All posts by Michelle L. Mattock

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The Walking Dead: 3.04 – “Killer Within” Review

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‘Killer Within’ has to be one of the most heart-wrenching episodes of The Walking Dead to date. The last episode focused solely on Woodbury and the Governor, but this episode was mainly dedicated to the folks back at the prison, although we did visit Woodbury briefly. Merle has spoken with Andrea, who told him where the farm was, which is where his brother Daryl was last seen by her, which likely will not end well. Michonne is still obviously uneasy about being in the little town of Woodbury, but Andrea is eating it up. She has a drink with the Governor, and he even tells her his name is Phillip. For a short second, I thought it was cute! Then I remembered the floating heads in tanks, and brought myself back to the edge of my seat to await what happened next.

Back at the prison, someone had opened the chain on the gate and let the walkers in, as well as firing up the generator and sounding the alarms, thus attracting walkers from everywhere. Hershel was just getting on crutches for the first time, and Lori is all super pregnant, so this wasn’t the best timing. Some quick cleanup of the courtyard was required…

Rick, Daryl and Oscar go try to shut off the generators to stop the alarms from sounding when Andrew (whom we predicted was still alive weeks ago) tried to attack Rick. For his trouble he then got shot in the face by Oscar, who will now undoubtedly become a member of Rick’s group. The somewhat funny image of Daryl crouched down with a knife behind Oscar just in case he tried to shoot Rick was pretty awesome. {Editor’s Note – Stupid Andrew.}

There were two very gruesome deaths this episode. Two main characters met their end in almost unwatchable ways. The first was T-Dog, who had gotten bitten by a walker thanks to Carol’s failure to watch his back. Despite this, he kept going with Carol to help her get out, and ultimately let himself get attacked so that she could get away. This guy got torn apart. It was grotesque. {aka awesome}

The next happened when Lori went into labor while she, Maggie and Carl were running from a gang of dead. They hid in the boiler room and Maggie declared that Lori would have to give birth right there. Carl, who has clearly not yet been traumatized enough, was going to have to help deliver his baby sister. Poor kid! Maggie yanks Lori’s pants off and tells her to push. Lori is bleeding, though, and is clearly going to need a c-section. She gives this long speech to Carl, which would be absolutely devastating if I cared the least bit for her character, and then tells Maggie to cut her open, and instructs her to also do what needs to be done when she turns. Maggie slices her stomach, finds the uterus, and pulls the baby out with Carl’s help. The baby is alive! The mother however, is not. Carl then takes it upon himself to shoot his mother so that she cannot turn. That was devastating. {Meh.}

When Maggie and Carl returned to Rick with the baby girl, Rick quickly realized the situation and exerted some intensely raw emotion. I mean, good lord; that was some of the best acting I have seen on this show. My eyes had tears in them. I cannot watch this show without putting myself in their shoes. I constantly ask myself what I would do in their situations. But something like having to shoot your own mother? That would be beyond my capabilities.

Overall, I would say that this episode was outstanding. The acting was phenomenal. We lost two main characters in one episode, making sure we know that anything can happen during any episode.

5/5 Grizzlies

Next Week: Later Doc.

Several pictures stolen from Tumblr users:
Er’Thing Neox, A BUBBLE ON THE TIDE OF EMPIRE, A Pathetic Fangirl’s Blog, and Biten by A Vamp.

Still better than how she went out in the comics…

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The Walking Dead: 3.03 – “Walk With Me” Review

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Episode 3, “Walk With Me”, was one of the most well done episodes of The Walking Dead I have seen in a long time. Instead of more of the same (the group trying to fight off a herd, someone disagrees with Rick, everyone relies on Rick to keep the group safe, Lori cries) there was a mass amount of character development. No… not just character development, storyline development!

Alas, we have our Mayor! David Morrissey is an outstanding addition to the show! When Andrea and Michonne were in the woods they were hiding because a helicopter had crashed. I had forgotten that they didn’t know that everyone who dies becomes a walker, even if they weren’t bitten. It made me almost sad. Michonne thought that she and Andrea were going to be discovered, so Michonne cut the heads off of her two walkers.

Andrea and Michonne end up being taken from the woods by our old pal Merle and his group, which includes the Mayor. They are guests in the little town of Woodbury; a walker-free safe space for survivors! There are guards defending the town from their high walls and buildings that keep the town secluded. When walkers show, they get got! It is an amazing idea. The people of Woodbury have children who attend school, the adults have jobs, and everyone feels that they still have a purpose in what is left of their post-apocalyptic world.

Andrea is much more receptive to the whole idea than Michonne, and rightfully so. While Andrea is clearly flirting with the Mayor and enjoying some well-deserved down time, Michonne is eyeballing everyone and keeping her guard up. They took the girls’ weapons away when they arrived, so we do finally see Michonne without her Katana. Personally, I like her better with it, but this is not one of those episodes. Don’t get me wrong, we still see plenty of deaths; some of them are not deserved.

The man, Tim, who was piloting the helicopter, survived and was hanging onto life by a thread. The Mayor promised that if Tim told him where is stranded group was, he would bring them back to Woodbury. Instead, the Mayor wiped out the entire group of military personnel, and took all of their supplies. I understand that he would not want anyone challenging his authority and taking over his Mayorship of the group back at Woodbury, but I got very upset when I saw this. I immediately loved the Mayor upon seeing him on this show. Seeing him heartlessly wipe out these men with his group really upset me.This was a good way to find out all of the sides to his character in one episode. Not to mention that at the end, he was sitting in front of a large amount of tanks with heads of people he’d killed, and at the very top was Tim, the survivor. It was as if he was just sitting back watching his favorite TV show episode. Just unsettling.

Merle being back could either be really great or really terrible. He would be a good addition to his brother’s group if he could stop being loyal to the Mayor. I think he should realize, with the senseless killing the Mayor has Merle doing, the second the Mayor thinks that Merle could pose a problem of any kind, he will kill him. Merle would be a great asset to Rick’s group, except that he hates Rick. Rick is the one who handcuffed Merle to the rooftop, causing him to mutilate himself to avoid being zombie food. I love how the show does every single thing they can to avoid the term “zombies”. Walkers, Biters, Living Dead… they have been called everything but that. When I think of zombies, I think of special effects and fake gore. I feel like maybe they avoid that word because it is so widely associated with pretend and they want to keep the show as realistic as possible.

Overall, this was an amazing episode. There was so much to focus on, even without going into what Rick’s group is doing at all! In fact, this might be the first episode ever without Rick in it. I enjoy the break from more of the same, and I love the new characters. These 3 episodes of season 3 have been my favorite season starter so far. I can only hope that they can keep the episodes as interesting and strong as they have been up to this point.

5/5 Grizzlies!

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The Walking Dead: 3.02 – “Sick” Review

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Yes, it has been a few days since the episode “Sick” aired on AMC. You can’t blame us for the late posting! I am from Detroit, so we are very caught up in our whole being in the world series thing.

Now then… let’s get to it! This episode took me by surprise for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, there has been some character development. For one brief instance, I liked Carol’s character. I know… I was surprised too. She is always so damn useless and unimpressive. When I see her, I yawn. However, in this episode, Carol levels up. She has been trained by Hershel to assist with Lori’s medical needs when she delivers the baby, so she is helping with Hershel’s lost limb situation. She also kills a female walker to practice performing a Caesarean section when Lori goes into labor. For about one small second, Carol, I liked you.

T-Dog also got slightly more badass! Usually, T-Dog’s job is to stand around and exist. In this episode, T-Dog gets chatty when the fellas confront the other survivors. T-Dog can be quite the cool character!

Oh yes, the others! The five prisoners who survived the attack on the prison were brought out of the cafeteria, where they had been eating, sleeping, defecating and apparently working out since the walkers started appearing. The cafeteria had massive amounts of food for the group, which Rick agreed to split with the five in exchange for helping them clear out another cell block for the possibly dangerous group to stay in.

Big Tiny started off as my favorite of the new guys. Unfortunately, he couldn’t handle the reality of the situation when he got scratched by a walker. The crazy Mexican convict bashed Big Tiny’s brains in, but not just enough to kill him; the psycho obliterated him. When I saw this, I knew he was going to die, and he got taken care of after he tossed a walker at Rick.

Now we have 3 of the 5 prisoners left. The little guy with the bat runs off and is PRESUMED dead, but since when do they kill people off-screen on this show? The other 2 are moved into another cell block and told to stay out of the way.

Hershel remains alive,  not a walker, although the very dimwitted Lori gave him mouth to mouth and I panicked because he looked like he might attack her. I am glad that he is alive, however if he had died I would understand. Here is what I keep thinking about… Hershel now has 1 and a half legs, a baby is about to be born, and Lori (if she survives giving birth) will be out of commission for a bit. Having a baby with no drugs or modern medicine…imagine that! I am in pain just thinking about it. Good thing Carl never stays where he’s told…

While my mind would be full of how to survive, Lori’s is full of her need for Rick to talk to her about their relationship. Boring! My thoughts: She should wait it out! He doesn’t necessarily have any other options, I mean, the world is full of the undead and a possible few stragglers. He will stop thinking with his brain one day, and start thinking with his genitalia. And we all know she’s good for that! *wink*

This week was very exciting, however I feel like the prisoners were taken care of very quickly. The Hispanic guy could have been a great villain!  I liked the character development, even if it was subtle.

4/5 Grizzlies

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Dexter: 7.03 – “Buck the System”

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The beginning of this episode of Dexter was simply amazing. When Dexter is dropping a package off at the post office, he imagines slitting the throat of the woman behind the counter (we’ve all been there!). Later, he does the same to Masuka. Being constantly watched by Deb is smothering him to the point that he cannot fulfill his need to kill. Deb’s babysitting solution is clearly not going to work.

In regards to his ‘Louis Problem’ – Dexter sent the ‘Ice Truck Killer Prosthetic’ and a letter to the Miami Metro PD Forensics Department, which got Louis fired. He also sent Jamie a video of Louis getting a BJ from a hooker – Louis isn’t having the best day.

His solution is to drill holes in Dexter’s boat, resulting in the sinking of the Slice of Life. Unfortuately for Louis, the last place Victor’s GPS tracking system pinged was from the dock where Dex keeps said boat. This led Issac to the dock to find Louis, who lies and claims it is in fact his boat. That lie all but sealed his fate as the next person murdered on screen. Implausible set of circumstances? Maybe. Nevertheless, it led to Louis’ death, which felt like this was a very lazy kill-off, but may very well end up Mr. Morgan’s ultimate undoing. As Issac is less concerned with disposing of bodies than Dex is, Louis’ blood is all over the boat. Sure that won’t come into play later…Unable to suppress his urges, Dexter tells Deb about Speltzer, a guy who Dex is pretty sure will kill again, and is a perfect subject to be Dexter’s much needed release. Deb is disgusted at the thought of letting her brother continue killing. However, after everything Dexter says turns out to be true, another girl is dead and Speltzer gets away, Deb tells him that she now understands why this is a necessary evil. This is the only way they could continue the show for another season and a half, making Deb accept him, though she will likely still bring about his demise in the end. She does however set him free from her gaze as she allows him to move back to his own place. Baby steps…

In an amazingly surprising turn of events, Quinn is sleeping with a woman who is directly involved in the case, who told him that her boss wanted her to get close to him, and who is a stripper… yawn. Typical Quinn. Speaking of romantic interests though, Yvonne Strahovski was introduced! She will be helping out with an old case which she was involved in. A case where she fell for a serial killer… Now, Dexter has to get a swab of her saliva from her mouth, and it was honestly sexy. How did she make that sexy? She is magical!

Overall, this episode was slow. You would think that with the murder of an increasingly more important character, this would be a more memorable episode; alas, it was not. The death of Louis seemed like it was very forced, he tells the mob that the boat is Dexter’s, and gets shot. It is too easy, though it’s obvious they are using it to set something else up.

It seems like this episode is definitely setting up for the next episode. Nevertheless, 3.5/5 Grizzlies. The beginning was very well structured, and you could see the anguish in Dexter’s eyes as he tried to hold back from going all Dark Defender on everyone’s asses.

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The Walking Dead: 3.01 – “Seed” Premiere Review

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Words cannot express the high level of anticipation and anxiousness I felt yesterday as the television lit up with a recap of the season 2 finale of The Walking Dead.

The episode “Seed” began after some months had passed. The group had made it through the long winter by running from house to house and eating anything they could safely consume. You see Lori has a big pregnant belly, and Hershel has a beard; both signs that a chunk of time has gone by. Andrea is still with Michonne, the newest addition to the show. She gruesomely beheads two walkers during the first scene she is in. Clearly, this is an indication of what we can expect from her, action-wise, in the future.

In a world full of fear that one night a walker is going to find its way onto your person and turn you, you can imagine that there would be some tension. Rick seems to have become very hard and cold. Lori spent the entire episode focusing on herself, as usual. She explained that she was concerned that she would die while giving birth and come back as a walker. I am not saying that this would be awesome, but… I can’t think of a way to finish this sentence. After this long with Rick being the prominent leader and keeping a good chunk of this group alive, some are still doubting his ability to keep them safe. The group finally reaches the long awaited prison! Victory! The way that they secure the premises just inside the gate was very impressive. Some of them were stabbing walkers through the gate from safety, some were sniping, and Rick got face-to-face with a bunch as well!

One thing became very clear to me by the first half of the episode: Maggie is now a total bad-ass! She joined the men in fighting hoards of armored walkers from the other side of the prison, and she was the one to figure out how to kill them! You go girl!

Maggie’s little sister Beth… not so much of a bad-ass. In fact, as Dr. Kronner would say, she is completely useless. She sang a song, which I guess cheered up the group, but Maggie sang as well. So really, I was thinking that if the group lost a member, it should be her. Instead, much to my chagrin, Hershel got bitten by a walker. While the group was making their way through the rest of the prison, Maggie and Glenn had to duck into a door and separate from the group. When Hershel went back to find them, he decided to step over a dead body instead of walking on the other side of the empty hallway. The body was that of a walker, who then bit Hershel.

Rick chopped off the infected leg with an axe. This wasn’t even the most disgusting part of the episode, if you can believe that. (The most disgusting part was when Rick pulled a helmet off of a walker and it basically ripped his whole face off, skin and all.) Out of all of the people who could have been bitten, it had to be the most useful one? Hershel knows how to farm, is signed on to deliver Lori’s baby, and is basically the group doctor, not to mention that he is also the group’s conscience. Oh yeah, guys. You don’t want that gross, messy riot gear and armor that you had lying on the table. You’d rather tough it. Good call. After this, at the end of the episode, you see that there are other survivors who are living in the prison! Last season, we learned that outsiders can be a bad thing for your group. I am curious to see whether the group accepts them, or if they kill them off.

As far as other characters, not much development took place. Carl stayed put! This is a pretty big change for him, doing what he is told. Also, Carol and Daryl are going to hook up (gross). Beth and Carl might eventually get something going, but thankfully right now the Grimes boy is in his awkward stage. In the beginning of the episode, you see an owl; try not to fall in love with it, because Daryl picks it apart for food. T-Dog is still just kind of there.

This episode was seriously amazing. The overall amount of walkers killed was impressive. How they were done in also was very fun to watch! The character development was much needed! I really like the way they skipped ahead a few months from last season’s finale. This allowed for the characters to change without any real explanation. When you see someone every single day, change is so gradual that you do not notice. This is where the jump in time helps the story move along. I appreciated every minute of this premiere. I imagine that the other 10.9 million viewers did as well. Bravo!

5/5 Grizzlies

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Dexter: 7.02 – “Sunshine and Frosty Swirl”

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In true Dexter fashion, the latest episode, “Sunshine and Frosty Swirl“ began where the premiere of season 7 left off. The title comes from Dexter’s interaction with an inmate who decided to come clean about where some bodies were hidden, after many years. Since Dexter had to be on the scene, he inquired as to how he changed; how he got rid of his evilness, or his dark passenger. After a gruesome suicide of the inmate (he hurled himself in front of a moving semi truck) Dexter realized that he hadn’t changed, and just wanted some sunshine and the ice cream across the street before killing himself.

After Dexter had officially admitted to Deb that he is a serial killer, she had a very difficult decision to make; does she turn him in, or does she help him? As you know, Deb is a sucker for her big brother and offered to help him try to control his urges. Deb has taken on the duty of rehabilitating her serial killer brother.

Deb has blinded herself to the obvious red flags about her brother being a criminal in the past. She seems to be a great detective, yet she has been completely oblivious to all of the signs. As Deb structures this information in her head, she realizes that Dexter was the Bay Harbor Butcher. She also starts remembering other signs. If this wasn’t hard enough news for her to take, she learns that her hero father whom she has spent her entire life trying to please, even after his death, knew about Dexter’s true nature; and had actually trained Dexter.

Although she tries like hell, Deb cannot watch Dexter 100% of the time. I am not sure what is going to happen between Dexter and Louis; after this episode, Louis is clearly not scared of Dexter. Even though Louis must know many dark things about Dexter’s past, he doesn’t seem phased by what he knows. This leaves two possibilities: Louis doesn’t know just how dangerous Dexter is, or Louis sees himself as more dangerous than Dexter. I am curious to see what comes of this.

A fun little turn of events was that Dexter did not kill anyone, but we did see a gruesome death. A mob boss by the name of Isaac, played by Ray Stevenson, murdered a bouncer by stabbing him in the eye with a screwdriver! Holy shit! This was so quick and unexpected, that I got a little bit nauseous. That is how you know this was a good episode; if you feel a little bit sick at the end.

When Dexter told Deb that he’d already tried to quit before and it didn’t work, her response was something I hadn’t really considered before. We all assume that since Harry had to nurture Dexter’s urges and teach him how to use them in a more positive (uh…ish) way, that there was simply no way he could help himself. However, Deb tells Dexter that since their dad helped him to become this sick man, it might be solely because of that, that he cannot stop. Harry didn’t tell Dexter to stop killing; he told Dexter to be picky about his victims, how to clean up after himself, and how to avoid getting caught. He used his son’s illness as a means to get revenge on the criminals who slipped through the cracks in the judicial system. If Harry had tried to get Dexter help, who knows how he would have turned out? I do not think that as his age, Dexter can change his entire way of thinking… his need. I know that Deb wants to see the good in him, though.

This was a very fun episode for me to watch. Being a huge Dexter fan, and having re-watched every single episode of the show recently, I can honestly say that I am excited for what’s to come this season. I had lost a lot of hope before the premiere, because of the lazy and poorly written previous seasons, but this one seems different. Different is what Dexter needed, no? What makes the boring episodes so lackluster? Normalcy and monotony. Here, we are getting some of the missing pieces to the puzzle that is Dexter Morgan… and I like it.

4/5 Grizzlies!