea).

However, while each Jesse and Walt suffered from their own delusions, and blamed each other for various sufferings, one theme of this episode that reinforced the overall sense of closure is that each character’s consequences were due to their own actions. Take for example Todd and Lydia.  For Todd he was strangled by his prisoner’s own chains. It took the second watch for me to pick up on that look on Jesse’s face as he looks over at Todd, before lunging at him to recognize that his excitement wasn’t for his freedom, it was for sweet revenge, and I won’t lie I loved it.

For Lydia, her need to control, specifically regarding how schedule oriented she is, is what brought about her downfall. Also I loved the camera shot of Lydia putting the stevia in her tea, and then the confirmation from Walt, along with her being shown as suffering the poison’s effects.  I’ve lost count of the people I’ve had to correct about minor details on shows (I may be a tad obsessive), but here I’ll never have to debate with anyone who Walt used the ricin on, if they ingested it, or if affected them, it was Lydia, and it’s killed her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The only main character who was an innocent victim in this whole mess was Marie. She may not have been perfect, in fact she may have been a bit OCD, a kleptomaniac, and she may have liked purple a bit too much, but even as Hank could have asked for help pre-Ozymandias, she never hurt anyone in all this, and her whole world crashed down around her.  It reminded me of the other innocent victims who probably won’t be thought of much, like Lydia’s daughter and Brock.

Finally, looking at this finale there was something so sweet at seeing Walt, reflected in his work, as he walked through the lab before dying. He’s in that place that made him feel so “alive”, it took the threat of death to begin the process that took him there, and I’m reminded of a quote (don’t recall who said it) “People live two lives, and the second begins, when we realize that there’s only one.” This in a lot of ways summed up this finale, and the show overall for me.

On a lighter note, because I’d mentioned that this finale would be compared to others, LOST is perhaps my favorite show of all time, and while this may be a bit punny, just like Jack, Walt dies with a lab.

 

So thank you everyone that made Breaking Bad the amazing show it was… I’ll say no thanks though, because along with Walt, my hopes for another show living up to my expectations for quite a while, died at the end of this finale.

 

Breaking Bad, The Finale

Hi readers,

So here’s my recap of the finale, I’ll also be doing one last blog on BrBa to wrap up my final thoughts on the series, because let’s face it, it was an amazing series, and last night was a quality finale.

So, without further rambling, here’s the recap.

Breaking Bad, Season 5 Episode 16: Felina.

The episode opened with Walt getting into an old Volvo. He sets down the box of money he’d intended to send to Jr.  He realizes there aren’t keys in the ignition, as he begins to search the glove compartment he tosses out a Marty Robbins cassette tape case. Now to digress for a moment, there was a great deal of speculation regarding the title, so the tape will be addressed at the bottom of this blog. As he finds a screwdriver he tries to start the car with it, and then, reflected in the frosted windshield and in Walter’s glasses we see the the lights of a police car, alternating through red and blue.  Walt freezes, not moving, he looks up saying “just get me home, just get me home”. The lights pass, and as he continues looking up he uses the screwdriver to lower the visor, and providentially, down falls the key to the Volvo.

We catch up with him after the commercial break stopping for gas.  He then uses a payphone calling as if he’s from the New York Times, he’s apparently getting a fix on where Gretchen and Elliot Swartz are, and when they’ll be home from their appearance on the Charlie Rose show in the previous episode. To be completely honest, I was stunned he was even that interested in the Swartz’s, and was certain his plan was to eliminate them.

We then see the Swartz’s returning home, talking as they walk in their front door.  They don’t notice Walt sitting on a bench in a shadow.  They walk into the house and Gretchen turns off the alarm.  At this point Walt gets up, closes their outer doors, and walks right into their front door. His very calm and collected demeanor as he walks through their front hall observing their home, as we hear Elliot and Gretchen’s voices echo (highlighting their luxurious and expansive home), is unnerving, especially as one of the camera angles is of Walt around the corner from Gretchen and Elliott in their kitchen, still completely oblivious.

Gretchen steps into the living room to turn on the fireplace, and as she turns to go back she sees Walt and lets out a small scream. Walt (still on a level of Gus Fring calmness) says: “Hello Gretchen, Elliot, I really like your new house”. Gretchen asks what he’s doing there he asks them to go down to his car with him (as he couldn’t bring it in through their gate, again highlighting their privilege and distance). Elliot holds a paring knife, standing between Walt and Gretchen.  Walt just sighs and (almost channeling Mike) says: “Elliot, if we’re gonna go that way, you’ll need a bigger knife”.

When we see them back in the house they’re piling up the remainder of Walt’s money, which comes to 9,720,000.00. He tells them that it’s all to go to his son, in the form of a trust when he turns 18.  They ask him why they would instead of him.  He tells them that his family wouldn’t take it from him, and even if they would anything he would give them would be seized. He adds though that from them a couple that’s wealthy, charitable and knew Walt once long ago. He also tells them that any taxes that have to be paid must be paid out of his money, and that nothing his family gets comes from them.

When Elliott then asks “What happens next?” Walt replies “I guess we shake on it,  and I leave”.  Elliott shakes and as Walt reaches for Gretchen’s hand Elliott has to nudge it forward, she seems to be searching for the man she once knew. After she shakes though, Walt then turns to their large window, signals, and two sniper’s lasers are trained on Elliott and Gretchen.

Walt then tells them that out there are the two best hitmen west of the Mississippi, and that “What ever happens to me tomorrow, they’ll still be out there… and if for any reason my children don’t get this money…” it may not happen right away, but as soon as they don’t have a care in the world they’ll hear something and “before you can even turn around darkness, cheer up beautiful people, this is where you get to make it right.” and then he leaves

We then see him stop his Volvo on the side of the road and he flashes his lights. Two figures, all in black with masks run out of the brush, across the road and into the car. The masks come off and it’s Badger and Skinny Pete! I loved seeing that it was them! They mention feeling a bit bad about what they did, that it was kinda “shady” he hands them ten grand each and asks “how about now?” and Badger, adding a bit of comic relief (which Saul usually provided) says “better”.

He asks them what they know about the blue meth, if it’s still being produced. They tell him that it is, but that they thought it was still him running things. He mentions Jesse, and they’re shocked because they thought that Jesse had left town.

The next scene, is of Jesse working with wood. He’s showing care and enjoys making this box. When he goes to turn with it though, he realizes he’s caught, and we see that it was just a daydream, he’s still chained in the lab, and instead of holding the box, he’s holding some aluminum.

We then cut to the diner scene, which had been at the beginning of this season, then the view of the gun in the trunk, followed by the scene of him taking the ricin out of the outlet, and as he steps into his destroyed living room, and remembers his birthday there, with everyone, and Hank talking about the meth bust on the TV. Everything is coming full circle.

Cut to Lydia, rolling a suitcase into a diner, she sits places her order for tea, and rummages for a stevia packet. Todd sits down with her, and compliments her on her shirt. Before she can really say anything, Walt sits down (he’d been waiting seated at the counter). Lydia asks how he knew they’d be there. He reminds her that every Tuesday at 10 am would be when they always met, and that she’s so schedule oriented. He asks her to just hear him out, he says they must be running out of the methylamine, Walt says he has new method without it, and offers to train Todd on it. He’s asking for a million to do it since he’s run out of money. Lydia tells him they’re not interested, and dismisses him as the waiter brings her tea. After he leaves Lydia tells Todd she’d prefer to have him handled the way she likes most of her problems handled, and that in killing him they’d be “doing him  a favor”. The camera then focuses on Lydia’s “stevia” as she pours and then stirs it into her tea.

the next scene we see is Walter out in the desert, it’s the middle of nowhere near a rundown house.  He’s tinkering, and building.  We see the machine gun from the trunk, a car battery, and what looks like the parts from a garage door opener.  All of this harkens back to the episode “Four days out”. I felt sad that Jesse wasn’t there to cheer him on, but reminded that when he puts his mind to it, Walter White can do just about anything.

We cut to Skyler’s place. The phone rings, and goes to voicemail.  It’s Marie. We hear her ask Skyler for a truce, saying she has something to tell her about Walt. Sklyer picks up and Marie tells her that a car stolen from New Hampshire showed up in town, and that people have been calling in saying that they’re Walt (though that’s just spreading the police and agencies thin… which may have been planned) and that there have been a few sitings in town, including the one by Walt’s neighbor “Betty or Carol”, Skyler corrects her, that it was Carol.  Marie is very concerned for her sister, and lets her know that they’re watching Walt Jr’s high school, and they’ll be watching Skyler’s place to make sure that they’re safe. After they hang up, Skyler says “Five minutes”, the camera angle changes, and we see that Walt’s been there for the entire phone call.  He replies “Five minutes”. Skyler asks him if he hurt anyone getting back. And he tells her no, that he “didn’t have to”. She tells him he looks terrible, and wants to know why he’s there.  He tells her that “It’s over and I needed a proper goodbye… not like our last phone call”. When Skyler asks about if he’s turning himself in, he tells her that the police will be coming for him. Skyler’s concerned that his coming back will bring another visit from the men who came before and threatened her, who asked her not to talk about the lady that came to the car wash (Lydia). Walt assures her that they won’t be “coming back, not after tonight”. Walt then takes out his wallet and when she says that she doesn’t want any money, he tells her he doesn’t have any left to give, and then pulls out and gives her the lotto ticket.  He explains that the numbers are GPS coordinates and when she asks what for, he tells her that Hank is buried there, and that he wants her to use this to get a deal with the prosecutor. She tearfully accepts.

Walt then begins to tell her why he did everything, and when she interrupts him angrily saying “If I have to hear one more time that you did this for the family – ” But Walt cuts her off, and in the most honest moment of the show, and perhaps the series says “I did it for me. I liked it. I was good at it. And, I was really… I was alive” 

Skyler reminds him that Flynn’ll be home soon, and he asks before he leaves if he can see Holly one last time.  He touches her head, and I’ll admit I teared up during this scene as he says goodbye to the little girl that will never know her father, and at least for a long, long time will only know of him as a criminal and a monster. Walt turns and he and Skyler look at each other one last time, and (here’s a moment where the cinematography is spectacular) as he leaves the shadow he casts on her leaves with him.

Walt then watches from afar, through a laundry room as his son gets off of the school bus and walks into his home. You really see the pain on Walt’s face, in a way that wasn’t there for Holly, because while Holly doesn’t know him, Walt Jr. hates him, and so Walt must live with the fact that this is as close as he’ll ever get to his son again.

The next scene is after night has fallen, and Walt is pulling up to a chain link fence out side of the neo-nazi compound.  Jack’s right hand man, Kenny is there to greet him, and while he tries to make small talk about Walt’s car Walt isn’t saying much and so Kenny gets in, and they drive over to the “clubhouse” where Jack and the other guys are. Walt pulls up parallel to the clubhouse, and before he goes in they check to make sure he’s not armed, or wearing a wire. All they find is his wallet, and the keys (which have a bright orange keychain for automatic locks and a garage door).

When they go in, and Walt offers his new method, Jack isn’t interested, and when Walt asks Todd to explain what his method would mean, all Todd can say is “You really shouldn’tve come here Mr. White”. Kenny puts a gun to Walt’s head and Jack asks them to do it outside, when Walt starts shouting about how low it is that Jack never did right by his deal to off Jesse, and instead partnered with him. Jack, offended at Walt’s insinuation that he’d partner with a “rat” like Pinkman insists that Todd go and get Jesse, so that Walt can be clear on what’s been going on.

We see Jesse, in chains brought in, and he and Walt share eye contact for the first time in about two months. Jack says “this look like a partner to you?”

Walt then tackle’s Jesse and pushes the button on the keychain. (which he’d retrieved while Jesse was being brought in) For what seems like an eternity, Jack and the boys laugh as they tell Todd to separate them, and then the trunk to his car flips open, the mechanism he’d built in the desert begins working, and bullets start flying from the machine gun rigged up in the trunk.

The bullets go flying, and everyone, except for Todd, who was down on the ground, trying to get Walt off Jesse  is hit. At one point we even see Walt gasp and wince, as we know he took a bullet.

When it ends Todd sits up, and peeks out the window.  He softly says “Mr. White?”, and Jesse who looked up with an intensity after it ended is suddenly behind Todd strangling him with his chains. Walt simply watches for a moment as Jesse gets his revenge, (his sweet, sweet revenge), and then he turns to Uncle Jack who though hit in the stomach and chest is still living.  Jack puts a cigarette in his mouth, and tries to bargain for his life (as Hank never did) offering to tell Walt where his money is, but his words are cut short by the bullet Walt sends through his brain.  When Walt turns back to Jesse (who successfully snapped Todd’s neck, and used the key to get out of his chains) is standing.  Jesse seems about to run, and then Walt passes him the gun on the floor.

Jesse picks it up and points it at Walt, who tells him softly, “Do it, you want this”. Jesse shouts back at him “Say the words! YOU WANT THIS! Nothing happens until you say it!”, Walt quietly replies “I want this”. Jesse looks at him, he sees the blood from the shot spreading on his shirt, and in a final act of defiance drops the gun and tells Walt to do it himself.

Then as Jesse is walking out, Walt hears a phone ring in Todd’s pocket.  It’s Lydia, when Walt answers she asks if he’s “dead”, Walt tells her “they’re all dead”, when she asks who she’s speaking to Walt tells her, and then he asks how she’s feeling, perhaps “a little under the weather?”, before she can respond he lets her know that it’s the ricin that he slipped into her stevia packet, and that it’s killing her. Our last shot of her is of shock and fear. Walt ends the call by simply saying “Goodbye Lydia” and hanging up.

By now Walt has also stepped outside, and before Jesse gets into a car, they exchange the slightest of nods. It’s the last time they’ll ever see each other. We see Jesse drive off, breaking through the chain link fence and down the road, as fast as that car will take him, letting out a yell of emotion and release as he realizes he’s completely free.

Walt, now all alone, walks over to the lab where Jesse had been cooking. the song Baby Blue starts to be played. He picks up a mask, and takes a few moments touching and admiring the equipment. He pauses, and literally (or as literally as possible) stops to look at himself, seeing that he was reflected in his own work.  From one of the camera angles we see police lights on cruisers driving in .  The police arrive and Walt’s now bled out lying on the ground, mask at his side, where he felt most alive.

And that’s it.

For my thoughts on the finale (including the title, which this blog got too long for), and the quality of the series over all I’ll be posting a link to a separate blog here.

Thanks for reading!

Sleepy Hollow, “Some Latitude” S1e2

Hi Readers,

So this past week we got the second episode of the new show Sleepy Hollow, and in an effort to offer more of a review than a recap, you’ll get a bit more of my opinion than a simple retelling. So, on to the episode!

We open with Crane running in the woods from all four horsemen, now I like that the horsemen will be different, and each one being unique, but in general I feel like this show is going too big too soon, and I’ll address that further, by the end of the review. Any way Crane is dreaming, and just before the horsemen can get him he’s pulled into an underground tunnel, where Katrina is waiting with some vital information about how before the horsemen there will be an “army of evil [that] will make way for them”. Now I actually like the concept of this dream reality, and since the next episode will, based on the monster-of-the-week, likely center on it, I’m happy to explore it, but I feel like Katrina will become too convenient over time.

Mills is having a rough morning, as two officers who had corroborated her story last week recanted, and there’s the issue now of how exactly Dunn snapped his neck. Footage of the cell he was in shows him getting up, and running head first at the mirror… which I’m pretty sure would only cause a concussion, and maybe require a trip or two to the chiropractor… but this is a show where supernatural events take place, and I honestly expected them to look at the recording of the CCTV and just see it go all fuzzy, and being unable to prove what exactly happened to Dunn. Captain Irving will be leaving for a bit, so he’ll be giving Mills “some latitude”, but warns her not to “embarrass” him (that’s a bit how I felt about the show at the end of this episode, but I’m getting ahead of myself).

During this conversation , they addressed Ichabod and the fact that while Irving certainly believes that Ichabod fully believes that he’s a man out of time, that he couldn’t be, because that would be crazy. All of this was inter-spaced with scenes of Ichabod following the instructions on labels for various things in the hotel room he’s being kept in. I love watching him learn new things, it adds humor to the show, and supports it’s premise, that Ichabod, while being very intelligent, and having a unique source of information, is finding himself in a world he doesn’t understand, in a way complimentary to Mills. Speaking of Mills, when she goes to pick up Ichabod, it’s like they’re back at square one. While I understand her doubts, Ichabod is frustrated at her backtracking when he tries to explain his dream, and she just doesn’t buy it. What she did buy though, was a a bag of doughnut holes for Ichabod, something he initially refuses, and then is astounded by how delicious they are. I enjoyed that in this scene. What I didn’t like about this scene though (and apologies for this tangent) is how Crane and Mills seemed like they may become this generation’s Mulder and Scully, in that Crane like Mulder went into everything already accepting things Scully considered impossible. Here’s where the Scully and Mulder comparison starts to breakdown though. In X-Files, which was mostly a case-of-the-week show, it made sense that even if on some episodes Scully would give in to Mulder’s theories, each week brought something new for them to debate. However when it came to certain story arcs, while Scully was always a true skeptic,  at a certain point, she’d go along with what was happening, and she wouldn’t backtrack unless there was some new evidence to support her skepticism. With Mills, there’s nothing to support this new skepticism, because even though Sleepy Hollow is going with this monster-of-the-week format, like Buffy and Supernatural have before it, they’re already establishing a serialized story arc.

Which brings us to the next scene with them in the car and Mills is skeptical of not only Katrina having been a witch, but that she was able to hide it from Ichabod. What Mills believes even less, is that in addition to trying to save her own life by keeping her witchcraft secret, but that Katrina (according to Ichabod’s assumptions) was also doing it because she was helping to protect Sleepy Hollow, and again the fate of the world. Now  it reminds me of this interview with Damon Lindelof, Lindelof (whether you love him or hate him) points out that these days saving a town, or even the state of California, isn’t enough anymore. And while he was talking about films, I think the same thing applies to TV. You see in Buffy, for the longest time, she was just protecting Sunnydale and its residents, and in Supernatural, there were hints at a bigger picture, but mostly until about season 4, it was just Sam and Dean going on “hunting trips”. Saving the world came later, not first, and so I’ll say again, I think Sleepy Hollow is getting too deep with the mythology too quickly, because after they save the world… what’s next?

Anyway, back to the episode. The demon isn’t done with Dunn, and revives him in the morgue and gives him instructions, and causes him to choke up a pendant of some sort.  Now I’m fine with Dunn sticking around, and I could even argue that the demon only killed him to keep him out of suspicion as he did the dirty work, but two things about Dunn felt a tad ridiculous. And one was this awful scene with Dunn’s snapped neck… it was just poorly done, I don’t even know why they over did it.  I also dislike the fact that (just like in season 8 of Dexter) NO ONE seems to notice that Dunn took a police car.  What, do cops no longer keep tabs on their vehicles?!?!?!

What I did  like about this episode though was the scare factor.  The “monster” this week was a witch who’s revitalization from a walking charred corpse hinged on the consumption of the ashes of the ancestors of those who burned her at the stake.

There were definitely a couple of times that I jumped in these scenes with the charred witch, and I love that about semi-scary shows like this.

But the fact that when she was whole again she magically had a skimpy corset and skirt felt silly.  I get that this is FOX, not HBO, and she has to have clothes on, but then the skeleton that Dunn dug up for her, should have had clothes with it or something. Also, in these tunnels under the police station, I think they’re great, and I’m fine if they were boarded up and undiscovered, but that concept is lost when said “secret” tunnels have metal walkways and railings. Finally, when they blow up the gun powder down there,  (that again would have been discovered if the tunnels were maintained)destroying the witch, you really think that no one at the police station heard that? Who am I kidding, the cops don’t notice missing cars, so I guess they won’t notice an explosion below their building.

I do think that getting more personal information on Mills was nice, regarding her relationship with Corbin. And I like that out of that relationship, we get him as her “guide” if you will. I didn’t really care for her dating history in the episode, but what I also like is the chance to see her sister, who we’ll likely see more and more of. The fact that her sister fully trusts her senses, even though it keeps her in a mental asylum, I think will bring an interesting balance to the show.

 

So overall I’m still very much into the show. I’m really enjoying Crane adapting to this new life, and it balances the fun with the fright! It, like most shows with a supernatural element requires a suspension of disbelief, and I can give it that, but certain plot holes like Dunn stealing the car, the maintained tunnels, and the witches clothes do take me out of it.  So it’ll get “some latitude”, I just hope it doesn’t embarrass me in the long run.

Thanks for reading, feel free to leave comments below.

One More To Go! Broadchurch S1e7

Hi readers,

Sorry this is behind as always, too much good telly this past Wednesday we got the second to last episode of Broadchurch (and the Dexter finale this past Sunday, the Broadchurch finale this Wednesday, and then the Breaking Bad finale the following Sunday… gonna be a crazy time frame of TV… and the Fall season is just beginning, what with Sleepy Hollow and others like SHIELD… but I digress).

It was a great episode, we got a lot of background information on quite a few characters, and I felt like the theme of the episode was that you never really know someone like you think you do.  So without further rambling, here’s my breakdown of Wednesday’s episode.

We open with Hardy, having another dream on the beach, seeing Danny, and who we assume to be the Sandbrook girl.  He wakes to see Miller in the hospital room, staring at him, she criticizes him for having withheld his heart arithmea, she tells him he’s “unfit for duty” and leaves.

Most of the time I disagree with the way Miller behaves, I’m on the fence with this one.

Miller can’t really keep him away thought after holding an investigation briefing (which went way better than the one earlier in the season), Hardy shows up. Even the chief is asking why he took this job if he “couldn’t handle it”.  Now this I find a bit ridiculous considering at the beginning of the season the most vital case he was called on was the siphoning of a tractor’s tank (at least I think it was a tractor). With cases like that Steve our “village psychic” could have gone out on easy calls, filed reports.  Part of why Hardy was there was because it was a quiet coastal town, with out a lot of stress.

Speaking of Steve, Hardy actually goes to him, saying he’s run out of options and wants some kind of proof that Steve isn’t a “bullshitter”.  Steve somewhat proves it, based on Hardy’s reaction to some details, and tells Hardy that Danny’s murderer was “someone he knew, someone close to home” (this will tie into my theory at the end of the blog).

Anyway, Hardy’s heart problems have made their way to Maggie at the Echo, she passes the story on to Olly, who’s going to work for an exclusive.

While this is going on Miller has been interrogating Susan the lab lady. They know that she stood over the body of Danny, and smoked a few cigarettes before leaving.  We get background on why Susan doesn’t trust the police.  To sum it briefly, years ago her husband had been raping one of their daughters, and when he tried to rape the younger daughter, the older got herself killed, trying to protect her younger sister, when the police got involved they didn’t believe that she hadn’t known anything about it.  Her daughter was taken, along with a baby she’d been carrying during this whole process, and her husband hanged himself in jail. She explained that she stood over Danny’s body because he looked so peaceful, and she wondered if her daughter had ever looked that peaceful. Now while I get that this does create sympathy for her, and I can understand her lack of trust, it still feels frustrating that she didn’t come forward with this sooner. Also I don’t understand fully how she couldn’t have known about her husband, or how she could have blinded herself like that.

Anyway, skipping past some other stuff (which I’ll jump to by the end of the blog) what they end up getting from her that she did see the person with the boat go onto shore, carry Danny’s body and arrange it there, and it was Nige, who by the way did NOT kill the lab Vince (hooray). Anyway, they bring Nige in, they still don’t have all the details on Susan and Nige (like why he dog-napped Vince) until they keep pushing and it turns out that Nige is the son of Susan, and she moved to Broadchurch when she learned this. Now what she doesn’t want though is for Nige to learn about who his father was, which is something Hardy, not so subtly lets him know about, when after getting their information they need, passes a file to Nige with all the details on his mom, and his father.

As Susan leaves, Ellie tells her that she doesn’t understand how Susan could have not known about her husband, at which point I said to my TV: “I know right?!?!”

Now somewhere in the mix of all of this Beth and Mark go to meet with Reverend Coates for some counseling, it’s a little rocky, but healthy for the marriage that they’re seeking help.

Now after the interrogations Hardy goes to give Olly his exclusive, so that the Echo won’t publish his health problems and go further to paint him as an unfit officer. Olly ends up getting the scoop on why Sandbrook went wrong.  The short version it was Hardy’s wife, a fellow officer who had the key piece of evidence in her car stolen (while she was busy having an affair). And so the case fell apart, but he took the blame.  Which, like the lab lady’s history shows that you can never really know someone until you get the whole story.

Speaking of Nige, he shows up at Susan’s place (looking SUPER creepy), and he tells her that if she doesn’t leave town, he’ll end up killing her dog.  He also mentions that he doesn’t understand why she told the police it was him with the body.  She says it’s because he’s who she saw.

 

Now another piece coming together is that Coates handed over Tom’s busted laptop to Hardy, telling him he found it.  He also tells Hardy about a fight Tom and Danny had, and says that he told the parents about it. Back at the station Hardy brings it up to Miller, who said she didn’t hear anything about a fight, and Hardy (having the lap top, and knowing Coates hasn’t told her about Tom destroying it yet), asks if they can have a look at it, she agrees and can’t find it that night.

What I think is a red herring is the fact that out at Chloe’s boyfriend’s farm, Nige had been going out with Danny, and poaching animals that he’d sell to the butcher… something that Danny’s parents hadn’t been aware of. I think it’s a red herring, because I don’t think Nige did it, every character has some how not been the killer.

Now Hardy said “everyone we’ve interviewed is capable, under the right circumstances”. But what if it’s someone they haven’t even interviewed?

So here’s my wild theory, there’s only 1 other character close to Danny that hasn’t been interviewed, it’s Miller’s husband.  Also from a distance he could look like Nige at the beach, and finally if that’s what they do Ellie will have to be asking herself “how could you not know” because she never saw it.  She’s grown as a detective (the briefing and her interrogation with Susan showed that, so if it is her husband, I think she’ll put the pieces together).

 

Sorry this blog has less screencaps there weren’t a lot for this episode.  Looking forward to the next tomorrow.  As always thanks for reading.

A Deep Breath BrBa S5e15

Hi Readers,

So last night we got the second to last episode… ever… of Breaking Bad.  And it was, in my opinion, after Vince Gilligan squeezed our hearts and minds into a bloody pulp through ‘Ozymandias’ last week, like a nice deep breath…  which we’ll probably need as I anticipate most of us will find that we’re forgetting to breathe during the series finale.

Now that’s not to say that this week’s episode wasn’t as amazing as any others this season, but other than Jesse and Flynn there was little emotional devastation wrought by GIlligan and Co., and that’s ok, in fact it’s well done, and as I go through this post I think you’ll see why.

Breaking Bad Season 5 Episode 15 “Granite State”.

The episode opens at, go figure an actual vacuum store.  Saul’s guy who helps people disappear (Ed), is helping Saul disappear. Saul gets a new ID, is told he’ll be moving to Nebraska, and that as he waits to leave he’ll have a “bunk mate”.

Saul knows he means Walter and asks “Oh yeah, is *he* still here?”, and wants to know how Walter is “holding up”, Ed tells Saul to “be the judge”. Saul is then directed to a monitor showing CCTV of another room, with a noticeably stir-crazy and frustrated Walter.

The next scene opens with Marie in a federal vehicle being driven home, she’s barely listening as the officer is telling her that eventually they’ll find Hank and Gomez. As they get to the house though, it’s immediately evident that someone has broken in, two agents jump out to investigate, while the driver turns around and speeds off with Marie.

We don’t have to ponder who broke into the house.  It was Jack and his crew.  Back at their place their watching Jesse’s confession to Hank (doesn’t that feel like a million years ago?).  They even watch through Jesse explaining what happened to Drew Sharp (now that Jack has the confession, I’m fairly sad at the fact that as Marie will never find out where Hank is, Drew Sharp’s parents will never get closure or answers). At this point Jack has heard enough, and is ready to go out and get rid of Jesse. Once again Todd steps in, talking about the fact that with Jesse the purity went way up, and even when Jack reminds him that they’ve got millions now, and don’t need to cook, Todd still insists on keeping Jesse alive for more meth. Jack realizes that this is all about Todd’s crush on Lydia, but backs off, and Jesse is saved yet again.

Back at the vacuum store, as Saul is waiting to be able to be transported to his new life in Nebraska (quite symbolically), Walter is leaning on his barrel of money to write down details about mercenaries he’s going to need Saul to get in touch with so that they can go hit Jack and get his money back. Saul tries to explain to him how things are over, and how even with the phone call that Walt staged was good, but until the feds have Walt they’ll keep the pressure on Skyler, and that they’ll never be able to see a cent of the money Walt earned, reminding him of Mike’s attempts to get money to his granddaughter and how it was repeatedly seized. Saul brings up how little time Walt has left , and that if he were arrested now he’d probably die before ever being convicted. Saul tells Walt that the best thing for his family would be to “Stay and face the music”. At this point Ed comes in and tells Saul he’s good to go, but Walt says he isn’t going anywhere, so Ed gives them a minute.  However, Walt won’t hear any of it.  He backs Saul up against the wall just like he did before reminding him that “It’s over when I say – ” and Walt is cut off by his own coughing.  Saul get’s his suitcase, says “It’s over.”, and leaves.  At this point  We all know it’s over, why doesn’t Walt? It’s gotten sad at this point, his refusal to give in.

Cut to Skyler, she’s sitting across the table from who we assume are federal agents. And everything is white noise, the men are speaking, and it’s muffled, we can tell she’s not present.  Finally one of the agents asks “Is she even listening?”. Skyler seems to snap out of it and says “I understand. I”m in a lot of trouble.  I understand you will use everything in your power against me and my children to get Walt.  But I can’t give you what you want, because I don’t know where where he is.” The entire scene mirrors when Walter first received his cancer diagnosis from his doctor, it was all white noise but when prompted, Walt had heard it all. Can I just say here that this kind of amazing storytelling is why I LOVE this show! Also I have mixed feelings for Skyler, I feel bad that Walt has left her high and dry, but at the same time, she was never the “blameless victim” he tried to paint her as with that phone call.

That night we see a car with two officers outside the White house watching it, radioing in that there’s no movement.  Skyler is inside having a smoke, observing the officers.  The house is silent and she is so very alone. She gets up to go and check on Holly, as she hears her start to cry in down the hall.  As she gets into the nursery though, she sees three men in all black with masks standing around Holly’s crib, and one comes up behind her covering her mouth.  Once they’re sure no one else is there, and that she won’t scream, they uncover her mouth so that she can answer a few questions.  They’re specifically about if she’s said anything about the “lady at the car wash” (referring of course to Lydia). She tells them no, and they threaten to come back if she ever does say anything about her, or their little visit in the middle of the night.  This was a rough scene to watch, even Skyler’s biggest haters had to feel SOME degree of sympathy for her.

Speaking of Lydia she goes to meet Todd, and she’s finally successful at telling one of her contacts to speak to her back to back… which is WAY more suspicious than just meeting and speaking to someone… just saying.  Anyway Todd tells her that he went to the “White’s house” (there he goes, being an idiot and dropping names again) and that he thinks that the “message was received, loud and clear”. Lydia isn’t satisfied with just sending a message though, and isn’t happy with all of the investigations going on, and when Todd mentions he has meth to move, she tells him she can’t help, until he mentions that it’s now at 92%.  She refers to this a “Heisenberg level”. Todd tells her that he’s got Pinkman, and Lydia is obviously intrigued at continuing to make this business arrangement work

Next we see Walt climbing out of a transport trucks propane tank.  I’ll never be able to watch one of those on the highway now without pondering if there’s a person in there. He’s at a quaint little cabin (pictured at the top of this blog). Which if you asks me looks like the “Smoking Man’s” cabin from the X- Files (another Gilligan show)  They go in and Ed is going over the basics, like the propane, the wood burning stove, and that there’s not really any TV, so he’s left with DVD’s (of which there are two copies of Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium… and if you’re looking for connections this Article by Salon may help connect some dots… like a certain quote about how at the end of King Lear “He dies.”). When Walt asks about using a phone Ed tells him there isn’t one (storms mean phone lines go down, which means service calls, which means he’d be seen). Same with internet, cable, etc.

When Walt asks whats to stop him “going out the gate”, Ed tells him that his job is to keep Walt safe, but if Walt wants to go, there’s nothing he can do to stop him.  He tells him he’ll be back in a month with more food.  Shortly after he leaves, Walt gets dressed, including his Heisenberg hat and walks all the way down to the gate, looks down the snowy road before him, opens it, then pauses and says the words: “Tomorrow, tomorrow”, before locking the gate back up and turning around.

Next we see Jesse, who we saw working earlier with a paper clip has been able to unlock his cuffs and is standing on top of everything, trying to reach the bars above, he drops though when he hears Todd coming.  Todd’s come to thank him for the last cook being at 96% and sends down some ice cream.  Before Todd leaves, Jesse asks if tonight he’ll leave the tarp off so that he can see the stars, and Todd obliges.

That night Jesse is able to get out, by jumping from his tower of stuff, reaching and then unlatching the door.  He runs to get away, but doesn’t see the camera outside.  As he’s trying to climb the fence he hears Jack’s guys run up behind him.  He tells them that they might as well just kill him, “because there’s no way [he’s] doing one more cook!” Unfortunately rather than kill Jesse they decide to remind him of the kind of leverage they have over him. 

The next scene is Todd at Andrea’s, he says he’s a friend of Jesse’s and then tells her that Jesse is there in a truck parked across the street. When she steps outside to see the truck (which has tinted windows), Todd steps behind, pulls his gun, tells her this isn’t “personal” and then pulls the trigger.

Jesse has seen all of this from the truck and is crushed.  When Todd gets in Jack tells Jesse to calm down, and “remember, there’s still the kid”.

Approximately one month later Walter has a beard, and  Ed is back at the cabin.  He’s brought Walter a stack of newspapers, food (including some Ensure that he says will help Walt keep some of weight on). As Walt skims through the papers (using some random prescription glasses Ed brought) Ed updates him on what’s been going on back in ABQ.  This includes that Skyler, who still has the kids, is using her maiden name and working at a taxi dispatch office. According to Ed her “public defender… looks like a deer in the headlights”. Ed also brings him up to speed that there’s now a fence around the house because of vandals.  He’s also brought an IV of chemotherapy, Walt offers to put the needle in, and can’t so Ed slips it in. Ed gets ready to head out, and Walt offers him ten thousand to stay for two hours.  Ed agrees to stay for 1, and play cards.  Then Walt says “One of these days when you come up here, I’ll be dead.. my money over there, what happens to it then, what if I ask you to give it to my family, would you do it?”. Ed replies “If I said yes, would you believe me?”. Walt is clearly depressed at this, and says nothing.

That night as Walt sleeps his wedding ring slips off, and falls to the floor (reminding us of how much weight he’s lost), he wakes, tries putting it back on, noting how it slides off.  He uses some string to tie it around his neck.

He then looks at the boxes of Ensure.  He goes to them, empties them and puts money in. We see him next bundled up, with the box wrapped in brown paper, and tied with a string.

We then see Walt Jr. in school, he’s called to the office and that his aunt Marie is on the phone.  It’s not Marie though.  Walt paid a woman in a bar to use a payphone.  Once Jr. is on Walt starts speaking, telling Jr. how he “never intended” things to be the way they are.  He then asks Jr. if his friend Louis still lives at the same address.  Flynn tells him yes, and Walt tries to explain that he’ll be sending a box of money ($100,000.00), to Louis, but that it’s for Jr.  Flynn flips out at the mention of money shouting “YOU KILLED UNCLE HANK!” along with a few other things, and then shouting “WHY ARE YOU STILL ALIVE!!!”. Flynn hangs up.

Walt is devastated.  He then makes another call to the ABQ DEA office.  He asks to speak to the agent in charge of the Walter White investigation.  When asked who’s calling he replies “Walter White”, then drops the phone leaving it hanging.

We see him sit down and order a whiskey.  As the guy at the bar flips through channels, Walt asks him to stop and go back to one.  It’s an interview with Gretchen and Elliot (his long ago partners of Gray Matter), and they’re working very hard to distance themselves from the fact that one of their company’s founders became a meth kingpin.

Next we see sheriffs pull up and go into the bar…  but this is all they find:

I CANNOT WAIT for next week’s episode. I also CANNOT believe that it’s the end.

A couple of notes before next week:
First, my theory on Walt getting the ricin, that he got it for himself, he will take it, and then turn himself in, knowing he only has a few days to live, getting Skyler off the hook, and not spending anytime in jail, after all, at this point how would he be able to slip it to anyone?

Now the confirmation of the phone call being a deliberate act, which the fans caught shows how in tune the writers are with this show, and their viewers.  Keep in mind  how long ago these episodes were filmed. This Forbes article addresses how divided people were on it http://www.forbes.com/sites/allenstjohn/2013/09/19/walter-whites-phone-call-on-breaking-bad-514-what-you-caught-and-the-critics-missed%E2%80%A8including-me/

Going back to the Forbes article on the phone call, I believe it fully supports and leads into my mentioning of another Forbes article http://www.forbes.com/sites/allenstjohn/2013/09/16/why-breaking-bad-is-the-best-show-ever-and-why-that-matters/2/ and the fact that like the phone call Vince Gilligan knew what he was having Walter do, and like Jack killing Hank, or Todd killing Andrea, Gilligan’s mind is made up.  Next week Monday that as Allen St. John points out “The water cooler conversation after the finale airs on September 29 will be dominated not by head- scratching analysis, but by slack-jawed awe”.   Gilligan is going to perfectly punctuate things. We will get a conclusion. that’s it. Period. Or maybe, Exclamation Point… maybe, but certainly not Question Mark.

Thanks for reading, feel free to comment below!

Along for the Ride! Sleepy Hollow!

Hi Readers,

So as I mentioned in my blog about pilots I saw at SDCC, Sleepy Hollow was one that I was VERY much looking forward to. Now that it’s out and I’ve watched it again, I’ve a few thoughts to put down, spoiler warning, from here on out!

The episode opens in Hudson Valley, New York, in 1781. It’s the Revolutionary War and we meet Ichabod Crane (played by Tom Mison), who in this reimagining of the classic tale, is not some timid school teacher.  He’s a soldier, a medic, can take a slice to the chest, and still have enough adrenaline left to behead his attacker! His attacker… who is of course the Headless Horseman!

Next we see him emerging from a grave in a cave, amongst some creepy looking jars. Now,don’t get me wrong the show is called Sleepy Hollow, it automatically gets an automatic suspension of disbelief, but as he gets out of the cave it’s by stumbling and putting his hand on a rock that *conveniently* triggered an opening…  (emphasis on “conveniently”).

Anyway, he gets out and wanders through the woods for a bit, until he finds himself walking on a road, and nearly gets run over, twice, seeing a person emerge from a car, he’s immediately and realistically confused and scared.

Next we get to meet out other main character, Abbie Mills (played by Nicole Beharie), sitting and having pie with her superior officer, Corbin as he mentions all the unsolved cases (something he says she should know about) in the area, and laments that she’ll be leaving soon to go to Quantico.

Yeah… I wouldn’t let small children watch this show

They head out on a call (related to some spooked horses, which illuminates why Mills is moving on to bigger and brighter things) they get there and things get messy. The horses are spooked due to, you guessed it, the headless horseman, not only did he behead the farmer, but he’s in the barn that Corbin goes to investigate, and ends up beheaded, which Abbie is there to see.

She calls it in, and one of the officers on his way stops when Crane runs out into the street and (for what feels like no reason whatsoever) arrests him, when Abbie is asked to identify him, she says Crane isn’t the guy because the guy “was wearing a military uniform like a red coat” and Crane interjects asking if the man carried a “broadaxe”, and mentions a couple other identifying features, prompting Mills to ask when was the last time he saw him, with Crane replying “When I cut off his head”

Ichabod is not amused.
Screenshot (and others below) from http://www.kissthemgoodbye.net

After the commercial we get a tense yet delightful scene of Ichabod getting a polygraph test. He passes with flying colors, and it’s quite amusing as he describes how he came to be serving under General Washington, and fighting the (now headless) horseman, and being treated by his wife, before dying. He’s told at the end, when he demands to know where he is, with the detective telling him “The question isn’t where you are, but when. The good news is you won the war, the bad news is it was 250 years ago, Welcome to the 21st Century Mr. Crane”, as he slides a one dollar bill across the table.

The plan is to send him to a psyche unit, but Mills wants to interrogate him, which Captain Frank Irving, (played by Orlando Jones) won’t allow, but he will allow her to transport him to the psyche ward.

This, understandably is her face when he mentions that she must have been emancipated.

We then get a lovely exchange between Mills and Crane regarding the fact that she’s a lieutenant and a female, and black, which though he finds surprising, he mentions that he’d been an abolitionist, she agrees to play along.

He has a special kind of snarkiness that makes what could have been awkward or somewhat flat dialogue, considering much of it is exposition, really enjoyable. Like when he’s told that he’s being transported to a psyche ward and he replies “This day continues to bear gifts”. We also watch the car ride where he’s amazed by powered windows, and seems a bit overwhelmed by the number of Starbucks locations. (Now I’ll digress for a sentence, but so far, even as I look forward to The Winter Soldier in 2014, I think Ichabod Crane may be my new favorite man out of time, over Steve Rogers). Even though he questions when it became “acceptable for women to wear trousers”.

Mills disobeying orders, asks Crane if he could show her the cave he says he came from, and he obliges, there finding among other things, a bible with a passage in Revelations marked “and there before me was a white horse… and his name was death” (Now this is Rev 6:2-8, the white horse, the bow and death are mentioned, but they skip a couple of bits… but hey the devil is in the details, right?). Ichabod is already certain that *the* horseman, must be one of the *four* horseman of the apocalypse, which Abbie doesn’t believe but the show wastes no time in confirming the “religious/prophetic” (which I say with quotes since they’re taking poetic license) storyline, as next we see the horseman kill the local priest, who won’t give up where something is hidden.

When Mills goes to investigate (with Crane still in tow), Captain Irving reprimands her for disobeying orders, and won’t accept that Crane may have answers they need, with one of Abbie’s fellow officers, Andy Dunn  (played by John Cho) telling her to just drop it.

This was my favorite, of many great lines Mison delivered!

Crane who did not stay in the car followed a hawk to a specific grave.  When Abbie catches up to him, frustrated that he did not stay, he reminds her that he’s regarded as “‘insane’ and therefore impervious to simple commands” (LOVE the dialogue in this show, Mison delievers these lines with just the right amount of sarcasm).

The grave though was Katrina’s (Crane’s wife), who was apparently burned for being a witch.

Crane at this point cannot understand why Mills won’t accept what’s going on, and she mentions that she can’t believe it and even if she did she’d be “alone again trying to explain something she didn’t understand”. Crane picks up on the “alone” and questions it, but Mills won’t give anything up, even though he tells her that she’s “been doubting her own perceptions from some time”

Ummm even his temporary jail cell was a step up from that cave… just saying

When they get to the asylum Crane regards it as “a measurable step up from the cave”. There he and Mills connect, and she opens up, saying that when she was younger she was walking home in the woods with her sister and blacked out after seeing four white trees that hadn’t been there, and a voice and a person or a “thing”. And everyone thought they were crazy, and after a while her sister believed it, (which Crane refers to as “battling demons”) and had spent her life “in and out of places like this”, and that she can relate to Crane because everyone thinks he’s crazy.

Now, here’s the best screenshot I could find, from the very creepy scene we got as Mills told her story:

The creepiness isn’t so much in what we see, but what we think we *almost* see. Now this blog is not the place for theological arguments, or demonology, but since the show addresses demonic activity… a lot, I think it’s worth stating that if you can definitively know if something is real or not, it makes it less scary in a way, but if you’re not sure, and therefore cannot trust yourself (as Abbie cannot), then it adds a degree of fear, and I have known people like Abbie, who have dealt with this sort of thing. What this show at least does is acknowledge, even on a fictional level, that if demons/witchcraft etc. exist, then people should have human, and relateable reactions to them, and I think they’ve done a great job of showing that with Abbie.

Ok…. back into the recap, where was I???

Ah, so, the next morning Abbie’s in Corbin’s office, because she found a key of his that didn’t fit anywhere, until he finds that it fits in a filing cabinet, which has a tape recorder, and files on occultism, witch covens (specifically two, representing good and evil) and tons of unsolved cases, which she suspects to all be connected. One of these cases is of Abbie and her sister, that they saw a demonic figure and four white trees, which a local farmer had also seen before, and supposedly those trees are tied to the four horseman, being raised. Corbin had (as per the tape recorder) wanted to tell Abbie, but had never felt that he knew who to trust, and felt like he was getting close.

Captain Irving catches Abbie, just as she’s putting everything up, and reminds her to go home, and let everyone else there do their jobs. My theory at this point is simply that he *may* be involved in a coven, but I’m thinking he’s on the good side.

When Crane wakes up int he asylum… or rather “dreams up” the bird is there, and Katrina is there, in the mirror, speaking to him, she’s apparently been trying to reach him (through the bird), she tells him that her grave is not where she’s buried but is rather the location of the horseman’s head.  She apparently has been a part of a secret order protecting Sleepy Hollow, and that when Crane died, because of where he fell his blood mixed with the horseman’s, so that’s why he was raised when the horseman was. By now Crane is also in the woods with her (because it’s a dream), as she starts giving vital information. Such as: “Three more will follow and then it will begin [and] light is his weakness… the answers are in Washington’s bible… [he is] the first witness” all of this is cut short though as she tries to give him information, because by now she’s shouting at him to “WAKE UP!”, and something demonic is rising from the brush.He abruptly awakes to orderlies trying to strap him down, but Abbie arrives just in time to get him out.

Though she kind of bent… well broke all the rules doing it… But that’s ok, because everything gets really action packed from here!

As the sun goes down we see the horseman rise from the river (which I assume will be important, since he could have just hidden in a cave…). Abbie and Ichabod are on the way to the church to get the head from Katrina’s grave.  Abbie calls Dunn to have him send support to the church… but Dunn makes a stop along the way… at his apartment, where his gun safe has been opened, and the horseman is there waiting for him.  Dunn tells the horseman (wondering at this point how he hears anything… but not really caring) where to find his head.

So, when Abbie and Ichabod get to the church, so do the Horseman and Dunn.  While Ichabod is trying to avoid getting killed, Abbie asks Dunn where backup is.  Dunn tells her he doesn’t know, knocks her out while she isn’t looking, and as he tries to get her in the back seat of his squad car, she bites him (quite effectively to get away). Finally, Ichabod gets the head, and  backup arrives. The officers who arrived try shooting at the horseman to no avail, and just as they are about to be his next victims, the sun begins to come up, and the horseman rides off into the sunrise.

That morning back at the station, given Dunn’s actions, the head, and the fact that 2 other officers corroborated the fact that they saw a man with NO head, Captain Irving is much more prepared to let Abbie take the lead on the investigation into Corbin’s death, and is much more willing to have Ichabod (who he refers to as “Captain America”… a reference he doesn’t get), help. This is good considering two things, the first is that Katrina had told Ichabod that he was the first witness (and Revelation speaks of 2… though again they’re taking TONS of poetic license), and Ichabod believes the second is Mills.  The second good thing is  Dunn is willing to confess, but only to them.

What’s not so good is just before Mills and Crane get to Dunn’s cell the demon gets there first… and let’s just say that he wasn’t pleased with Dunn’s performance. Crane and Mills get into the cell and see Dunn, just as the demon is walking away, into the woods through the mirror.

As they watch it leave we get one of the creepiest moments of the show, that definitely brings the “JUMP” factor… I remember people screaming during the pilot at SDCC! But I won’t spoil it here, you’ll have to see it for yourself, if you haven’t yet.

 

So there you go, the pilot of Sleepy Hollow, it was SO MUCH FUN! I cannot wait until next Monday.  Also and maybe this is premature, but since Star Trek had “trekkies” and Fringe had “Observers” as their fanbases… I’m pretty certain Sleepy Hollow fans may adopt the nickname “Witnesses”… but it’s just a theory.

As always feel free to comment below, and thanks for reading!

Pacific Rim, The Good, The Bad and The Eye Candy

So, while this is about two months behind the times, I finally saw Pacific Rim this past weekend, and I thought  I’d weigh in on all of the hooplah, considering it seems like’s destined to be (or already is) one of those films where you love it or you hate it.  What I hope follows in this blog is a very balanced approach after my viewing.  It’s broken up into three categories, The Good, The Bad and The Eye Candy, with some overlap between them.

The Good:

Now a lot of this, depending on the viewer would fall into the category of Eye Candy, but Pacific Rim’s plot was about giant robots (the epic Jaegers) fighting with and hopefully defeating giant monsters (the destructive Kaiju)!

And Pacific Rim delivered. The CGI was great, and the choreography of the battles made sense.  Conceptually and visually I have no problems with how imaginative this film was, and how well it was executed.

What I felt was also executed really well was the story arc and character of Mako. Starting with the backstory we got through her memories I thought EVERYTHING was well done, but especially the actress who played young Mako! I felt so small with her, and so scared and sad for her as we watched her memory of surviving a Kaiju attack. Everything about her admiration and devotion to Stacker was perfectly summed up as we saw him through her eyes after rescuing her.

 

This produced to what I thought was the unfolding of  a beautiful father daughter relationship, which though not the focus of this film, affected so much else. It also helped us to get a clearer picture of Stacker, without boring exposition.

 

The Bad:

Now I’m not going to go into major plot points, because this is just a review, not a recap, but my primary complaint in this area seems line up with other people’s complaints, though I feel like they’re going overboard with it. It just feels like while we got our fill of all the great jaegers and kaiju, that we didn’t get enough of everything else,

So what felt lacking by the time I left the theater was the lack of information, detail and growth regarding some of the other aspects in Pacific Rim. I know that many will say “but that’s not what Pacific Rim was about!”, and I agree to a point.

Taking the Kaiju specifically, and maybe this is because I don’t understand biology, or genetics or cloning to the extent that the scientists in the film did (by the way I really wish we’d gotten more time with the scientists… but I’ll address that below), but my *very* basic understanding of cloning is that you create a genetic replica of something… meaning it’s genetically the same.

So shouldn’t the Kaiju have all looked the SAME?!?! Don’t get me wrong I LIKED the variety of Kaiju, but also if they can be bred, and have offspring, why clone them, as Dr. Geiszler talked about the fact that the Kaiju flesh was always genetically identical.

 

Speaking of Dr. Geiszler and Dr. Gotlieb for that matter, I would have LOVED to get more time with them, and the things they did researching the Kaiju, either before the events of this film, or even during the 5 year period when Raleigh wasn’t fighting the Kaiju. They’re relationship was interesting, and it might have been nice to see them collaborating and disagreeing on work, and while most of the technobabble would have been WAY over my head, I still would have liked more of the science.

Also, Ron Perlman’s character Chau felt like it just didn’t mesh well with the rest of the film. We have this very serious tangible environment, except when he’s involved, and I’m not opposed to comedic relief, or variety in a film, but I feel like it should have been toned down, or more smoothly introduced somehow, and so it felt kind of cheesy.

 

Furthermore, am I the ONLY one who wanted WAY more focus on some of the other Jaeger teams? Especially Cherno-Alpha, they looked SO cool!!!!!!!!!

Finally, I know that most people expect Charlie Hunnam to be listed in the eye candy section, and since he’s not my type  I wasn’t going to place him there, but because I can see WHY he would be considered Eye Candy, I’ll address it… but it overlaps with “The Bad”

The Eye Candy:

Now… why would Charlie Hunnam be in both the Eye Candy and Bad categories? Because I’m one of those horribly picky people whose suspension of disbelief can be rattled by the oddest things. Yes I accept that in this universe the global governments of the world have collaborated for the good of the planet to create giant robots (though global governments agreeing on anything is a stretch, don’t believe me here’s a great clip of Eddie Izzard’s from “Dressed to Kill” addressing the difficulties of just the European Union):

ANYWAY, that’s the premise, therefore I accept it, and movies should operate within the rules they create.

So what I WON’T accept is that while Raleigh can look all studly and ripped at the beginning of the film, like the picture above, there’s NO WAY that after spending 5 years in construction (though a physical job) with cruddy food and low nutrition (he later makes a comment about not having had something as good a bread in a long time), would he be this much of a spectacle for Mako, or anyone else for that matter to oogle over.  You need a decent source of protein to maintain muscles like that, in addition to a good workout routine. So yeah… some days I wish I could just be one of those dumb girls to be all like “oooh abs… pretty” and just enjoy the movie… but sadly no.

All of that being said, this was the hottest scene in the movie! Which is good because while the relationship and chemistry, as related to the drift compatability and character growth were relevant to the plot, it wasn’t a romance, and for once it was nice that in an action flick it wasn’t the chick who was objectified (and while this could have gone in Good category, it made sense for this to follow the above)

To Sum Up:

So in conclusion, if the primary focus of “The Bad” is that I wanted more back stories of the other pilots, and more time for the development and relationships of other side characters, as well as an expansion on the Blue Market (because it’s a black market… for Kaiju… anyway), then I think the movie did well, and I look forward to seeing it again!

Thanks for reading, and feel free to post your thoughts on Pacific Rim in the comments below!