Category Archives: horror

Apr16

April 15, 2018 – My Day Sux Big Time

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What I watched today was, unfortunately, not much of anything. Sadly, thanks to Verizon, I have no internet, TV, or phone (borrowed this one). While it’s been fun watching the DVD of The Beastmaster with commententary, and several extra features from my set of Downton Abbey DVDs, it’s killing me that I won’t be able to see The Walking Dead/Fear the Walking Dead crossover, much less recap them. Quell disappointment! Hopefully, I’ll be back in business tomorrow and will be able to catch  up On Demand. If I can, I’ll do a mini-cap. Until then, enjoy your TV watching without me.

<SOB!>

 

Apr9

April 8, 2018 – The Battle of Negan & Simon, a Little Atlanta, a Dash of Potomac & Bye-Bye Weekend

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What I Watched Today

(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)

 

The Walking Dead

Rick reads Carl’s letter and gazes out the window. Carl talks about his eighth birthday, and other things he remembers from how it used to be. Tears rolls down Rick’s cheeks. It’s not just the stuff that happened, but how Carl felt, special and safe. He thought growing up would mean a family and a job, but it means keeping those you love safe. He wants Rick to feel safe, like he did when Rick held his hand on walks. He doesn’t think the Saviors will surrender, but there’s regular people in there. They’re close to starting over, and have friends now – there have to be more places and people; a chance to make changes and have a real life. If they won’t end it, he has to. He has to find peace and move forward; not forget, but make it so it won’t happen again. Show them they can be safe again without killing, and maybe one day they’ll have birthdays, schools, jobs, and pizza on Friday night, like they used to. Carl tells Rick to take Judith on walks like they had, because she’ll remember. He tells Rick that he loves him. Rick sees Michonne walking hand-in-hand with Judith.

Michonne lies on the bed, pondering. She checks the nightstand. There’s a letter for Negan in the drawer. I’m hoping somehow, Rick and Negan can work together as frenemies. Not just because I think Jeffrey Dean Morgan is nearly everything on this show, but there’s a tremendous amount of story potential there. Please, Walking Dead, don’t blow another opportunity.

Gregory tells Simon that he came back to make amends. Simon is pissed because Gregory made him look like an ass. Gregory says his intel wasn’t current. Juice and momentum can give you a chance in the game. He had it, and did it. Maggie had Hilltop by the nut, and he didn’t know it. He wants to make it right with Negan. Simon tells him that he’s Negan, and not in the collective sense, but he’s assumed control. Negan no longer in the field of play. Gregory calls Simon, the man, and says he knew he could do it. Negan had a big personality, but was too unconventional. Simon is a leader. Simon tells Gregory that’s why he can’t be seen going easy on him. He has the juice and momentum, and wants to keep it. Ergo, Gregory goes. Gregory says the stupid troglodytes at the Sanctuary can’t advise him in community affairs and politics. Simon tells him, it’s ended. Gregory says he’s achieved, survived, and suffered too much. He’s been reborn as a certified sh*t-kicker. It’s not going to end with him wandering into the wilderness with his d*ck in his hand. Gregory says, he is the juice. Simon throws him to the ground. He says he wasn’t going to send Gregory away; he was going to kill him. He asks if Gregory can make coffee, and Gregory says, the best in the land. Simon tells him they’ll start with coffee, and see where it goes. Is this a date?

The Oceanside people go through the woods. Still trying to convince them to fight, Aaron is there, and is so dehydrated and weak, he can barely fight off a zombie. Cyndie says they made their choice. If wants to die in the woods, that’s his.

Eugene shows the Savior ladies the dish he’s made – mac and cheese with sardines – a staple from his college days. It’s a lasting energy source. He eats some, and says it takes him back. It’s all that’s on the menu until the order is complete. He reminds everyone that their lives are on lock. Negan is MIA, and Simon has taken over. They need to be lickety-quick, but he thinks the best they can hope for, is to squeeze out the bare minimum needed to stop Simon from finding out how short they are. Gabriel coughs up a lung, and Eugene tells him to keep his mask on. He either has influenza or cocca-something. Either way, it’s airborne or he would be dead.

He brings a bullet over to Gabriel, and asks him to feel it. Morgan says the imperfection was intentional. He wanted to make it so didn’t work. He doesn’t want anyone to die. Eugene asks if he wants to die, and Gabriel says he doesn’t want to hep him, but does fear death. He thinks maybe it’s God’s way of showing he’s still the same person who locked his parishioners out. He’s still the same scared animal, doing what he can to survive. Eugene tells him to find an unobtrusive corner; he’s off the line. He tells Gabriel to try not to cry too loud. He’s going outside to test rounds not compromised by Gabriel’s chicanery.

Eugene goes outside, and is ambushed by Daryl and Rosita. They spirit him away.

Dwight goes out for a smoke, and hears Negan’s whistle. Negan asks him if he’s surprised. He shouldn’t be. Dwight says they found his car, and Simon thought – Negan cuts him off, telling him it was a real punch in the d*ck (his second favorite word). Rick cornered him with those decomposed a-holes, and Dwight and Simon never showed. He knows what they were thinking, and wants to know if Dwight remembers who he is. He tells Dwight the conversation is just between them. Dwight says, Simon is his number two, and he thought Negan would want him to go by Simon’s call. Dwight says, he’s Negan. Negan says, good; that’s what he likes to hear. He tells Dwight that when time comes, and it will, to remember this talk. Remember what they’ve done, and can still do together. Dwight looks relieved.

In the boardroom, Simon tells Negan that he thought Negan had been killed, and he was gone. Negan polishes Lucille. Simon admits he lacks discipline, and made it personal. That’s why he moved it from infection to extermination at Hilltop. Things went bad, but he owns it, and asks for a pass. He’ll make it up to Negan; he promises. Negan smiles, and ask if Simon remembers when he took this place; when Simon helped him? He wasn’t sure he wanted to keep Simon on board before he had a system in place. Simon had killed all those people in a settlement long ago. People think that’s psychotic sh*t from a demented, broken ghoul. That’s someone you don’t want to work with, let alone stand next to. He figured he’d figure keep an eye on Simon, and everything seemed to work out until this point. He tells Simon he needs him on his knees. Simon gets ready for a bat in the head, but Negan says, all is forgiven. Get his ass up; they’re good. Simon tells Negan that he won’t let him down. Negan says he appreciates the hell out of that.

Negan has a board meeting, and a Savior takes out a map. Negan points, saying this is where they start. They don’t have to take Hilltop, but they’re going to make sure the farmers can’t leave. If they poke their heads out, the Saviors will clip their asses. They’re going to have teams 24/7, sniping them one by one, until they have full contrition. Simon is happy to have Negan back, and Negan says it’s good to be back. Negan tells them clear out, except for Dwight. He wants to kick around some things. I’m sure Dwight thinks one of those things is his head.

Negan tells Dwight he’s smart as hell. No matter what, he didn’t stew or do anything stupid. He just went about the business of getting his. Nothing shook him. He kept his eyes on what could keep him alive and well. He tells Dwight to keep on keeping that sh*t clear. Dwight nods, and Negan smiles.

Eugene suspects he’s alive because they have a nostalgia for comradery, but he’ll give them space until they’re ready to break the ice. Daryl pulls out a large knife, telling Eugene to shut his mouth or he’ll cut Eugene’s tongue out. Rosita tells Daryl to keep on moving; they’re going to be looking for him. Eugene thanks her, and she tells him to shut up. He tells her that she’s the one who told him making bullets would save lives. He thought the crack of a bat would be the last thing he’d hear, and then thought Negan would torture him, but he didn’t. He gave Eugene a chance to live. Rosita says everyone who has died since then is on him. He says Rick pushed to take the Savior’s home. Rosita pulls out her gun, calling him a selfish coward and a traitor. He turned his back on the friends he had, and didn’t give a rat’s ass about them. They’re going to stick him in the darkest hole, and the only time he’ll come out is when need him to teach them something. He’ll get his wish and live, but they’ll be forcing him to do something useful with his pathetic life.

Dwight writes things on the map. There’s a knock at the door, and he hides everything. It’s Simon, who says, it went well. The status quo has been re-achieved. He asks why Dwight was held back, and Dwight says, for a pep talk. Simon tells him they need to have a serious talk with others who are less than thrilled with the current management. It saddens him, but the time has come to gather like-minded individuals to gather strength, and do what need to do. He tells Dwight to think about what Negan has done to him. Everything he’s extracted; every indignity. He knows what he has to do. They’re meeting in the courtyard after rounds, and going to begin what’s next. Dwight says, all right, and Simon grabs his shoulders, and says, yes, my boy. Well, if it was a tossup I don’t think I’d pick Simon.

Daryl shoots some zombies with arrows.  While the zombies are being a distraction, Eugene sticks his fingers down his throat, and makes himself throw up on Rosita. Considering what he ate, that’s pretty disgusting, but she barely flinches. He takes off, and she shoots at him, but he gets through a hole in a fence. She and Daryl follow. Rosita says they can’t let him get back, and suggests they blow his head off. As soon as they pass, Eugene comes out from under a pile of ashes and mess.

Aaron is sleeping in the woods. It starts to rain, and he gets some water from a can nearby. He hears zombie sounds, and takes out his knife. It’s a mean-looking one, and he pikes it in the head. If we were in a 42nd Street movie theatre, I’d yell, look out behind you! Another zombie grabs him, and they fall together. Aaron loses the knife, and the zombie grabs at his legs. He manages to kick its brain out of its head, but here comes another one. The knife is lost, but he grabs a pokey stick, and skewers it. Yet one more comes, knocking him down, and it’s inches from his face only separated from him by the stick. He gets the upper hand, and beats the non-living crap out of it with the stick. He lies there, rain pouring down, surrounded by the now dead undead.

Someone asks if he’s dead. It’s the Oceansiders. He says they left him. It’s what the Saviors turned them into. They lie, they don’t trust, and don’t live the way they want because of the Saviors. The Saviors hurt them, and will keep on hurting them, unless they do one thing – fight. They just look at him vacantly, and I’m thinking this group seriously lacks personality. Give them a personality or get rid of them.

Commercial break. Red Machete is still not happening for me.

Dwight waits in the courtyard. The others come out, Gregory among them. Simon tells them that if they’re here right now, they’re in. They can talk about approaches and finesses, but they’re in; no take backs. They need to make it quick, quiet, and respectful. Negan has done a lot for them, and deserves it. He says Dwight has legit personal issues with Negan, so the kill is his if he wants it. Something quiet – not a knife, that’s too personal. Maybe a silencer. Then they’ll set a break to start healing. The destruction of Hilltop and its people, and then get on with their lives. He says, right, Dwight?

We hear whistling, and I literally lol. Negan says he’ll take it from here. He says, three… two… one… There are gunshots, and the renegade Saviors drop, save for Gregory, Simon, and Dwight. Two Saviors come out for Simon. Simon lunges at Negan, who says there’s the Simon he knows. He’s coming at him, instead of doing that backstabbing bullsh*t. He asks, why? After everything he did for Simon. He killed the garbage people, when Negan specifically told him not to do that. He pounds on one of the dead Saviors with Lucille. He says after all this, him being him, he’s still going to give Simon his share. If you want to be the man, you got to beat the man. If he can do that, then hell, he should be the man.

Inside everyone gathers. Simon blathers about how they have to get to work when this is done, and how he didn’t want this, but the Sanctuary must stand. As he’s talking, he catches Negan off-guard with a punch. He gets his bearings, and they fight. I’m just a little worried, since Negan is wearing his leather jacket, which probably isn’t a good idea. Negan gives Simon a head-butt. Simon goes down, and Negan kicks him in the face. Gregory inches away. Dwight grabs him, and tells him to get out now. He gives Gregory a map, telling him to give it to Rick. It’s about tomorrow, and the only move they’ve got. He hands Gregory some car keys. Hopefully, he won’t just keep driving.

Negan straddles Simon, strangling him. Finally, he lies still. Negan gets up, and says, what an a-hole. I realize my mouth is open. The crowd was certainly quiet about it. I have to admit, I’ll be glad I won’t have to work around writing Simon says anymore.

Gregory is shoved into the pen at Hilltop. Maggie gives the map to Rick. End Negan, end the risk, is written on it, along with something about where they’ll be. Maggie asks what they’re going to do.

Negan tells Dwight that Simon was a d*ckless worm. What else could he do but crush his throat? But what was bad for Simon, is good for him. They’ve had their ups and downs, but he’s always been able to count on Dwight. He’d like Dwight to be his right-hand man, if he’ll accept the promotion. Dwight agrees. He wants to help Negan finish things with Rick. Negan tells him not to sell himself short. He already has.

Laura, who knew Dwight was a traitor, is in his room. Negan says he found her on the side of the road. She says in Alexandria, he killed their team. She ran and kept running. She wanted to expose him for the scum weasel he is. Negan says it makes sense. He told RIck when to attack, and how to get to the outpost. He’s been slipping workers guns, and maybe even lied about Shari. He thinks he’s some sort of hero, but he’s a nobody and way over his head. When he said Dwight comes through when he’s needed, he meant it. He knew he could count on him delivering the plan to Rick – the brilliant fake-ass plan. He used Gregory. Negan thought he’d take a field trip, but he got a delivery boy; good for him. All that intel will lead them directly into the line of fire. They won’t know what hit them, all thanks to his new right-hand man. He’d thought about killing him, but that was too dignified for a backstabbing, double-crossing dirtbag. Negan says he has plans for Dwight, and laughs.

Looking all angry and rumpled, Eugene tells the workers that they have to prepare to protect the Sanctuary. Negan is back, and they’re going to finish Hilltop. A messenger tells him Negan needs the bullet order by tomorrow. He says to give Negan his personal congratulations on his return. His request will be filled in its entirety, and on time. If he needs bullets, he’s going to get them. All of them. They’re going to rise to the occasion, and will change Savior history forever. He tells Gabriel, all hands on deck. He’s going to be sorting shells. Follow his lead, or cry and die. He says, here we go. He quotes Rosita, saying, time to do something useful with their pathetic lives.

Yay! Simon is a zombie chained to the fence. He’s a good one too; a snapping maniac. Negan is on the deck, and Michonne radios him from a rooftop nearby. He asks if Rick is with her, and to put him on. She says this isn’t about Rick; it’s about Carl. Carl wrote him a letter, and she’s delivering it because that’s what he wanted. Negan says he can’t promise not to kill the messenger, and she tells him, shut up and listen. She reads.

Carl tells Negan that he was helping someone, and got bit. Now he’s gone. Negan might be gone, but he doesn’t think so. He wonders if Negan is working on a way out. Maybe got out. Maybe he thinks it’s a lost cause, and wants to kill them all. He wishes he could have asked if Negan feels that he has to be who he is. If this is what he wanted or wished he could have. The way out is forgiveness. There doesn’t have to be a fight. He hopes his dad offers peace, and he takes it. He hopes things can change. It did for him. He can still start over. Negan listens to every word so thoughtfully, I want to cry.

Negan says, there is no getting out of it now. He wouldn’t accept surrender if they were on their knees. Winning isn’t about beating them, but killing every last one of them. That is starting over. He never wanted this. Rick made it happen. Tell him that. No more talk. He throws the radio down and stomps on it, along with my storyline dreams.

Next week – both the finale of The Walking Dead (at 9 pm), and the premiere of Fear the Walking Dead (at 10 pm). Morgan tells Rick to finish it, the Saviors attack, and Dwight is sent to Jaundice Jadis. I can’t wait to see Fear, since they’re setting up camp in an amusement park. Abandoned amusement parks are creepy all on their own. Add zombies, and you can’t lose.

🍹 A Quick Wives Note…

🍑 The Real Housewives of Atlanta know how to pour on the glam. It was part one of their reunion, and Porsha went full-on princess with a tiara, mammoth jeweled earrings, and a blue velvet gown. Although she claimed to be a goddess because she’s grown. The earrings were all huge, sparkly, and fabulous. Only Kandi was slightly lower key with the accessories, but made up for it with the bling on her gown. NeNe was in red lace and fringe. Kenya was in a frilly yellow explosion. She confirmed her pregnancy, but she never did actually say, I’m pregnant, which made me wonder if the bun is in someone else’s oven. Cynthia had the most glamorous, Rapunzel-like side ponytail ever, and was wearing a red gown fit for a quinceañera. Marlo joined them swathed in lavender cotton candy. Only Sheree was a bit of a disappointment. Her gigantic emerald earrings passed, but she was covered all the way to her chin in a gown of silken material that did not look good on film. She said it was Gucci. Was it his nun period? I wondered if her new felon man doesn’t want her showing any skin. A viewer even pointed out that she seemed unusually covered up this season.

🏰 The Real Housewives of Potomac has mostly centered around Karen’s tax issues, since apparently her husband owes the government. They moved out of the neighborhood, although her idea of downsizing isn’t like the average person’s idea. I guess now they only have 6000 square feet and one pool. What blew my mind though, were the rest of them demanding answers from her like it was their right to know. I’m not a huge fan of Karen’s, but they were like a pack of vultures.

WeekendOver

WeekendGoodby

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apr2

April 1, 2018 – Everyone is Looking for Something, Wrong Lane Legend, Some Ramble & My Neighbor’s Brother

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What I Watched Today

(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)

 

The Walking Dead

At the trash heap, Tardis Jadis hears shooting, and covers Negan with a bunch of material. She plays dead, and several people run past. A guy stops and spits on her. Lucky for her, he keeps moving. When it’s over, she removes her boots and coat, and is in the nightgown she wore when she killed the other Heapsters.

Wearing normal clothing – a plaid flannel shirt and jeans – Jadis retreats to a long, narrow bedroom that’s in amazingly pristine condition, and even has a skylight.  She picks up a now clean Lucille, and checks her watch. She goes to the container. She goes to the container. Negan says, what the sh*t?  He’s tied up, and she pulls him out on a dolly.

Carol chops wood. Ezekiel wants to look for Henry, but she says Maggie needs her. He tells her that she’s choosing not to leave; why? Does she believe Henry is already dead? She told him to pretend until it’s so, yet she can’t. He thought she was the bravest person he’d met, but no. She’s being stopped by cowardice.

Tara tells Daryl it’s been over a day, and she’s still not sick. He says she got lucky. She says Dwight shot her with clean arrow. Everyone else who got hit, got sick. It can’t be an accident. Daryl asks if Dwight gets a pass. Tara reminds Daryl about telling her that they might need Dwight. If she’d killed him, now she’d be dead. She thinks it’s personal with Daryl, and he’s not looking at the whole picture.

Michonne asks Rick if he wants to read it. He gets his coat, and says they need food. She asks what he wrote to Rick. Rick doesn’t know; he can’t. Michonne says he has too. Someone stopped her, and now she’s stopping him. Carl wrote it because he wanted Rick to read it. It was one of his last wishes. She tells Rick that he’s staying. She takes his coat and bag, and leaves the room. Rick looks like he has a headache, and takes out the letter.

Morgan sees Carol, and she asks if he’s looking for him for the Saviors. She says he doesn’t have to, but he says he does. He was supposed to do it before. Carol says fine, but she’s coming with him.

In Maggie’s office, Rosita says if the Saviors come back, they can’t defend a sizeable attack. Daryl thinks hand-to-hand combat is the way to go. Maggie asks if he thinks they’re running out of ammo, but Rosita says they have their bullet-maker; they’ll never run out, but she knows where to find him.

Negan tells Jaundice Jadis that whatever happened, he can smell it. He told her that he thinks people are a resource; he doesn’t throw that away. He’s confident that most people can be put on the right path; his own path. He wouldn’t have done this. It’s the work of someone not following the program, but it’s his mistake; he’ll own this. He took a chance, and thought he was doing the right thing, and punched himself in the d*ck. He’s sorry. He really is sorry. Jadis says she lost all she had. He tells her that he can help get it back. She brings Lucille down about an inch from his face.

Carol tells Morgan it makes sense that they stayed near the road. She finds a partially eaten turnip, and says, they were here. Morgan sees something and runs, calling Henry’s name. Carol follows. Morgan sees Henry, who turns around. He looks like death, and says, you know where it is; you were supposed to. Morgan says he’s not there, and tells Henry he’s not there. He tells Carol that Henry is dead. Carol says she didn’t come to look for Henry, but keep an eye on Morgan. She saves people, but she can’t save the dead. Morgan says he’s not dead. He doesn’t die; he just sees them – again and again. Even when he looks away, he still sees them. They continue to walk, Morgan in the lead. He sees a zombie whose head was cracked open with a rock. He says they came through here. Maybe it was a shortcut.

Rick watches Judith play. A single tear rolls down his face. He goes out with his gun, and asks Alden where they went. Alden says his best and only guess is the Sanctuary. He says they talked about getting out, but he hadn’t given their plans too much credit. Rick asks how he would do it, and Alden tells him about an old dive bar Negan talked about turning into an outpost. He asks Rick to do him a favor, and if Rick finds them, not to kill more than he has to. He says it went bad last night. They made a wrong choice, but it probably hasn’t hit some of them yet. He says Rick could bring them back and show them. Rick says he could.

Jadis’s watch beeps. She tosses Lucille, and walks off. Negan says, let’s talk about this. He had nothing to do with it. He moves himself along on the dolly with his feet. Jadis slides out a luggage cart with a zombie attached to it. It’s super weird, like the zombie is part of the cart. Negan says if she really wanted to harm him, she wouldn’t have left him near a bag full of guns, along with pictures of her nearest and dearest. She looks out, and he has a gun in one hand, and a lit flare in the other. Nearby are several photos. He suggests they have a chat.

Down the road, Carol and Morgan see a herd of zombies crossing. Carol thinks they should wait, and let it pass. Morgan says they could lose the trail, but Carol is afraid of losing more than that. A zombie stumbles toward them, and Morgan pikes it in the head. He starts to walk down the road, and Carol says maybe they can find them by another road. Morgan says he knows what they’ll find. She says he won’t know unless they keep going, and she won’t know unless she tries. He can try too. Morgan says he can’t. She saves people; he watches them die. He’s supposed to. Carol says he found her. He saved her. He knew she could come back, and he can too. He says it wasn’t him. He’s not strong like her. He was there watching them, knowing something would happen, and then it did. He has to kill him. He walks off. Carol calls to him, and then walks in the opposite direction.

Gimcrack Jadis tells Negan to leave the pictures alone. He says he figured they meant something to her. Considering the way things are, she can’t just pop around corner and order friends. He’s asking her one more time, what the sh*t is this? Is this how she kills people? Jadis mimics him, saying people are a resource. She asks him to put the flare away. It’s all she has left. He took her world; her everything. He tells her that his wife’s name was Lucille. She got him through. He didn’t give her sh*t, and she got him through regular life. The bat got him through this. He named the bat after her. It’s the last piece of what he has of her life, like Jadis’s photos. Jadis says, yes, and her watch beeps. She pushes the cart toward him, jumping around it. She knocks the gun out of one hand, and tries to grab the flare, but it falls into a puddle. A helicopter comes by, and she runs inside. Negan says, what the sh*t? for the fifteenth time. Jadis runs back out with a lit flare, but it’s too late. She walks over to where Lucille is, amid a pile of kindling, and is about to light it on fire. Negan says he didn’t burn her pictures. What will she have after she burns Lucille? Just a pile of ashes. She says she gets to hurt him, and he says he didn’t do it, but he can settle it. She puts the flare down, and cries.

Rick runs through the woods. He and Morgan see each other. Morgan is about to whack Rick with his staff, and Rick says Morgan knows him. Morgan says he’s not right, and Rick says out here for them and they’ll finish it. He and Morgan go out to the road, and see a car with fresh body parts next to it. The screen goes to black, and we hear shots.

In the dive bar, the Saviors are talking about two guys who are lying there. Jared wants to get rid of them, saying they don’t look too good. Another Savior says maybe that’s because they hacked part of them off. I guess these are the guys who belong to the body parts. Jared says, even if they make it, who’s waiting? They need to make their own way. If they deliver Rick to Negan, they’ll win big and be recognized. He asks if Rick is ready to walk. They’re ditching the dead weight and moving on. Jared is about to kill the two wounded men, and one Savior says they can get them to the doctor at Hilltop. Rick suggests they come back with him. He says they chose wrong, but it’s not too late. Cut them free, cooperate, make a fresh start, and become part of a community. He’s giving his word. There’s not a lot worth much anymore, but a man’s word means something. Jared looks skeptical. He asks if Rick thinks they’re dumb enough to believe him. He asks Jared to hear him out. They don’t have much time. They’re headed this way. They need to make a choice now.

The Saviors start to get nervous, and Jared says, there’s no herd, and there’s no deal at Hilltop. Rick didn’t come to save them. He came for blood. He says, this one here, indicating Morgan, strangled one of his own men with his bare hands. Jared accuses Rick of saying bullsh*t. Morgan says he came here to do what he was supposed to; kill every last one of them. Jared holds a gun to Morgan’s head. Morgan smiles, and tells him to save his bullets. He’s going to need them. The herd is coming, and after, when he’s just torn skin, loose teeth, and blood – stuff the zombies didn’t eat – it will be a damn shame, because there will be none of them left to kill. Now tell us how you really feel, Morgan. Jared tells the Saviors, let’s dump and bounce. Morgan says it never changes. He doesn’t die. No one does. Everybody turns. Jared is about to shoot Morgan, when another Savior stops him.

They hear the herd. Zombies begin to flow in. Jared is like, WTF?! and shoots at them. Rick yells for someone to cut them loose. Someone knocks Jared down, but it backfires, and they get eaten. Jared takes off. Morgan and Rick get loose, and get their weapons. Rick shoots, and Morgan uses his big stick. There are several Saviors helping them dispatch the zombies, and they kill them too. I’m like, he-e-ey. Rick throws the last one to a zombie. Wow. He’s harsh. Morgan looks around in the rooms behind the bar. He sees Henry by the pool table. But not for long. Jared pops out, and attacks Morgan with some pointy thing that looks pretty dangerous. He almost stabs Morgan in the throat, but Morgan throws him off and out, closing a metal gate that separates the rooms. It’s a kind of chain link, so Morgan watches Jared trying to grab through the openings. Jared screams as zombies tear his flesh from him. Morgan shows no emotion.

A dying Savior tells Rick this isn’t what he said, and Rick says, he lied. He shoots the guy in the head. Hmm… I don’t know how I feel about this. Morgan says, everybody turns, and walks out. Rick says Morgan saved him; he would have died. Maybe on the street in front of Morgan’s house. Morgan didn’t know him; why did he do it? Morgan says they should go. Rick says, just tell him. He had his son then. Morgan says, because his son was there. I forgot all about that.

Negan has Lucille back. Anthrax Jadis looks at the pictures. Negan asks what happened there; what was that was all about? He tells her to come with him and he’ll follow a new path. She’s not interested, but he says, the offer stands. Maybe he’ll swing by again. Who knows? Maybe she’ll want to share. He leaves, and I’m disappointed she didn’t go with him. And it seems Negan is better at keeping his word than Rick is.

Carol annihilates some zombies, after seeing Henry is trapped in a tangle of roots along a swamp. She pulls him out, and he says he’s sorry. She hugs him, and he cries. She says she was wrong; he can survive.

The wall guards at Alexandria bang on the sheet metal, and hoot and holler. Jerry runs to get Ezekiel. Carol and Henry walk in. Henry runs to Ezekiel. Carol nods, and keeps walking. Henry and Ezekiel hug. Nice welcome, but way to draw a crowd of zombies.

Carol tells Ezekiel that he was right, she was afraid. He says, but she’s no coward. Carol says she had a daughter. After she lost her, Carol was nothing. The people she was with saw a better version of her, but it doesn’t mean she doesn’t find herself down at times.

A wind blows through Alexandria. Morgan and Rick come in. Morgan touches Henry, making sure he’s real. He tells Henry that he killed the man who killed his brother. He smiles, And Henry says he’s sorry, putting his hand on Morgan’s shoulder. Morgan tells him, don’t ever be sorry. Rick walks past everyone, and goes inside. Michonne sees Morgan crying.

Matrix Jadis brings her rolling suitcase to the bedroom. This must be her safe space. Her clean place too. She lies down on the bed.

Negan drives. He pulls over, and opens the passenger door. He says, if sh*t could sh*t, it wouldn’t look as sh*tty as you. Get in. I think this is probably his record number of sh*ts in one episode. Definitely in one sentence.

He drives to the Sanctuary. The guard says he knew Negan was alive. Negan says, hell yes, but not a word. Daddy is home, but it’s going to be a surprise. Hell, he has all sorts to roll out. We hear zombie noises from the car. See? He’s fun. He brings some life to this show. I know that sounds oxymoronish, but it needs some fun.

Daryl and Rosita watch Eugene through binoculars. They make a plan to take him out.

Rick changes into a comfortable t-shirt, and takes out the letter from Carl. Michonne comes in, and he thanks. Her he says he’s sorry, and she tells him that he doesn’t have to be. He says he loves her. She loves him too. They kiss. She leaves the room. He sits on the bed and reads. He cries a little.

Next time, Negan surprises Dwight, Simon wants to gather the like-minded, and the Saviors plan to take the Hilltop.

✝ My Late Slip

Tonight, I hate Walking Dead even more than usual, since they screwed up my entire evening by being on at all. Bravo decided to show new episodes as well, but not for any Wives who are important to me, so I’ll catch up with Atlanta and Potomac later. So how did they screw up my night, do you ask? (Or maybe not.) I’m going to be up half the night watching the late rerun, since I wanted to see Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert. I mostly wanted to see it because, Alice Cooper. Alice was my first real concert that my sister took me to. An hour in, I still mostly wanted to see it for the same reason. Did Chrissy Teigen fund this production? I have nothing against John Legend, but no. He looked like he was having difficulty getting through the score and moving around at the same time. I’m sure he moves around during his concerts, but this is a different kind of moving around. I don’t know if he wasn’t used to it or wasn’t up to it or what, but next to Brandon Victor Dixon (Judas), who knows his way around a Broadway stage, he was a total lightweight. Like vinyl, the concert format of this musical was touted as something new, but isn’t. That’s how the show was first presented. I saw the original on tour. Quite young at the time, I thought they were just really loose with their staging. Especially when Jesus came out and started slapping hands with everyone. At first, I thought he was an actor who showed up late.

It’s always annoyed me that the two most lackluster songs were given to Mary Magdalene. Although I did love her dress, an orange ombre maxi sheath number. The audience was apparently made up of 12-year-olds and/or Legend fans, since they cheered every time he actually made it through a difficult note. Thankfully, they did change some of he score to suit his vocal range. Except for one they forgot. He thought he’s sad and tired? He should have been me watching this. Every once in a while, they also changed a word or line, leaving me with a question mark over my head, because it did nothing to improve on the lyrics or make them more relevant. The lighting was also a problem, most likely looking abstract and cool from the audience, but it wasn’t made for television viewing. During Peter’s Denial, some dude was taking his pic with a cell phone, which also left me wondering. If they were modernizing this, why wasn’t the rest of it like that? Was that supposed to be ironic or something?

Alice gave me a thrill and a smile. Not bad for a seventy-year-old. Thank God (heh-heh) the audience obviously knew who he was. His costume rocked. If a suit could be called psychedelic, this one would be it, again in an orange pallet. (The color scheme in general was in the brown-yellow-orange family.) He also held a walking stick/scepter topped by a small skull. I’ve seen several different Herods – from an Ohio summer theatre Herod, who was downright frightening, taking the apple he was eating and smushing it into Jesus’s face, to the silly film version with my old NYC neighbor Toby’s brother, Josh Mostel (both, sons of the late, great Zero Mostel). Alice was enjoyable and milked it well. I also loved his harem of dancing girls. The choreography as a whole was good.

Oh yeah. Could We Start Again. The third Mary Magdalene song. There’s a reason this one wasn’t even on the soundtrack.

I always feel a little sorry for Pilate, who was really a little fish in a big, Roman political pond. Ben Daniels worked for me here. I love how he seemed like he got a migraine when Herod dropkicked Jesus back to him.

The biggest hit out of the show – the title song, Superstar – was spot-on, again Dixon knocking it out of the park, in the appropriate sparkly outfit, the backup dancing reminiscent of Janet Jackson in the 90s, with some obvious freestylin’ at the end. The crowd went wild.

John Legend is probably a really nice guy and a good singer, but this was out of his whatever. I don’t want to say league, because he’s just in a different one. Lane perhaps? This role was not for him, not at this time anyway. Legend, maybe; Superstar, no. He got lucky though, with a solid supporting cast, winning choreography, and interesting direction.

👠 The Real Housewives of Potomac has a new girl – Candiace. What is wrong with parents?

🎭 I also checked out Your Husband Is Cheating On Us. Multi-talented, JD Lawrence, brings his urban theater circuit play of the same title to NYC. Besides being let in on the rehearsal process, we follow the actors living in the same house. It’s a worth-watching show within a show, and definitely something different.

🏅 Quote of the Night

Rick and Morgan walk into a bar… there is no punchline… just death. – Talking Dead

🎶 My Neighbor’s Brother

 

Mar26

March 25, 2018 – A Battle at Hilltop, Returning Fear, a Terror, a Scary Muumuu & the Worst Dread of All

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What I Watched Today

(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)

 

The Walking Dead

While watching for the Saviors, Morgan sees a vision of Gavin, who tells him that he knows what it is, and says Morgan was supposed to. Supposed to what, we don’t know, but Morgan says, no! and fights with nothing. He hears a car horn beep, and beeps back. Daryl blows an airhorn, and more cars honk theirs. Back at the ranch Hilltop, Jerry says, it’s on. Henry asks Ezekiel for a weapon, but Ezekiel tells him to stay and guard the place. Carol tells him he’ll die if he goes out during the attack. I see this ending badly.

Dr. Dana complains that Siddiq has no experience. He tells her he’s already performed three surgeries. She asks if he can shoot a gun while holding someone down. She tells him that someone who doesn’t know enough, is more dangerous than someone who doesn’t know sh*t. Siddiq tells her to stop asking what he’s done, and start telling him what to do. She says she likes him, and tells him to get ready.

Everyone waits. The Saviors arrive.

Simon has his men remove a roadblock. Maggie radios for Negan. Simon says he’s Negan, although his birth certificate says Simon. He offers condolences for what has happened, and what has about to. (Shades of Roscoe Lee Brown in The Cowboys.) He tells her that he personally received her care package. It was in the box he gave her in good faith; the trick was on him. Maggie says the bill is due, and they have to pay. They have thirty-eight of his people, alive and breathing. He’ll leave if he wants it to stay that way. If he doesn’t, she has thirty-eight bullets she’ll personally fire. Alden says it’s too nice a night to spend dying slow. Simon tells her that it’s highly regrettable, but they’re damaged goods. They got into their own pickle. The idea is to avoid capture, and now they’ll have to figure it out on their own. His own sh*t way of saying, screw them. Gregory tells Maggie that her cockamamie plan didn’t work, but she says it will.

Simon tells his men the plan has changed. They’re not aiming merely for infection, but conclusion. They’re doing away with all of them. Dwight says that’s not what Negan wanted, and he could still be out there. Is Simon sure he wants to face that with him? Simon tells Dwight it’s better to beg forgiveness than ask permission. Daryl rides past on his bike, shooting.

The gate opens, and Daryl drives in. The Saviors begin to follow, but the Hilltop bus suddenly blocks their path, and the first car rams into it. The Hilltoppers start to shoot. The Saviors shoot back, some using arrows. Alden asks Maggie to let him help defend the place. Maggie yells something I don’t hear. There’s lots of shooting. Carol runs to Tobin, who’s been hit. Siddiq comes by to relieve her, so she can go back to the fray. Simon and Dwight sneak around. Daryl sees them. Simon throws an ax, and hits someone. Michonne tells Daryl that they have to go. They shoot out the car headlights. It’s suddenly silent and dark.

Simon is such a jerk. He Captain Obviously says he can’t see sh*t. He sneaks around with a group of Saviors, and says he wants place surrounded. He tells them, slow and quiet. Dwight asks where the rest are, and Simon tells him that they’re making a house call. If Hilltop is at home, it’s time to do some proper slaughtering. He whistles, giving me a headache, and annoying the crap out of me. The Hilltoppers shoot at them, I’m so happy because it stops Simon’s whistling. The Saviors run. Some headlights come on, and here comes Rick, gun blazing.

Rick kicks ass, and almost whacks Siddiq. He tells Siddiq to stay low. Morgan’s Gavin vision tells that he knows what it is. Maggie and Rick shoot at the Saviors who are leaving. Maggie says she wanted them dead. All of them; Negan most of all. Rick says, him too. She asks if Rick saw him. Rick says he wasn’t there tonight, be he saw him out there. He tried to kill him, but didn’t. Maggie thanks him.

Tara thinks Dwight is on their side. She reminds Daryl that she was once with the Governor. Daryl’s brother was with them too. Daryl says if he’d stuck with his brother, they probably would have ended up with the Saviors. She says maybe Dwight figured out who they were. Daryl asks if that was before or after he killed Tara’s girlfriend, or are they square now? Tara says they are; he saved her life. She saw him try to help them. Daryl says he saw what he saw too.

Optimistic Rick takes the boards off of the windows in his house. Michonne saved him a turnip, but he says he’s good. He tells her that the generators were turned off to save gas, and the kids will need air. She asks to look at his cut, but he wants to finish first. She starts to help. He tells her that he saw the convoy, and he had to try.

Jerry digs graves. I mean literally, not that he thinks they’re cool. Maggie tells Alden he can bury his people, but he says they’re not his; he’s glad to see them that way. He tells Maggie that she’s a good leader. He knew it before, but last might she saved the community; she saved lives. Maggie says it’s because they sacrificed theirs, indicating the graves. She says it came at a cost, but her only regret is that Negan isn’t in the pile of bodies.

Carol nurses Tobin. He tells her if he knew getting stabbed got him this kind of attention, he’d have done it sooner. She tells him that she’s sorry for leaving, and for what she did. He says she doesn’t owe him anything. He asks if any of it was real, and she says she didn’t want it to be. She was pretending, trying to live a lie, because she couldn’t be around any more fighting and dying. At the time, maybe it felt like it wasn’t going to be pretending anymore. Tobin tells her that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to him. He asks if she’s leaving again, but she doesn’t know. She might accept that some are lucky to live, and some are lucky to fight. He asks what about after it ends, but she doesn’t think it does. He tells her the end is what they’re fighting for. Carol says it just means they get tomorrow. Maybe one more night; one more morning. After that, there’s no guarantees. As she’s talking, Alden buries the Saviors. Henry picks up a gun, and sneaks out. We see a clock ticking.

Rick loads his gun. Siddiq says he can treat Rick’s wound; he doesn’t want an infection. He tells Rick about a prayer for the dead he remembers from when he was little. Do not send us astray after them. He says, those who die, don’t. Rick gets up and leaves.

Holding a hurricane lamp, Maggie goes through the hallways crowded with people. She asks a man how he’s feeling. He says the doctor stitched him up. She says they’re lucky to have him, and the man says they’re lucky to have her. Gregory was all about himself and what he wanted; that’s not her.

In the infirmary, Tobin is startled awake at 2:13. Another guy wakes up, and asks what’s going on. One of the patients says he’s going to get the doctor, but just before he gets out the door, Tobin grabs him, and takes a bite. Oh well. I don’t know what this clock thing is about, but we keep seeing various timepieces.

Now it’s 4 a.m., and Dana walks in. She looks down, and realizes she’s standing in a pool of blood. Tobin takes a bite of her too. We hear zombie noises, along with the baby crying. The guy Maggie was talking to is now a zombie. He ambles, no, falls down the stairs. Hey, everybody, wake up!

Henry pokes at Gregory through the fence with his gun. Gregory asks Henry to let him out. Henry asks who killed his brother, but Gregory doesn’t know. He tells Henry that he isn’t one of them. He says Henry has a dangerous weapon, and he doesn’t want anyone to get hurt. He asks Henry to give it to him, and they’ll talk. He’s sorry about Henry’s brother, but killing them won’t bring him back. Henry says it will make him feel better. He did it once before; why not there? He asks if he has to start shooting until someone tells him who killed Ben. Alden says his brother died too. Killing his murderer sounds good in theory, but won’t make him feel better. Henry says it will for now. They hear screaming from inside.

Maggie sees chaos – running and biting, Daryl stabbing zombies in the head. I’d just leave. Michonne does a nice sword through the head move. Outside, Jared says it’s music to his ears. Henry asks if it was him, but Jared doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Henry lets himself into the Savior pen. He wants to know now. Alden says words are easier to live with than actions, but Henry says be a man and step forward, so he doesn’t have to kill their friends. He’s going to start counting to ten. When he gets to four, a zombie bites one of the Saviors, and there’s a free-for-all. Jared grabs the gun, and the Saviors run out, Gregory running along with them. Henry is left lying in the pen.

Morgan pikes zombies in the head. Daryl wonders if the zombies got in with the Saviors. Morgan says it’s their own people. Tobin is busy upstairs. Carol pulls him off someone, and stabs him in the head after only a momentary hesitation, and no doubt quick trip down Memory Lane. Daryl asks if she’s okay. She says he wasn’t bit, but he turned. Rick tells them about Negan’s bat being covered in zombie blood. They realize that anyone who was wounded is going to turn. A dude in one of the hospital beds says one of them will have to do it for him; he can’t. Everyone looks sad.

Rick tells the others that the house is clear. Tara asks how it happened. He tells her the Saviors did something to their weapons. Whoever was cut up or shot, got sick, and some turned. Daryl says Tara told him that she was done waiting. He could have killed Dwight, and should have. She says, no; he wanted to be there with them, but no matter how hard he tried, she wanted him dead. She couldn’t let it be anything else. Karma’s a bitch. Rick ponders that.

Outside, the struggle is real. Alden tells Maggie that some of them are trying to keep the gate closed. She sees some of the Saviors bracing the gate against the zombies. Siddiq tells her that he went to check on the prisoners, but the pen was empty. She asks Alden where they went, but he says they just ran. He tells her that he and the ones left had plenty of chances to run, but maybe it doesn’t matter to her.

Carol looks for Henry with Ezekiel. Enid tells them that he broke into the pen before the Saviors escaped. Carol says she told him this would happen, like that helps. Morgan thinks this over. Gavin appears, and keeps repeating, you know what it is, until he’s yelling. Morgan says, no.

Jerry and Jesus bury their people. Diane asks Maggie, what is it? and Maggie says, the cost. Rick nods sagely, and we end with a crane shot of all the graves.

I wonder why they kept focusing on Rick’s wound…

Next time, Rick goes hunting, Rosita wants the bullet maker, Jadis drags Negan out of the container she’d kept Rick in, Ezekiel wants to look for Henry and calls Carol a coward.

👹 Fear the Walking Dead returns on April 15th, and looks promising. The group takes over an amusement park, and raises sheep. Morgan also joins them, and Victor sports a new hairdo.

⚓ Talking Dead was bumped up an hour tonight to make room for a sneak preview of new series, The Terror. Set in 1847, and based on a true story about a ship that disappeared, the crew of a Royal Naval expedition searches for the Arctic’s treacherous Northwest Passage. Instead, they discover a monstrous predator. The two-hour premiere begins at 9 pm on Monday. The first hour was basically a set-up for the horror to come, but it looks good.

🍑 Kenya’s husband finally made an appearance on The Real Housewives of Atlanta, when she launched her PSA on domestic violence. The main takeaway point for me though, was what the hell was NeNe wearing? A muumuu?  That outfit was worse than the one Sheree was wearing for the pictorial she sent to her incarcerated boyfriend. Next time, a Halloween costume party. I’m not sure what difference this will make from any other episode at this point.

😔 It’s Ba-a-ack…

Mar19

March 18, 2018 – Even When He’s Not There Negan’s There & a Terrorfying Premiere

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What I Watched Today

(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)

 

The Walking Dead

Negan smiles, Simon squints, Dwight looks like he has a headache. Negan tells Dwight, welcome home, and says it’s good having him back. He needs his top guys out in front acing this sh*t. He heard Dwight had a close call. Dwight tells him that they were ambushed, and makes up an explanation. Negan says his people need to keep their business in order. He tells Dwight to slug a beer, and put on his best clothes. They have work to do.

Negan has his men gut some zombies. He says Hilltop will drop to their knees when they see what he’s packing. Simon says it’s about scaring them. No head shots, just flesh wounds, and if they die, let them turn; don’t kill them. He tells Dwight to ride with him. Dwight says he’s going to scout on his bike, but Simon says they have more expendable scouts for that. Not that Dwight is expendable. Ride with him, and he’ll bring Dwight up to speed on the plan. Dwight gets in the truck

Negan puts the business end of Lucille into a bucket of zombie guts.

Rick cuddles Judith. Daryl approves. Rick visits the graves of those they’ve lost. Daryl thinks about the people who are gone, and the ones still there. It ain’t right or fair. He says he’d just wanted it done at the Sanctuary, and didn’t care who was there. Rick says he didn’t want to risk killing innocent people, and should have just cared about theirs. Daryl says, keep fighting. Rick is going to Hilltop, and Daryl says he’ll go too. Rick thinks they should split up; cover as much ground as they can. He insists he’s okay, and tells Daryl thanks Rick for getting them there.

Maggie wonders if they’ll come back. Rosita says they’ll just keep things going. It will be harder when it’s quiet. Maggie says, not if Negan’s dead; not for her. Rosita says not her either. Maggie looks through binoculars, and sees someone messing with a milk crate near the forest.

Simon asks what Dwight makes of the road trip. He says, let’s rap; let’s get candid; let’s get weird. There’s nobody here but us chickens. Here’s the point where I would jump out of the moving car. In Simon’s analysis, Hilltop will cower and cave when they deliver yet another warning. Dwight says they don’t get paid to think, but Simon values Dwight’s opinion. He’s been on both sides of the iron. Simon has his doubts it will deliver the desired outcome. Dwight asks if Simon thinks they should do something different, but he says, no. They’re going with the big man’s plan. They’ve thrown a lot at Rick’s people, but they keep fighting. He keeps seeing the same answer – they don’t scare. I’m wondering why they would at this point, since they live in a world run by zombies.

Maggie gets a message from the milk crate person, asking for food and phonograph records in exchange for the key to the future. Michonne says they’re not Saviors. Rosita says if it’s a trap, it’s obvious. Maggie tells them that’s what makes it a trap. Michonne asks, what if they’re trying to help? Maggie thinks there are two outcomes; they can miss out or die. Michonne says she’ll go. The last time she took chance, it changed everything. Rick might not agree or understand, but eventually he will. Maggie keeps looking through the binoculars, and decides they’ll go.

Simon and Dwight decide to stick to the plan, and don’t engage. Looking through his binoculars, Rick sees the Saviors coming through. He sees Negan driving by, and gets in his car.

Rick follows Negan, who steps on the gas, and Rick gives chase. Dwight and Simon see, but don’t realize it’s Rick. They follow, and Simon tells the others to stay in their lane; they might have company. He thinks there might be others. He meets the rest of the Saviors, and tells them that someone pushed Negan off the road, but it looks like just one driver; nothing they can’t handle. Just in case, he and Dwight are going to check it out; it might be a ploy to divide them. He made sure no one else could come that way by turning the truck sideways to block the street. He tells the others to do the same on that end, and cut down anything that comes close. He and Dwight are going to locate their benefactor.

Negan’s car is on it’s side, and he opens his eyes to a car full of guts. Rick gets out shooting, and Negan scrambles out of the car. Zombies are coming from everywhere. For the first time ever, Negan looks scared, and runs into the closest building. Rick runs after him, but Negan is waiting, and whacks him with Lucille. Negan jets, and Rick runs after him, shooting. Zombies begin to amble in. Negan runs upstairs, and Rick runs out of bullets. Negan tells him to come on up, and Rick chucks an ax at him. Dodging it, Negan crashes into the railing, which breaks apart, and he falls. He manages to hang on, but as Rick is about to bring down the ax on his hands, he lets go, but doesn’t miss the opportunity to call Rick an a-hole.

Michonne, Maggie, and Enid come to a van turned sideways in the road. Three women stand in front, and the leader, an older blonde woman, introduces herself as Georgie. The other two are her dark-haired protectors, twins Hilda and Midge. Georgie thinks they must be curious to see what they get for food and music. She adds that the records must be music; no spoken word. Because they’re out there, she sees they can take care of themselves. She doesn’t share with the weak.

Rosita pats the women down. Maggie wants them to give what they have, but Georgie says she can’t do it. What she’s bearing is knowledge, which is primarily in her head, and she’d prefer to keep her head where it is. This isn’t a trick; it’s a trade. Maggie asks, why, and Georgie says, what else should she do? Rosita looks in the truck, but Georgie says what’s in there isn’t part of the deal. She asks how many are in the community, and Maggie says not many. Georgie says they have something special. The apocalypse has brought out the best and the worst of people. So far, the worst are out-pacing them, but it won’t last forever, and the good will be worthless without a sustainable future. Enid says there’s no way people survive doing what they’re doing. Georgie says they do, and will. She can divine that they’re a fine group, manners notwithstanding. Maggie says they’re coming back to Hilltop.

Negan whistles, the thing I hate most about him. Rick asks if he’s still alive. Negan says he’s a goddam cat. He looks for Lucille, and a zombie drops down. Rick asks where Negan’s people are; shouldn’t they be here by now? Negan says they’re coming, but Rick says this is where he dies, in the dark, all alone. Negan asks what the hell Rick’s problem is. He thought they were working through sh*t, but Rick is the most stubborn pr*ck he’s ever crossed d*cks with. Was Negan a sailor before the apocalypse? Negan asks Rick to let him save them. He’s good at it. Their kids will grow up safe. They haven’t lost one in the communities he’s taken over. They were doing fine until Rick came along. Rick sees a door with boards nailed across it. One of them says EATERS!

Negan says Rick failed his boy, and failed his people. It makes him sick thinking about it; the wasted potential. He says there’s still hope for Rick though. A onetime deal made in memory of Rick’s badass son, someone he actually respected. If Rick gets his people to fall in line, the arrangement is back in place and all is forgiven. He’ll even lower his take to 25%, but Rick has to work for him doing janitorial work. His people will live like 75% kings. It’s like Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa all rolled into one. Rick says, after what he did to Tardis’s Jadis’s people? Negan is like, huh? and Rick says they killed a whole community of scavengers. A whole community wiped out; is that how he saves people? Negan says, son of a bitch. Rick says it’s times like this when you realize who your true friends are. No one is coming for him.

Rick finds Lucille.

Simon figures Dwight must have thought about clipping Negan himself. Negan took his wife and burned his face. Dwight says, no, not once. Simon is impressed, saying Dwight chose to survive instead of focusing on his own discomforts. Dwight says he did what he had too. Simon tells him their leader isn’t doing the same. If it was his call, he’d branch out, find new places, and make new relationships. He’d make sure the Saviors survive and move on from past discomforts (his word of the day), as Dwight chose to. What does he say? Dwight says, move on.

They see Negan’s car, but no Negan. Simon thinks he could be anywhere; alive, dead, or somewhere in between. They could face a distasteful moment, or walk away, get back to their people, and make things better. This is a critical point in history. Something to tell their grandkids about. Dwight lights a cigarette, which is what we’d all do at this point. He takes a drag, then flicks it at the car, which bursts into flames. Simon tells him, good answer.

Maggie tells Jerry that it will be dark soon, and to get ready. He knows what to do. Michonne says she should make a deal with Georgie, or let them go before the Saviors get there. Maggie says she can’t let them go. She has mouths to feed, and they have crates of food. Let me just stop here and say, excuse me? Is she suggesting they do basically what the Saviors do? Enid says Maggie is right. If they don’t take it, someone else will, and kill them. It’s a miracle they’re still alive. The Saviors are on their way, and they’re going to fight. Why give a sh*t about people who don’t give a sh*t? They need to stop pretending things just work out; they don’t. Michonne says Carl rescued Siddiq. Now they have a doctor and a friend. She says Carl was brave, and Enid says, now he’s dead. Michonne tells Enid to step back, and Enid wisely leaves without arguing. Maggie tells Michonne things just don’t work out, and Michonne says, no, they don’t. Carl knew that, but didn’t give up on what Rick wanted him to be, and they can’t either.

Rick tells Negan he can’t save him, his people, or anyone, because he doesn’t care about people. He uses them. The only thing he cares about is his bat, and he can’t even save that. He’ll make a deal with Negan. He can kill her goodbye. Negan says, don’t touch her, and Rick sets Lucille on fire. He tells Negan to come get her. He starts battering the boards across the door. Negan rushes him, and they both fall into the room.

Zombies grab at them. Rick tries to whack Negan, and sets a couple of zombies on fire. Negan calls him, a goddam psychopath, saying he’ll get them both killed. Rick says as long as he goes first. Negan shoves him, and they tussle. Negan gets Lucille back. Rick punches out some zombies, and Negan climbs out a window. Rick follows.

Negan comes out to the parking lot, and is like, dude, where’s my car?

Michonne brings out records. Georgie says she’s changing the terms. They can have a sizeable portion of the food. They need it more. Maggie wonders in exchange for what? Georgie says, records and good faith. It’s not a gift; it’s a barter. She’ll be back. Maybe not for a while, but she expects great things. She takes out a thick manuscript, with the title, A Key to the Future. She tells Maggie there are handwritten plans for windmills, irrigation, and such; a book of medieval human achievement. They can have a future from the past. The originals are in her head, but she made a few photocopies. Maggie thanks her. Georgie tells her to build the place up. She wants a crate filled when she comes back. Maggie says she’ll see what can do. Georgie and her friends leave. I swear, I saw the same guy walk behind Maggie in the exact same way twice during that conversation.

Enid tells Michonne that she killed Netanya. I’m hoping Enid feels like a big jerk right about now. She says Netanya was out there, killing whoever she came across, so she killed her. She killed someone, and is alive; Carl saved someone, and he’s dead. How are they supposed to do this? Stop fighting? Michonne doesn’t think Carl wanted them to stop fighting. He’d want them to fight for the future, but to get to the future, they have to do more than fighting. The Saviors are coming. They’re going to fight them, but they have to be something after.

The Saviors stand around picking their noses. Dwight and Simon return the group. One of the Saviors asks where Negan is, and Simon tells him that they couldn’t find him. Dwight says he wasn’t in his car, just blood. The Savior asks, what’s next? and Simon asks who he is. He says, Negan. Simon tells them that they’re all Negan. It doesn’t matter if he’s not there. They’re still Negan. They don’t know if he’s gone; he could be back, but their plan is Negan’s plan. They go to Hilltop, and put the fear of God in them until they get with the program. After what they just did, it’s beyond time for them to accept it, but once they do, it will become crystal clear. They have one thing left to do. They must expunge them; redact them. They’re a mistake that shall now be erased. They’re moving on. He sounds like Negan. Dwight ponders heavily about Negan.

Negan sleeps in a car, while someone else drives. It’s Xanax Jadis, who has a gun on him with her free hand. He opens his eyes, and laughs. He says, well, sh*t. She tells him to shut up, and whacks him in the head with the butt of the gun.

Next time, Maggie says, here we go.

😱 Next week, March 25th, Talking Dead will be on an hour later. Following Walking Dead, AMC will be showing a sneak preview of their new series, The Terror, which premieres on Monday, March 26th. Based on a true story, The Terror is about a Royal Naval expedition searching for the Arctic’s treacherous Northwest Passage. Instead, they discover a monstrous predator. From what I’ve seen, it looks freaky good, and I’m definitely giving it a look.

⛲ I’ve been watching To Rome for Love, but face it, we already know the end to these long-distance romance stories. Unless they end up on 90 Day Fiancé, it ain’t happenin’. Seriously, if you want a crappy relationship, you can find one here.

⚓ The Terror Trailer

http://www.amc.com/shows/the-terror/video-extras/the-terror-season-1-trailer?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=The%20Terror%20-%20Brand&utm_term=the%20terror&utm_content=The%20Terror%20Generic-ID:1000305&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIi8TV0dL32QIVmbrACh3fXgVxEAAYASAAEgINafD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

🙈 I’m Scared Already…

Terror2

Terror

Mar16

March 15, 2018 – Franco & Drew Are Trapped, Butcher’s Block Concludes & Friday Fun

Posted on by
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What I Watched Today

(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)

 

General Hospital

Kim tells Elizabeth that Oscar wants to thank Franco personally for helping save his father. She’s sorry the earth swallowed up Elizabeth’s wedding day, and asks if there’s a new date.

Sam calls Drew, but gets voicemail. She’s getting worried. Alexis comes into the office with an update on Molly, but wonders what Sam is doing in Drew’s office. Sam says she hasn’t heard from him since yesterday.

Drew opens his eyes. He and Franco are lying on a concrete floor in a basement. He tells Franco to get up, but Franco is out cold.

Curtis says Ned is the mayor, a man of action; he digs it. Ned says Jim burned them; how can they burn him back? Curtis says he messed with the quality of life on Charles Street, and Ned says he was drilling for gas with no permit. Jordan says she’ll jump on the smallest mistake he makes. Ned tells them that Jim played on his political ambitions. It’s time to turn the tables, and use his biggest weakness against him – his greed.

Jim tells someone on the phone that it doesn’t make sense, but he’s in the middle of another crisis, so they’ll talk later. One of his thugs knocks on the door, and says Franco and Drew are safe and sound in a quiet place. Jim says this isn’t good. He’s not a thug; he’s a businessman. Geez, you could have fooled me. He’s pretty much been all thug since he came to town. He asks why “Bobby and Andy” couldn’t leave past where it belongs.

Elizabeth says the wedding is on hold for the moment. Kim asks if she wants to talk, and Elizabeth says Franco kept something important from her. He’s done it before, and she’s forgiven him, but he promised to be honest. Kim says she’s the last person to be giving relationship advice, but people have secrets. We keep things from each other to protect them or protect ourselves. She kept Oscar from his father. Elizabeth says it was something significant about Franco’s past, and it had everything to do with Drew. She asks if Drew ever talked about his childhood. Kim says Drew asked same thing, but she didn’t know much. They talked about almost anything except that.

Sam tells Alexis that when she and Drew were on their way out of the hospital, Jim found them. Alexis asks what that Neanderthal wanted. Sam says he claims to have known Franco and Drew when they were small, calling them Bobby and Andy. He told them Betsy sent Drew to an orphanage because Franco tried to kill him. Alexis says children of that age don’t have the sensoria to be legally culpable. Sam tells her that Franco pushed Drew down the stairs and the last she heard from him, Drew was going to confront Franco, but she doesn’t know where he was headed.

Drew touches Franco, and Franco jumps up. He tells Drew his head hurts, and asks where they are. Something tells him they’re not in Jim’s hotel room. Drew says after the thugs showed up, it’s a blur. Franco says this is what it feels like to be knocked out, and Drew says this is what it feels like to be tased. Franco says them together, where he’s guessing there’s no way out. Maybe they’re dead and it’s hell.

At the MetroCourt, Lulu tells Dante that she and Maxie were best friends. If the damage is ever going to be repaired, she’ll have to take the first step. Dante thinks it’s a bad idea, and the first step is to wait. Since she’s really stupid and pushy, Lulu says she can’t; the friendship means too much. Apparently, her feelings alone define the relationship.

At one of the tables, Maxie tells Peter all she can think about are the test results. Lulu comes to the table, and says they need to talk. Peter doesn’t think it’s the time or place, and Dante says, let’s go, but Maxie says, no. Lulu is right. They need to talk.

Jim’s thug reassures him that Franco and Drew can’t get out, and asks what he’s going to do. Jim isn’t sure, and says he’ll figure it out. There’s a knock at the door. It’s Ned, and Jim tells his thug, good work, and to keep him apprised. The thug leaves, and Ned thanks Jim for the donation; the city owes him. Jim says Port Charles has been good to him, but this can’t be a social visit. Ned says it isn’t. Jim has done so much for Port Charles; he’s there to discuss what he can do for Jim.

Elizabeth doesn’t want to give Kim the specifics of what Franco’s secret was, and feels badly dumping on her, and then not sharing. Kim says she’ll always care about Drew, but he can take care of himself. Epiphany comes by, and asks where Franco is. He blew off his clients, with no heads up or explanation. He can’t leave patients hanging because he’s in a mood. Elizabeth says that’s not like him; there must be a good reason. Epiphany says to tell him that Dr. Quartermaine is going to hear about it. Elizabeth tells Kim that she told him not to come home, after he’d said she makes him better and he’s lost without her. She has to find him.

Sam says the last time Drew checked in, he was dealing with Franco and hung up. Alexis asks how worried she is, and Sam says, how worried do you think? Her calls are going to voicemail, and he’s not getting her texts. She’s probably overreacting, but if it was Jason she wouldn’t worry. It’s normal for him. She’s been thinking a lot about Jason and Drew. She hasn’t been honest with either them or herself.

Franco yells for help, and then says of all people, he should know better that they’re in a soundproof room. It’s in Kidnapping for Dummies. Drew’s guess is that it’s a building that’s going to be demolished for reconstruction. Franco thinks that’s a good bet. He says it’s so weird that the first time they agree, it’s something like this. Drew says any workers they find, work for the man who put them there. They might try to finish them off.

Peter asks if Maxie is sure, and she says she is. He tells her, good luck, and gets up. Dante tells Peter that they should have a chat as well. Peter asks if it’s a police matter, and he says, yes. They step away. Lulu wants Maxie to know she’s done a lot of soul searching since the funeral, about her choice to lay a trap for that monster. Maxie says, it worked, and Lulu says, at a terrible cost. Maxie says Lulu was just doing her job, writing sensational stories, no matter who gets hurt. Lulu says she told Peter that she was ready to walk away, but he talked her out of it. Maxie says she never intended to walk away; it was a gesture to ease her conscience. She’s immune to rules and consequences, and nothing is ever her fault. Lulu wants to make it right. She misses Maxie. Maxie says she misses Nathan. He’s not there to help her, or tell her what to do about the baby. Lulu asks if something is wrong, and Maxie says the baby might have inherited a fatal disease from Faison.

Jordan looks at a map, telling Curtis that each pin represents the loss of a home or business, all because of that SOB Jim. It will take years to rebuild and recover. Curtis knows it’s frustrating, but she’s the police commissioner, who brings bad guys to justice, like the man who caused this devastation. She asks if Curtis is actually trusting the legal system, and he says he trusts her. This isn’t just another case. TJ could have been killed, Molly almost was, and his auntie was put in harm’s way. Someone needs to pay. Jordan says, someone will.

Ned tells Jim that he wouldn’t be mayor if not for his support, but Jim says the people voted him in. Anything he did to help was his pleasure. Ned says he’s in a position to return the favor. Jim had plans to keep the city’s original character, while building new housing and boosting the economy. Now it’s all lost in the rubble. Jim says it’s not his first rodeo. When you dream big, you have to take big risks, and sometimes they don’t pay off. Ned says he’s awfully cool about it, and Jim says, never let them see you sweat. Ned tells him that he can’t leave Jim holding a title to worthless property, but he can buy back all of the Niagara properties at a price that’s more than fair. He writes a figure on a paper, hands it to Jim, and asks if they have a deal. Jim says, sorry, and Ned laughs, saying it’s more than generous. Why not take it? Jim says he knows why.

Sam tells Alexis that she and Jason were at the Quartermaines when the earthquake hit. They took Jason’s bike to find Drew, and ended up at a construction site trailer. Alexis asks if she slept with him, and Sam says, no; they almost died. Alexis reminds her that she’s the mother of two children, and this only happens when she’s with Jason. Sam says they managed to get out before the explosion, and Alexis says, of course. Sam says she had to tell Jason the truth. She loves him and always will.

Drew tells Franco they didn’t take everything, and hands him a candy bar. Franco says Jim is lying about what happened when they were kids. Drew says they can put that on their tombstones, and Franco admires his relentless optimism. Drew says they wouldn’t be in this mess if he’d stuck to the plan. Why didn’t he leave? Franco says Jim kept talking to him. Drew knows; he was listening. The guy is a jerk, but didn’t say anything to make him freeze. When he got there, Franco was curled in a ball. What happened?

Dante tells Peter that he gave him a pass at Nathan’s funeral. He didn’t want to add to the pain. He says Peter pressured Lulu because he saw dollar signs. He didn’t care who he put in harm’s way. Peter says he almost got shot. Dante says Nathan did, and Peter got a headline. Peter says it was Nathan’s decision, and asks if Dante doesn’t think his wife is capable of making up her own mind. Well…

Maxie tells Lulu that Faison had Huntington’s disease. It explains a lot. At worst, it affects the motor control and brain function, and is inevitably fatal. It might have been passed on, and she’s waiting for the test results. Lulu asks what the chances are, and Maxie says there was a 50% chance of Nathan having it. If he did, there’s a 50% chance of the baby having it. Lulu says that’s not going to happen, and Maxie asks, why? Because she doesn’t want it and she said so? Either it happens or not, and if it does, there’s nothing she can do, except wait for the symptoms to show up. She asks, what are years to parents? You blink, and they go from diapers to the prom. There’s nothing she can do. Lulu says she can love the baby and teach it about Nathan. Maxie tells her, don’t you dare. She doesn’t get to bury Maxie’s husband, walk over his grave, and pretend like they’re besties again. Lulu starts to say she thought – and Maxie says, thought what? She had to bury her husband, and Nathan’s not here. The baby might be sick, and he’s not there to help her through it because of Lulu.

Jim tells Ned he’s a man of his word; when he starts something, he finishes it. Ned says no one is going to build a high-rise on a fault, but Jim points out San Francisco is on the San Andreas. Ned says they know what they’re dealing with. This came out of nowhere; it went from stable to unpredictable, and cost Jim millions. Jim says, you know what they say; one man’s disaster is another’s blessing. Ned asks if that’s really what they say, and Jim tells him, there’s another saying, cut the crap. Jim says Ned knows there’s a huge deposit of natural gas under the city. What kind of businessman would he be if he sold the land back? Ned says it wasn’t just discovered. Jim used him because he needed the Quartermaine stamp of approval. Jim says, and he got elected. Ned says Jim leaked the article, and Jim tells him that they both win. Ned got what he wanted, and Jim is sitting on a fortune. He tells Ned that he’s the mayor. Stop crying foul, and have a cigar; he earned it.

Elizabeth tells Kim that she keeps getting Franco’s voicemail. Kim asks if she knows where he’s staying, and she says she called Kiki, but she hasn’t seen him. His studio is on Charles Street, but she doesn’t know what condition it’s in. She’s getting worried. Kim says maybe he’s not missing, and just keeping his distance like she asked. Elizabeth says that’s not like Franco.

Alexis asks Sam what happened to not acting on her feelings? Sam say she doesn’t want to live life not telling the truth. She’s in love with both of them. She tried to shut her feelings off with Jason, but couldn’t do it, and can’t think of cutting off Drew. She has to be honest. She’s already told Jason, and now Alexis, and needs to tell Drew. Alexis wonders how he’ll react, but Sam doesn’t know. She says it’s up to him to decide. She doesn’t get to decide how he reacts, and has no idea. All she knows is that she has to be honest. Alexis thinks she should take more time, but Sam says she has to go. Alexis asks where, and she says to get answers.

Franco starts to shut down, and Drew says he’s doing it again. He thinks he knows PTSD when he sees it, and tells Franco he’s in the safest place. Tell him what Jim did. Franco flashes back to Jim calling him a liar and saying no one will believe him. He tells Drew he can’t talk about it.

Lulu tells Maxie that they’ll face it together. Maxie asks if she’s serious, and wants to use the baby to ease her conscience. Maxie tells her that for every tear she’s shed, she prays Lulu sheds an ocean full. For every sleepless night, she hopes Lulu never gets another night’s rest. She tells Lulu to stay away from her and her child. Peter and Dante return, and Peter tells Maxie not to stress for the baby’s sake. Alexis wanders over, and Maxie says her timing is perfect. She wants to file a restraining order on Lulu.

Curtis tells Jordan if Ned thinks he’s going to take down the man who played him like a harmonica, he’s dreaming. Jordan says she’s not counting on Ned. She’s counting on someone willing to take a risk, and willing to bend the law just enough not to break it. Curtis says someone with a vested interest in the evictions and harassment, who knows that the earthquake was used as a get-rich-quick scheme? She says, something like that. He thinks he knows the man.

Kim has to go back to work, and tells Elizabeth if she needs a friend, she’s there. Sam comes barreling in, and asks Elizabeth, where the hell is Franco?

Franco bangs on the door. Drew says it’s reinforced steel, and tells him to get a grip. He puts his hand on Franco’s arm, and Franco says if Drew touches him again… Drew asks what he’s going to do, calling him Bobby. He asks if Franco is going to try to kill him again.

Dante tells Alexis there’s no need; it’s a personal matter. Maxie suggests they keep it that way. Alexis is sorry about what’s going on, and hopes it works out. Lulu says she’s going back to work, or this is all for nothing. Peter asks if Maxie wants the day off, but she thinks diving into work is good for her. Her phone rings. It’s Kim, who just got word. The amnio results are in.

Curtis tells Jordan that he’s going to bring down Jim. She asks him to wait, and he wonders if she’s going to deputize him. She kisses him, and says now he’s deputized. Go be brilliant.

Ned cracks the cigar in half. He tells Jim that he’s going to the commissioner and blowing him out of the water. Jim says, be his guest. He’ll tells them that Ned always knew. They’ll never believe a savvy businessman got into bed with Niagara and didn’t know. Ned says he’ll take his chances. Jim says, do that, or do his job. The city stands to make a fortune in tax revenue. Show his responsibility to Port Charles. Ned reminds him about Charles Street, and Jim says they’ll find somewhere else to live. Ned says that most of them can’t afford it. Jim suggests he start a foundation to help them make the transition or they can move out of the city. Ned stomps out the door. Jim says how it turns out now, is up to him. He’s gone to far to stop now, and no one is getting in his way.

Elizabeth asks Sam why she’s so anxious. Sam says Drew is missing, and she thinks Franco knows something.

Franco says Drew trusted him at some point. He gave him the rabbit’s foot for Christmas, saying Franco was the best friend he ever had. He says it didn’t happen the way Jim is laying it out. He put them there to cover up what happened, and they’re stuck. He hands Drew the rabbit’s foot, and Drew asks why give it to him? Franco says he needs all the luck he can get.

Tomorrow, Peter’s test results are back, Sam threatens to take Franco out herself, and Mike asks Sonny if he’s supposed to sign his life away.

😱 Zero Time

There seems to be a bit of a lull in TV viewing this week. I haven’t seen any of this season of Once Upon a Time yet, but I did catch up with Channel Zero: Butcher’s Block, which had its finale this week. I hate that the seasons are so short with this show, even if I barely grasp what’s going on in it. Although anything is less opaque than the monster made of teeth on the first season, Channel Zero: Candle Cove. What was that thing about? Fear of dentistry?

This time around, the story centered around two sisters, a town full of disappearances, and the Peach family. The Peaches once owned much of the town, including Peach’s Meats, a meat processing plant that still looms over the center of the city. Like in Motel Hell where it takes all kinds of critters make Farmer Vincent’s fritters, there’s more to the meat than meets (ha-ha) the eye. Sisters Alice and Zoe (Olivia Luccardi and Holland Roden), move to the town for a fresh start. Zoe is schizophrenic and on medication, Alice is on the verge, or at least afraid of it, since their mother was also mentally ill. Landlady Louise (Krisha Fairchild), whose hobby is taxidermy, is trying to uncover the mystery of the missing Peach family and disappearances of locals over the years, one of whom is her brother. The Peaches vanished after their two daughters were murdered and something – probably a human sacrifice – was found in their basement. Afterwards, locals started to disappear. The sisters and Louise discover that the Peaches aren’t gone, but have merely changed energy and are still among us. Meanwhile, the sheriff’s son, Luke (Brandon Scott), has his hands full with an escaping Peach who is wreaking havoc on the town by eating some of its residents. Along with that, there is door to nowhere, a weird baby man called Smart Mouth, people in weird baby masks (which is even worse), and dinners consisting of kidney parfait with an ear wafer garnish. There is also a red door, but not the spa kind. Among it all is Rutger Hauer as Joseph Peach, patriarch and head cannibal/sacrifice leader. Rutger is a catch for any production, having played the best of the good guys (Ladyhawke) and the worst of the bad guys (The Hitcher). No surprise, he did not disappoint as the somewhat in-between Joseph, and in a way, got the last word. A lot of it was a strange foray into the human psyche, and all of it was a wild, gory ride. The three existing seasons of Channel Zero can be found On Demand.

🚂 You’re Almost There…

FridaySong

FridayDance

Swag

Mar12

March 11, 2018 – Gabriel’s Great Escape, a Bit of TV News & Weekend Over

Posted on by
Standard

What I Watched Today

(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)

 

 

The Walking Dead

A carload of Saviors is out hunting for Morgan and Dr. Carson. Daryl sneaks around under a bridge. He’s leading a group scouting the roads. Tara tosses a zombie at Dwight, claiming it got away. Dwight kills it, and Daryl tells everyone to keep it moving.

Dr. Carson drives, and Gabriel asks if they’ve passed the Linus overpass, but the doctor doesn’t know. Gabriel says it’s going to be okay and have some faith. They’re on the right path if not the right road. He studies a map, but has difficulty focusing. Carson tells him that he’s is suffering from a serious complication. Does he really think God is leading the way? Gabriel says God is always leading the way, and Carson says maybe God should be driving. Gabriel jokes about Him leaving too many footprints, and a zombie drags itself along next to the car. Maybe Gabriel just needs glasses.

Carson asks about a mile marker, and if Gabriel can see it. Gabriel says he can’t, and Carson says he was stupid to let him leave, but he’s sick and there are antibiotics at Hilltop. Gabriel asks if he hears something, almost like a bell. I don’t. Carson isn’t too thrilled with leaving the car, but they walk through the forest, and come to a cabin. Gabriel says it’s not a bell, but might be their salvation. Carson doesn’t think so.

Rosita says the group needs rest. Daryl says, ten minutes. Tara asks why Dwight is still breathing; she’s done. Rosita tells her that he may have an angle, and tells her to knock it off; at least until they get to Hilltop.

Morgan and Henry guard the prisoners at Hilltop. Carol says she can take over. Jared yells that the kid is freaking people out, and they should move him along. The Saviors are going to roll up and let them out anyway. Henry asks Morgan, who killed his brother? Morgan tells him to go and eat. Henry asks Carol why they’re not telling him. She says he’s a child, and he’s done too much already. Morgan tells her that Henry knows how to live, and it doesn’t bother him. She says he’s not fine, and neither is Morgan. She tells him to take a break, and takes a turn as guard.

Negan is disappointed. This crap should be over. His only doctor and that creepy-ass priest jumped ship without anyone knowing. He asks if Eugene has any idea how it happened, but Eugene is not venturing any guesses. Negan says Carson is a weasel like his brother, and once their asses are caught, he’ll get the whole story – one way or another. And Alexandria – Eugene asks what went down there, and Negan asks why does he care? They tried to blow him off the earth. He tells Eugene that he’s going to be in charge of his own outpost. He needs his bullet-maker to be making bullets. He’s going to provide the next bang-bang Negan needs to settle this situation for good. Eugene asks what about people as resources, and Negan says bullets are a last resort. If Rick and his merry band of pricks decided to pull sh*t, then they’ll have to pull sh*t. It will be some that they don’t want, but it’s on them. Eugene is going to have everything he needs to keep his head in the game. Eugene asks if there will be wine, which would be my first question, and Negan says there will indeed.

Inside the cabin, Morgan shakes a piggy bank and laughs. He tries to read something from a notepad. Looking out the window, Carson says, clear so far. He tells Morgan that he should be lying down. It’s lucky they found this place. Morgan says luck had nothing to do with it. Morgan gives Carson the pad, and Carson says the owner was a radio operator. He looks through the pad, the owner writing that even if he can’t be helped, maybe he can help someone else. There are pages of radio calls, but they all say, no signal. Morgan says that they don’t know if others might have been reached, but the operator never found out. Or maybe it gave them strength to go on, even if they didn’t reach anyone. Carson opens the bedroom door. He sees a zombie cuffed to the bed with a plastic bag over its head. He says, didn’t happen.

Daryl goes over the map. Rosita thinks they should keep moving. Daryl wonders about the swamp. Dwight says it’s one place the Saviors won’t be. Negan thought it was too dangerous and not worth the risk. Tara asks if Daryl is seriously considering what Dwight has to say. If it’s too dangerous for the Saviors, why send them? Why should they trust Dwight? He could turn on them like he did his own people. Dwight says they all saw what happens if one of them gets away. If they find him, his head will be on a pike. He’s not fighting for them, and he’s not going back there. He wants to help them beat Negan. After that, he knows how it ends. Daryl says, fine; they’ll try the swamp. Tara is stunned.

One of the Kingdom Hilltoppers tells Maggie that they finished taking inventory. They’re barely going to make it through another week, and it will be worse if they include the prisoners. Jesus is still out scavenging, and might bring something back.

Carson takes a gun from the corpse, and tells Gabriel to lie down; he’s fighting a serious infection. Gabriel gives Carson some prescription bottles, and he looks through them. He says two are antibiotics, and this may have just saved his life. Gabriel tells Carson that he’s not saying a word.

Dwight says he’s doing it for Sherry. She let Daryl out and ran; she must be out there somewhere. Daryl looks at the swamp. Rosita says they can do it. Someone suggests a small group push through, and make a path for the others. Rosita asks if Tara is coming, but she’s hanging back. The small group starts to walk through.

Maggie asks Gregory what he wants. He says they haven’t seen eye to eye, and loyalties have been questioned, but his behavior has been good. She says he’s staying in there. He says she can’t keep him there forever, and she tells him give her a reason to kill him and she won’t have to. Another prisoner says they’ve been good, and she still took one out; they don’t have to be enemies. Maggie asks what Gregory wants. They want to go outside on good behavior; one at a time under armed guard. Maggie says she doesn’t have the resources to oblige, even if she wanted to. And BTW, she’s cutting off their rations in a few days, maybe longer. Her people come first; she has no choice. Gregory thinks she does.

Rosita and the others continue through the swamp. A zombie pops up in front of her, and she stabs it in the head. Daryl is impressed. Groot! Never mind. It’s just a tree. Zombies start to rise from the water like something out of Creepy comics. Daryl and Siddiq go through the water, stabbing them one by one.

Tara tells Dwight he just volunteered to kill some zombies, and gives him a knife.

Carson says Gabriel’s fever has broken. He tells Gabriel that if there’s no improvement in his eyesight soon, there will be permanent damage. Morgan is like, oh well, and Carson asks if losing his vision doesn’t scare him or piss him off. Gabriel says he’s letting Him lead the way. He tells Carson that he can’t see it, but can feel the look on his face. He’s not saying God led them there, but to find meaning in it. He knocks the piggy bank over, and it breaks. Carson finds car keys and a map inside. He looks at the map, and says they’re no more than a few miles off.

Tara follows Dwight through the forest, covering him with a gun. He stabs a zombie. He tells her that he’s sorry about Denise. He truly is. He doesn’t expect forgiveness; he doesn’t deserve it. He just wants her to know. She says he should have stayed with the Saviors. He says he hates them. He hates Negan. Tara doesn’t care. She says switching sides doesn’t make it okay; it never will. He asks what killing him will do, and she says, make her feel hella better. She shoots at him, but he ducks behind a tree, and runs. He stops in a clearing. He says he knew it would happen, but he’d wanted to help them win first. They hear people coming, and hide.

It’s the group of Saviors from the car. Tara holds the gun to Dwight’s head.

Carson and Gabriel head for the garage. Gabriel looks up, and a warning sign comes into focus. He yells for Carson to stop, but it’s too late. Carson steps into an animal trap. His leg is caught, and here comes a zombie. Oh, great. Now they’re coming out of the woodwork… er, forest. Carson shoots at one, but another falls on him. He shoots that one, but there’s another right behind, and he drops the gun. Gabriel crawls over, and finds the gun. He blindly shoots, and miraculously hits the zombie and not Carson. Carson says he did it, and Gabriel says he might have had some help.

Tara continues to hold the gun on Dwight. She looks like a nut. Dwight walks out to the road. One of the Saviors says they thought he was dead. He says he got caught in an ambush, but got away. He spent the night hiding and running, and trying to make it back. He asks what happened to Laura, and they say, sorry, no one has seen her. They’re going to Alexandria, and thought they’d check out the swamp. Dwight tells them that he just came from there, and to steer clear of it. He takes a gun from one of them, and says he’ll lead the way. Tara can’t believe it. She’s surprised all over the place tonight.

Rosita tells Daryl that she saw Tara running after Dwight. He asks why Rosita didn’t stop her, and Rosita says, no one could have stopped her. When she gets back, Dwight gets in Tara’s face, saying he told her to wait. Dwight could tell them everything. She says he saved them; he led the Saviors away. Daryl doesn’t care, and starts cursing everything. Then he sees Tobin covering Judith’s ears, and says, let’s go. They start to maneuver through the swamp.

Gabriel asks if Carson wants him to drive, but that’s a no. They get in the car, and hear, hands up, a-holes. They turn around, and it’s the Savior group now joined by Dwight. They’re deposited in the bed of the truck. Gabriel tells Carson that He’s still leading the way. Believe it, and he’ll see it. What Carson sees is an unattended gun on a Savior, and grabs it, but gets shot. As the truck pulls away, Morgan weeps, and says, no, no, no. I say, no surprise this show is a total bummer. Always.

The gates of Hilltop open. Daryl and the others walk in. Carol runs to greet them. We only hear music, so we can’t hear what they’re saying, but Daryl shakes his head. Enid cries, and sinks to the ground. Siddiq looks tired. Maggie comforts Enid.

Morgan says Henry asked about who killed his brother. It was Gavin, and he got him, so…

Siddiq thanks Maggie for her hospitality. She says it’s not much, but he tells her, its everything. He asks if there’s an infirmary, and she asks if he’s hurt. He says he’s fine, but has medical experience. He can pitch in and help. She explains they’re using the trailers, and thanks him. She watches everyone interacting.

Eugene makes bullets. Frankie (I think – whoever the redhead is) says he was destined for this. He tells her to be there, she needs gloves and proper eye protection. She thought she’d help, and he says she can help by bringing some food – eggs nicely dancing with tomatoes. He’s going to designate the northwest corner as a breakroom and motivational presentation cubby.

Negan kicks the door open, and brings in Gabriel. He says Gabriel told him an interesting story about how he made his way out of their lovely home. We hold our collective breaths for a beat or two, and he says it was Carson. Negan asks if he called it or what. Gabriel asks why bring him here, and Negan says he needs an extra set of hands to separate casings. Gabriel’s eyes don’t work for sh*t, but his hands do. Eugene says it will still be a few days, but Negan says that doesn’t work for him. They need a more Biblical approach. Eugene says they could rig catapults, and launch dead arms, legs, and heads, creating traumatic theatrics. Negan thanks him. He believes a rose sprang into the pile of sh*t. He tells the guys, let’s roll, and whistles as he leaves.

Eugene goes to Gabriel. Gabriel says he thought he found what he was meant to do. Eugene says, he has, and so has Eugene. He tells Gabriel to get to work.

Maggie approaches the prisoners and points at one. She says they’re to be taken out in pairs for work, exercise, and medical attention. They can start by cleaning the stables. Gregory thinks since they’ll be working, they should get more food, but she says quarter rations, same as always. He appreciates it, but the Saviors are still coming. He thinks they should consider evacuation. If they run, they live. He asks how they could win, and she tells him to look around.

Outside, Negan addresses his people while standing in front of three zombies chained to a fence. He says they know how it works. You get a bite, something from them gets in you, and you join the club. But what if they can use it to their advantage? He whacks at a zombie with Lucille. He tells them Lucille is getting to know their friend. He bashes and pokes at the zombie, until Lucille is covered with blood and rotted flesh. He tells them to look at that. No more smashing and bashing; just a touch, just a kiss. Hilltop will learn to comply, dead or alive. Or some kind of sh*t in between.

Next time, Negan orders the Saviors to let them turn, don’t kill them; and Negan tells Rick that he failed his boy and his people – let Negan save them.

🎭 The Good News & the Bad News

Sunday, April 15th is a big day. Sadly, your taxes are due the next day, but Fear the Walking Dead (which Morgan will be a part of) also returns at 10 pm on AMC, and Southern Charm New Orleans premieres on Bravo at 9 pm. The original Southern Charm will be back on Thursday, April 5th at 9 pm. They’ve already tried with Savannah, which was a snooze, and IMO, it would be tough to top the Charleston cast. Who can resist the Peter Pan that is Thomas; his off-again-on-again squeeze, and mother of his children, fiery Kathryn; matriarch of the South, Patricia, and her baby boy Whitney; dreamer Craig; perpetual adolescent Shep; weepy roller coaster ride Landon; and Cameran, avoiding motherhood since the beginning of time, finally having a baby?

⏰ And We Lost an Hour…

WeekendBackToWork

WeekendMonkey

WeekendDog2

 

Mar5

March 4, 2018 – The Dead, Rambling About the Dead & a Comic Book Man

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What I Watched Today

(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)

 

 

The Walking Dead

Michonne

Michonne looks lost while Rick decorates the cross on Carl’s grave with a gun. She lets off steam by whacking some zombies’ heads off. As I like to do when I’m stressed. She looks at the half burned down Alexandria, and shuts the gate. Making sure to take half a zombie’s face off with it, and stabbing some in the eyeballs first.

Rick asks for some pudding. Just kidding. Nobody is saying anything, and I got bored. Michonne looks at Carl and Judith’s finger-paint handprints on the porch, and gets even more bummed. She goes inside. She tells Rick they have to go. They slip out the back door.

When they get to the car, Michonne grabs a fire extinguisher and runs with it; Rick following with another one. They try putting out a fire in the gazebo, but the zombies are forming a crowd, so they both run back to the van. Nice try. Alexandria has officially been taken over by zombies.

Rick asks what Michonne is thinking. Does she want to stop fighting? She says they could pull over, but he says not yet, not him. He wants to talk to Jadis. They have weapons and people, and they need them. She asks why now? He tells her that they went to the Sanctuary. They were seen, and will be a target too.

They sneak around where the trash pile is. Rick opens the door to go in, and it’s like a Three Stooges prank. A rope is triggered, and all this stuff on the roof above tumbles down. There are zombies all over the place.

Negan

Negan wants his men to check every nook and cranny. The Alexandrians had an escape plan. Rick’s kid is plaguing him; he’s built for this sh*t. Simon asks if he’s heard from Gavin. Negan says, no, but it’s coming. Gavin is perpetually pissed off, but has it together. Simon asks where Negan wants him; he’s not running down Rick. Negan says, the garbage people. Simon thinks it will be worth it to get the guns, but Negan says they may have pulled a triple-cross, but they’re still a resource. A deal with him is a lock, stock, and suck-my-barrel deal. He tells Simon to deliver the standard message. Take one out, and the rest fall in line. Just one. He asks if Simon has anything to say. Simon thinks maybe they should cut their losses. None of them can learn the lesson, no matter how many times they teach it. No one understands the situation one little bit, so maybe they should learn. Scrape the plates into the trash, move further out, and find other communities to save. Negan laughs. He’s doing his best to hold it together right now. He tells Simon to take own advice. The easy way isn’t their way. Saving people is hard, but it works. Simon says (it finally became unavoidable), not lately, and Negan tells him once he clips Rick, everything will be aces again.

There’s a knock at the door. Some guys bring in a delivery. It’s the crate from Hilltop. Negan tells them to get out, and he reads the lid: We have 38 more – stand down. We hear zombie noises from inside. Simon pries open the Crate, and Negan nail guns Dean in the head multiple times. Simon tells Negan that means the rest are from the outpost. They’re killing everyone, and he can’t let them get away with it. Negan tells him he’ll do his job. Simon is obviously not happy, but says nothing.

Enid

Enid and Aaron are shoved into a house by the Oceanside women. Aaron says, let’s talk about it, but they get chained to a radiator. One of the women tells Cyndie that Netanya was her family, and another says she should just kill them. The women leave, and Enid and Aaron are left alone.

Aaron says they’ll get out of it. Enid says it’s not about that. She had to do it. Netanya made her do it, and she’d do it again

Cyndie and her crew come back, and unchain them. They cuff Enid and Aaron’s hands behind their backs, and Cyndie says take them to the beach. Aaron says it’s her decision, but she has to own it (what is this? Real Housewives?), and she’d better have a good reason to kill them, other than making herself feel better. Killing is the punishment, but if Cyndie executes them, some of their people will come looking. They might kill a few more, but eventually, they’ll get wiped out. Her grandmother got herself killed. He tells her not to make the same mistake. Let them go. They’ll keep fighting, and the Oceansiders can keep hiding. Cyndie says, no… they live, confusing all of us

Aaron asks if she wants to know if they win, and she says, yes. He asks her to help them win. She says their contribution was not killing them, and they’ve taken everything else the Oceansiders can give. She tells him not to come there again. Aaron suggests they stop trying to kill strangers. They need to know the difference between friends and enemies. She says, don’t come back. Cyndie and her posse walk off, looking like weird Girl Scouts.

Aaron asks if Enid knows how to get to the car. She says they’re not going to help. Aaron wants to go home, but can’t leave until they join the fight. Enid says Beatrice and Cathy (which, no doubt, is spelled Kaythe) seem open to it, and Aaron thinks he can convince both. He tells Enid to go back and tell Maggie what he’s doing, but not to come. Enid thinks they’ll kill him if he goes back there, and he says he won’t go back there. No matter what happens, he’ll be okay. She makes him promise she’ll see him again, and he makes her promise she’ll be okay. They hug, and he tells her to go.

Commercial break. Talking Dead has a surprise guest. That usually means someone significant dies.

Simon

Simon is going to the landfill. He says, no worries, grabs some dudes, and they head to the heap.

Both the Saviors and the Heapsters draw their guns. Simon asks Tardis Jadis if they’re not friends, and she gives a nod. He says the bottom line is they need an apology – genuine. He knows she had a side deal with Rick, despite their preexisting arrangement. She saw them, and tried to kill them. By now, she’s had time to prepare a heartfelt act of confession. He tells her to feel free to use notes. Jadis says, no deal with Rick. They delivered him, brought him to the Saviors. Simon calls bullsh*t, but says no need to worry. They’ve cut themselves a big break. Negan is graciously willing to forego punishment. If they agree to revert to the agreed upon terms, all is forgiven. However, they will be taking all guns and ammo the Heapsters currently have. Jadis says danger is everywhere, and they need guns too. Simon tells her not when they have the Saviors. The Saviors will provide guns when they need them. Jadis nods because she’s used up her words for the day. The Saviors take their guns.

Simon asks about painting, if she learned it before or after. She says you don’t learn, you just know, which I kind of agree with. He asks why the dump? There had to be a better place to call home. Jadis says, our place. He wonders what the deal is with the helipad and solar panels (which is a clue to something, according to Robert Kirkman), and asks what it was before. She says, a dump. Simon laughs, but he’s not buying it. He wants to know if she understands they have guns and a deal, and he wants the full definition of an apology. What he got was a transgressional acknowledgment, and the guns as restitution, but no remorse. She says, there is remorse, and he shoots Brion. She repeats, there is remorse, and he shoots Tamiel. (Her two main people. I got their names from Talking Dead.) Jadis punches Simon, knocking him down, and says, there is remorse, you SOB. He says, no, no, no. He doesn’t think she means it. He says, light it up, gents. Everyone starts screaming, and they shoot… everyone? I’m not so sure Negan is going to like this.

Simon returns. Simon tells Negan that they got guns that and then some. Negan asks how it went, and he says the standard mess and delivery. They showed and told him they had remorse. There’s a call for Negan on the radio. It’s Rick.

Jadis

Michonne and Rick knock off the zombies at the trash pile. They climb up, since zombies aren’t good at climbing. Jadis is there. Michonne asks what happened, and Jadis says, Saviors. Rick asks how they get out, and Jadis says the same way they got in.  Jadis starts to talk, and loses her woman-of-few-words shtick as she goes along. She says they weren’t heaps. There was just trash far as the eye could see. She would go there to find things to paint on – metal and fabric. When everything changed, she realized the whole place was a canvas, and they were the paint. They could create something new, become something new, and they did. This was their world, apart from everyone else in every way. Rick says, you did this because of you.

Rick picks up a car door, and twirls it around. He bends some pieces of it; he’s going to use it as a shield. Jadis says she’s coming with them until they’re gone. Rick says he’s done with games. She can’t help them anyway. He goes down, and uses the door to knock some zombies around, and shoots some others. Michonne shoves the stuff in front of the door out of the way. Jadis asks them to just let her get out, but no deal.

All is quiet at the trash piles. Jadis pounds on the ground, and the zombies come toward her. They’re stopped by a chain several feet from her. She flips a switch, and a grinding machine turns on. I assume it was once used to crunch up trash. It’s between her and the horde, and she releases the chain with a stick. As they continue forward, they fall in and get chopped up. Cool. She watches as people she knows fall in. She cries. It churns out chili con zombie. When all of the zombies have been dispatched, she shuts off the machine.

Jadis digs a file cabinet out of one of the trash piles. She takes out a box that says apple sauce. I think it must be something else, and just says that to throw people off, but it’s apple sauce. She eats some, and I reflect on Carl’s pudding, and eat a piece of beef jerky, which somehow seems appropriate.

Rick

Rick tells Michonne he shot above Jadis’s head; he saw she made it. He didn’t want her dead, just gone. Michonne says they have a choice. He stops the van, and says he needs a second. He gets out and walks through a field next to the road.

He takes out Carl’s letter to Negan, and looks at it. I guess we don’t get to know what it says, but Rick looks like he has a headache. He radios Negan, who asks where he is, saying they should talk face to face. Rick says Carl is dead, and Negan is visibly shaken. Rick tells Negan that Carl left some letters, and wrote one to him. He asked Negan to stop, and asked Rick to stop. He asked them to make peace, but it’s too late. Even if Negan wanted to deal, it doesn’t matter. He’s going to kill Negan. Negan asks how it happened. Was it them? The grenades or the fire? Rick tells him that Carl went out to help someone, and got bit. Negan says, goddammit. He says he’s sorry, and I totally believe it. He’d wanted Carl to be part of things; he had plans. Carl was the future. Rick says the only future is one where he’s dead. Negan asks why Rick is making this hard. Carl is dead because he couldn’t leave sh*t well enough alone. Maybe he would have died anyway, but in this case, he’s dead because Rick wasn’t there to stop him from doing something stupid. He set the course; who’s next? Rick says, Negan is. Negan says, someone is. He stops people from dying. He’s the answer. It might be a hard lesson to hear, but it’s time. He tells Rick not to let another sh*t decision cost him the people he loves. That garbage sticks with you forever, like Carl will. He’s feeling it, and will for a while. He could have let Negan save all of them. That’s why he killed them in the first place, so Rick could say he’ll kill him when he won’t. He’s failed as a leader. He should just give up. He’s already lost.

Next time, Gabriel is up and running, Dwight says it’s too dangerous, a swamp full of zombies, and Eugene makes something.

👂 Although I’ve long grown weary of this show being so one note – now Rick even seems to have perpetual tears in his eyes – I actually got something out of the episode. Negan’s methods need some serious tweaking, but he makes sense to himself, and is better leader than Rick, especially at this point. Rick should have waited a hot minute before going against Negan, since he was originally taken by surprise and didn’t have a plan. Instead, he went on his emotions. It seems odd that now he doesn’t want to take a stab (no pun intended) at making Carl’s vision a reality. What spoke to me, is that Carl had a revelation of an idyllic new society, and instead of trying to make that happen – which seemed to be his original plan – Rick has put up his own road block. It made me think of how we often get in our own way of attaining what we say we want. Of course, zombie stories are rarely really about zombies. I just wish this one were more balanced. To be fair, I doubt Carl’s dream could be achieved. It’s like socialism. Great in theory, but there’s always somebody who is going to want more. And in this case, that somebody is Negan.

📡 As much as Walking Dead annoys me, I love Talking Dead. It’s nice to see that nerds are finally getting a voice, and not just on the Sy – we can’t spell – Fy channel. I’m sure The Big Bang Theory made a big contribution to that. Along with Comic Book Men, this show is a nerd’s dream. Lots of getting deep into things that are pretty much meaningless. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a nerd myself, and labeled myself as such long before it was fashionable. I used to stand out at Star Trek conventions. I’d probably just blend in now. Anyway, Chris Hardwick fooled us. The surprise guest was Enid (Katelyn Necon), who did not die. There was some discussion as to whether Rick did the right thing not helping Jadis get out. The general consensus was that he did, because she’d screwed him over. I’m of two minds on that. Yeah, there is that, but she got left alone with a load of zombies after she’d just poured her heart out to him about her art – and probably used more words than she had in the past two years. On the other hand, while I don’t think her wanting to get the best deal for her people was that horrible, Rick might have done her a favor in having to be on her own, and rely on herself. Who knows? Maybe she’ll end up at Oceanside. The highlight of the show for me was when they had the factoid segment. According to his portrayer, Steven Ogg, Simon is a multi-layered persona, who is a bit of a bully, but loves musical theatre. Who knew?

🏥 Speaking of Comic Book Men, glad to hear Kevin Smith is on the mend.

https://pagesix.com/2018/03/02/kevin-smith-mistaken-for-kevin-james-as-he-recovers-from-heart-attack/

✌ The Two Kevins…

KevinSmith    KevinJames

 

 

Feb26

February 25, 2018 – A Somber Start to the Dead, a Bit of Ash, an Atlanta Mention, McWhat? & a Song

Posted on by
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What I Watched Today

(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)

 

 

The Walking Dead

When last we left, teens and tweens everywhere were crying into their Skittles because Carl got bit. They’re thinking he might make a cute zombie though.

Rick prays that mercy prevails over his realm. I think this is a dream. There are kids running around, and Jerry is there. Everyone is all happy, and things look normal. In the here and now, Michonne and Rick dig what I assume is a grave. He tells her to go, and we flash back to Carl fighting off a zombie. This time we actually see him get bitten. It gets shot from behind, and Siddiq asks if he’s okay. He says he is. Siddiq and Carl drop down to the sewer tunnel.

Back home, Carl checks out his wound, and the bite holes in his shirt. He waits for Rick with a guard, who gives him a note from Michonne, saying she had to see for herself. Carl writes letters to everyone. He and Siddiq go back through the tunnel. Carl sets up a cot there. He rocks Judith on the porch, and they do some finger-painting. He takes a Polaroid selfie of the two of them. Carl and Siddiq share a candy bar. I guess this is his bucket list? Such as it is during the apocalypse.

Carl does some planting, and waves to Michonne as she drives by. He enjoys the sunshine.

Across from the Sanctuary, Morgan tries to get a bead on Negan. The Saviors shoot at the zombies outside, and Morgan tells someone on the radio, it’s not now. He says the Saviors are trying to make a path, using the zombie bodies as a block. Suddenly, the room Morgan is in, is being riddled with bullets. He stops, drops, and rolls out the door.

Morgan is outside, and sees the zombies wandering to the opera music. He bangs on the fence, distracting them. They come his way. Some Saviors pop out, but he’s able to slip away while they’re busy with the zombies. A Savior caravan goes by, and Morgan jets out of the forest as soon as they’re gone.

Elsewhere in the forest, Carol tells her Kingdom group about a place the Saviors don’t know about, and tells them to hide there until she comes back. Henry says he’s going too. They killed his brother, and he’s not going to let them kill her too. He wants a gun, but she says that’s not happening, and heads toward the Kingdom.

Carl shows Rick his wound and sweats bullets. Daryl holds Judith. Carl says, sorry, like he dented the car. He says if he doesn’t make it, he wanted to make sure he said goodbye, and gives Rick the letters. There’s shooting outside, and Rick says it’s them. Carl tells Rick about bringing Siddiq back, and that he’s the one from the gas station. It wasn’t the Saviors; it just happened. He got bit.

Gavin tells Ezekiel that Negan is going to kill him, and there’s nothing he can do to stop it. Ezekiel says he buried his people, and what happens to him matters not. Gavin says he liked him. He accepted things for how they were, and didn’t get any big ideas, but then Rick planted one, and here they are. Ezekiel says he made a choice he can live with; now it’s Gavin’s turn to do the same.

Morgan sneaks around the Kingdom. He runs into Carol, who’s also sneaking around. Morgan thinks they can take them one by one, but she thinks it’s better to avoid them until they can’t. He says they have Ezekiel, and she says they have to take them now.

Michonne tends to Carl. Siddiq has some OTC inflammatory that will help with the fever. It did for his mom and dad. Rick’s son should have them. Rick asks if he was a doctor, and Siddiq says he was a resident… before. Rick asks if he’s Siddiq. Carl says he wasn’t going to make it alone, and needed them. That’s why he brought him back. He starts coughing, and Rick gives him the medication.

Michonne tells Dwight to make it stop. He’s one of them. She begs him. Rosita says if Hilltop is safe, they should go there. Dwight says they’re looking right now. Their best chance is to stay until they’re gone. They’re almost done. It wasn’t about destroying the place; they don’t have the ammo for that. After they’re gone, that’s when they go. Rosita says they wait then. He asks if she thinks Hilltop the best plan, and she asks if he has another one. He says, all of them together, and Daryl finishes, it will be their worst nightmare.

Two Saviors are putting out fires (literally), while Morgan and Carol watch. He says they have to go through the courtyard, exposed; this is it. He taps one guy on the shoulder, and knocks him out with his staff. Carol knocks out the other. Carol thinks they should just do it. Two more Saviors run out, and they knock them out too. Morgan impales them with the pointy end. He and Carol go inside.

Gavin tells everyone to hustle. He asks Ezekiel if it’s going bad; if it’s going to turn into something else. Ezekiel says he’s the author of this nightmare. I’ll have to remember that one.

Michonne strokes Carl’s face. He says she’s supposed to be resting, but she tells him that she’s not tired. He says it’s going to stop; it’s not supposed to be like this. She’s having a hard time keeping it together.

Dwight thinks it sounds like it’s letting up. Rosita says it looks like he was right – about everything. Daryl decides to take a look, and hands Judith off to Rick.

Morgan and Carol sneak around some more. They start to go inside another building, but Morgan hears something. He looks around the corner of the porch, and sees some Saviors unloading a car. He silently goes down the steps, and kills all three of them, but another pops out of the building with a gun. Carol shoots him before he can shoot Morgan. Morgan takes one of their guns, and they go inside.

Ezekiel is packed into a pickup truck, and Gavin says it’s his last ride; try to make him comfortable. He tells Ezekiel that you try, and hope, and want things to finally settle, but no. it always comes down to this. It always has to get dark and ugly and inhuman. He doesn’t like it. Ezekiel says it’s not too late to walk back from something decided. Gavin says Ezekiel did, and look what it’s got him. Gavin gets on the radio, and calls Peter, but gets no response. He starts to get nervous, and calls Gomez, and also gets no response. Ezekiel tells him again that it’s not too late. They hear gunfire, and Gavin says to get Ezekiel inside now. Morgan and Carol creep around one of the trailers.

A tear rolls down Rick’s cheek. In his mind, he sees a cookout. Eugene jokes with Judith, who is around five. Rick and Michonne continue to dig.

The gunfire stops. Michonne says they can get to Hilltop. Rick says Carl won’t make it. He has to stay with him. She says they’ll both stay. He asks her to take Judith; she needs to be there. He starts to cry, and Daryl says he’ll take her and keep her safe. He’s got this. Rick wants to let her say goodbye, and brings her to Carl. Carl tells her that his hat was dad’s before it was his; now it’s hers. It always kept dad with him, and helped him. Maybe it will help her too. He tells her before mom died, she said he’d beat this horror, but he didn’t. She will though; he knows it. She starts howling, and Rick gives her to Daryl. Daryl says Carl saved them all. Everyone starts to leave.

Siddiq says Carl helped him, and he’s going to honor his memory. Carl brought him there and gave him a chance. Siddiq can never repay him, but can honor him by showing his people, friends, and family that what he did wasn’t for nothing. It mattered and meant something, and because it did, he’s going to honor Carl. Carl smiles, and shakes Siddiq’s hand. He tells Saddiq congratulations; he’s stuck with them. Siddiq leaves to join the others.

Commercial break. They need to stop trying to make Red Machete happen. It’s not going to happen.

Gavin tells everyone what to do. They’re ending this whatever the hell it is. He smacks Ezekiel, and says it is too late. He’s the author, and Ezekiel is the dead man. He lives, and Ezekiel dies; it’s the way it is. Ezekiel says the compromises he made were done to save lives. He realizes the compromises Gavin is making are to save only his, but no more. There’s an explosion, and everything is pretty dark. The Saviors start shooting. Gavin holds up his hand, signaling them to stop. He tells Morgan and Carol to give up, or Ezekiel is dead. Carol and Morgan come out, machine guns blazing. Gavin is so startled, he forgets all about Ezekiel, who dives for cover.  Gavin gets hit in the leg, and drops his gun. Morgan has turned into a serious badass. We already knew Carol was. Ezekiel grabs Gavin’s gun, and now he’s a badass too. One of the Saviors gets Morgan down to the floor, and starts punching the crap out of him. With some bizarre burrowing skills, Morgan puts his hand into the guy’s wound, and practically disembowels – no, I spoke too soon – he disembowels him. Yep, he’s pulling the guy’s intestines out right out. Wow. I did not see that one coming.

Gavin gets up and tries to run (yeah, I’d be scared too), and Morgan shoots at him. He gets away, and Morgan picks up his staff/pokey stick. Ezekiel says they should leave, but Morgan tells him they don’t need to go, and heads after Gavin.

Violin music plays (I’m not kidding) as Rick and Michonne make Carl comfortable. He doesn’t want Michonne to be sad or angry. She’ll have to be strong for Rick and Judith, and for herself. She says she will, and he tells her not to carry this; not this one. He calls her his best friend. She says he’s hers too, and smiles through her tears. She kisses his hand. Rick says they need to get him out of there.

Gavin stumbles around like a blind bat out of hell, while Morgan walks steadily behind him like Michael Meyers in any one of the Halloween films.

The town is burning. Michonne and Rick walk out, with Carl between them. Rick says he can make it. They take Carl to the church, which is relatively unscathed by the fire.

Morgan drags his staff along the ground, like Freddy Krueger’s knife fingers, and Gavin shakes. He sees Morgan’s shadow. This is great. Morgan opens the door to Gavin’s hiding place, and he tumbles out.

Carl thanks Michonne and Rick for getting him there. He tells Rick about when they were back in the prison. When they got outside, there was a kid a little older than him with a gun. He was starting to put it down, and Carl shot him. He was giving up, and Carl just shot him. Carl thinks about him and what he did, and how easy it was to just kill him.

Morgan kicks Gavin. Gavin says Morgan is a sick man; he kept his word. Morgan’s not having it, and walks around him. Gavin says they can go back to Hilltop. Ezekiel and Carol arrive on the scene. Gavin says they think they can beat Negan. They can’t, but it can go back to how it was. Morgan says, no.

Rick tells Carl that what he lost, what happened, all those things he had to do; he was just a boy. Carl says Rick saw what he did, and how easy it got.

Gavin asks if Morgan killed all those men because of the kid. Morgan has his staff a few inches from Gavin’s nose. Gavin tells him killing him won’t make any of it go away. He’ll still wake up in the same sh*t tomorrow. Morgan drags him to his feet.

Carl says that’s why Rick changed. He brought them in, and they all lived together; frenemies. Rick put away his gun. He saw how Rick changed, so Carl could be who he is now. How he stopped fighting. It was right and still is. It can be like that again. He can still be like that again.

Ezekiel tells Morgan to cease this revenge. It’s the coward’s way. They don’t have to kill him. Let him see what he’s wrought, and let it be his to live with.

Carl says Rick can’t be who he was. He’s different now. He can’t kill all of them. There has to be something after. For Rick. For them.

Carol tells Morgan to stop. He doesn’t want to do this, and doesn’t have to. He’s the one who told her that they can be better than them. She can see he doesn’t want to do this. Morgan says he has to. Gavin looks petrified. Suddenly, there’s a hole in his neck, and blood starts pouring out. He drops to the ground, and Henry stands behind him with a pokey stick like Morgan has. Morgan looks slightly freaked.

Carl doesn’t know how it could be, but he’s seen it. We see it too, as he describes it. Rick has a beard, longer and greyer. Michonne is happy, and Judith is older, listening to songs he used to… before. Alexandria is bigger. There are new houses, crops, and people working. Everybody is living together, and everybody is helping everybody else. Rick can still be who he was. That’s how it could be. Rick says it was all for him from the start. Everything he did was for Carl and Judith; it still is. Nothing is going to change that. Carl says he wants this for Rick. Rick says he’ll make it real. He promises.

Ezekiel tells Henry that it’s all right. Henry says he had to. Carol scolds him, saying it’s not what he was supposed to do; it wasn’t for him. Ezekiel says all will be resolved, and hugs him.

Rick tells Carl that he’s sorry he couldn’t protect him. A father’s job is to protect his son. Carl says it’s just to love. Carl isn’t looking too good, and reaches for his gun. Michonne starts to say, it should be – and Carl says, he knows. It should be someone you love, but you should do it yourself if you still can. He has to do this. He tells her that he loves her, and she says she loves him too. He tells Rick that he loves him, and Rick says he loves Carl so much. Everyone is crying except me, since I stopped investing a long time ago. It’s a beautiful tableau though, with the light coming through the broken stained glass window, and the three of them in semi-darkness.

Rick and Michonne are outside, and we hear the gunshot.

Michonne and Rick dig. We see Carl’s idyllic world. Judith tells Negan good morning as he picks tomatoes.

Rick sits under a tree. Panes of stained glass hang from its branches.

Next time, Simon thinks they should cut their losses, Negan says to do the job, and Simon approaches the Heapsters.

🎶 Side knowledge: During the opening scenes, the song At the Bottom of Things by Bright Eyes was playing. Loved. It.

🍑 I’m half paying attention to The Real Housewives of Atlanta, where they’re infecting Barcelona with American reality TV. The amusing highlight of the evening – besides my husband asking if everyone was Nene, since that’s the only name he knows – was when the women were leaving their hotel. Apparently, it wasn’t up to the standard these peaches are used to, and a few of them were saying, “Goodbye, mildew,” on their way out the door. For a moment, I thought mildew was someone’s name.

👹 Ash Vs the Evil Dead had its season premiere tonight. Ash opened a hardware store/sex emporium in his home town, but his retirement from chasing deadites was not to be. The book was back, via an idiot on an Antiques Roadshow type program reading out loud from it. Why does everybody always read out loud from age-old spells? It’s really a bad idea. Ash had a wife and a daughter he knew nothing about (nor did we), but the wife didn’t matter, since she got her head sliced off with a cymbal in the high school band room. It looks like Ash’s daughter, Brandy, will be coming along for the ride this season, as well as Kelly’s boyfriend sidekick whatever-he-is, Dalton, who is also the descendant of an ancient order of knights who fight evil.

🔫 AMC has a new show coming up on Monday called McMafia. I’m wondering if it’s about an Irish mafia guy, or if the mafia is a franchise now.

👀 It Takes a While, But They Get to the Song…

 

Feb24

February 23, 2018 – Andre Gets Sprung, Ash Vs My Digression, Get Out, SextupQuotes & the Weekend

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What I Watched Today

(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)

 

 

General Hospital

It’s GH’s 14,000th episode.

New detective Chase comes to the gallery. Ava says the insurance value of the sculpture Mike broke is $14,000. The man is deranged and she wants him caught.

Sonny asks David if he knew something was wrong before referring him to Griff, but David thinks Griff is the doctor he should be talking to. Sonny says he must have seen the signs. Why didn’t David warn him?

Franco tells Elizabeth that he’s exactly where he wants to be. Elizabeth is glad they’re going to be spending the rest of their lives together. Epiphany sees them, and says, hell no.

Anna sees Finn talking to Alexis at the hospital desk, and turns away. Alexis bemoans another article about her tanking the election. She says no one should run who has skeletons in their closer. Finn mentions there’s an elephant in the room. Alexis sees Anna.

Carly goes with Jason to the station. She says she’s been getting calls for weeks. She says if the police can’t help them, they have Spinelli as a fallback. She wonders if she’s being ridiculous, and Jason says he wants to help her find out what happened. Dante asks them what’s going on, and Carly tells him that she’s been getting calls from a local number and no one is there. She called back, but no one answers. On one call, a male voice said, I’m here, then twenty minutes ago (two days in our time) she got this. She shows him her phone and says she heard an explosion. She wants Dante to trace the number, and he says okay. It must be nice to have friends in high places. There’s no way they’d bother with this IRL. You might even get reprimanded for being a time-waster.

Epiphany says she can’t let Elizabeth defy tradition; she doesn’t want to invite misfortune. Doc pops out of his office, and tells Franco it’s time to get started. Epiphany asks Elizabeth what her plans are for tonight, the night before the wedding. Elizabeth says she’s going to take a bubble bath, and Epiphany says, wrong. Epiphany is taking her out for a drink. Elizabeth is concerned that Epiphany wants to talk her out of marrying Franco, but Epiphany says Elizabeth’s friends spent the better part of the past year trying to convince her not to marry him. What would be the point?

In Doc’s office, Franco is worried that if Elizabeth finds out he’s keeping another secret, she’ll never trust him again.

Alexis tells Anna that they just came from an AA meeting, and Anna says she was there for an appointment. She says she’s sorry about the election. Alexis was trying to do a good thing, and didn’t deserve what happened. Anna leaves, and Alexis calls Finn a silver-tongued devil. He couldn’t even choke out her name. She tells him to clear up the misconception, and go after her. He doesn’t see a need for that. He told her how he feels, and she shot him down.

David says he’s told Sonny what he could. Technically, he shouldn’t be discussing Mike’s case with him. Sonny says Mike didn’t believe the diagnosis, and stormed out. They haven’t seen him since. They don’t have the greatest relationship, but Mike has always been a capable guy, and able to think on his feet. This has to be worst thing in the world.

Ava talks to Chase, who says it will help if she gives him the security footage.  Griff shows up, and asks what’s going on. Ava says a disoriented guy came into the gallery, broke a statue, and ran off. He asks if she was threatened, and she says no, but she felt unsafe; the guy was out of control. She goes to her laptop to get the footage. Chase tells her that he’ll forward it to all local units, and leaves. Griff looks at the screen and says he knows that guy. We see a still shot of Mike at the gallery.

In the interrogation room, Jason asks Carly when the phone calls started, and she tells him the beginning of February. At first, she thought it was a wrong number, but the calls kept coming. All three of them? Then on Valentine’s Day, she heard a young man’s voice say, I’m here. Jason says that was a week ago, and asks why she waited so long. Carly didn’t think it was important. He says, maybe, but if it’s bothering her, it’s important to him. She says this is why she missed him. She can always come to him no matter what shows up. He’s the first person who did that for her. She counts on him, and knows she takes advantage, but he loves her. He says he does, and if something is bothering her, he wants to fix It. She wants him to let her do the same. She says the only reason Sam married Drew is because she’s running. Jason tells her to stop. Dante comes in, and says he got a hit on the phone number.

At the bar, Elizabeth is worried that Epiphany has set her up, but Epiphany says it’s just them. Elizabeth tells her it’s hard being surrounded by friends smiling and wishing her well, when they’re thinking it’s a mistake. Epiphany tells her to forget her friends; what does she think?

Franco wants Doc to be able to tell him that Elizabeth and the kids are safe, and there’s no weird monster inside of him. Doc says he can’t do that. He can help Franco with what’s troubling him, but Franco has to tell him. Franco says he and Drew were playing hide and seek. He found Drew in a toy chest, locked it, and left him in it.

Sonny asks how long the progression is, and David says it’s not his area of expertise, but some medications work in some cases. Even so, the best that can be hoped for is to slow the deterioration. The long term is inevitable. Sonny says it sounds grim, and David says he’s sorry. Sonny appreciates his honesty, and that he’s not sugarcoating. Sonny gets a call from Griff. Griff asks if he’s found his father. Sonny says, no, and Griff tells him to get to Ava’s gallery.

Anna sits at the bar, messing with her phone. Andre asks if this seat is taken, and she asks what took him so long.

Dante tells Carly it’s a pay phone off of Route 35 by the river. There haven’t been any reports of an incident in the vicinity, but he has to follow up.

Elizabeth tells Epiphany that she and the boys see the real Franco, but everyone else seems to be waiting for him to prove he’s as bad as they thought. Epiphany says they trust her judgement. She just hopes Elizabeth is right. They love her, and remember Franco’s life before the tumor was removed.

David sees Kiki studying in a booth at the bar. She groans over her studies, and he tells her that she’s going to need more than coffee to survive; she needs sustenance. He orders ribs, coleslaw, mac and cheese, and two plates. He says he can’t have his future intern collapsing from hunger, and asks, what’s stumping her?

Anna tells Andre she’s glad he’s there, and he says he is too. He didn’t expect it. The bureau is reviving the memory mapping program. In exchange for his cooperation, his sentence was commuted and his record expunged. He says it had to have come from someone high up. She wouldn’t know about that, would she? Whoever it is, he owes them. Anna asks if he thinks he can duplicate the procedure without his research notes, and he says he’s reasonably confident. He’d rather it be funded by the WSB than a faceless backer who turns out to be Faison. Anna says even though know she knows he’s dead, she still feels sick hearing his name. Andre says she suffered severe trauma at his hand, especially when she thinks about the baby. She says she has no one to blame but herself, but Andre says she still doesn’t have to endure it alone. She needs  to confide in someone. She says she told him, but he says what about the man she’s grown close to? Has she told him?

Alexis tells Finn that the downside of running for mayor – besides losing – is that it negates the anonymous part of AA. People must either be thinking, hooray, she lost, or poor thing, she lost. He asks if she’s projecting a little, and says she shouldn’t second guess her campaign. She did something valuable. She says a lot of good it did, but he tells her to fight harder next time. She says this was the only time, and he says find another way to fight. She cared enough about the community to put herself out there; don’t be sorry for making an effort. She appreciates the encouragement, but tells him not to feel an obligation to prop her up because of last night. And last night can never happen again.

Sonny gets to the gallery. Ava says his father was disoriented, got agitated, and broke something, and she called the police before she knew who he was. Sonny wonders why he went there, and she says he thought it was Luke’s club. Sonny says Mike worked there as a bartender when he first came to Port Charles. Griff says it’s like when he went to Kelly’s. Sonny says ,but it was the same diner in the same spot. Aside from the address, the gallery has nothing to do with the club. Sonny asks if he’s that far gone, and Griff says the disease isn’t a steady or consistent process. Times of lucidity can be followed by disorientation, especially after emotional strain. Sonny wonders if hearing the diagnosis made everything worse. Sonny’s phone rings, and it’s Mike. He tells Sonny that he’s at the station.

Anna tells Andre that she hasn’t said anything; there’s no need. He says there is if she wants a healthy relationship. She says she and Finn have no relationship. Andre says the word was out that they were seeing each other. Anna says her plan was to use him to gain access to Cassandra. One thing led to another, and they pretended to be lovers, but Finn insisted  on staying when she wanted him to quit. He refused to listen to anything, and almost got killed twice. First, Cassandra drugged him, and the second time she knocked him out when Faison wanted her to shoot him. Andre says Cassandra is comatose, and Faison is dead. Andre isn’t saying it’s not complicated. She can find a million reasons for them not to be together, but can’t change her feelings. She says feelings aren’t the point. Finn deserves love, and also deserves the truth. In order for them to mean anything to each other, he has to know about her past, and the worst thing she ever did. It doesn’t matter anymore though. By the time she got to him, it was already too late.

Alexis says she and Finn have been in recovery about the same amount of time, and know it’s a bad idea for AA members to sleep with each other. She likes him and gets him; they’re both fighting the same demons. The last thing she wants is to compromise their sobriety. Finn says the back and forth with Anna taught him that he’s in no place to pursue a relationship, but he could use a friend. He’d be sorry if last night messed it up.

David sits next to Kiki, and shows her something that sounds like an algebraic formula. She says he makes it sound simple, and he tells her when you’ve been doing it as long as he has, it is. The food arrives, and he tells her to eat.

Elizabeth says Epiphany is the smartest person in the hospital. She knows there were medical reasons for Franco doing what he did. Epiphany says if she didn’t believe it, Milo would disappear him. Elizabeth says she doesn’t need protecting, and Epiphany asks if Jason knows that.

Franco tells Doc that he locked Drew in a toy chest and pushed him down the stairs. Doc says he’s putting adult judgment on a child’s actions. There could be number of reasons they need to explore. Franco says he’s marrying Elizabeth tomorrow, and asks if Doc can tell him that there’s no darkness inside, and he’ll never commit violence again. Doc says if he chooses to go forward without disclosure, he has to live with the consequences. Franco says he’s not doing this anymore. He’s not letting anything coming between him and the best thing that’s happened to him. He tells Doc not to blow it for him, and leaves. Doc’s phone rings. He says he did ask for the tests to be fast-tracked. He listens, and says, interesting. He wants a copy of everything.

Ava tells Griff that she’ll probably be on the phone half the night; he should go. Griff says he’s not going anywhere. She says okay, if he wants to listen to her wrangle with the claims adjuster. He says he’s not leaving until they talk about Valentine’s Day.

Sonny comes to the station, and is directed to Chase. Chase tells him that he picked up Mike wandering around the pier. Sonny goes into the interrogation room to see him. Mike is sorry for the trouble. He didn’t mean to break the lady’s sculpture. Sonny says it’s all taken care of. Mike says he wanted to go to Luke’s, but it wasn’t there. Sonny says it burned down, and Mike says he knew it; how could he forget? Sonny tells him it’s okay, but Mike says it’s not. You don’t forget things like that unless something is seriously wrong, and the doctor says he has Alzheimer’s. He starts to cry.

Mike says he screwed up this time; scaring the woman, and breaking things. Sonny says Ava has seen and done worse; one day at a time. He’s getting Mike out of there. He asks Chase what he has to do, but Chase says unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Mike was arrested for trespassing and vandalism. The reports aren’t even filed yet. He can’t let him go tonight.

Ava tells Griff there’s nothing to discuss. He asks why she’s pushing him away. He knows he should have called her about Kiki, but Ava says it’s not about Kiki; it’s about her. Since the surgery, she’s been afraid he’ll see her for who she really is, and find someone else who can be a saint like him. He says he sees and accepts her for who she is. She says he doesn’t understand. It’s new to her, being in love.

Anna tells Andre that it’s for the best not to say anything to Finn. The less people know, the better; most of all for her daughter. Andre says she opened a door that might be harder to close than she realizes. She says it’s mostly to protect her children. She can’t imagine how Robin would react. It would shatter Robin’s faith in her. The only gift she can give her other daughter is to not know who her father was. Andre respects her decision. Anna says, but he doesn’t agree, and he tells her it’s not his call. She asks if that’s as a shrink or as her friend? He needs to make arrangements for his room, and she offers him her place. He says maybe another time; he’s been looking forward to some privacy. I’ll bet.

David tells Kiki that life will be easier if she does what he says. She thanks him for dinner and the tutoring. He tells her organic chemistry is the weeding out course, and if she needs more help, just ask.

Elizabeth tells Epiphany that she hasn’t even had a chance to process that Jason is alive and home. She says the first time she saw him, he came out of nowhere and attacked Franco. Ever since then, she’s been trying to tell him Franco has changed, but he can only think about how Franco hurt Michael and Sam.

Dante, Jason, and Carly go to the phone booth. Carly wonders who would be calling her from out there. Um… someone up to no good? For a woman who’s so slick and trying to stay a step ahead all the time, she’s pretty dense.

Sonny tells Chase that he’ll call Dante, but Chase says it’s not going to change anything. Mike committed  a crime. Sonny says he was just diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Chase says, sorry; it must be hard for him. Sonny says he’ll compensate Ava, and it will all be over. Let him take his father home.

Ava tells Finn it’s the first time she’s ever been in a healthy relationship. It’s the first time she’s been in love with someone who’s actually good for her, and it scares her -a lot – so that’s it; he has it. She was going to tell him on Valentine’s Day that she loves him.

Alexis tells Finn that she enjoys their friendship, and never wants to lose it. She’s never going to sleep with him again. He agrees, and they pinky swear. He says now that his stomach has uncoiled, would she like to get something to eat? She says she always wants to eat. Anna sees them. Finn tells Alexis that his and Anna’s relationship was over before it started. She made an attempt to open up. She wanted to, but won’t, and he doesn’t know why.

Doc runs into Anna. He tells her that Faison’s diagnosis said that he had Huntington’s disease. It’s a genetic disorder that he could have passed on to his children.

Franco meets Elizabeth at the bar. He wanted to get a glimpse of her before midnight. Epiphany says that’s her cue to leave. Elizabeth thanks her, and gives her a hug. Epiphany hugs Franco, and tells him good luck, and if he hurts Elizabeth, he’ll have her to answer to.

Carly says the calls came at night. Why would someone call from out in the middle of nowhere? Dante says maybe it’s a prank. She says she heard an explosion. Dante says she can see it’s nothing. Carly starts wandering around, saying maybe they missed something. Dante tells Jason that Morgan was killed about a hundred yards from there, and he died in an explosion.

On Monday, Brad tells Julian he won’t be a part of his grandchild’s life, Ava asks Griff if he’s breaking up with her, and Josslyn asks Nelle if she’s getting back together with Michael.

🎢 How’s This for Digression?

Last week, I caught a marathon of Ash Vs the Evil Dead, which is returning to STARZ on Sunday, February 25th, 9 pm. You can also catch the second season there, earlier on Sunday. This is one of those shows I feel like I have no business watching. Ash is sexist and racist, and probably a bunch of other ists, but I still love him. I feel the same way about Two Broke Girls. It’s embarrassing, but they still make me laugh. Or at least snicker. Maybe I also feel a little bit guilty because I once mistook Garrett Morris for a homeless thief. For a couple of years, I worked in the Manufacturer’s Hanover bank in Rockefeller Center, and just about everyone who worked at NBC banked there, including the SNL cast. I didn’t normally work on the ground level, and was filling in for someone. Most of the news people and Dan Aykroyd (who was dating one of the tellers at the time) did their banking downstairs, and I had never met Garrett. He handed a counter deposit slip to me with only half of the account numbers filled in, saying he didn’t remember the rest. You need to know that this is a way thieves rip people off. They make a phony deposit using a counter slip, but say they don’t know their account number offhand. Shortly afterward, they try to cash a bogus check against the same account, saying they were just here and made a deposit. You’d be surprised with what grifters come up with. Anyway, it was very busy, and I had barely glanced up at the guy who looked like he hadn’t shaved in a few days, and was wearing a rumpled coat, and this was my first thought. Then I looked at the name. And looked at him again. Thank God I hadn’t said anything.

🚫 Right Now

I’m almost at the end of Get Out (on HBO rotation). Everybody is great, but IMO, Lil Rel Howery steals this film. His delivery is The. Best. I also love seeing some old character favorites like Stephen Root (News Radio) and Richard Herd (V). Nice to see it’s getting a lot of nods/awards. It’s confusing as to which category it belongs though, since it seems to have one all its own. Funny, creepy, and gory, wrapped in a message, the story is definitely unique.

Quotes of the Week

Life is hard and dangerous, and sometimes you have to chop off somebody’s head to survive. – Ash (Bruce Campbell), Ash Vs the Evil Dead

You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water. – Rabindranath Tagore

Change may not always bring growth, but there is no growth without change. – Roy T. Bennett

There was a certain elegance to it. I kind of miss it. – LeVar Burton, referring to television in the 70s on The Seventies

The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them. – Ernest Hemingway

… the flick dances by with the same cadence and mediocrity viewers have come to expect. – Erin Huestis, The Celebrity Café review of Insidious: The Last Key

👇 It’s Here..                 

Weekend-Volunteer

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