Review: Season 5 of Walking Dead...the first half

Oh, it's just so good. There's so much to say, and I really wish I'd had the time to address it episode by episode, but alas, here's my take on the first half of The Walking Dead's fifth season.

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/GraphicCity/news/?a=110429

First of all, all the stuff with the Termites was perfect. It was the perfect amount of creepy and they served their role as bad guys without overstaying their welcome. At the beginning of the season, I was a little concerned that the show was going to try to turn Gareth into the next governor and would have him hanging around for the entire season. I just didn't think that would age well, so I'm glad they didn't go that route. They were the right amount of faithful to the comics, and they really nailed one of my favorite comic book moments (aka: "Tainted MEAT!!!"). I was really pleased with Lawrence Gilliard Jr.'s performance in his final episodes. He made that excellent moment come alive in a believable and haunting way, and he died with a great deal of dignity.

http://galleryhip.com/walking-dead-abraham-death.html

As for Gareth's last stand, I was also pleased. In the comics, the cannibals are killed in an absolutely excellent bloodbath of vengeance carried out by Rick, Michonne, Abraham, and Andrea with Father Gabriel watching in horror. It's probably my single favorite panel in the comics because I think it says a lot about the theme of the narrative. I was worried that the show would screw this up by not doing it the same way. Even though they didn't do it the exact same way as the comic, the message was the same and I left satisfied. The brutality of their slaughter, justified as it was, was still very clear. It was an excellent moment of television and one of the real high points of the series.

http://www.threeifbyspace.net/2014/10/

Additionally, I'm really happy with Seth Gilliam's portrayal of Father Gabriel, who was introduced in the season five premiere. He is doing a good job of communicating Gabriel's crippling cowardice. It seems that some viewers find him to be a frustrating and useless character, but I would say that he's anything but that. We need to see people like Gabriel in this world because many of us would be very much like him. It's easy to think that you'd be Michonne, slashing down the dead and walking through hordes without blinking, but that's a romantic lie. No one would survive this long without being a little selfish and putting their needs above the needs of others. Another great example of this is Eugene, he's being brought to life in an entertaining and dynamic way by actor Josh McDermitt.

www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2790564/

Of course, any review of the season would be remiss if it didn't mention the unifying of the group in the first episode. That was well executed from a writing and story perspective, and it was a great episode for one of my favorite characters, Carol. It was fitting that, after her excommunication, she would be the one to save Rick. It really taught him a lesson about right and wrong, one that he seems to be incorporating into his character. And if you didn't cry when Daryl hugged Carol, or when Rick hugged Judith, or when Sasha hugged Tyreese...well then you're just a monster.

One of my issues with these episodes was that after only a few episodes of the gang being back together again, they had to all fly to the corners of the earth again. I was glad to see them united in the midseason finale, and I hope that they stay that way for a while. While there are drawbacks to having episodes with every single character present, namely that you don't get enough time with any one character, having them split up all the time drags out the narrative in a way that can be a little annoying at times. It's not that I don't enjoy a good character building episode; I really enjoyed the episode on the road with Abraham and crew (aka: GREATM), but sometimes, such as in the episode with Beth in Atlanta, there's just not enough there to sustain a whole episode.

http://io9.com/the-walking-dead-just-turned-into-the-worlds-strangest-1654077087

I have to mention the Beth episode a little more. I hate to do it, because I don't like to speak ill of the dead and all, but that episode was the worst one of the entire show. It was boring, the acting was bad, and Beth is just not an interesting enough character to serve as the crux of the conflict. Generally, I felt that the episode was poorly directed. Dawn was a better character in the later episodes, but in her first appearance she felt unrealistic. A good villain should seem believable, have a purpose that the viewer can buy, even if they don't agree with it. The idea that she really still believed in salvation that long into the apocalypse was a tough pill for me to swallow as a viewer. Also, her management style seemed rife with flaws, so I had trouble believing that she'd held them all together that long when she seemed so weak and disorganized. And if she was supposed to be OCD and a control freak, I can't buy that she'd allow the amount of free movement from people like Beth and Noah that they clearly had within the hospital.

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/21234/20141201/

I do like Noah though, and I'm looking forward to where he'll go. This may be extremely callous to say, but I can't help but think that if we had to trade Beth for Noah, it's probably an upgrade as far as character. It's not that I won't miss Beth; I will, and her death was both brutal and extremely well executed from a narrative standpoint. I always appreciate when characters go quickly in films and television, not giving the opportunity for a farewell. It's brutal, but it's a brutality that is true to life and the effect it has upon those who survive is interesting plot (I'm looking at you, Alan Tudyk in Serenity). I just feel that maybe Beth's character arc had run its course, and the best thing her character had left to offer was to give Daryl another reason to be damaged and angry. She had a good run and she went out like a real beast. That scene at the end with Maggie seeing her was pretty brutal and sad. I won't lie though; there was a part of me that was like "Girl, didn't you just remember that you even had a sister like 45 minutes ago??".

http://www.enstarz.com/articles/48719/20141016/

I'm looking forward to season two and Washington DC, which is where I'm assuming they will be headed next. Great conflict awaits there, but I think it will take until season 6, maybe even the midseason finale of season 6, before we get to meet one of my personal favorite characters: Negan. I'm also really excited to see Morgan's return in the second half of the season. Even though he's only been in a few episodes, Lennie James has made that character so dynamic and engaging. It was the right choice to bring him back as they do in the comics, but I hope he gets to have more of an active role than comic book Morgan did.

So I guess it's a long wait until February, but I'm excited to see where this will go!

Review: Z Nation Season Finale...and Beyond

http://www.syfy.com/znation/photos

Well, the ending of Z Nation certainly didn't hold anything back. The introduction of a human "big bad" who was most likely the father of the zombie pandemic, further de-evolution of Murphy, the death of Cassandra (probably?) and, of course, lots of freaking nuclear warheads. It left many viewers wondering...where do you go from here? It's kind of like if there had been a season six of Angel. How do you explain away a situation that would seemingly have to kill almost everyone in the show? It's a big question and it presents a big challenge to SyFy, one that they could either really nail or totally screw up.

Although the situation seems pretty futile, I have some ideas for how they could go on with the narrative.

Idea #1: Only Murphy Left Alive

http://www.syfy.com/znation/photos

Murphy is the only person from the show that could even plausibly have escaped the blast zone if, in fact, the nukes do detonate. If they follow through with that idea, then he could hypothetically find a new group of survivors or the next season could be a lot of him exploring his role as "king of the zombies". I would applaud the idea in some sense because I really am a fan of the realness of the narrative in which lots of people die because, you know, it's the freaking apocalypse. Also, Murphy is the best character, so keeping him alive would give the show the opportunity to create new characters that match his level of intensity. I would especially miss Citizen Z if they did this, though. Citizen Z is a good tool for the writers to be able to see the scale of the zombie plague and comment on larger themes about humanity (aka: Citizen Z's reaction to the nuclear launch: "What is wrong with us?"). It would be a daring turn that might lose a lot of fans for them though. Not sure if they are willing to take that chance. Also, I'm really worried about how Murphy is going to look sans skin. I'm just not sure they're going to be able to pull that off without it just looking hecka silly. They've done very well with his makeup effects thus far though, so hopefully that's a baseless concern.

Idea #2: Hackers Save The Day

http://www.syfy.com/znation/photos

In episode 9, Citizen Z thought he was being hacked by someone else. At the time, I attributed this to the fact that he was suffering from oxygen deprivation and was clearly experiencing some powerful hallucinations. But...what if that part was real? If he was, in fact, being hacked, that means there's another facility out there with the same (maybe even better) capabilities as Citizen Z. That person could potentially scramble the nuclear warheads, causing them to veer off of their targets and detonate somewhere that would cause less damage (the upper atmosphere, unoccupied tundra in Canada, the desert, etc). That could really set season 2 up for some interesting conflict for Citizen Z, who is also one of my favorite characters. How does he deal with the idea of not being the only one watching, the only one in charge? How might he like it when his privacy is in jeopardy just like all the other people that he watches, hacks, and follows? That would provide an excellent opportunity for theme and plot, so it might be interesting to go that route.

Idea #3: Citizen Z Saves The Day
This one is probably the least likely since he seemed to flee his computer console pretty quickly, but what if there was a scene that we didn't see where he scrambled the warheads just like in my last idea? Again, there's not much in the episode to support this claim, but I did keep wondering why, if he's such a computer genius, he didn't at least try, especially once his life was at stake.

Additionally, there are some other elements of the finale that are worth examining. First, how/why is Mack still alive? I thought he got shot. If he didn't get shot, what the heck is he doing? His reason for leaving the group was to stay with Addy, but he doesn't seem to actually be in the compound or attempting to get in. Given, we only see him for a second, but I was a little disappointed to see him alive, not because I don't like him, but because it seems to take some of the impact out of the earlier episode.

http://www.syfy.com/znation/photos

Also, there's the issue of Cassandra's transformation. I'm not 100% clear on what Murphy's bite does, but we seem to have a little bit of contradiction on that matter based on the handful of examples the show has given us. At the very least, we know it puts them under Murphy's control. But with Cassandra, it also seemed to turn her into a mini-Murphy, but also into the hotter, cheaper version of River Tam from Firefly. If she basically becomes like Murphy though, is there a chance that even a nuclear explosion at the facility wouldn't kill her? After all, think about Murphy 1.0 (aka: that rotting pile of yuck draped over the lab counter). Seemingly nothing except a headshot can kill Murphy's breed (which, on a side note, I'm salty about because that's one of the details of a YA zombie fiction piece I'm working on). If that's the case, could we see Cassandra down the line, walking around the planet killing doctors in the name of Messiah Murphy?

http://www.syfy.com/znation/photos

And, sadly, we have to discuss Doc. Now, I know that SyFy is very good at explaining away logic, but the man took a bullet to the chest. That often equates to death, even in a world with emergency rooms, surgeons, anesthesia, and antibiotics. In the world of the dead, not only do you not have medical attention, but you also have nowhere to rest or recover. That can lead to things like infection and a weakened immune system, even if they are somehow able to keep his organs functioning and stop the bleeding. If the show goes on and the nukes don't kill everyone, my guess is that he'll live, but I'm already side-eyeing it. Not because I don't love Doc (I do), but because it's just a little ridiculous. Kind of like Carl getting half his face blown off without dying or suffering severe brain damage...but hey, another comment for another day.

Whatever the writers decide to do going forward with the narrative, they'll certainly have to do something because season 2 of Z Nation is greenlit and has been since October. That means they've had time to plan ahead and are probably already working on the next step in the journey. Knowing SyFy, we probably won't find out until Fall 2015, but I'll certainly be tuning in. Will you?

Review: Z-Nation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z_Nation

Oh Sy-Fy...

I love syfy. I've religiously watched many of their show, those of quality (BSG) and those of major suckatitde (Opposite Worlds). So when I heard they were dipping their toes into the zombie genre, I had to watch...of course.

Now, I don't watch Town of the Living Dead. I can only sink so far; I have some dignity left, but I will openly admit that I've allowed myself to be bitten by Z-Nation.

The show has a slew of positives and negatives, and it both wins me over and loses me completely every single Friday, so I guess it's time to weigh in on a review.


The "good" of SyFy's Z-Nation:

• Good special fx: The zombies are well executed as are the kills. Unlike in Defiance, which I stupidly love, there aren't moments where bad special fx remove you from the storytelling. They've hired good makeup artists and it shows.
• Good art direction: Love the bleak, colorless world they've created. I also love that it's reminiscent of Zombieland in so far as it makes clear the emptiness and isolation of the Central United States in a very realistic manner. Everything looks real, abandoned, and disturbing. That's essential when entering this genre.
• Originality: They introduce a lot of new ideas that I've never seen in zombie flicks before which is admirable considering that they could probably just follow the status quo and still entertain the new zombie fans. Hiding in morgue freezer cells to evade zombies? I'd never thought of that. Very cool. Nuclear facilities melting down? Someone else watched Life After People, I guess. Thank you for finally incorporating that reality into zombie material.
• Not creating "supermen": Aside from Murphy, who has special immunities but still remains painfully human, these are just regular people fighting against the dead. We don't have Navy Seals here, which makes the protagonists more relatable.
• Not shrinking from death: They kill their main characters...all the time. I've seen people online complain about this, but I think it's great. In the z-pocalypse, people would die on a fairly regular basis. It's only fair that we feel that as an audience. One of my favorite things about SyFy is that because they're not responsible to a mainstream audience, they can more or less do what they want. This plays out well in Z-Nation because it allows you to feel the real, imminent danger that would exist in the zombie apocalypse.
• Select actor performances: They're not all students of Juliard: that's evident. but you can't downplay the solid performances that some of the actors give. Specifically, the characters of Murphy, Doc, and 10k are very engaging. Murphy is a really interesting character, and one of the main reasons to keep watching week after week. He's truly dynamic and a lot of that should be credited to the actor, Keith Allan, for building a character that seems genuine.
• Honoring those who came before: We have a number of nods to seriously geeky horror shiz here. My favorite? The morgue in episode 9 (by far the best episode) is named after one of my favorite Vincent Price films, The Abominable Doctor Phibes.

  

  Murphy from Z Nation (http://www.nerdophiles.com/2014/10/10/z-nation-home-sweet-home-aka-znado/)

  
  

The "bad"of Z-Nation:

• Infringements of realism: At least once every episode, I'm struck with a "wait...what?" moment. It's like they don't even try to explain away things from time to time. In one of the earlier episodes, they randomly have a brand-spanking-new iPad with convenient footage of exactly the thing that they need to see. I have yet to find a reasonable explanation for this. And that's just an example. There are a number of times when they just assume the viewer is an idiot and throw in completely implausible pieces for seemingly no reason except, perhaps, lazy writing.
• Bad acting: While characters like Murphy or even Citizen Z (DJ Qualls) keep me watching, the vast majority of the side characters in each episode are total garbage. As someone who attended theater school, I know that there's better out there. It's annoying to be subjected to poorly portrayed new characters week to week. Even some of the main characters are painfully paper-thin, such as Addy (Anastasia Baranova). The only consolation for that is that no one hangs around for very long on this show, so you don't have to endure bad acting for long...until it's replaced by more bad acting.
• Lack of theme: This story wavers...a lot. As an English teacher, I'm left wondering "What's the message here? What should we learn or know?". Good writers and creators have a purpose, a message, that they hope to communicate to their reader or viewer. For example, Kirkman clearly has a message of "What does it take to retain humanity". Romero seeks to show us our own zombie-esque mannerisms, and, through his four "of the dead films" teaches us that we are, in some ways, no better than the dead. What does Z-Nation want to say? I'm not sure yet. At times, it feels like it's about to say something, but then it stops itself. I hope it can find a deeper message, some authorial intent, or else it'll just continue to be my cheap zombie fix to get me through until Sunday night.

Addy from Z Nation. I applaud them for making a normal-sized girl their "heart throb", but she's no emmy winner. (http://www.space.ca/)

So, what's the take away? I guess...watch it? It is rarely excellent (episode 9 being a true diamond in the rough), but every episode has something valuable and interesting. It's not a waste of time, but I'd be lying if I said it's great. It's not. But should you watch it? Yes. If only because I want to believe that it's going to be a little like Dollhouse, a show that started off rocky but found its stride in an amazing and intelligent way. Here's to being optimistic...and being a sucker for all things zombie.

Review: Walker Stalker Con 2014

The Chicago Walker Stalker Con I attended was in March of 2014 at the Donald J. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont. I attended with zero expectations because I had, quite literally, only found out about it that week. I saw the guest list (about 50% of the primary cast of The Walking Dead as well as Bub from Day of the Dead) and that was the only advertisement I needed. I showed up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and I was not disappointed.

I've attended a fair number of conventions in the Chicagoland area, including C2E2, Wizard World, Flashback Weekend, and Cyphan (RIP). While I don't want to knock any of those conventions (except perhaps Wizard World), this was BY FAR the best convention I've ever attended. It was well organized and low-key, while still providing a high-quality, professional convention experience. The attendance was reasonable: busy enough to feel like a legit convention experience without being so overwhelming that I felt like a small face in a zombie hoard.

The guest list was phenomenal. It was one of those conventions that you went to with a budget for autographs and then tossed that budget to the curb so damned quickly because how could you resist getting autographs from these excellent guests? To name a few, Walker Stalker Con Chicago 2014 featured Greg Nicotero (Walking Dead make-up effects guru), Steven Yeun (Glenn from The Walking Dead), Lauren Cohan (Maggie from The Walking Dead), Chad Coleman (Tyrese from TWD), Soniqua Martin-Green (Sasha from TWD), Michael Cudlitz (Abraham from TWD), IronE Singleton (T-Dog from TWD), Melissa Hutchinson (Clementine from Telltale's The Walking Dead video game), Jay Bonansinga (Author of Rise of the Governor and other TWD novels) and Sherman Howard (Bub from Day of the Dead). That's a guest list worth paying the VIP ticket price for.

In addition to the sheer volume of actors and other zombie players at the con, the panels were excellent as well. With a pretty reasonably priced VIP pass, I was able to get very close for all the panels. Even those with general admission were often invited to move forward. That's a positive vibe that you just don't get at other conventions. The actors were very candid in panels as well, and since there were so many different actors from The Walking Dead, you didn't have a one-size-fits-all TWD panel. Instead, you got to see Michael Cudlitz speak on Abraham for an hour. IronE Singleton got a full hour to be the wonderful and unique individual that he is. And, in addition to the actors, behind the scenes players like Greg Nicotero, Jay Bonansinga, and Melissa Hutchinson each got full hours in the spotlight which they probably wouldn't get at other conventions. All the panels were engaging and seemed very intimate.

And if you didn't feel you got your questions answered in panel, the greatest thing about Walker Stalker Con was that the guests were completely accessible to the fans. For some of my favorite side characters (Alanna Masterson and Lawerence Gilliard Jr just to name a few) there was virtually no line. You could just walk right up and not only get your autograph in an expeditious manner, but you could also chat with the actors and tell them how much they mean to you. You didn't feel like you were holding up a line or wasting their time. I've rarely felt that vibe at other conventions. But it wasn't just because the convention wasn't busy; it was also because the guests seemed genuinely happy to be there. They didn't seem uncomfortable talking to the attendees. I genuinely felt, and I don't even think this is naivete, that they wanted to talk to their fans. Greg Nicotero sat in the audience for many of the panels and even celebrated his birthday with the guests, birthday cake and all. You didn't feel a line between guests and attendees--we were all just zombie-lovers spending a weekend together.

For many of the guests, you could also get pictures at the table for an additional fee rather than having to go through the secondary line at the photo op booth. And these weren't just your standard "stand side by side and smile awkwardly" pictures. Brighton Sharbino (Lizzie from TWD) was doing pictures where she pretended to suffocate you just like she did to Judith. Chad Coleman had his signature hammer on the table for pictures, and IronE Singleton was hugging every attendee with a  kindness you don't find many places. It certainly caused me to shell out a few extra bucks because you just don't get experiences like that every day.

Overall, I had an absolutely wonderful time, and I can't wait for them to return in 2015. Even though the current guest list includes many of the people I've already met, it's still worth it to me to have that communal experience of basking in the glow of all things zombie. Walker Stalker Conventons began in Atlanta and extended to Chicago as their first new city in 2014. Obviously, it was a success, as they're now in seven different cities for the 2014-2015 convention season. They'll be back in Chicago on February 21st and 22nd, 2015 at Navy Pier.

Walker Stalker Con is a great gift to the zombie-loving community, and I hope others are able to attend their kick ass events. They've extended guest lists to include classic zombie actors from Night of the Living Dead as well this season, so if you love the zombie genre, Walker Stalker Con is an absolute must.

Top 5: Reasons Why You Should Give Warm Bodies a Chance

I'm baaaaack...
So after becoming a mom in November 2012, I kind of fell off the internet zombie map, but I've still lived and breathed zombies ever since. Now I'm going to get back to putting my undead thoughts online.
I've had this post written ever since I saw Warm Bodies back when my sons were tiny newborns. We saw the flick at a "moms screening" in 2013, where you can let your newborn ball of poop and tears wail without fear of bothering other movie goers. I've watched the movie a few times since, and my opinions are only reinforced.

1. Teenagers being teenagers without being annoying

With the recent, seemingly endless, stream of teen paranormal romance, you're probably sick to death of self destructive "love", irresponsible romanticizing of careless sex, and watered-down horror. I sure am. But I will make the argument that Warm Bodies presents a realistic and refreshing view of teen love. First of all, there is virtually no sex. There's sexual attraction, sure, but given the complicating factors (ie: him being dead) and the danger of the world, there's no time to get down, and the writers honor that reality. Additionally, there is no blind following of sexual/romantic impulse. The characters are constantly self doubting, cautious, uncomfortable, and skeptical. In my experience working with teenagers, to me that's way closer to how teenagers should and do behave.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/arts/film/reviews/article3681581.ece

2. It's witty

The writing is really one of the primary strengths of this movie. It's dry as a corpse at times, but in that is so much comedy. The internal monologue of the male protagonist is sharp and elicits many a chuckle.

http://memeguy.com/photos/images/after-watching-warm-bodies-and-wanting-to-hate-it-13147.jpg

3. The side characters

Much like in the obvious source material (ie: Romeo and Juliet), the side characters are really the reason to watch. Rob Corddry plays the lovable and funny best friend zombie and brings to it all of his usual wit and comic timing. Analeigh Tipton is his female, non-flesh eating counterpart. You may, if your lame like me, recognize that name from Top Model a few years back. Not only is she insanely pretty, she's also got some excellent comic timing and is really a master at communicating through her facial expressions.

http://sarahtherebel.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/warm_bodies_2_20130106_1807987830.jpg

4. Bringing something new to the genre

You're probably not super hot on the whole zombies becoming human again thing or the whole zombies talking thing. Neither am I. I will say that that aspect of the movie won me over more than I thought it would. But the coolest new thing you'll see here is something I thought was very interesting and original. When the zombies eat the brain, they're flooded with the memories of the person they're chowing down on. Kind of interesting.

http://i.perezhilton.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/rob-corddry.gif

5. Creating Fear

Although this probably bills as a romantic comedy, there are some truly eerie and frightening moments throughout. The art direction absolutely helps with that--everything has that grim grayness you traditionally associate with the post-apocalyptic genre. And unlike other teen genre movies, the death is not skimped on. People die. Plenty of them.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGWaoJLZZFvUca1bKH7H4B7w24wSrdfPOkTt47WGtYOhc5liDL0VFMlH9vtTKo8HKVz2EEAEfXZ72CQEucpIobMVb7pi_ktd1TUfk2nqSdnXIlLCN93GoZJ9P0JPUbdJp4GDRX2ThrGORu/s1600/bonie.png