Speculation: Who are the "Wolves"?

http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2015/03/

In the second half of The Walking Dead's fifth season, we've been seeing a number of ominous signs of a person or group that may be lurking behind the scenes. The main sign is the increasing prevalence of zombies with a "W" carved into their foreheads. Why would someone do this? Is it pure brutality or does it serve a purpose? Is this person/group a threat? From a narrative standpoint, this seems like a pretty obvious "duh". The increasing appearance of these "W" dead seems to be pretty clear foreshadowing of some sort of looming, imminent threat, but what is it? Many speculations have been circulating, so below are a summary of those thoughts and my opinions on them.

Possibility #1: The Wolves are the Whisperers
In the comic, there is a group of survivors who walk the world among the dead wearing the zombie skins as protection and blending in among the walkers. They could be the ones carving the "W" symbol into the dead and could be lurking around unseen, just waiting to make an appearance.

Why this idea makes sense:

http://i.imgur.com/tDP9igV.png

• Whatever the threat is, it seems to be pretty hidden and has gone unnoticed by both the Alexandria community and by the members of Shirewilt (before they were killed). The Whisperers would be easily overlooked since they blend in with the dead that no one thinks to examine any closer.
• Kirkman is notorious for screwing with the audience. No one would be expecting for him to shuffle the deck of upcoming "big bads", so to jump right to a plotline that is still unfolding in the comics would be a great way to keep comic readers on their toes.
• Enid fits this storyline perfectly. In the comics, Carl falls for a young member of the Whisperers who has seemingly defected. We don't know much about Enid's past, but what we do know makes perfect sense with the concept of her being a Whisperer. First, she didn't talk for a month when she first came to the society, a trait that matches up well with the entire philosophy of the Whisperers. Second, her romantic storyline with Carl seems to be following the same line. Furthermore, we have yet to see her kill a zombie, which might indicate that she doesn't view them in the same way that the other survivors do. This is further strengthened by her comment of "It's their world: we're just living in it", which is a very Whisperer-y thing to say. Also, Enid is very good at moving through the landscape undetected, which matches with someone who had lived among the dead for a prolonged period of time. Lastly, she seems pretty terse when mentioning her mother (or her entire back story, really). She doesn't say that her mom is dead, so could her mother be the mysterious Alpha of the Whisperers that made an appearance in the last issue of the comic?

  

  http://www.craveonline.com/tv/reviews/838201-the-walking-dead-5-15-try-recap

• The Whisperers have a legitimate reason to mark Walkers. Since they seem to move within them, marking them to keep their group together and tag the hoards they are moving within would at least make some logistical sense. It's probably the only explanation that matches with any real purpose other than intimidation and brutality. The same goes for collecting torsos. Since the Whisperers wear zombie skin, they would have a reason to collect flesh from the torso and face since it would be the most easily applied to their own flesh for the purposes of concealment.
• If they go the way of Enid being a Whisperer, they could easily replicate the "prisoner trade" that happens in the comics by capturing Daryl, Aaron, or even Morgan, who are all outside of the walls.



http://k32.kn3.net/taringa/C/4/3/D/B/D/terrynova/528.png

• The name "Wolves" makes sense with the Whisperers if you think about the phrase "A wolf in sheep's clothing".

Why it makes no sense:

• This storyline isn't finished in the comics and jumping ahead of the comics could get very muddled and confusing for Kirkman.
• A prisoner swap between Morgan and Enid would not be as obvious a decision as it is in the comics because Enid has been in Alexandria for a longer period of time, and no one in Alexandria besides Michonne and Rick even know whom Morgan is.
• This storyline might be too time consuming. They may need something brief to kill time until they get to Negan, and the Whisperers aren't that. In order to do the Whisperer storyline justice, they would have to delay Negan's appearance for at least a season, and while they've made it clear that that's certainly a possibility, I doubt they will given that it's one of the most dynamic plots of the comic and people are already salivating awaiting it.
• It looked like the citizens of Shirewilt were attacked by humans. While the Whisperers are "technically" human, they don't necessarily fight or attack like them.
• This plot line doesn't do enough to give Rick a hero moment. Without that hero moment, Deanna has no reason to not boot him out on his ass.

Possbility #2: The DC Scavengers are the Wolves

http://walkingdead.wikia.com/wiki/The_Scavengers

It's been awhile since I read this part of the comics, but before Negan arrives, a group of savage scavengers attack and almost destroy Alexandria, resulting in multiple deaths and the loss of Carl's right eye. Could they be the Wolves, out to destroy and overrun?

Why it makes sense... 

• The way in which Shirewilt was attacked seems very much like the way the Scavengers attack and destroy Alexandria in the comics, and clearly that attack was undertaken by these "wolves".
• Their timeline matches up with where we are in the comics. If Kirkman follows his original narrative, it's their time to appear in the small space before Negan's men start causing havoc. 
• Their brutality makes sense with some of the actions that we've seen, namely the tied up naked woman in the woods. They seem like the kind of guys who might hack up other survivors, overrun a town, tie up and abandon a woman. 
• Marking the walkers could be an intimidation tactic, and they're the kind of guys who would think of something like that. 
• Sasha being in the tower is a great setup for this since she's quickly becoming Andrea from the comic, and Andrea in the tower was a part of the Scavenger plot line. (If I'm remembering properly)
• Protecting Alexandria from the Scavengers would save Rick from the inevitable exile that awaits him after his little blood-splattered monologue this week.

 Why it makes no sense...

http://www.twdenthusiasts.com/2015/02/walking-dead-comic-spoilers-wolves/

• Why would they take the torsos and heads? It seems like a silly thing to be carrying around and to my recollection the Scavengers didn't have a very developed base camp. Furthermore, there's just no motivation to do it. Dismembering is congruent with simple brutality and a desire to intimidate those who might happen upon a scene afterwards, but if that's the goal, then what's the point in taking the torsos?
• This is what people are expecting, and Kirkman likes to keep people on their toes.
• They may be too similar to Gareth's group in the idea of them just being messed up, selfish, vengeful humans. The show's producers might want a little more variety.

Possibility #3: It isn't a "W"...it's an upside down "M".

http://walkingdead.wikia.com/wiki/Morgan_Jones_%28TV_Series%29

My least favorite theory and by far the most implausible, but worth a brief mention, is that the "W" is actually an "M" for Morgan. Is Morgan really as crazy as he seems at times, running around the woods and marking up walkers? He certainly seems to have a predilection for getting fixated on one phrase or symbol (aka: Clear), but is that really possible for one man to pull off?

Why it makes sense:

• We have ample evidence to support that Morgan is unwell, and a lot of the signs we have about this group seem to indicate that they're not exactly winning the mental health of the year award.
• What if he still has Duane? Okay, this is far fetched, but hear me out. In the comics, Morgan keeps Duane alive as a zombie and feeds him the remains of survivors that he captures and kills. What if Morgan is still dragging Duane along with him? That would support why the girl was tied up and devoured in the woods--food for his undead son. This would also be (sort of) a reason to dismember corpses so that their flesh is easier to feed to Duane and to carry along with Morgan for later feedings. Also, we have very few wide shots of Morgan, so Duane being on a rope behind him is not entirely impossible.

  

  http://walkingdead.wikia.com/wiki/Duane_Jones_%28Comic_Series%29

• It would honestly be easier to carve a letter upside down on a head if the body was on the ground, rather than having to lean over the torso and dangerous jaw of the ghoul to tattoo it with your symbol.
• Morgan has to make an appearance somehow.

Why it makes no sense:

• Unless Morgan found a last minute flight from Alexandria to Richmond, there's no way he could've beat the group across four states since they were driving and he was walking. They haven't been in Alexandria long enough for him to catch up, let alone catch up and already make his presence this known.
• He just has no reason to.
• The damage inflicted by the Wolves is too great for one man.
• We want to like Morgan...and we don't like these people.
• He may already be dead and a victim of the Wolves. Some have observed that the dismembered arms at the campsite that Daryl and Aaron found are wearing the same color shirt as Morgan, the hands belong to a black man, the wedding band is the same, and a pair of sunglasses are nearby. Personally, I think this is typical Kirkman misdirection, but hey...it's possible.

So...your thoughts? I guess we'll probably find out in five days, but until then...it's an excellent use of time to kick around some theories. 

News & Review: iZombie going from Panel to Screen

http://enewsi.com/television/191-26026.html

God, I hate the CW. Obviously, I'm not their intended audience, and that's fine, but would they stop touching my things? Seriously? All my life, my nerd fascinations have somehow found their way to the popular culture. I was obsessed with the Titanic, so much so that I knew the type of wood in the 1st class dining room, and then BOOM! James Cameron makes the hideous piece of garbage called Titanic. I was in to pirates, so much so that I would read nonfiction pirate history books during Saturday detention and then BOOM! Pirates of the Caribbean. I was into vampires, so much so that I looked into how you'd get your teeth filed into fangs, and then BOOM! Twilight makes the genre into a freaking joke for girly girls. And then one of the great loves of my life, zombies. Sigh. Oh CW. Can't you just make another show about spoiled human girls in an upper middle class suburb who can't seem to stop sleeping with each other's boyfriends?

But I have jumped ahead. This isn't supposed to be a rant. It's supposed to be a review and news piece. Let me refocus.

http://www.biblecomix.com/?p=2253

So about four years ago, my friend was in town and wanted to give me a gift for hosting her. She got me the first trade paperback in the "iZombie" series. Good friends know you well. Anyway, I neglected it and let it sit on my shelf for nearly half a decade until today. Having just read it cover to cover, I can say that I really did enjoy it by the end. It was rough getting started because there are a fair number of characters and it's sometimes difficult to connect the thought and talking bubbles to the correct character. You definitely have to take it slowly and reread in places at first, but it does get easier. It's just that there are a lot of characters of various supernatural afflictions (zombies, ghosts, vampires, and even a "wereterrior"), and it takes you brain a minute to process and categorize all of that.

The story follows the life of a girl who has turned zombie. In order to keep herself from turning into a shambling, rotting mess, she has to eat a brain every month, but doing so floods her with the memories of that dead person. As a gravedigger, the people she eats often have unfinished business, namely their murders, which she is then compelled to solve because their voice is in her head. That's the basic premise, but there's a lot more going on here. We have the normal awkwardness of a bunch of people in the upper teens/young twenties, but we also have the battles between the evil forces of the supernatural, the good forces of the supernatural, and the monster hunters who often can't tell the difference. This story really finds its stride when it moves beyond the CSI plot of Gwen solving murders and attacks more important subject matter like the idea of a soul and the decisions to take a life.

http://io9.com/rob-thomas-explains-why-izombie-is-more-like-buffy-than-1614649263

And that's where I get concerned. iZombie is, ostensibly at least, the source material for CW's new show premiering in 2015 of the same name. CW's iZombie already shows a number of differences, however. First, they feel compelled to change of heroine's name for some reason, calling her Liv rather than Gwen. Next, she's a coroner rather than a gravedigger. I guess they thought that was sexier? I think it changes the tone of the plot though. It makes it more official. It also seems like she's helping the police, which is something that doesn't happen, at least not in the first trade of the four part iZombie series. The preview shows basically no sign of her other supernaturally inclined friends, and has instead replaced them with stock standard Law and Order types. While watching the preview, I just kept thinking of the spoof trailers in Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

Maybe it will be good, but I have many doubts. I'm not sure how they'll preserve the internal monologue of the protagonist, which is an important element of the comics. Honestly, I'm sure they won't. The preview already seems to suggest that they're honoring the source material in name only. It'll be closer than World War Z was, but not by much I'd guess. I'll read the other three trades first, and then maybe give the show one or two episodes. It's from the people who made Veronica Mars and nerdy people seemed to like that, so maybe there's hope. Read the comic though; it was a good time. And if you want to laugh at how silly the CW is, check out the preview for the iZombie TV show below. Let me know your thoughts!

News: Walking Dead Spinoff Coming into Focus

http://undeadwalking.com/2015/01/21/companion-show-called-fear-walking-dead/

So for a while we've known that Kirkman and crew were working on a spinoff series for The Walking Dead, working titled of "Cobalt", but only in the last few months have the details become clearer. First, the announcement came just before Christmas that the spinoff would be located in Los Angeles, rather than the Atlanta area setting of the original series. As a Chicagoan, I'm always disappointed when shows and movies take the typical route and chose NYC or LA as a setting, but I'll give it a shot. I'm glad that they're shaking it up though. As much as I love TWD, it would be pretty silly to just make a carbon copy of the same show simply to get more advertising revenue. Setting it in LA presents new challenges for the characters and a new range of opportunities for the writers.

But the setting is not the only shake up we'll see in the new spinoff series. According to some unverified reports in the past couple of days, the spinoff is supposedly going to start off at the beginning of the outbreak. This will enable Kirkman to show us the month that we missed while Rick was in his coma. This is bold, in my opinion. If you look at many zombie flicks and fiction, they often jump into the future to avoid having to deal with the logistics of how the infection began. It's difficult to show the full extent of the outbreak and fall of society in a way that comes across as believable. The best example I can think of was BBC's Survivors (which wasn't a zombie show, but involved a pandemic). They executed this very well, so hopefully the spinoff will follow their lead.

We also have some news on who our new characters are. We know they're a family, but a family with a few problems that predated the dead walking the earth. So what exactly does that mean? Some sources have reported that the mom is divorced and has two teenage kids, one of whom has a drug problem, and that those three teams up with her divorced male colleague.  I'm a little worried; I'll be honest, as all of that sound a little like the plot of a SyFy original movie. Also, The Walking Dead got very lucky with their younger actors--Chandler Riggs is a solid young actor--but let's face it: sometimes having a bunch of teenagers running around on a show makes it more suited for the WB than for AMC. Of course, I'm a total hypocrite because I write YA zombie fiction that I don't find to be cheesy. I guess my real concern is in them finding the right actors who can effectively pull this off. They have some very big, very talented shoes to fill.

http://www.purebreak.com/media/photo-the-walking-dead-cliff-curtis-sera-le-362564.html

One of the people they've casted is Alycia Debnam Carey. She was one of the better things about the disappointment that was Into the Storm, so maybe that's not such a bad sign. And Frank Dillane, who I'm assuming is playing her older brother, was Tom Riddle in Harry Potter, so that's not a bad sign either. The other announced cast thus far are Kim Dickens (Gone Girl, Treme) and Cliff Curtis (Training Day, Three Kings). Cliff Curtis's character also has a teenage son (I smell love connection with the teenage girl...), but he has yet to be announced in terms of casting.

Whether or not they are able to pull this off, you have to applaud these actors for getting a great gig, and you have to applaud AMC for giving it a shot. They should be in filming now or soon, with a 2015 air date for the pilot. My guess is that they'll want to run it over the summer to fill the empty space when TWD is gone, but that's purely my speculation. Fingers crossed, this will be quality stuff.

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.

News: Walking Dead Leaks First Glance of Prison

Image Credit: Gene Page/AMC

I think this picture says more than my words ever could. The sheer awesomeness of Lauren Cohan in this photo makes me wish I had a time machine simply to bump me forward to October. Heck, I'd even give up the nearly two months of vacation I have between now and then. Anyone who has read the comics will tell you that the prison is definitely the best part of the series, and these photos only serve to reassure me that the producers are going to do it justice.

Read the entire teaser article here, and check out another awesome photo that shows even more penal, zombie shredding goodness. The article also includes a little from producer Glen Mazzara about the role of the prison in season three.

News: Wild Interpretations of Kirkman Spoiler

Robert Kirkman's talking that talk once again. Recently, Kirkman talked about Dale's death and suggested that someone else could die the way Dale does in the comics. Basically, he wanted to communicate that they won't always be pairing people with their actions from the comic. Sometimes a character will suffer a different character's comic book fate, for better or for worse.

Kirkman was quoted as saying "There will be cases where something memorable like that will be displaced and given to somebody else. I'll hint that that actually happens in our first episode back in Season 3—there's something memorable that happened to a character in the comic is happening in the show in our first episode back and it's not the same character." Read the entire spoiler article here.

So here comes the part where I start my speculating. Okay...so here are some thoughts. Don't proceed any further if you haven't read the comics.

• Could someone besides Rick get his hand chopped off? I'm hoping not, but this one would seem to make some sense since having Andrew Lincoln handless for the coming seasons might be a television nightmare. Still, episode one of next season would be a little early for this to happen.
• Could someone besides Dale and Allen get bitten and have to have their leg chopped off? This seems reasonable, but it's a little benign to be "something memorable that happened to a character".
• Could someone besides Herschel's two girls get decapitated by a prisoner? That'd be awesome, but who? And honestly, I always thought that was one of those story lines that wouldn't translate very well to the screen. It was interesting, but not entirely necessary.
• Could someone besides Carol walk into a zombie on purpose as a type of bizarre suicide? Possibly. Carol's character is certainly very different than her comic book counterpart, and she's lacking the relationship piece that pushes her over the edge. Still, this seems like something that would happen later on.
• Could someone besides Tyrese go into a gym full of zombies, get left for dead, and then reappear an episode later? This would be way way way cool. This was one of my favorite moments from the comics, but I don't know who is BA enough for it except Michonne (and she only just arrived) or Rick (and you can't really do that with the protagonist).
• Could someone besides Dexter get shot in the neck during a prison rebellion? Not unlikely, but I think this also falls under the heading of not big enough to be considered "something memorable that happened to a character".
• Could someone besides Michonne get tied up and abused by the governor? This would be a huge change. Like mega huge. I would be surprised, but I also would be intrigued as to whom they would select. Andrea? 
• Could someone else be locked in the prison cafeteria? Maybe Tyrese? I've been guessing this one for a while. Anyway to get Tyrese on the show would be fine with me.

Alright, enough of my speculating. What do you think?

Review: The Zombie Factor

The first zombie-related flick we watched at Chicago's Fear Fest this weekend was a short called The Zombie Factor directed by Matt Cantu. This flick was a pilot for a mock-reality television show in which nine unsuspecting strangers are put in a zombie infected hell hole and forced through funny and death-defying challenges. It was a funny idea, as if George Romero were to direct a Fear Factor/Real World hybrid.

Overall, it was very funny. My favorite performances were Steve Forbes (Jason) and Earl Cabo (Kareem). Cabo and Forbes had some of the funniest and best lines, but they also completely committed to their characters and seemed comfortable and natural in front of the camera.

The challenges, especially the "zombie hat day" challenge, were funny and original, but occasionally moments like these went on for a little too long. They clearly had enough funny ideas, so I thought it could have been edited to be a little tighter. My only other complaint was that there were two or three more characters than needed. It's not that the characters were poorly acted, but it became a lot to keep track of in 22 minutes. Still, I would concede that this is absolutely authentic to many reality TV shows.

Overall, Cantu has produced a funny, loveable and engaging piece with some fresh and original ideas. It was definitely worth 22 minutes of my time. Watch the trailer below...

News: Walking Dead Finds its Woodbury?

Recently, zap2it.com reported that a large portion of seasons three and four of The Walking Dead plan to take place in Woodbury, Georgia. This is good news for comic book fans; I, personally, think that the Woodbury conflict was the real high point of the comics. In the comics, the town is home to the best darn villain of the entire series, Phillip Blake. We already heard about the casting of Phillip Blake (aka: The Governor), but now it looks like Walking Dead is courting a real life town to transform into the infamous zombie-free, crazy-abundant location.

The report is that the show is in negotiations with Senoia, Georgia for filming rights. The town has your typical small Southern town charm, but I'm guessing that what really sold Kirkman and Mazarra on Senoia was nearby Senoia Raceway. In the comics, Woodbury is infamous for its gladiatorial zombie ring which is staged in an old stadium in town. While maps seem to suggest the Senoia Raceway is not exactly in Senoia's city center, with the miracle of film, I would guess that they could make it look as though it is. Photos of the raceway have me already longing for season three...Michonne and her sword...oh yes.

Personally, I can't wait to see what they do with Woodbury. My guess is that they won't be able to do everything that goes on in the comics, at least not on screen. Don't get me wrong, AMC is pretty edgy, but this isn't HBO. Still, I think season three will be a good one and it's nice to see that they'll be staying with the comics as a structural backbone.

News: Zombies Take Over Sons of Guns

I watch many Discovery Channel shows, but I've never seen Sons of Guns, their show about Red Jacket Firearms building and crafting original and new guns. This month, however, they have my attention. Sons of Guns is teaming up with Max Brooks for their newest build: The Ultimate Zombie Gun. Now, to be honest, I have no idea what that will entail. A gun that's really good at head shots? A gun that is silenced? A gun that carries a high number of rounds? A little bit of all of that? Whatever. It's about zombies, so I'm game.

The show airs on Discovery Channel at 9pm eastern/8pm central on Wednesday evenings, but the zombie episode will hit airwaves on April 18th. Set your DVR!

Review: The Walking Dead Season #2 Finale at Muvico

Photo property of TWD productions

There's nothing like watching something on the big screen, and this was absolutely a finale that deserved a cinema-style presentation. My husband and I headed to Muvico at 4:30pm this evening to watch the finale of The Walking Dead with 198 other crazy, zombified fans. The free event, hosted by Chicago Horror Society, Flashback Weekend, and Zombie Army, was really a hoot. By 5pm, Bogart's restaurant in the Rosemont Muvico was flooded with the undead. As we waited to be admitted to the theater, my husband and I played The Walking Dead board game in a booth over dinner.

The theater was really comfortable and the sound and picture quality were well worth both the wait and the trip. I have a 60" TV, but it's rear projection and not HD. Even HD on a 60" LCD wouldn't have been anywhere close to this experience. With the surround sound you could hear the wheezing and oozing of a dying Dale's guts. That's right, we ended up watching not only the second to last and last episode, but even the one before that. Muvico was even nice enough to allow us to remain in the theater to watch Talking Dead. The event hosts suggested that they'll try to play the season three premiere at a similar event, and I highly suggest you go. It was a great way to enjoy a really great show, and the audience was enthusiastic without being poorly behaved.

Photo property of TWD productions

As far the episode, it was so awesome. I would have liked it no matter what, let's be honest, but they really delivered with a fast paced, no-nonsense piece of storytelling. From the jump, the story moves at a break-neck pace and people are killed off and abandoned left and right. I found the confusion and panic extremely realistic, especially when they drove off and left Andrea behind. That's exactly what would happen, and I appreciate this show's willingness to not tie everything up in an easy little bow.

Sorry to see Jimmy and Patricia go (I guess that means no prison rebellion? lol.), but they seemed like easy enough characters to kill off. To be honest, I'm glad that they didn't kill off any principal characters; after the last two episodes, they didn't need to. I found it a little convenient that everyone met up on the road, but maybe I missed them discussing that as a contingency plan earlier in the season? Did that happen or have they perfected some sort of group telepathy?

Photo property of TWD productions

My only other complaint would be that Rick went about explaining the whole Shane thing in a totally bass-ackwards way. The way he explained it, it sounded like he had a choice; he made himself sound like the bad guy. The reality was that Shane backed him into a corner and gave him no other choice, but the way he tells the story makes him sound like a tyrannical loose cannon. I have entertained the notion that maybe Rick has convinced himself that killing Shane was a choice and not a requirement because if it was a choice than Rick ultimately had control. It might be a more comfortable scenario for Rick to accept. Still, I think he could have phrased that whole story in a more diplomatic way.

But, let's talk about the most awesome parts of the episode--Michonne showing up and the appearance of the prison. Michonne's appearance was awesome, but to be fair I totally called that it would happen that way after the first or second commercial break. I don't care if it was predictable though; it was also freaking cool. I'm glad that they stuck with the iconic first image of her from the comics, and I'm just glad to see her around. She's such a valuable part of the narrative.

Photo property of TWD productions

And of course, seeing the prison was pretty cathartic for us comic fans. That's where some crazy business is going to go down. Its pan out appearance was very season three finale of Battlestar Galactica (anyone else remember? when it pans out and we see Earth?), and I remember loving that foreshadowing--a sign of things to come. There was also plenty of prison foreshadowing in Rick's speech about finding a place to "start making a life". In the comics, that place is the prison for sure. I loved the line of "we won't make that same mistake again" referring to getting a complacent sense of safety...of course, in the comic they do. Ahh, you guys.

Well, time to reenter my cryogenic freezing chamber until October. I guess I'll pop out to post reviews, events, and news...but other than that it's right back into my carbonite hibernation.

Event: Walking Dead Finale on the Big Screen

If you're over 21 and you live in the Chicagoland area, you may want to head over to the Rosemont Muvico this Sunday night. Why? Because they will be screening the season final of The Walking Dead on the big screen! And it gets better...it's FREE! As in zero dollars and zero cents!

The event is sponsored by Chicago Fear Fest, Flashback Weekend, Zombie Army Productions, Horror Society & Sinister Visions. Look to see plenty of zombie fanatics, zombie makeup, and zombie themed treats, drinks and prizes. It should be a fun and exciting crowd of fans!

The event is first-come, first-serve however, so you'll want to show up as soon as possible. Only 200 seats are available. They will begin distributing wristbands to the first 200 people at 6pm in Bogart's restaurant on the first floor, and prize giveaways and food/drinks will be available between 6pm and 8pm.

Personally, I haven't decided whether I'll be going or not. There's something pretty nice about watching it at home and on DVR. I like the silence of my living room and the ability to pause and rewind, but then again I could always rewatch it later. Seeing it on the big screen with a bunch of fellow fans sounds like an awesome way to spend a Sunday night.

Check out the Facebook invite here.

Review: The Walking Dead, Episode 2.12

Sorry it took me so long to post, but what an episode, right?!?! I knew, given all the internet buzz and the comics, that Shane was likely to kick the bucket in the next two episode, but I was getting pretty certain that they were going to hold all their cards until the finale. I, for one, am really, really glad that they didn't. A finale filled with too many "wow" moments would have really made me mad, especially considering that it's only the regular 44 minutes long.

I will say though, as an angry comic book reader, I really wish it had been Carl to pull the initial trigger on Shane. They did throw us comic readers the proverbial bone by having Carl put down zombie Shane, but in the comic it's the other way around. It doesn't really matter that much; I'm just happy he's gone. Not that I don't like you, Jon Bernthal, but it was time. I will say that the show did a good job of throwing in a plethora of red herrings to suggest that it would be Carl to pull the trigger. You can trace moments of foreshadowing on that front all the way back to the first season, but the moment of Shane giving Carl the gun at the beginning of last Sunday's episode were pretty creepy. Very "why do I have a feeling that you're going to be the death of me?"

Some great zombie kills in this episode, too. My personal favorite was Andrea's pitchfork-to-the-face move at the beginning of the episode. Think Dale's death got her a little riled up? Maybe just a bit. But I bet that one will be nothing compared to what's coming in the finale. I'm not one who watches the show entirely for the guts and gore, but hey...it's not a bad side dish. With the zombie horde fast approaching the farm house, I'm assuming we'll see plenty of skull-bashing, brain-splattering delight. In addition, I'm assuming we're about to say goodbye to a few more characters (I'd place bets on at least one or two from Herschel's crew), and as I've stated before, rumors say we're about to see the first appearance of the samurai lawyer, Michonne. I can't wait. I'm hoping we get a first glimpse at the prison as well, but that might be a stretch.

What were your thoughts and reactions to this episode? Hopes for next Sunday? Let me know! While you wait for the episode, check out the very brief preview of next week below...

Review: The Walking Dead, Episode 2.11

If they wanted us to receive the message "this is not the comics", then message received pretty loud and pretty freaking clear.

In the comics, our buddy Dale lives long after many others are gone. He lives to see plenty of death and destruction, including the amputation of his leg after a zombie bite and the amputation of his other leg at the hands of cannibals. But now, while still on the darned Greene farm, Dale has become a walker buffet. I can only assume that the show's producers wanted to keep things fresh and keep people guessing. Goal achieved. Of course, I did read this spoiler before watching tonight's episode. I really wanted it to be a lie. Damn you, internet.

Overall, this episode was pretty good, plenty of drama and tension. I even shed a few tears when Herschel handed over his watch to Glenn...I know, I'm a girl. My only complaint right now is that even I, the loyalest of loyal Walking Dead fans, have become a little frustrated with the pace. It's not that I mind things moving slowly; I don't. It's more that I am assuming there are at least three things (finding the prison, Shane dying, and Michonne showing up) that are likely to happen before the end of the season. That just seems like a heck of a lot to shove into two episodes, so I wish they'd get on with it if that's the end point for the season. If they save it all for the finale, then the finale better be three hours long.

Your thoughts on tonight's episode? What do you hope to see before the show goes on break? If Shane does in fact bite the dust, who do you think will pull the trigger? If you're itching for next week's episode already, check out the preview below.

Review: Return of the Living Dead: Rave to the Grave

I'm a big fan of mindless and crappy movies on SyFy Saturdays. The disaster movies are personally my favorite. When there was a zombie-themed Saturday a couple of weeks ago, I decided to DVR Return of the Living Dead: Rave to the Grave for a future mindless day of R&R. That's how 1pm today found me on my couch with a bowl of frosted mini wheats and the TV remote.

This movie is bad, but I knew that would be the case going in. What I didn't know, however, is that it wasn't going to be like funny bad; it was just going to be sort of bad-bad. It had all the usual low budget identifiers: horrible acting, bad writing, random topless scenes. In addition to these symptoms, however, it just wasn't engaging. It was too silly and not in a good way. My personal favorite moment was when two frat zombies started talking: "Come on, Jimmy. We're frat brothers. We share everything." "Including internal organs!". I almost turned it off right there. Zombies should never, ever speak...not even to say "brainssss".

I'm not saying this flick doesn't have some of the fun of a bad, campy movie (it certainly does), but at times it crosses the line into just plain stupid and honestly kind of boring. My last negative comment would be that some of the "conceptual" stuff was super dumb or irritating. For example, one of the zombies is basically just a corpse who spends the last 20 minutes trying to hitchhike to the rave. Ridiculous and not funny. But worse than that was the choice to shoot an entire scene with a strobe light. Now that was just flat out irritating.

On a positive note, the zombie makeup was very nice, and the blood effects were usually pretty realistic looking and gross. My personal favorite was when a zombie bit a guy's cornrow off of his head. Delicious. While the dialogue and acting were horrible, the plot was at least somewhat original (the idea of idiot teenagers accidentally selling a rave drug that turns people into zombies), and it followed the plot as logically as it possibly could have. The two INTERPOL agents were kind of funny, but also just kind of randomly casted.

Overall, it was pretty much the usual SyFy Saturday offering. Maybe a smidgen worse. There are much better campy zombie movies...but I would suppose there are also probably worse ones out there. Not many, but some. I'd say skip it, really...unless you're as bored and lazy as I am.